Reading Recruiting Tea Leaves

[Ricker]

We have been told we are in great shape with Hamidou or have no shot, that Beatty was imminent then apparently not, and that we are in Harvey's final list but he sets up 3 visits before us. We also had at least offered Chaundee Brown, Brandon Randolph, Lonnie Walker, etc but hadn't heard much about us and them. Now in the last couple weeks we have offered Kris Wilkes, Alex O'Connell, Darryl Morsell, AJ Reeves in that wing/2G positions That doesn't give me the warm and fuzzies with our prime targets. Thoughts?

Makai has been our prime PG target then we turned it on again with Tremont but haven't offered others lately. Does that bode well for the staff's opinion of closing one of them?

We are in Richards top 5, Cody Riley's top 5, and on Bamba's radar, but all of a sudden we have offered Victor Uyaelunmo, Jerico Simms, Rayshaun Hammonds, and Makhtar Gueye. Silence with Deng Gak, Oke Obiagu, Dereck Culver, Jordan Nwora. Are we hedging our prime bets or is it because we need 2 bigs to replace Facey/Brimah?

Silence re Jermaine Samuels even though we have had crystal ball picks. Jordan Tucker doesn't seem involved in the conversation.

And the mystery to me how Kimani Lawrence is never our target.

Who has insight into how this all sorts out?

 

[GemParty]

Great recap. I feel we need one or two 2017, to get the ball rolling! Who will KO build the class around?

 

[James]

Jermain Samuels listed 5 schools I believe , he is no longer on uconns radar.

 

[UChusky916]

I'm honestly a little surprised that no 2017 kid has really fallen in love with Ollie and pulled the trigger on committing here early. We normally have one or two that commits early... none so far.

Definitely a little concerning with the amount of offers. But we've seen that this is KO's style -- cast a wide net. Hopefully that style doesn't hurt him in the long run... he made out pretty well last year.

 

[KemBuckets21]

I think we end up with a class of MAL, HD and Richards. With all the offers there is upside for 4-5 man class too. Mo Bamba would be an unbelievable get, but I don't see him slipping through the hands of Coach ShaShevsky.

 

[FASTEDDY]

I think we end up with a class of MAL, HD and Richards. With all the offers there is upside for 4-5 man class too. Mo Bamba would be an unbelievable get, but I don't see him slipping through the hands of Coach ShaShevsky.

From your keyboard to God's ears - that would be GREAT!

 

[AstarIsBorn31]

 

[UConnStats]

And the mystery to me how Kimani Lawrence is never our target.

Have seen him several times and I do like him. Granted he is undersized for a 3 and doesn't really have a guard's game. Also his jumper is a work and progress and he's more of a spot up only shooter. Maybe Ollie doesn't really believe in a 6'5 post scoring wing. I'm sure he's trying to get 3PA in, but I've seen games where he dominates inside on lay-ins but shoots like 1-8 from 3. He is definitely a guy who will be a solid upperclassmen, but I can accept Ollie not buying in.

 

[KemBuckets21]

FWIW, Trae Young cut his list to 6 and Duke was, quite surprisingly, not included. UK, OK, TT, UW, KU and OKST. Interesting to see because, as others have noted, the point guard recruiting mechanics will affect who we end up with. Now, one could argue Duke Getting Quade Green and Kentucky getting Young could be the precursor to Tremont coming our way. If things don't go <--- that way, who knows how the process will play out.

 

[Burnsbros23]

Think it's safe to say we end up with MAL or Tremont.

Would love Nick Richards. What's the latest with him I haven't followed him to closely.

Bamba appears to be going elsewhere. Diallo will be tough as well but think we are in a pretty good spot for him.

What happen with Beatty? Would guess it be tough for him to commit with Gilbert Adams Vital MAL or Tremont maybe Diallo. I like Beatty 6'3 shoot handle plus athlete would be a nice piece.

 

[champs99and04]

I'm starting to think the HD thing is a Drummond situation. Not sure he has any intentions of going anywhere other than UConn - I think people assume he's going to be a tough get just because of who else is on him, but I'd be willing to bet he's already given a silent verbal. Otherwise, would be historical troll job from @UConnMBB .

 

[80shusky]

FWIW, Trae Young cut his list to 6 and Duke was, quite surprisingly, not included. UK, OK, TT, UW, KU and OKST. Interesting to see because, as others have noted, the point guard recruiting mechanics will affect who we end up with. Now, one could argue Duke Getting Quade Green and Kentucky getting Young could be the precursor to Tremont coming our way. If things don't go <--- that way, who knows how the process will play out.

I do think Duke gets Green. I thought it would be Trae to Kentucky and Green to Duke all along. Whether that helps us with Waters or not I couldn't say. You'd think it might though.

