Class of 2019 PG Dakota Leffew (GA) Portal to Georgia

[Scotch]

They have won recent national titles, they play in a good conference, they are located in philly and still connected to NYC via the MSG home for their conference tournament. They have access to better donors than we do right now. We've been mediocre for a decade. Our brand is not what we think it is to recruits.

None of that means they have more NIL than us.

 

[LetsGoOrang]

I think if he goes somewhere else, the hiring of his coach looks impulsive and a poor decision strategically.

I highly doubt Red hired Engelstad just to land Leffew. That would be beyond stupid, the kid isn't an All American with 3 years of eligibillity left.

 

[IthacaMatt]

We can’t have hired his coach just to get Leffew right? I mean, even if we got the kid and had a great year because of it, that’s an incredibly tough look from a long-term perspective

Engelstad's record at Mt. St. Mary's was pretty awful. His resume wouldn't have gotten anywhere close to the top of the pile if a search firm had looked for someone.

I would have taken a chance on that young big man coach at IMG, who has connections to the NBA talent camp / program in Africa and has also been on the Nigeria national team.

If Engelstad is being hired for his bench experience, geez, it seems to me we could have found someone other than a guy whose only success as a head coach was in Division 3 seven or eight years ago.

 

[Sherman20]

I’m really hoping we are able to land Dakota. I like his game and think he has big upside in a P5 program with good talent around him. The Athletic lists him as one of the top 100 transfers available and has a lot of positive things to say about him.

https://theathletic.com/5360188/2024/04/15/ncaa-transfers-portal-rankings-list/?source=user_shared_article

 

[Melancer46]

I’m really hoping we are able to land Dakota. I like his game and think he has big upside in a P5 program with good talent around him. The Athletic lists him as one of the top 100 transfers available and has a lot of positive things to say about him.

https://theathletic.com/5360188/2024/04/15/ncaa-transfers-portal-rankings-list/?source=user_shared_article

They do, however, list him as a wing and say he may be best suited to come off the bench if he goes to a high major.

 

[baggerbob]

Come on. Tyler Ennis was a true PG and scored the ball. So did Billy Edelin, Sherman Douglas, Pearl Washington. Other examples are people like Tiny Archibald, Allen Iverson and so many other legendary players who could set up a teammate for an easy bucket and still get their own.

It's about seeing the pass, and making the pass when it's there instead of the first priority being "getting my own".

Everyone talks about Billy Edelin as strictly a PG.
They forget about his game against Notre Dame who had a point guard who was supposed to be a 1st round pick.
After playing against Billy that went down the tubes. I think his last name was Thomas.

 

[CardiacCuse]

only 2 weeks left in the portal window...

I hope they move quick to plans b c and D

you wanna see whats out there? fine...but your spot might just get taken...

PS these upperclassmen taking 4 or 5 visits is weird to me...youve been around, youve seen the schools...is it really necessary?

 

[billsin01]

Engelstad's record at Mt. St. Mary's was pretty awful. His resume wouldn't have gotten anywhere close to the top of the pile if a search firm had looked for someone.

I would have taken a chance on that young big man coach at IMG, who has connections to a NBA talent camp in Africa and has been on the Nigeria national team.

If Engelstad is being hired for his bench experience, geez, it seems to me we could have found someone other than a guy whose only success as a head coach was in Division 3 seven or eight years ago.

Yeah, all fair points. I just meant that I hope Leffew wasn't Red's only reason. Maybe he likes something about the way he coaches offense or defense? I don't know what it is and, to be honest, I'm fine with letting it play out, but if it was just a play for Leffew, I'm less concerned with whether he comes here or not and more concerned about what it means beyond next season.

 

[Dmcnabbrules]

Everyone talks about Billy Edelin as strictly a PG.
They forget about his game against Notre Dame who had a point guard who was supposed to be a 1st round pick.
After playing against Billy that went down the tubes. I think his last name was Thomas.

It was Chris Thomas. Two of Billy’s best games were against him.

 

[baggerbob]

It was Chris Thomas. Two of Billy’s best games were against him.

Thank you.

 

[sufan59]

Maybe he committed to Red, and Red told him to take all his visits anyways?

Maybe he just likes Skyline Chili?

I mean he has interest from an entirely different league of programs than he did out of high school and official visits scheduled at schools that probably didn’t even give him a phone call in High School. So unless he refused to leave the city of Syracuse after his visit, it makes sense given that he is getting the high level recruit experience that he’ll take full advantage of those perks such as official visits to the schools.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Everyone talks about Billy Edelin as strictly a PG.
They forget about his game against Notre Dame who had a point guard who was supposed to be a 1st round pick.
After playing against Billy that went down the tubes. I think his last name was Thomas.

Billy averaged more than 5 assists a game in his 2nd season before he was suspended.
That's a PG. You have to go way back to find the last Syracuse PG who averaged that many.
There was a lot more happening off the court that made it very hard for Billy to succeed here.

