'20 UK PF - Josh Ogundele (Iowa ---> Middle Tennessee)

[Tjrams91]

Sticking with Iowa.

[ramster]

Shows you the Iowa reporter was out of touch.

He just said he will be signing his LOI then.

He never said he was announcing Thursday.

This morning on Iowa Message Board....

[reckless jake]

I have a good feeling about this. Go Rhody.

[Tjrams91]

Too many tea leaves point to Iowa.

[TruePoint]

Shows you the Iowa reporter was out of touch.

He just said he will be signing his LOI then.

He never said he was announcing Thursday.

This morning on Iowa Message Board....

I thought he was definitely going to PC?

[ramster]

He just said he will be signing his LOI then.

He never said he was announcing Thursday.

This morning on Iowa Message Board....

I thought he was definitely going to PC?

TP,
If you will read earlier in the thread, there was some confusion on Iowa Board regarding Ogundele signing of the LOI on Thursday. Some confusion was that the announcement would be Thursday too. This is a clarification from the original poster who is an Administrator of the Iowa message Board. Has nothing to do with PC or guessing where Ogundele is going.

[TruePoint]

I just noticed that PC wasn’t listed among the schools he is considering and also recall when he decided to take a visit to PC that it was over and he was definitely going to go there.

[bkoeppen]

Iowa

[Billyboy78]

So, what's the plan now?

[Tjrams91]

Hate to say, I told ya.

Never got my hopes up.

I’m sure there is a plan we aren’t privy to at the moment.

[LoveThoseRams]

Iowa

DARN

[Rhodyhooopz]

Next.

[ramster]

[CHICO 78]

What is with us and bigs? And this isn't recent. This goes back to Hurley as well.

There was a quote from Josh saying the coach from I believe Iowa or Cincy
told him that " the offense here runs through the bigs" almost intimating
that if you go to Rhody you'll be an afterthought.
We are guard -centric and were with Hurley as well with 4 guard line ups.

I wonder if that is being used against us with quality bigs. Obviously I have
no basis for this but this scenario seems to repeat time after time.

[ramster]

McCaffery recovered.......

https://www.google.com/amp/s/dearoldgol ... ndele/amp/

[Rhodymob05]

Dammit Josh. Can we ever get a BIG , there are schools all over the country of all levels of competition that get BIGS, yet we struggle. This is crazy.

[bkoeppen]

McCaffery recovered.......

https://www.google.com/amp/s/dearoldgol ... ndele/amp/

this hurts:

but reports have him leaning towards Cincinnati or Rhode Island

have to imagine Foster to ISU had a big impact on his decision.

time to move on - we will find someone else

[Rhody83]

Hate to say, I told ya.

Never got my hopes up.

I’m sure there is a plan we aren’t privy to at the moment.

You predicted the heavy favorite a day or two before his commitment. Way to go.

[Rhodymob05]

I wonder who plan B is?

[Rhody83]

All the schools we competed with have the following over URI - better conference, more players going to the NBA (maybe not Rutgers), nice practice facility, better chance of getting to the dance other than Rutgers, bigger fan base, larger playing facility, more money spent on MBB (charter flights etc).

I think Josh will fall somewhere between Andre Berry and Cyril production wise for his college career.
If Josh had come to Rhody he wouldn’t have started his Fr year and probably would’ve started his Soph year and been part of a 3 man front court rotation with Harris and Walker.

[bkoeppen]

Javarzia Belton or Josh Gray (longshot). I really don't know.

[Rhody83]

McCaffery recovered.......

https://www.google.com/amp/s/dearoldgol ... ndele/amp/

this hurts:

but reports have him leaning towards Cincinnati or Rhode Island

have to imagine Foster to ISU had a big impact on his decision.

time to move on - we will find someone else

He definitely planned to wait for Foster’s decision. Rhody couldn’t change that. Both Josh and Foster commented that they would like to play together.

[Tjrams91]

Hate to say, I told ya.

Never got my hopes up.

I’m sure there is a plan we aren’t privy to at the moment.

You predicted the heavy favorite a day or two before his commitment. Way to go.

I never wavered. You were sold on URI all along. After Foster chose ISU, Iowa was the obvious choice.

[Rhody83]

On a positive note, PC missed again. That would’ve hurt if they swooped in and got him.

[adam914]

Ugh, another miss. Plan B better not be a juco who can't qualify or isn't ready.

[ramster]

All the schools we competed with have the following over URI - better conference, more players going to the NBA (maybe not Rutgers), nice practice facility, better chance of getting to the dance other than Rutgers, bigger fan base, larger playing facility, more money spent on MBB (charter flights etc).

I think Josh will fall somewhere between Andre Berry and Cyril production wise for his college career.
If Josh had come to Rhody he wouldn’t have started his Fr year and probably would’ve started his Soph year and been part of a 3 man front court rotation with Harris and Walker.

