Recruiting

[Redbird23]

Wondering who is the biggest recruit for each team. I know ISU's is McIntosh and wanted to know who's going where in the Valley.

[mvcfan]

Probably Darius Carter is the biggest recruit as a 1st Team Juco AA. At least he will probably have the largest impact on this year's team. We do have two Frosh recruits, Shaquille Morris, and DJ Bowles that are both ranked around 150 on recruiting rankings.

[lusuperfan]

Loyola (as of now) has 2 incoming players- PG Jordan Pickett from Pike in Indianapolis and 6'10 JUCO PF/C Cody Johnson. They should be decent depth players next year. We still have one, maybe 2 depending on a medical hardship situation, open scholarship(s). Rumor is that we're really heavy on Jared Drew, who just got run out of SLU and is trying to be eligible for next year. Moser was the one who recruited him to SLU.

LU's key newcomers will be the freshmen who red-shirted last year: G/F Milton Doyle (transfer from Kansas), PF Tanner Williams (provided good rebounding & energy off the bench before getting injured), and Jeremy King (who's 6'11)

[DUBulldog]

If we're counting transfers, Drake's top new guy is probably Jordan Daniels, a point guard who transferred from Boston College and will be eligible at semester. He started for BC as a freshman and will have 2-1/2 years of eligibility for the Bulldogs.

Other newcomers for Drake:

Blake Danielak, 6'7" freshman from Texas. Originally committed to Texas Tech prior to Billy Gillespie being fired.

Trevor Berkely, 6'6" juco from Georgia. Very athletic, defensive specialist

Chris Caird, 6'6" juco guard from England. Signed with Santa Clara after his freshman season, then they pulled the scholarship after he blew out a knee. Sat out a year, then returned to juco. Averaged 18 ppg this past season. Played his first year of juco ball with Tyler Brown.

Kind of newcomers, but not really......guys who didn't play last season:

Aaron Hawley, 6'8". Part time starter for his first three seasons at Drake, but didn't play last year.

Karl Madison, Starting point guard as a freshman two years ago, sat out last season with injuries.

Robert Puleikis, 6'10" from Lithuania. Redshirted last season.

[Redbird Recon]

We do have two Frosh recruits, Shaquille Morris, and DJ Bowles that are both ranked around 150 on recruiting rankings.

C'mon...
Morris is a rivals 2* and espn 3* (71).
Bowles is a rivals 3*, scout 2*, and espn 2* (64).
Both on par with the rest of the Valley.
Your jucos, on the other hand, look nice.

[rlh04d]

We do have two Frosh recruits, Shaquille Morris, and DJ Bowles that are both ranked around 150 on recruiting rankings.

C'mon...
Morris is a rivals 2* and espn 3* (71).
Bowles is a rivals 3*, scout 2*, and espn 2* (64).
Both on par with the rest of the Valley.
Your jucos, on the other hand, look nice.

Bowles is ranked #150 on Future 150: http://future150.com/hs/basketball-prof ... ls-pg-2013

... although that's a pretty distant fourth behind ESPN, Scout, and Rivals. While not ranked in the top 150 on there, Shaq Morris has the same grade (85). I don't believe any other Valley recruit is even on their site.

Shaquille Morris also just won the Oklahoma Player of the Year award and was the MVP of the recent Oklahoma/Texas All Star game. He's a guy that's going to have a big impact on the conference ... although I personally think conditioning is going to keep him from seeing too much floor time for a while.

[BEARZ77]

JMO, but unless you're getting high level 4 or 5 star players, rankings mean very little as the difference between a 2 and 3 star is often very arbitrary as you can see by the difference in the various rating services . Also it often comes down to how much a player gets seen in AAU and various tournements. Marshall has an eye for talent, so I imagine he's determined those guys fit well with what he does at WSU, just like guys like Cotton and Baker did. I think that is what determines alot in the difference in many 2 & 3 star guys; do they meet a need and are they in a system that fits their skill set. UNI traditionally has done a great job identifying guys who might not fit at say WSU or Bradley, but become very good players in their system.

Juco ratings can be especially deceiving as some programs are stocked with talent and run 8-10 guys in all the time resulting in lower stats for individuals who might be exceptional, and the various conferences vary greatly in the level of competition. There's also an element of politics as a guy who was a highly rated HS guy on rivals will automatically retain a high rating on Juco Junction even if he doesn't perform that well as a 1st year juco. Big guys tend to be over valued as there are a ton of very skilled guards and wings and few talented bigs. We've had guys like Wade Knapp, 6'9, who was a top 20 juco who was not that impactful and guys like Mallet 6'3 who was like 100+, but who was very good from day 1. Nafis Ricks was the National Juco player of the year for all levels, but played at a Juco -2 and was only ranked at about 70 , which actually proved about right. Downing and Gulley[ who was also level and an AA] were 40's. Terrence McGhee was a level 2 guy as well, and of course Early was a level 3.

