Recruiting - 2013

[slu72]

Beautiful campus and academically ranked 68 on the US News and World Report.

My son went to golf camp at Clemson some years ago. Fantastic university golf course that snakes along Lake Hartwell. Larry (SLU72), highly recommend it if you are in the area. Being a public course green fees are reasonable.

During the years of Purnell and Barnes, Clemson would get the recently refurbished Little John rocking. Also football weekends are a lot of fun. Usually a ranked team.

Last time at Clemson was when I caught a Billiken soccer game maybe 2 or 3 years ago.

Clemson's a beautiful college town. I've been there a number of times for FB games. The women there will knock your socks off. Never been there for a BB game but Little John from what I hear ain't bad. As for the Golf Course, top flight. Although I didn't know Djambo played golf. Good thing Crawford never saw it or else he'd be a Tiger too. Trust me, Anderson/Clemson is the perfect little college town that is a lot of fun to spend a couple of nights there. Right, Al?

[AlumniFan]

Can't we just sign a can't miss recruit right now and be done with it? But if we did then what would we talk about?

MVC vs A10?

[gobillsgo]

We were pretty interested in this German dude before he committed to Maryland... somehow he ended up with Romar in Washington, but now he's transferring:

http://blogs.seattletimes.com/huskymensbasketball/2013/03/25/martin-breunig-leaving-lorenzo-romar-staying/

Really doubt we'd have any interest now, but if I remember correctly, he was a pretty highly regarded recruit.

[Quality Is Job 1]

with the "Recruits" thread heading toward breaking the 70K mark in hits in a few minutes . . . . just out of sheer curiosity and possibly ennui: is that the longest thread in Billikens.com history??

Assuming it is: does that make the recruiting efforst/prospects of the Crews regime the hottest watched and followed topic in Billiken basketball history?? no pressure or anything . . . .

Perhaps this question has already been answered (I have 3 pages to go to get to the most recent post in the thread), but I checked the "Most replies" sort button this morning, and this thread came out on top. That was 6 pages ago.

Anyone can see which posts have the most views (I think) or most replies by choosing that sort option. The default is "Recent activity" (or something like that).

[RiseAndGrind]

Al Freeman decommitted (even though he signed his LOI?) from UCLA.

Go get 'em, Coach.

[AlumniFan]

Al Freeman decommitted (even though he signed his LOI?) from UCLA.

Go get 'em, Coach.

I thought he was a senator in Minnesota....

[HusakAttack]

Al Freeman decommitted (even though he signed his LOI?) from UCLA.

Go get 'em, Coach.

If he is related to Morgan Freeman, that gets us another celebrity fan.

[RiseAndGrind]

Alright, now some real recruiting news:

tanner lancona ‏@tjlancona8h

Crazy day yesterday. Thnx to all the schools that came to c me #KState @BYUfanatics @SLU_Billikens #csurams @WestVirginiaU #Clemson

Appears to be a 6'9 PF from Cali. C/o 2013

Former Washington State commit. Has current offers from Clemson, Kansas State, Penn State, and SLU. I'll let Pistol do the rest

[slufan13]

Alright, now some real recruiting news:

tanner lancona ‏@tjlancona8h

Crazy day yesterday. Thnx to all the schools that came to c me #KState @BYUfanatics @SLU_Billikens #csurams @WestVirginiaU #Clemson

Appears to be a 6'9 PF from Cali. C/o 2013

Former Washington State commit. Has current offers from Clemson, Kansas State, Penn State, and SLU. I'll let Pistol do the rest

Get him and Onwuasor. Pretty damn good recruiting class on paper at least.

[Pistol]

Alright, now some real recruiting news:

tanner lancona ‏@tjlancona8h

Crazy day yesterday. Thnx to all the schools that came to c me #KState @BYUfanatics @SLU_Billikens #csurams @WestVirginiaU #Clemson

Appears to be a 6'9 PF from Cali. C/o 2013

Former Washington State commit. Has current offers from Clemson, Kansas State, Penn State, and SLU. I'll let Pistol do the rest

Thank you, sir. I'm cracking my knuckles and firing up The Google....

Until then, the updated master list:

Offers:

-Hakim Saintil, PG: 5-11, 170, Roselle Catholic HS, Roselle, NJ. Offers: SLU and Fairfield. Possible offers: Rhode Island, South Carolina, Cincinnati, and SMU. Prep school a possibility.

