New 2010 Warrior - 6'6" Jae Crowder

[BostonBaller]

Good sign. He really does remind me of Lazar as someone who can do a little bit of everything and is still growing into his body at a later stage. Once Todd gets a hold of him an throws 15 lbs of muscle on him I think he will work great for our system. We wont get that Top Big this year so quit crying...this evens out our scholarships.

[mu_hilltopper]

Well, he has awesome hair.

[Man Clam Chow]

FWIW, Midland College coach Ross Hodge "believes 6-foot-6 sophomore swingman Jae Crowder (16.7 ppg, 10 rpg) is the best player in the country."

http://www.mywesttexas.com/articles/2010/01/21/sports/top_stories/doc4b57e6f4e199f832976345.txt

[GOMU1104]

http://www.njcaa.org/Teams/mbasketball/2009-10/2009-10_MBB_DI_Preseason_AA.pdf

[Fullodds]

He looks like a player.

The guy knows how to get it done in the classroom... That's a positive...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8RDFBfowdU

[LAZER]

I'm thinking a lot of the full court press next year.  So much depth at guards and a lot of long, agile, forwards.  It could also be where Mbao is most effective.

[chapman]

He's supposedly got talent, and with four freshmen it's better to bring some experience at the college level in, even if it's JUCO.  More concerned with having that experience than with balancing classes, which in reality is as lasting as trying to hold water in your hands.  Hopefully if someone with decent size would emerge out of nowhere we can still get him.  Either way, if Otule/Mbao get hurt or are completely useless next year there's no excuses like there was this year.

It's more like: Really, really need some size in 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

This.  

 We have no more scholarships. This is a short term solution and judging by the talent misevaluation of Roseboro, I'm interested to see who the next "big" MU gets is. This is a short term help, and essentially gives Buzz the selling point to bigs that they will get playing time and that we have the guards. Overall I support Buzz' decision to recruit Crowder.

If he would want to come here, there's no way having no more scholarships stops Buzz from signing a player like Walker and figuring it out later.  He's said it himself even.

Am I reading his stats correctly that he is averaging 9.5 rebounds a game? Hopefully that will translate to 5 or 6 a game next season. Also averages 18 points.

I'll bet it translates to 5 or 6 minutes per game next season...

[Tigidal]

http://www.njcaa.org/Teams/mbasketball/2009-10/2009-10_MBB_DI_Preseason_AA.pdf

6'7" now... Dude's having a growth spurt.

[NavinRJohnson]

Well, he has awesome hair.

Oh yeah...I've seen all I need to see. Sometimes you can tell just by looking at a guy. Love it.

[tower912]

2 inches and 20 pounds short of perfect.    I like everything else about this signing.    I just wish he was bigger.    Right position, right stats, right makeup, right year of eligibility.    

[TheButlerDidIt]

Renaldo Balkman anyone?

[dwaderoy2004]

I think the guy is big enough.  picture makes him look like he has a good build for banging.  Jason Maxiell, Jeff Adrien and Hayward were/are effective big east PF's with similar size.  Probably not as good as those guys, but I like the signing.  Now we just pray that Otule and Mbao develop and stay healthy.

[NavinRJohnson]

Now we just pray that Otule and Mbao develop and stay healthy.

Precisely. We are going to be more Mizzou and Villanova than we are Georgetown and Syracuse. Sometimes its important to realize that the other teams have to match up with us as well, and it is beginningto look like that is going to be awfully tough to do - especially in light of the fact that 99% of the time, MU just plain plays harder/tougher than their opponents.

Crowder scores and rebounds...works for me.

[Hards Alumni]

Would have rather seen a little more beef, but this kid might work out for next season.  Jimmy is not going to come out of the game next year anyway.  As long as Fulce, Mbao, and Otule can play center (Jimmy literally does not have the beef to do it at all), this signing can be an ok short term solution.

DJO will be an undersized SF, Jimmy an undersized PF and will hopefully both play almost the whole game next year anyway.

Really, really need some size in 2011.

I have no idea why anyone thinks that DJO is any sort of SF.  He is a guard 100%.

[StillAWarrior]

Another article:  http://www.americustimesrecorder.com/sports/local_story_122214658.html

Says he was the Georgia Junior College Athletic Association’s Player of the Year last year.  It also says that he was transferring to Northwest Florida State.  I wonder how he ended up at Howard.  Probably got a better offer with a better team.

Disclaimer:  this is not a criticism of either Buzz or Crawford.  Just idle curiosity.  Like a lot of other people, I'd have preferred a 6'11" banger, but something tells me we're going to really like this kid.

[hdog1017]

Next year's team has the potential to be very up tempo and hopefully dunky.  

[squirrel]

Thumbs Down.

Plays the same position as Jamail Jones and Butler (and probably EWill, once he figures out how to play defense).

[Daniel]

Seems like a good player - but next year will really depend on how Otule and Mbao develop this off season.  If they can play - really play - next year, we could be ok.  But, wow - we really really need some bigs.  Forwards that are 6'9, a big center and the guards we have.

Then again, what do I know?  We are playing much better this year than I ever anticipated.  In Buzz we trust.

[NavinRJohnson]

 It's too late and the "right big" isn't really out there. 

Don't tell SJS that.

[mu_hilltopper]

Oh yeah...I've seen all I need to see. Sometimes you can tell just by looking at a guy. Love it.

The taller the hair, the taller the player.  We need every inch, eh.

[Daniel]

6'7" now... Dude's having a growth spurt.

I say get him in th training room, poof up his hair, get him a little extra thick sole on his Nikes and let's call him 6'8" - and we'd all feel a lot better!

GO MARQUETTE!

[AZWarrior]

David Boone was a 6'6", 215 great rebounder for us a while back.  I'm OK with his size, as long as he's willing to board.

[NavinRJohnson]

He does sound a lot like Lazaar with better hair.

[MUfan12]

Almost reminds me of Renaldo Balkman a little bit. Same size and the hair, wow!

If the guy can score and rebound in the post, who cares how tall he is? Look at Zar and Jimmy. He's skilled enough that he could start at the 4, provided he learns on defense.

As has been said before, there's not a lot of game-ready bigs around in the spring. As much as I would have loved to see a guy like Aziz Ndiaye come in, you're left with 3 centers in one class (provided Otule redshirts). Not ideal. The need for a 4 was a priority, and they might have gotten the best JUCO PF out there.

Also, a guy like that can create mismatches. Here's a thought- If you build your roster like every other BE team, you better have the same or better talent to beat them. And I, for one, don't think MU can land any big guy who can matchup with Cuse, Gtown, etc.... yet. I think Buzz is trying to create matchup problems by taking guys like Crowder.

[BrewCity83]

The Rosiak article says he weighs 230 already.