2016 Offer List

[WarPig88]

Maybe I should have added a good coach with control of his program just needs one or two good recruiting classes. And I don't just mean by star ratings, actual decent human beings who will attend class, not commit crimes, and stick around the program for a few seasons.

You mean like Ben Howland?

[Razoryak]

You mean like Ben Howland?

??

Howland was a good coach, but he lost control of his program by bringing in the wrong recruits near the end. Hence his downfall. If he learns from those mistakes, then yes Miss St will be turned around within two years. They already signed the best scorer in the 2015 class, so what is your point?

To my original point, one recruiting class and they are already better than us, and will remain there if he controls the program properly and retains players.

[WarPig88]

??

Howland was a good coach, but he lost control of his program by bringing in the wrong recruits near the end. Hence his downfall. If he learns from those mistakes, then yes Miss St will be turned around within two years. They already signed the best scorer in the 2015 class, so what is your point?

To my original point, one recruiting class and they are already better than us, and will remain there if he controls the program properly and retains players.

Don't they actually have to beat us first before they can be better than us?

[Razoryak]

Don't they actually have to beat us first before they can be better than us?

So you wouldn't trade rosters with them right now?? Hopefully CMA can have a big 2016 recruiting class, and just like that we will be turned back around, that is if we manage/retain the talent properly. 

[nwahogfan1]

I actually don't know that we won't be competitive. It's sad that you think you do.

Look, I do like MA and have followed him since he left for UAB.

But you and so many others here are just like the mizzou idiots who were saying the exact same stuff the entire time he coached there.

History has pretty well borne out that he did know how to recruit and develop players even though his classes weren't rated highly. It's not like Mizzou was a big time program either. Look at their program today and what it looked like when he got there.

He has cleaned up THREE messes of programs now in his career. That alone should get your attention.

Things that blow past the complainers. Arkansas SEC winning pct in the DECADE prior to MA was 38%. After rebuilding from that garbage dump point, MA has a 55.7% win pct in SEC games now. Nolan won 62% of his SEC games and he had the program rolling when he hit the league.

What is it that people like you want? Do you really think you can go from a DECADE of being one of the 3 worst programs in a football league to being a national power and consistent in a league full of draft picks and athletes?

Since 2005, the SEC trails only the ACC in NBA draftees, 104 to 88. The next closest is the Pac 12 with 74. This isn't the SWC.

We have been recruiting from the disadvantages of SUCKING the previous decade and lagging WAY behind in the war of facilities. But we are supposed to land McDAA's and take our pick of recruits just by snapping our fingers.

We are getting visits out of a lot of our Plan A guys.

People should relax. If MA doesn't get it done, he won't be here. The people who have been complaining are 25 years in the past in what is required to build a program these days.

So far, we have done nothing but move ahead. Until that actually changes on the court, you have nothing to be SO miserable about.

Good post. You made some good points.

BB is a sport that can be turned around very quickly because it only takes 2 or 3 studs plus the right role players.  This is the reason a school can hire a coach and he signs the right guys and he can turn his program completely around in one year.  Maintaining is a different matter because you have to feed the monster Nolan would always say.  Mike did not feed the monster with his very weak 2015 signing class.   We can blame it on our 2 studs leaving early but when a coach makes $2+ million then we don't want to hear excuses.  Mike did a very good job last year, not great but very good but his 2 studs are gone.   Where do we go from here? 

His November class will set the momentum.   Fans will wait.  We want Mike or who ever the coach is to do well.  Why wouldn"t we.  We are all Hog fans..   We will wait but past recruiting of studs outside the state of Arkansas has not been good for CMA.  But still we try to be optimistic.  It sure would be nice to get some early commitments. 

So we wait.

[Hawg Red]

Arlando Cook is on an unofficial visit in Fayetteville today, per Brad Winton.

[-Blu]

Arlando Cook is on an unofficial visit in Fayetteville today, per Brad Winton.

