MBB recruiting updates. 5/4/14
Let's not pretend that losing Grandstaff doesn't matter. That's MSU level stuff. We'll be ok regardless though and we still lead for Brunson.
We don't know if it matters yet. Depends on who we get to commit.
It's not like anytime a 4 star commits elsewhere it matters more than some other aspect of recruiting, that's how things go. Obviously the staff wanted him to visit and likely would have offered, but OSU beat us to the punch.
That said, OSU landed Jae-Sean Tate and Keita Bates-Diop after we offered both. Then we got Kameron Chatman who is ahead of both in the 247 composite. Not saying they aren't also great players, but wanted to point it out.
Until you run into kentucky and give up a 60% oreb rate because at a certain point undersized 4's and 5's probably will catch up to you. I'd take an entire class of 3 star wings and pgs to develop under beilein and jordan if it meant just one actually elite center. Mcgary would count if he had played even an entier seasons worth of games, but he didn't.
You have to remember though, that that's as good as it gets. Nobody really matches up well physically with Kentucky, as they take about seven of the top ten high-school players in the nation every year. And we still were an extremely low-percentage shot away from beating them and setting up a rematch with the buzzcuts in the Final Four.
I'll take 4 star or 5 star kids against other staffs before I would take 3 to 4's... That is what the worried fan is thinking. Then we'll complain when they are gone after their first year. Fans never happy
that you totally do in your third sentence what you said not to in the first.
I'm not sure it's a huge deal. Most of the kids our coaches offer or come close to offering will choose another school, so although it "matters" it's not a big deal each time one does.
Where did you hear we lead for Brunson? Not dismissing that, but I didn't hear that.
247 Crystal Ball
So, the same crystal ball that had 0 out of 13 "experts" predicting Grandstaff to OSU and 2 out of 7 "experts" predicting McQuaid to SMU. Quite reliable!
I'd be thrilled with getting say Ahmad, McQuaid, and either Coleman or Brunson... How likely is it that we get a trifecta like this?
I'll go Ahmad- OSU Brunson - Vill or UCONN McQuaid- SMU Coleman-UM
Really want Ollie to go pro
What do you know?
Matt McQuaid, a top 100 wing, just informed Scout that he has committed to SMU.
the 2015 recruiting has baffled me for awhile. This should be the year that our on court success lead to greater recruiting success and we just aren't seeing it yet.
For better or worse this staff seems to have put all of their eggs in the Jalens basket. They slow played Eric Davis, Granstaff and others, and it could come back to bite them. Wing players should be lining up to play for this staff, but we have no commits, few visists and even fewer offers.
Some people will probably say its still very early for 2015, but not in hoops recruiting. Look at how many of the top 2015 kids have already committed.
I love this staff and the job they have done, I guess I am just greedy now and want them to take it to the next level on and off the floor.
You can scratch McQuaid off your list:
Matt McQuaid, a top 100 wing, just informed Scout that he has committed to SMU.
— Evan Daniels (@EvanDaniels) May 5, 2014
Regarding Ahmad, I did find some decent highlights on YouTube of 2014 vintage (there are a fair number of 2013 videos as well). See below for what I thought to be one of the more interesting ones:
the title of that video is "Flyin' to the Hoop" and then proceeds to be 1:10 of him making lay-ups and maybe :10 of him dunking.
Nothing to apologize for, always nice to wake up to some fresh threads on here.
Although, Lee (the grad PF transfer from Temple) will be gone by the time Ahmad arrives on campus, you may be right (the other transfer, Thompson, at 6'11 will most likely play the 5). OSU will have the following battling for playing time in 2015-16:
At the 3: Tate, Bates-Diop, Mitchell, Loving, depending on line-up- Grandstaff
At the 4: Bates-Diop, Mitchell, Loving, Bell, possibly Ahmad
That is a lot of young talent battling for that 3-4 stretch position. Could definitely play a role in Ahmad's recruitment.
Who are the centers that we're recruiting over the next couple of classes?
but yea, I am more concered about center recruting than anything else. This team needs an elite shot blocker/rebounder to compete at the highest level. Just look at this year's team in the tourney without Mitch vs last year's team with Mitch. Both runs were great, but Mitch put this team over the top in 2013.
did you watch the final 4 syracuse game? also, if a player has skills on offense, beilein will see it and utilize it.
Yes, I can't believe Beilein didn't run more of the offense through Morgan given the terrible options available (Nik, Caris, GRIII, Walton, etc.). This is a classic case of using what you have. Yes, Morgan and Horford didn't get a ton of touches. Why would we have them initiate the offense when much better options are available? As others indicate, if McGary was playing (or Zimmerman, Stone, etc.) there would definitely be more touches for a big.
You sound like Matta trying to negatively recruit against UM by distorting the facts.
I hope we pass on him. Need better.
Thanks for posting.