'18 Hog offer Deshang "DJ" Weaver just named Hogs his leader ...

[Swinesong1]

wrong... we get bodies in the NBA and we get better recruits.

right now we have three guys in the NBA. not a single one of them makes headlines.

'Cause being considered one of the five best defenders in the NBA doesn't create a headline.  Lol

[Hawg Red]

So would Perry have made this a NC team?  If you don't think so, what is the big loss?  He is a one and done!  He meant nothing to the long term health of the Hog BB team period!

First all, did I say he was a harm to the long term health of the program?

Second, is going to the NC game the only thing that matters? Perry could have propelled this team to the Elite 8, and that's a big deal.

One year of Perry is a big deal for a program like Arkansas, just as one year of Malik Monk would have been. Does it hurt the long term health of the program? Not directly but it likely stunts growth.

[Hawg Red]

How many 1 and dones does Gonzaga have each year?  Is Gonzaga prominent every year in the NCAAT?  The answer to the first question is none.  The answer to the second question is yes.  Now let's get to why they are prominent year after year.  One word:  consistency!  They recruit and keep kids in their program which has led to the effectiveness of their program.  I would have loved watching Monk or Perry in a Hog uni but I also think because they are 1 and dones they would have stunted the development of a player that's going to be here 3 or 4 years.  There were several teams in the Sweet 16 without a single 1 and done so therefore I think it provides a great deal of proof that these kids do not actually elevate programs to consistent contenders.  Heck U.K. Is loaded with them every year but what do they have to show for it?  One Natty?  The Hog team is being built the right way for sustained success and that's all that should matter.  See Wichita State!

First of all, what has Wichita State really accomplished? One Final 4 five years ago and a Sweet 16. They're a great mid-major but why are they relevant to this discussion? Why is Gonzaga relevant? Both of those programs build in different ways than his sustainable for a high-major to build. Where would Gonzaga be without high-major transfers? Where would Wichita State be without JUCOs and playing in a soft conference every year (we'll see about the latter now). Arkansas can't build their program like a mid-major.

I'm not sure why I'm wasting my time arguing with someone that Reggie Perry, even in one year, would have enhanced the Arkansas program. Just think about what you're saying. You're basically saying, "5-stars make our program worse." Dumb. Arkansas is the kinf of program that really could use a 5-star/one-and-done every once in a while to make a serious push. We're not Kentucky or Duke. It won't be a common occurence. But continue to tell yourself that Arkansas is better off with Reggie Perry.

[Swinesong1]

Left Hawks for more playing time. 

[Hogimus Prime]

Left Hawks for more playing time. 

I don't think he will be a Hog now

[ADavisTheGOAT]

Don't think he was ever going to be a Hog. Also, AAU is about "me" and not the team.

[Kevin McPherson]

Left Hawks for more playing time.

https://twitter.com/ARHoopScoop/status/888182827707244545

[Letsroll1200]

https://twitter.com/ARHoopScoop/status/888182827707244545

Hogs have some better options

[Big Nasty 34]

Hogs have some better options

Don't hold your breath.

[The_Iceman]

Don't hold your breath.

Exactly. We will probably get some undersized barely 3-star forward now.

[NWAHog479]

He was not getting that many minutes with the Hawks due to his health... They wanted to ease him in. When he did play he looked solid, but not sure if he has even put up better numbers than Stoakes. Interesting move for DJ.

[Hawg Red]

Exactly. We will probably get some undersized barely 3-star forward now.

You could very well be right, but I'm convinced Weaver is clearly better than that.

[Letsroll1200]

You could very well be right, but I'm convinced Weaver is clearly better than that.

Seen him play and was not overly impressed. Combo type of player but didn't see the athleticism. If we strike out on others we can always go back to Weaver.

[ShadowHawg]

Seen him play and was not overly impressed. Combo type of player but didn't see the athleticism. If we strike out on others we can always go back to Weaver.

Was very athletic prior to the injury. Definitely worth the risk to see if he gets it back. Top 20 type talent before he got hurt.

[Hawg Red]

Was very athletic prior to the injury. Definitely worth the risk to see if he gets it back. Top 20 type talent before he got hurt.

But how much does that really mean at that stage of development? He was a top 20 talent at 15 years old. Okay, that's good, but not sure how much can really be gleaned from that. Connor Vanover was ranked as a top 20-25 talent at one juncture. Ethan Henderson was ranked as high as #11 by ESPN. That injury really set him back and it's very odd to me that it's taken this long for him to bounce back. It's 2017. We're seeing players shake off knee injuries in under a year. 6, 8 months and their back. It's been almost 2 years for this kid. It's a concern, IMO.

