Recruiting as of 3/15/24

[KampusFoods]

buzz is an a-hole

[Loose Cannon]

How often do guards red shirt?  Seems odd that a lot of people would expect GE to.  I know Big Daddy had referenced that someone may red shirt but I would think it would be more like to be a big man like Eke.

Yep, I think it will be Eke also.

[Lennys Tap]

Yeah I'm not sure how much skills honing went on the one year JFB and DJO were at a Juco.  Same with Jae who was at two different ones.  I just think he has the network to unearth these guys.

Exactly. And Buzz "coached up" those guys just fine. Wesley Matthews, too.

[Lennys Tap]

Rankings don't mean anything

Right. That's why Kentucky, Duke and North Carolina suck year after year.

[Jay Bee]

Rankings mean something, but for diff reasons they are sometimes off (e.g. I've brought up a number of them in the past & certainly Markus is an example)

All that said, I'm fairly ignorant re: GregE

[Silkk the Shaka]

Rankings mean something, but for diff reasons they are sometimes off (e.g. I've brought up a number of them in the past & certainly Markus is an example)

All that said, I'm fairly ignorant re: GregE

eGregEious!

[🏀]

Yeah I'm not sure how much skills honing went on the one year JFB and DJO were at a Juco.  Same with Jae who was at two different ones.  I just think he has the network to unearth these guys.

Anyone else imaging Coach Pete Bell going deep in the bayou to find Neon Boudeaux?

[Dawson Rental]

Yes, there are always exceptions and I know we have Froling coming in.

There are three Big East teams that currently do not have an ESPN top 100 recruit for 2017 - DePaul, Providence and Marquette.  There are 5 Big East teams ranked in the top 40 classes and we are not one of them.

The last time MU did not have a top 100 recruit in its class was 2011.  That class included Todd Mayo as a post-grad and Derrick Wilson and Juan Anderson were both ranked higher than anyone in our current class.

Ideally we would have a couple of headliners (top 100) and 1 or 2 potential late bloomers that address roster needs to mix in with a transfer.  That's sort of what we had this year with Howard, Hauser, Reinhardt and Rowsey becoming eligible.  I'm just saying this class doesn't have any real high end talent that is likely to help push us to the upper echelon of the Big East.

It's hard to get top 100 guys to sit on the bench.  To a certain extent, this year's class is down due to the success of earler classes.  The team is starting two freshmen and a sophomore who are all best on the perimeter.  Don't forget Brendan Bailey is top 100 that other players know is on the way, as well.  Top 100 bigs are hard to get and tend to leave early.  Wojo got size in this year's class that will allow Hauser to play where he probably is best at the three, and will be guys who are especially in the case of John and Eke liely to stay four years and develop into effective Big East players.  When you look past the obvious, its apparent that Wojo is building that will be something like Creighton and Butler are this year very soon (except with more top 100 kids then either of those schools have this year).

[Dr. Blackheart]

So Wojo's Top 10 recruiting class from a year ago doesn't mean squat, aina?

[Dawson Rental]

So Wojo's Top 10 recruiting class from a year ago doesn't mean squat, right?

Nope, it means a whole lot.  It's making it harder to get more top 100 kids this year when they can see that playing time is going to be scarce here abouts for a few years.

[MU82]

1. Jamal Cain is a Pogo Stick with Length and skills
2. Ike Eke is a Pogo Stick with Length and has a body that can get even bigger
3. Greg Elliot is a Pogo Stick with Length on the uptrend.

Well, if we happen to suck at basketball in the future, it's comforting to know we'll effen dominate the National Pogo Stick Competition!!!

[mileskishnish72]

Half of the top 10 recruiting class is already gone, no?

[MattyWarrior]

I really think Theo John plays like an enforcer, he's got a solid body and core, and has the skills
we've been lacking with Wojos teams.

[Stretchdeltsig]

Bravo.  Theo is much needed to protect our rim.

[Lennys Tap]

So Wojo's Top 10 recruiting class from a year ago doesn't mean squat, right?

Correct. That "top 10" class now consists of Cheatham, Sacar and Heldt. Do a re-ranking today and it's not top 50.

[Lennys Tap]

Nope, it means a whole lot.  It's making it harder to get more top 100 kids this year when they can see that playing time is going to be scarce here abouts for a few years.

Other than Markus Howard there is nobody on our current roster that would give any top recruit pause.

[The Lens]

Correct. That "top 10" class now consists of Cheatham, Sacar and Heldt. Do a re-ranking today and it's not top 50.

Seems Deane-y

[wadesworld]

Correct. That "top 10" class now consists of Cheatham, Sacar and Heldt. Do a re-ranking today and it's not top 50.

Well sure.  If you put it that way Kentucky's recruiting classes wouldn't be any good anymore after one year either.

[Dawson Rental]

Seems Deane-y

Deane never got one player as good as Cheatham. 

[brandx]

Other than Markus Howard there is nobody on our current roster that would give any top recruit pause.

You're  right, Lenny.

If a recruit doesn't believe he can find playing time on a non-tournament team where 3 out of the top 5 players in minutes/game are graduating, he doesn't have the confidence to play at this level.

[BM1090]

You're  right, Lenny.

If a recruit doesn't believe he can find playing time on a non-tournament team where 3 out of the top 5 players in minutes/game are graduating, he doesn't have the confidence to play at this level.

I'm not referring to you specifically, but I'm kind of getting sick of all these posts concretely stating that we aren't a tournament team. We're 50/50 to make it this year. Bracket Matrix (a compilation of all bracketologies) has us as the last team in right now. Lunardi has us 3rd out. We're 37th in KenPom. This is BY FAR our best team in the last 3 years and we have a solid shot at making it. Let's let the next 3 weeks play out before we tear down this team.

[MU82]

Correct. That "top 10" class now consists of Cheatham, Sacar and Heldt. Do a re-ranking today and it's not top 50.

Let's be fair, Lenny. How many of Buzz's top high school recruits panned out for Marquette? I like and appreciate Buzz - not as much as you, I know, but I do. Buzz had all kinds of good recruits come and go, and even many of those who stayed bit the big one. He won because he was great at recruiting and coaching jucos, as well as more off-the-grid kids (such as Davante). Nothing wrong with that in my view, but it would be easy to take a look in hindsight at many of his top classes and list the Maymons, Smiths, Taylors and say, "You call that a recruiting class?"

[bilsu]

Deane never got one player as good as Cheatham.

That depends on where you rank Wardle.

[HoopsterBC]

That depends on where you rank Wardle.

I rank him better than Cheatham, for sure.

[brewcity77]

Correct. That "top 10" class now consists of Cheatham, Sacar and Heldt. Do a re-ranking today and it's not top 50.

I'm going to disagree with you on that one. Cheatham alone is a higher rated recruit than any team rated in the 42-50 range. It wouldn't have been as high without Henry, but it's still probably right around a top-40 class. And you can't dismiss Henry because he went pro. By that logic, Kentucky only has one recruit left from their 2015 class.