Class of 2017 SG/SF Jordan Tucker (NY / GA) Leaving Duke to Butler

[Alsacs]

I don't believe Thompson or battle will be back after next season. I have seen that movie.

Battle I could see taking the leap to NBA draft pick next year.
Thompson can't play D yet. I don't see him as an early entry next year.
If he was at Michigan State or Seton Hall he wouldn't even be in the discussion but because we have a history of everyone leaving its assumed.

Thompson seems like a 4 year player I don't see him as an NBA pick unless the D improves a lot.

 

[jordoo]

Battle I could see taking the leap to NBA draft pick next year.
Thompson can't play D yet. I don't see him as an early entry next year.
If he was at Michigan State or Seton Hall he wouldn't even be in the discussion but because we have a history of everyone leaving its assumed.

Thompson seems like a 4 year player I don't see him as an NBA pick unless the D improves a lot.

Battle is very likely a high NBA pick after this coming season. He was injured a bit and sick for portions of last season and yet he dispelled the biggest knock on his game which was outside shooting. He has the size, quickness and athletic ability that the NBA covets in a SG/Wing Scorer. I suspect he will be much more dynamic with the ball in his hands this year.
TT has much more to prove but for a 6-9 kid he showed more offensively than most do as freshman. He has range and consistency on his shot. He has above average handle and driving ability for a guy his size. Its not out of the question that if he makes a big leap with his physicality and defense that he finds himself in the first round. I do agree that he has more things working against him as far as NBA evaluation than Battle does.

 

[jr4750]

Battle is very likely a high NBA pick after this coming season. He was injured a bit and sick for portions of last season and yet he dispelled the biggest knock on his game which was outside shooting. He has the size, quickness and athletic ability that the NBA covets in a SG/Wing Scorer. I suspect he will be much more dynamic with the ball in his hands this year.
TT has much more to prove but for a 6-9 kid he showed more offensively than most do as freshman. He has range and consistency on his shot. He has above average handle and driving ability for a guy his size. Its not out of the question that if he makes a big leap with his physicality and defense that he finds himself in the first round. I do agree that he has more things working against him as far as NBA evaluation than Battle does.

Well said Jordoo. He also showed up super late, and missed the summer conditioning. He needs to add about 15-20lbs of muscle and play bigger, but his offensive game is fluid. Not sure if he will ever have the athleticism to be a 1st rounder but he can certainly be a heck of a college player if he continues to develop.

 

[orangefog]

Battle is very likely a high NBA pick after this coming season. He was injured a bit and sick for portions of last season and yet he dispelled the biggest knock on his game which was outside shooting. He has the size, quickness and athletic ability that the NBA covets in a SG/Wing Scorer. I suspect he will be much more dynamic with the ball in his hands this year.
TT has much more to prove but for a 6-9 kid he showed more offensively than most do as freshman. He has range and consistency on his shot. He has above average handle and driving ability for a guy his size. Its not out of the question that if he makes a big leap with his physicality and defense that he finds himself in the first round. I do agree that he has more things working against him as far as NBA evaluation than Battle does.

I agree on both players. I think Battle has to obviously continue to improve, but also he has to make it through the season without injury, as he has a bit of a history of injury. And Thompson has an opportunity to show his growth in those key areas. Any defensive improvement will help us next year, as well as show the NBA he has the aptitude to improve on that side of the ball.

 

[Cusefan0307]

TT probably needs to stretch his range as well. The NBA doesn't like long twos anymore.

 

[orangefog]

TT probably needs to stretch his range as well. The NBA doesn't like long twos anymore.

He has a nice stroke, I think he will be a good shooter from NBA range. I think JB will allow him to shoot from 3 more this year. But he better show the effort on defense.

 

[pfister1]

The kid lives in Ga.. That is tough to overcome.

To say nothing of the fact that we chose to back off of him for an extended period of time. We can sugarcoat that all we want and we might ultimately overcome it, but if I had my choice between having been all in on him from the beginning and trying to get back in at the end I would choose the former in terms of the approach.

I don't think Tucker is the litmus test for whether or not we can get our recruiting act together.

