Okay, Recruiting Time

[Taj79]

@moy ---- "a. These 6'8" bangers with a modicum of basketball IQ that we all want don't just grow on trees." Agree. However, I am at a loss to understand how not one, not two, but three of them found their way to Olean, NY, and on the Bonnie roster (Nicholson, Cook abd Conger). Hell, man, all I want is one!

[Bay Area Billiken]

Bob Lanier found his way to Olean too. There has to be an explanation for this phenomenon. Can we copy it?

[billiken_roy]

Bob Lanier found his way to Olean too. There has to be an explanation for this phenomenon. Can we copy it?

maybe when they got picked up at the buffalo airport, first they were taken to niagra falls and held over the edge of the "maid of the Mist" and forced to sign the LOI?

[RiseAndGrind]

@moy ---- "a. These 6'8" bangers with a modicum of basketball IQ that we all want don't just grow on trees." Agree. However, I am at a loss to understand how not one, not two, but three of them found their way to Olean, NY, and on the Bonnie roster (Nicholson, Cook abd Conger). Hell, man, all I want is one!

Nicholson's story is actually really interesting.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/16/sports/ncaabasketball/andrew-nicholson-leads-st-bonaventure-into-ncaa-tournament.html

[billiken_roy]

thanks eckelkamp. that is indeed a very good story and good for st bonnie.

[moytoy12]

@moy ---- "a. These 6'8" bangers with a modicum of basketball IQ that we all want don't just grow on trees." Agree. However, I am at a loss to understand how not one, not two, but three of them found their way to Olean, NY, and on the Bonnie roster (Nicholson, Cook abd Conger). Hell, man, all I want is one!

Conger is 6'6". He's more like DE.

Nicholson is indeed a steal for Bonaventure (i haven't read the story that was posted).

Cook looks like a decent role player that didn't start doing much until his junior year (even then, it was 7 pts 4 reb per game).

[billiken_roy]

what impressed me most about nicholson is that apparently an a-1 top student majoring in physics! he is now on my list of favorite non-billikens.

[Archy McNally]

Bonner was a 1st round NBA draft pick. I think I would like to have a 1st rounder at any position, not just PF.

I do think Conk was the best PF SLU has had since, well Bonner.

[slu72]

Brian Conklin.

BC's undersized and has athletic limitations. He achieved everything thru hard work. Great kid, great Billiken, and we'll miss him. But he's not that 6-8" PF whose both quick and got some hops. By the way Draymond Green is a real hybrid not your protypical PF, but I'd kill for a player with his mindset and skills. If it wasn't for him we'd have creamed MSU by double digits.

[slu72]

@moy ---- "a. These 6'8" bangers with a modicum of basketball IQ that we all want don't just grow on trees." Agree. However, I am at a loss to understand how not one, not two, but three of them found their way to Olean, NY, and on the Bonnie roster (Nicholson, Cook abd Conger). Hell, man, all I want is one!

They all majored in welding at Vo Tech High Schools.

[doowop]

Why are we after Zavier Turner? Our competition is supposedly Indiana State, Evansville, Georgia State and Loyola. This kid is a point guard. We have Mitchell, Jett, McCall and now the best ever in Carter and lose Mitchell just as Turner would get here. Still, do we really need another point guard that close to the current/future one? Zavier is 5'9" tall and currently weighs 160 pounds. Carter is 6'1" and 170 pounds. That's a rather small backcourt. I'd like to be where you get a recruit into the system while the current guy is a junior ----- a year or so to learn on the bench and then transition him in his sophomore year while you are replacing the current senior. Kind of like Bob Miller-to-Aaron Hutchins passing odf the guard at Marquette some years ago.

We currently have guards galore, and jump-shot bigs. I think we need some Draymond Green-esque bangers. Maybe we have one in Remekun but I am fearful/hesitant waiting for that train to arrive in the station next year. Evans does well for his smaller size but he reminds me a heck of a lot of undersized Billiken fours Luke Meyers, Jeff Harris and Donnie Dobbs. Again, if three guys like Nicholson, Cook and Conger can all end up on the Bonnie roster, why can't we find just one????

ESPN has no one named Ted Friedman in their database. Where did that name come from in regards to us? I did find him on a Wisconsin Badger report site and he logs in at 6'9" and 215 pounds. He has offers suppoisedly from us, Northern Iowa and Drake. He has interest with B1G schools Wisconsin, Nebraska and Minnesota. But its the first I heard of him with interest by us. And it says we offered.(?)

Still waitng to hear from someone, anyone (pdiddy) on just who Rick was talking about on that West Coast kid radio reference some time back. No matter -- the issue is, that's all 2013 --- we know who we are for next year and we need some interior stuff from somewhere.

Yeah, yeah --- Ellis & Loe get better; Remekun finds religion; and Glaze and Manning are studs awaiting their coming out parties. I want to believe, I really do. Going to be nice watching this all play out in the OCC schedule. Plus --- who really is Jake Barnett and Emmanual T?

Makes a LOT of sense. We need two good Big men. One at the very least.

