'22 SF Buru Naivalurua (Garden City CC ---> Oakland )

[Rhodyg]

I identify as a Apolosa Tuburu Naivalurua

[PeterRamTime]

This kid really a SF? Looks like a solid kid at 6’8 235. Is that a typo?

He an athlete

I like his footwork. I would not be surprised if he has played a lot of soccer.

I think he played some Rugby

[CamsRams]

He an athlete

I like his footwork. I would not be surprised if he has played a lot of soccer.

I think he played some Rugby

Yes.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-07/ ... /100399710

[SmartyBarrett]

Oakland (??????)

[CamsRams]

Wow!

[rhodyram22]

Oakland (??????)

lol why?!

[Dino611]

I’m so confused, if Austin just lost a recruiting battle to Oakland then I don’t know what to say

Guess starting up the Brandon Gardner train again

[SmartyBarrett]

Horizon League (I sometimes forget that this particular Oakland is in Michigan). Last went to the NCAAs in 2011.

[Rhodymob05]

Maybe he thinks it’s more his competition level?

Edit, I had no idea Oakland was actually in Michigan. There’s no way he chose them lol.

[Jersey77]

So much for some of you feeling it was a done deal with him.
Like I said, I don't draw conclusions till he commits and signs.

I hope we are still pursuing Ja'Heim Hudson from Georgia State.

[adam914]

Losing recruiting battles to Oakland. Ouch!

[Jdrums#3]

Wow! Shocking turn of events. I did not expect this news. Damn.

[ElmCityRhody]

emBARONsing

[steveystuds06]

I was very confused why people kept saying we had him.. is what it is..We move on

[Billyboy78]

I don't know why someone is blaming Austin. He got him to visit. After that, it's up to the head coach to close the deal.

[Rhodymob05]

Lower conference is the only reason I can think that he chose Oakland-a suburb of Detroit, or a specific academic reason? I don’t even see a video of him visiting.

[Ramfan22]

I was very confused why people kept saying we had him.. is what it is..We move on

Do we know for sure if he was our #1 target? We could have had him but are going after someone else who the staff rated higher.

[Rhody15]

I was very confused why people kept saying we had him.. is what it is..We move on

I was more confused when people put him in the starting lineup.

[rhodyram22]

I was very confused why people kept saying we had him.. is what it is..We move on

No one was saying anything like that Stevey. We were the only team that got an Instagram post of his visit. His sister posted that...

[4Diffs]

Jesus I wished he had gone pro instead of this. We go all out for this guy and he goes to Oakland??

[Rhody15]

I was very confused why people kept saying we had him.. is what it is..We move on

No one was saying anything like that Stevey. We were the only team that got an Instagram post of his visit. His sister posted that...

Multiple people here said we were getting him.

[rjv]

I thought we would get him because his list of teams chasing him were not that good. He picked a team with a worst NET then us.
I don"t know.

[ram1980]

I was very confused why people kept saying we had him.. is what it is..We move on

Do we know for sure if he was our #1 target? We could have had him but are going after someone else who the staff rated higher.

We must be after someone better. He's really not that good. We didn't want him. What else??
Tie all this "rejection" into season ticket payments aren't due until June. Didn't even hear from them until a week or so ago.. we usually here right after the season or shortly thereafter, it's time to renew . Obviously until they step on the court in November we don't know what to expect. Just not getting a lot of warm and fuzzy about the coming season.

[KevanBoyles]

Bummer. I liked him a lot.

[4Diffs]

Hey we are one and one going up against Oakland. We got Wright and they got Boru. OK I will stop with the negativity but man this is a hard one to accept. Yeah lets blame Rhody Vault, or Austin Carrol. The buck stops at the top for better or for worse. Rule number 101 of recruiting, the assistants get them to the campus and the head coach and others (existing players etc.) close the deal. I find it hard to believe if we wanted this kid that he chose Oakland over us. But evidently that is the case.

[rhodyram22]

I was very confused why people kept saying we had him.. is what it is..We move on

No one was saying anything like that Stevey. We were the only team that got an Instagram post of his visit. His sister posted that...