 

[80shusky]

@Ricker I have been thinking similarly to you. The spate of offers from us lately to kids we haven't been on leads me to believe we aren't sure about our main targets. Most of our top targets have other top offers (see Richards, Waters, Bamba, Diallo) or teams that may have fewer similar position players on the depth chart (MAL, Waters). We have offered some other good kids though it seems lately that we just haven't been on or haven't been rumored to have been on before. Ollie knows we are going to have a lot of spots to fill next year. I'm thinking he is trying to make sure he has enough irons in the fire. It could also just be because the July live periods have been in full swing the coaches have seen and interacted with more kids. I think Brandon Randolph eliminated us yesterday. I think Harvey's also a long shot because he didn't choose us as one of his first three visits. It could mean nothing, but it seems to me it means something. As usually seems to happen with this stuff I think we are going to be disappointed that some of the targets we really want choose to go somewhere else, but end up being happy by landing a quality recruiting class anyway including some names we didn't know that well to begin with. At least I hope so.

 

[superjohn]

I'm starting to think the HD thing is a Drummond situation. Not sure he has any intentions of going anywhere other than UConn - I think people assume he's going to be a tough get just because of who else is on him, but I'd be willing to bet he's already given a silent verbal. Otherwise, would be historical troll job from @UConnMBB .

That's what I've always thought as well.

 

[superjohn]

@Ricker I have been thinking similarly to you. The spate of offers from us lately to kids we haven't been on leads me to believe we aren't sure about our main targets. Most of our top targets have other top offers (see Richards, Waters, Bamba, Diallo) or teams that may have fewer similar position players on the depth chart (MAL, Waters). We have offered some other good kids though it seems lately that we just haven't been on or haven't been rumored to have been on before. Ollie knows we are going to have a lot of spots to fill next year. I'm thinking he is trying to make sure he has enough irons in the fire. It could also just be because the July live periods have been in full swing the coaches have seen and interacted with more kids. I think Brandon Randolph eliminated us yesterday. I think Harvey's also a long shot because he didn't choose us as one of his first three visits. It could mean nothing, but it seems to me it means something. As usually seems to happen with this stuff I think we are going to be disappointed that some of the targets we really want choose to go somewhere else, but end up being happy by landing a quality recruiting class anyway including some names we didn't know that well to begin with. At least I hope so.

Since Ollie has been head coach he has extended a ton of offers to kids every year, it just seems to be the way he recruits. He does prioritize certain kids and he has been pretty good about getting his top priority. Hamilton, Jalen and Alterique were all his #1 guy, so is Hamidou.

 

[husky429]

Few things, and I'm not disagreeing just pointing things out.

Only 10 of the top 50 prospects have committed. That's including 0 for Kentucky or Duke.

After the July live periods, lots of offers always go out. It's just how recruiting works.

High level players are increasingly becoming aware of "branding" themselves at a young age now. That means they are committing later than they used to so they can build hype around themselves.

 

[80shusky]

Few things, and I'm not disagreeing just pointing things out.

Only 10 of the top 50 prospects have committed. That's including 0 for Kentucky or Duke.

After the July live periods, lots of offers always go out. It's just how recruiting works.

High level players are increasingly becoming aware of "branding" themselves at a young age now. That means they are committing later than they used to so they can build hype around themselves.

Right I agree. I mentioned the bit about the July live periods as well. Also, I'm wondering if some of the Top 50 kids starting to commit will push some of the other kids to do so who are waiting to see who goes where.

 

[AstarIsBorn31]

 

[UConnStats]

Ollie trolling very hard.

 

[HuskyHoosier]

Wondering if the Drummond comment was from KO or added by ostrout

 

[James]

Wondering if the Drummond comment was from KO or added by ostrout

I don't think so. He went on to say Drummond signed the day after classes started

 

[upstater]

Let's put this in a little historical perspective. Jalen and Alterique were indeed July commitments. But Vance and Juwan were in the fall. Daniel Hamilton was May.

So, in terms of the trend, Ollie may be late to get a commitment now. Even though nationally it seems kids are delaying.

But in the more distant past, this is not unusual for UConn. Facey and Samuel were August/September.

The 2011 class had Boatright in November, then both Deandre and Andre in the summer before enrollment.

Jeremy Lamb was a September, and Shabazz and Roscoe verballed in the spring.

Oriakhi and Coombs-McDaniel were mid-August. Kemba was June.

I would not be pressing alarms just yet.

 

[Balker]

To me -- the implication here is that it's possible Ollie gets Diallo to commit by the end of this month. Not sure who else this could refer to. Drummond committed on like August 25th, started classes right after that, and was playing in 45 days.

 

[Matrim55]

To me -- the implication here is that it's possible Ollie gets Diallo to commit by the end of this month. Not sure who else this could refer to.

MAL is also college-eligible, as is Waters.

 

[Ricker]

To me -- the implication here is that it's possible Ollie gets Diallo to commit by the end of this month. Not sure who else this could refer to. Drummond committed on like August 25th, started classes right after that, and was playing in 45 days.

I exactly agree and have thought this was our best chance with Diallo, but the point was made during the Adidas Nations broadcast that several/many of these top kids in the current recruiting class of 2017 have actually graduated high school and are planning post grad years, but, could conceivably still become 2016 recruits and join college teams for this season. Last year I believe there were kids that were in a similar situation listed in the 2016 class through August that instead became 2015 recruits and played college ball. Was Murray to Kentucky this situation? And an Australian kid? I seem to recall there were 3-4 surprises in that regard but I'm too lazy to prove or disprove myself by researching it.