Class of 2019 C Jon Bol Ajak (PA) SIGNED WITH SYRACUSE

[moqui]

i know i'm in the minority here, but i hope we get jba whether or not we land a more highly sought after big. i think this is the kind of player who can develop into an excellent long term player.

 

[RF2044]

i know i'm in the minority here, but i hope we get jba whether or not we land a more highly sought after big. i think this is the kind of player who can develop into an excellent long term player.

You know what -- I wasn't that interested in this kid initially [felt like we had bigger prospects nibbling], but the more I see of his offensive game, the more I think this kid could be a real find.

Given the number of open scholarships we have, I'd love to see this kid brought in no matter who else we sign.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

You know what -- I wasn't that interested in this kid initially [felt like we had bigger prospects nibbling], but the more I see of his offensive game, the more I think this kid could be a real find.

Given the number of open scholarships we have, I'd love to see this kid brought in no matter who else we sign.

Qudus and Jon Bol as a two headed 5 (AKA a "10") sounds pretty cool.

 

[moqui]

Qudus and Jon Bol as a two headed 5 (AKA a "10") sounds pretty cool.

not unlike fab & baye earlier in the decade

 

[GooseMutt]

Stronger than dirt.

Ajax- best for cleaning boards

 

[jordoo]

The staff was on him early like Akok. He hasn’t blown up like Akok but he has been developing. I agree with moqui that he has the look of a very good 4 year program type of guy for SU.

 

[kcsu]

Qudus and Jon Bol as a two headed 5 (AKA a "10") sounds pretty cool.

Throw in Akok and we've got 4 heads

 

[JazzNC]

I'm ok with offering Ajak because I'd like to use close to our full allotment of scholarships.
Ajak projects nicely with a couple years of experience. He's stronger with a better offensive game than Chewy has now.

That said, my fingers are crossed that the staff can also land a big that's more college ready to contribute early on with Chewy leaving (that has been the assumption unless something's changed). Hopefully Sidibe can be healthy for the remainder of his career but it's not a given with inflammatory conditions like tendinitis. I'm not convinced Ajak will be ready as a freshman.

This is a really important class upcoming with lots of potential vacancies. Fingers crossed the staff can nail down some of our top recruits! LGO!

 

[Cusesky8214]

I'm ok with offering Ajak because I'd like to use close to our full allotment of scholarships.
Ajak projects nicely with a couple years of experience. He's stronger with a better offensive game than Chewy has now.

That said, my fingers are crossed that the staff can also land a big that's more college ready to contribute early on with Chewy leaving (that has been the assumption unless something's changed). Hopefully Sidibe can be healthy for the remainder of his career but it's not a given with inflammatory conditions like tendinitis. I'm not convinced Ajak will be ready as a freshman.

This is a really important class upcoming with lots of potential vacancies. Fingers crossed the staff can nail down some of our top recruits! LGO!

I get what your saying and I want us to land a ready to go freshman big as well...BUT I think it's kind of hard to figure out who is a big that's ready to go as a freshman. Rak was a huge recruit that was a McDonald's All American and he didnt do very much as a freshman for us. DC was kind of the same although I think he missed a few games with injury and came back but didnt see much time. For some reason we recruit the burger boys that dont set the world on fire as freshman (just bad luck?) And some other schools get burger boys that make big time contributions as freshman. Not sure why that is but our luck with bigs seems to go that way. Obviously we all want the best guy and highest rated etc but that doesnt mean they are going to be big time contributors for us as freshman. Sidibe is a key piece to the puzzle and hopefully hes healthy and continues to develop for us. Ajak would be a nice addition regardless of who we get but like you I'm hoping we land one of our main targets. And you say, "I'm ok with offering ajak" to start your post but I think hes already been offered.

 

[moqui]

goodine, jgiii and jba aren't going to excite anyone with star (ratings) in their eyes, but they are all likely multi-year players who would form a terrific foundation for a big recruiting class. add just one of akok, quincy or qudus and you have a very good class; add two of them and it's a home run. get all three and katy bar the door.

 

[JazzNC]

I get what your saying and I want us to land a ready to go freshman big as well...BUT I think it's kind of hard to figure out who is a big that's ready to go as a freshman. Rak was a huge recruit that was a McDonald's All American and he didnt do very much as a freshman for us. DC was kind of the same although I think he missed a few games with injury and came back but didnt see much time. For some reason we recruit the burger boys that dont set the world on fire as freshman (just bad luck?) And some other schools get burger boys that make big time contributions as freshman. Not sure why that is but our luck with bigs seems to go that way. Obviously we all want the best guy and highest rated etc but that doesnt mean they are going to be big time contributors for us as freshman. Sidibe is a key piece to the puzzle and hopefully hes healthy and continues to develop for us. Ajak would be a nice addition regardless of who we get but like you I'm hoping we land one of our main targets. And you say, "I'm ok with offering ajak" to start your post but I think hes already been offered.

You make a very valid point with Rak and DC. DC's knees didn't hold up, and Rak took a bit longer than expected to produce for a 5 star guy. Of course no player comes with a guarantee.

That's why Sidibe is so important. So much is riding on his production. It would be awesome if he can stay healthy because he displayed some real flashes of potential in his limited play last season.

Ajak is a solid catch, and you're right there is no way to know with certainty which of the bigs will be better in college. I project certain guys will be better than Ajak, but I suppose anything is possible. Let's hope for both Ajak and one of our higher rated guys. That would be ideal.

As for Ajak, I meant to say landing, rather than offering. Good catch.