[ShadowHawg]

But how much does that really mean at that stage of development? He was a top 20 talent at 15 years old. Okay, that's good, but not sure how much can really be gleaned from that. Connor Vanover was ranked as a top 20-25 talent at one juncture. Ethan Henderson was ranked as high as #11 by ESPN. That injury really set him back and it's very odd to me that it's taken this long for him to bounce back. It's 2017. We're seeing players shake off knee injuries in under a year. 6, 8 months and their back. It's been almost 2 years for this kid. It's a concern, IMO.

He damaged both acl and mcl. The kids who come back quick are all acl guys. If it was just mcl it would still have been worse than an acl.

Weaver would be a project. A project with huge upside. We are always going to sign a project or two. Why not a former top 20 guy in his class?

[Kevin McPherson]

He damaged both acl and mcl. The kids who come back quick are all acl guys. If it was just mcl it would still have been worse than an acl.

Weaver would be a project. A project with huge upside. We are always going to sign a project or two. Why not a former top 20 guy in his class?

Correct on the distinction between his knee injury and others that are typically only ACL. He was out for 18 months, has been back playing for only 7 months. I've seen him play a lot, and though he is talented, it seems to me he still has problems gettng to full speed end-to-end as well as limitations in his flexibility and explosiveness.   

[Hawg Red]

He damaged both acl and mcl. The kids who come back quick are all acl guys. If it was just mcl it would still have been worse than an acl.

Weaver would be a project. A project with huge upside. We are always going to sign a project or two. Why not a former top 20 guy in his class?

I'm not any less concerned reading that he tore both the ACL and MCL. Kevin says out for 18 months and has been back for 7 months and still isn't full speed. That's over 2 years. 2 years is a long time to get over any injury, and you don't usually see an athlete put it all back together if it's taking them that long to get to full speed.

[ShadowHawg]

I'm not any less concerned reading that he tore both the ACL and MCL. Kevin says out for 18 months and has been back for 7 months and still isn't full speed. That's over 2 years. 2 years is a long time to get over any injury, and you don't usually see an athlete put it all back together if it's taking them that long to get to full speed.

Conditioning is a huge part of being a top level athlete. Being out for 18 months puts him way behind his peers in terms of conditioning. Game condition is different as well.

Barring another injury, he will regain nearly all of his athleticism back over the next two years when he gets to college and gets proper nutrition to go with conditioning.

If we can take a chance on Hazen, I see no reason to exclude a guy with this type of potential.

[Hawg Red]

Conditioning is a huge part of being a top level athlete. Being out for 18 months puts him way behind his peers in terms of conditioning. Game condition is different as well.

Barring another injury, he will regain nearly all of his athleticism back over the next two years when he gets to college and gets proper nutrition to go with conditioning.

If we can take a chance on Hazen, I see no reason to exclude a guy with this type of potential.

Hazen was a late signee after the season. Big difference in signing a player under those circumstances and making a player like this a priority target.

I think we should try to do better/go after players with less risk. If we make our way down the list to Weaver, so be it. But we didn't go after Hazen in the early period so it's kind of an apples to oranges comparison.

[Swinesong1]

Committed to Oral Roberts.  Best of luck to a good kid.

[Kevin McPherson]

Committed to Oral Roberts.  Best of luck to a good kid.

[The_Iceman]

Committed to Oral Roberts.  Best of luck to a good kid.

Appropriate. Good luck to Weaver!

[Kevin McPherson]

Appropriate. Good luck to Weaver!

I don't how appropriate it is (if you meant the level of offer), more along the lines of fortunate for the young man to still have a D1 option after all he's been through, but unfortunate based on his potential pre-injury. This kid was tracking high-major before he wrecked his knee, and you could see flashes of it in the spring. He got an Arkansas offer after the injury, but it was conditional on his recovery and development from there. He never got to full speed or explosiveness, and was never able to consistently string together big-minute games. After being out of basketball for 18 months, he's only been playing for just under 10 months.

[MemphisBossHog]

wrong... we get bodies in the NBA and we get better recruits.

right now we have three guys in the NBA. not a single one of them makes headlines.

I agree with you for the most part.  One thing I will pass on to you is that after Portis had the altercation with Mirotic and there was some talk about how the Bulls were going to remedy the situation by moving either Portis or Mirotic, David Aldridge on NBA TV was saying that when the Bulls wanted to move Mirotic, they found that EVERYBODY wanted Portis.  So there may not be many headlines yet, but Portis has the love of a lot of NBA GMs and in a couple years, he might start generating some good headlines instead of the ones where he cold cocks his teammate and sends him to the hospital