Dashonte Riley

[ATWizJr]

Well Hayward, I think you have a point about some of them being less talented then others but the "stumblebum" tag is unnecessarily disrespectful and inflammatory.

[bs4173]

Well we definitely need a backup for 2010, but I think the comments were about next year, which we will have at least 2 PG in Cadougan and Acker and then a capable Buycks who can run the point when they're out.  But wow getting Riley is almost too good to be true.  I really hope it happens....can you say #1 draft class

At the risk of another thread being killed by Hayward, I'm going to steer it back on track.

I tend to agree with JeronnetoMU. Perhaps it's just me, but I'm failing to realize why we would sign a backup (but good) PG over a fantastic big man. I don't want to say that "any guard can run the point," but we've certainly seen that there's been a black hole at the post forever, and I'd rather have one great PG and one great C with weak backups than two great PGs and crap under the hoop. Plus, this Dashonte guy seems like a nice kid with a good head in addition to the fact that he can play.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

Hey, I'm all for it.

And I'm not even referencing Crean in any manner, but I'm just saying that if it was that easy, Deane (or KO) would still be MU's coach, DePaul would still be ranked in the top 5 and St. John's would be a national powerhouse.

A lot of schools want to be good. A lot of schools want to get good players. It doesn't always work out that way.

This isn't a fantasy basketball draft, and there are 1000 variables in the college game (recruiting, alumni, AD, arena, high school hoops in the area, media connections, national exposure, conference rep., x and o's coaching, player development coaching, off-season workout programs, players families, etc. etc etc.

I hope it works like you say (I'm not saying it can't or won't), I'm just saying that a lot of schools and coaches have intentions of recruiting talented players and having a great program, but there are only certain schools that seem to be able to pull it off.

[MR.HAYWARD]

well first of all oneill was a fantastic recruiter.  in fact he was a much better recruiter than Crean.  and it was infiitely harder for him to recruit given littel national tv, the old gym and the MCC conference.  Deane simply chose not to recruit big time and lost his job for it.  Crean had all the necessities to be a big big time recruiter ( see what oneill did not have) but for whatever reason did not recruit very well at all.  Buzz so far has put it all together.  Based on our lists for the next couple of years he does not look to be kicking his feet up either.


purely hypothetical but i would love to see oneil in his 1990 or so recruitng mode recruit to Mu in present day 2009.  talk about a  machine.  remeber his Arizona teams in the late eighties early 90's  they had an nba player at every spot.  His recruiting was big time at Mu too even with little to sell but tradition.

[MU B2002]

As a younger grad, I know very little about Oneil, but if what your saying is true it helps me to understand why he keeps getting jobs.  I had always wondered because the name didn't really mean anything to me, even during my time at MU (98-02), but maybe I just didn't know quite as much as I thought I did.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

well first of all oneill was a fantastic recruiter.  in fact he was a much better recruiter than Crean.  and it was infiitely harder for him to recruit given littel national tv, the old gym and the MCC conference.  Deane simply chose not to recruit big time and lost his job for it.  Crean had all the necessities to be a big big time recruiter ( see what oneill did not have) but for whatever reason did not recruit very well at all.  Buzz so far has put it all together.  Based on our lists for the next couple of years he does not look to be kicking his feet up either.


purely hypothetical but i would love to see oneil in his 1990 or so recruitng mode recruit to Mu in present day 2009.  talk about a  machine.  remeber his Arizona teams in the late eighties early 90's  they had an nba player at every spot.  His recruiting was big time at Mu too even with little to sell but tradition.

Like I said, I hope you are right.

I know there are lots of schools out there with a lot of advantages (arena, conference, facilities, location, etc.) that can't seem to get it right (and they never had Crean to screw it up and keep recruiting sub-par players). 

It takes a lot of things to go right for a program to truly be successful.

[wadesworld]

well first of all oneill was a fantastic recruiter.  in fact he was a much better recruiter than Crean.  and it was infiitely harder for him to recruit given littel national tv, the old gym and the MCC conference.  Deane simply chose not to recruit big time and lost his job for it.  Crean had all the necessities to be a big big time recruiter ( see what oneill did not have) but for whatever reason did not recruit very well at all.  Buzz so far has put it all together.  Based on our lists for the next couple of years he does not look to be kicking his feet up either.


purely hypothetical but i would love to see oneil in his 1990 or so recruitng mode recruit to Mu in present day 2009.  talk about a  machine.  remeber his Arizona teams in the late eighties early 90's  they had an nba player at every spot.  His recruiting was big time at Mu too even with little to sell but tradition.

Haha did you ever think that maybe Crean had something to do with getting those things that gave him an advantage in recruiting over our past coaches?  It's not like the coaches before him tried really hard to get better practice facilities and get into a better conference and failed, and then Crean walked in and all of a sudden Marquette decided we would make a new practice facility and the Big East invited us in without reason.  Crean worked hard and got Marquette those things.

Valiant effort at putting down Crean though.  I dislike him because of how he left just as much as the next guy, but you're trying to take away the things he clearly did for this program.

[romey]

Nope, Acker won't be here in 2010.  He is a senior next year.  Buycks will be, but he will be a senior in 2010.  I think it is imperative to get a PG in 2010 and I have heard Buzz say as much (can't remember where though). 

