Diamond Stone (Committed to Maryland)

[CallMeBruce]

I don't know. There are a lot of marquee games on a B1G schedule, and the novelty of playing OSU, Michigan, or MSU, or Indiana, or Wisconsin, or Purdue, etc., should be a pretty big draw for a basketball program like Maryland.

 

[mauconnfan]

I know Maryland has been down the last few years, but I'm shocked at how empty that building is. My best friend went to Maryland and the Cole Field House was packed to the gills, a really tough ticket to get, and an absolutely incredible game experience. They build this new beautiful arena and now no one gives a . Pretty embarrassing.

Oh that was Maryland.......thought it was the Roberts Center in Chestnut Hill........then again it was way too packed what was I thinking?

 

[LoveThemHusky]

Yeah, looks like it was pretty empty at Maryland's Midnight Madness: http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/terps/bal-maryland-madness-highlights20141018-premiumvideo.html

Is this the right link? Looks like you mixed this up with the promo for the dance team...

 

[tzznandrew]

I don't know. There are a lot of marquee games on a B1G schedule, and the novelty of playing OSU, Michigan, or MSU, or Indiana, or Wisconsin, or Purdue, etc., should be a pretty big draw for a basketball program like Maryland.

It will be a bit, at first. Like BC playing UNC and Duke. But after a while, if you're team isn't at the top of the conference and you have no real rivals, that fades.

 

[tcf15]

Mark Miller ‏@WisBBYearbook
Dominican senior Diamond Stone plans to take official visits to both Wisconsin (this weekend) and UConn before making his decision Nov. 12.

 

[jrazz12]

That means we get the last visit? KO closing time

 

[Peacefrog]

Probably couldn't ask for a much better scenario. Let's see how it plays out. This would be a huge commitment, no pun intended.

 

[husky99]

Mark Miller ‏@WisBBYearbook
Dominican senior Diamond Stone plans to take official visits to both Wisconsin (this weekend) and UConn before making his decision Nov. 12.

Visit is key. No visit no chance. ...

 

[huskiesouth]

Stone has visited Storrs already so he knows what the place looks like, where it is, etc. Should he return after visiting Wisconsin it would be my assumption we are running 50-50 or better, time will tell.

 

[husky99]

Stone has visited Storrs already so he knows what the place looks like, where it is, etc. Should he return after visiting Wisconsin it would be my assumption we are running 50-50 or better, time will tell.

Yes he was on campus for a half a day. The probability of picking uconn without a formal visit is low like .0000001%

 

[3uconn]

@ReggieRankin: Bob Stone father of Diamond has informed @ESPNRNHoops NO decision date has been set like many media have reported http://post original url/eUpV8eRlUG

 

[breezy]

If he commits and doesn't sign a LOI, this torturous thread is gonna continue til he's on campus in July a la Dham.

 

[Walker11]

The dreaded Jerry Meyer Wisconsin pick on the Crystal Ball. I know it is trashed a lot in here, but Meyer usually has good intel. Hope he is wrong.

Someone asked Jerry about the pick on Twitter. He said he's been hearing it's down to UCONN and UW. I think you put more thought into his pick than he did.

 

[aceboon]

Meyer basically flips picks multiple times right down to the decision date(just look at how many picks he's logged for Elijah Thomas for example), a pick on 10/21 means really nothing.

 

[James]

that mack thread is straight up torture. over a non important player in the grand scheme. i can stand this though.

 

[Gringo]

that mack thread is straight up torture. over a non important player in the grand scheme. i can stand this though.

I agree the Mack thread has been awful. I don't know why so many people care about what VCU fans have to say on their own message board.

I wouldn't call Mack a non-important player though. Jeremy Lamb, Shabazz and many other important players were ranked below what Mack is currently ranked coming out of high school. Just because he isn't a five star recruit doesn't mean he's not important.

 

[Jluc]

that mack thread is straight up torture. over a non important player in the grand scheme. i can stand this though.

If Kevin Ollie clearly wants him this bad hes probably pretty important.

