Class of 2020 C Quincy Ballard (NY) Transferring from FSU to Wichita St

[IthacaMatt]

I believe about half the offer lists I read...look at his list in the article...a 2020 kid like him is waiting for what exactly? Maryland and FSU are legit. Why not sign?

If he's unsigned this late, there was probably a grades issue, and he probably just made his grades / test score.

 

[Cusesky8214]

He has a much more traditional big man game (and size) than somebody like JBA. There's a lot to work with there. It's a plug-in fit to a traditional problem, having someone with some size to defend opposing big men in the post, even if it's only 10 minutes a game. You need tools like this kid in your toolkit.

We are just a low D1 program looking to recruit low D1 kids.

 

[50YRsofCuse]

Not sure I get the negativity. I can’t see this affecting Ettienne, a 2021 and especially Clingan, a 2022. As far as Morgan goes, I haven’t seen anything to suggest that we have a good shot. And Ballard might be a better fit for what we need.
If he isn’t D1 talent you won’t have to worry about the other guys transferring.
I think we can trust the staff here as well as the staff of Florida State and the other schools that have offered.

dont mean negativity. There will be 3 centers after next year if Ballard comes in. Playing in 2021 with 4 centers if Ettienne comes in will be hard to manage and if Clingan comes in 2022, then Ajak, Edwards or Ballard would probably leave.
Don’t believe that we will get both but if we have Ballard and he does well, we would not need either.

 

[Gabjon]

He is still only 18 and is already 7'-0" 246...

I think he should RS, but only if JBA can give us minutes this year because Edwards needs to RS first.

 

[orangebabe]

big kid...we could use a bruiser on the roster.

Cuse has offered and he’s set to make his decision

 

[orangefog]

dont mean negativity. There will be 3 centers after next year if Ballard comes in. Playing in 2021 with 4 centers if Ettienne comes in will be hard to manage and if Clingan comes in 2022, then Ajak, Edwards or Ballard would probably leave.
Don’t believe that we will get both but if we have Ballard and he does well, we would not need either.

Name of the game is talent acquisition. Stock the roster with as much talent as possible. With the fluidity of college rosters, you go in to next season with 4 centers. Three of them would be question marks. It is likely we leave the season with an answer or two and one or two departures.

 

[Scott11]

dont mean negativity. There will be 3 centers after next year if Ballard comes in. Playing in 2021 with 4 centers if Ettienne comes in will be hard to manage and if Clingan comes in 2022, then Ajak, Edwards or Ballard would probably leave.
Don’t believe that we will get both but if we have Ballard and he does well, we would not need either.

I hear you. I think it is worth noting that with the new transfer rule coming up either this year or next you will see a lot more player movement. As a result it is imperative to stock the roster with as much talent as you possibly can and let things play out.

 

[50YRsofCuse]

Name of the game is talent acquisition. Stock the roster with as much talent as possible. With the fluidity of college rosters, you go in to next season with 4 centers. Three of them would be question marks. It is likely we leave the season with an answer or two and one or two departures.

But at what point do you look at playing time. Boeheim plays 7-8 players at the max. Losing players in droves every year does not put Syracuse in a good light with recruiting new players.

There has to be some balance across the recruiting years. With Haarms, he is gone after one year of contributing. Leaves an opening for a C/PF in 2021,with possibly Ettienne coming in. maybe one of Edwards or Ajak can play C and PF filling the gap when Sidibe and Marek leave.

 

[orangefog]

But at what point do you look at playing time. Boeheim plays 7-8 players at the max. Losing players in droves every year does not put Syracuse in a good light with recruiting new players.

There has to be some balance across the recruiting years. With Haarms, he is gone after one year of contributing. Leaves an opening for a C/PF in 2021,with possibly Ettienne coming in. maybe one of Edwards or Ajak can play C and PF filling the gap when Sidibe and Marek leave.

I would prefer Haarms for that reason as well as he is the one that is most likely to contribute next year. But, if that doesn’t happen, I think it’s smart to use all roster spots. We know how things happen now. Attrition is inevitable and departures are initiated by both coaches and players. So, in my opinion, we will go in to next season with 4 centers and we will lose two.

 

[chugg21]

We would now have 3 lotto tickets at the 5 and I'm good with that. Pretty good chance to hit on one of them.

 

[moqui]

I think he has the offers. I think we would want him to red shirt and I don't know that he wants to. I would not be surprised if he ended up at FSU

if he will prep or redshirt, then going into 21-22 the depth chart would be
jr edwards
so jba
fr ballard

 

[Cusesky8214]

I'm wondering if JBA can play the 4 at some point for us. Kid legitimately can shoot the 3 ball for a big kid. Not sure how decent he is at putting the ball on the floor but maybe he can fill that role some down the road.