So with all that said 83, why did you think and post that he was coming to URI? What changed?

With that said wouldn’t playing time be easier for Ogundele at URI with Langevine graduating this year than at PC, Cincinnati, Virginia Tech, Iowa and Rutgers?
Aren’t the chances Ogundele gets recruited over higher at the 5 other schools because of all the reasons you named?

better conference, more players going to the NBA (maybe not Rutgers), nice practice facility, better chance of getting to the dance other than Rutgers, bigger fan base, larger playing facility, more money spent on MBB (charter flights etc).

I think playing time with Langevine graduating and showing Ogundele the progress Langevine has made in 4 years at URI would be strong selling points. He might end up being one of the 1000 transfers per year so the time spent recruiting him ate not necessarily for naught.

[PeterRamTime]

All the schools we competed with have the following over URI - better conference, more players going to the NBA (maybe not Rutgers), nice practice facility, better chance of getting to the dance other than Rutgers, bigger fan base, larger playing facility, more money spent on MBB (charter flights etc).

I think Josh will fall somewhere between Andre Berry and Cyril production wise for his college career.
If Josh had come to Rhody he wouldn’t have started his Fr year and probably would’ve started his Soph year and been part of a 3 man front court rotation with Harris and Walker.

So with all that said 83, why did you think and post that he was coming to URI? What changed?

With that said wouldn’t playing time be easier for Ogundele at URI with Langevine graduating this year than at PC, Cincinnati, Virginia Tech, Iowa and Rutgers?
Aren’t the chances Ogundele gets recruited over higher at the 5 other schools because of all the reasons you named?

better conference, more players going to the NBA (maybe not Rutgers), nice practice facility, better chance of getting to the dance other than Rutgers, bigger fan base, larger playing facility, more money spent on MBB (charter flights etc).

I think playing time with Langevine graduating and showing Ogundele the progress Langevine has made in 4 years at URI would be strong selling points. He might end up being one of the 1000 transfers per year so the time spent recruiting him ate not necessarily for naught.

Yeah schools like Cinci and Iowa always have SEVERAL bigs on their roster.

I guess it was the "big time" that persuaded him.

More reason for us to make it back to the dance this year.

Us having a chance at this guy had a lot to do with what Hurley built here.

The longer we dont dance the harder it is to recruit and the more apathetic the administration will be.

[TruePoint]

I don’t have the time to follow recruiting as closely as I used to, but I will say just from monitoring this one somewhat casually I think we were in a good spot here until Foster chose ISU. That kind of mucked everything up because it made Iowa an option for him again when it probably wasn’t had Foster gone with Iowa. If Foster has gone with Iowa, people would have been celebrating beating out name brand programs from good conferences for him. Instead, some people’s perspective now is that we can’t compete with the types of schools we were in the final group with for bigs. I think that’s an unfortunate narrative when the deciding factor was likely what another recruit did, which we have no control over or influence on. But thems the breaks.

Guaranteed there is a big guy out there somewhere that isn’t committed anywhere yet that will end up starting and getting 10/8 for a mid-major that makes a tournament at some point. Go find that guy. I am totally on board with trying to compete against P5 and Big East teams for kids. We have to do that. But we also should be trying to be a scouting and development machine to complement that approach and be able to plug in serviceable players where we miss on our primary target. I think Hammond could be a perfect example from last cycle.

[Rhody83]

ramster, those are positives for URI that you listed. I stated that I had no inside information that he was committing to URI. He has a very small circle. As DC Rams mentioned, no one was getting information. He was equally positive to each school. I was made aware of some of the positives towards URI - that is why I was optimistic.

Many recruits have other kids and coaches around them telling them they can make it to the NBA. That is Josh’s goal and helped drive his decision. He felt he had a better chance making it to the NBA with Iowa than any other of the finalist. He weighed that more heavily than Fr year playing time. He would’ve had Walker and Harris ahead of him next year and potentially his Soph year. Highly unlikely he was going to start at URI as a Fr.

[SandorClegane]

This kid seemed like McCleod 2.0 from the beginning. Putting a higher priority going to a bigger name conference over playing and/or winning. That’s fine. We’ll move on without skipping a beat.

[SandorClegane]

Gray and Belton would be great. Both are rated higher than Ogundele. Belton has been my choice all along. Hope Cox and Co can get to work.

[Tjrams91]

I’ve seen Belton. Very raw. I don’t think he could contribute right away.

[TruePoint]

I have no expectation that any freshman be able to contribute right away, especially a big man. If they can, great. But it’s a bonus. Much more interested in upside and potential. As a program we should not be dependent on freshmen giving us good minutes in order to be competitive. If that means next year we need to be a little more flexible in terms of lineup construction, that’s fine with me.

[bkoeppen]

I have no expectation that any freshman be able to contribute right away, especially a big man. If they can, great. But it’s a bonus. Much more interested in upside and potential. As a program we should not be dependent on freshmen giving us good minutes in order to be competitive. If that means next year we need to be a little more flexible in terms of lineup construction, that’s fine with me.

