KeaneyBlue - The URI Basketball Forum

Andre Berry - PF
From: Brooklyn, NY
School: New Mexico Military Institute
Travel/AAU:

Ht: 6-8
Wt: 260

RANKINGS:
Rivals: NR



OFFERS:
North Texas
Prairie View A&M
Texas-San Antonio

INTEREST:
Rhode Island
Virginia Tech

Stats: http://stats.njcaa.org/sports/mbkb/2014 ... eberry0jtd

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball ... rry-168530
http://www.verbalcommits.com/players/andre-berry

Berry prepped at St. Andrews in Barrington. It looks like he's only played one year of JUCO, so if he's eligible to transfer this year, he'd have 3 years of eligibility.

BFC wrote:Berry prepped at St. Andrews in Barrington. It looks like he's only played one year of JUCO, so if he's eligible to transfer this year, he'd have 3 years of eligibility.

There seem to be 3 Andre Berrys. Is this the one who was at St. Andrew's?

If it's the kid from St. Andrew's, I hope he's improved. He was ranked #185 ..............IN NEW ENGLAND!!!...sorry for the yelling.

Better than the other guy who's supposedly visiting.
10.9 ppg. 62.9 FG%, 72,3% FT%, 54. rpg in just 7.2 minutes per game
(which is probably a bogus #)

If you click on the game log, you will notice a bunch of games they had minutes as 1. With the games that have minutes, he played between 15-25ish. He scored in double figures in 14 of the 25 games he played. Just based on numbers he appears to be a decent prospect...but I have no idea how good the competition was. BTW, one site says he weighs 260.

1st TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE
*Emmanuel Omogbo, South Plains College signed Colorado State
*Malique Trent, New Mexico Junior College signed TCU
*Rob Gray, Howard College signed Houston
*Andre Spight, South Plains College signed AZ State
*Sam Finley, Howard College signed Ole Miss
*Willie Conner, Odessa College signed Has not signed
Torren Jones, Midland College JR
Cullen Russo, New Mexico Junior College JR
Andre Berry, New Mexico Military Institute
Pat Birt, South Plains College signed Tulsa
Aaron Bodie, New Mexico Military Institute JR
Shaquan Rhoades, New Mexico Military Institute

Bonzie is #35. I'm guessing Berry is #45?

I'd heard that JUCOs with 3 years left were going to be a target

Hope I am not being too negative, but does this guy look like he can handle DH's practices and conditioning?

Dan will find out today.
At 1:00, he's working both recruits out,
and he said only one will emerge as the winner.

rodfromcranston wrote:Dan will find out today.
At 1:00, he's working both recruits out,
and he said only one will emerge as the winner.

Meaning he offers one of them?

yup, one or none.

rodfromcranston wrote:yup, one or none.

OK, so there's a chance he likes neither and the search continues.

Wow like Gladiators.

OMG This is so exciting! Another showdown. I'll even take the loser!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Andre's a large dude.

http://wordpress.nmmi.edu/nmmipost/file ... C_2774.jpg

Let D. Marshall at him, he seems to need it,

Large would be good. I don't know that we necessarily need an incredibly skilled post player. Obviously that would be great, but it would be a luxury. The need is some interior depth that can rebound, defend and use five fouls if necessary. Anything more than that is gravy at this point in the 2015 cycle.

With the limited knowledge we have on both guys, i'm leaning towards Andre. though I am concerned he may not be a fit for an up tempo style...if we ever get there.

TruePoint wrote:Large would be good. I don't know that we necessarily need an incredibly skilled post player. Obviously that would be great, but it would be a luxury. The need is some interior depth that can rebound, defend and use five fouls if necessary. Anything more than that is gravy at this point in the 2015 cycle.

You mention this guy and gravy?

rodfromcranston wrote:yup, one or none.

Please none. Extremely disappointing to see this is all we seem to be able to attract. No big men on roster, so unlimited playing time, a potential top 20, ncaa, Atlantic 10 contending team and this is it? Beyond disappointing, I don't get it. Competing with Prairie View and UTSA? Are you kidding??

bressler3south wrote:

TruePoint wrote:Large would be good. I don't know that we necessarily need an incredibly skilled post player. Obviously that would be great, but it would be a luxury. The need is some interior depth that can rebound, defend and use five fouls if necessary. Anything more than that is gravy at this point in the 2015 cycle.

