Class of 2014 Ja'Quan Newton

[AlaskaSU]

AZ has beaten out all of those schools that you mentioned for top recruits over the past few years. Miller and his staff are great recruiters with lots of connections, so I wouldn't lump them up with Minnesota and imho they are at least on par with Louisville. Minnesota on the other hand I'll say this, Slick Rick Jr has put together a good staff and has done a good job building up some juice for that program. With that said, until they start racking up commits from top 50 players that we're recruiting, as the French Montana song goes "I ain't worried bout nuttin."

Right now we have mainly been an east coast stronghold as far as recruiting is concern. We might occasionally go after somebody out of the region hard, but for the most part the staff puts most of it's energy trying to hold NY, NJ, PA, and the whole DMV down. I'm not sure if we'll be a national selector school anytime soon, but I do believe that we'll always have enough strong contacts and good relationships to compete for the top prospects in the northeast to stay competitive for championships.

Our recruiting has its ups and downs but over the long run we have been on an upwards trajectory for over 35 years. We are just a notch below the most selective schools, with the exception of Kentucky which is presently in a league of its own. Now that the Big East has blown up, the ACC is poised to become the Nation's clearly dominant basketball league. This will benefit Syracuse the most. Duke and N Carolina are already selector schools. I expect our recruiting to move up a notch.

BTW, I would include Baltimore in our turf. I expect us to become more of a Nationwide selector school.

 

[Francis03]

Francis, if you had to make a best educated guess on the 14 guys what are you expecting to ultimately occur?

What do you think would be the best possible scenario for us as we go forward?

I might take some heat for this and everybody is entitled to their own opinion so I'll just shoot mine and will love to read the responses. When it comes to 2014, Whitehead is physically the most talented guard that we're recruiting. Kaleb Joseph on the other hand is best "fit" for the current personnel that we have, and I think that he's the most important player that we're recruiting in 2014 more so than Whitehead. Plus I think he'll be more mentally stable to deal with JB. JB will love Whitehead's talent for sure, but I think they'll have issues and clash personality wise due to Whitehead wanting to be in control and lead from start. Tyler is going to be our leader with the ball for the next two years. I'm at the point where I'll be surprise if Tyler is here past that, because this kid has put it on opponents at every level throughout and I don't see that slowing down in the ACC against teams like Wake, Clemson, Tech, Miami, BC, and UNC will get "that work" as well. I think Whitehead with the right mind frame can play well with Tyler, but I think he might prefer to go to a place where he'll be the main focal point of the offense. Newton reminds me of a more versatile version of Scoop and I also think that he would be a good addition but the staff never seemed to be in love with him. We'll see if that changes now due to this supposed package deal that he's talking with Whitehead. The staff has to decide whether to pursue Joseph and Whitehead separately, or focus on getting Whitehead and Newton together. IMHO and this is tough but with already 4 guards on the roster, I think the best thing for SU chemistry wise is to lock in on Joseph and if Whitehead wants join then fine, if not then we'll be alright.

 

[Francis03]

Our recruiting has its ups and downs but over the long run we have been on an upwards trajectory for over 35 years. We are just a notch below the most selective schools, with the exception of Kentucky which is presently in a league of its own. Now that the Big East has blown up, the ACC is poised to become the Nation's clearly dominant basketball league. This will benefit Syracuse the most. Duke and N Carolina are already selector schools. I expect our recruiting to move up a notch.

BTW, I would include Baltimore in our turf. I expect us to become more of a Nationwide selector school.

DMV=DC, Maryland(obviously B-More), Virginia but I guess Alaska is behind in knowing the term.

 

[tee1222]

