AMA, Terrell and Chukwu to PC says John Rooke

[upstater]

LOL...funny stuff the 13%. Actually hilarious! The guy has pretty good info though in general (he is pretty connected on the NE circuit). I don't follow him to closely anymore but am surprised he is putting himself out there on Abu. It could bite him. Hope it does.

When everyone aligns against you, well... things ain't looking so hot.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Oh really? You think this league has no bearing? I do, I think if I'm Tom Crean I say to Robinson, hey, you want to play OSU, Mich, MSU, Wisc or Cincy and Temple?

That is what every coach of a major school says. Yes, some kids will still come to the league but if you think it is a non factor you're dilusional.

It just seems like your timing is impeccable on this, with Larry Brown landing some monsters at SMU of all places.

 

[champs99and04]

It seems like the AMA recruitment may be slipping away from us, but I'm still holding out hope simply because things have changed so frequently with him. It strikes me as odd that N.C. State and Florida are considered the leaders when at one point, I thought for sure it was going to be either Providence or UConn.

 

[superjohn]

If AMA chooses NC State well then he is a dope. I would certainly like to get him but not the end of the world if we don't, have always thought Robinson is coming our way.

 

[DOZE860]

i have notice, if you hear that Ollie offered another recruit at the same position, it usually means the staff has already moved on.. i.e. Perkins/Sinder. I'm not following the recruiting to much but has Ollie offered another power forward recently??

 

[husky91]

You miss the point and have apparent reading comprehension issues. So you think the AAC can recruit on equal footing with the other leagues? I don't. We landed a top guy Hamilton, maybe that is about what we can expect. To think you can land top 10 classes consistenly is ridiculous in this league. Kids wants to play in big buildings and big environments, the AAC offers none of those other than 2-3 OOC games a year.

I'm the messenger, I'm not the fool AD who did this.

It just seems like your timing is impeccable on this, with Larry Brown landing some monsters at SMU of all places.

 

[superjohn]

You miss the point and have apparent reading comprehension issues. So you think the AAC can recruit on equal footing with the other leagues? I don't. We landed a top guy Hamilton, maybe that is about what we can expect. To think you can land top 10 classes consistenly is ridiculous in this league. Kids wants to play in big buildings and big environments, the AAC offers none of those other than 2-3 OOC games a year.

I'm the messenger, I'm not the fool AD who did this.

You are a fool.

 

[Hoophound]

You miss the point and have apparent reading comprehension issues. So you think the AAC can recruit on equal footing with the other leagues? I don't. We landed a top guy Hamilton, maybe that is about what we can expect. To think you can land top 10 classes consistenly is ridiculous in this league. Kids wants to play in big buildings and big environments, the AAC offers none of those other than 2-3 OOC games a year.

I'm the messenger, I'm not the fool AD who did this.

It's an overreaction. College basketball is pretty big time at UConn, Temple, Cincy and Memphis. With our OOC schedule, a handful of good league games, tons of TV exposure, a new training facility and a hip, young coach that just retired from the NBA we should recruit quite well.

 

[husky91]

Ur a clown. UConn isn't leading or predicted to land any of these kids, I hope they do, but I think the league isn't helping.

PC at least will play in a focused bball league with good hoops teams.

You are a fool.

 

[3uconn]

If 3uconn still feels good about Abu, then so do I. His recruitment seems to be very tight lipped. Yes a lot of people claim they have sources, but I don't think anyone really knows. Meyer doesn't make sense to me...why switch to UCONN if he always favored Florida? And before that Meyer had him to Providence.

I'm not feeling quite as good as I was before.

 

[superjohn]

Ur a clown. UConn isn't leading or predicted to land any of these kids, I hope they do, but I think the league isn't helping.

PC at least will play in a focused bball league with good hoops teams.

It's like arguing with a 7 year old which I won't do, believe what you want to believe.

 

[upstater]

Ur a clown. UConn isn't leading or predicted to land any of these kids, I hope they do, but I think the league isn't helping.

PC at least will play in a focused bball league with good hoops teams.

The AAC will be better than that conference with better talent.

Do you even realize that you're essentially saying these kids want to go to schools where they will NEVER be seen on the big TV stations?

I mean, NC State is on ESPN/ESPN2/CBS only 4 times all season. UConn is on 16 times.

Not only that, but Calhoun took many kids in that top 50-150 range, like Jeremy Lamb, Boone, Okafor, Napier, etc., and he also recruited unknowns like Giffey, Okwandu, Armstrong, and he mixed them in with Rip Hamilton, Donyell Marshall, etc. Ben Gordon, Ray Allen and Kemba Walker were all around #30.

You're going to have to explain to me how Kentan Facey, Daniel Hamilton and Rodney Purvis constitute a step down in recruiting. Given UConn's history.

 

[aceboon]

You miss the point and have apparent reading comprehension issues. So you think the AAC can recruit on equal footing with the other leagues? I don't. We landed a top guy Hamilton, maybe that is about what we can expect. To think you can land top 10 classes consistenly is ridiculous in this league. Kids wants to play in big buildings and big environments, the AAC offers none of those other than 2-3 OOC games a year.

I'm the messenger, I'm not the fool AD who did this.

Then explain why Memphis has consistently landed top 10(top 5 even) classes with Pastner at the helm in CUSA.

 

[CTBasketball]

Shabazz started following AMA on Instagram...if that helps.

 

[mauconnfan]

Ur a clown. UConn isn't leading or predicted to land any of these kids, I hope they do, but I think the league isn't helping.

PC at least will play in a focused bball league with good hoops teams.

Tiger sucks!!!

 

[7774]

Ur a clown. UConn isn't leading or predicted to land any of these kids, I hope they do, but I think the league isn't helping.