-Jordan Strawberry, PG: 6-1, 170, Mater Dei HS, Santa Ana, CA. Offers: SLU, UC-Riverside, and at least 2 others. Claims interest from Arizona, Virginia Tech, Gonzaga, California, and Florida State.

-Daishon Knight, PG-SG: 6-1, 170, Odessa CC, Odessa, TX. Offers: SLU, Murray State, Illinois State. Possible offers: Creighton, Colorado State. Interest from Texas State and Baylor.

-Randy Onwuasor, PG-SG: 6-3, 190, Inglewood HS. Offers: SLU, UC-Irvine, Cal State-Fullerton, and possibly Seton Hall and Miami-Ohio. Interest from Florida State, Arkansas, UNLV, Tulane, New Mexico State, Utah, and Pitt.

-Tanner Lancona, PF: 6-9, 225, Tesoro HS, Las Flores, CA. Offers: SLU, Clemson, Kansas State, and Penn State. Possible offers: UC-Santa Barbara, Pacific, Pepperdine, Jacksonville, UC-Davis, San Francisco, Loyola-Marymount, Northern Arizona, Idaho, Idaho State, and Santa Clara. Possible interest from Colorado State and Purdue (from Twitter, needs confirmation).

Others:

-Achraf Yacoubou, SG: 6-4, 210, Villanova. Interested in SLU, Pitt, Georgia Tech, Miami, and UNLV.

-Brett Jolly, PF-C: 6-10, Carroll HS, Southlake, TX. Offers: Weber State. Interest from SLU, Air Force, Belmont, Bucknell, Lehigh, Furman, North Texas, Penn, Tulsa, Sam Houston State, and Wichita State.

[Pistol]

By the way, who would have thought Clemson would emerge as our top competitor on the recruiting trail? I'd call Seton Hall number two.

[wgstl]

The most impressive aspect of his game is his shooting ability. He has a prolific stroke out to 22-feet and his release is ultra-smooth.-espn, I like this tanner kid

[Basketbill]

Tanner Lancona not only keeps the interesting name trend for the team, but the description of him is much like Cody. He hange range to the three point line, "really can shoot" 6'8" ......go get him boys. Wonder if the interest from clemson is still there after getting Djambo?

[Pistol]

Tanner Lancona rundown:

-6-9, 225. Power forward. Averaged 19 and 11 at Tesoro High in Las Flores, CA.

-Scout bio: "As a junior in 2011-12, he averaged 14.2 points per game, an earned All-Southern Section honors. As a sophomore, was named to the South Coast League second-team. "At 6-8 he can shoot the three, but he is also skilled in the paint. His ability to pass the ball shows what good of a feel he has for the game," says WSU head coach Ken Bone. Lancona projects as a stretch 4 in college."

-Signed with Washington State, but received a release from his letter of intent April 12th. WSU is still one scholarship over the limit. You don't often see basketball programs oversigning; could it be following Kentucky's lead and going the way of big-time football? Not a trend I like. But I digress.

-His dad may have blasted WSU's coach, Ken Bone, on a message board: http://www.cougcenter.com/wsu-cougars-basketball/2013/4/22/4254178/tanner-lancona-sean-dad-ken-bone - Seems to suggest that Lancona was set on being a Cougar but that Bone may have forced the decision. You decide.

-8 D-I coaches went to see him yesterday. Had offers from UC-Davis and San Francisco (not sure if those are stale, from before the WSU signing) and now SLU, Clemson, Kansas State, and Penn State. Verbal Commits also lists UC-Santa Barbara, Idaho, Loyola-Marymount, Northern Arizona, Santa Clara, Hawaii, Idaho State, Pacific, Jacksonville, and Pepperdine. Once again, I'm not positive on the timing and freshness of all of these. Colorado State also is interested.

-Judging by his Twitter feed, he's a positive guy and hungry to get in a good situation and contribute. He's incredibly well-spoken for anyone on Twitter, let alone a high school kid.

-Certain recruiting voices on Twitter in the past 24 hours have said he's already got 12 offers.

[billslasttermdropout]

Not the dude I'm wanting to run into if I'm on the opposing team.

[AlumniFan]

Tanner Lancona rundown:

-6-9, 225. Power forward. Averaged 19 and 11 at Tesoro High in Las Flores, CA.