I might take some heat for this and everybody is entitled to their own opinion so I'll just shoot mine and will love to read the responses. When it comes to 2014, Whitehead is physically the most talented guard that we're recruiting. Kaleb Joseph on the other hand is best "fit" for the current personnel that we have, and I think that he's the most important player that we're recruiting in 2014 more so than Whitehead. Plus I think he'll be more mentally stable to deal with JB. JB will love Whitehead's talent for sure, but I think they'll have issues and clash personality wise due to Whitehead wanting to be in control and lead from start. Tyler is going to be our leader with the ball for the next two years. I'm at the point where I'll be surprise if Tyler is here past that, because this kid has put it on opponents at every level throughout and I don't see that slowing down in the ACC against teams like Wake, Clemson, Tech, Miami, BC, and UNC will get "that work" as well. I think Whitehead with the right mind frame can play well with Tyler, but I think he might prefer to go to a place where he'll be the main focal point of the offense. Newton reminds me of a more versatile version of Scoop and I also think that he would be a good addition but the staff never seemed to be in love with him. We'll see if that changes now due to this supposed package deal that he's talking with Whitehead. The staff has to decide whether to pursue Joseph and Whitehead separately, or focus on getting Whitehead and Newton together. IMHO and this is tough but with already 4 guards on the roster, I think the best thing for SU chemistry wise is to lock in on Joseph and if Whitehead wants join then fine, if not then we'll be alright.

No heat from me, pal. In line with my assumptions and makes perfect sense.
I would be thrilled for McCullough and Joseph.
I would be thrilled for McCullough, Whitehead and/or Newton.

Really can't lose, given the talent we should retain going into '14. For now, I only see Grant as an early entry. Rak and DC2 have a ways to go and even if one of those guys leave, we're set with forwards and guards if we pick up one of the above mentioned.

 

[Madbiker]

I might take some heat for this and everybody is entitled to their own opinion so I'll just shoot mine and will love to read the responses. When it comes to 2014, Whitehead is physically the most talented guard that we're recruiting. Kaleb Joseph on the other hand is best "fit" for the current personnel that we have, and I think that he's the most important player that we're recruiting in 2014 more so than Whitehead. Plus I think he'll be more mentally stable to deal with JB. JB will love Whitehead's talent for sure, but I think they'll have issues and clash personality wise due to Whitehead wanting to be in control and lead from start. Tyler is going to be our leader with the ball for the next two years. I'm at the point where I'll be surprise if Tyler is here past that, because this kid has put it on opponents at every level throughout and I don't see that slowing down in the ACC against teams like Wake, Clemson, Tech, Miami, BC, and UNC will get "that work" as well. I think Whitehead with the right mind frame can play well with Tyler, but I think he might prefer to go to a place where he'll be the main focal point of the offense. Newton reminds me of a more versatile version of Scoop and I also think that he would be a good addition but the staff never seemed to be in love with him. We'll see if that changes now due to this supposed package deal that he's talking with Whitehead. The staff has to decide whether to pursue Joseph and Whitehead separately, or focus on getting Whitehead and Newton together. IMHO and this is tough but with already 4 guards on the roster, I think the best thing for SU chemistry wise is to lock in on Joseph and if Whitehead wants join then fine, if not then we'll be alright.

Yeah I understand where you're coming from on this. Whitehead might be a lot to handle the first year. I think he's a lot like Dion. He is also the most talented guard we're recruiting and he is a bonefide offensive force. There will be growing pains wherever he goes as he has to learn to become part of an offense. He would have the same issue if he goes to Louisville. While I think Joseph can develop into a good player for us, Whitehead has the skills to be on another level. If we want to beat Duke and UNC and win once we get to the Elite 8/ Final Four level, Whitehead is the type of talent you need. He's that unstoppable. He can get to the rim at will and finish through contact. He can drain 3's. He is fearless. He's the kind of force that the other team very quickly knows they have a problem. When you get deep in the tourney against other elite programs you have to have a couple guys who are not only pros but guys that will be impact players on the next level. UK, KU, Duke, UNC all have multiple players on their rosters like that each year. I'd like to see SU have that also. So I hope we get the chance to with him.

 

[Sgt Cuse]

No heat from me, pal. In line with my assumptions and makes perfect sense.
I would be thrilled for McCullough and Joseph.
I would be thrilled for McCullough, Whitehead and/or Newton.

Really can't lose, given the talent we should retain going into '14. For now, I only see Grant as an early entry. Rak and DC2 have a ways to go and even if one of those guys leave, we're set with forwards and guards if we pick up one of the above mentioned.

I agree.
I have a hard time seeing the fit with Whitehead though. Seems like we will have a logjam of 2's in '14 -MG, Buss, Cooney, and possibly BJ.

I had always thought '15 would be the better year for a top of the line sg -either Briscoe or Malachi. Has Briscoe really dropped so far that he does not even register a report any more?

