Sorry if this was posted elsewhere. Pitt is all over him apparently.
Well I saw this week on ESPN that Harvard had some problems with somethign like rule violations for recruits so that could be this problem. I guess they were letting players in who didn't meet their standards and it was ticking off other ivy league shcools since harvard doesnt offer scholarships to bball players
interesting.. are we going to let the fact that we're over-committed by one get in the way of recruiting him again?
Quote from: spiral97 on March 10, 2008, 04:46:54 PM
interesting.. are we going to let the fact that we're over-committed by one get in the way of recruiting him again?
God, I hope not!
Quote from: spiral97 on March 10, 2008, 04:46:54 PM
interesting.. are we going to let the fact that we're over-committed by one get in the way of recruiting him again?
It isn't stopping Pitt, who is already over committed by 2. They only lose Benjamin, Cook and Ramon. But they've got 5 guys already committed, including former MU target Dwight Miller, and Tyshawn Taylor's teammate Travon Woodall.
i hear ben eze is a beast down low. we don't need anyone like that, we should be out looking for another guard.
This de-commitment was probably based upon the inquiry being conducted by Harvard trustees in recruiting guidelines. Ben-Eze did not have a good senior year playing at O'Connell in the DC Catholic League. I do not know his final statistics, but I am presuming it was about seven points per game.
Quote from: downtown85 on March 10, 2008, 05:58:42 PM
i hear ben eze is a beast down low. we don't need anyone like that, we should be out looking for another guard.
Dude scored 8 points a game this season. Beast.
He would be a project, hopefully Chris Otule is alittle more advanced at this stage. The real star at O'Connell High School is Ben-Eze's teammate Kendrell Marshall, class of 2010 point guard, a five star recruit who has already committed to North Carolina.
Well, if you have a 5star PG like the one nyg mentioned, Ben-Eze doesn't need to drop 20 points a game.
What are his other stats? Boards, blocks, steals, assists...maybe he's a good passer? Anyone know?
Gray is doing well in the NBA----Pitt has good leverage because of that!
I tried to locate stats, but unsuccessful. Saw him play against DeMatha early in the year and he was pretty slow on his feet, but energetic and trying hard.
I'm guessing you're very surprised Gray is playing well in the NBA Murf?
Yes I am surprised as he's doing better than I expected----not exactly setting the NBA afire, but a good prospect going forward!
Averaging 4 ppg in 9 mpg. Saw him play the other day and has decent court saavy!
Quote from: Murffieus on March 10, 2008, 07:20:37 PM
Yes I am surprised as he's doing better than I expected----not exactly setting the NBA afire, but a good prospect going forward!
Averaging 4 ppg in 9 mpg. Saw him play the other day and has decent court saavy!
By NBA afire you mean like that dime-a-dozen PG has been playing?
Quote from: MUMotivAsian on March 10, 2008, 06:22:50 PM
Well, if you have a 5star PG like the one nyg mentioned, Ben-Eze doesn't need to drop 20 points a game.
What are his other stats? Boards, blocks, steals, assists...maybe he's a good passer? Anyone know?
Right now, he's not particularly skilled at anything. He's just a big guy that you hope can develop because he's got above average athletic ability. He's only been playing basketball for a little over 3 years, and it would be a few years before he's ready for prime time. Otule is much further along and put up much better numbers in a tougher conference.
If MU is going to continue recruiting bigs while being overbooked, than Luka Mirkovic is a much better option. He's also 6'11, but he's your typical skilled European big man. MU is in his final three along with Louisville and DePaul. He's already visited MU unofficially, and plans to visit officially next month. He fills a bigger need than Ben-Eze at this point.
Quote from: bma725 on March 10, 2008, 08:07:17 PM
Quote from: MUMotivAsian on March 10, 2008, 06:22:50 PM
Well, if you have a 5star PG like the one nyg mentioned, Ben-Eze doesn't need to drop 20 points a game.
What are his other stats? Boards, blocks, steals, assists...maybe he's a good passer? Anyone know?
Right now, he's not particularly skilled at anything. He's just a big guy that you hope can develop because he's got above average athletic ability. He's only been playing basketball for a little over 3 years, and it would be a few years before he's ready for prime time. Otule is much further along and put up much better numbers in a tougher conference.
If MU is going to continue recruiting bigs while being overbooked, than Luka Mirkovic is a much better option. He's also 6'11, but he's your typical skilled European big man. MU is in his final three along with Louisville and DePaul. He's already visited MU unofficially, and plans to visit officially next month. He fills a bigger need than Ben-Eze at this point.
Aww, well in that case, SWEET!
I donno why, but I was under the impression the Ben-Eze was a beast. Glad to hear that Otule seems to be the better guy, and he's coming to MU.
And hmm...Luka Mirkovic, 'ey?
Per Rivals:
Ht: 6-foot-10
Wt: 205 lbs (?! Damn...it's sad that at 5'8, I weigh more than him. And I'm not even all that much of a fatty...husky, you could say)
Shooting: Outstanding (that's good, Novak's 6'10)
Rebounding: Good
Handle: Good
Passing: Good
Strength: Developing (If he's only 205 lbs, 196 of that better be muscle. This is Blackledge skinny, we're talking)
Class: 2008 (High School)
Personally, I'd like to see more traditional bigs. Someone like Burke stretched out to be a couple inches taller...and with a better skill set, of course.
