2022 Recruiting: Updated Composite Rankings

[husky429]

Any 6'8 210 player who can adequately defend the 2 is a top-10 draft pick (Scottie Barnes, DeAndre Hunter). No slight on Karaban.

Exactly. It isn't even a slight to say he can't play the 2. How many 6'8 shooting guards are there on the planet? Are there any?

Maybe Paul George if you counted him. Batum if he's still playing?

 

[Umami Zen]

Exactly. It isn't even a slight to say he can't play the 2. How many 6'8 shooting guards are there on the planet? Are there any?

Maybe Paul George if you counted him. Batum if he's still playing?

Have not watched a ton of tape on AK but have seen enough to be impressed w/his game--Esp on offense.

The question I have about him playing the 2 is more on the defensive side of the ball. Does he have the foot-speed to defend well at the 2? Can see him being fine at the 3/4 spots. Different rotations/coaching strategies to keep him on the floor for the many things he brings to the table.

Curious about Yarders who have seen him more re: foot-speed.

 

[husky429]

Have not watched a ton of tape on AK but have seen enough to be impressed w/his game--Esp on offense.

The question I have about him playing the 2 is more on the defensive side of the ball. Does he have the foot-speed to defend well at the 2? Can see him being fine at the 3/4 spots. Different rotations/coaching strategies to keep him on the floor for the many things he brings to the table.

Curious about Yarders who have seen him more re: foot-speed.

I've probably given the impression that he's a garbage athlete because I always say it in my write ups about him. But his foot speed and hops really aren't what we've been recruiting recently. He also needs to learn to jump off 1 foot better. Has slow hips. He uses defensive IQ really well but he's noticably slower than our other guys.

He isn't carlton. But he isn't samson Johnson either. He's just an average high major athlete... the kind of guy that Nova has recruited for the last decade. It is a GOOD thing we're recruiting this kind of player. Unskilled athletes are awesome but we need skill balance too.

Offensively obviously no concerns. He's a great shooter, decent passer, team player and I'm sure the coaches will teach him to drive the ball better (which is the last big weakness I see in his game).

He'll probably show up here 6'8 220. I doubt he gets any serious minutes at the 2. And if I was a betting man I'd say je plays mostly the 4. He defends the post exceptionally well for his size when he needs to and will have equal or better speed than many others.

 

[Umami Zen]

I've probably given the impression that he's a garbage athlete because I always say it in my write ups about him. But his foot speed and hops really aren't what we've been recruiting recently. He also needs to learn to jump off 1 foot better. Has slow hips. He uses defensive IQ really well but he's noticably slower than our other guys.

He isn't carlton. But he isn't samson Johnson either. He's just an average high major athlete... the kind of guy that Nova has recruited for the last decade. It is a GOOD thing we're recruiting this kind of player. Unskilled athletes are awesome but we need skill balance too.

Offensively obviously no concerns. He's a great shooter, decent passer, team player and I'm sure the coaches will teach him to drive the ball better (which is the last big weakness I see in his game).

He'll probably show up here 6'8 220. I doubt he gets any serious minutes at the 2. And if I was a betting man I'd say je plays mostly the 4. He defends the post exceptionally well for his size when he needs to and will have equal or better speed than many others.

Agree w/you. At the 3/4 he will be a mismatch nightmare for opposing teams .Maybe projects at the next level as a 2..Time will tell. Might still grow a little bit more while in Fla. and before UConn .Can easily see the Nova profile you mentioned.

Will have a major impact on the teams he plays on in Storrs..

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Karaban seems like one of those skilled big kids who is going to be exceptionally productive at the college level while all the raw athletes are still figuring out the game. So lower ceiling but production from jump street. I'm excited to have a kid like that.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

Karaban seems like one of those skilled big kids who is going to be exceptionally productive at the college level while all the raw athletes are still figuring out the game. So lower ceiling but production from jump street. I'm excited to have a kid like that.

Agreed. NOT SAYING HE'S THE NEXT LARRY BIRD, but give me a basketball player over an athlete any day of the week (how many athletes did Larry outperform almost every game?!).

 

[bendm]

Martin getting minutes at the 2 was more a function of the roster composition than an ideal skill set for the 2. Martin got minutes there because of injuries to Bouk, and Polley and Jackson recovering from injuries.

