Elijah Hughes

[ssbriefcase]

He had no choice with Gillon. We needed a guard last year for depth and if you didn't notice our zone didn't have the proper personnel last year and JB stayed with it exclusively.

White's size wasn't a problem he is the same size as CJ Fair and was similar to Fair last year.
White was a SF. He wasn't at the top of the zone.

Gillon wasn't the only guard available and was probably the shortest. I think he's a little more balanced with his view of what he's looking for.

 

[Cuse'91]

OK so now what is the allegation, that when we recruited Frank, the coaches were so blinded by shopping for zone size that they ignored the fact he couldn't play ball AND they knew that he would allegedly punch a guy 3 years later? So insane.

FH's character showed through when Gillon came in as a 5th year, taking playing time away from him. Next season, with absolutely no real competition for the starting pg spot, I'm sure he will play nice. Unless Thorpe starts taking his minutes, I suppose...

 

[HoustonCuse]

Also I trust RF2044 when he says we could have gotten Brunson. He is top of the board reliable.

Like I said, grains of truth: I have 100% confidence that if RF said we had a great chance with Brunson, then we did. But we had a great enough chance with Green that if we changed direction there, everyone would have said "And Green was begging to come to Syracuse" "we had Green all but locked up" "done deal with Green and we spurned him for xx". It is just too easy to make up these fantasy scenarios in the past. Decisions get made, things happen. I had assumed that most adults knew this about the world. Regardless - the theroem is that we have recruited people with no or low bball skill level because they are tall and this remains completely false.

 

[Alsacs]

Gillon wasn't the only guard available and was probably the shortest. I think he's a little more balanced with his view of what he's looking for.

We had an open scholarship last year. If there was another guard option out there and JB didn't bring them in consider me shocked.
I think Gillon was JB taking what he could so he had another player.
I don't believe that the coaches had other options. If they did then saving the scholarship for nobody wasn't smart.

 

[littlereg]

Scholarship reductions and for the second time in 3 years we have a guy on the bench who can't even play.

I hope he ends up good, but this seems like a dumb move. It seems like every year we move further away from basketball players towards long 2-3 zone athletes.

I'm over this.

Gee I can't imagine how you would feel if you were an Iowa state fan

 

[HoustonCuse]

FH's character showed through when Gillon came in as a 5th year, taking playing time away from him. Next season, with absolutely no real competition for the starting pg spot, I'm sure he will play nice. Unless Thorpe starts taking his minutes, I suppose...

Not sure what you are arguing here, but what you are saying has zero bearing in the ongoing conversation.

 

[Jasoncuse]

We had open scholarship for 2015 as well.

Even with the reductions we haven't used all of our allotments you know that.

If JB liked this kid he could have offered him when he was in HS.
We weren't full.

I don't think we had a scholarship at the time. We couldn't go after Kevin Huerter because of a lack of scholarships in 2015ish. As I said, it's possible JB liked his game after he had already committed and didn't want to get involved with that. Not everything is black and white here. We don't know the full story.

 

[HoustonCuse]

If he was top 30 why didn't JB offer him last year?

We had a need for guard help and had an open scholarship.
If this top 30 kid was available and you needed a player why didn't we pursue him? That sounds pretty dumb not to add the player if you say he is a top 30 prospect.

I have no idea. Maybe Hopkins had other ideas. Hopkins didn't want Tucker either and you seem to think Tucker is an important target.

 

[Zelda Zonk]

This guy seems to have an easy, casual athleticism. Seems very low-key. If he had a more 'amped' court persona, the stuff he does would seem more dynamic. I hope he's got a 'motor.' I kinda think he's going to surprise people and will be pretty valuable when he suits up.

 

[Alsacs]

I don't think we had a scholarship at the time. We couldn't go after Kevin Huerter because of a lack of scholarships in 2015ish. As I said, it's possible JB liked his game after he had already committed and didn't want to get involved with that. Not everything is black and white here. We don't know the full story.

We got the scholarship back from the NCAA before Hughes committed to ECU.

Kevin Huerter committed to Maryland the September before we got the scholarship back.

 

[ssbriefcase]

We had an open scholarship last year. If there was another guard option out there and JB didn't bring them in consider me shocked.
I think Gillon was JB taking what he could so he had another player.
I don't believe that the coaches had other options. If they did then saving the scholarship for nobody wasn't smart.

I'm just saying he chose Gillon over whoever else was on the 5th yr transfer market. He could've threw darts and got somebody taller for length in the zone IF he truly picks that, over skill, which is what you were saying. I don't think that was the case.

 

[two3zone]

Frank was a top 100 guy, and they def thought he had skills coming out of high school. JB said he was our most creative passer as a freshman. He just needs to build confidence and learn to attack the rim better and make better decisions. I don't like his sour attitude but hopefully that will change next season.

JB also said Lydon was a top 3 defensive center in our history. He says things.

 

[Sherman20]

Also I trust RF2044 when he says we could have gotten Brunson. He is top of the board reliable.

Yeah. Don't know what happened there, especially with Brunson's dad growing up in Syracuse. Ennis had already declared for the draft and so we were losing him 2-3 years earlier than expected. We still had time to get involved with Brunson and recruit him for 2015. That was obviously a mistake. For whatever reason they had confidence in Kaleb Joseph taking over as PG at that point. I can't defend all of these recruiting moves. I wish JB were more aggressive at times. But they certainly have their reasons and calculations that we are not privy to.