Oh wow, that's pretty good news.  Thanks for update on that.

[Razorod]

Hope the visit goes well.

[Hawg Red]

Jaylen Fisher will be making an official visit to Fayetteville this weekend (Sept 4-6), per Paul Biancardi of ESPN.

[MikePiazza]

Jaylen Fisher will be making an official visit to Fayetteville this weekend (Sept 4-6), per Paul Biancardi of ESPN.

If Mike could land him, it would ease my frustrations over not getting Payton Willis.

[WorfHog]

If Mike could land him, it would ease my frustrations over not getting Payton Willis.

You make it sound like we missed on him. No offer ≠ missed, more like never swung.

[WarPig88]

Good post. You made some good points.

BB is a sport that can be turned around very quickly because it only takes 2 or 3 studs plus the right role players.  This is the reason a school can hire a coach and he signs the right guys and he can turn his program completely around in one year.  Maintaining is a different matter because you have to feed the monster Nolan would always say.  Mike did not feed the monster with his very weak 2015 signing class.   We can blame it on our 2 studs leaving early but when a coach makes $2+ million then we don't want to hear excuses.  Mike did a very good job last year, not great but very good but his 2 studs are gone.   Where do we go from here? 

His November class will set the momentum.   Fans will wait.  We want Mike or who ever the coach is to do well.  Why wouldn"t we.  We are all Hog fans..   We will wait but past recruiting of studs outside the state of Arkansas has not been good for CMA.  But still we try to be optimistic.  It sure would be nice to get some early commitments. 

So we wait.

I cannot recall but very few instances of basketball programs ever being turned around in a year. Frank Martin is a good coach and he is still struggling to establish anything at South Carolina. Michigan was a power house and it has taken years of futility to get it going again and it hasn't sustained. Indiana is a basketball royalty type school that hasn't reestablished itself even under a good coach like Crean. The list could go on an on.

Here at the U of A, which is the only school that matters to me, there has never been a one year turn around in the entire history of the program. It has always required a foundation being in place before 1 or 2 talented players can make enough of a difference to move the program into upper tier of college basketball.

There is a foundation here at this point. We do also lack that special player or two that is needed to make us elite. I don't see how anyone can argue to the contrary.

But it's the "all hope is lost", "MA can't recruit and will never bring enough talent" people that are beyond annoying. This next class is already shaping up in that we have Macon and Kapita as the foundation right now. The class following it already has a big time commitment as well.

I believe that the program is already on firm footing again for the future. It is time to take the next step and land at least a couple of the prime targets like Fisher or Parrish. Do that and this class will be very good even if Monk really does decide to go elsewhere.

But l wish folks would just relax and let it play out. It's not like we have any power to influence the outcome in either direction. Right now we are getting a lot of our targets to visit. That's a positive for sure.

[WorfHog]

Looks like Kapita can come off the board.

[The_Iceman]

Looks like Kapita can come of the board.

Now we only have one 4-star committed for 2016, after only getting one 4-star in 2015. Mike better start landing some commitments soon.

[Hawg Red]

I don't have any words right now.

[-Blu]

http://www.wholehogsports.com/news/2015/sep/01/kapita-goes-pro/

Wow!  That's pretty shocking news.  Need some good news this weekend to overshadow this.

On the flip side, probably means we'll hear more news about Andrew Gordon or Mitchell Smith now.  I would assume both of these guys were next on the list as far as big men.  You land a guy like Gordon to go along with a Mcgriff and Arlando Cook you recover from this. 

[Hawg Red]

http://www.wholehogsports.com/news/2015/sep/01/kapita-goes-pro/

Wow!  That's pretty shocking news.  Need some good news this weekend to overshadow this.

On the flip side, probably means we'll hear more news about Andrew Gordon or Mitchell Smith now.  I would assume both of these guys were next on the list as far as big men.  You land a guy like Gordon to go along with a Mcgriff and Arlando Cook you recover from this.