Multiple people here said we were getting him.

I personally thought we secured him. Why would his sister post such a thorough montage of his trip? Why didn't Oakland get one? What did we do wrong here? Looks like he was treated like a king.

[LoveThoseRams]

Oakland...that is what we have come to?
Archie Miller loses a recruiting battle to Oakland???

[bigappleram]

I remain fairly underwhelmed by this staff’s recruiting ability.

[adam914]

Are we already on to the "we never really wanted him anyway" narrative? We're going to lose recruiting battles, its part of the deal. But let's not pretend we didn't want the guy. The staff certainly seemed to go all out for him.

[Jdrums#3]

I was very confused why people kept saying we had him.. is what it is..We move on

Do we know for sure if he was our #1 target? We could have had him but are going after someone else who the staff rated higher.

Good point, 22.

Personally, I liked the player - based on what I watched - and thought he’d be a good fit. But, what the coaches see is a different story and what their evaluation of his game is and how it may translate to the A10, is a different story.

I’ve moved on.

[adam914]

Hey but on the plus side, it was stealth!!!

[Section104]

He didn't recruit well at Dayton or Indiana (compared against Indiana high expectations).

No idea how you can't close on someone like this after rolling out the red carpet. Oakland? Shocking.

[Billyboy78]

Maybe Buru doesn't like seafood.

[Jersey77]

I remain fairly underwhelmed by this staff’s recruiting ability.

BAR, I will wait to see how this roster pans out before I make a judgement call.

Right now I have no issues with the 2 recruits, the jucos, and the 3 transfer, but we still have some glaring needs that has to be addressed.

[bigappleram]

He didn't recruit well at Dayton or Indiana (compared against Indiana high expectations).

No idea how you can't close on someone like this after rolling out the red carpet. Oakland? Shocking.

Kendall Pollard, Scoochie, Deshawn Pierre were all 3 stars and good gets at UD. Got Sibert and Cooke to transfer there. Didn’t he get Romeo Langford to IU and the kid Trayce Jackson?

It’s true that he won big at UD not via landing 4 stars but he did bring some dudes in there. I don’t care how good a coach you are you aren’t winning without some dudes.

[bigappleram]

I remain fairly underwhelmed by this staff’s recruiting ability.

BAR, I will wait to see how this roster pans out before I make a judgement call.

I will too but not much talent left in the portal. And while I think our roster is better than last year’s that isn’t saying much.

[Jersey77]

I remain fairly underwhelmed by this staff’s recruiting ability.

BAR, I will wait to see how this roster pans out before I make a judgement call.

I will too but not much talent left in the portal. And while I think our roster is better than last year’s that isn’t saying much.

Plenty still left, have faith.

[CamsRams]

I was worried the sticking point was guaranteed playing time. Kid didn’t start playing ball until later and may be requiring guaranteed time.

[jcru]

We lost to Oakland, completely out of the blue. So all the facilities and all of the red carpet treatment, trips to the oyster bar, don’t really amount to all that much in the long run.

[jcru]

We’re still going to need rebounds. Are we still in on that kid Foster from Monmouth or the guy from Georgia State?

[Jersey77]

We’re still going to need rebounds. Are we still in on that kid Foster from Monmouth or the guy from Georgia State?

I like Hudson from GSU but afraid he may be a Tulane or USF lean.

[reef]

Jesus this stings losing to Oakland and the horizon

If he avgs 18 and 10 it will sting even more which it sounds like he may be able to do

[jcru]

Looks like a lot of A-10 schools are already in on Foster. Maybe that ship has already sailed.

[theblueram]

Buru don't surf!!!!!

[jcru]

We’re still going to need rebounds. Are we still in on that kid Foster from Monmouth or the guy from Georgia State?

I like Hudson from GSU but afraid he may be a Tulane or USF lean.

This is the latest list he re-tweeted and we're not in on it.

[Jersey77]

Jesus this stings losing to Oakland and the horizon

If he avgs 18 and 10 it will sting even more which it sounds like he may be able to do

This kid was under the radar and from Australia.
He only played 1-year juco, let's not make him out to be an All-American yet.