You mention this guy and gravy?

Must be subliminal word association

giovanni wrote:

rodfromcranston wrote:yup, one or none.

Please none. Extremely disappointing to see this is all we seem to be able to attract. No big men on roster, so unlimited playing time, a potential top 20, ncaa, Atlantic 10 contending team and this is it? Beyond disappointing, I don't get it. Competing with Prairie View and UTSA? Are you kidding??

So who do you suggest as an alternative? The unfortunate reality of the situation is that the type of player most people are hoping for does not currently exist.

adam914 wrote:

giovanni wrote:

rodfromcranston wrote:yup, one or none.

Please none. Extremely disappointing to see this is all we seem to be able to attract. No big men on roster, so unlimited playing time, a potential top 20, ncaa, Atlantic 10 contending team and this is it? Beyond disappointing, I don't get it. Competing with Prairie View and UTSA? Are you kidding??

So who do you suggest as an alternative? The unfortunate reality of the situation is that the type of player most people are hoping for does not currently exist.

The invisible Greek lad playing tough open-court man-to-man in Ba's video.….

I think if they are not an upgrade over Iffy, what's the point? Do we want big guys being 11, 12 and 13 on the roster? Or 11, 12 with one open scholly? We need someone who can at least come in and occupy space.

adam914 wrote:

giovanni wrote:

rodfromcranston wrote:yup, one or none.

Please none. Extremely disappointing to see this is all we seem to be able to attract. No big men on roster, so unlimited playing time, a potential top 20, ncaa, Atlantic 10 contending team and this is it? Beyond disappointing, I don't get it. Competing with Prairie View and UTSA? Are you kidding??

So who do you suggest as an alternative? The unfortunate reality of the situation is that the type of player most people are hoping for does not currently exist.

Yeah, don't sign anyone if this is the best you can do. Its mind boggling to me that it seems this staff cannot attract at least a serviceable guy that is at least 6-8. I slightly remember Berry in tournament at RIC a couple years ago. Unless this kid has improved beyond dramatically, he is not helping this team compete for an A10 title and ncaa bid. Yes Dan and staff have done a great job recruiting guards and rebuilding program and we all like Dan and appreciate the job he has done, but it is baffling and somewhat scary that this staff can neither recruit any type of big, or develop Iffy or Earl to a higher degree. Regardless of how far we have come as a program, we are not going to the level we aspire without a some type of front court to help Hassan. Enough of 4 guard offenses, that's not getting it done any further than competing for an A10 title unless John Wall, Chris Paul and Klay Thompson are walking through the door. I like Dan as much as anyone, but he shouldn't be beyond questioning or criticism if warranted. For whatever reason, he is not getting it done with front court players. Let's face it, playing time and ability to get playing time on a winning team and a winning program are powerful recruiting tools. At least it should be enough to attract a higher level talent, serviceable big guy.

Agree 100% Gio.
Well, May just started, and as unhappy as I am right
now, realistically, we have to let this all play out,
before throwing in the towel in the spring cycle.

If Dan promised a scholarship yesterday to the first player that makes a basket, I'll bet their still on the floor.

Berry shot 63% this season, so I doubt that's true.

Know zero about NMMI, but I would venture a guess that he faced far superior competition at St Andrews. I don't think he even started for St Andrews.

giovanni wrote:Know zero about NMMI, but I would venture a guess that he faced far superior competition at St Andrews. I don't think he even started for St Andrews.

I once had a player who was being recruited by a service academy. He didn't have the grades to get in, so they wanted to send him to NMMI first. They have a player named Rashad Todd who had committed to a NEC school but didn't have the grades. Aaron Bodie to a MAAC school. They have a few other guys who were either D1 commits at one point or have committed to D1 schools. Not taking anything away from St. Andrews as they play in one of the top conferences in the country but I don't know if I would say "far superior competition" as NMMI played Juco powers like Odessa, Midland and South Plains.

Playing in the New England Prep scene and NEPSAC Class AA with schools like VT Academy, Tilton School, Wilbraham & Monson, McDuffie School, Worcester Academy and so on may have produced a couple of players at a bit higher level than the NEC or MAAC. Any Juco should not be compared to NE prep schools. Far different world.

