Recruiting Thread

[Soxbadger]

People on a Wisconsin board were talking about Garrett and how Bo missed him.

 

Its odd that he didnt get any real good in-state offers, but most suspect Wisconsin passed because they had Hughes and Bohannon this year, with Jordan Taylor the year after so they went and got 2 bigs and an SG.

[Heads22]

Wiscy got Bohannon though, so we'll call it a trade. I LOVE what I see out of Diante. He can be All-Big 12 if he can find an outside shot.

[Jimbo's Drinker]

No, no. Rest assured. You're a DB.

 

 

you are so cute

[aboz56]

New Rivals 150 for 2008 shows Bud Mackey (committed to IU) at 48 after being unranked and Eshaunte Jones (senior this year but going to prep school so he is reclassified into 2008) at 72.

[Heads22]

Beas Hamga may have broken a finger, Jas.

[He_Gawn]

Alright so I just got back from Hinkle Fieldhouse to watch Gordon play and I have come to conclusion that if he does not bring IU basketball back, no one can. This guy is just flat out sick, like I want to throw up hes that freaking sick. I have never seen such range and slashing ability at the high school level. Think Roderick Wilmont range and add a few more feet to that and more accuracy. The kid is flat out dominant and seems to break 10 ankles everytime he gets the ball in his hands.

[Jimbo's Drinker]

Alright so I just got back from Hinkle Fieldhouse to watch Gordon play and I have come to conclusion that if he does not bring IU basketball back, no one can. This guy is just flat out sick, like I want to throw up hes that freaking sick. I have never seen such range and slashing ability at the high school level. Think Roderick Wilmont range and add a few more feet to that and more accuracy. The kid is flat out dominant and seems to break 10 ankles everytime he gets the ball in his hands.

haha just what illanoy fans want to hear. The future is bright at IU, not so much in champaign.

[maggsmaggs]

haha just what illanoy fans want to hear. The future is bright at IU, not so much in champaign.

Not true, Bruce Weber is a fine coach and is starting to get his recruiting in order. The rankings don't tell you everything as Quinton Watkins and Tisdale are three-stars, but they are definately gonna be good Big 10 players. McCamey is gonna be the true PG stud in the mold of Deron Williams. Illinois might be better next year with the added offensive weapons of a true PG (McCamey,) a true slasher/shooter (Watkins,) and two good shooting bigs (Tisdale and Semrau) to matchup with Pruitt who is the beast down low. I don't expect a dip in defense next year, but the offensive should be better even though freshman will counted on heavily.

Edited March 11, 2007 by maggsmaggs

[Buehrle>Wood]

haha just what illanoy fans want to hear. The future is bright at IU, not so much in champaign.

What an original and insightful post.

 

Anyway, Illinois has a solid class coming in next year, especially considering how thet got screwed over at the last minute. Add that to the fact that Bruce Weber pulled off one amazing coaching job this year, their going to be fine.

Edited March 11, 2007 by Buehrle>Wood

[Jimbo's Drinker]

Roundtree is going to be the best college basketball player in the MVC within 3 years.

 

SIU have fun with him.

[aboz56]

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/arti...439/1004/SPORTS

 

Watched the last 4 minutes earlier (someone uploaded it), all I can say is amazing. This guy could be next year's Durant. He's that good.

[maggsmaggs]

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/arti...439/1004/SPORTS

 

Watched the last 4 minutes earlier (someone uploaded it), all I can say is amazing. This guy could be next year's Durant. He's that good.

Unfortunately, he is not gonna be. Durant is more talented the Gordon is and 6-10. Gordon will be a stud, top 10 NBA pick probably, but he won't score more than 18 ppg as a freshman (which is still damn good.) He will find it much harder to score in the Big 10, so don't expect huge numbers. Gordon is another in a great line of combo guards to come into the NCAA, but Durant is a once in a lifetime player. Gordon, simply is not.

[aboz56]

Unfortunately, he is not gonna be. Durant is more talented the Gordon is and 6-10. Gordon will be a stud, top 10 NBA pick probably, but he won't score more than 18 ppg as a freshman (which is still damn good.) He will find it much harder to score in the Big 10, so don't expect huge numbers. Gordon is another in a great line of combo guards to come into the NCAA, but Durant is a once in a lifetime player. Gordon, simply is not.

Jerry Meyer, head of recruiting at Rivals, begs to differ:

 

From his latest mailbag:

 

"Gordon is an athletic anomaly who can post gaudy scoring numbers. Don't be surprised if he is the Kevin Durant of next year's freshman class - as far as putting up points. Gordon attacks the rim like a beast, can score in the mid-range of the dribble or by posting and has a pure long distance stroke either off the dribble or the pass. He can also control the boards from the shooting guard position."

