2016 American Athletic Conference Recruiting

[Matrim55]

A couple of notes off the top:
- Cronin is putting together what is, by Cincy standards, a monster class. Cunningham is their highest-ranked recruit since Stephenson, nearly a decade ago.
- "The Bottom of the Conference Needs to Get Better." Both Florida schools & Houston are holding up their end of that bargain, as all three had great (by their standards) 2015 classes, and have piled on additional quality in 2016
- Tulane looks like it will continue to be a dumpster fire, though they did pick up four 3-star kids in the 2015 class. So we'll see.
- ECU is somewhere in between those two extremes, though I suspect they'll regress
- Sangoyomi, who's headed to Houston, looks very interesting to me based upon his highlight reel (I know, I know). He's huge and has a fluid athleticism, and actually seems to know what he's doing a little bit for someone so new to the game. If I had to bet on one guy being a surprise, breakout player, next year, it's him (though the college game may end up being too fast for him)
- Pastner put together a good 2015 class, which explains Memphis's lack of activity for 2016 so far. That said, can he coach them? (no!)
- SMU. The violations/ethics questions seem to be negatively effecting their recruiting, and they have no size
- Tulsa. It was Atson's commitment (today) that got me looking at this stuff, and he's a great pick-up (I kind of hoped we'd pick him up late in the cycle). But like SMU, they have no size.
- Temple seems like they'll continue to be Temple. Lots of guys from 100 to 250, and one of them always turns into a high-level difference-maker

Overall, AAC recruiting has picked up significantly since 2013 - us, Cincy & Memphis at the top, both Floridas, Houston & Tulsa at the bottom. I think we'll continue to be a top-heavy league, but I think the days of multiple conference foes with sub-200 RPIs will be coming to an end in the next couple of years.

----------------------------

Central Florida
Clayton Hughes (6-foot-5, 3-star top 200 wing)

Cincinnati
Jarron Cunningham (6-foot-4, 4-star, top-50 SG from suburban Cincy)
Nysier Brooks (6-foot-9, 3-star, top-200 C)

East Carolina
Shawn Williams (6-foot-1, 3-star, top-300 PG)
Elijah Hughes (6-foot-5, unranked wing)

Houston
Armoni Brooks (6-foot-4, 3-star, top-300 wing)
Valentine Sangoyomi (6-foot-11 unranked JuCo C)

Memphis
n/a

South Florida
Troy Baxter (6-foot-7, 4-star, top-100 PF)

SMU
Dashawn McDowell (6-foot-4, 3-star, top-300 wing)

Temple
Alani Moore (5-foot-10, 3-star, top 200 PG from DC)
Quinton Rose (6-foot-5, unranked SG)

Tulane
n/a

Tulsa
Travis Atson (6-foot-5, 3-star, top-200 wing from NYC)
Corey Henderson (6-foot-3, unranked SG)

 

[Stainmaster]

Maxwell Starwood ('15 Tulane commit) re-classified and is doing a prep year, he will be joining them next fall. The Green Wave also picked this guy (http://www.verbalcommits.com/players/colin-slater) up, which seems to be a more impressive get than they're used to.

 

[Matrim55]

Maxwell Starwood ('15 Tulane commit) re-classified and is doing a prep year, he will be joining them next fall. The Green Wave also picked this guy (http://www.verbalcommits.com/players/colin-slater) up, which seems to be a more impressive get than they're used to.

Good shout. Also, it looks like VerbalCommits is much more thorough than 247.

 

[Stainmaster]

Good shout. Also, it looks like VerbalCommits is much more thorough than 247.

They're the best in the business in terms of thoroughness, timeliness, and quality of user interface. My go-to recruiting site.

 

[aceboon]

Tulane's 2015 class is pretty good for their standards, Kain Harris and Kip Nichols will be good for them

 

[ctchamps]

What are the odds that the recruiters on those teams are saying to recruits they can get an opportunity to play against UCONN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[huskiesNhoos]

Didn't ECU pick up a 5* big for '15?

 

[Kitaman]

What are the odds that the recruiters on those teams are saying to recruits they can get an opportunity to play against UCONN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Perhaps that's why Harvard has become an Ivy league powerhouse and a national contender.

 

[Jaybo]

Still a lot of guys available in the top 150,hope to see a few more end up in the AAC,and hopefully another top tier guy end up at uconn.

 

[UCweCONN]

We are clearly the class of the conference now. Has Cronin been cleared to coach again?

 

[Fishy]

Cronin is cleared to stand on the sidelines during games, but I guess we can argue if that's coaching or not.

I don't worry about Temple and Cincinnati - they'll recruit enough to be whatever they are.

I have some hopes for Tulane and South Florida. Tulane's a good school in a good talent pool and Orlando Antigua can be a decent recruiter.

Houston, Memphis, Tulsa, UCF and SMU are time bombs. Memphis and probably SMU will be have new coaches in the next year or so - hopefully, Memphis hires the right guy to replace Pastner. SMU will regress when Brown leaves and they deal with their upcoming sanctions. UCF, Tulsa and Houston have con men at the wheel and that never works long-term. No one cares about East Carolina - they're going nowhere.

