Class of 2019 SG Khalif Battle (NJ)

[OrangeinNH]

Stevie Thompson and Paul Harris beg to differ.
Oh, and Lawrence Moten was 6'5". Don't think that 1" really matters all that much.

I have no idea if he is "growing into the 3", but it always seems that our teams that have to use someone in the 6'4 - 6'5 range down low in the zone struggle defensively. Harris was a good rebounder, but had he had more ball skills and shooting, would have been more fitting up top. Stevie was really before the days where we were exclusively a zone team. More recently Malachi was a bit undersized, and we'll probably play Tyus there some this year for offensive purposes, but I love the years where we roll out a front line that goes 6'8, 6'9, 6'11. That's provided that the forwards are offensively capable and not purely athletes who we can develop;-)

 

[Jasoncuse]

Stevie Thompson and Paul Harris beg to differ.
Oh, and Lawrence Moten was 6'5". Don't think that 1" really matters all that much.

It does matter if he's playing the wing of the zone. We've had enough defensive and rebounding struggles recently, having a 6'4" or 6'5" kid playing down there and fighting for position/boards against 6'8"+ kids is not helpful.

We need our 3's to be like Brissett, Bazley, Wes Johnson, Kris Joseph etc. 6'7"-6'9" with wingspans for days.

 

[721Comstock]

It does matter if he's playing the wing of the zone. We've had enough defensive and rebounding struggles recently, having a 6'4" or 6'5" kid playing down there and fighting for position/boards against 6'8"+ kids is not helpful.

We need our 3's to be like Brissett, Bazley, Wes Johnson, Kris Joseph etc. 6'7"-6'9" with wingspans for days.

Listen, I agree, all things equal, we'd prefer the taller, longer player.
You know how Boeheim do.

But - all things are not always equal.
You wouldn't take guys like Stevie, Dave Johnson, Moten, Paul Harris, or Mali at the 3, because they are "undersized"?
Please.

And FWIW, as much as I love KrisJo, he was a meh rebounder.
Averaged 5.5, 5.4, and 4.7 his last 3 full seasons here.

Really, the only truly great rebounders I can think of at the 3 for us, are Billy Owens, Carmelo, Paul Harris, and Wes.
It's typically been our 4's and/or 5's who haul down most of the boards.
Or we get help from the guards, like with MCW/Triche/Silent G more recently.

 

[CDNCuse]

Stevie Thompson and Paul Harris beg to differ.
Oh, and Lawrence Moten was 6'5". Don't think that 1" really matters all that much.

Unless I am mistaken, Moten and Thompson played the 2 for the Cuse.

 

[721Comstock]

Unless I am mistaken, Moten and Thompson played the 2 for the Cuse.

You're mistaken.
They played the 3, and also the 2. Both listed as Forward/Guard.
(Stevie had a very unsuccessful run at PG his Sr year also)
Stevie was usually a 3, with Sherm the 1, and Matt Roe the 2.

From OrangeHoops.org

Thompson became the starting small forward his sophomore season... Though listed at 6'4", Thompson was really closer to 6'2".

AND

Lawrence Moten was the classic swingman player, able to play shooting guard and small forward.

 

[CDNCuse]

You're mistaken.
They played the 3, and also the 2. Both listed as Forward/Guard.
(Stevie had a very unsuccessful run at PG his Sr year also)
Stevie was usually a 3, with Sherm the 1, and Matt Roe the 2.

From OrangeHoops.org



AND

I stand corrected on Thomson. Not sure I agree with the Moten bit. He tended to play the 2. I miss them running backdoor screens along the baseline for Thomson though. Always a dunk. He had sick hops.

 

[maxxyz]

I stand corrected on Thomson. Not sure I agree with the Moten bit. He tended to play the 2. I miss them running backdoor screens along the baseline for Thomson though. Always a dunk. He had sick hops.

Moten’s Freshman & Sophomore years he played mostly the 3. Junior & Senior years he played mostly the 2.

 

[Sherman20]

Listen, I agree, all things equal, we'd prefer the taller, longer player.
You know how Boeheim do.

But - all things are not always equal.
You wouldn't take guys like Stevie, Dave Johnson, Moten, Paul Harris, or Mali at the 3, because they are "undersized"?
Please.

And FWIW, as much as I love KrisJo, he was a meh rebounder.
Averaged 5.5, 5.4, and 4.7 his last 3 full seasons here.

Really, the only truly great rebounders I can think of at the 3 for us, are Billy Owens, Carmelo, Paul Harris, and Wes.
It's typically been our 4's and/or 5's who haul down most of the boards.
Or we get help from the guards, like with MCW/Triche/Silent G more recently.

CJ.

 

[Orangezoo]

So where do we stand here?

 

[jordville]

"His older brother Tyus Battle is a sophomore guard at Syracuse University. Khalif received an offer from the Orange in July and they have made him a priority ever since. Tyus has let his brother know about the intriguing aspects to his school."

“Tyus loves it there, they have great fans and a great coaching staff,” he said. “He has learned a lot from one of the best in Jim Boeheim. He’s been around forever and has coached the best of the best. I love what they have to offer and they are looking at me as a prospect that they want to recruit not just Tyus’ little brother.”

 

[tee1222]

"His older brother Tyus Battle is a sophomore guard at Syracuse University. Khalif received an offer from the Orange in July and they have made him a priority ever since. Tyus has let his brother know about the intriguing aspects to his school."

“Tyus loves it there, they have great fans and a great coaching staff,” he said. “He has learned a lot from one of the best in Jim Boeheim. He’s been around forever and has coached the best of the best. I love what they have to offer and they are looking at me as a prospect that they want to recruit not just Tyus’ little brother.”