 

I'm going to try to go watch Gordon this weekend in the semi-state, so then I'll have a better sense of what type of player he is. Up until now all I have seen is him on TV and various clips online. However, I'd be thrilled if he was able to average 18 a game next year.

[whitesoxfan101]

haha just what illanoy fans want to hear. The future is bright at IU, not so much in champaign.

 

I don't know where you see Indiana having such a more bright future than Illinois. Besides Gordon (who is only going to be in Bloomington for 1 year, so he better get his licks in quick), Indiana is recruiting the same mediocre 3 star/borderline low 4 stars that Bruce is, Kelvin has a history of geting recruits like that, he is a similiar coach to Bruce in that he isn't aware offense has been invented yet, and the teams looked awfully simliar this year.

[aboz56]

I don't know where you see Indiana having such a more bright future than Illinois. Besides Gordon (who is only going to be in Bloomington for 1 year, so he better get his licks in quick), Indiana is recruiting the same mediocre 3 star/borderline low 4 stars that Bruce is, Kelvin has a history of geting recruits like that, he is a similiar coach to Bruce in that he isn't aware offense has been invented yet, and the teams looked awfully simliar this year.

Jamarcus Ellis is a borderline/mediocre 3-star? Scout has him listed as a top 25 player this year (they include junior college players in their rankings) and another Juco site has him the #1 Juco in the land. I'm sure if Illinois had grabbed McGee, he wouldn't be classified as a mediocre 3-star by you. Holman should be a "very good" Big 10 player as well. I'd say the Crawford may be the only fringe guy in the group and even Scout has him as No. 100 and he's their "worst" recruit.

 

Also, they already have two 4-stars committed for 2008. And one of them, Bud Mackey, could be a top 30 player (currently 48 on rivals after being unranked) after this summer.

 

Also as far as Sampson's history for recruiting lower tier players, he had the No. 1 class coming to Oklahoma last year before it broke apart when he left. Class had Damien James and Scottie Reynolds among others, I believe. He might have had to settle for lower tier recruits at Oklahoma, but he picked it up towards the end and he won't have to settle for mediocre recruits at IU. Now in no way is this an attack on Illinois, I clearly didn't say a word about them in this post, but you need to give credit as far as recruiting goes, where credit is due.

[He_Gawn]

Jamarcus Ellis is a borderline/mediocre 3-star? Scout has him listed as a top 25 player this year (they include junior college players in their rankings) and another Juco site has him the #1 Juco in the land. I'm sure if Illinois had grabbed McGee, he wouldn't be classified as a mediocre 3-star by you. Holman should be a "very good" Big 10 player as well. I'd say the Crawford may be the only fringe guy in the group and even Scout has him as No. 100 and he's their "worst" recruit.

 

Also, they already have two 4-stars committed for 2008. And one of them, Bud Mackey, could be a top 30 player (currently 48 on rivals after being unranked) after this summer.

 

Also as far as Sampson's history for recruiting lower tier players, he had the No. 1 class coming to Oklahoma last year before it broke apart when he left. Class had Damien James and Scottie Reynolds among others, I believe. He might have had to settle for lower tier recruits at Oklahoma, but he picked it up towards the end and he won't have to settle for mediocre recruits at IU. Now in no way is this an attack on Illinois, I clearly didn't say a word about them in this post, but you need to give credit as far as recruiting goes, where credit is due.

 

Right on. I keep hearing more and more good things about Holman too and how he is tearing it up. Cannot wait for next year.

[greasywheels121]

Right on. I keep hearing more and more good things about Holman too and how he is tearing it up. Cannot wait for next year.

 

You're going to be here too right?

[He_Gawn]

I wish man, but I'm going to be at ISU. I'm going to try to get over to every home game though because its not to far from Terre Haute. Hook me up with some student tickets if your ever out of town!

[thedoctor]

Jamarcus Ellis is a borderline/mediocre 3-star? Scout has him listed as a top 25 player this year (they include junior college players in their rankings) and another Juco site has him the #1 Juco in the land. I'm sure if Illinois had grabbed McGee, he wouldn't be classified as a mediocre 3-star by you. Holman should be a "very good" Big 10 player as well. I'd say the Crawford may be the only fringe guy in the group and even Scout has him as No. 100 and he's their "worst" recruit.

 

Also, they already have two 4-stars committed for 2008. And one of them, Bud Mackey, could be a top 30 player (currently 48 on rivals after being unranked) after this summer.

 

Also as far as Sampson's history for recruiting lower tier players, he had the No. 1 class coming to Oklahoma last year before it broke apart when he left. Class had Damien James and Scottie Reynolds among others, I believe. He might have had to settle for lower tier recruits at Oklahoma, but he picked it up towards the end and he won't have to settle for mediocre recruits at IU. Now in no way is this an attack on Illinois, I clearly didn't say a word about them in this post, but you need to give credit as far as recruiting goes, where credit is due.