On an ideal roster, Martin is a 3 or a 4.

I’m well aware. I specifically said AK should only get minutes at SG if all our Gs are in foul trouble or something eg injuries.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Agreed. NOT SAYING HE'S THE NEXT LARRY BIRD, but give me a basketball player over an athlete any day of the week (how many athletes did Larry outperform almost every game?!).

I'd take both. You're not going to win without athletes or else Pete Carrill would have a couple national championships but I get what you're saying. You need guys like Karaban and Samson Johnson.

 

[husky429]

I'd take both. You're not going to win without athletes or else Pete Carrill would have a couple national championships but I get what you're saying. You need guys like Karaban and Samson Johnson.

Spot on. We went too hard towards athletes and coach is readjusting to balance the roster in 2021 and 2022. It's a smart move

 

[bendm]

How many 6'8 shooting guards are there on the planet?

i'm not trying to argue about AK just answering your question. included a couple PGs too b/c distinction w/o a difference in this context

cam reddish
kris middleton
nic batum (before he got fat)
paul george
kyle anderson
jimmy butler
deandre hunter
joe ingles
josh jackson
scottie barnes
josh giddey
cade cunningham
ben simmons
bonus- t-mac

 

[husky429]

i'm not trying to argue about AK just answering your question. included a couple PGs too b/c distinction w/o a difference in this context

cam reddish
kris middleton
nic batum (before he got fat)
paul george
kyle anderson
jimmy butler
deandre hunter
joe ingles
josh jackson
scottie barnes
josh giddey
cade cunningham
ben simmons
bonus- t-mac

Yeah 13... a couple of whom are probably not really SGs. Guys with that skillset are top 10 players we don't recruit. Getting a 6'8 knockdown shooter with a pretty well rounded shooter who will probably stay here for 3+ years is s huge luxury.

 

[Fatroony5]

Spot on. We went too hard towards athletes and coach is readjusting to balance the roster in 2021 and 2022. It's a smart move

Yep, which is why it’s important to go thru full cycle of classes. And often why it can take awhile to really get things “hummin.” First classes are about getting up the talent level, years 4-6 are about stacking and readjusting as needed which we are definitely starting to see. I really like the direction this thing is headed in. Focusing on the high school talent and forgoing playing the transfer market (yes I get they were interested but didn’t reach on anyone there) will pay major dividends for this team long term.

 

[Pudge]

I'd take Alex Karaban ... as a comparable to Kevin Huerter and call it a day. This BS about hip fluidity and quickness ... misses the kid making the fighting through defenders + thinking the game's right move at the right time. We are going to love his game.

 

[auggie22]

Not trying to be argumentative but I have seen his height listed at 6’8 and 6’7, which means he is probably closer to 6’6. Karaban said he views himself as a guard / wing for a reason and I think that reason is because he knows his size has him playing 2/3 at the next level.

and there are LOTS of 6’6 2/3’s in college.

 

[NJHoops]

Spot on. We went too hard towards athletes and coach is readjusting to balance the roster in 2021 and 2022. It's a smart move

You keep saying that. I think you disagree with their initial approach to re-building and mischaracterize the entirety of the approach (which I do know just a little about).

 

[87Xfer]

Martin getting minutes at the 2 was more a function of the roster composition than an ideal skill set for the 2. Martin got minutes there because of injuries to Bouk, and Polley and Jackson recovering from injuries.

On an ideal roster, Martin is a 3 or a 4.

Not saying I love Martin as a 2 for us, but what do you make of the article a while back where Martin said the goal is for him to spend more time at guard? Bluffing? He's uninformed?

 

[navery12]

Not saying I love Martin as a 2 for us, but what do you make of the article a while back where Martin said the goal is for him to spend more time at guard? Bluffing? He's uninformed?

A player who sees the logjam of players vying for minutes at the 3 and wants to do anything possible to get himself on the court. And there's nothing wrong with that, just doesn't make it more likely to happen IMO

 

[husky429]

You keep saying that. I think you disagree with their initial approach to re-building and mischaracterize the entirety of the approach (which I do know just a little about).