The teammate Paul Mulcahy that Khalif was mentioning: Paul Mulcahy @ Gill St. Bernard's High School - NJ.com
Saw a few games featuring him and this kid can play! Numbers last year were insane and they play some worthy competition every year.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Adam Zagoria‏
Class of 2019 wing @khalifbattle24, younger brother of Syracuse wing @tyusbattle1 , will take an unofficial to Butler 12/30 for the Villanova game.

The 6-foot-4, 178-pound Battle is also working on getting to UConn this month for an unofficial.

 

[OrangeDW]

Listen, I agree, all things equal, we'd prefer the taller, longer player.
You know how Boeheim do.

But - all things are not always equal.
You wouldn't take guys like Stevie, Dave Johnson, Moten, Paul Harris, or Mali at the 3, because they are "undersized"?
Please.

And FWIW, as much as I love KrisJo, he was a meh rebounder.
Averaged 5.5, 5.4, and 4.7 his last 3 full seasons here.

Really, the only truly great rebounders I can think of at the 3 for us, are Billy Owens, Carmelo, Paul Harris, and Wes.
It's typically been our 4's and/or 5's who haul down most of the boards.
Or we get help from the guards, like with MCW/Triche/Silent G more recently.

Rebounding is part of it, but it certainly helps defensively to have more height at the 3. I remember some struggles inside against the big teams when we had to play Josh Pace - a good defender and rebounder for his size - back there because we were just too small. Those teams with Southerland, Fair, Grant, sometimes Christmas at F...teams had trouble getting much going against us.

 

[Gotothehole]

He is starting to take visits, what are our chances

 

[iommi]

He is starting to take visits, what are our chances

A big factor will be roster construction. Our 2019 roster is extremely questionable. Who knows what guards will be around?

 

[W'boro'Cuse315]

Any chance he's in attendance tonight? Only about a 90 min drive & he can see all he'd need to see of UConn

 

[GonzoInMD]

A bit about Khalif and also Whitney in this Zagsblog entry:

With Jim Boeheim set to coach until his late 70s, it brings stability to Syracuse's recruiting situation | Zagsblog

 

[kmart128]

A big factor will be roster construction. Our 2019 roster is extremely questionable. Who knows what guards will be around?

????? Goodine, Buddy, Hughes and most likely Washington and Carey. I assume Goodine or Buddy move to SF... Or maybe both

 

[iommi]

????? Goodine, Buddy, Hughes and most likely Washington and Carey. I assume Goodine or Buddy move to SF... Or maybe both

Goodine is being brought in to play PG. He is about 6'3" (MAYBE 6'4") and could be a combo. But he's thought of as a PG.

Buddy is a guard. I doubt we put a 6'4" or 6'5" kid at SF.

Hughes will probably be here and at 6'6" could play the 3. I say probably because he's so well-regarded.

Washington will be here.

Carey is a one-and-done candidate.

 

[Gotothehole]

We have room.. The cream will rise to the top, we need this kid

 

[maxxyz]

We have room.. The cream will rise to the top, we need this kid

We have to get a center, and we have to get at least one forward. We are thin at both positions. Its a must.

Carey may be a one-and-done, but it's not like he is currently a consensus top 20 guy so we wait and see.

We have alot of guards. I'd love to get Khalif but it may be a hard sell with Hughes, Carey, Goodine, Boeheim, and Washington already here and a 7.5 man rotation history.

 

[NYCorange]

A bit about Khalif and also Whitney in this Zagsblog entry:

With Jim Boeheim set to coach until his late 70s, it brings stability to Syracuse's recruiting situation | Zagsblog

Boeheim sounds as if he might just coach until he's either physically or mentally unable to anymore. We could have Boeheim for another 10 years!

 

[reedny]

A big factor will be roster construction. Our 2019 roster is extremely questionable. Who knows what guards will be around?

How they "plan" rosters is magic. Dependent variables all over the place. But as Zags points out, at least the SU staff situation is stabilized. For '19, we have all 13 schollies available. Frank Howard will be a senior in 2018, when Carey comes in. Therefore, depending on who jumps, here's what our roster might look like:

PG - [Carey ?] Goodine; Washington
SG - [Tyus B.?]; Hughes, BB
SF - [Brissett?] Dolezaj
PF - [Bazely?] Moyer
C - [Chukwu 6th year?]; Sidibe

Two ships open if Everyone is back (doubtful). If Tyus and Bazely are gone (probable), we have 4. Etc... If Kalif comes in (probably at SG), JB could move Hughes to SF, a position he could log time at next year to see if he can defend/rebound the position.

 

[iommi]

How they "plan" rosters is magic. Dependent variables all over the place. But as Zags points out, at least the SU staff situation is stabilized. For '19, we have all 13 schollies available. Frank Howard will be a senior in 2018, when Carey comes in. Therefore, depending on who jumps, here's what our roster might look like:

PG - [Carey ?] Goodine; Washington
SG - Hughes, BB
SF - [Brissett?] Dolezaj
PF - [Bazely?] Moyer
C - [Chukwu 6th year?]; Sidibe

Three ships open if Everyone is back (doubtful). If Bazely is gone (probable), we have 4. Etc... If Kalif comes in (probably at SG), JB could move Hughes to SF, a position he could log time at next year to see if he can defend/rebound the position.

You could put a question mark after Hughes too.

 

[reedny]

You could put a question mark after Hughes too.

Oh geez, really? I've heard the staff is high on him, but I didn't know he was that talented. He certainly has the "look" (uber-confident), no?!

But that would answer some questions ... Kalif would slide right into the 2 and take over for big bro.