 

[jordoo]

TT probably needs to stretch his range as well. The NBA doesn't like long twos anymore.

I don't disagree. I think of a guy like AL Horford. Same type offensive game as TT but with better post moves and he slowly extended his range over time. Obviously a Horford like NBA career may be out of reach for TT but I see a similar body type and offensive skills. You can take the long 2 if you make a lot of them and can make the 3's here and there.

 

[RF2044]

To say nothing of the fact that we chose to back off of him for an extended period of time. We can sugarcoat that all we want and we might ultimately overcome it, but if I had my choice between having been all in on him from the beginning and trying to get back in at the end I would choose the former in terms of the approach.

I don't think Tucker is the litmus test for whether or not we can get our recruiting act together.

I think it absolutely is the litmus test, given that we don't have a true SF on next year's roster, have bountiful PT / shots to offer, and Tucker being a guy originally "down the road" at White Plains.

It's also a litmus test because JB personally got involved to reaffirm our interest in recruiting Tucker, after we pocket vetoed last fall. If we close, then it is a good sign. If not, then it might be a harbinger of things to come for as long as JB remains at the helm. I say that knowing full well that there will be posters who aren't going to like hearing that opinion expressed.

In the big scheme, I don't disagree with JLine's opinion expressed earlier in the thread -- one recruit isn't the end of the world, big picture. But losing out on said recruit could be the nail in the coffin in terms of next year's season, which big picture is coming on the heels of an NIT year.

Need to land Tucker.

 

[dasher]

We all want to land Tucker. We need to land him. But it is not a litmus test to our recruiting. If we miss out a number of guys with jb out there, okay. something is wrong. But one guy, no matter how much we need him, no. He could go anywhere for any reason.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Thompson is skilled offensively. For a big, that can count for a lot.

 

[RF2044]

We all want to land Tucker. We need to land him. But it is not a litmus test to our recruiting. If we miss out a number of guys with jb out there, okay. something is wrong. But one guy, no matter how much we need him, no. He could go anywhere for any reason.

But that's exactly what has happened, Dash. We've lost out on several players in the class of 2017 alone that were the top priority / primary focus of the coaching staff, at key positions of need [specifically Green and Randolph]. Tucker would be a huge bounce-back for the staff. If we lose out on him, too, then we're down to throwing ourselves upon the whim of the 5th year transfer market.

 

[Lucid]

I think it absolutely is the litmus test

No one player can ever be a "litmus test" in this way, if only because of the vagaries of the human spirit.

He could go anywhere for any reason.

Totally agree.

 

[RF2044]

No one player can ever be a "litmus test" in this way, if only because of the vagaries of the human spirit.

Metaphysics aside, it would be a litmus test of our ancient, relatively short timer head coach's ability to continue to recruit effectively, at the level needed to excel in the ACC.

Seems to me that we're kind of at a cross roads here. Land a couple of important guys to round out this class, and the future looks bright. Fail to do so, and we might slip even further back into mediocrity. I'm the furthest thing from melodramatic, and a serial optimist when it comes to our team, but the roster we have lined up for next year can't and won't be competitive as currently constituted.

 

[Lucid]

Seems to me that we're kind of at a cross roads here. Land a couple of important guys to round out this class, and the future looks bright. Fail to do so, and we might slip even further back into mediocrity. I'm the furthest thing from melodramatic, and a serial optimist when it comes to our team, but the roster we have lined up for next year can't and won't be competitive as currently constituted.

I agree with what you've said here. My only point is that getting Tucker, as great as that would be, or losing Tucker, as bad as that might be, is no kind of litmus test all by itself.

Taken as part of the larger recruiting picture? Surely. By itself, no.

 

[Cusesky8214]

Fran Fraschilla on Twitter

I agree about the TT assessments but the thing people have to realize is the D league isn't what it use to be and increasing salaries etc is making it more appealing...these kids can get paid to play against good players and not deal with school..im not saying it's the thing to do but it's definitely getting more popular...basically they get to live a scaled down nba lifestyle and play for $ and for a lot of these kids and the background and lifestyle they came from it's a easy decision

 

[Cusesky8214]

 

[Orangefan1]

How many teams come back late in the recruiting process? If we were talking about Duke or if a recruit really wanted to play there the player wouldn't give a crap if they backed off and came back. Bottom line is if a player wants to come here they will, green could of and he chose money that's pretty obvious.