[steveystuds06]

I remain fairly underwhelmed by this staff’s recruiting ability.

BAR, I will wait to see how this roster pans out before I make a judgement call.

I will too but not much talent left in the portal. And while I think our roster is better than last year’s that isn’t saying much.

Not you too, Bar. Damn....

Personally, I think it's way too early to know what this team is. I'm not going to overhype them, and I'm not going to assume we have no "dudes" either.

How do we know Connor and Cam won't be great in a year or two?

What if Always actually is the right person to lead this team to a bid before he's gone?

What about Weston?

Brown, Foumena, House and Zek all look talented. What if one of them makes a jump like Ish did? What if two of them do!?

What if we get an impact player with one of our final two ships?

Maybe this group of players will find winning chemistry and surprise everyone in the A10.

Players develop. Players get better, especially under good coaching. Players also become absolute busts. We don't know. But we haven't even played a second of basketball, and some assume that we know exactly what these players are. I'm not going to do that. It's WAYYYYYYYY too early..

[jcru]

I found this on Myles Foster's thread. Interesting list:

[bigappleram]

BAR, I will wait to see how this roster pans out before I make a judgement call.

I will too but not much talent left in the portal. And while I think our roster is better than last year’s that isn’t saying much.

Not you too, Bar. Damn....

Personally, I think it's way too early to know what this team is. I'm not going to overhype them, and I'm not going to assume we have no "dudes" either.

How do we know Connor and Cam won't be great in a year or two?

What if Always actually is the right person to lead this team to a bid before he's gone?

What about Weston?

Brown, Foumena, House and Zek all look talented. What if one of them makes a jump like Ish did? What if two of them do!?

What if we get an impact player with one of our final two ships?

Maybe this group of players will find winning chemistry and surprise everyone in the A10.

Players develop. Players get better, especially under good coaching. Players also become absolute busts. We don't know. But we haven't even played a second of basketball, and some assume that we know exactly what these players are. I'm not going to do that. It's WAYYYYYYYY too early..

Haha Stevey, I’m not in the doom and gloom camp by any means. And I like some of the new pieces and already think our roster is better composed than last year. My comment was singularly focused on recruiting. And IMO this staff has not punched above their weight yet on the 10-12 kids they have brought into the program over the last 12 months. Not saying some of them aren’t or won’t be talented players for us but on paper we haven’t snagged anyone that seemed to be too good for us. That is key to getting back to top of the league. Get fringe P6 level players to choose Rhody.

[steveystuds06]

I will too but not much talent left in the portal. And while I think our roster is better than last year’s that isn’t saying much.

Not you too, Bar. Damn....

Personally, I think it's way too early to know what this team is. I'm not going to overhype them, and I'm not going to assume we have no "dudes" either.

How do we know Connor and Cam won't be great in a year or two?

What if Always actually is the right person to lead this team to a bid before he's gone?

What about Weston?

Brown, Foumena, House and Zek all look talented. What if one of them makes a jump like Ish did? What if two of them do!?

What if we get an impact player with one of our final two ships?

Maybe this group of players will find winning chemistry and surprise everyone in the A10.

Players develop. Players get better, especially under good coaching. Players also become absolute busts. We don't know. But we haven't even played a second of basketball, and some assume that we know exactly what these players are. I'm not going to do that. It's WAYYYYYYYY too early..

Haha Stevey, I’m not in the doom and gloom camp by any means. And I like some of the new pieces and already think our roster is better composed than last year. My comment was singularly focused on recruiting. And IMO this staff has not punched above their weight yet on the 10-12 kids they have brought into the program over the last 12 months. Not saying some of them aren’t or won’t be talented players for us but on paper we haven’t snagged anyone that seemed to be too good for us. That is key to getting back to top of the league. Get fringe P6 level players to choose Rhody.

Honestly, I agree. I'm just trying to convince myself that everything is ok and we are going to be great. But the truth is I expected Archie to land at least one EC Matthews type get this offseason. He hasn't. I think he has landed some nice pieces that would fit around a superstar but we don't have one player that I think is a game changer. I truly hope I'm wrong and we shock the A10 next year.