The road to recovery has only been getting longer.

[-Blu]

The road to recovery has only been getting longer.

Been a rough off-season, no doubt, but isn't the end of the world.  It's sports it happens.  Other teams both pro and college are taking their share of bumps to.  I was just reading yesterday that Indiana just had to release it's 3rd player this off-season. 

We're on some nice prospects for 2016, with the loss of Kapita now, it should open up a spot for someone else,  we'll see what happens.  This 2016 class could end up being one of the most important classes for the b-ball program in a long time.

[Hawg Red]

Been a rough off-season, no doubt, but isn't the end of the world.  It's sports it happens.  Other teams both pro and college are taking their share of bumps to.  I was just reading yesterday that Indiana just had to release it's 3rd player this off-season. 

We're on some nice prospects for 2016, with the loss of Kapita now, it should open up a spot for someone else,  we'll see what happens.  This 2016 class could end up being one of the most important classes for the b-ball program in a long time.

It's never the end of the world for any program because there's always a next season. But that doesn't take away from the fact that recruiting has been near abysmal since the staff signed Whitt. Only bright spot being the Macon commitment. Hopefully this changes very soon, but pieces just keep getting taken away. It's disheartening to say the least. I don't know what kind of prep players we can reasonably expect, but the staff had better close on some top JUCO guys with all the spots we have open. No excuse not to, really.

[WarPig88]

It's never the end of the world for any program because there's always a next season. But that doesn't take away from the fact that recruiting has been near abysmal since the staff signed Whitt. Only bright spot being the Macon commitment. Hopefully this changes very soon, but pieces just keep getting taken away. It's disheartening to say the least. I don't know what kind of prep players we can reasonably expect, but the staff had better close on some top JUCO guys with all the spots we have open. No excuse not to, really.

Gafford says hey.

[Hawg Red]

Gafford says hey.

He'll say "hey" in 2 years.

[Hogimus Prime]

With Macon on board and the Kapita bit IMO MA is going to sign three 4/5s along with a guard/guard or a guard/wing. 

Kapita was brought in to replace Harris, and with some of the forwards tue Hogs are looking at tells me MA is wanting the 4 to be bigger than 6'6" or 6'7". Now this doesn't mean he won't play wing at the four. He will when the Hogs go small. The lack of a tall athletic 4 has hurt the Hogs the last few seasons when in man to man with the way the 5 will switch off on screens out top. Harris was physical but only 6'4" and JW was 6'8" but wasn't going to protect the rim

[nwahogfan1]

Jaylen Fisher will be making an official visit to Fayetteville this weekend (Sept 4-6), per Paul Biancardi of ESPN.

What are our chances of getting Fisher to commit this weekend?   If he doesn't commit this weekend what will be our chances be if he takes all of his visits?

We need some good news in recruiting.

[Hawg Red]

What are our chances of getting Fisher to commit this weekend?   If he doesn't commit this weekend what will be our chances be if he takes all of his visits?

We need some good news in recruiting.

I wouldn't guess he would commit while on the visit. I just get that vibe. Guys that commit on visits are usually guys that are leaning heavily coming into the visit. I'm not sure that's the case with Fisher. Maybe the visit puts us in the lead. I hope so.

[Razorod]

Well, the way may be being paved for him to come in and be the immediate starter if Beard doesn't have the charges against him dropped. That plus Durham's graduation means lots of playing time if not starter status as a freshman.

That may help persuade him.

[nwahogfan1]

I cannot recall but very few instances of basketball programs ever being turned around in a year. Frank Martin is a good coach and he is still struggling to establish anything at South Carolina. Michigan was a power house and it has taken years of futility to get it going again and it hasn't sustained. Indiana is a basketball royalty type school that hasn't reestablished itself even under a good coach like Crean. The list could go on an on.

Here at the U of A, which is the only school that matters to me, there has never been a one year turn around in the entire history of the program. It has always required a foundation being in place before 1 or 2 talented players can make enough of a difference to move the program into upper tier of college basketball.

