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

[hoopsupstate]

Judging by the level of players we retained and the ones we brought in, we're either awful at paying what we should be for players or we dont have a lot of money. These aren't All ACC guys we brought in. Not hammering the players, but we're either budget shopping or Red is a genius.

They weren’t ACC players that left either, besides Judah.

 

[baggerbob]

Straughn is a pretty good recruiter I’d say considering we weren’t getting Donnie if it wasn’t for him. Hell, we have the number 6 rated recruit and our highest since Melo coming in. We can recruit and honestly if recruiting was how it used to be before NIL, I’m confident we would be recruiting just like we did during our golden eras. Our incoming class is top 15 as it stands right now.

Portal recruiting is different then recruiting high school, you don't get to build a long relationship.
You have to make a quick sell, and be prepared to quickly move on.
With less players in Basketball you can't afford to have a number 1.
You need a top 5, and be able to quickly pivot to the next player.
Red will get better at this with time.

 

[two3zone]

They weren’t ACC players that left either, besides Judah.

Maliq?

Regardless of what we had before, every year the portal opens is a brand new year and you're either going to make a splash or you're not. We didn't last off season we didn't now. The players who left outside of Maliq and Judah weren't ACC players and we replaced ALL of them with one flawed power 5 players and dudes who weren't even the best on their very low level teams. How is this better?

 

[Niastri]

Maliq?

Regardless of what we had before, every year the portal opens is a brand new year and you're either going to make a splash or you're not. We didn't last off season we didn't now. The players who left outside of Maliq and Judah weren't ACC players and we replaced ALL of them with one flawed power 5 players and dudes who weren't even the best on their very low level teams. How is this better?

Incorrect. Last Portal season we got guys who were both top35 players in their class. Starling and Westry alone would have been our best recruiting class since 2011, based on their high school rankings.

It was a great class.

 

[two3zone]

Incorrect. Last Portal season we got guys who were both top35 players in their class. Starting and Westry alone would have been or best recruiting class since 2011, based on their high school rankings.

It was a great class.

Both 35 in their class, one coming off injury and one coming off a bad season. Their high school rankings are useless when you have a full years worth of data at this level. JJ played like he did at ND and Westry had a similar year. Those were better bets to happen than both of them being top 35 players in their class.

 

[Headmaster 9]

From the Orange United home page, scroll down and click on Support a Sport, Select Men's basketball and confirm here and I will be sure to update Hayes that we are behind this. Thinking we ask for Dakota and Lampkin to visit a tailgate in September.

Serious question… since NIL is not pay to play does he still get the $$ donated by this group specifically for him to come?

 

[Consigliere]

Serious question… since NIL is not pay to play does he still get the $$ donated by this group specifically for him to come?

He does not. There was never an offer or a contract. Orange United won’t engage until the transfer is official. Money is in the general men’s basketball fund and tagged as coming from syracusefan / SyraCRUZ Tailgate NIL. It will go toward funding a tailgate visit by other basketball players.

 

[CousCuse]

This kid used Red. I stand by what I said about him and don't really care for him. Have fun at UGA.

 

[albanycuse]

This kid used Red. I stand by what I said about him and don't really care for him. Have fun at UGA.

You’re right he borrowed money from Red for a vape pen and never paid him back.

 

[Scotch]

Both 35 in their class, one coming off injury and one coming off a bad season. Their high school rankings are useless when you have a full years worth of data at this level. JJ played like he did at ND and Westry had a similar year. Those were better bets to happen than both of them being top 35 players in their class.

Lots of hindsight here. Expecting JJ to improve from freshman to sophomore year isn’t a huge leap and Westry got hurt. I was very excited by both and I wasn’t alone. Those were great adds given the info Red had at the time.

 

[Col. Bleep]

Portal recruiting is different then recruiting high school, you don't get to build a long relationship.
You have to make a quick sell, and be prepared to quickly move on.
With less players in Basketball you can't afford to have a number 1.
You need a top 5, and be able to quickly pivot to the next player.
Red will get better at this with time.

And it's an awful new job for coaches to have.
What a burden figuring out and suggesting NIL money must be.

Jay Wright must be so happy he got out.
Two national championships and now a nice TV gig
(Which would be better if they shut up the other guys and gave Jay more time. He's great at talking about the strategy and what's happening and not happening on the court).

