Final thoughts on Noel and moving on to 2013

[jekelish]

Anya and Ennis, at the very least. Scout has Anya ranked as the #1 center, don't they? And Ennis will wind up 20-30, Jefferson too, probably.

 

[CaptainJ]

Speaking of unselfish, anyone else think we might be unselfish to a fault next year? We have a ton of great team players and very good passers, but right now I don't know who will become the go-to guy. Not to sound like Hubert Davis, but I'm really failing to see who our "dude" will be. Triche has the tools, but hasn't displayed the attitude. MCW has potential. CJ's game is too limited, at least for now.

Dion really could have put up 20+ next year. C'est la vie.

Yeah, I think Dion would have been an All American next year and we wouldn't have had to hear Davis talk of The Dude, or the rest of ESPN's clowns with the Go To Guy. It's anyone's guess now, but I seriously could see Dirty stepping up and filling that role. In the past I would have laughed at the thought, but it wouldn't surprise me at all. After saying that, I'm wondering if we will start the season ranked as highly as many on here would like.

 

[arbitragegls]

Triche will be high scorer and it will be 15 points plus...MCW will average 6+ assts a game in BE or better....and our bigs will make us forget NN...because 3 very good players would dominate one that has yet to prove he is as good as we all think.
We now have 2 straight years of MCDs...and expect recruiting to continue to be good...do wonder what Coach Cal did to beat out GT and 'Cuse--don't believe it was $$$$$$$. If he cheated what did he do? I am still a believer that the biggest advantage of one and done is being able to tell a player you got all the court time you want and deserve. JB could not say that with DC2, Christmas, and Keita in the wings competing for time. NN may have been starter, but I bet his time on court would have been somewhat limited to 28-32 minutes VS. KY at as much as needed up to 40 minutes.

 

[memcorsu]

Francis, what are you hearing about Selden and Wiggins?
Thanks.

 

[br801]

Triche will be high scorer and it will be 15 points plus...MCW will average 6+ assts a game in BE or better....and our bigs will make us forget NN...because 3 very good players would dominate one that has yet to prove he is as good as we all think.
We now have 2 straight years of MCDs...and expect recruiting to continue to be good...do wonder what Coach Cal did to beat out GT and 'Cuse--don't believe it was $$$$$$$. If he cheated what did he do? I am still a believer that the biggest advantage of one and done is being able to tell a player you got all the court time you want and deserve. JB could not say that with DC2, Christmas, and Keita in the wings competing for time. NN may have been starter, but I bet his time on court would have been somewhat limited to 28-32 minutes VS. KY at as much as needed up to 40 minutes.

Some good stuff there. I'm pretty much on board with all of that, especially your take on the playing time factor.

 

[Francis03]

Francis, what are you hearing about Selden and Wiggins?
Thanks.

Haven't heard much about Selden lately but there hasn't seem to be a lot of mutual interest at this point but that could change. Wiggins likes Kentucky and Florida St. His dad former baller Mitchell Wiggins played at Florida St, and his mom ran track there as well.

 

[Whitey23]

Remember the name Dayshon Smith if things start to go south with Ennis.

Have we had much luck with the Gauchos? Maybe the lack of interest from top schools will help us.

 

[EastCoast2]

I'm not sold on Anya

 

[BostonOrange]

Just have to move on. Remember after Hodge we got Hak, and then Melo committed for the next class. We'll survive without Noel, but I really feel bad for Mike Hopkins. He built a strong genuine relationship with Noel, which I know for a fact that nobody else on the other staffs had, but unfortunately in the end it wasn't good enough to get him to come here. The staff has a target list for 2013-2015 which is already golden. We just have to get back to locking these kids up early. SU isn't currently built to win these long drag-em out battles, where parents/handlers are looking for the highest bidder by the deadline.

I've always found it curious that we don't do better in the 'beauty contest' type situations. 90% of the time we lose. I guess you could say we beat UK for DC in a press conference announcement type setting. Aside from that though we win with locking up guys early. Why do you think that is? I know on the board there is a lot of talk about payoffs and handlers, but really...SU's program in my experience is no better than many others in terms of purity no?

