Ja Morant

[Lucid]

Unranked. Lightly recruited. How'd we (and most other programs) miss this kid? Just wondering how long it will be until we recruit and actually get a kid of this caliber to come and play at Syracuse? Seems like it's been awhile.

 

[Cuse'91]

Unranked. Lightly recruited. How'd we (and most other programs) miss this kid? Just wondering how long it will be until we recruit and actually get kid of this caliber to come and play at Syracuse? Seems like it's been awhile.

If you were Morant, would you want to never practice or play man to man defense in College, before going to the NBA?

 

[Cusefan0307]

Unranked. Lightly recruited. How'd we (and most other programs) miss this kid? Just wondering how long it will be until we recruit and actually get a kid of this caliber to come and play at Syracuse? Seems like it's been awhile.

Everyone missed on Steph Curry too.

 

[two3zone]

Even if he came, he probably wouldn't have played as a freshman.

 

[hoopsupstate]

If you were Morant, would you want to never practice or play man to man defense in College, before going to the NBA?

He’s looked bad on defense today. FSU has blown by him on several occasions.

 

[HoustonCuse]

If you were Morant, would you want to never practice or play man to man defense in College, before going to the NBA?

LOL. Good one.

 

[Ghost]

I could watch him play all day...some of these passes, they rarely lead to assists, but he fits some really nice passes through really tight space.

 

[Zelda Zonk]

If you were Morant, would you want to never practice or play man to man defense in College, before going to the NBA?

Aimed at me?
I trust this was sarcasm, but i have to ask: do you not believe 'style of play' is a factor in what attracts a recruit to a school? Looking at us from the outside, what about how we play would make you a fan?

There was a time when we were 'different.'

As for why we didn't see Ja Morant before he became Ja Morant, that's just the nature of 'outliers.' There are 37,000 high schools in the US. A lot of ground to cover. A lot of cracks to slip through. And do we have any connections to South Carolina?

 

[Briancuse]

Even if he came, he probably wouldn't have played as a freshman.

That would be hard to imagine.

 

[longislandcuse]

Only reason anyone found out about Ja Morant was due to the Murray State Asst Coach checking out Zion at a game in South Carolina and randomly going to grab a snack at the concession and seeing Ja play in the other gym across the hall from Zion’s game.

 

[djcon57]

Everyone missed on Steph Curry too.

Well he was under 6 feet in high school. Too small for zone, so we were out

 

[two3zone]

Only reason anyone found out about Ja Morant was due to the Murray State Asst Coach checking out Zion at a game in South Carolina and randomly going to grab a snack at the concession and seeing Ja play in the other gym across the hall from Zion’s game.

This for real?

 

[longislandcuse]

This for real?

Yea. I’m in Greenville, South Carolina Mon-Wed every week and was watching the local news at the gym and they had a whole story on Ja, how he was discovered, and interviewed his coaches at his high school just outside Columbia.

 

[djcon57]

This for real?

He was actually there to see another player but Zion was there

“And that is the crazy story in all of this, because it was a most incredible kind of accident. In July 2016, former Murray State assistant James Kane was heavily recruiting a prospect named Tevin Brown (who now starts for Murray State). Kane showed up on a Wednesday in Spartanburg for a ragtag AAU combine of sorts.
Earlier that day, dozens of kids were measured and went through drills. The best testers were kept in the main gym. A small cluster of the rest, Morant among them, were directed to the back gym, mostly to play three-on-three. So Kane is in the building, watching Brown, but he's really hungry. So he asks an event organizer where he can get some concession-stand food. Kane wanders into the back gym, looking for grub. “

Court Report: The real story of Ja Morant and Zion Williamson playing on the same AAU team

 

[longislandcuse]

He was actually there to see another player but Zion was there

“And that is the crazy story in all of this, because it was a most incredible kind of accident. In July 2016, former Murray State assistant James Kane was heavily recruiting a prospect named Tevin Brown (who now starts for Murray State). Kane showed up on a Wednesday in Spartanburg for a ragtag AAU combine of sorts.
Earlier that day, dozens of kids were measured and went through drills. The best testers were kept in the main gym. A small cluster of the rest, Morant among them, were directed to the back gym, mostly to play three-on-three. So Kane is in the building, watching Brown, but he's really hungry. So he asks an event organizer where he can get some concession-stand food. Kane wanders into the back gym, looking for grub. “

Court Report: The real story of Ja Morant and Zion Williamson playing on the same AAU team

Ahhh, I was close. Was following subtitles on the treadmill. Makes more sense that the Murray State Asst Coach was there for Brown, not Zion lol.

