Al-Amir Dawes

[Storrs South]

 

[Wordbomar]

247 sports has him ranked 241 in his class... interesting offer I guess

 

[Scrutineer]

Must be a ploy to pressure Gaffney.

 

[kansashusky]

Kid is a stud that out plays his ranking. Love his toughness. Would be a great get

 

[JMick]

247 sports has him ranked 241 in his class... interesting offer I guess

He has some good offers and it sounded like people thought he played well during AAU

 

[UofCT]

Question about recruiting. Can this guy accept and sign immediately? If we offer, what does that even mean? If we offered 5 of our 2nd tier prospects and they all accept on the spot aren’t we doomed?

 

[husky429]

Question about recruiting. Can this guy accept and sign immediately? If we offer, what does that even mean? If we offered 5 of our 2nd tier prospects and they all accept on the spot aren’t we doomed?

Possibly. But unlikely.

Coaches make conditional offers, ask kids to wait, etc. Etc. Etc. An offer is really a formality more than anything.

 

[UConnStats]

The priority at PG is still Gaffney or Watts, but Dawes is likely ours if we want him. While he isn’t my preference, he is the best defensive PG out of our offers.

 

[Mokum]

Kid is a stud that out plays his ranking. Love his toughness. Would be a great get

I think coaches don't put a whole lot of stock in rankings and how many stars a guy has, especially 3 star guys. Hurley obviously sees something he likes about this guy.

 

[StingLykOllie]

Jalen Gaffney is ranked 204 on 247 composite also. And neither is ranked on Rivals, which I believe ties into those composite scores

 

[HooperScooper]

2019 guard Al-Amir Dawes piling up the offers | Zagsblog

 

[kansashusky]

Rocket is more of 2/shooting guard. But the fact is we will need at least two guards.

 

[UConnStats]

Jalen Gaffney is ranked 204 on 247 composite also. And neither is ranked on Rivals, which I believe ties into those composite scores

They’ll both be on the rise. They were both NBA Top 100 camp participants. Not too worried about their rankings.

It was also nice to see Dawes get a Wichita St offer. Marshall is being really picky with his offers so far this year, and he’s proved that he can scout better than most college coaches.

 

[tcf15]

 

[UConnStats]

Another pick

 

[LStudfellow]

As I have stated before and probably will again, we should all give less credence to the "rankings" of writers and other recruiting "experts" and much more weight to which schools have made/are making offers.

On the one hand, I do not think the recruiting service and industry "experts" are idiots - but they are often slow to move recruits up or down in the rankings, or absolutely wrong on a guy because he did not quite fit "the measurables" a 4* or 5* player should have (in their minds). There are such an abundance of examples every year that I could not possibly name them all, but here are a couple right off the top of my head from just the last couple of years: Bonzie Colson, Luke Maye, Jerome Robinson, Zhaire Smith, Landry Shamet and Shaq Morris (yes, Gregg Marshall and his staff have a well-earned reputation for finding players who are much better than their recruiting services rankings) just to name a few... and after this year we could be adding our own Christian Vital to that list, if he is not already there.

Coaches jobs and future careers depend upon them being able to identify the best talent for their teams/schools. With limited scholarships and limited time they must be able to identify and focus their efforts on the most talented players who are interested in going to their school. Period.

So let us look at Dawes. He already has offers from Clemson, TCU, St. John's, Minnesota and yes, Gregg Marshall and Wichita St. to name a few, with higher majors now kicking the tires and some offering after his consistently high level of play in the EYBL this year. He is obviously significantly outplaying his ranking of 241... and even more importantly he is showing many signs that the light has "gone on" for him and he has taken his game and attitude to a higher level with chances for more improvement looking strong.

I for one would rather offer and sign a low to mid 3-star who is showing significant improvement and strong work ethic with potential for more to come than a mid to high 4-star whose game has plateaued because other guys who matured later have caught up and are passing him. The college landscape is littered with guys like that who never amounted to anything. Unfortunately we have had our share of those guys recently.

Hurley offering Dawes seals it for me. If he is ready to commit and Gaffney is not, then we should happily take him and watch his rankings rise over the next 6 to 12 months before he gets here. In the long run, rankings do not matter: wins, consistent high-level of play and Championships are what should matter to us. After all, we are UConn.