 

[tee1222]

I agree.
I have a hard time seeing the fit with Whitehead though. Seems like we will have a logjam of 2's in '14 -MG, Buss, Cooney, and possibly BJ.

I had always thought '15 would be the better year for a top of the line sg -either Briscoe or Malachi. Has Briscoe really dropped so far that he does not even register a report any more?

Although Whitehead is listed as a SG, I see him getting time as a combo guard similar to Triche. While I am not comparing the two as players as they are obviously different, Whitehead can handle the ball like Triche.

With Buss, MG, Cooney and BJ all more of scoring/shooting guards, it would be great to land another ball handler. I think any of Whitehead, Joseph and Newton fit that profile.

Imagine Ennis and Whitehead on the floor at the same time.
Whitehead, wherever he goes, is going to score in bunches. But we have had guys recently that can play either guard position and I'll bet he knows this can work.

 

[cusetown1]

Basketball talent is down, the game is changing. Once in a while we get a dominant team. You can pretty much throw this whole "selector school" label out the window. It's not like that anymore or maybe to a smaller extent. Tourneys are wide open, it's all match up and rarely are teams head and shoulders above each other.

 

[Francis03]

I agree.
I have a hard time seeing the fit with Whitehead though. Seems like we will have a logjam of 2's in '14 -MG, Buss, Cooney, and possibly BJ.

I had always thought '15 would be the better year for a top of the line sg -either Briscoe or Malachi. Has Briscoe really dropped so far that he does not even register a report any more?

Since he didn't give Zona that commitment a few weeks back, who knows what his dad is thinking. I think his dad wants to see if UK and Duke(both schools that he has inquired interest in for his son) are going to step up there recruiting efforts during the evaluation period this month. If not then I think they'll stick with the Zona plan. Our factor will be if Red is still attending the Briscoe games. If so, then he feels that we still have a shot.

 

[jordoo]

Wow lots of great conversation happened last night when I wasn't looking.

I'm with Francis as far as the priority should be a PG for 2014. Ennis is our only real PG on the squad this season and he too good to just asume he'll be around all 4 years. Getting a commit from a PG may officially close the dooron Briscoe since thats all he wants to play but oh well. It looks to me like Joseph is the best PG of the 3 and Whitehead is the biggest talent of that group. Still I would take a commit from Newton today if it was up to me. I think Newton can play PG and would be on the hill for 2-3 years which I'd prefer to 1 year of Whitehead. I really liked Francis's comparison of Newton to Scoop obviously it looks like Newton would come in as a much better shooter than Scoop did (although Scoop turned himself into a very good shooter) and he looks to be more athletic. We need a PG in the class so Joseph is still the odds on favorite IMO if we could somehow get Joseph and Newton I'd love that but I'd also love to get Whitehead on the heels of landing McCulough which could be a sign that we are back in with the really bigtime NYC talent again.

 

[Flacusian]

JB has no 2 and done strategy. He has tried and missed on numerous 1 and dones (Davis, Noel, Wiggins, and many others). With the exception of Ennis, all our other '13-14 recruits are probably option B. This is one reason why SU's recruiting is a notch below the elite schools. The other reason is the 5 stars we do get tend not to live up to expectations as freshmen (Dion, Rak, Coleman) and so they have to stay around longer.

So our players stay around longer, giving them more experience, which helps us win more than our share of games. Just don't think that is the intended startegy. As for me, I hope Chris turns out to be a 1 and done talent, we can use that type of performance in '14-15, it served us well in '03-04.

I didn't mean to say that it was JB's intended strategy. It's more a factor of the law of unintended consequences. In the end the bottom line is that while we have done very well with recruiting, I agree we are still a notch below some other programs. It is a fact that we end up with fewer of the top elite players in the incoming class and we have to seemingly work harder to get top recruits where some of the other schools make and offer and /bang/ it pretty much happens. The fact that JB does have loyalty to the kids who have worked their way through the program over time results in kids like MCW and Dion having to essentially wait a year where in other situations they may have played/ started immediately.