 

[SUOrangeSU]

Honestly do not want. I really want to pocket that scholarship and take it to 2020. A lot of good bigs in that class

 

[Halfmooncuse]

Can’t wait to hear “Ajax off...the glass!”.

 

[JazzNC]

How in the heck did Ajak go from being a top 100 recruit to now the mid 300's? That's not a small drop off, that's a huge drop off. Hmmm... Really wish we could get a another big to go along with Ajak. I think Ajak can produce, but likely not right away, and maybe not until his junior or senior years at SU. He'd be a great program guy for depth.

 

[W'boro'Cuse315]

Qudus and Jon Bol as a two headed 5 (AKA a "10") sounds pretty cool.

They sound like the missing members of Migos.

 

[SU Dreaming]

We do not get big-time centers bc they will not be the focal point of our offense and playing the mid-spot in a JB zone does not lead to great stats, we couldn’t close Nate Roberts, Osun, and Vlad most recently, and it’s not bc the staff hasn’t been trying, JB wants the best players on the court to do their thing , NBA pro offense, big guys do not get the ball, Rak Sr year was an anomaly, our focus for big men in general has to be below radar guys or transfers, if we were to get Stewart JB changes the Offense.
The only guy of the 3 i wanted was Osun, he would have been a good fit.

I hope we get QW.

 

[tbonezone]

we had coleman , christmas, melo and moose. all big time recruits. the way we use them is yes an issue.

 

[Oakland]

Given that, would you say we generally play 4 on 5 when we have the ball?

We do not get big-time centers bc they will not be the focal point of our offense and playing the mid-spot in a JB zone does not lead to great stats, we couldn’t close Nate Roberts, Osun, and Vlad most recently, and it’s not bc the staff hasn’t been trying, JB wants the best players on the court to do their thing , NBA pro offense, big guys do not get the ball, Rak Sr year was an anomaly, our focus for big men in general has to be below radar guys or transfers, if we were to get Stewart JB changes the Offense.
The only guy of the 3 i wanted was Osun, he would have been a good fit.

I hope we get QW.

 

[SU Dreaming]

Given that, would you say we generally play 4 on 5 when we have the ball?

wow that is a brilliant idea, great stuff

 

[SU Dreaming]

we had coleman , christmas, melo and moose. all big time recruits. the way we use them is yes an issue.

Centers - Rak is not a true-center, so Fab & DC in the past 10 years, so we have signed 2-3 top 100 centers in 18 years? I might be missing a few, but not many. ETAN Thomas left in 2000.

 

[SoBeCuse]

I think if they can play Boeheim will use them and get them the ball. Too many times Centers come here and aren’t ready until much further on in their career for whatever reasons. There’s the debate of Rak also not getting the ball enough his junior year from the guards. I mean we were in it til the end for guys like ADavis and NNoel so obviously JB wanted a top prospect. I’m sure recruits aren’t/weren’t wowed in the least bit watching Chewy, Baye, Chino, etc. So maybe there is a perception lately of our Centers being too raw and not being used much besides screening. I’d kill for Stewart and JB would use that beast properly I’m sure. I think with the game changing to more smaller/offensive ball like how Nova/Golden State play, the difficulties of finding a traditional type of C with the measurables JB likes for the damn zone and who can actually play has become increasingly greater.

 

[JoeySimz]

I think if they can play Boeheim will use them and get them the ball. Too many times Centers come here and aren’t ready until much further on in their career for whatever reasons. There’s the debate of Rak also not getting the ball enough his junior year from the guards. I mean we were in it til the end for guys like ADavis and NNoel so obviously JB wanted a top prospect. I’m sure recruits aren’t/weren’t wowed in the least bit watching Chewy, Baye, Chino, etc. So maybe there is a perception lately of our Centers being too raw and not being used much besides screening. I’d kill for Stewart and JB would use that beast properly I’m sure. I think with the game changing to more smaller/offensive ball like how Nova/Golden State play, the difficulties of finding a traditional type of C with the measurables JB likes for the damn zone and who can actually play has become increasingly greater.

Nice post! (except for the “damn” part. I prefer “awesome”. Lol)

I really think this guy is a good fit for us as well as the modern game. He just moves so well, smooth too. Can shoot the three, do something on the catch, and rotate/recover. Would be to see more highlights though, against tougher competition.

 

[SoBeCuse]

Nice post! (except for the “damn” part. I prefer “awesome”. Lol)

I really think this guy is a good fit for us as well as the modern game. He just moves so well, smooth too. Can shoot the three, do something on the catch, and rotate/recover. Would be to see more highlights though, against tougher competition.

Thanks. Yeah, I think he’s a pretty good fit also! I’ll stick to the “damn” zone, ha.

 

[cuseinseattle]

How in the heck did Ajak go from being a top 100 recruit to now the mid 300's? That's not a small drop off, that's a huge drop off. Hmmm... Really wish we could get a another big to go along with Ajak. I think Ajak can produce, but likely not right away, and maybe not until his junior or senior years at SU. He'd be a great program guy for depth.

He played hurt and struggled.

 

[cuseinseattle]

I like this kid. One thing last year taught us is that you really need 3 guys capable of playing the 5. We had 2 and 1 got hurt and then we have a huge problem. Imagine if Chukwu had not made the improvement he did. So assuming BS is good going forward we need to kids to play the 5. Hopefully that is Wahab and Ajak. It's great when you have a guy that can play the 4 and 5 like Lydon but we normally don't have that.