 

[two3zone]

He was actually there to see another player but Zion was there

“And that is the crazy story in all of this, because it was a most incredible kind of accident. In July 2016, former Murray State assistant James Kane was heavily recruiting a prospect named Tevin Brown (who now starts for Murray State). Kane showed up on a Wednesday in Spartanburg for a ragtag AAU combine of sorts.
Earlier that day, dozens of kids were measured and went through drills. The best testers were kept in the main gym. A small cluster of the rest, Morant among them, were directed to the back gym, mostly to play three-on-three. So Kane is in the building, watching Brown, but he's really hungry. So he asks an event organizer where he can get some concession-stand food. Kane wanders into the back gym, looking for grub. “

Court Report: The real story of Ja Morant and Zion Williamson playing on the same AAU team

Ahhh, I was close. Was following subtitles on the treadmill. Makes more sense that the Murray State Asst Coach was there for Brown, not Zion lol.

Such an awesome story, thanks for sharing guys.

 

[Zelda Zonk]

Only reason anyone found out about Ja Morant was due to the Murray State Asst Coach checking out Zion at a game in South Carolina and randomly going to grab a snack at the concession and seeing Ja play in the other gym across the hall from Zion’s game.

See, now, if we didn't have sanctions hanging over us, we might have had more coaches out on the road, eating more concession stand food, giving us more opportunities to spot those gems in the rough.

 

[FreakTalksAboutSU]

Jamel is a really food player. I think higher ceiling than Zion

 

[Cheriehoop]

LOL - sure I could just hear the cries here if we offered an unranked recruit whose only offer was from Murray St.
ESPN: The Worldwide Leader in Sports - ESPN

 

[djcon57]

LOL - sure I could just hear the cries here if we offered an unranked recruit whose only offer was from Murray St.
ESPN: The Worldwide Leader in Sports - ESPN

His only offer was Murray state because he already verbaled to once others came calling per the previous article linked.

“According to Tee Morant, 13 Division I programs made official courtships for Ja, including Frank Martin's South Carolina Gamecocks. (Tee Morant said Clemson was interested, too, but didn't have an available scholarship on the table.) Regardless, most schools only came calling after Murray State found him.”

 

[Cheriehoop]

His only offer was Murray state because he already verbaled to once others came calling per the previous article linked.

“According to Tee Morant, 13 Division I programs made official courtships for Ja, including Frank Martin's South Carolina Gamecocks. (Tee Morant said Clemson was interested, too, but didn't have an available scholarship on the table.) Regardless, most schools only came calling after Murray State found him.”

It didn’t change his star rating nor Murray State’s rank either. Murray State 2017 Basketball Commits

So you are seriously saying that SU fans here would be happy that our assistants offered and accepted a commit from an unranked player? How many threads have we had ripping on the staff for not getting more 4 and 5 star recruits like Duke, UNC etc? It’s all pretty funny actually.

 

[djcon57]

It didn’t change his star rating nor Murray State’s rank either. Murray State 2017 Basketball Commits

So you are seriously saying that SU fans here would be happy that our assistants offered and accepted a commit from an unranked player? How many threads have we had ripping on the staff for not getting more 4 and 5 star recruits like Duke, UNC etc? It’s all pretty funny actually.

Maybe, maybe not. We had people here thrilled getting Chukwu

 

[Cuse House]

Can’t fault the staff for not finding guys like this. These guys fall through the cracks for various reasons (size, competition, etc). How often do unranked players become stars? The probability of missing is much higher.

 

[two3zone]

Maybe, maybe not. We had people here thrilled getting Chukwu

I was thrilled for one, don't think I've ever seen a guy that size with the amount of opportunity be so limited. Other than being tall he has zero basketball skill

 

[Cuse House]

I was thrilled for one, don't think I've ever seen a guy that size with the amount of opportunity be so limited. Other than being tall he has zero basketball skill

I will say this about Chewy, his free throw shooting improved a good deal. That’s all I got. He was a Roberson type, could go off and have a monster game but then he would be gone for a month.