Mitchell and Relaphorde

[slufanskip]

It's kind of funny, we sign a tough 6'4" wing who is said to be very strong and can finish at the rim along with a 6'7" wing who played on one of the better teams in the country and there is so little to be said about the signings. Yet, so many posters know so much about the players who didn't sign (even though they've never seen them play)

SLUSER I'm still curious how many times you have seen Lacey play? What are his strengths? How would he help us?

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[brianstl]

Nothing positive is allowed. If you post anything positive you are a Brad apologist. Face it this team sucks, is the only attitude that seems to be allowed.

[jimbofive]

I want 2 werewolves with SPEED and a couple Dwight Howard clones. Anything less and Brad can go dig perfectly cubic holes in the desert until he gets it right.

I am real excited about these two, if they are indeed tough and they FINISH. The main thing I'm worried about is Soderberg simply not playing freshmen next year. The fans deserve to see some output from some new guys and I think this spring's recruits will be able to deliver, at least to the level of Danny Brown and Dwayne "Double Penetration" Polk.

[slu72]

I'll offer this, Skip. Both players are relative unknowns, ie not a lot of Rival Stars and were not being hotly pursued by anyone else of note. This is what most of us use to assess recruits at this point. It's not like we signed an Alexander who it appears has a couple of big time suitors. They are Freshmen as well, and we've seen how UB has treated most freshmen that play for him. There's the bench find a comfortable seat, because that's where you'll be spending most of this season. The obvious exception being TL and KL. Trust me, and I believe I speak for UB's other detractors on this board as well, we want these kids to be the "hidden gems" of the '07-'08 class. UB's comments about them sound encouraging, but what else can he say at this point, "it's the best we can do"? We have no choice but to trust UB's judgement that he has landed two legit D1 talents. You can't fault anyone for not doing a victory lap or holding a pep rally over these two kids at this point. We've heard all the hype before, Obi, HD, Darren Clarke, DM. No one's slamming their recruitment, but by the same token we're mostly taking a wait and see attitude. It's time for UB to land a couple of bigger fish, and who knows these two may outshine the biggies. I hope so, because that would mean the team would be better off if they did.

[brianstl]

Brad's willingness to play to play the freshman is a legitmate fear. Also, if you haven't heard Dwight Howard always wanted to be a Billiken. It is all Brad's fault that he decided to go to the NBA. There is no excuse for Brad losing that kid.

Five years and no werewolves. That says it all.

[brianstl]

Marcus had a lot of teams intrested in him. He was a 3 star on Scout. The lack of hype on Mitchell is explained by the fact he didn't play AAU ball.

http://scout.scout.com/a.z?s=86&p=8&c=1&nid=2167722

http://washington.rivals.com/viewprospect....=2&pr_key=53222

[Box and Won]

To help us recruit more werewolves, I tricked out my van and have been driving it around campus during recruiting visits:

http://media.mth.net/cinecinemas_fr2/image...g/teen_wolf.jpg

[slufanskip]

but you are sure all the guys we "missed" would have been great signings. Just curious the stars for Tommie, Kevin, Ian, Tom, Izik, Marque ....

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[davidnark]

Skip, browse the archives. There was very extensive discussions about both players when they gave oral commitments to SLU. The signing yesterday was really a formality, not new news.

[kmbilliken]

Regarding Lacey, I saw East St. Louis play Alton this year. On that one game assessment Lacey was by far the better player. He was very aggressive, good handle and attacked the basket at every opportunity. He also had a nice outside shot and hit his free throws. Mitchell looked ahtletic, but didn't shoot well, missed his free throws and didn't stand out on defense except for a few open court traps when he displayed he was a capable defender. The big center for Eastside dominated the middle and looked good as well as their guards. That may have been an off game for him, but based on what I saw I don't expect him to be a major contributer next year. He may develope into a good role player and if he improves his shooting could be more.

[AJ]

Skip:

I am with you on this one. A classic example of what you are talking about was yesterday when Davidnark comes on the board in the late afternoon asking why Relphorde hadn't signed yet. When he signs, we heard SILENCE from the "Brad can't recruit" crowd.

Do I have any guesses on how long the "Brad misses on another one" thread would have been if Relphorde HADN'T signed ?

[brianstl]

He makes a mistake in his blog and I am kind enough to point it out here with a post. He corrects the mistake and removes my post. I bet Brad wishes it was as easy to make his mistakes disappear.

[VTIME]

I believe that was the game where Alton halted ESL's win streak at like 15 games. Lacey was instrumental. The center for ESL is now 6'8. His name is Brandon Harold. He is a junior. I think he also plays football. ESL also has a pretty good junior guard Darian Sain. He has a twin that also plays for ESL. One of the twins is better than the other and I hope I listed the right one.

[ACE]

In fairness to Soderberg, Relphorde apparently had an offer from UNLV and at least interest from several quality programs, so this appears to be a nice signing. Mitchell, I'm less sure about. We'll see how that plays out. We can always use more athletic players, so this could be a nice find. There's still a lot of work to be done. As of now, Bryce is our center and Luke is still the 4. We gotta do better than that.

