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Post by motorcitysam on Mar 31, 2014 12:29:14 GMT -5
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Post by Commissioner on Mar 31, 2014 19:48:29 GMT -5
Alstork from Ball State we recruited out of high school. But it seems guys rarely go back to the other teams that recruited them in high school.
Josh Heath from South Florida will probably be able to get a waiver to play right away, since his dad was fired as coach. So maybe that's a target if we're looking for a guard who can play right away. Unfortunately Heath, a freshman this year, only averaged 2.6 ppg in 20 minutes per game, and we need scoring. He's an assist man (3.6 assists per game), and a pretty good ball handler.
Nothing else leaps out at me as far as players who a) are likely to contribute, and b) have obvious reasons to be on our radar; except maybe Jordan Hare, who you'll recall left Rhode Island shortly before the season started. A vaguely intriguing name might be 6-1 G Ian Chiles, who graduates and so should be able to play right away. He led IUPUI in scoring this year at 15.8 ppg. His shooting percentages were low, however (41% floor, 30% 3P%); but I suppose if you couldn't fill that scholarship... . UNLV's leading scorer at 13.8 ppg, Bryce Dejean-Jones, is also a grad transfer, but I'd expect him to get better offers. Austin Etherington of Indiana is yet another grad transfer, averaged a little over 10 minutes per game for IU.
Robert Puleikis of Drake is 6'10" and from Detroit, but he couldn't get any traction in two years at Drake and if he can't play there I'm not sure he can contribute much here. Trevor Thompson of Virginia Tech is a 7 footer who averaged 5 points and 4.7 rebounds in 16 minutes per game as a freshman this year. He's got midwest roots - from Indianapolis - but already has Ohio State, Butler and other after him, so is probably unlikely.
We'll see, I guess. I still really dislike losing Simpson.
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Post by motorcitysam on Apr 2, 2014 10:18:25 GMT -5
No one on the list really jumped out at me, either.
Lots of teams losing more than one player this year. I just read that Monmouth has a total of four guys transferring this year so far.
Three guys have said they are transferring from Nebraska. Three guys have announced they are transferring from Boston University.
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Post by motorcitysam on Apr 2, 2014 13:08:18 GMT -5
Here is an article that offers an interesting bit of insight into the transfer of Boston University's Maurice Watson. He averaged 13 points, seven assists, and 2 steals per game this year for BU, but according to his Dad, it's time for him to take his talents to a "bigger stage". Watson's a 5-10 guard; the Patriot League is a good fit for him, and I'm not sure how he'll do on a bigger stage. Sounds like they are thinking high major level. BU was 22-9, 15-3 this past season. They lost in the first round of the NIT to Illinois 66-62. Watson was 3-12 from the floor in that game. cityofbasketballlove.com/2014/04/maurice-watson-transferring-from-boston-u/
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Post by motorcitysam on Apr 3, 2014 13:12:01 GMT -5
Here's a nice player added to the transfer list: Chris Obekpa from St. John's. He's a 6-9, 240 sophomore from Nigeria. Averaged 4 points and 5 rebounds in 20 minutes per game for the Red Storm. Ideally, he would be the kind of player looking to move to a mid major, and it would be worth our while to reach out to him. On the other hand, I have already read that he will be at the "top" of the transfer list, and a target for other high majors. We'll see. espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/61814/chris-obekpa
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Post by motorcitysam on Apr 3, 2014 13:47:39 GMT -5
And just that fast there are rumors that Baylor and Oregon are likely landing spots for Obekpa. :-(
Freaking Oregon...
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Post by motorcitysam on Apr 7, 2014 13:33:37 GMT -5
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Post by Commissioner on Apr 8, 2014 11:44:45 GMT -5
This is interesting: Goodman tweets that Marshall is refusing to grant permission to contact (i.e. a "release') for Kareem Canty. As a freshman this year, Canty averaged 16.3 points and 5.5 assists. Canty was their prize recruit last year, signing with Marshall over offers from Virginia, Florida State, Dayton, Seton Hall and Xavier. Marshall fired coach Tom Herrion last month after an 11-22 season.
It could just be they won't issue a permission to contact until they get a new coach on board, so that the new coach can talk to Canty. Still, I think I'd be inclined to give him the authorization, but ask him not to commit until he sees who the new coach is and meets with him. I just don't think you can get anywhere telling the kid you won't issue an authorization to contact.
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Post by Commissioner on Apr 8, 2014 13:21:42 GMT -5
Not quite a transfer, but I didn't want to start a new thread. Tariq Owens, a 6-9 forward and a 4 star, top 100 national recruit, has asked to be released from his letter of intent with Ohio University. He signed in November, and of course coach Jim Christian is now off to BC. Owens turned down offers from Georgetown, VCU, Miami of Florida and more to sign with the Bobcats.