First, the scholarship situation should be no problem for any team. Ben-Eze was already prepared to pay his own way, as the Ivy has no athletic scholarships. If Ben-Eze could afford Harvard, he can afford Pitt or MU.
NY Times (take it for what it's worth) is reporting UCONN, BC, Pitt, DePaul, Rutgers, Cincinnati have all called in the last day.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/11/sports/ncaabasketball/11harvard.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Quote from: Coobeys Oil Depot on March 10, 2008, 06:09:04 PM
Quote from: downtown85 on March 10, 2008, 05:58:42 PM
i hear ben eze is a beast down low. we don't need anyone like that, we should be out looking for another guard.
Dude scored 8 points a game this season. Beast.
I think what TC needs to do is take multiple post players in the same class and hope one pans out.
Quote from: Murffieus on March 10, 2008, 07:20:37 PM
Yes I am surprised as he's doing better than I expected----not exactly setting the NBA afire, but a good prospect going forward!
Averaging 4 ppg in 9 mpg. Saw him play the other day and has decent court saavy!
If Gray's Pitt experience led to poor expectations, why would they have "leverage" in recruiting?
I don't think it's a strong argument to tell a player "Come to Pitt and we'll make sure people have low expectations for you--that way if you average 9 minutes/4 point a game in the NBA, people will be surprised at how well you're playing."
The unstated implication here is that Dixon had something to do with Gray making the NBA. In reality, Gray's favorable gene pool deserves about 99.9% of the credit.
Quote from: Marquette84 on March 10, 2008, 08:56:22 PM
First, the scholarship situation should be no problem for any team. Ben-Eze was already prepared to pay his own way, as the Ivy has no athletic scholarships. If Ben-Eze could afford Harvard, he can afford Pitt or MU.
While the Ivies don't extend athletic scholarships per se, do not for one minute think financial aid wouldn't be made available to a recruit athlete. Its called grant-in-aid, aka, athletic scholarship.
Quote from: MUMotivAsian on March 10, 2008, 08:51:04 PM
Per Rivals:
Ht: 6-foot-10
Wt: 205 lbs (?! Damn...it's sad that at 5'8, I weigh more than him. And I'm not even all that much of a fatty...husky, you could say)
Shooting: Outstanding (that's good, Novak's 6'10)
Rebounding: Good
Handle: Good
Passing: Good
Strength: Developing (If he's only 205 lbs, 196 of that better be muscle. This is Blackledge skinny, we're talking)
Class: 2008 (High School)
Personally, I'd like to see more traditional bigs. Someone like Burke stretched out to be a couple inches taller...and with a better skill set, of course.
I'm not sure how accurate the weight information is. Most listings have him at 6'11 220. But the information seems to vary depending on the source. He was originally a DePaul commit in September but decided not to sign, and an article on Scout from back then listed him at 6'11 and 230. An article from a month ago on Scout lists him at 6'11 and 220. HoopScoop has him at 6'11 220. Rivals says he's 6'11 205. HoopMasters had him at 6'9 205 a month ago but back when he signed he was listed at 6'11 220. Depending on what is correct, that's possibly bigger than Novak as a freshman.
I don't know that he's necessarily a Novak type player. Louisville seems to view him as a Padget type player. Someone with a inside skills who has a good jump shot, not necessarily a guy that will make his living outside of the arc. He averaged 25 points and 13 rebounds this year, so at the very least he's go the skill to make a difference. Louisville is the leader right now, in part because played his high school ball for DelRay Brooks, who played for Pitino at Providence.
For a reasons even I don't understand, I've watched a lot of Bulls games this year. I find it to be an enormous stretch to suggest a college prospect would choose Pitt because Aaron Gray plays garbage minutes for a horrendous NBA team. He's a sluggish, un-athletic 7-footer who can't hold his own on defense at this level.
Now, if Ben-Eze was looking at Florida, I could buy the argument that he's impressed with the NBA success of Horford and Noah. They are both much, much better pro prospects than Gray.
Quote from: MUMotivAsian on March 10, 2008, 08:51:04 PMPersonally, I'd like to see more traditional bigs. Someone like Burke stretched out to be a couple inches taller...and with a better skill set, of course.
I'd prefer a couple of big men in the mold of Beasley or Durant. You know, near 7-footers who can post, dribble, shoot the 3 and completely dominate every facet of the game. Let's get a couple of guys with that skill set. ;)
Quote from: MarquetteVol on March 10, 2008, 09:43:15 PM
For a reasons even I don't understand, I've watched a lot of Bulls games this year. I find it to be an enormous stretch to suggest a college prospect would choose Pitt because Aaron Gray plays garbage minutes for a horrendous NBA team. He's a sluggish, un-athletic 7-footer who can't hold his own on defense at this level.
Now, if Ben-Eze was looking at Florida, I could buy the argument that he's impressed with the NBA success of Horford and Noah. They are both much, much better pro prospects than Gray.