[SLUDrew]

Go look on rivals. Relphorde was/is a two star and Mitchell a no star prospect. Don't get me wrong those sites can be way off in terms of predicting who will win up being good college ballplayers, but when a player signs that all we really have to go by.

Personally I think Mitchell may wind up being a great under the radar signing for Brad and I said that in an earlier thread. Relphorde may compete for minutes right away with his versatility, but don't act like Brad really amped up his recruiting by getting these two guys alone.

We still need AT THE VERY LEAST an impact player on the inside to make this class a successful one. Actually, I think Brad needs two interior starters but by saying that I will just be accused of having unrealistic expectations, so I will just say he needs a 4 that can come in and contribute right away. I am telling you Tommie and Kevin will be shut down by our opponents if we don't get a legitimate scoring threat on the inside.

[Nate Latsch]

You can say the lack of hype on Mitchell is because he didn't play AAU ball, which is what I heard Brad Soderberg say on Channel 5 yesterday.

It could also be that he's not that good.

Does Mitchell have the potential to be a contributor in a few years? Yes.

I don't know that Mitchell had any other D-1 scholarship offers. He may have. SLU only offered the kid after several other players turned the Billikens down. He was Plan C or D or E.

I'm guessing a lot of college coaches looked at him and saw a 6-foot-3 power forward. If Mitchell was 6-8 he'd have many scholarship offers to choose from. He's not just a natural wing player so he's going to have to put in a lot of work.

I think Mitchell will help make the Billikens tougher and more athletic, but I'm guessing it will be more of pushing other guys in practice for a couple years rather than playing significant minutes.

- Nate

[brianstl]

Nate was is your deal lately on here? You have seen Mitchell play and you know Mitchell is not a ##### player. You know Mitchell did not get a lot of the attention he deserves because he did not play AAU and the fact he didn't blossom as a player truly till his senior year. You know that not playing AAU can cause a player to fly under the radar or have you already forgot about KL?

I am not saying the kid is a five star player, but he has some game and will eventually be a contributor.

[mcglotherirvin]

nate - that post is the classic negative bs that everyone is spewing on you. as a journalist, aren't you supposed to be neutral. everyone seems to judge recruits based on who's recruiting them. if you want to say mitchell wasn't a big name, fine. relphorde had offers from UNLV and others if I recall correctly. under your logic and those on the board, that means he is a legit recruit.

[VTIME]

Who's to say that player isnt Relphorde. Stature wise, Kevin Durant wasnt supposed to be a starting center in the Big 12 at 6'9 220. That's what he played thouugh. Relphorde is 6'7 190. I dont see any reason why he cant be a big contributor at the 4. He's a slasher, how many opposing pf's could handle him in an iso situation? IMO, not many.

[SLUDrew]

V, I have read on mulitple occassions he is much close to 6'5 than 6'7, and is much more of a backcourt player than a frontcourt player

[Billiken Rich]

That, if true, is an abuse of authority by a moderator. In the highly unlikely event you busted out a couple f-bombs, I'd understand. Otherwise, Nark just dropped a peg or two in my esteem......

[billiken_roy]

nate, either you are purposely lying or you never saw mitchell play. yes he did a lot of scoring inside. but not because he was playing power forward. mitchell was the legitimate second guard bringing the ball into the front court against pressure defense and began offensive sets at the wing.

he moves very well without the ball and i would call him a fool to have not taken advantage of opportunities to score at the basket. if that makes him a "6'3" power forward" i guess i just dont understand positioning. however, in the 5 games i watched eastside play, brandon harold and aveon jones played almost all the inside minutes for the flyers.

soderberg stated the truth. the kid came out of nowhere. he never played aau and he was injured last year and add the fact that in the 2005-2006 season eastside wasnt very good and got very little attention i am amazed you cant see how he was a missed player.

but you just keep ripping the billikens. it would be interesting to know what event turned you so negative against slu.

[Box and Won]

If Nate doesn't like him, that's his prerogative. I don't think he has an agenda.

[billiken_roy]

i think mitchell is going to be a big time surprise player. i can tell you that when anthony began this past high school seaosn doing so well i was suspicious. i mean how can a player come out of nowhere to be the man on the most improved team in the metro area.

every time i went to see him he continued to get better and show more skills and character. i am very excited about what anthony mitchell might turn into. he is a serious athlete, with a body type that most incoming freshmen dont have, and what is most impressive is his no quit play hard attitude. as much as i love tommie liddell, if tommie went at the game at this kids level of intensity all the time, oh my would we have something then.

the negatives are the fact he played under a worthless high school coach and didnt play summer basketball which definitely didnt enhance his basic skills and basketball iq plus he is a very average at best outside shooter. give him time to learn the game and develop his shot.

[AJ]

SLUDREW:

I guess by that standard Falkner is playing out of position for SIUC because he is listed at 6'7" but is really 6'5". But then don't listen to me, I am the guy that thought Polk has been playing PG for us the most of last 3 years.