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

Meyer basically flips picks multiple times right down to the decision date(just look at how many picks he's logged for Elijah Thomas for example), a pick on 10/21 means really nothing.

It looks to me like the 247 rankings are based on time of pick, too. If you look at his picks, he gets virtually no points for some of them... presumably because he made them very shortly before they committed. Not totally sure what the algorithm is based on. It might also just be "total picks" and if so, as the Director of Recruiting for the, he may make the mist speculations/picks. Hard to know.

Just my brief analysis.

 

[NotADimeBack]

Pleeeeaseeee come to uconn, stone

 

[James]

if Kevin Ollie clearly wants him this bad hes probably pretty important.

"this bad" how would you even know how badly he wants him? off appearances ( ie twitter) and assumptions? please, KO wants every recruit BAD. thats the way it should be seen. probably stone more than others, and when adams was on the market. No way in hell does Mack deserve this kind of crazy hype like he's a burger boy.

btw napier got very little hype on here (scout), a lot of skepticism. understandably it was a different era in social media.

 

[Jluc]

"this bad" how would you even know how badly he wants him? off appearances ( ie twitter) and assumptions? please, KO wants every recruit BAD. thats the way it should be seen. probably stone more than others, and when adams was on the market. No way in hell does Mack deserve this kind of crazy hype like he's a burger boy.

btw napier got very little hype on here (scout), a lot of skepticism. understandably it was a different era in social media.

easy man. Agree to disagree here.

 

[Funkhouser]

Probably not that relevant, but thought it was worth mentioning that Arike Ogunbowale, a highly regarded women's hoops prospect, Stone's close cousin and brother of of UW third-string running back Dare Ogunbowale, just committed to Notre Dame to play basketball. Wisconsin was in her final group.

I continue to believe that you guys will get him. I think his dad probably wants him to go to Wisconsin, but I think Stone wants to go to UConn.

 

[Dmike]

Probably not that relevant, but thought it was worth mentioning that Arike Ogunbowale, a highly regarded women's hoops prospect, Stone's close cousin and brother of of UW third-string running back Dare Ogunbowale, just committed to Notre Dame to play basketball. Wisconsin was in her final group.

I continue to believe that you guys will get him. I think his dad probably wants him to go to Wisconsin, but I think Stone wants to go to UConn.

Really appreciate your contributions to this thread. If Stone goes anywhere other than Uconn, I hope it's Wisconsin. Tough luck on Sharma. Thought you guys had him.

 

[intlzncster]

Really appreciate your contributions to this thread. If Stone goes anywhere other than Uconn, I hope it's Wisconsin. Tough luck on Sharma. Thought you guys had him.

...unless Stone chooses Wisconsin. Then funkhouser is dead to me.

(jk funk)

 

[Funkhouser]

Really appreciate your contributions to this thread. If Stone goes anywhere other than Uconn, I hope it's Wisconsin. Tough luck on Sharma. Thought you guys had him.

Likewise, I'd greatly prefer UConn over UAU (and if he goes to OK State, then I think we can all just assume he was T-Booned by a pile of oily cash or something).

It seemed like we had Sharma most of the way, and I think from a pure basketball perspective, it would have been a better fit than Stanford. Sharma has tremendous length and athleticism, but he’s pretty raw and I think he’s probably more of a project than anything. I’m not convinced that Johnny Dawkins will know how to develop him – to me Dawkins has been pretty underwhelming (his wins over you guys and Kansas last year notwithstanding). But Sharma seems like a bright kid, good head on his shoulders and good family support, and I’m sure he’s looking at much more than basketball. Can’t blame a kid for choosing Stanford, I’d have done the same. And Stanford’s been bringing in some excellent talent, so if Dawkins has any clue what to do with it, Stanford should be in good shape.

Right now Stone is our only remaining offer in this class, so we may already been done for this year. But it’s hard to put too much energy into following recruiting right now. This is easily the most talented, experienced Wisconsin team I’ve ever seen, and I can’t freaking wait for this season to start.