Regarding Brandenburg

[davidnark]

There was some discussion below regarding Bradenburg's interest in SLU. I don't know if everyone saw this quote in the Post two weeks ago:

John Brandenburg, a 6-foot-11 junior prospect at DeSmet, has offers from Wisconsin, Stanford, Missouri and Virginia. He said Majerus' presence takes SLU to a new level for recruits.

"SLU's a different school to me now," said Brandenburg, who had not been contacted by Majerus. "The coach is a major factor."

[kshoe]

and I'll say it again, the beauty of Majerus is that he can get SLU in the door on big-time recruits that have multiple BCS offers. Now of course the challenge is convincing those kids to choose SLU over historically better options. He obviously succeeded with Thompson which only adds to my excitement but he'll be stepping it up a notch if he can convince players like Suggs and Brandenberg who by all accounts had previously written SLU off, unlike BT.

[slu72]

I posted he's never expressed much interest in SLU, and that he stated last year he really dreamed of playing in the ACC. Didn't see your quote Nark, but good to hear. The long thread below where people are knocking him for this and that is a hangover from our "inferiority complex" days, ie we don't stand a chance so let's knock him. With RM we finally stand a chance against the bigs for these kids. I've never seen him play, but who wouldn't want a 6'11" and 7' in the same recruiting class where their combined star total is somewhere between 7-9. Go get him, Rick. That said, I'd still like to see us land a legit 3 and 4 for the '08 class.

[kmbilliken]

Even if he doesn't get the Suggs and Brandenbergs, he seems like he'll have a plan B waiting in the wings and not to scramble for warm bodies or let scholarships go unused. These are 17&18 year olds and you can't always tell who is going to end up being the best player so you always want to use you scholarships if thre's a good prospect available. They may end up being better than the top prospects.

[slufanskip]

Big men are so hard to judge, because often their coordination hasn't caught up with them at 17 and 18. When it has as it appears it has with Brandenberg it seems to me it is a no brainer. I think you also have to take into account a kids HS team, he may not play as well as he can unless the competition around him is better ie AAU ball. Not only that we aren't Duke just yet. If we have a chance to get a 6'11" or 7' kid that is coordinated and highly ranked we have to go after him hard. It's not like we are overcrowded with bigs for the future. The upside on this one far far outweighs any possible downside.

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[courtside]

Coordination isn't the issue with Brandenburg Skip. V-Time and others only care about offenseive high school game stats. Obviously many of his stat sheet players havnen't transformed to the college game. Too many to count. SLU would be a D-2 or D-3 program by now if we listened to some of this stuff.

What Brandenburg does well, as I've posted many times before:

runs the floor constantly like a deer beating everyone down the floor, often times resulting in making the catch and dunking over anyone in his way, very good running the break and finishing.

good hands, most important thing imo in a big man. He can catch and pass very well.

athletic, bounce to his game.

very good shot blocker.

good rebounder.

always competes hard, doesn't take a trip down off on either end.

Very bright kid, and high court IQ, understands the game.

He's very long.

competes hard and well against top national competition.

What he needs to work on:

less of a rush when finishing on offensive end, take his time more, and polish low post moves to finish a lot of in and out shots, which will also help his balance, too bouncy at times.

continue to get stronger like most big men, but he is far from a skinny stick.

stay injury free.

There's a reason Orange Julius, Billy Gillispie, Donny Daniels, Ben Howland, Dave Leitao, Mike Anderson, Bo Ryan, and others disagree with people on this board.

And, people seem to bordeline obsessive with local kids. While I do believe in an inside out recruiting method at a place like SLU....I wouldn't care if 100% of their kids came from outside of the area if that is what produced a high quality competitive team. Who cares where they come from? I would never "reach" on any kid just because they are local unless there were no other options.

Thompson is a good recruit, and Brandenburg is as well for different reasons. Different type of players. Brandenburg is wide open in his recruiting at this point.

I'm sure SLU will try for Brandenburg, and if they don't get him, go to the next kid and so on ...and hopefully fill a good class.

