Minnesota offers Lacy

[Wareagle]

It's up on rivals right now, I can't cut and paste on my phone, so someone please link the article.

[bma725]

Here's Mark Miller's update on it:

http://www.wissports.net/sports/hoopsb/article.asp?nid=14957

It appears MU is backing off.  The offer is still there, but Buzz is going after other PGs harder.

[ecompt]

well, if Lacy has academic issues, he's certainly found the place where they won't matter.

[Doctor V]

if MU isnt going after this kid hard, its gonna be a big mistake. you can never have too many good players and academics are academics- the kid will eventually get in gear cause he wants to play college all. This will be a steal for tubby right outta our back yard and will set a precedent for other kids for the area if Lacy is successful.

go get the kid Buzz

[4everwarriors]

I'd take a pass on him. Likely to find better all-around guards that are bigger. Pygmy guards drove me nuts.

[bma725]

Right now, Lacy isn't the most talented PG that MU is in on.  In fact he's not even really a PG.  With all the talent around that position, MU needs a guy that is a pass first PG, not a 5'11 SG like Lacy.  Buzz can't afford to take a chance on a guy who doesn't fit the need and might not qualify, especially when there's questions about Maymon's academics.

[ecompt]

He's basically a 5-10 shooting guard. Sorry. If he goes to Minny, so be it.

[VegasWarrior77]

Let him go Buzz!  His game (5'10" shooting guard) won't cut it in the Big East!

[ZiggysFryBoy]

He's basically a 5-10 shooting guard. Sorry. If he goes to Minny, so be it.

He should be able to dominate the 5'6" PGs that TC will have at I4.

[Doctor V]

one of the best guards ever at this university, DJ, is 5'10. So, when you make statements think first. By all accounts the kid is as athletic as DJ- that makes up for height. And about the PG first, thats crap. In HS if you are the best player on your team and a top 100 prospect you score- youre team needs that to win

college is a whole new beast. Again, MU doesnt have the luxury to pass on top 100 guards. I dont care if hes 5'10 and if everyone thinks hes a shooting guard. Talent is talent and athleticism is athleticism. The kid will realize he needs to be the point and he will do it. He will beat people off the dribble and create open shots, and if he can shoot and score- oh no dont take him hes a shooting PG!

If you are close to getting a kid like this you go out and get him- you dont count on a pass first PG that you arent sure u can get

[WarriorMU]

The most concerning thing about that article was that his aau coach said "I know Buzz has also not really even talked to Jamil (Wilson) who plays with us." Marquette already have a couple good forward commits, but it might be a good idea to call a top 50 recruit in your backyard.

[ChicosBailBonds]

The most concerning thing about that article was that his aau coach said "I know Buzz has also not really even talked to Jamil (Wilson) who plays with us." Marquette already have a couple good forward commits, but it might be a good idea to call a top 50 recruit in your backyard.

Lacy and Jamil are both top 65 players in our backyard....that does say something, unless Jamil has said don't bother.

[ATWizJr]

Protect your turf and take the kid.

[bma725]

one of the best guards ever at this university, DJ, is 5'10. So, when you make statements think first. By all accounts the kid is as athletic as DJ- that makes up for height. And about the PG first, thats crap. In HS if you are the best player on your team and a top 100 prospect you score- youre team needs that to win

What if you're on your AAU team, with a player like, oh I don't know Jamil Wilson, and you continually ignore him so that you can jack up ill advised and unneeded long range jumpers?  It doesn't matter if he's playing with his high school team, where he was a shoot first PG even when he was the third best player on the team as a freshman, or on his AAU team, where he has never been the best player on the team.  It isn't even shoot first, pass second.  It's shoot first, then think about another shot, and another shot, and another, then maybe pass.

Being a good passing PG isn't something you teach.  It's not something a player can just pick up.  It's a mindset you have to have from the beginning, and Lacy doesn't. Even when surrounded by more talented players, he just doesn't seem to care.  It's all about him and his game.

[ATWizJr]

IF the kid is athletic enough and the attitude is right, couldn't we "coach him up" to be a PG?  Seems to me that a top 100 player would be a good get and I hate the idea of having Minny or anyone establishing themselves as recruiters on our turf. 

[bma725]

IF the kid is athletic enough and the attitude is right, couldn't we "coach him up" to be a PG?  Seems to me that a top 100 player would be a good get and I hate the idea of having Minny or anyone establishing themselves as recruiters on our turf. 

Lots of undersized shooting guards have tried to become point guards, with bad results.  Lots of coaches have tried to get shoot first point guards to become distributing point guards, with bad results. 

It's not like you can take an athletic 2G and just coach him into being a PG.  It doesn't work like that.  The positions require a totally different mindset that isn't something you can just turn on.  They require a court awareness and court vision that you either have or you don't, they aren't the kind of things any coach can teach you.  By the time you get to college, its pretty much too late.  Those kind of players are what they are and it's tough to get them to change.

