J.P. Tokoto

[Ari Gold]

Don't know if anyone of you caught the journal article on this kid from MFHS http://www.jsonline.com/sports/preps/76708017.html. He's supposed to be great (5th best in the nation for his age) and he's only a sophomore and still growing. Top tear national and top area programs are looking at him. Including MU.

I guess I have two questions to pose then: simply do you think buzz can recruit him?  I certainly hope he can. And the thought of him playing woth vander is really amazing but With programs like UNC, Duke, Kansas going after this kid, will He be too drawn to the big names to consider MU. I'm not doubting MU can and will be a big program but the draw of unc and duke... Also how big of a deal is it if we don't recruit this kid? With all the talk of MU "stealing" vander from under Madison nose, how bad could it be if buzz doesn't get a player from a HS 25 minutes away? For a marginal comparison look at Jerry smith from a couple of years ago going to UL   

I think I'll be showing up to more games at my old high school now, just to see what big name coaches/programs show up.


Here some people were having a pissing contest over MUHS and MFHS in football and the journal points out how supremely domintant is in basketball.

[wadesworld]

Here some people were having a pissing contest over MUHS and MFHS in football and the journal points out how supremely domintant is in basketball.

Except that MUHS won the conference last year and is predicted to be in the top 2 (with MFHS) again this year, returning all key pieces except for 1 player (who was the conference player of the year last year, so it's a big blow).

[Ari Gold]

ThAt was supposed to be in teal but I'm my iPhone and I couldn't do it

[OhioGoldenEagle]

We've discussed this before so here are a few points....

1.  He hasn't even started his sophomore season so his high ranking can change drastically over the next 3 years.  See Flavien Davis.  Flavien was a top10 talent nationally, yet by his senior season couldn't even crack the top100 and had scholarships pulled from all of the toptier schools that were recruiting him, even Marquette.

2.  Can Buzz recruit him?  Of course!  But if JP doesn't decide to go to MU doesn't mean it's necessarily a failure by Buzz.  Getting every good local kid to go to a particular school is essentially impossible (even for the likes of UNC, Kansas, Texas, etc.).  Timing has a lot to do with it for one (ie. how much playing time is available when he arrives).  Second, maybe he wants to get away from his hometown and be on his own for a a few years.  Many student choose to go this route, so just because JP would decide to go out of state wouldn't make it a failure for Buzz and/or Bo.

3.  Jerry Smith = BUST!

[4everwarriors]

His kid is no Flavian Davis. Getting his commitment would be huge for Buzz and the Warriors.

[wadesworld]

His kid is no Flavian Davis. Getting his commitment would be huge for Buzz and the Warriors.

Count me as unimpressed tonight.  He had to have had just as many turnovers as points tonight.  From what I counted, he had about 9 points, while 5 of those came from the free throw line (with at least 3 or 4 misses there).  He had one nice pull up from the baseline with 2 guys on him and then a dunk on a play where he thought he was fouled on an offensive rebound so he didn't get back down the court, and Falls got a turnover on the play to leave him all alone on the other side of the court.

Defensively he seemed pretty poor.  He was guarding a guy who seemed to be of pretty equal size to him, and King just spread the floor and let him take JP 1 on 1 quite a bit, with good results.  He didn't move his feet very well to stay in front of the kid, which was surprising because the King player never even thought about stopping anywhere short of the hoop.  JP seemed to go for the big play every time.  He was always looking for the steal or going for the block, and much more often than not he got burned because of it.  He fouled out in overtime, but had 4 fouls pretty early on in the 4th quarter.

Offensively he was completely underutilized.  Falls had him sit and post up the whole game, and just had their guards try to penetrate and kick to the other guards.  The few times he caught the ball on the perimeter and in their press break he didn't seem very tight with his handles and seemed somewhat shaky dribbling the ball, as he'd always take 1 dribble and pull up or pass it.  His shot was very flat.  The one thing I liked about him was that he didn't force shots, like most top players in the state typically do.