I Respect a lot of what you say on here (and 95% of what our coaches have done) but we lost games because we didn't have enough skill on the floor last season on the wings. It just seems obvious Literally as soon as the season ended we start getting reports of recruiting higher skilled players like Karaban and Fillipowski. The coaches changed the recruiting paradigm to have more balance.

No one planned to lose those games, and no one planned for Bouk to be a 20ppg scorer carrying the team because we had no consistent offense outside of his heroics. He wasn't supposed to be this good.

We didn't recruit AL of Kelis Fisher that hard until after the season--I know that for certain. Maybe it was the plan to switch to recruiting more skill eventually and the staff needed to move that timeline up--idk. It just feels like the Maryland loss changed things for the program. Karaban even said the coaches referred to him as a type of player they haven't recruited in the past

The reality is our coach in not infallible. Every coach has blind spots. Brilliant recruiter and motivator, develops talent and a hell of a defensive coach. But He hasn't shown the ability to utilize shooters and run a solid offense without relying having one of the best scorers in D1 picking up the slack at the high major level. We NEEDED skill, especially if we don't change our offense. The evidence was on the court and things changed.

I would think Murray's hire will have a big impact on our offense is coach is willing to listen and be flexible (no reason to believe he wouldn't be).

 

[CL82]

You keep saying that. I think you disagree with their initial approach to re-building and mischaracterize the entirety of the approach (which I do know just a little about).

So, what was the approach in sentence or two? Is the better caliber players were seeing now just a function of being further along the rebuilding timeline?

 

[MDHuskFan]

I Respect a lot of what you say on here (and 95% of what our coaches have done) but we lost games because we didn't have enough skill on the floor last season on the wings. It just seems obvious Literally as soon as the season ended we start getting reports of recruiting higher skilled players like Karaban and Fillipowski. The coaches changed the recruiting paradigm to have more balance.

No one planned to lose those games, and no one planned for Bouk to be a 20ppg scorer carrying the team because we had no consistent offense outside of his heroics. He wasn't supposed to be this good.

We didn't recruit AL of Kelis Fisher that hard until after the season--I know that for certain. Maybe it was the plan to switch to recruiting more skill eventually and the staff needed to move that timeline up--idk. It just feels like the Maryland loss changed things for the program. Karaban even said the coaches referred to him as a type of player they haven't recruited in the past

The reality is our coach in not infallible. Every coach has blind spots. Brilliant recruiter and motivator, develops talent and a hell of a defensive coach. But He hasn't shown the ability to utilize shooters and run a solid offense without relying having one of the best scorers in D1 picking up the slack at the high major level. We NEEDED skill, especially if we don't change our offense. The evidence was on the court and things changed.

I would think Murray's hire will have a big impact on our offense is coach is willing to listen and be flexible (no reason to believe he wouldn't be).

While I don’t disagree with this take in it’s entirety, I will split the fence here a little and say that maybe recruiting “skilled” players at this time was part of the overall roster building plan.

Get great athletes, build a culture that revolves around defensive pressure, then integrate the skill once the foundation is strong enough to support.

We specifically targeted skill players, but maybe that’s by somewhat coincidence, not necessarily a philosophical change.

that being said, my thoughts are prob Moot as y’all are both much MUCH more valuable and insightful posters than I.

 

[How Sway?!]

I Respect a lot of what you say on here (and 95% of what our coaches have done) but we lost games because we didn't have enough skill on the floor last season on the wings. It just seems obvious Literally as soon as the season ended we start getting reports of recruiting higher skilled players like Karaban and Fillipowski. The coaches changed the recruiting paradigm to have more balance.

No one planned to lose those games, and no one planned for Bouk to be a 20ppg scorer carrying the team because we had no consistent offense outside of his heroics. He wasn't supposed to be this good.

We didn't recruit AL of Kelis Fisher that hard until after the season--I know that for certain. Maybe it was the plan to switch to recruiting more skill eventually and the staff needed to move that timeline up--idk. It just feels like the Maryland loss changed things for the program. Karaban even said the coaches referred to him as a type of player they haven't recruited in the past

The reality is our coach in not infallible. Every coach has blind spots. Brilliant recruiter and motivator, develops talent and a hell of a defensive coach. But He hasn't shown the ability to utilize shooters and run a solid offense without relying having one of the best scorers in D1 picking up the slack at the high major level. We NEEDED skill, especially if we don't change our offense. The evidence was on the court and things changed.

