BBall Recruiting Thoughts/Info

[RazorAg]

Well, the first live period is over, and if you follow bball recruiting closely, it's exciting to get more recruiting info and see development from already-existing targets.

Things cleared up a little more this morning as big time 6'3 Combo G King McClure chose Baylor.  As I said in another post, I believe we were right there in the end, but it always seemed like we weren't in the first tier of his top 5.  It's reasonable to assume we were 3rd, though.  Still, I urged a lot of people not to get their hopes up due to lacking activity and buzz related to us.

Now, we continue to focus on other Combo Guards that seem to be the highest on our board - 6'2 KeVaughn Allen, 6'2 Jimmy Whitt and 6'2 Admon Gilder.  As I've said recently, my gut says it will be hard to get Gilder away from SMU, but we'll see how things shake out.  I still think we have good chances with Allen and Whitt, with understanding that both could be favoring others slightly right now, but we're right there in the top tier; long way to go on both.  Whitt and Gilder, although more highly rated than Allen on a few lists, have less big time offers than Allen at the moment.  That could change quickly, though.  Gilder and Whitt had a strong two weekends; I know Whitt just got offered by Minnesota and Xavier last night.  Their stock is rising, so we'll see more competition with them.

As more AAU events occur, we'll see who else is really high on our list.  Someone that is intriguing to me and has had really performed well so far this Spring is 6'5 Wing LaGerald Vick out of Memphis.  He plays for Team Thad, and they were down in Biloxi last weekend; Mike Anderson was there.  Also, on Team Thad is a kid that's really been producing and is under-recruited at this point - 6'8 Jordan Varnado from Brownsville, TN.  Wouldn't be surprised if he pops up on our radar.  As reported on here, 6'6 Wing Matt Holba from Indiana and 6'8 Post Kerry Blackshear from Florida were seen by our staff early last week.

For those of you that like to follow and root for the Arkansas Wings, it's being reported a few places that top 10 2015 6'11 Skal Labbissiere will not continue to play for the Wings in the EYBL.  Rather, he'll play with M33M, which is who he played for two years ago.  That's NBA player's Mike Miller's organization that is based out of Memphis.  Sucks.  The Wings go from a title contender to an average team in the leage now.  They have very little height.  Gojko Djokovic is 6'8 but isn't strong and his skill set favors the perimeter more at this time.  And, again, I'm not in the position to judge, but it would've been good for all parties involved if 6'9 2016 prospect from Van Buren, Mitchell Smith, had chosen to play for the Wings EYBL team.  He would've given them height that they need, and he would've gotten a TON of playing time and opportunity to develop and play against the best in the nation.  Now, the Wings mostly rely on 6'6 Jamario Bell and 6'6 Melvin Frazier down low.

We all knew that Malik Monk would further blast off this spring/summer, and well, that was an understatement.  As a lot of you saw, Malik poured in a Nike EYBL record 59 points over the weekend.  And, he did it efficiently on 26 shots.  Went 10-16 from three and 19-23 from the FT line.  Just a stud.

As I mentioned earlier, Jimmy Whitt really opened eyes over the weekend.  Those of us that have been following closely weren't surprised, but he's not received a ton of national attention due to not being on the Nike circuit and not playing 17U last year.  He went toe to toe with #1 player in the nation Malik Newman, matched him shot for shot and facilitated his team to a win.  He shot the ball extremely well from all over the floor and showed increased explosiveness.  Gotta hope to land this kid, and he's a perfect fit for what we need.  If you compared him with Allen, Whitt is better jump shooter while Allen is more athletic and a better finisher.  All is real close, though.  Similar players.

Don't be surprised to see 6'6 Combo F Melvin Frazier slip some in the rankings this summer.  That shouldn't diminish his value as a prospect, but reality is that he just chooses to get a lot done around the rim and doesn't waste a lot of movement on dribbling and shooting outside.  He's a top 50 guy right now, but if he continues to operate as more of a 4 this spring/summer, I wouldn't be surprised to see the analysts become a little worried about those things projecting well to the college level.  However, if the analysts consider how Rondae Hollis-Jefferson of Arizona gets things done, perhaps Frazier will stay highly ranked.  Frazier is a developing shooter and ball-handler, but outstanding everywhere else.  If you look at what we have on the roster (added shooters this last class), I think we take a guy like Frazier with no concerns.  Hopefully, Frazier likes us and sees a fit.  His recruitment has been a little quiet to this point.  Again, we should know more soon.

6' PG Marquise Pointer has to cut down on his turnovers; he's averaging more than 4 per game. He's asked to do a lot for the Wings, but I'm afraid if he doesn't cut down on his turnovers, he's not going to get the looks he deserves from schools.

Look forward to more in the coming weeks!

[-Blu]

Nice post Razor.  The more I read and see from Jimmy Whitt play the more I like him. And  we've talked about this before, but our 2015 class could very well be just taking 1 guard, 1 wing, and 1 post. And if somehow we bring back both Portis and Qualls, we really only have room for 1 guard and 1 post.  But, I think at least 1 will leave, possibly both.

Another thing I'm curious about as far as 2015 guards is Dequon Miller, he was a guy we were targeting at the same time of Jabril Durham and Trey Dickerson.  It was actually released shortly after Durham committed to us that Miller was down to "Ole Miss and Arkansas", then he reclassified to come out in the 2015 JUCO class.  He was rated as the 7th best PG in JUCO for 2014 class, so if he continues to develop he could be one of the best or the best PG coming out in 2015.  It will be interesting to see if we still keep up with him and where he is on our board, if he's even on it.

[HawgAdvocate]

Great post RazorAg, gracias.

Seeing how well Whitt is doing doesn't exactly excite me, as it's a double-edged sword for the Hogs. The better he performs on a national stage, the greater the fear will be of stronger programs getting his attention.

I'm of the opinion that among the Whitt/Allen/Gilder trio, it's now Whitt or bust for the Hogs.

[klp1]

Heres another new apparent  offer 2016  Nate Morris 6'9 Dallas TX


https://recruitscoop.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1635836

[The_Bionic_Pig]

Excellent evaluations

[The real Hogules]

Jimmy Whitt's game reminds me of a Lee Mayberry.
In a word -efficient.

[mhuff]

Nice post Razor.  The more I read and see from Jimmy Whitt play the more I like him. And  we've talked about this before, but our 2015 class could very well be just taking 1 guard, 1 wing, and 1 post. And if somehow we bring back both Portis and Qualls, we really only have room for 1 guard and 1 post.  But, I think at least 1 will leave, possibly both.

Another thing I'm curious about as far as 2015 guards is Dequon Miller, he was a guy we were targeting at the same time of Jabril Durham and Trey Dickerson.  It was actually released shortly after Durham committed to us that Miller was down to "Ole Miss and Arkansas", then he reclassified to come out in the 2015 JUCO class.  He was rated as the 7th best PG in JUCO for 2014 class, so if he continues to develop he could be one of the best or the best PG coming out in 2015.  It will be interesting to see if we still keep up with him and where he is on our board, if he's even on it.

You make some good points on the distribution of schollies.... However looks to me like we are going to have too many PG's and will be hurting for SF and PF. We may help that situation with your thoughts. I really looked for at least two guards in 2015.

Great report as always RazorAg..... Thank you.

[choppedporkextrasauce]

Jimmy Whitt's game reminds me of a Lee Mayberry.
In a word -efficient.

In another word WINNING!

[Hog Fan from Camden]

Great info RazorAg.  Thanks