I feel if we end up taking one of these guys then we should keep in mind that we haven't seen either of them play recently and we don't have any idea what role the staff has in mind for them. I'm not saying we should pop champagne if one of them commits to us, just that we should reserve judgment until we have more to go on. Maybe one of them can excel doing a particular thing for us even if he won't be an all-American.

It seems like some of the disappointment here is, as usual, a result of overly optimistic expectations. This time it is about what kind of player we would be able to bring in at this point. Someone kept mentioning the Greek kid that I believe will be a lottery pick and could pick any school in the country if he came over. I said it before and I stand by it: I'd love a first round big man to come here, but we don't NEED that in order to have a good season; one more big body that can rebound and give us an interior presence on defense would really help.

But as recently as 6 months ago, we WERE involved with some pretty good big men. Silva, Aflakpui and Gustys reportedly all were considering us, and all of them had us on their final lists. I'll admit, I haven't seen any of those three or any of the two who were on campus yesterday play live. All I can go by is what I see on tape or what I read. Going on what I see from that, the two newer recruits aren't even close to being in the same league as the three we were involved with in the Fall. That's where the disappointment comes into play from my point of view.

giovanni wrote:Playing in the New England Prep scene and NEPSAC Class AA with schools like VT Academy, Tilton School, Wilbraham & Monson, McDuffie School, Worcester Academy and so on may have produced a couple of players at a bit higher level than the NEC or MAAC. Any Juco should not be compared to NE prep schools. Far different world.

http://www.wranglersports.com/teams/men ... /index.htm
http://www.spctexans.com/d/MBB_Transfers.pdf

Just two of teams on their schedule. I'm sure with more research I could provide you with additional schools beyond the two I knew off hand. For example- South Plains has Jerron Martin who spent a year at Ole Miss, Emmanuel Omogoro who committed to Colorado State, Andre Spight who has committed to Arizona State, Luis Montero going to South Florida, Pat Birt going to Tulsa, David Kadiri going to Buffalo and Brandon Neel going to Wright State. Odessa is sending a kid to Maryland and a kid to Southern Miss among others. New Mexico JC has 7 kids with D1 offers... That is the competition he is facing. To say anything is "far superior" is incorrect.

I agree that high school basketball and Juco basketball are a different world. Often times you are playing against grown men, 2 to 3 years removed from high school graduation, vs playing 16 and 17 year olds. Juco in that part of the country is a whole different animal compared to Juco on the East Coast. Just check out some of the rosters, they are bringing in kids from all over the country. Many of these teams contain talented players who wont sniff the D1 ranks due to grades or other reasons.

Look, I'm not going to argue with you, but you are wrong when you say that the NEPSAC AA is far superior competition to some of the Juco in the Mid-west. The NEPSAC is arguably the toughest league in the country, up there with the likes of the Catholic League in DC. They pump out numerous High Major and NBA talent players on a yearly basis. But there is great basketball beyond that conference.

At the end of the day, does any of this mean that Andre can play? No, not at all. I'll withhold judgement until I see him for myself. If Hurley believes the kid can play, then hopefully he suits up in a Ram uniform. If he doesn't, hopefully we can find another suitable big.

Billyboy I agree that in a perfect world we'd have landed a solid prospect in the fall. That would definitely be preferable to what we are looking at now.

Wonder if this kid has any pull for a certain center at St Andrews still there??

Seawrightspostgame wrote:Wonder if this kid has any pull for a certain center at St Andrews still there??

Well, he's one that I HAVE seen play live. I'm not impressed with him either.

Bos8 wrote:

giovanni wrote:Playing in the New England Prep scene and NEPSAC Class AA with schools like VT Academy, Tilton School, Wilbraham & Monson, McDuffie School, Worcester Academy and so on may have produced a couple of players at a bit higher level than the NEC or MAAC. Any Juco should not be compared to NE prep schools. Far different world.

http://www.wranglersports.com/teams/men ... /index.htm
http://www.spctexans.com/d/MBB_Transfers.pdf

Just two of teams on their schedule. I'm sure with more research I could provide you with additional schools beyond the two I knew off hand. For example- South Plains has Jerron Martin who spent a year at Ole Miss, Emmanuel Omogoro who committed to Colorado State, Andre Spight who has committed to Arizona State, Luis Montero going to South Florida, Pat Birt going to Tulsa, David Kadiri going to Buffalo and Brandon Neel going to Wright State. Odessa is sending a kid to Maryland and a kid to Southern Miss among others. New Mexico JC has 7 kids with D1 offers... That is the competition he is facing. To say anything is "far superior" is incorrect.