A kid like Wiggins isn't going to wait for anybody. Nor will Whitehead and some of the other top talent being mentioned here. So the flip side of this is, "how many kids have come here and started since day one"? The answer to the question is also the answer to how many of the elite recruits have we had here in the past decade? So my point with the 2 and done thing is it is the approach which is seemingly observed because the type / level of players we have in the program and there are some resultant benefits associated with it.

 

[Sgt Cuse]

JB has no 2 and done strategy. He has tried and missed on numerous 1 and dones (Davis, Noel, Wiggins, and many others). With the exception of Ennis, all our other '13-14 recruits are probably option B. This is one reason why SU's recruiting is a notch below the elite schools. The other reason is the 5 stars we do get tend not to live up to expectations as freshmen (Dion, Rak, Coleman) and so they have to stay around longer.

So our players stay around longer, giving them more experience, which helps us win more than our share of games. Just don't think that is the intended startegy. As for me, I hope Chris turns out to be a 1 and done talent, we can use that type of performance in '14-15, it served us well in '03-04.

Plan B's? Notch below the elite schools? Some people are missing out on the high point of SU recruiting.

Glad to see you acknowledge Ennis as plan A. JB's top target.

But you seriously underestimate Roberson. Like Grant before him, Roberson is a tremendous get. You also should factor in that these top shelf players are not walking into immediate PT. Wow. Hakim and/or Wallace never waited a year.

And what is plan B about BJ? JB wanted him. If he didn't he would simply not have offered, we are not pressed for players at his positions. I believe the plan is for BJ to start the '15-'16 season at sf. Who is currently ranked higher? The more I see and read of this the more I like it.

You make it sound like JB is Forrest Gumping his way into 30 win seasons because his precious 5 stars aren't performing up to your expectations. Wake up. There certainly is a strategy involved.

 

[Oakland]

Plan B's? Notch below the elite schools? Some people are missing out on the high point of SU recruiting.

Glad to see you acknowledge Ennis as plan A. JB's top target.

But you seriously underestimate Roberson. Like Grant before him, Roberson is a tremendous get. You also should factor in that these top shelf players are not walking into immediate PT. Wow. Hakim and/or Wallace never waited a year.

And what is plan B about BJ? JB wanted him. If he didn't he would simply not have offered, we are not pressed for players at his positions. I believe the plan is for BJ to start the '15-'16 season at sf. Who is currently ranked higher? The more I see and read of this the more I like it.

You make it sound like JB is Forrest Gumping his way into 30 win seasons because his precious 5 stars aren't performing up to your expectations. Wake up. There certainly is a strategy involved.

Well I don't follow recruiting as much as some of you so you might be right, especially since Francis gave you a like. I know Francis is one of the best at following SU recruiting. Francis, just for my clarification, please confirm that all our '13 recruits were option A: that JB wanted Obokoh over Dakari Johnson, Roberson over Noah Vonleh and Julius Randle, BJ over Wiggins and Jame Young and Wayne Sheldon. Thanks in advance.

Concerning our recent 5 stars, I doubt they have lived up to anyone's expectations (except maybe yours) including their own. Considering many posters had Rak and DCII as one and dones (not me BTW), I think it is save to say that they did not live up to expectations when their over/under for staying in as a starter was 100 sec.

About our '13 class, we got the PG we wanted and needed and a bunch of players with potential. A foundation class as somone astutely described it. I'm not unhappy with it. It is a good class for SU. A protypical SU class, that is, as Flascusian indicated above, full of players expected to stick around and get a lot of experience. A lot like the 2001 class. And just like the 2001 class, a class that is not likely to take us very far at the end of this coming season. I do have higher hopes for SU. I'd like to see them get one top flight 5 star player each year, that plays like a top flight 5 star player - you know, like Chris M in '14.

 

[cusetown1]

Wiggins was never going to come here, especially having CJ and Grant already here. Roberson is better than Vonleh, just watch. DC and Rak were both 5 star McDonald's All Americans the ones that everybody goes gaga over. We lost out on Dakari primarily because he reclassified, and Shitucky was involved. James Young was a late push, never had much of a chance.

 

[cusetown1]

Wayne Seldon was probably the only one "we lost out on".

 

[tee1222]

Wiggins was never going to come here, especially having CJ and Grant already here. Roberson is better than Vonleh, just watch. DC and Rak were both 5 star McDonald's All Americans the ones that everybody goes gaga over. We lost out on Dakari primarily because he reclassified, and Shitucky was involved. James Young was a late push, never had much of a chance.