I know Lusk feels our guy this year, Ron Mvoueka, is as well rounded and as ready to contribute as any juco wing that was out there, and that we've had before. He's 6'5 was signed originally by Virginia Tech as a pg, and has led Sherridan to the National Juco Torney twice, and averaged 18ppg, 8rbs, 3 assists, and had good shooting numbers. Our other 4 new guys all fit needs either for size [McCullogh 6'10] experience [ Ado 6'8 graduate transfer] shooting [Ruder , top 10 prep shooters] or pg/quickness/leadership[ Thomas 5'11]

At this point everybody likes their guys, and we are very high on our group filling the holes that will move us back into the top 3rd of the MVC.

[Wufan]

JMO, but unless you're getting high level 4 or 5 star players, rankings mean very little as the difference between a 2 and 3 star is often very arbitrary as you can see by the difference in the various rating services . Also it often comes down to how much a player gets seen in AAU and various tournements. Marshall has an eye for talent, so I imagine he's determined those guys fit well with what he does at WSU, just like guys like Cotton and Baker did. I think that is what determines alot in the difference in many 2 & 3 star guys; do they meet a need and are they in a system that fits their skill set. UNI traditionally has done a great job identifying guys who might not fit at say WSU or Bradley, but become very good players in their system.

Well said. Unless you are getting a top 100 or better, system and individual work ethic are much better indicators of success than stars. Another good indicator of potential is who else recruited and who offered. However, if you sign a kid early, they won't get the same offers as a player like McIntosh that signed so late. Also, if they aren't explosive athletes, they may not get the offers they deserve. No good rating mechanism for the Valley.

Wiggins was a top 15 JUCO, and the only JUCO rated that high in the past 5 years in the Valley that didn't average 8+ points as a junior. When you get into the top 10 JUCOs (like Darius Carter) you are getting into the special level of players like Cleanthony Early, Carl Hall, and M Seck (SIU). Tyler Brown was close as well. Most top 100s that end up in the Valley are heavily relied upon as seniors, but have varying levels of success. I think Lofton will be a very good MVC player.

At this point everybody likes their guys, and we are very high on our group filling the holes that will move us back into…[whatever position our team can hope for]

I think we need a "most hyped" freshman ranking. Not necessarily by the team's fans, but by media. I'd start with:

McIntosh (Ill St)
Swoopshire (BU)
Morris (WSU)

After that I'm not sure, but I believe UNI has a highly touted wing. Little Simmons is supposed to be good at Evansville. Who else is an elite level talent? Any State HS POY award winners out there (other than Morris)?

[2livewu]

JMO, but unless you're getting high level 4 or 5 star players, rankings mean very little as the difference between a 2 and 3 star is often very arbitrary as you can see by the difference in the various rating services . Also it often comes down to how much a player gets seen in AAU and various tournements. Marshall has an eye for talent, so I imagine he's determined those guys fit well with what he does at WSU, just like guys like Cotton and Baker did. I think that is what determines alot in the difference in many 2 & 3 star guys; do they meet a need and are they in a system that fits their skill set. UNI traditionally has done a great job identifying guys who might not fit at say WSU or Bradley, but become very good players in their system.

While I agree that getting 5* talent sets you apart (nationally) I think this is a little poppycock. All coaches get guys that "fit what they do" but if you don't think Cotton and Baker would start for every Valley team you're blinded by fandom.

Big guys tend to be over valued as there are a ton of very skilled guards and wings and few talented bigs.

I would disagree here, although I understand the point you are trying to make. Bigger is better in basketball. Sure they flop sometime, however it's all but impossible to win without them, especially if you're trying to win nationally.

At this point everybody likes their guys, and we are very high on our group filling the holes that will move us back into the top 3rd of the MVC.

No doubt. EVERYONE likes "their guys".


As for WSU recruits, the most important thing is to get a PG ready to back up Fred. That question is still up in the air and a concern for me. Bowles appears to be more ready at this point, and I expect Holland to redshirt but Gregg will play the best of the 2, no matter the plan.

As for bigs, both Carter and Morris have looked fantastic during early workouts and scrimmages. Carter is a man with a lot of game out to 12-15 feet and Morris is almost unstoppable against man D if he gets it on the post. Coleby can slow him down because he can match his quickness, but we've got 3 guys we can throw it to on the block and expect positive results against most if not all Valley teams. All 3 are going to have to learn to pass out of the block against the inevitable doubles the Valley will throw at them. IF (that's a big IF) they can learn that skill, WSU will be tough to guard. Having 2 high quality bigs to back up (or slide Cle to the 3) Coleby and Early really make our depth as good or even better than last year.

[BEARZ77]

I would argue some of your points but given you took things out of context to make them, it's seems pointless to begin with. The issue of overated bigs was in the juco rating system not the value of bigs in general, and I'll simply let you believe that only blind fandom would say as a Bears fan I like Marshall, Gulley and Mvoueka at the 2/3 positions as much as any 3 some in the league.