It'll take a decade to figure out where some of these programs are going. I'm guessing about half the programs will have to recover from their get-rich-fast coaching hires.

 

[huskyharry]

Cronin is cleared to stand on the sidelines during games, but I guess we can argue if that's coaching or not.

It will be interesting to see if he will behave as a reasonable, professional coach who needs to comport himself properly for the sake of his health...or as the raving lunatic leprechaun who always looked like he was ready to blow a gasket.

 

[Stainmaster]

Kipper Nichols is no longer with Tulane. Still not a bad class on their part.

 

[auror]

They're the best in the business in terms of thoroughness, timeliness, and quality of user interface. My go-to recruiting site.

What's with the thoroughness on their Rivals ranking of Gilbert? Seems off by 50 spots?

*Edit* Haha updated today...a year ago. Nvm.

 

[Stainmaster]

What's with the thoroughness on their Rivals ranking of Gilbert? Seems off by 50 spots?

*Edit* Haha updated today...a year ago. Nvm.

That's the one thing that I dislike about them. Everything else (offers, commits) gets updated within 24 hours.

 

[Drew]

Figured it would be worth taking a look at how the other members of the AAC are performing on the recruiting trail for the 2016 class.

http://247sports.com/Season/2016-Basketball/CompositeTeamRankings?Conference=AAC

1. UConn (4 total recruits, 4 4 stars)
2. Cincinnati (2 total recruits, 1 4 star, 1 3 star)
3. Memphis (2 total recruits, 1 4 star, 1 3 star)
4. USF (2 total recruits, 1 4 star, 1 3 star))
5. SMU (2 total recruits, 2 3 stars)
6. Tulane (3 total recruits, 2 3 stars, 1 NR)
7. Temple (3 total recruits, 2 3 stars, 1 NR)
8. UCF (3 total recruits, 2 3 stars, 1 NR)
9. ECU (2 total recruits, 2 3 stars)
10. Tulsa (4 total recruits, 1 3 stars, 3 NR)
11. Houston (2 total recruits, 1 3 star, 1 NR)

A couple observations

1. Surprised to see USF in the top 4 but Antigua has recruited pretty well at USF so far despite the terrible on the floor record

2. SMU at 5? Very surprising. Would've thought they'd be higher but I trust Brown's coaching ability/judgement

3. Tulane ahead of Temple, Tulsa, and Houston? Pleasant surprise there

4. Tulsa and Houston bringing up the rear I did not expect at all. For all the positive momentum that Sampson has built at Houston its really depressing to see them in dead last place in the conference

5. Tulsa is an interesting team/program to me. I don't think Haith will be there come 2018 and he definitely won't be if he keeps recruiting like this. Need Tulsa to remain a solid/competitive team, as we need all the top 100 RPI teams in this league that we can get

 

[bmo22]

We need the bottom of the conference to improve, and I think it actually has slightly compared to last year. Memphis is really hurting the conference. They were supposed to be a staple along with UConn and Cincy and just imploded this year. They lose most of their talent after this season and by the looks of it aren't bringing in much next year. Good point on Tulsa. They're losing all of their talent and Haith isn't doing much to replace it. Pastner and Haith are nightmares.

 

[80shusky]

Isn't Haith being investigated for all sorts of malfeasance, tomfoolery and shenanigans? That could damper his recruiting some.

 

[Pudge]

In general ...

Haith is the interesting guy. Danny Manning left him a solid core in Harrison, Woodard, Ray, Smith, Wright, Swannegan, Curtis ... and Haith really only brought in the JUCO Birt. Like Missouri, I'd say. What is next? Seems clear that he jumps off if something doesn't shake soon because he loses all of them.

Don't worry about Kelvin Sampson; he will do fine. Same with Dunphy. No explosive names. Antigua is the next guy to look at. He can bring talent to a roster; but, can he coach them to any wins. His guys look like players.

Memphis is dead in the water with Pastner's situation. They are the only other program that has come near us in grabbing talent the last 10 years.

 

[UConNick]

Houston's got a shot at getting out of the bottom if they can reel in Jarrett Allen, a top 25 big man who is a McDonalds AA if I recall correctly. They're up against Texas, but from what I've seen they've got a shot. That would be a major coup for the conference.

 

[CTBasketball]

SMU is not a favorable spot because Larry Brown was born when Hitler was running around. Won't be there long.

 

[kobe]

Cumberland is going to be a player. He looked like he was in his mid 20's when he was a high school freshman. He's the second best player in Ohio behind Michigan State commit Nick Ward.

 

[Peacefrog]

And don't forget a 4* transfer becoming eligible as well. Any impact transfers at other AAC programs?

 

[Stainmaster]

And don't forget a 4* transfer becoming eligible as well. Any impact transfers at other AAC programs?

Kyle Washington of Cincy is coming from NC State, he's probably the most skilled transfer not named Larrier. Geno Thorpe of USF isn't a big-name guy, but he did get some burn as an underclassman for Penn State. Junior Etou of Tulsa actually didn't look too bad his freshman year at Rutgers.

 

[Jerry1714]

Tulsa has 7 seniors, they better step up that recruiting or add some in some transfers