I got to figure Gray's minutes are going to be even fewer the rest of the year. Gray had an outburst at Boylan a couple of days ago
Quote from: MarquetteVol on March 10, 2008, 09:45:44 PM
Quote from: MUMotivAsian on March 10, 2008, 08:51:04 PMPersonally, I'd like to see more traditional bigs. Someone like Burke stretched out to be a couple inches taller...and with a better skill set, of course.
I'd prefer a couple of big men in the mold of Beasley or Durant. You know, near 7-footers who can post, dribble, shoot the 3 and completely dominate every facet of the game. Let's get a couple of guys with that skill set. ;)
Well, yeah, I'd love that too, but then they'd be one and done at Marquette...if we had a big guy that was nice and solid yet probably needed the four years before they were NBA prospects...then that would be really neato.
I'm not just saying this because of my screen name, but aren't there any more freak of nature Chinese dudes out there? Maybe one that's not always getting injured just as he's dominating, and/or one that wouldn't mind coming to a city with like 0.000009 % of an Asian-American population...I'll keep dreaming.
Yeah, it was obviously kind of a tongue-in-cheek comment. I doubt the Chinese government would allow an outstanding player to come to the U.S. to play college basketball. I think they can justify letting guys like Yao and Yi come here to play in the NBA, but younger guys would not be able to play on the national team which is very important to China. I like your thinking, but it was pretty just to get Yi to Milwaukee when he was drafted and offered a nice contract.
Is he as bright at people make Ben-Eze out to be? I mean, why doesn't he go to a school that has a scholarship open? Is he getting an academic scholarship? I am happy with our recruiting class of 2008. He had his chance to come to MU.
Not to be a wet blanket...
But, it's interesting that when a player transfers, a lot of fans blast the coach and the program... but when a former target becomes available, people think MU should bring him in (even without a scholly).
I'm not a big transfer rumor guy... but I'd have to suspect that if Ben-Eze came in, somebody would have to leave because there just aren't enough minutes to go around for all of these guys.
I'm not sure how other teams are looking at it... but looking at MU's roster, I just don't see where the minutes would be for him.
Otule
Mbawke
Hazel
Burke
Fulce (PF/SF)
They all play PF/C... not sure where Ben Eze fits in that group... and in the following year I'm sure MU's going to bring in another one.
Again, I don't want to be a wet blanket, because I'd love for MU to stockpile some big guys... but I also realize that there is such a thing as over-recruiting.
It's not over-recruiting until we have a real center.
Quote from: nyg on March 10, 2008, 06:02:53 PM
This de-commitment was probably based upon the inquiry being conducted by Harvard trustees in recruiting guidelines. Ben-Eze did not have a good senior year playing at O'Connell in the DC Catholic League. I do not know his final statistics, but I am presuming it was about seven points per game.
They Got owned by Gonzaga this year, so did DeMatha........
I actually think Otule is supposed to be a true center isn't he. Why is there this need to find a "true" Center how woudl a plodding Aaron Gray like figure Help Marquette at all. This isn't the 1960's.
Quote from: Toughmover1016 on March 11, 2008, 08:50:53 AM
Quote from: nyg on March 10, 2008, 06:02:53 PM
This de-commitment was probably based upon the inquiry being conducted by Harvard trustees in recruiting guidelines. Ben-Eze did not have a good senior year playing at O'Connell in the DC Catholic League. I do not know his final statistics, but I am presuming it was about seven points per game.
They Got owned by Gonzaga this year, so did DeMatha........
I actually think Otule is supposed to be a true center isn't he. Why is there this need to find a "true" Center how woudl a plodding Aaron Gray like figure Help Marquette at all. This isn't the 1960's.
believe Otule to be a project- (again). Neither highly rated, nor hotly recruited. Mbakwe is a 4, and at 6'7" in the BEast, he will be challenged.
Gray's ability to play 'position ball' was perfect for college game. If we had a 'gray-type' this year, we'd be top 5(depending on coach's ability to use assets.)
Quote from: augoman on March 11, 2008, 01:33:37 PM
Quote from: Toughmover1016 on March 11, 2008, 08:50:53 AM
Quote from: nyg on March 10, 2008, 06:02:53 PM
This de-commitment was probably based upon the inquiry being conducted by Harvard trustees in recruiting guidelines. Ben-Eze did not have a good senior year playing at O'Connell in the DC Catholic League. I do not know his final statistics, but I am presuming it was about seven points per game.
They Got owned by Gonzaga this year, so did DeMatha........
I actually think Otule is supposed to be a true center isn't he. Why is there this need to find a "true" Center how woudl a plodding Aaron Gray like figure Help Marquette at all. This isn't the 1960's.
believe Otule to be a project- (again). Neither highly rated, nor hotly recruited. Mbakwe is a 4, and at 6'7" in the BEast, he will be challenged.
Gray's ability to play 'position ball' was perfect for college game. If we had a 'gray-type' this year, we'd be top 5(depending on coach's ability to use assets.)
Marquette does NOT use a 4. They have bigs, wings and points. They use a hyrbid 4/5.