 

i hear a lot of what you're saying here and on many points i agree with you. but i really don't think that what 101 said was that far off base. his opinion is that outside of gordon illinois and indiana's classes are very, very similar. i'd agree with that.

 

indiana's class

 

illinois's class

 

now this is based entirely on star rankings, which is really the only objective way we can look at players we've mostly never seen play before. as an illinois fan i think their recruits can be great, just as you feel the same way about indiana's.

 

but at the end of the day, we don't know. this could be the class that gets erases the "weber can't recruit" belief, or it could be the one that gets him fired. time will tell on that, but for now the only way we have to judge these kids is by their star rankings. and in that vein, the rankings of the team's recruits are similar.

[CanOfCorn]

i hear a lot of what you're saying here and on many points i agree with you. but i really don't think that what 101 said was that far off base. his opinion is that outside of gordon illinois and indiana's classes are very, very similar. i'd agree with that.

 

indiana's class

 

illinois's class

 

now this is based entirely on star rankings, which is really the only objective way we can look at players we've mostly never seen play before. as an illinois fan i think their recruits can be great, just as you feel the same way about indiana's.

 

but at the end of the day, we don't know. this could be the class that gets erases the "weber can't recruit" belief, or it could be the one that gets him fired. time will tell on that, but for now the only way we have to judge these kids is by their star rankings. and in that vein, the rankings of the team's recruits are similar.

 

And one thing that Illinois' recruiting class has is size. Indiana's recruits are excellent, that's for sure, but it looks as though Illinois' is more well-rounded. That's not necessarily better, it's just different.

[AddisonStSox]

Sampson has proven he can recruit, no one is arguing that. Whether or not he does it fairly is still in the air; however, that isn't something I lose sleep over.

 

What is funny about all this to me is if the Gordon family didn't f*** over Weber, the "Weber can't recruit" talks would have been put to rest.

 

It's interesting, that's all.

[Rowand44]

What is funny about all this to me is if the Gordon family didn't f*** over Weber, the "Weber can't recruit" talks would have been put to rest.

I had this same conversation with Steve on Friday.

[thedoctor]

Sampson has proven he can recruit, no one is arguing that. Whether or not he does it fairly is still in the air; however, that isn't something I lose sleep over.

 

What is funny about all this to me is if the Gordon family didn't f*** over Weber, the "Weber can't recruit" talks would have been put to rest.

 

It's interesting, that's all.

 

well, some (not me) would say that this case just reinforced the criticism and highlighted his weaknesses.

 

weber had established a relationship with the gordon family a long, long time ago (seventh grade?) and sampson swooped in and in a few months pretty much erased whatever work had been done. that's arguably the third time this has happened to him--a kid is an illinois lock, and then he's not. julian wright and sherron collins were other examples.

 

in each case, there were supposedly other factors that spurred this. gordon loved indiana, wright loved bill self, and collins' high school coach was on the take (not saying he was, that's just the rub). there's probably some factuality in some of all that, but at the end of the day the result is that weber couldn't close.

[whitesoxfan101]

i hear a lot of what you're saying here and on many points i agree with you. but i really don't think that what 101 said was that far off base. his opinion is that outside of gordon illinois and indiana's classes are very, very similar. i'd agree with that.

 

indiana's class

 

illinois's class

 

now this is based entirely on star rankings, which is really the only objective way we can look at players we've mostly never seen play before. as an illinois fan i think their recruits can be great, just as you feel the same way about indiana's.

 

but at the end of the day, we don't know. this could be the class that gets erases the "weber can't recruit" belief, or it could be the one that gets him fired. time will tell on that, but for now the only way we have to judge these kids is by their star rankings. and in that vein, the rankings of the team's recruits are similar.

 

Hooray common sense. And I also think Illinois would already be doing a lot better in recruiting had they got Gordon, Ohio State could tell you better than anybody what 1 big recruit can do.

[AddisonStSox]

...but at the end of the day the result is that weber couldn't close.

 

That, of course, is the devil's advocate position on it. He couldn't close. That is a factually correct statement. No doubt.

 

But, I do believe there were some extracurriculars and some extenuating circumstances involved in all three of the aforementioned cases.

 

However, my point remains. Had he locked up Gordon, all of the "Weber can't recruit" talk (which does appear to be accurate at this point in time) would have disappeared.

 

I just can't believe a coach so good with the X's and O's can't pull in at least one or two five-stars, say, every other year. He's going to have to really refine his skills in the recruitment department--or align himself with some recruiting "wiz-kid"--or he will be on the hot seat despite his Wins and Losses.

Edited March 13, 2007 by AddisonStSox