Booyah!
Agree. In fact, I have posted at least twice, of the article that describes Roberson and Vonleh's only head to head matchup.
Not finding it again, but article says that Roberson won the battle.

 

[cusetown1]

Booyah!
Agree. In fact, I have posted at least twice, of the article that describes Roberson and Vonleh's only head to head matchup.
Not finding it again, but article says that Roberson won the battle.

Vonleh is soft that's why he went to Indy lol, oh and his brother goes there i think. Im ecstatic we have Roberson and Vonleh was an uphill battle considering.

 

[Sgt Cuse]

Well I don't follow recruiting as much as some of you so you might be right, especially since Francis gave you a like. I know Francis is one of the best at following SU recruiting. Francis, just for my clarification, please confirm that all our '13 recruits were option A: that JB wanted Obokoh over Dakari Johnson, Roberson over Noah Vonleh and Julius Randle, BJ over Wiggins and Jame Young and Wayne Sheldon. Thanks in advance.

Concerning our recent 5 stars, I doubt they have lived up to anyone's expectations (except maybe yours) including their own. Considering many posters had Rak and DCII as one and dones (not me BTW), I think it is save to say that they did not live up to expectations when their over/under for staying in as a starter was 100 sec.

About our '13 class, we got the PG we wanted and needed and a bunch of players with potential. A foundation class as somone astutely described it. I'm not unhappy with it. It is a good class for SU. A protypical SU class, that is, as Flascusian indicated above, full of players expected to stick around and get a lot of experience. A lot like the 2001 class. And just like the 2001 class, a class that is not likely to take us very far at the end of this coming season. I do have higher hopes for SU. I'd like to see them get one top flight 5 star player each year, that plays like a top flight 5 star player - you know, like Chris M in '14.

First off, of the 5 stars it seems to me that MCW, Dion, and Fab have done quite well for themselves. Bigs can take longer.

Secondly, no one gets every recruit they go after. Not even UK, they didn't get Wiggins. You don't judge recruiting by the ones you miss out on, you judge it by who you bring in.

You wanted one top flight player a year. Well this year we get Ennis and Roberson. Next year, at least McCollough. Those are studs.

My point is I think SU's recruiting is at an all-time high. Grant, Roberson, and maybe MCW, all came in willing to wait a year before their time. For the past several years it seems SU has ranked in the top 10 in recruiting. That puts us with the elite (maybe a tad behind UK).

 

[Francis03]

Well I don't follow recruiting as much as some of you so you might be right, especially since Francis gave you a like. I know Francis is one of the best at following SU recruiting. Francis, just for my clarification, please confirm that all our '13 recruits were option A: that JB wanted Obokoh over Dakari Johnson, Roberson over Noah Vonleh and Julius Randle, BJ over Wiggins and Jame Young and Wayne Sheldon. Thanks in advance.

Concerning our recent 5 stars, I doubt they have lived up to anyone's expectations (except maybe yours) including their own. Considering many posters had Rak and DCII as one and dones (not me BTW), I think it is save to say that they did not live up to expectations when their over/under for staying in as a starter was 100 sec.

About our '13 class, we got the PG we wanted and needed and a bunch of players with potential. A foundation class as somone astutely described it. I'm not unhappy with it. It is a good class for SU. A protypical SU class, that is, as Flascusian indicated above, full of players expected to stick around and get a lot of experience. A lot like the 2001 class. And just like the 2001 class, a class that is not likely to take us very far at the end of this coming season. I do have higher hopes for SU. I'd like to see them get one top flight 5 star player each year, that plays like a top flight 5 star player - you know, like Chris M in '14.