 

[Alsacs]

I have no idea. Maybe Hopkins had other ideas. Hopkins didn't want Tucker either and you seem to think Tucker is an important target.

Wait a minute your going to absolve JB the HC who was in charge and try to speculate it's on Hopkins?

If it's Hopkins fault I don't want to say anymore as you won't blame JB for anything ever.

On Tucker Hop was disgusted by what happened on the visit. JB obviously doesn't care as much. People can agree with either coach there. We shouldn't need Tucker right now to be decent that is on the coaching staffs horrible roster management .

 

[721Comstock]

This guy seems to have an easy, casual athleticism. Seems very low-key. If he had a more 'amped' court persona, the stuff he does would seem more dynamic. I hope he's got a 'motor.' I kinda think he's going to surprise people and will be pretty valuable when he suits up.

Some guys just look mellow.

Moten always looked like he was just cruising around, and then you'd see the box score and he'd have 19 & 5, and you'd be like, where'd THAT come from??!!

CJ is another - with the exception of some EMPHATIC posterizations, he generally was very low-key on and off the court.

Neither of these guys blew you away with their athleticism, but they had plenty enough to be excellent college hoops players. Let's hope Hughes is along the same lines.

 

[Sherman20]

We got the scholarship back from the NCAA before Hughes committed to ECU.

Kevin Huerter committed to Maryland the September before we got the scholarship back.

I still lament them not offering Huerter for 2016. The staff was nearly certain they would win the appeal to get back to 11, and how could they not figure one of the guards would transfer or go pro? (And both actually happened--Mali and Kaleb). Calipari doesn't sweat too much worrying about scholarship numbers. He can make educated guesses but he never knows exactly who will go pro with his freshman. He knows it usually works itself out with transfers. I wish our staff had been more aggressive and just taken the chance and offered Huerter on the likelihood that a scholarship would open up. We'd have the PG we need right now... and would have had him last year too.

 

[Alsacs]

Listen I guess having the kid is better than nothing.

Hope he is a rotation guy.

 

[721Comstock]

I still lament them not offering Huerter for 2016. The staff was nearly certain they would win the appeal to get back to 11, and how could they not figure one of the guards would transfer or go pro? (And both actually happened--Mali and Kaleb). Calipari doesn't sweat too much worrying about scholarship numbers. He can make educated guesses but he never knows exactly who will go pro with his freshman. He knows it usually works itself out with transfers. I wish our staff had been more aggressive and just taken the chance and offered Huerter on the likelihood that a scholarship would open up. We'd have the PG we need right now... and would have had him last year too.

Huerter wasn't going to take a "yeah, we'll probably have a scholarship for you" offer, when MD and others actually HAD scholarships for him, at that time.

Had he simply waited a few weeks, we would indeed have had one to offer, but he had already decided on the Twerps by then, so it was too late.

 

[EastCoast2]

We got the scholarship back from the NCAA before Hughes committed to ECU.

Kevin Huerter committed to Maryland the September before we got the scholarship back.

Battle was the only SG we pursued - he was our #1 guy from day 1. We had to make him feel like that too in order to steal him back from Meechigan.

I think you'll be surprised at what a 6'6 220 lb athletic kid can do with 18 months of learning the zone, working out, and practicing against Tyus Battle once he finally steps on the court for us in November 2018.

 

[Jasoncuse]

We got the scholarship back from the NCAA before Hughes committed to ECU.

Kevin Huerter committed to Maryland the September before we got the scholarship back.

Hughes was recruited from South Kent School (South Kent, CT) class of . He committed to East Carolina on 6/9/2015. He was recruited by Ken Potosnak .

Huerter was recruited from Shenendehowa (Clifton Park, NY) class of 2016. He committed to Maryland on 9/7/2015. He was recruited by Dustin Clark .

From their two for seven profiles.

Hughes was committed to ECU for 5 months before we got the scholarship back.

 

[Sherman20]

That isn't "exactly" how JB put it.

Hop isn't coming back.

Disagree with your certainty. Hop will do a great job and turn around UW. But programs like that, especially in the PAC 12, have their limitations, and I think he will realize that over time. If he wants to compete for national championships on the regular I believe he will return "home." Especially if JB calls him home like Dean did with Roy. It would be very hard for him to say no to JB if JB wants him to take over. But who knows? Only time will tell.

 

[SUFan44]

John Gillon?

Grad transfer is a little different and a lot more experienced. But appreciate the point.

 

[cuseinseattle]

I think they expect Thompson to go pro after next season. For 2018, I want Swider, Jones, Carey and Williams. Or King or Naz or Simi if they can land bigger fishes.

Agree on slider, jones, Carey and Williams. I think really realistic.

 

[Fly Rodder]

This isn't true in the slightest. You can only make that argument for 2017 and we're not done with the class yet! And many people believe that Brissett and possibly Sidibe are under the radar.

For 2016, Battle, Moyer and Thompson were all top 100 recruits. And Thompson was definitely underrated. I'd argue Battle was too (at least JB thinks so). Moyer we have yet to see, but he could very well be underrated.

Don't quote my posts if you can't understand them.

 

[HoustonCuse]

Wait a minute your going to absolve JB the HC who was in charge and try to speculate it's on Hopkins?

If it's Hopkins fault I don't want to say anymore as you won't blame JB for anything ever.

I guess that is the difference between us. I am not looking to blame anyone.