I agree that high school basketball and Juco basketball are a different world. Often times you are playing against grown men, 2 to 3 years removed from high school graduation, vs playing 16 and 17 year olds. Juco in that part of the country is a whole different animal compared to Juco on the East Coast. Just check out some of the rosters, they are bringing in kids from all over the country. Many of these teams contain talented players who wont sniff the D1 ranks due to grades or other reasons.

Look, I'm not going to argue with you, but you are wrong when you say that the NEPSAC AA is far superior competition to some of the Juco in the Mid-west. The NEPSAC is arguably the toughest league in the country, up there with the likes of the Catholic League in DC. They pump out numerous High Major and NBA talent players on a yearly basis. But there is great basketball beyond that conference.

At the end of the day, does any of this mean that Andre can play? No, not at all. I'll withhold judgement until I see him for myself. If Hurley believes the kid can play, then hopefully he suits up in a Ram uniform. If he doesn't, hopefully we can find another suitable big.

Agreed.

Billyboy78 wrote:

Seawrightspostgame wrote:Wonder if this kid has any pull for a certain center at St Andrews still there??

Well, he's one that I HAVE seen play live. I'm not impressed with him either.

While I agree Brown was not overly impressive or as good as his build up the times I have seen him, I think he has skill and potential. He's a legit 6-9 or 6-10 long and some decent offensive skills. The thing that has struck me about him in the few times I watched him is what appears to be a total lack of physicality and aggressiveness. While a guy like Tyrique Jones with his warrior like style is obviously the preferred mentality of style of player we would want, I would much prefer Brown over many of the names we've seen listed here.

TruePoint wrote:Billyboy I agree that in a perfect world we'd have landed a solid prospect in the fall. That would definitely be preferable to what we are looking at now.

They had a 6'10" sophomore starting at center in the Fall, too.

Not that I am advocating for that again. At all.

ace wrote:

TruePoint wrote:Billyboy I agree that in a perfect world we'd have landed a solid prospect in the fall. That would definitely be preferable to what we are looking at now.

They had a 6'10" sophomore starting at center in the Fall, too.

Not that I am advocating for that again. At all.

bing... we have a winner.

If we're reminiscing, they also had another 6'8" forward who, while being a basically good guy overall, made some pretty poor decisions.

All I can say is, with Dan as our coach..... Blake Vedder is not walking through that door.

Who? Gil? Early fouls and consistent turnovers?

Seawrightspostgame wrote:Who? Gil? Early fouls and consistent turnovers?

If this is in response to what I said- Aaman.


Biruta is flawless.
(not really, but let me have that, ok?)

It's true that we had Hare and Aaman, and that's possibly why Silva and Aflakpui went elsewhere. But now there is no one here to stop any big looking for immediate playing time. Why aren't we attracting any talented bigs now, when we got close with a few last year?

There is no one left. It's now 16's. Maybe we should have a list of the top big men for 15 available nationally and see what's out there.

ace wrote:

Seawrightspostgame wrote:Who? Gil? Early fouls and consistent turnovers?

If this is in response to what I said- Aaman.


Biruta is flawless.
(not really, but let me have that, ok?)

Yea, I was trolling. I also forgot about Aaman.

Billyboy78 wrote:It's true that we had Hare and Aaman, and that's possibly why Silva and Aflakpui went elsewhere. But now there is no one here to stop any big looking for immediate playing time. Why aren't we attracting any talented bigs now, when we got close with a few last year?

Just for the sake of accuracy, Aaman was already gone when those two made their choices. As it turns out, what attracted them to their eventual schools were outside of what URI could provide.

With bringing up Hare and Aaman, I'm not necessarily providing justification, just making some observations.