There is a foundation here at this point. We do also lack that special player or two that is needed to make us elite. I don't see how anyone can argue to the contrary.

But it's the "all hope is lost", "MA can't recruit and will never bring enough talent" people that are beyond annoying. This next class is already shaping up in that we have Macon and Kapita as the foundation right now. The class following it already has a big time commitment as well.

I believe that the program is already on firm footing again for the future. It is time to take the next step and land at least a couple of the prime targets like Fisher or Parrish. Do that and this class will be very good even if Monk really does decide to go elsewhere.

But l wish folks would just relax and let it play out. It's not like we have any power to influence the outcome in either direction. Right now we are getting a lot of our targets to visit. That's a positive for sure.

Thanks WarPig for being positive on Mike's recruiting.  We need more of you on here because so many of us are not.  We would love for you to bring us positive info on Mike's targets and visits and signings.  We skeptics are not as sure as you and need more reassurance.

Thanks for giving us hope but we would love more specifics on Recruits.   Please 

[nwahogfan1]

I wouldn't guess he would commit while on the visit. I just get that vibe. Guys that commit on visits are usually guys that are leaning heavily coming into the visit. I'm not sure that's the case with Fisher. Maybe the visit puts us in the lead. I hope so.

Ok, thanks.  lets hope he feels the Love and sees the need. 

Woo Pigs

[WarPig88]

Thanks WarPig for being positive on Mike's recruiting.  We need more of you on here because so many of us are not.  We would love for you to bring us positive info on Mike's targets and visits and signings.  We skeptics are not as sure as you and need more reassurance.

Thanks for giving us hope but we would love more specifics on Recruits.   Please

I am not as good as Razorag. Check out his updates on our recruits. He actually has a list of our targets active on this page right now.

We are in on some good players right now. Whether we actually land them remains to be seen. If we don't, you will see me be critical, but until then I am going to be optimistic.

[Hawg Red]

Official visits this weekend for Hog targets:

Jaylen Fisher - Arkansas
Cameron McGriff - Arkansas
Eric Curry - Minnesota
Jaylen Barford - Missouri
Tyler Cook - Florida

Arlando Cook - Missouri (unofficial)

[nwahogfan1]

Things are getting busy on the recruiting trail, and the staff has handed out several offers recently. He's a recap of all the offers I have us as having extended, old and new.

2016 class only.

Prep Recruits
Malik Monk - 6'4 SG (Bentonville by way of Lepanto, AR)
Terrance Ferguson - 6'6 SG/SF (Dallas, TX)
Bam Adebayo - 6'9 PF (Washington, NC)
De'Aaron Fox - 6'3 PG (Katy, TX)
Tyler Cook - 6'8 PF (St. Louis, MO)
Jaylen Fisher - 6'2 PG (Arlington, TN)
Sedee Keita - 6'9 PF (Greenville, SC)
Micah Thomas - 6'7 SF (Eads, TN)
Schnider Herard - 6'10 C (Plano, TX)
DeAndre Hunter - 6'7 SF (Philadelphia, PA)
Eric Curry - 6'8 PF (Little Rock, AR by way of Memphis, TN)
Adrio Bailey - 6'7 SF (Campti, LA)
Cameron McGriff - 6'6 SF (Grand Prairie, TX)
Josh Parrish - 6'5 SF/SG (Arlington, TX)
Mitchell Smith - 6'9 PF (Van Buren, AR)

JUCOs
Jaylen Barford - 6'3 SG/PG (Tullahoma, TN) - Motlow State C.C.
Arlando Cook - 6'8 PF (Warner, OK) - Connors State College
Jimario Rivers - 6'8 PF (Clarksville, TN) - SW Tennessee C.C.

Off your list who will be the first to commit?    Do we sign at least 3 in November off your list?