 

[CousCuse]

You’re right he borrowed money from Red for a vape pen and never paid him back.

Red went to him and said you're my number 1 recruiting target. I will give you the starting point guard at Syracuse. That's what got the attention of other schools. Red is a tremendously decent guy, I think his honesty and decency was thrown in the mud.

 

[two3zone]

Lots of hindsight here. Expecting JJ to improve from freshman to sophomore year isn’t a huge leap and Westry got hurt. I was very excited by both and I wasn’t alone. Those were great adds given the info Red had at the time.

You weren't alone but the same people who had those questions last year have the same ones this year and it's very fair.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Red went to him and said you're my number 1 recruiting target. I will give you the starting point guard at Syracuse. That's what got the attention of other schools. Red is a tremendously decent guy, I think his honesty and decency was thrown in the mud.

You were in the room with Red and Dakota when it happened?

What did Dakota's body language look like?

Did you look him in the eyes?

 

[two3zone]

Red went to him and said you're my number 1 recruiting target. I will give you the starting point guard at Syracuse. That's what got the attention of other schools. Red is a tremendously decent guy, I think his honesty and decency was thrown in the mud.

 

[Zelda Zonk]

What plan letter are we on now?

Plan B? C? G? M?
Can someone tell me where we are in Red’s “plan”?

 

[XC Cuse]

You were in the room with Red and Dakota when it happened?

What did Dakota's body language look like?

Did you look him in the eyes?

I think it's fair to speculate a little, Laffew strung everyone along for more money. If that's the choice you make, then it's fair as fans to offer minor critique of how the process played out. I haven't seen anything too out of bounds. At this point, most will never know the whole story, but I think we can all speculate to a degree.

 

[Cuse181]

Significantly better player. Carlos is a glorified Symir Torrence

How so? His stellar record of 0-3 against P6 teams? Where he shot 40% from the field and 2-19 from 3? How he wowed with an average of 4 assists in those game? There is nothing he has done that screams “ACC point guard.” Meanwhile Carlos at least had 9 assists to only 3 tos against their ACC opponent. I’m not sure what all the fuss is about, neither are great but Carlos is a better fit to distribute.

 

[llandz]

A kid choosing his hometown school after making 4 visits within a two week span is "indecisive" and "all about the money"?

Didn't know it was his hometown school. Still he was ready to sign with us a couple of weeks ago.

 

[Giants1973]

Didn't know it was his hometown school. Still he was ready to sign with us a couple of weeks ago.

It's all about NIL

 

[Zelda Zonk]

Welp… unfortunate we couldn’t/didn’t get the person the staff probably regarded as its target. But, “#147” on any list prolly shouldn’t be a critical addition to a team that needs to improve just to get into the ncaas. Hopefully, we get involved with someone even better, and/or someone else enters the portal who makes us thankful we didn’t ‘prematurely’ settle for Leffew….

I don’t fault Dakota for this choice. Makes sense. I didn’t appreciate the pandering for Likes with his socials but hey, that’s the ugly new world in which we live. Done and done. NEXT!

 

[Orangezoo]

There’s 3 roster spots and I’m sure a good chunk of NIL money to spend. Let’s see what happens next

 

[bnoro]

I think it's fair to speculate a little, Laffew strung everyone along for more money. If that's the choice you make, then it's fair as fans to offer minor critique of how the process played out. I haven't seen anything too out of bounds. At this point, most will never know the whole story, but I think we can all speculate to a degree.

Or, he always planned on taking his visits and then making a decision. We don't really know.

But listening to everyone scream "MORE MONEY" all the time is getting tedious when we had two portal kids this cycle say it wasn't about the money.

 

[kcsu]

Or we just don’t have very good recruiters on top of everything else. Fran is special but every day there is a new recruit and half of them are guys we never thought would even give us a visit.

Fran is a very special person. Hes on a different level when it comes to connecting.

 

[kcsu]

He does not. There was never an offer or a contract. Orange United won’t engage until the transfer is official. Money is in the general men’s basketball fund and tagged as coming from syracusefan / SyraCRUZ Tailgate NIL. It will go toward funding a tailgate visit by other basketball players.

Lets give it to the hofstra kid