 

[Newhouser]

We all want to land Tucker. We need to land him. But it is not a litmus test to our recruiting. If we miss out a number of guys with jb out there, okay. something is wrong. But one guy, no matter how much we need him, no. He could go anywhere for any reason.

especially a guy who 6 months ago we had moved on from.

 

[cuse10]

Fran Fraschilla on Twitter

I agree about the TT assessments but the thing people have to realize is the D league isn't what it use to be and increasing salaries etc is making it more appealing...these kids can get paid to play against good players and not deal with school..im not saying it's the thing to do but it's definitely getting more popular...basically they get to live a scaled down nba lifestyle and play for $ and for a lot of these kids and the background and lifestyle they came from it's a easy decision

The G-League isn't life changing money. You can get a desk job and earn what most of them will earn under the new CBA. The G-League is still a joke until the NBA treats it like a true minor league where players can develop, get called up and have their own farm system. Right now it isn't that.

 

[cuse10]

Back to the subject at hand, Tucker still had interest in SU after they stopped recruting. He actively searches his name on Twitter and when I posted a tweet about what I read on here, he wanted more specifics because he was clueless about what some of you "insiders" wrote.

 

[Cusefan0307]

We need this guy. At best we have a middle tier ACC roster. Other schools are still recruiting as well in the conference. If we don't sign a legit SF and a good guard we will be closer to BC than Duke.

 

[Alsacs]

We all want to land Tucker. We need to land him. But it is not a litmus test to our recruiting. If we miss out a number of guys with jb out there, okay. something is wrong. But one guy, no matter how much we need him, no. He could go anywhere for any reason.

Our last 3 regular seasons have been mediocre. If we don't get Tucker we won't even be medicore next year.

You speak optimistic about 2018 recruiting when we have no idea how many scholarships we can give out.

This recruitment is paramount for Syracuse basketball to get out of its funk on the recruiting trail.

You don't listen to Francis podcast he is the guy who tells it the way it is. I want to feel it's rosy around the program and that it's going to be okay mindset no matter what. However right now it's not we need Tucker.

Do you think our staff has worked as hard as they could?
The answer is no. See Lonnie Walker, Ja'Quan Newton many others.

Our staff hasn't built up depth from before sanctions.
We currently have zero Seniors. The program has a lot more disarray around it than people acknowledge.

This recruitment of Tucker isn't a must win but it's pretty damn important.

2018 when will JB go see Quinerly.

 

[cuse10]

Our last 3 regular seasons have been mediocre. If we don't get Tucker we won't even be medicore next year.

You speak optimistic about 2018 recruiting when we have no idea how many scholarships we can give out.

This recruitment is paramount for Syracuse basketball to get out of its funk on the recruiting trail.

You don't listen to Francis podcast he is the guy who tells it the way it is. I want to feel it's rosy around the program and that it's going to be okay mindset no matter what. However right now it's not we need Tucker.

Do you think our staff has worked as hard as they could?
The answer is no. See Lonnie Walker, Ja'Quan Newton many others.

Our staff hasn't built up depth from before sanctions.
We currently have zero Seniors. The program has a lot more disarray around it than people acknowledge.

This recruitment of Tucker isn't a must win but it's pretty damn important.

2018 when will JB go see Quinerly.

Wrong. Ja'Quan wasn't an oversight by the staff. There was one scholarship available and three guards were offered. Kaleb hopped at the offer.

 

[Ward]

Wrong. Ja'Quan wasn't an oversight by the staff. There was one scholarship available and three guards were offered. Kaleb hopped at the offer.

Staff chose Kaleb over Newton. Newton wanted to visit and come here badly. Staff told him Joseph had first dibs on the offer and visit and if he visited without committing then Newton could visit and they'd accept his commitment.