 

[CardiacCuse]

I mean he has interest from an entirely different league of programs than he did out of high school and official visits scheduled at schools that probably didn’t even give him a phone call in High School. So unless he refused to leave the city of Syracuse after his visit, it makes sense given that he is getting the high level recruit experience that he’ll take full advantage of those perks such as official visits to the schools.

theres only 2 weeks left in the portal window

just make a decision quickly and let the schools and other players know what's going on instead of dragging everything out

i know its how the world works in 2024, but every single thing someone does doesnt only have to be about themselves

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Billy averaged more than 5 assists a game in his 2nd season before he was suspended.
That's a PG. You have to go way back to find the last Syracuse PG who averaged that many.
There was a lot more happening off the court that made it very hard for Billy to succeed here.

MCW

 

[OrangeXtreme]

theres only 2 weeks left in the portal window

just make a decision quickly and let the schools and other players know what's going on instead of dragging everything out

i know its how the world works in 2024, but every single thing someone does doesnt only have to be about themselves

There are two weeks left for a player to enter the portal.

The can leave the portal anytime, all Summer long.

 

[IthacaMatt]

MCW

And there are others, but they are our all-time top 10 guys at the position. If Billy Edelin is in their neighborhood, then he was a true PG.

 

[anglerman]

Billy averaged more than 5 assists a game in his 2nd season before he was suspended.
That's a PG. You have to go way back to find the last Syracuse PG who averaged that many.
There was a lot more happening off the court that made it very hard for Billy to succeed here.

Didn’t Tyler

Billy averaged more than 5 assists a game in his 2nd season before he was suspended.
That's a PG. You have to go way back to find the last Syracuse PG who averaged that many.
There was a lot more happening off the court that made it very hard for Billy to succeed here.

I may be confused but have we forget MCW snd Ennis ?

 

[Scotch]

Everyone talks about Billy Edelin as strictly a PG.
They forget about his game against Notre Dame who had a point guard who was supposed to be a 1st round pick.
After playing against Billy that went down the tubes. I think his last name was Thomas.

Being a PG doesn’t mean you never score - it’s a mindset thing. Are you a willing distributor, do you make good decisions about when to push and when to slow things down, do you get it to the right guys in the right spots, do you have the court vision - Billy had all of these things spades, and also knew when to back a guy down when he had 5 inches and 30 lbs on him.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Didn’t Tyler

I may be confused but have we forget MCW snd Ennis ?

A bit of hyberbole on my part, but in the last 7 years, nobody hit that number.

In the last 25 years, you have Flynn, Scoop's senior year, MCW, GMac (after Billy left), Billy, Ennis, Gillon (a surprise), Allen Griffen's senior year, and Jason Hart's senior year.

 

[CardiacCuse]

There are two weeks left for a player to enter the portal.

The can leave the portal anytime, all Summer long.

oh really? so they can enter for the next 2 weeks but switch schools until when?

 

[OrangeXtreme]

oh really? so they can enter for the next 2 weeks but switch schools until when?

Beginning of the Fall 2024 semester.

We didn't get a commitment from Andrew White until NYS Fair week.

 

[baggerbob]

Being a PG doesn’t mean you never score - it’s a mindset thing. Are you a willing distributor, do you make good decisions about when to push and when to slow things down, do you get it to the right guys in the right spots, do you have the court vision - Billy had all of these things spades, and also knew when to back a guy down when he had 5 inches and 30 lbs on him.

Thank you that's what I've tryed to get across. At Oak Billy averaged 20 pts a game, when necessary he would take over a game. Yes he looked for his teammates, but normally made the right play to score.

 

[albanycuse]

Lets go overseas and get a euro guard. Im not worried about Dakota, North or South.

 

[hoopsupstate]

Being a PG doesn’t mean you never score - it’s a mindset thing. Are you a willing distributor, do you make good decisions about when to push and when to slow things down, do you get it to the right guys in the right spots, do you have the court vision - Billy had all of these things spades, and also knew when to back a guy down when he had 5 inches and 30 lbs on him.

You also saw a point guard who can’t shoot be totally ignored when North Carolina played Alabama. The days when a point guard can get by with being only a pass first and no shooter are over. That’s the biggest reason Alabama beat Carolina. The guy guarding Cadeaux just stayed in the lane to help on their bigs and to keep Davis from driving. If forced Davis to take him out of the game for most of the second half. Totally disrupted Carolina’s offensive play.

 

[Cuse181]

Carlos makes more sense if we think we need a more ball-dominant "pure PG" type, which is arguably necessary with JJ and Bell as running mates. Barring some developments as a shooter, he won't play off the ball as well as Leffew. I still find it kinda strange that we'd be interested in both of them filling the same spot.

Anywho, really curious to see how this all plays out. I had kinda assumed Leffew was a sure thing to come here.

Exactly, I think he’s a great choice idk why some say he’d be a disaster. His stat line is great and (according CB Reference) got it against a better schedule than Leffew