 

[husky429]

As I have stated before and probably will again, we should all give less credence to the "rankings" of writers and other recruiting "experts" and much more weight to which schools have made/are making offers.

On the one hand, I do not think the recruiting service and industry "experts" are idiots - but they are often slow to move recruits up or down in the rankings, or absolutely wrong on a guy because he did not quite fit "the measurables" a 4* or 5* player should have (in their minds). There are such an abundance of examples every year that I could not possibly name them all, but here are a couple right off the top of my head from just the last couple of years: Bonzie Colson, Luke Maye, Jerome Robinson, Zhaire Smith, Landry Shamet and Shaq Morris (yes, Gregg Marshall and his staff have a well-earned reputation for finding players who are much better than their recruiting services rankings) just to name a few... and after this year we could be adding our own Christian Vital to that list, if he is not already there.

Coaches jobs and future careers depend upon them being able to identify the best talent for their teams/schools. With limited scholarships and limited time they must be able to identify and focus their efforts on the most talented players who are interested in going to their school. Period.

So let us look at Dawes. He already has offers from Clemson, TCU, St. John's, Minnesota and yes, Gregg Marshall and Wichita St. to name a few, with higher majors now kicking the tires and some offering after his consistently high level of play in the EYBL this year. He is obviously significantly outplaying his ranking of 241... and even more importantly he is showing many signs that the light has "gone on" for him and he has taken his game and attitude to a higher level with chances for more improvement looking strong.

I for one would rather offer and sign a low to mid 3-star who is showing significant improvement and strong work ethic with potential for more to come than a mid to high 4-star whose game has plateaued because other guys who matured later have caught up and are passing him. The college landscape is littered with guys like that who never amounted to anything. Unfortunately we have had our share of those guys recently.

Hurley offering Dawes seals it for me. If he is ready to commit and Gaffney is not, then we should happily take him and watch his rankings rise over the next 6 to 12 months before he gets here. In the long run, rankings do not matter: wins, consistent high-level of play and Championships are what should matter to us. After all, we are UConn.

Good read.

Just fyi--the reason why he is lower ranked (though he will rise a ton), and why he is likely a conditional, plan B option, is because he is a VERY inefficient shooting-wise.

 

[UconnU]

One of the things that happened with the 2019 class is that there are so many good bigs and combo forwards and wings that it had pushed these guards, particularly undersized guards, back in the rankings.


Also, am I the last person in the world to find out that Cole Anthony is Greg Anthony’s son!? I legitimately just learned this yesterday and I follow recruiting pretty heavily.

 

[DOZE860]

 

[pj]

I didn't realize Jalen Lecque was so big. Has he grown?

Dawes looked very effective, but it seemed like no one could check Lecque.

 

[mauconnfan]

I have a lot of faith in this staff but can only laugh thinking about this thread if KO was recruiting #241 in the class

 

[UConnStats]

I have a lot of faith in this staff but can only laugh thinking about this thread if KO was recruiting #241 in the class

To be fair, Dawes is still getting invited to better events/showcases than Carlton, Polley, Whaley, Matthews, Kisunas, or even Vital ever did. And he was third team EYBL above tons of 4 star guards. That being said, to your point people will definitely give Hurley more slack.

 

[JMick]

To be fair, Dawes is still getting invited to better events/showcases than Carlton, Polley, Whaley, Matthews, Kisunas, or even Vital ever did. And he was third team EYBL above tons of 4 star guards. That being said, to your point people will definitely give Hurley more slack.

It's also different because usually when we started offering lower ranked guys it was late in the process. This seems more like covering our bases and setting up viable plan Bs' and plan C's. It's not like we aren't recruiting more highly ranked kids, too.

 

[Matrim55]

It's also different because usually when we started offering lower ranked guys it was late in the process. This seems more like covering our bases and setting up viable plan Bs' and plan C's. It's not like we aren't recruiting more highly ranked kids, too.

And also, Hurley has a history at URI of taking guys ranked that low and turning them into tournament teams.

Ollie, uh, did not.

 

[intlzncster]

Good read.

Just fyi--the reason why he is lower ranked (though he will rise a ton), and why he is likely a conditional, plan B option, is because he is a VERY inefficient shooting-wise.

What's his stroke like though? Nice form? Is he shouldering too much of the load for his team leading to worse looks?