While it makes sense given that Christian is leaving, it shows the difficulty that mid-majors have keeping their recruits. The constant twitter buzz, the plethora of recruiting sites, the news coverage, make for a never-ending message "are you sure? are you sure? are you sure? Maybe you could do better... better ... BCS... BCS... ."
Meanwhile, OU's prize 2013 recruit, DJ Wingfield, is finished without ever playing. He missed this season with a knee injury and now has been told his career is over - he can't physically play. Wingfield signed with OU in the fall of 2012 even as he was getting high major interest.
Two tough blows for OU. But - a final note - OU is paying new coach Saul Phillips $550,000 - believed to be a MAC record. So he can earn his keep.
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Post by motorcitysam on Apr 11, 2014 10:03:51 GMT -5
That is big bucks for a MAC coach. It will be interesting to see if the Bobcats overpaid for the "new hotness" or if he's worth it. He definitely struck while the iron was hot.
And great point about the difficulty mid majors have keeping their recruits. There are so many outside influences, including a smooth talking high major coach who comes in at the last minute. As Western Michigan learned last year, you can never relax. Darius Paul was MAC freshman of the year after averaging 10 points and six rebounds per game in 2012-13, and you can bet the Broncos were looking forward to building their team around the 6-8, 220 power forward. Instead, he decides he should be on a higher level and transfers to Illinois. It's tough being a mid major coach.
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Post by motorcitysam on Apr 11, 2014 10:05:15 GMT -5
This is interesting: Goodman tweets that Marshall is refusing to grant permission to contact (i.e. a "release') for Kareem Canty. As a freshman this year, Canty averaged 16.3 points and 5.5 assists. Canty was their prize recruit last year, signing with Marshall over offers from Virginia, Florida State, Dayton, Seton Hall and Xavier. Marshall fired coach Tom Herrion last month after an 11-22 season. It could just be they won't issue a permission to contact until they get a new coach on board, so that the new coach can talk to Canty. Still, I think I'd be inclined to give him the authorization, but ask him not to commit until he sees who the new coach is and meets with him. I just don't think you can get anywhere telling the kid you won't issue an authorization to contact. Houston is doing something similar with a couple of their players. Actually, it's their two best players. www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/eye-on-college-basketball/24522098/danuel-house-tashawn-thomas-want-release-from-houston
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Post by Commissioner on Apr 11, 2014 13:31:02 GMT -5
Canty now has his release. I expect the whole public aspect of this - to which admittedly I contribute with such posts - leads things to be blown out of proportion. I wouldn't be surprised if was something like the University says something like, "we'll grant you your release, or course, but first we want you see who we hire and give him a chance to talk with you about his plans," and the player goes home and says, "they didn't give me my release letter today" and suddenly it's out there "X University won't grant Y release." But either way, you always run the risk of losing players when you dump the coach. Surely doesn't mean you never dump the coach, but it is a reason for prudence the dump Ray crowd refuses to consider.
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Post by motorcitysam on Apr 14, 2014 11:39:54 GMT -5
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Post by motorcitysam on Apr 15, 2014 9:58:51 GMT -5
MJ Rhett, a fifth year transfer from Tennessee State, is getting a lot of high major interest. This is the kind of situation that mid major coaches hate. Rhett was a nice player in the OVC last year, averaging ten points and nine rebounds per game. This was after two sub par seasons as a freshman and sophomore. The Tenn State coaches are probably counting on Rhett to help them rebound from a horrible 2013-14 season, and hoping to benefit from his best season after he finally started producing as a junior. Instead, he decided that he should take his talents elsewhere. Of course, the BCS conference teams reached out and he has visited Oklahoma State and Ole Miss, with a visit to USC coming up. He also got a call from Kevin Ollie last night. I don't blame the player for doing what he thinks is best for him (although I think he ends up on the bench for most of those programs) but I do feel sorry for the TSU coaches who put the time and effort in and then lost out on what is likely the player's best year. At least he didn't wait until the last minute to announce his decision, as our fifth year transfer did last summer. espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/51895/m.j.-rhett
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Post by Commissioner on Apr 15, 2014 10:40:16 GMT -5
This is obviously going to be a growing problem for mid-majors. No longer can they take a flyer on the 6-11 project and redshirt him for a year, because if he gets any good they'll lose him as soon as he graduates. And players who excel early, as frosh or sophs, are looking then to move up. For individuals I suppose that this sorting process makes sense, but the gap between haves and have nots will grow.
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