You make fair points and I always welcome a difference of opinion because we're all entitled to one. Ennis and Roberson were plan A guys who the staff busted their behind for. The staff was very high on Vonleh a few years ago but things shifted after that and the staff never really seemed to be in the mix heavy with him again. They went into the summer last year pushing for both Roberson and Jermaine Lawrence. Lawrence's recruitment had a bunch of behind the scenes nonsense that had turned the staff off and from August on they turned their attention solely on Roberson. BJ played well in the summer circuit and the staff got to see him up close at their elite camp to get a better feel for him and felt that he fit in the sleeper Hak Warrick(not the player but lack of national buzz) type of recruit, who could be a gem down the road. There wasn't any great centers in 2013 class that the staff went after and I wouldn't classify Obokoh as a plan B, but more of a luxury 4 year program type of player like BMK. As Cusetown mentioned, we were one of the heavy favorites for Dakari in 2014, but he surprised everybody and reclassified in the fall of last year. Obokoh was already committed and with DC2 and Rak already in the fold, the chances of us landing him was pretty much slim. Young was a late push as cusetown noted and we didn't even get into the picture until late last summer. JB took a swing and missed but it was basically a waste of time because the kid always favored UK for the longest. Cal only hesitated taking a commitment from him early because there was academic concerns with him. The staff spent no time recruiting Wiggins and Randle so there isn't much to say there. The only recruit that I can say that the staff really wanted that was realistic and missed out on was Rysheed Jordan, who surprisingly didn't commit after midnight madness and they decided not to wait on him and settled on the plan B which was Buss Patterson.

 

[Oakland]

First off, of the 5 stars it seems to me that MCW, Dion, and Fab have done quite well for themselves. Bigs can take longer.

Secondly, no one gets every recruit they go after. Not even UK, they didn't get Wiggins. You don't judge recruiting by the ones you miss out on, you judge it by who you bring in.

You wanted one top flight player a year. Well this year we get Ennis and Roberson. Next year, at least McCollough. Those are studs.

My point is I think SU's recruiting is at an all-time high. Grant, Roberson, and maybe MCW, all came in willing to wait a year before their time. For the past several years it seems SU has ranked in the top 10 in recruiting. That puts us with the elite (maybe a tad behind UK).

Thank you for mentioning Fab, another freshman guy with an over under of 100 sec, he is another example of what I stated: "The other reason is the 5 stars we do get tend not to live up to expectations as freshmen (Dion, Rak, Coleman) and so they have to stay around longer."

And now you admit that we are behind UK. I agree that SU is in the top 10 of recruiting, but not the top 5: are you sure there is a disagreement between us? BTW, did you notice that Kansas has 3 of the top 15, including 2 SU recruits mentioned above? How do you think we stand vs Kansas? UNC, did you notice they have 3 of the top 15 in '14? When was the last time SU had 3 of the top 15?
Flacusian's post concerned who we got and you we didn't get. So this subthread is about who we didn't get.

 

[Madbiker]

Obokoh is somewhat of a puzzler. The staff has been recruiting Goodluck for at least 3 years. He was at MM two years ago with Noel. The kid by all accounts was very high on Cuse (much more so than Noel). When we took Obokoh that pretty much left no room for Goodluck in a crowded center spot. Goodluck is rated much higher. There are two rationales I can see. (1) Our top target in 2015 is Thomas Bryant a hs teammate of Obokoh. (2) The old a bird in the hand saying since we couldn't be 100% certain of getting Goodluck even if we passed on Obokoh.

 

[Oakland]

You make fair points and I always welcome a difference of opinion because we're all entitled to one. Ennis and Roberson were plan A guys who the staff busted their behind for. The staff was very high on Vonleh a few years ago but things shifted after that and the staff never really seemed to be in the mix heavy with him again. They went into the summer last year pushing for both Roberson and Jermaine Lawrence. Lawrence's recruitment had a bunch of behind the scenes nonsense that had turned the staff off and from August on they turned their attention solely on Roberson. BJ played well in the summer circuit and the staff got to see him up close at their elite camp to get a better feel for him and felt that he fit in the sleeper Hak Warrick(not the player but lack of national buzz) type of recruit, who could be a gem down the road. There wasn't any great centers in 2013 class that the staff went after and I wouldn't classify Obokoh as a plan B, but more of a luxury 4 year program type of player like BMK. As Cusetown mentioned, we were one of the heavy favorites for Dakari in 2014, but he surprised everybody and reclassified in the fall of last year. Obokoh was already committed and with DC2 and Rak already in the fold, the chances of us landing him was pretty much slim. Young was a late push as cusetown noted and we didn't even get into the picture until late last summer. JB took a swing and missed but it was basically a waste of time because the kid always favored UK for the longest. Cal only hesitated taking a commitment from him early because there was academic concerns with him. The staff spent no time recruiting Wiggins and Randle so there isn't much to say there. The only recruit that I can say that the staff really wanted that was realistic and missed out on was Rasheed Jordan, who surprisingly didn't commit after midnight madness and they decided not to wait on him and settled on the plan B which was Buss Patterson.