[Hawg Red]

Richard Davenport reported over the weekend that Eric Curry cancelled his trip to SMU this weekend and will instead visit Iowa State. Not sure what that means for SMU. He visits Fayetteville next weekend.

RD also reported that Jaylen Fisher plans to announce plans for future visits today.

[Hawg Red]

Off your list who will be the first to commit?    Do we sign at least 3 in November off your list?

I would guess that McGriff might be the first to commit. And I do think we'll sign 3 guys in the early period.

[Hawg Red]

Official visits this weekend for Hog targets:

Eric Curry - Iowa State
Cameron McGriff - Oklahoma State

[-Blu]

Official visits this weekend for Hog targets:

Eric Curry - Iowa State
Cameron McGriff - Oklahoma State

Eric Curry just got a 4-star ranking from 247.  And he's a top 150 guy on every single site.  He's a kid I got to watch in person as well as a few times on live streams, really like his game, he's a hustle guy that just finds a way to get involved.  I must admit Iowa St., kinda scares me in his recruitment, he cancelled his SMU visit to go there, and Iowa St. is known to really get the most out of players, could be a very attractive spot for him.

[The_Iceman]

Eric Curry just got a 4-star ranking from 247.  And he's a top 150 guy on every single site.  He's a kid I got to watch in person as well as a few times on live streams, really like his game, he's a hustle guy that just finds a way to get involved.  I must admit Iowa St., kinda scares me in his recruitment, he cancelled his SMU visit to go there, and Iowa St. is known to really get the most out of players, could be a very attractive spot for him.

If we lose an in-state 4-star kid to Iowa State and Steve Prohm....I'm not even gonna say it.

[Hawg Red]

Updated our list of targets to reflect the targets that we know are still current. Maybe they're still involved with some of the other guys but there's nothing to suggest that right now.

Prep Recruits
Malik Monk - 6'4 SG (Bentonville by way of Lepanto, AR)
Tyler Cook - 6'8 PF (St. Louis, MO)
Jaylen Fisher - 6'2 PG (Arlington, TN)
Eric Curry - 6'8 PF (Little Rock, AR by way of Memphis, TN)
Adrio Bailey - 6'7 SF (Campti, LA)
Cameron McGriff - 6'6 SF (Grand Prairie, TX)
Josh Parrish - 6'5 SF/SG (Arlington, TX)
Andrew Gordon - 6'9 PF/C (South Kent Prep by way of Florida)
Mitchell Smith - 6'9 PF (Van Buren, AR)

JUCOs
Jaylen Barford - 6'3 SG/PG (Tullahoma, TN) - Motlow State C.C.
Arlando Cook - 6'8 PF (Warner, OK) - Connors State College

[-Blu]

If we lose an in-state 4-star kid to Iowa State and Steve Prohm....I'm not even gonna say it.

Actually, I didn't even know it until Hawg Red said something, but he's from Memphis, just came to go to Southwest to play basketball.  I'm not sure how much loyalty he has here.  He's obviously interested in us though, always spoke highly of staff and the state in all the interviews I've read.  I'm not sure if I have a preference yet, they all ranked about the same, but I'd like to see us get 2 of the 4 between, Cameron McGriff, Tyler Cook, Eric Curry and Arlando Cook.  You could probably throw Adrio Bailey in that mix, who I heard, is visiting in October. 

[Hawg Red]

Actually, I didn't even know it until Hawg Red said something, but he's from Memphis, just came to go to Southwest to play basketball.  I'm not sure how much loyalty he has here.  He's obviously interested in us though, always spoke highly of staff and the state in all the interviews I've read.  I'm not sure if I have a preference yet, they all ranked about the same, but I'd like to see us get 2 of the 4 between, Cameron McGriff, Tyler Cook, Eric Curry and Arlando Cook.  You could probably throw Adrio Bailey in that mix, who I heard, is visiting in October.

Yeah, I don't really consider Curry an in-state prospect. He's somewhere in between an in-state and out-of-state recruit.