PC at least will play in a focused bball league with good hoops teams.

What does "predicted to land" even mean? I do agree you're not a fool though. You're a couple levels below a fool.

 

[superjohn]

Tiger sucks!!!

That's who we are dealing with? This is the same guy who acts like Tiger slept with his girlfriend, too funny.

 

[tzznandrew]

Then explain why Memphis has consistently landed top 10(top 5 even) classes with Pastner at the helm in CUSA.

Gonzaga always has great classes as well.

I'd like to be in a better league, but if you have a coach who can recruit well and they have success, they'll pull in recruits no matter where.

 

[aceboon]

Gonzaga always has great classes as well.

I'd like to be in a better league, but if you have a coach who can recruit well and they have success, they'll pull in recruits no matter where.

Yup, UNLV as well, and to keep it real, the Pac-12 might as well be a power conference in name only at this point. Didn't 2 years ago they only get like 2 teams into the tourney? Plus its hard as hell to ever find their games on ESPN, UConn is going to get way more exposure on the ESPN networks than the Pac-12 teams.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

As far as another PF, Paul White was listed as a PF and was quoted as having played very well against very high rated PFs prior to his injury (e.g. doubled Abu's stats in one game head to head). He might be a good alternative if we have to find an alternative.

 

[ctchamps]

I'm not feeling quite as good as I was before.

I doubt anyone in the Terrell or Abu camps are leaking anything. They want the suspense to build up for the 9/7 date. Only leaker would be AAU coach and his interest is to let this thing play out to the end. It ain't over till she sings.

 

[pj]

As far as another PF, Paul White was listed as a PF and was quoted as having played very well against very high rated PFs prior to his injury (e.g. doubled Abu's stats in one game head to head). He might be a good alternative if we have to find an alternative.

Would love to have Paul White! But, would love to have Abu too. They're both great players.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

If you look at the predictions it states UConn won't land any of these kids, all are predicted to end up at different places.

Good for PC if they pull this off, question how or why, but likely speaks to what our future is in this crappy league.

So, to be clear, you're buying into the notion that UConn is not signing any more blue chippers this year, this will become the norm, and it's all because of the conference we're now in? Knee-jerk, ill-informed, baseless...

This is an asinine post.

 

[champs99and04]

I doubt anyone in the Terrell or Abu camps are leaking anything. They want the suspense to build up for the 9/7 date. Only leaker would be AAU coach and his interest is to let this thing play out to the end. It ain't over till she sings.

I think you are right. There seems to be a pattern here: first (about three weeks ago) Meyer predicted Terrell and Abu to PC as a package deal, and most of us assumed he was doing this just because PC was the one common denominator in their final fours. Then, two weeks ago, Meyer changed his prediction UConn on the basis of, paraphrasing, "info and gut". And then a few days ago he changed his prediction to Florida, and Jeff Borzello weighed in, citing "Info and gut feelings" as his reasoning for predicting Abu to Florida.

Now, it's certainly entirely possible that the kid has simply changed his mind multiple times over the past couple weeks. Thinking about it, though, between the short visit to Florida (and whispers that the visit may not have gone well), the promotion to his announcement, and the fact that the AAU program of Terrell and Abu seems interested in squeezing as much publicity and drama out of this as possible, I'm not so sure UConn is out of this. I'm not necessarily trying to argue Abu is purposely deceiving people, but when you consider the common rationale from recruiting insiders - generally some combination of information and gut - my guess would be the Abu camp has ever incentive to throw each of the remaining four teams a bone whenever he can to keep people interested and curious. This "info and gut" non-sense could be as little as Abu telling somebody something he likes about a particular school, and Meyer running back to his lap top to change his prediction.

At this point, the only thing clear to me (other than the fact that I'm obviously spending way too much time thinking about this) is that all four schools have a legitimate chance, still. It's one of the few recruitments in recent years where I wouldn't be surprised by him picking any of the four hats.

 

[Matrim55]

I think you are right. There seems to be a pattern here: first (about three weeks ago) Meyer predicted Terrell and Abu to PC as a package deal, and most of us assumed he was doing this just because PC was the one common denominator in their final fours. Then, two weeks ago, Meyer changed his prediction UConn on the basis of, paraphrasing, "info and gut". And then a few days ago he changed his prediction to Florida, and Jeff Borzello weighed in, citing "Info and gut feelings" as his reasoning for predicting Abu to Florida.

Now, it's certainly entirely possible that the kid has simply changed his mind multiple times over the past couple weeks. Thinking about it, though, between the short visit to Florida (and whispers that the visit may not have gone well), the promotion to his announcement, and the fact that the AAU program of Terrell and Abu seems interested in squeezing as much publicity and drama out of this as possible, I'm not so sure UConn is out of this. I'm not necessarily trying to argue Abu is purposely deceiving people, but when you consider the common rationale from recruiting insiders - generally some combination of information and gut - my guess would be the Abu camp has ever incentive to throw each of the remaining four teams a bone whenever he can to keep people interested and curious. This "info and gut" non-sense could be as little as Abu telling somebody something he likes about a particular school, and Meyer running back to his lap top to change his prediction.

At this point, the only thing clear to me (other than the fact that I'm obviously spending way too much time thinking about this) is that all four schools have a legitimate chance, still. It's one of the few recruitments in recent years where I wouldn't be surprised by him picking any of the four hats.

Great post.

Here's one thing that makes me nervous, though: Florida isn't recruiting any other power forwards. Not even a guy like White, who may actually be more of a 3 than a 4, or even a 3.5.

They seem very confident. Let's hope KO has sent Colson a couple of texts today.