 

[bnoro]

The reality is, the staff began two years ago looking for players with more size, after watching Chukwu and Sidibe get pushed around. They tried hard to bring in some heftier players in the class of 2019, it just didn't pan out. Think: Qudus Wahab.

Which is a good segue, because this guy reminds me a lot of Qudus.

Interesting that McAllister views him as a top 100 -- I wonder why he didn't have offers before [academic situation recently cleared up? That would be my guess.]

Let's not act like Mike's a talent evaluator. He's a homer that always talks up any kid SU is looking to bring in as a 'diamond in the rough' that the 'SU staff is lucky to have stolen'. Top 100 and no one knew about him until now? Come on...

 

[Cusesky8214]

We lost at least 4 games because our bigs were either dominated or fouled out while being out played.

He is bigger than any of our centers and probably has more hops.

To improve our defense we had to get bigger, if look at the guys who left 3 guards 6'-3" and under plus Hughes at 6'-6".

The guys coming in 6'-6" Kadary; 6'-8" Newton; 6'-5" Griffin; and just offered 7'-0" 246lb.

So not only did we get bigger and more athletic we only lost one player who played.

Our offense will be fine next year and hopefully we have addressed our defense with these moves.

Just wanted to make note that it's being reported that kadary is 6'7. I know I know bring on the Rothstein jokes. But the kid has size with a great handle. Hes going to be killer.

 

[Cusesky8214]

looks like Saturday at 12 could be the decision?

 

[walsh2012]

apparently all of his high major offers have come in the last week. i like our chances.

 

[Cusesky8214]

The crazy thing is that this kid looks like he has the build to put even more size on. Could be a a beast!

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Many Quality Education Academy alums go on to careers at Good Products Company.

 

[FrancoPizza]

We would now have 3 lotto tickets at the 5 and I'm good with that. Pretty good chance to hit on one of them.

So all I have to do is buy 3 lotto tickets? All this time I’ve been buying 1 or 2...

 

[Orangefan1]

What? I guess staff couldn't find any 180 lb beanpole centers?

We find someone finally that is over 180 and nobody wants him? I highly doubt given the nature of transfers that we are done recruiting centers for 21 or 22.

 

[Scott11]

This is one of the craziest developments I have ever seen. In the year 2020 a seven foot 246 pound kid from Syracuse suddenly appears out of nowhere and gets numerous high major offers. It’s like somehow this kid was exempt from the Internet for the last two years. If you told me that this was an April fools joke I would believe you.
And the beautiful thing is as of yesterday I had never heard of this kid. Now I am eagerly and anxiously looking forward to Saturday at noon.

 

[Dmcnabbrules]

How good of an athlete is he?

Kid looks massive, and seems to move pretty well for a guy so big.

Not sure that bringing in a class of 2020 big is a huge need [given that I don't see evidence that this guy is "better" than Ajak / Edwards], but he is an intriguing project / prospect.

He can dunk from the foul line. Also did a between legs dunk while working out for Leonard Hamilton.

 

[DilemaCuse]

I wanted Haarms but if the staff feels hes a longshot I understand them offering a local kid with that size

Hopefully he is ok w the idea of redshirting his first year but theres a chance he could develop into a defensive prescence which was lacking this year.

Going into this year there will be some roster imbalance with 3 centers but remember after next year Bourama and Marek are gone. Theres a chance Quincy tries pro ball with a good year, so theres potential to lose 3 C/Fs after this year.

 

[jdubs30]

Let's not act like Mike's a talent evaluator. He's a homer that always talks up any kid SU is looking to bring in as a 'diamond in the rough' that the 'SU staff is lucky to have stolen'. Top 100 and no one knew about him until now? Come on...

Yep, agree. Cusesky does a great job scouring the internet for tweets/vids but there’s literally less than 2 minutes of this kid playing ball and it’s posted by his mom. Unless Mike has seen this kid in person or has talked to staff that said he’s a top 100 kid, I think it’s all hyperbole.

The offer list of Cuse, FSU, Maryland and Cincy tells me all I need to know; you can also tell that there is some very good athleticism for a kid that big.

 

[chugg21]

So all I have to do is buy 3 lotto tickets? All this time I’ve been buying 1 or 2...

Seeing as we have only had a handful of sure things in the last 25 years at that position then lotto tickets are what we deal with. Arinze...winner! Sean Williams...not so much and so on.