[slufanskip]

I'm all for recruiting him. From everything I read as I said, I didn't think coordination was an issue for him. Thus my opinion a 7' or close kid that is coordinated at 17. Recruiting him is a no brainer.

Official Billikens.com sponsor of H Waldman

Official Sponser of the Stemmler and Ahearn could and would have helped club.

[courtside]

I really don't care if SLU recruits him or not. I am not advocating SLU to recruit him. What I am saying is SLU would be fortunate to land him as a recruit. He'll have plenty of options and do well somewhere. And SLU will hopefully get good players wherever.

There are people on the board with agendas. You have to sift through those people to find those who tell it like it is...

My only interests here have been to see SLU be a higher level more consistent winner in hoops and do so with a much higher student representation at every game. Recruiting etc...is a part of that process, and if a kid is worthy of recruitment imo I say so, and if not I say so. ...whether it is basketball or soccer or whatever.

[moytoy12]

"My only interests here have been to see SLU be a higher level more consistent winner in hoops..."

Yet, "[You] really don't care if SLU recruits him or not."

If you want to see SLU at a higher level shouldn't you care whether they are recruiting talented players to get them to that level?

[VTIME]

He doesnt finish. Even in high school against guys at least 6 inches shorter. He runs the floor well and that's it. I bring up his high school stats because I expect more from a top 100 recruit that' 6'11. I want more than 8ppg. He should get that on putbacks alone. Thats very poor production. He's a role player in college at best in my opinion. If anyone can get the best out of him its Majerus. There are better big men out there. There are better big men in Missouri. I've seen this kid play dozens of times. I'm not just basing it off high school stats. I'm basing it off ability. There are much better frontcourt players in 2008 in the state and the area. I'd rather have Anthony Booker, Johnny Coy, Steve Moore, or Jesse Perry than Brandenburg. If he gets tough and actually dominates somebody, than I'll give him some credit. His inability to dominate inferior competition HS competition boggles the mind. I'd take Abel Tillman over Brandenburg too. He's an incredible athlete that runs the floor better as good, maybe better than Brandenburg. Devastating shotblocker. I'd take him over Brandenburg anyday of the week and twice on Sundays.

[courtside]

>"My only interests here have been to see SLU be a higher

>level more consistent winner in hoops..."

>

>Yet, "[You] really don't care if SLU recruits him or not."

>

>If you want to see SLU at a higher level shouldn't you care

>whether they are recruiting talented players to get them to

>that level?

I believe he would help SLU and SLU would be fortunate to get him, sure. I suppose I should have better said it by saying even if he didn't attend SLU, he is only one player. SLU has many needs. If he doesn't go to SLU, get someone else who can help the team. My emphasis was more on ...doesn't matter to me where the kids come from....as long as they are successful. I don't live and die with individual players. I should have phrased it differently.

[Billiken Law]

Having seen Brandenberg in person (DeSmet game, not AAU) and being a coach myself I do not understand the negative comments in regards to the kid. First off, he's skinny, guess what, 7 foot 17 year olds often are! Secondly, his scoring stats aren't great. Again, watch him play. When an opposing coach is game planning for a 7 footer he's likely going zone and sagging guys into the middle to obstensively double and triple team him, making the guards beat you. In the case of DeSmet, they haven't had the guards to get Brandenberg the ball over zones or even when he posts up in man-to-man and that has limited his scoring stats.

However, where I've seen Brandenberg excel is defensively, having great shot blocking awareness and if not swatting the ball at least altering the shot. He does need to bulk up and become stronger on the boards (what 17 year old 7 footer doesn't??) but I noticed he has the body frame to allow him to do that. However, he won't put on too much weight to become a lumbering 7 footer but instead increase his strength and size while still keeping his coordination and nimble feet which makes him a unique player.

The closest comparison I could make with Brandenberg is Greg Steisma of Wisconsin. However, Brandenberg appears to have a better head on his shoulders and therefore will maximize his potential. If Coach Rick has a chance at him, go all out!