The other day I posted that I ran into Buzz at Mayfair Mall.  He said that he felt like he finally got the big man situation addressed as far as recruiting, but now he had to get some guards.

[shiloh26]

This might be a stupid question, but aren't we out of scholarships for '09? What happens if Riley really decides to come here?

[Markusquette]

we would definitely make room for him

[HarryBalczak]

I think we can get a better player than Riley if we have another scholarship open.

[chapman]

We hope someone on the team leaves, though it would not be good if that person was a guard since we may not have much depth there to begin with. 

Otherwise we pick one of the incoming recruits, wait until a few days before the semester starts, tell him that we just noticed that he has an academic issue, refuse to admit him, and hope we didn't pick the guy who eventually turns into a stud that DraftExpress considers a legitimate NBA draft pick if he leaves after his junior year.

Sorry, I had to do it.

[Markusquette]

I think we can get a better player than Riley if we have another scholarship open.

I highly doubt it

[cheebs09]

I highly doubt it

agreed, much less an athletic big man. I think if anyone would be disappointed with riley, then they need to look at some of our previous big men. Not saying hes a for sure stud, but just to have a very talented big man come here will not only help the team while hes here, but who knows, we are always looking for that one big man to work out so we can breakthrough in big man recruiting, maybe he could be it.

[HarryBalczak]

I highly doubt it

Sorry, but an MU friend went to see Riley and Country Day play tonight and I trust his evaluation.  Pass.

[Rockmic87]

I hope we can get riley...that would make me soo much more confident with a young MU squad. Then on top of that we will have an experience bench to help out, we may not be as bad as some people may think!

C-Riley
F-Hayward
F-Maymon
G/F- Williams
G- Cadougan

[77ncaachamps]

And having Riley would make the other teams prepare differently and with possible doubling, allow others to score.

Ohhhhh how I miss having a legit center since...since...Robert Jackson?

[Markusquette]

Sorry, but an MU friend went to see Riley and Country Day play tonight and I trust his evaluation.  Pass.

Sorry, but I think I trust professional scouts' and internet reports more than your friend.  The fact that he averaged over 8 blocks last year is amazing even for a high school player.  We need a big man, and finding an athletic defender with some touch inside is perfect.  I'm not saying online rankings should determine everything about a player, because they can clearly be wrong.  However, being a previous 5 star recruit and top 10 center on many sites has to mean something. 

[HarryBalczak]

What I'm saying is that I don't think he's an upgrade from what we have next year with Otule and McMorrow at center and with Maymon and Roseboro coming in at the power forward.  Riley had 4 points and something like 7 rebounds last night against a small team an he hasn't exactly burned up the prep ranks thi year.  I don't think he's going to be a guy who will come in and start, so why try to sign him when you have will have a guard corp next year that will include 2 seniors, a junior and a freshman provided everyone returns.  I think we need a scorer at the 2 spot who can learn under and play in tandem with Buycks more than we need another big guy.

[NYWarrior]

What I'm saying is that I don't think he's an upgrade from what we have next year with Otule and McMorrow at center and with Maymon and Roseboro coming in at the power forward.  Riley had 4 points and something like 7 rebounds last night against a small team an he hasn't exactly burned up the prep ranks thi year.  I don't think he's going to be a guy who will come in and start, so why try to sign him when you have will have a guard corp next year that will include 2 seniors, a junior and a freshman provided everyone returns.  I think we need a scorer at the 2 spot who can learn under and play in tandem with Buycks more than we need another big guy.

wait..he's good enough for Georgetown's frontline but not MU's?   

I'd look for MU to get a big and another guard.

[ATWizJr]

He may not have been good enough for Georgetown's front line. 

He says he de-committed because he did not see eye to eye with G'towns plans for him.  That probably meant that he was not projected to start or get a lot of minutes next year.  The fact that he de-comitted may have been code for, I don't want to redshirt or play a back up role for a couple of years.

[nyg]

Probably a back-up issue.  Georgetown had freshman centers Greg Monroe and Henry Sims, both McD's AA. 

[reinko]

Probably a back-up issue.  Georgetown had freshman centers Greg Monroe and Henry Sims, both McD's AA. 

Monroe won't be there for long, 1 and done.

[nyg]

Probably, but Riley maybe didn't see it that way. 

[bma725]

Sorry, but I think I trust professional scouts' and internet reports more than your friend.  The fact that he averaged over 8 blocks last year is amazing even for a high school player.  We need a big man, and finding an athletic defender with some touch inside is perfect.  I'm not saying online rankings should determine everything about a player, because they can clearly be wrong.  However, being a previous 5 star recruit and top 10 center on many sites has to mean something. 

That's the most important word in your entire post...previous.  The kids stock is dropping like a rock because he just doesn't give a crap.  He was a 5 star top 20 player on rivals, now he's a 3 star player ranked outside the top 100.  Every single site has mentioned that he lacks motivation, lacks interest, doesn't play to his potential, etc.  This kid has major red flags no matter how good he is.

Throw in the fact that there's a whole lot of issues surrounding him and the AAU program he's involved with, and it's just not worth it.