I know its still too soon, but . . .

[AlumKCof93]

What should we expect from the incoming freshman next year?  Reading this board, it seems as though their are high expectations for the recruits.  But the recruiting services don't seem to always agree.  So for you guys in the know, what should we expect?

[LastWarrior]

Well first of all, we're oversigned by one player so someone has to become a walk-on, leave, go prep school or we lose a recruit.   There were rumors in the past of schools with high graduation rates getting an extra scholly but I doubt that will happen.  That said, Nick Williams is a big time scorer/ player at the 2G and was the Alabama player of the year.  Taylor was the starting PG of the top high school team in the country.  Fulce is a super athletic 3 from Texas that originally was a commit to Texas A&M, transfered to UNO, and then followed Buzz to MU.  He'll come in as a sophmore next year after playing some dominant ball in juco this year.  Finally, we have 6'10" Chris O'Tule out of Texas... rumors are he's still growing and could be 7'0" when he gets to MU.  He's supposed to be a dominant defensive player, a great rebounder, super athletic and with great hands on offense.  Other than his hands, he's supposed to be very raw on offense. 

With another year of Mbakwe and the rest of the squad, I see us as a much better, deeper, and more skilled team.

[Mayor McCheese]

I think Taylor should redshirt, maybe Williams too, just my thought... Taylor has to look and realize with James, Cubillan and Acker back, he doesn't see much playing time.  Williams has to deal with them 3 and McNeal.  Going to be tough to get playing time.

[Daniel]

We will have the equivalent of two starting teams next year - that's how strong our bench will be.  But if James returns, we will have 8 guards - that's a lot - and one scholie over.  I don't think any of the new recruits are going to be losign a scholie - not good for recruiting.  So someone else may transfer.  

But we will have a deep team- I hopt Otule picks up the pace o the offensive end - he has scored his senior year - at some point he was averaging 13 or 14 I thought - we will need his defense, hands and scoring.

[bma725]

I think Taylor should redshirt, maybe Williams too, just my thought... Taylor has to look and realize with James, Cubillan and Acker back, he doesn't see much playing time.  Williams has to deal with them 3 and McNeal.  Going to be tough to get playing time.

Having seen both Taylor and Williams play, they are both more talented than Cubillan and Acker, and should earn playing time over those two.

[MUfan12]

Having seen both Taylor and Williams play, they are both more talented than Cubillan and Acker, and should earn playing time over those two.

I've seen both as well, but I can't see that happening right away. They both will still have to adjust to the speed of college ball, and will have to learn the offense. Acker and Cubillan have the experience and will be favored early on.

The time to watch these two especially will be during Winter Break next year, when the practice time limits are lifted. That's when we'll see explosive growth from those two guys. If James leaves, it wouldn't surprise me to see TT starting come February.

[HoopDreams]

Cubillian had a terrible second half of a season. Simply no offensive production. Wouldn't shock me to see one of the freshman see some of his minutes next year.

[YoungMUFan4]

i have seen bits and pieces of both Nick williams and tyshawn taylor and from what it sounds and looks like, Taylor is a lot like mcneal in that they are excellent defenders and are scorers more than shooters.  Taylor is long and wirey but has better hops and a better handle than Mcneal.  Williams is more like Matthews because he is not overly athletic but is a little bigger built and plays extremely smart.  Williams has a better 3pt shot than any of our starting 3 guards.

[bilsu]

I have an inkling that we will be starting two freshmen guards next year. My feeling (or worst fear) is that both James and McNeal are gone.

[dcmk89]

Mcneal isn't going. Sure, he had a few great games at the end, but in this years class, he would be extremely har pressed to get drafted at all.

I highly doubt they both go.

[Big Papi]

Dodds has a great article interview with Buzz where he talks about Fulce and Otule.    Fulce sounds like an interesting prospect and I don't want to overstep my bounds on the content of the article but I will say that I have heard through various outlets that Fulce is a Shawn Marion type of player.  Now dont jump to conclusions that he will be like Marion in any of his years at MU but that he is wiry kid who can score and rebound.  Should provide 10-12 minutes next year at the 3/4 backing up Hayward and Matthews.

Otule seems like a project which is a shame because we desparately need him to step up and provide 15 minutes a game come conference time. 

Williams should provide some good backup minutes as he sounds like a Hayward type of player.  By that I mean he can hit the outside shot and also take it to the hole as a scorer.  Nice size for a 2 guard.

Finally Taylor will be a great pg for us in the future.  Should provide 7-8 if DJ comes back and could provide 20 plus if DJ leaves.  Great size and looks like a very fundamentally sound basketball player who is not know for his outside shot and is probably a more prototypical PG.

[kira67]

I think that if the three amigos stay for their senior year, we'll have a great team. A trio of senior, Hayward will be in his third year, MBakwe will play a lot of minutes, and Williams and Taylor should be excellent freshmen.

Regarding Cubillan, I think that he was the biggest disappointment of the year. He was terrible especially during the Big East season. Fitz should have played a little more. Ooz should have start every game from Day 1.

[77ncaachamps]

Regarding Cubillan, I think that he was the biggest disappointment of the year. He was terrible especially during the Big East season. Fitz should have played a little more. Ooz should have start every game from Day 1.

I agree with the Cubillan assessment. He played summer ball and had experience against more mature clubs though his minutes weren't consistent. Fitz never had the urgency to shoot, which is a shame because we could have benefited from a much hungrier Fitz. That Ooze evaluation is off because his production at the end of the season was NOTHING like his production at the beginning and middle of the season. I think Ooze and Fitz's production toward the end of the season was due to their realization of the impending finality of their MU careers.