When recruiting big's I tend to agree, but I think in this case some of us were looking for a freshman that could give some minutes right away. Recognize that Harris and Walker will need to supplement most of Cyril's minutes, but it does leave a big hole with Cyril leaving if we find someone who won't be ready to contribute at all until his sophomore year. Josh seemed like someone who might not start, but could contribute day 1. Ideally it would be nice to find a guy like that.

[CHICO 78]

I think we are a year late on this. We really needed to land a 5 in the last recruiting cycle
so he could be cutting his teeth this year. Getting a big this year is imperative. As it is
Walker and Harris may have to rotate at the 5 next year even if we do land a big with
our last scholarship.

[Iggy1979]

JO was the best big URI had a shot at and, best i could tell, he wasn't a strong defender or rebounder, but more of a scorer. I don't think there are bigs just hanging out waiting for URI to offer who could start as a freshman next year. I'm hoping they get a mid-season transfer.

[Rhody Guy]

I may be in the minority, but I hope Mcleod's situation not qualifying at FSU leads him to open back up and make his way to Rhody.

[Rhody83]

I may be in the minority, but I hope Mcleod's situation not qualifying at FSU leads him to open back up and make his way to Rhody.

McLeod is at FSU taking classes. He isn’t leaving there. He will play for them next year.

[Rhody83]

I have no expectation that any freshman be able to contribute right away, especially a big man. If they can, great. But it’s a bonus. Much more interested in upside and potential. As a program we should not be dependent on freshmen giving us good minutes in order to be competitive. If that means next year we need to be a little more flexible in terms of lineup construction, that’s fine with me.

When recruiting big's I tend to agree, but I think in this case some of us were looking for a freshman that could give some minutes right away. Recognize that Harris and Walker will need to supplement most of Cyril's minutes, but it does leave a big hole with Cyril leaving if we find someone who won't be ready to contribute at all until his sophomore year. Josh seemed like someone who might not start, but could contribute day 1. Ideally it would be nice to find a guy like that.

They will still land a big.
Also think of Jacob Toppin with 20 lbs more on his frame. Obi is two years older than Jacob. They have been on similar physical growth paths. When Obi was 21 years old at the end of last season. Remember he did a PG year at Brewster and was an academic red shirt his first year at Dayton.

[reef]

God dammit sick and tired of not landing these bigs

[RamStock]

I wonder who plan B is?

Probably some low end big that is a project. Hopefully not some juco who is somewhat athletic like Johnson, but will never contribute

[Seawrightspostgame]

I would like to see an upset on the recruiting trail some time in the next 3 years for us.

[RhodyRams12]

I would like to see an upset on the recruiting trail some time in the next 3 years for us.

Jacob Toppin

[SGreenwell]

I would like to see an upset on the recruiting trail some time in the next 3 years for us.

Jacob Toppin

I think he means something like getting a Terrell-level player right away, vs. continuing to find diamonds in the rough.

[RhodyRams12]

I would like to see an upset on the recruiting trail some time in the next 3 years for us.

Jacob Toppin

I think he means something like getting a Terrell-level player right away, vs. continuing to find diamonds in the rough.

Look at his offers. Wouldn’t classify him as a diamond in the rough. Same could be said for Jermaine despite his play to date.

[TruePoint]

Jared also committed to and signed with Oklahoma State before he ended up here. In recruiting you’re going to miss on way more players than you get. I would take a whole team of Jeff and Cyril level players, and nobody treated their commitments as seminal moments. Jordan Hare on the other hand was the be all and end all. To me, I hope the staff gets enough guys that they evaluate to be good, whether that means they develop a special relationship with a kid who was recruited by bigger name schools or they identify a kid who we are their highest profile offer, as long as the kid can play at this level it doesn’t matter to me.

[Rhody15]

We just had an upset when we got Jermaine over schools like Xavier, Miami, MD, Kansas, WVU.

Safe to say that hasn’t worked out so well yet.

[Billyboy78]

We just had an upset when we got Jermaine over schools like Xavier, Miami, MD, Kansas, WVU.

Safe to say that hasn’t worked out so well yet.

That was also a special case because of his long term relationship with Cox.

[rhodyfan3000]

Sounds like JH might suffer from Luther Clay syndrome. Injury plagued and snake bitten, but with a pretty decent payoff in the end. We’ll see

[Seawrightspostgame]

Jacob Toppin

I think he means something like getting a Terrell-level player right away, vs. continuing to find diamonds in the rough.

Look at his offers. Wouldn’t classify him as a diamond in the rough. Same could be said for Jermaine despite his play to date.

I think all of our players are pretty good right now. I meant along the lines of a 4 star type player that also has the impact of a terrell.

I am still hopeful there will be a STAR in the group we have.