[slu72]

I posted the above before reading about Nicholson and the turnaround at ST.B's. Good story. Good for St. B's, who we knock on here every chance we get. As for the kid from Iowa. Whew, he looks like a stick of angel hair pasta in that photo. Get that boy to a Golden Corral and don't let him out until about his 5th visit thru the buffet line.

[Taj79]

@moy -- Conger, true dat. Nicholson, true dat. Cook, a decent role player, true dat. All three at SBU, none at SLU, true dat. Why? We can't recruit as well as the Bonnies? I don't believe that but I also kno wits not that simple.

Majerus seems great to get shooting bigs and nice guards. Parts are missing and the whole is not complete. I guess it will be but Friedman looks like more of the same.

[For-DaLove]

Our big of the future is Manning. If you fail to realize that or accept that there's really nothing that can be said to help you.

Glaze should be a good 4 by his junior year. He has mounds of potential.

[dlarry]

what impressed me most about nicholson is that apparently an a-1 top student majoring in physics! he is now on my list of favorite non-billikens.

During their game the annuoncers said he was majoring in Biology at first and later changed to physics.

I guess Bio just wasnt challening enough.

It was nice to hear them talking about a future pro majoring in physics instead of hotel management, communications, or recreation.

[willie]

After the MSU game my father bet me a dinner at Al's that CR would average 7 points a game next season. I eagerly accepted and lowered that to just 4 points a game to give him a fighting chance.

I thought Al,s was cclosed.

[RKA]

Bonner was a 1st round NBA draft pick. I think I would like to have a 1st rounder at any position, not just PF.

I do think Conk was the best PF SLU has had since, well Bonner.

I'd go with Donnie Dobbs, who was smaller and better than Conklin.

[billikenbill]

This Friedman kid might blow up this Summer. Could possibly reach 4 star level, def should be rated a three. Taking Friedman away from the B1G would be a major coup for the program.

[3Bill]

i fully expect manning to be a stud and i see potential in glaze becuase of his size and energy.

however, why were they not redshirted. they played zero minutes. seems like we wasted a year of eligibility with both.

Our big of the future is Manning. If you fail to realize that or accept that there's really nothing that can be said to help you.

Glaze should be a good 4 by his junior year. He has mounds of potential.

[moytoy12]

@moy -- Conger, true dat. Nicholson, true dat. Cook, a decent role player, true dat. All three at SBU, none at SLU, true dat. Why? We can't recruit as well as the Bonnies? I don't believe that but I also kno wits not that simple.

Majerus seems great to get shooting bigs and nice guards. Parts are missing and the whole is not complete. I guess it will be but Friedman looks like more of the same.

We have conger, his name is DE.

We have cook, his name is CR.

We don't have a Nicholson; not many do.

[moytoy12]

i fully expect manning to be a stud and i see potential in glaze becuase of his size and energy.

however, why were they not redshirted. they played zero minutes. seems like we wasted a year of eligibility with both.

1. RM leaves it up to the players. He might tell then the best option is to redshirt. I'm sure they think "crazy old man", i'm the real deal.

2. Can't RS both. What if RL got injured?

[3Bill]

why can't he redshirt them both? if RL gets hurt, pull the redshirt. you could have redshirted both of them, RL did not get hurt, and all they would have missed were the mop up minutes they played a few times. doesn't make much sense to me. you could me right that he left it up to them. if so, they made dumb choices.

1. RM leaves it up to the players. He might tell then the best option is to redshirt. I'm sure they think "crazy old man", i'm the real deal.

2. Can't RS both. What if RL got injured?

[jbizzle09]

We have conger, his name is DE.

We have cook, his name is CR.

We don't have a Nicholson; not many do.

+1. I don't think we need to be frustrated about what we do or don't have and look with longing eyes at other team's players and wonder why we don't have ones like that. I think this season proved to us that Majerus has a real system in place and knows the type of players he needs. I, for one, am going to trust in Majerus's eye for talent and recruiting. The man knows what he is doing and what his team's needs are.

[thetorch]

I thought Al,s was cclosed.

No still open. At least it was when I went there in October. Go there 4 or 5 times a year. Not the same as it was in its heyday I'm sure but still open & still quality.

[doowop]

+1. I don't think we need to be frustrated about what we do or don't have and look with longing eyes at other team's players and wonder why we don't have ones like that. I think this season proved to us that Majerus has a real system in place and knows the type of players he needs. I, for one, am going to trust in Majerus's eye for talent and recruiting. The man knows what he is doing and what his team's needs are.

How many teams do you see that are left in the tournament that are as weak as we were in rebounding. When the leading rebounder is 6'5" on a team with a 6'11" player as well as two 6'8" players it tells me our big men are not where they need to be. if we are depending on Manning to be the inside player we need, maybe we won't be as good as we think we will be next year. It's asking an awful lot of a player to fill a much needed role next year when he rarely played this year. He may not be ready until his junior year. RM knows the team's needs but he is not always correct on his evaluation of a player's talents. Based on what RM said, many people expected Barnett to contribute a lot more than he did this year. If we can continue to recruit good guards to go along with the good guards we already have, why not continue to recruit good big men to go along with the mediocre big men we now have. I don't consider Evans, Glaze, and Drew big men.