Another thing to you have to remember about Lacy, is that when Crean was recruiting him, it wasn't really as a PG.  MU was going to have Taylor around running the point, allowing Lacy to play off the ball offensively. Where his skills would be a better fit. 

MU is in on many top 100 Point Guards this year, including some ranked higher than Lacy and none of them have the skillset issues that Lacy does.  There's a reason for that.   

[mu03eng]

IF the kid is athletic enough and the attitude is right, couldn't we "coach him up" to be a PG?  Seems to me that a top 100 player would be a good get and I hate the idea of having Minny or anyone establishing themselves as recruiters on our turf. 

The problem with the thought of coaching him up, is with the talent we have coming in and will be here when Lacy would get here, is you are wasting a whole year trying to teach him, plus you could have chemistry issues with the team.

I want a point guard that is a pass first guy that can shoot the ball if needed.  I don't think we need a slasher for a PG, as with the talent we'll have that would be redundant.  If Lacy isn't that guy then I don't want him and I don't care who takes him.

[chapman]

With size, skill, and qualifying issues I think I'd rather go for another player.  Some people will go on about how you can't trust rating services, but when a potential recruit gets shunned these same people love to bring up rankings.  Give me a 6'2" point guard that has shown he can pass and has no academic concerns, even if he's ranked lower.

I also don't buy this "protect the turf" thing.  Maybe someone from his high school wants to go play with him or remembers the attention he got from his school-of-choice.  But I doubt another kid cares, and he might not even know, if MU is giving attention to some players.  What matters is that he gets attention from them because he was a good player and a good fit for the program, not so much how much attention some kid he played against once that wasn't a good fit for the program got two years earlier.

[jce]

Protect your turf and take the kid.

That makes no sense to me.  Buzz should not take a player that he thinks is sub-standard because just for the sake of protecting "his turf."

[wadesworld]

one of the best guards ever at this university, DJ, is 5'10. So, when you make statements think first. By all accounts the kid is as athletic as DJ- that makes up for height. And about the PG first, thats crap. In HS if you are the best player on your team and a top 100 prospect you score- youre team needs that to win

DJ is 5'11" 190 pounds, most of those being muscle, Lacy is a skinny 5'10" 160 pounds.  DJ is about 4 times as strong as Lacy is.  There is no way you can tell me Lacy is as athletic as DJ.  I've watched Lacy in 2 games and never seen him come close to dunking, much less making an ESPN Top 10-worthy ally-oop.  Lacy looks quick and like a good athlete against other high schoolers, DJ looks like the quickest person ever and like an outstanding athlete against Big East athletes.  Not to mention that although sometimes DJ turns into a shoot first point guard (when he drives us all crazy), he realizes that MU is at it's best when he's passing first, making to look plays for other.  DJ has outstanding court vision, which Lacy does not.

[nola03]

Lacy and Jamil are both top 65 players in our backyard....that does say something, unless Jamil has said don't bother.

Jamil Wilson became a pipe dream somewhere around 12 April.

If you remember, that's also around the same time that Buzz began the full court press on Jeronne Maymon.

Coinky dink? 

[4thAndState]

IF the kid is athletic enough and the attitude is right, couldn't we "coach him up" to be a PG?  Seems to me that a top 100 player would be a good get and I hate the idea of having Minny or anyone establishing themselves as recruiters on our turf. 

While Lacy may be a "good get" Buzz may be on "better gets." Agreed that having Minnesota or any other program taking recruits from "MU's turf" is never a good thing. I'm okay with it if we are able to recruit a true PG with even more upside than Lacy. Taking Lacy just because he is local is not reason enough.

[MarkMiller]

The comment by Johnikin (who has not coached the Playground Elite this spring) about MU not contacting Jamil Wilson of late is 100 percent inaccurate.

[muarmy81]

While Lacy may be a "good get" Buzz may be on "better gets." Agreed that having Minnesota or any other program taking recruits from "MU's turf" is never a good thing. I'm okay with it if we are able to recruit a true PG with even more upside than Lacy. Taking Lacy just because he is local is not reason enough.

Agreed.  We need to get the best available player that fits our immediate need and system. (A true PG, preferrably over 6')

[ecompt]

Taking Lacy strictly because he is local may be a huge blunder. If we had to rely on an all-Wisconsin roster, we'd be 6-12 in the BE every year. If Buzz feels the grass is greener outside of the area, I trust him. Of course, that trust is only there until our first three-game losing streak.

[Blackhat]

Jamil Wilson became a pipe dream somewhere around 12 April.

If you remember, that's also around the same time that Buzz began the full court press on Jeronne Maymon.

Coinky dink? 

Right around the time Maymon started blowing up leading many to believe Maymon is better than Wilson?

[mviale]

Taking Lacy strictly because he is local may be a huge blunder. If we had to rely on an all-Wisconsin roster, we'd be 6-12 in the BE every year. If Buzz feels the grass is greener outside of the area, I trust him. Of course, that trust is only there until our first three-game losing streak.

This is a TC recruit, I am sure Buzz has different plan