 

[Ward]

Thanks for the change of pace post Francis. All of the guys mentioned in your original post seem like guys that could really help the program quite a bit. Im excited and highly prefer the 2-3 year guys who will grow and mature, rather than stock piling on guys who will hang out for a year and leave. Any chance we get in on Rysheed Jordan, he seems like a big athletic guard and is from Philly where we've had some success? Also, Dayshon Smith looks like a pretty quick and explosive scorer. Any particular reason why it sounds like he may not have any high major offers yet?

 

[Francis03]

Have we had much luck with the Gauchos? Maybe the lack of interest from top schools will help us.

Can't remember the last time we landed a Gauchos recruit but Smith doesn't play for them anymore. Unfortunately I don't think he'll be a low key name after a few weeks. Lots of high-majors besides SU plan to watch him during the open spring evaluation starting next week.

 

[EastCoast2]

Francis I agree it seems these recruits who wait until the last minute are always up to no good. Give me a MCW who commits his junior year or a Grant who commits over the summer.

What are Tony Parker and Anthony Bennett waiting for? Parker, you know who's gonna be at UK, OSU, UCLA, and Duke. Make up your darn mind. You are not Lebron.

 

[MyMeloMyMan]

I've always found it curious that we don't do better in the 'beauty contest' type situations. 90% of the time we lose. I guess you could say we beat UK for DC in a press conference announcement type setting. Aside from that though we win with locking up guys early. Why do you think that is? I know on the board there is a lot of talk about payoffs and handlers, but really...SU's program in my experience is no better than many others in terms of purity no?

Money certainly was not the issue on this one. That is not a problem for SU's "street team".

 

[Upstate]

I'm not sold on Anya

same. 6'6" center right now.

 

[EastCoast2]

same. 6'6" center right now.

You saw that picture I posted a couple weeks ago right? The one where he's standing next to Grant and he's an inch shorter than Grant? I know Anya has a crazy wingspan, but he's a smaller DC2 and less athletic IMO

 

[Garbs]

Kris (Most Wins) Joseph. That will be a trivia question some day.

until Brandon breaks it next year

 

[IthacaMatt]

You saw that picture I posted a couple weeks ago right? The one where he's standing next to Grant and he's an inch shorter than Grant? I know Anya has a crazy wingspan, but he's a smaller DC2 and less athletic IMO

Anya has gotten much more fit, but, yeah, he's a short center with long arms. If he can lose another 15 pounds, he might be a 4, but he doesn't have any of the outside game. I look at him as a nice fallback option.

 

[Francis03]

Francis I agree it seems these recruits who wait until the last minute are always up to no good. Give me a MCW who commits his junior year or a Grant who commits over the summer.

What are Tony Parker and Anthony Bennett waiting for? Parker, you know who's gonna be at UK, OSU, UCLA, and Duke. Make up your darn mind. You are not Lebron.

Yup. Scoop, Dion, Rick, Kris, MCW, CJ, Southerland, Cooney, and BMK all committed during their Jr years. Fab, Triche and Rak before their Sr year started. That's pretty much 100% of the roster over the past two years.

 

[EastCoast2]

Yup. Scoop, Dion, Rick, Kris, MCW, CJ, Southerland, Cooney, and BMK all committed during their Jr years. Fab, Triche and Rak before their Sr year started. That's pretty much 100% of the roster over the past two years.

To me it seems like these are guys who REALLY want to be on the team. They commit so their spot is secure, instead of holding out for external reasons ($, attention, promises etc.)

 

[Ward]

For the life of me I do not understand how or why Tony Parker has not committed yet. He's barely even cut his list down. Someone should ask him what he's waiting for. He's known for over 2 or 3 years he was going to have to make a decision, it's not like the process got sped up like a Noel who reclassified. He definitely is loving the attention and I may be in the minority but I've never been overly impressed with him.

Francis, that's exciting to hear about Dayshon Smith as a guy more coaches are looking at. I love when Boeheim and the staff find the diamonds in the rough before everyone else. It's hard to judge based on a 2 minute highlight clip, but he kinda reminds me of a Russ Smith from Louisville almost. A quick, "scat back" type guard who is tough to keep out of the lane and can score in bunches. Is that in the same neighborhood for a good comp or am I way off?