Like I said, I'm not a recruiting guru so I want to learn. Let me get this straight:

1) We really wanted Vonleh but we weren't in the heavy mix with him, therefore he was no longer option A. After Vonleh was not option A, we were pushing for Roberson and J Law, but because J's recruitment had some nonsense Roberson therefore was option A, got it.

2) Dakari was our option A in 2014 but he reclassified to 2013, so we didn't want him anymore and we gave his scholarship to a walk on. Got it.

3) The board and the recruiting services thought for 2 years that we were recruiting Wiggins, but the staff really wasn't, so he doesn't count. Got it. And if he did want to commit to us we wouldn't take him because he wasn't option A.

4) R Jordan was option A and Patterson was option B, thanks, I had forgotten that. It is interesting to know that I know what I have forgotten. Thanks for reminding me.

I think I'm learning. I feel so much better knowing that SU gets all it's option A recruits. Let me give it a try: James Young from Rochester, was not really good enough for SU/not as good as BJ/more interested in some other school, therefore he wasn't really our option A. Bingo! How did I do?

 

[Oakland]

First off, of the 5 stars it seems to me that MCW, Dion, and Fab have done quite well for themselves. Bigs can take longer.

Secondly, no one gets every recruit they go after. Not even UK, they didn't get Wiggins. You don't judge recruiting by the ones you miss out on, you judge it by who you bring in.

You wanted one top flight player a year. Well this year we get Ennis and Roberson. Next year, at least McCollough. Those are studs.

My point is I think SU's recruiting is at an all-time high. Grant, Roberson, and maybe MCW, all came in willing to wait a year before their time. For the past several years it seems SU has ranked in the top 10 in recruiting. That puts us with the elite (maybe a tad behind UK).

MCW, thanks again, for reminding me of another SU 5 star recruit who couldn't get many minutes as a freshman. BTW, how did big man feshman McGrady do for Michign this season?

 

[spo023]

MCW, thanks again, for reminding me of another SU 5 star recruit who couldn't get many minutes as a freshman. BTW, how did big man feshman McGrady do for Michign this season?

Mcgrady played for Spurs this year. McGary on the other hand, he didn't do too bad.

 

[weedsportwarriors]

Like I said, I'm not a recruiting guru so I want to learn. Let me get this straight:

1) We really wanted Vonleh but we weren't in the heavy mix with him, therefore he was no longer option A. After Vonleh was not option A, we were pushing for Roberson and J Law, but because J's recruitment had some nonsense Roberson therefore was option A, got it.

2) Dakari was our option A in 2014 but he reclassified to 2013, so we didn't want him anymore and we gave his scholarship to a walk on. Got it.

3) The board and the recruiting services thought for 2 years that we were recruiting Wiggins, but the staff really wasn't, so he doesn't count. Got it. And if he did want to commit to us we wouldn't take him because he wasn't option A.

4) R Jordan was option A and Patterson was option B, thanks, I had forgotten that. It is interesting to know that I know what I have forgotten. Thanks for reminding me.

I think I'm learning. I feel so much better knowing that SU gets all it's option A recruits. Let me give it a try: James Young from Rochester, was not really good enough for SU/not as good as BJ/more interested in some other school, therefore he wasn't really our option A. Bingo! How did I do?

You did terrible. I don't see anywhere in the posts in this thread that say we got all of our option "A" guys. Wake up, your alarm is going off!! In the end, it doesn't matter if you get "A" guy or "B" guy. Our "A" guys and "B" guys are all rated in the top 100; it is what the staff does with them that counts. Too many superstars on one team can equal disaster. Case in point, look at Kentucky last year. I will take 1 or 2 "A" guys and a bunch of "B" guys with this staff any day. At least they had a "B" plan and I think you will see that this years recruits all have solid careers at SU and they will see a National Championship in their time at SU.