Philly SF Prospect Lamar Stevens has MU on list of 8

[GB Warrior]

http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/07/25/2016-small-forward-lamar-stevens-focusing-on-eight-schools/

[ChicosBailBonds]

Uh oh....Philly....

[Eldon]

Where is PhillyCoach when you need him?!?!

[MuMark]

I think Stevens may know Carter.

[Jay Bee]

I've watched quite a bit of Team Final again this year... familiar with Lamar. Some thoughts:

- PHYSICAL. Lots of contact in his game, both on offense and defense. Always up for taking on bigger defenders and does so aggressively. Can play bigger than 6'6".
- College position - Depending on what you want to do with him, 3/2/4. His ball handling is good enough where you may be able to have him play off guard. Because of his physicality, some defenders would really struggle with him. His strength and grit/determination is such that even at his height you could have him play some 4. Solid rebounder for his size. Can be a mean customer. (Plus, 6'6" is the normal height of an MU PF.) Probably best fit at a HM D-I is at 3. Most "natural fit" is probably 4. He's a guy who can defend a number of different player types and is a strong, all-around contributor.
- Not a guy who bombs from three - he looks to attack off the dribble and get to the bucket; can knock down mid-range shots, but most of what I've seen is him doing work in the paint. And it's good work.
- Will register a good amount of both blocks and steals in college.

Stevens would be a nice add.

[naginiF]

Thanks for the info --- sounds like Crowder's younger brother

[Jay Bee]

Thanks for the info --- sounds like Crowder's younger brother

That's actually a pretty good comp. Don't see Stevens' defensive rebounding as having a ceiling that gets into Crowder-territory, and a big part of Jae's game was 3-point shooting, but otherwise there are a lot of similarities.

[tower912]

Bump.   With this guy now being tagged for MU with Coffey theoretically going elsewhere, time to get this discussion going. 

[moomoo]

Bump.   With this guy now being tagged for MU with Coffey theoretically going elsewhere, time to get this discussion going.

Mark Miller is very successful in his Marquette predictions so I feel good about the call he made yesterday.

Stevens is a tough, strong slasher who can cover the SF or PF.

Best analysis I have seen on his game is in the below link:

http://www.scout.com/college/basketball/recruiting/story/1574346-lamar-stevens-evaluation

[tower912]

The article says he is very right hand dominant.   JB, have you seen any indication that he is working on his left?

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

The article says he is very right hand dominant.   JB, have you seen any indication that he is working on his left?

(Insert lame gay joke).

-JayBee

[tower912]

Sometimes.   Usually not when discussing high school basketball players, though. 

[keefe]

I've watched quite a bit of Team Final again this year... familiar with Lamar. Some thoughts:

- PHYSICAL. Lots of contact in his game, both on offense and defense. Always up for taking on bigger defenders and does so aggressively. Can play bigger than 6'6".
- College position - Depending on what you want to do with him, 3/2/4. His ball handling is good enough where you may be able to have him play off guard. Because of his physicality, some defenders would really struggle with him. His strength and grit/determination is such that even at his height you could have him play some 4. Solid rebounder for his size. Can be a mean customer. (Plus, 6'6" is the normal height of an MU PF.) Probably best fit at a HM D-I is at 3. Most "natural fit" is probably 4. He's a guy who can defend a number of different player types and is a strong, all-around contributor.
- Not a guy who bombs from three - he looks to attack off the dribble and get to the bucket; can knock down mid-range shots, but most of what I've seen is him doing work in the paint. And it's good work.
- Will register a good amount of both blocks and steals in college.

Stevens would be a nice add.

Well done, JB. As always, your insights are very welcome.

Since you are familiar with both Coffey and Stevens who would you say would be the better fit with Wojo's system and the team he has assembled?

I will hang up and listen to your response.

[brewcity77]

I've watched quite a bit of Team Final again this year... familiar with Lamar. Some thoughts:

- PHYSICAL. Lots of contact in his game, both on offense and defense. Always up for taking on bigger defenders and does so aggressively. Can play bigger than 6'6".
- College position - Depending on what you want to do with him, 3/2/4. His ball handling is good enough where you may be able to have him play off guard. Because of his physicality, some defenders would really struggle with him. His strength and grit/determination is such that even at his height you could have him play some 4. Solid rebounder for his size. Can be a mean customer. (Plus, 6'6" is the normal height of an MU PF.) Probably best fit at a HM D-I is at 3. Most "natural fit" is probably 4. He's a guy who can defend a number of different player types and is a strong, all-around contributor.
- Not a guy who bombs from three - he looks to attack off the dribble and get to the bucket; can knock down mid-range shots, but most of what I've seen is him doing work in the paint. And it's good work.
- Will register a good amount of both blocks and steals in college.

Stevens would be a nice add.

Just saw this for the first time and have to say I agree from what I've seen. Stevens is very good at finishing through contact and using his frame to both score and get to the line in traffic. With our current roster, I think he'd likely project as a 4 on this team, especially if Henry leaves early.

His body reminds me a bit of Jae in that he isn't the tallest, but has the frame to bang down low and with a year or two of development could be a real terror down low.