 

[Sgt Cuse]

I think he's become more matter of fact about it over the years. Now that we are back getting the top recruits again, and we are deep at every position, with McDonald's kids waiting for their turn, life is good. Missing any particular kid doesn't leave us bare, like Kenny Anderson once did. It's a numbers game at this point. Keep top kids in the pipeline who understand and accept the systtem.

First the Andy, Wes & Arinze team turned around the culture from the selfish Flynn/Harris/Devendorf/Greene style of play, where defense was second, and they did not like to play the zone and were happy to tell the press, because they were all going to be NBA stars, dammit. DYNASTY !

Then we had the Philly Boyz keep us at a high level, along with Kris (Most Wins) Joseph. That will be a trivia question some day. But culturally, this last team really set the tone again, that we are unselfish, we are team first, I like how the culture has changed the past few years.

If you ask me, Boeheim manages the whole program, and in particular the recruiting, much better than 10 years ago. Mike does the heavy lifting, but JB seems more comfortable in his own skin, and when you aren't really "selling", you don't press, and it's much easier to close.

I also really like the culture change, of more intense defense and team ball, hope it continues. Looks like it will for '12-'13 based on the players.

I think JB still has a similar style in recruiting, it's just his rep has increased and SU has climbed in the perceived rankings. JB still supplements a couple high profile recruits with players developed in-house. It used to be the top 100 kid 2 years down the road is as good or better than a top 20 frosh. Now it's a top 50 or better two years down the road will be better than a top 15 (now it's MCW, Rak, and soon to be Grant).

And if you want the answer to your trivia question to be KJo you better ask it quick, I saw BT doing the math.

 

[HouseOfCuse]

For the life of me I do not understand how or why Tony Parker has not committed yet. He's barely even cut his list down. Someone should ask him what he's waiting for. He's known for over 2 or 3 years he was going to have to make a decision, it's not like the process got sped up like a Noel who reclassified. He definitely is loving the attention and I may be in the minority but I've never been overly impressed with him.

Could be waiting to see if Lamb and teague go pro. That would open some spots at kentucky. If both stay with the Harrow he wouldn't get much time there. If both leave he could come into a top program and get playing time.

 

[EastCoast2]

For the life of me I do not understand how or why Tony Parker has not committed yet. He's barely even cut his list down. Someone should ask him what he's waiting for. He's known for over 2 or 3 years he was going to have to make a decision, it's not like the process got sped up like a Noel who reclassified. He definitely is loving the attention and I may be in the minority but I've never been overly impressed with him.

Francis, that's exciting to hear about Dayshon Smith as a guy more coaches are looking at. I love when Boeheim and the staff find the diamonds in the rough before everyone else. It's hard to judge based on a 2 minute highlight clip, but he kinda reminds me of a Russ Smith from Louisville almost. A quick, "scat back" type guard who is tough to keep out of the lane and can score in bunches. Is that in the same neighborhood for a good comp or am I way off?

I think Parker fancies himelf a Jared Sullinger type impact guy. Didn't he say 1-2 weeks ago his list was about 15 schools deep? What man? He's definitely a diva trying to get fans all over him on twitter. Either that or he's holding out until a coach promises him a starting spot and 30 mpg and to run the offense through him.

 

[EastCoast2]

Could be waiting to see if Lamb and teague go pro. That would open some spots at kentucky. If both stay with the Harrow he wouldn't get much time there. If both leave he could come into a top program and get playing time.

Parker is a PF/C. Teague and Lamb have zero effect on him w/ UK

 

[Symphony Steve]

Francis '03 wrote: "Been following recruiting since 2000, and if I had to rank the top circus like recruitments involving SU. It would be 1)Hodge, 2)Noel, 3)Tobias."

I'd rank the Stephon Marbury circus up there pretty damn high as well. In hindsight, it was better that we didn't get him. When he left Georgia Tech, it killed that program and pretty much finished off Bobby Cremins' career.