I will say that I feel different than I felt about Korey Lucious and Jamil Willson.  I never liked them much in high school, as they were just chuckers.  They would get the ball and it would never be passed again in that possession.  You can see that JP has the physical talent to be an unbelievable player.  He's a solid 6'6", somewhat thin at this point but he's only 15 or 16 years old, and he can JUMP.  I think the King defense really took him out of his normal game.  They apply a TON of good ball pressure and force a LOT of turnovers.  I feel like if he got a bit more freedom to play out on the perimeter and create shots for himself and his teammates he (and their team) would be much better off.  He seems to be very smooth, he just has minor adjustments that he needs to make (boxing out instead of relying on athletic ability, defending with by moving your feet and staying in front of the offender, more arc on the shot - but his shot form was very good outside of that).

King won in overtime, by the way.  Gosz is crazy, it's pretty funny to watch.  I've never seen a guy, especially a high school coach, who works the refs as much as him, and it's got to be tough to play for him, as he tears apart his players for anything wrong they do.  That's probably why they're so good year in and year out, the players HAVE to be mentally tough just to put up with him.

I would like to see him playing AAU ball where there is more freedom in the game and where he can play more wing than post.  That is where he has made his name, and I'm guessing that tonight was just a bad night (combined with being used in the completely wrong way).  I think I was just unimpressed because he didn't get much of an opportunity to do anything, rarely getting touches, which is too bad.

It will be interesting to see what happens.  I've heard he's very family oriented and that it would not be a surprise to see him stay in the state.  Roy Williams has made it public that he will be UNC's number 1 recruit for 2012.  Rarely does Roy do that with a player who ends up being a bust.

[VegasWarrior77]

How does Junior Lomomba look?  I see he's ranked right behind JP in the state (and he's from Madison Memorial).  Thanks!

[GOMU1104]

  Roy Williams has made it public that he will be UNC's number 1 recruit for 2012.  Rarely does Roy do that with a player who ends up being a bust.

I don't know if he "has made it public that he will be UNC's number 1 recruit."

They will recruit at the highest level, and will likely be in on all of the top players in every class. To say he is UNC's number 1 recruit for 2012 is taking it a little too far.

[🏀]

I don't know if he "has made it public that he will be UNC's number 1 recruit."

They will recruit at the highest level, and will likely be in on all of the top players in every class. To say he is UNC's number 1 recruit for 2012 is taking it a little too far.

Agreed, I really don't think Roy would make a recruiting blunder like that, especially on a 2012.

[bma725]

How does Junior Lomomba look?  I see he's ranked right behind JP in the state (and he's from Madison Memorial).  Thanks!

He's out for the year with a wrist injury.

[VegasWarrior77]

Thanks bma.  Shooting wrist?  How talented is he?

[Jay Bee]

Yes - shooting wrist (right).  Is he definitely out the entire season?  I had heard early on after the surgery he may be back at some point, depending on how things healed up, but that was awhile ago...

Luckily for Junior's team they've got the best high school baller in Wisconsin also on the squad.

[wadesworld]

From InsideCarolina:

"The Tar Heel staff has now reached out to Takoto's camp and communicated that he's going to be one of UNC's top 2012 targets and they want to meet with him ASAP."

Sorry, ONE OF their top 2012 targets, and want to meet with him ASAP.  I didn't get it exactly right, but the point still remains that rarely does Roy Williams (or his camp) have something like this to say about a player who becomes a bust.

[bma725]

Thanks bma.  Shooting wrist?  How talented is he?

Very.  Even with the broken wrist in a cast, he played at a camp for top freshman and sophomores a few months ago and was one of the top players there using only his off hand.  Doesn't exactly have a developed game, but very good attacking the basket.

[MU62]

I saw the game and the King defense made it very hard for him.  Edwards did a great job on JP.  He is also a soph and is 6ft 4in.  There were a few cheap shots they gave each other.  I am sure they know each other well.  All that being said JP will be a great player some day.  His potential is unlimited.  He has a great blood line with his biological father having played in the NBA and his Mom's dad being a  soccer star from Cameroon.  Bo was at the game and Buzz probably would hav been there if he was in town.