MU, UW lead for Diamond Stone

[Pakuni]

Or so says this guy:

http://247sports.com/Article/Diamond-Stone-favoring-Marquette-and-Wisconsin-94804

Considered the top low post player in the 2015 class, Diamond Stone has the attention of numerous schools. His recruitment, however, is shaping up as an in-state battle.

Out of Milwaukee (Wisc.) Dominican High School, Stone has local school Marquette and Wisconsin at the top of his school list. At last weekend's USA Developmental National Team Mini-Camp, he indicated the both schools were recruiting him the hardest and are also his favorites.

[nyg]

I likeeeee.  Possibility of being the number one recruit in country his senior year.  Now that would be nice.

[Otule's Glass Eye]

Good sign. Hopefully his mind hasn't changed come time to make a commitment. MU should easily beat out UW if it came down to them. Kentucky fans have really been sucking up to him as of late, hopefully they don't have an impact.

[MUalum12]

Hi long time reader first time poster here on scoop.

His cousin is Ryan Evans who plays for the Badgers so we have got to fight off some family ties for him... Would be a huge get as i think he is a more athletic Gardner.

[🏀]

Would be a huge get as i think he is a more athletic Gardner.

You don't say?

I'll venture out and say he's already more everything than Gardner.

[QuetteHoops]

You don't say?

I'll venture out and say he's already more everything than Gardner.

I would venture to say most certainly not.

[🏀]

I would venture to say most certainly not.

You're right, Gardner has him in the body weight department.

Stone is being talked about as the #1 recruit in the nation. Anthony Davis, Jabari Parker, etc...

Stone would provide MU with more in his one season before the NBA than Gardner will in his entire career.

[brewcity77]

Hi long time reader first time poster here on scoop.

His cousin is Ryan Evans who plays for the Badgers so we have got to fight off some family ties for him... Would be a huge get as i think he is a more athletic Gardner.

On the plus side, Evans will have graduated by the time Stone enrolls. I have a feeling Duane Wilson will be a bigger positive as he will still be around for 2 years with Stone.

[brewcity77]

Stone would provide MU with more in his one season before the NBA than Gardner will in his entire career.

That's only if he matches the hype. As a HS sophomore, he has a long way to go. Will he be the next Anthony Davis, or tumble down the rankings like Tokoto did? I'm a huge Stone fan, and definitely want him and his potential at MU, but he's not a finished product yet, and I certainly hope he would be the first to admit that.

[🏀]

That's only if he matches the hype. As a HS sophomore, he has a long way to go. Will he be the next Anthony Davis, or tumble down the rankings like Tokoto did? I'm a huge Stone fan, and definitely want him and his potential at MU, but he's not a finished product yet, and I certainly hope he would be the first to admit that.

I agree and understand. The Gardner comparison was just far too off to let go unnoticed.

[QuetteHoops]

You're right, Gardner has him in the body weight department.

Stone is being talked about as the #1 recruit in the nation. Anthony Davis, Jabari Parker, etc...

Stone would provide MU with more in his one season before the NBA than Gardner will in his entire career.

Yeah like Brew said IF he reaches his potential. The way you said it almost made it sound like Stone is the better player right now which is not true.

Agreed though, obviously much more upside.

[Earl Tatum]

Stone will require heavy recruiting by Buzz, But lets get LOONEY first.

[tower912]

Embiid would be huge.   Landing Stone would be bigger.    JE would be landing a top 20 recruit.  Signing Diamond would be beating bucky in our own backyard for possibly the best big in his class.    So much sweeter.       

[4everwarriors]

Correction:
Signing Stone would mean snagging a blue blood recruit.

[Jay Bee]

That's only if he matches the hype. As a HS sophomore, he has a long way to go. Will he be the next Anthony Davis, or tumble down the rankings like Tokoto did? I'm a huge Stone fan, and definitely want him and his potential at MU, but he's not a finished product yet, and I certainly hope he would be the first to admit that.

Not a Davis (late bloomer) or a Tokoto (fairly high respect early on, but not a ton as an upperclassman).

Diamond is absolutely the real deal.  The only thing that could cause him problems is not working hard and watching him again this weekend, I'm not worried about that.  He's a good kid, very likable, gets along with his peers... great voice too, has a career in broadcasting after the NBA. 

He is comparable to Davante in the respect that they both can use their bodies to push aside defenders, but finish with a soft touch. 

Stone is really, really special though... almost delicate when the ball goes from his finger tips to the bottom of the net... bruising force with such a sweet stroke.  He excelled this weekend against some good bigs and long wings looking to block shots. 

No problem saying Diamond Stone is absolutely legit.  Big time.

[bamamarquettefan]

Yeah like Brew said IF he reaches his potential. The way you said it almost made it sound like Stone is the better player right now which is not true.

Agreed though, obviously much more upside.

no way his freshman year has as much impact as gardner, who should be our best player this year depending on who breaks out.  he would literally have to be close to anthony davis as a freshman to compare to gardner's career, but obviously his upside could give him a much greater season than gardner's best season.

i hope we don't have the same kind of early season criticism of gardner that we did early last year with the "why all the love for Crowder" comments.

gardner was already very good before the injury last year and will be excellent this year and all conference next year in all liklihood.