I would think Murray's hire will have a big impact on our offense is coach is willing to listen and be flexible (no reason to believe he wouldn't be).

I mean, we did recruit Bouknight, Sanogo, and Hawkins in back to back to back classes. That's a lot of skill

 

[NJHoops]

I Respect a lot of what you say on here (and 95% of what our coaches have done) but we lost games because we didn't have enough skill on the floor last season on the wings. It just seems obvious Literally as soon as the season ended we start getting reports of recruiting higher skilled players like Karaban and Fillipowski. The coaches changed the recruiting paradigm to have more balance.

No one planned to lose those games, and no one planned for Bouk to be a 20ppg scorer carrying the team because we had no consistent offense outside of his heroics. He wasn't supposed to be this good.

We didn't recruit AL of Kelis Fisher that hard until after the season--I know that for certain. Maybe it was the plan to switch to recruiting more skill eventually and the staff needed to move that timeline up--idk. It just feels like the Maryland loss changed things for the program. Karaban even said the coaches referred to him as a type of player they haven't recruited in the past

The reality is our coach in not infallible. Every coach has blind spots. Brilliant recruiter and motivator, develops talent and a hell of a defensive coach. But He hasn't shown the ability to utilize shooters and run a solid offense without relying having one of the best scorers in D1 picking up the slack at the high major level. We NEEDED skill, especially if we don't change our offense. The evidence was on the court and things changed.

I would think Murray's hire will have a big impact on our offense is coach is willing to listen and be flexible (no reason to believe he wouldn't be).

I don’t care what anyone says about the coach. This is your place to say whatever, which is why I don‘t really come here. This is not about that. I’m not stupid enough to think anyone is infallible, my goodness. It goes back to what I said before, a lot of people think his rebuilds take a step too long, but they have their plan. I think you’d probably find it interesting to talk basketball with him and would probably be surprised by some things. But it’s fine, they’ll come out this season and play how they’ll play and anyone can attribute it to anything they want (Murray, Akok, fans back in the stands, Mercury in retrograde, another full recruiting class on board, whatever). It should be a fun one.

 

[husky429]

I don’t care what anyone says about the coach. This is your place to say whatever, which is why I don‘t really come here. This is not about that. I’m not stupid enough to think anyone is infallible, my goodness. It goes back to what I said before, a lot of people think his rebuilds take a step too long, but they have their plan. I think you’d probably find it interesting to talk basketball with him and would probably be surprised by some things. But it’s fine, they’ll come out this season and play how they’ll play and anyone can attribute it to anything they want (Murray, Akok, fans back in the stands, Mercury in retrograde, another full recruiting class on board, whatever). It should be a fun one.

I don't think the rebuild is taking too long. It's faster than I expected. I think they made some mistakes roster building and they readjusted the plan after this season. That's all. And honestly it's pretty obvious. A recruit literally mentioned it in an interview. It's pretty shocking you don't see that.

 

[Mhuskmayne]

I don't think the rebuild is taking too long. It's faster than I expected. I think they made some mistakes roster building and they readjusted the plan after this season. That's all. And honestly it's pretty obvious. A recruit literally mentioned it in an interview. It's pretty shocking you don't see that.

You’re a genius that’s all it is

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

I don't think the rebuild is taking too long. It's faster than I expected. I think they made some mistakes roster building and they readjusted the plan after this season. That's all. And honestly it's pretty obvious. A recruit literally mentioned it in an interview. It's pretty shocking you don't see that.

I've seen what you've seen, but I don't think they necessarily represented "mistakes" or improper focus.

The guys we've gone after for 2023 perhaps wouldn't have been interested in prior years. The rebuild has struck me as incremental and sequential, and the schools we've gone up against (and bested) is most reflective of this.

For 2021 & 2022, the targets were elevated, and for 2023 they are higher still. So is the competition for recruits, as will be the pressure to perform in the post-season. The progression has made sense.

I've been favorably impressed by adjustments in the face of late losses, injuries, conference change, the pandemic, the transfer portal, and more. Changes will keep coming: NIL, transfers, conference shifts, etc.

The responsiveness to change has been a good thing and conditions me to anticipate a culture of continuous improvement.