[nwahogfan1]

Official visits this weekend for Hog targets:

Jaylen Fisher - Arkansas
Cameron McGriff - Arkansas
Eric Curry - Minnesota
Jaylen Barford - Missouri
Tyler Cook - Florida

Arlando Cook - Missouri (unofficial)

Who are our 1s in that group and who are in the 1a group? 

[Hawg Red]

Jaylen Fisher will visit Memphis September 24-26.

[hawginbigd1]

Who are our 1s in that group and who are in the 1a group?

It may not be popular but i would take them and call it done in all seriousness.

[-Blu]

Jaylen Fisher will visit Memphis September 24-26.

Gut feeling tells me Fisher will end up in Memphis.  I think LSU eliminated themselves when they picked up Skylar Mays.  This may not make much sense, but, I've kinda always got the feeling that he likes that fact the staff really wants him, but he rather play somewhere else.  I was hopeful when we got the first visit, but other than that I've never really had a good feeling that he would end up a hog.  Obviously, I hope I'm wrong, but I think he ends up somewhere else.

[mykidsdad]

Kmmmm

[Hawg Red]

Gut feeling tells me Fisher will end up in Memphis.  I think LSU eliminated themselves when they picked up Skylar Mays.  This may not make much sense, but, I've kinda always got the feeling that he likes that fact the staff really wants him, but he rather play somewhere else.  I was hopeful when we got the first visit, but other than that I've never really had a good feeling that he would end up a hog.  Obviously, I hope I'm wrong, but I think he ends up somewhere else.

I don't feel like we'll get him, either. Barford may be a better immediate fit. I know that's a reversal of my previous opinion. If we do have a down year and miss the tournament, we'll need to get back there quickly. Barford probably gives us the better shot at that happening.

[-Blu]

I don't feel like we'll get him, either. Barford may be a better immediate fit. I know that's a reversal of my previous opinion. If we do have a down year and miss the tournament, we'll need to get back there quickly. Barford probably gives us the better shot at that happening.

Especially if Beard doesn't make it back.

[-Blu]

Just noticed that in-home visits starts today.  Some notables that I've seen so far.

Malik Monk - In home with Kentucky and Arkansas today.
Jaylen Barford - In home with Ole Miss and Louisville today.

I wonder who else CMA plans to see this week.

Edit: Staff went to visit Eric Curry at practice on Wednesday.  He's down to 3 schools.... Ark, Minn, and Iowa St.

[Hawg Red]

Updated official visits this weekend for Hog targets:

Eric Curry - Iowa State
Cameron McGriff - Oklahoma State
Jaylen Fisher  - UNLV

[-Blu]

Updated official visits this weekend for Hog targets:

Eric Curry - Iowa State
Cameron McGriff - Oklahoma State
Jaylen Fisher  - UNLV

When we have games at Little Rock, it kinda messes us up, because kids aren't going to want to take an official to our campus when the football game and all the fans are in Little Rock.  Curry was originally suppose to be visiting us this weekend, I'm assuming it got shifted around for this reason.  We basically lose a week of visits. 

[TomBigBeeHog]

When we have games at Little Rock, it kinda messes us up, because kids aren't going to want to take an official to our campus when the football game and all the fans are in Little Rock.  Curry was originally suppose to be visiting us this weekend, I'm assuming it got shifted around for this reason.  We basically lose a week of visits.

Probably doesn't help football recruiting either as far as official visits. However, it gives the Hogs a huge visible platform in LR (all that Razorback red flooding the streets) and maybe that helps us to give us an edge in recruiting across the state by having that game in central Arkansas area. We do seem to target a lot of bball talent in that area lately (even though we lost a couple of good ones).

Nevertheless, you make a valid point.

[Hawg Red]

De'Ron Davis has expanded his list from 3 to 6, with the Hogs getting added back. Might still be a longshot, but the door is not completely closed at least.