[The Equalizer]

no way his freshman year has as much impact as gardner, who should be our best player this year depending on who breaks out.  he would literally have to be close to anthony davis as a freshman to compare to gardner's career, but obviously his upside could give him a much greater season than gardner's best season.

I know you're high on Gardner, but Gardner's ValueAdd is projected to be 4.87 this year, and 5.54 in 2014.  That's very good, but a lot closer to Otto Porter's frosh neighborhood (6.08) than Davis' (12.35).

And as of now Stone's HS rank is a lot closer to where Davis wound up (#1 RSCI) than Porter (#34).
   

[Ellenson Guerrero]

I don't really share the optimism gleaned from this article. Yes, its great he's mentioning the local schools at the top, but he's only a Soph and the real competition hasn't even started yet. The scary part of the article is that it mentions his interest in finding a low post-centric offense, a quality that MU in no way possesses.

If we get him its because of some combination of Duane's influence, wanting to stay home, and Buzz's work ethic. I think its far more likely he ends up deciding to go somewhere like GTown or Kentucky; a school with a proven track record of placing big men in the lottery.

[WellsstreetWanderer]

A cold splash of reality in the face. But... we have years to work on him

[NersEllenson]

I don't really share the optimism gleaned from this article. Yes, its great he's mentioning the local schools at the top, but he's only a Soph and the real competition hasn't even started yet. The scary part of the article is that it mentions his interest in finding a low post-centric offense, a quality that MU in no way possesses.

If we get him its because of some combination of Duane's influence, wanting to stay home, and Buzz's work ethic. I think its far more likely he ends up deciding to go somewhere like GTown or Kentucky; a school with a proven track record of placing big men in the lottery.

If Buzz can take guys who are 3 star players, at a much more competitive and available pool of players position - the 2/3's - I have ZERO doubt he can send a 5 star kid likely to be Top 10 in his class who is a center...to the NBA Lottery.  If Davante has a good year this year, that could be huge for MU in so many ways - season success - yet possibly more important - illustrate that bigs can be successful at MU, and even those who came in rated as a 2 to 3 star at 295 lbs. 

The reason UK and G'Town send bigs to the lottery so frequently, is a direct result of them consistently landing the best available big men in the country.  I'm absolutely convinced a guy like Stone would develop at minimum as good as he would at UK or G'Town - but more than likely - a hell of a lot better due to the culture at MU..and that Buzz creates.

[MU82]

I just hope he doesn't follow Buzz to SMU.

[Marqus Howard]

If Buzz can take guys who are 3 star players, at a much more competitive and available pool of players position - the 2/3's - I have ZERO doubt he can send a 5 star kid likely to be Top 10 in his class who is a center...to the NBA Lottery.  If Davante has a good year this year, that could be huge for MU in so many ways - season success - yet possibly more important - illustrate that bigs can be successful at MU, and even those who came in rated as a 2 to 3 star at 295 lbs. 

The reason UK and G'Town send bigs to the lottery so frequently, is a direct result of them consistently landing the best available big men in the country.  I'm absolutely convinced a guy like Stone would develop at minimum as good as he would at UK or G'Town - but more than likely - a hell of a lot better due to the culture at MU..and that Buzz creates.

Buzz has a track record of putting guards and forwards in the NBA, but not big men. I don't doubt that Buzz would be able to get Stone to the NBA, but I think it's an important distinction to make.

[Goose]

Getting Stone would be off the charts. Lot of work ahead on many fronts but very nice to see our name up there. As for Looney, I think that might be a real long shot.

[NersEllenson]

Buzz has a track record of putting guards and forwards in the NBA, but not big men. I don't doubt that Buzz would be able to get Stone to the NBA, but I think it's an important distinction to make.

It is also important to distinguish between the difficulty associated with taking a 2-3 star guard/forward to the NBA....who are a dime a dozen...as opposed to sending the scarce 6'10"+ 5 star center to the NBA.

There are thousands of college players with measurables similar to Jae, Jimmy, Lazar, Wes, DJO - how many college players have measurables similar to an Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins, Mutomobo, Mourning, Ewing...lets not forget guys like Joel Pryzbilla were NBA lottery picks.  Jimmy Mac made $35M...they simply don't grow on trees....lot easier to get guys like that in the league than the Jimmy's, Jae's, Zar's, Wes's, and DJO's of the world.

[Hards Alumni]

It is also important to distinguish between the difficulty associated with taking a 2-3 star guard/forward to the NBA....who are a dime a dozen...as opposed to sending the scarce 6'10"+ 5 star center to the NBA.

There are thousands of college players with measurables similar to Jae, Jimmy, Lazar, Wes, DJO - how many college players have measurables similar to an Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins, Mutomobo, Mourning, Ewing...lets not forget guys like Joel Pryzbilla were NBA lottery picks.  Jimmy Mac made $35M...they simply don't grow on trees....lot easier to get guys like that in the league than the Jimmy's, Jae's, Zar's, Wes's, and DJO's of the world.

Absolutely true and great point.  It is far easier to get big guys into the NBA simply because there aren't very many to begin with.

Demand is high, and supply is low.