-Scout bio: "As a junior in 2011-12, he averaged 14.2 points per game, an earned All-Southern Section honors. As a sophomore, was named to the South Coast League second-team. "At 6-8 he can shoot the three, but he is also skilled in the paint. His ability to pass the ball shows what good of a feel he has for the game," says WSU head coach Ken Bone. Lancona projects as a stretch 4 in college."

-Signed with Washington State, but received a release from his letter of intent April 12th. WSU is still one scholarship over the limit. You don't often see basketball programs oversigning; could it be following Kentucky's lead and going the way of big-time football? Not a trend I like. But I digress.

-His dad may have blasted WSU's coach, Ken Bone, on a message board: http://www.cougcenter.com/wsu-cougars-basketball/2013/4/22/4254178/tanner-lancona-sean-dad-ken-bone - Seems to suggest that Lancona was set on being a Cougar but that Bone may have forced the decision. You decide.

-8 D-I coaches went to see him yesterday. Had offers from UC-Davis and San Francisco (not sure if those are stale, from before the WSU signing) and now SLU, Clemson, Kansas State, and Penn State. Verbal Commits also lists UC-Santa Barbara, Idaho, Loyola-Marymount, Northern Arizona, Santa Clara, Hawaii, Idaho State, Pacific, Jacksonville, and Pepperdine. Once again, I'm not positive on the timing and freshness of all of these. Colorado State also is interested.

-Judging by his Twitter feed, he's a positive guy and hungry to get in a good situation and contribute. He's incredibly well-spoken for anyone on Twitter, let alone a high school kid.

This just keeps getting more and more interesting. Thanks for keeping us up to date in all the info.

[billslasttermdropout]

My gut tells me we have a good chance at this guy, Tanner. I'm assuming he can dunk?

[RiseAndGrind]

Tanner Lancona rundown:

-6-9, 225. Power forward. Averaged 19 and 11 at Tesoro High in Las Flores, CA.

-Scout bio: "As a junior in 2011-12, he averaged 14.2 points per game, an earned All-Southern Section honors. As a sophomore, was named to the South Coast League second-team. "At 6-8 he can shoot the three, but he is also skilled in the paint. His ability to pass the ball shows what good of a feel he has for the game," says WSU head coach Ken Bone. Lancona projects as a stretch 4 in college."

-Signed with Washington State, but received a release from his letter of intent April 12th. WSU is still one scholarship over the limit. You don't often see basketball programs oversigning; could it be following Kentucky's lead and going the way of big-time football? Not a trend I like. But I digress.

-His dad may have blasted WSU's coach, Ken Bone, on a message board: http://www.cougcenter.com/wsu-cougars-basketball/2013/4/22/4254178/tanner-lancona-sean-dad-ken-bone - Seems to suggest that Lancona was set on being a Cougar but that Bone may have forced the decision. You decide.

-8 D-I coaches went to see him yesterday. Had offers from UC-Davis and San Francisco (not sure if those are stale, from before the WSU signing) and now SLU, Clemson, Kansas State, and Penn State. Verbal Commits also lists UC-Santa Barbara, Idaho, Loyola-Marymount, Northern Arizona, Santa Clara, Hawaii, Idaho State, Pacific, Jacksonville, and Pepperdine. Once again, I'm not positive on the timing and freshness of all of these. Colorado State also is interested.

-Judging by his Twitter feed, he's a positive guy and hungry to get in a good situation and contribute. He's incredibly well-spoken for anyone on Twitter, let alone a high school kid.

-Certain recruiting voices on Twitter in the past 24 hours have said he's already got 12 offers.

Solid work. It's pretty clear somebody has a recruiting connection in Cali.

[Pistol]

This just keeps getting more and more interesting. Thanks for keeping us up to date in all the info.

Given that so many schools have offered already in just over a week, I'm not getting my hopes up for this one. His recruitment will be a whirlwind and I can't imagine he'll be able to visit more than a few of the dozen or so places that have offered (if what I'm reading is to be believed).

That said, I think we have a lot to offer him. It's us, a bunch of smaller programs in California, Clemson, K-State, and Penn State. K-State is really the only program I think is better.

[Pistol]

More on Lancona:

-From ESPN: "Lancona has a high-major frame with great length and extremely long arms. The lanky left-hander is a fluid athlete who runs well in transition. The most impressive aspect of his game is his shooting ability. He has a prolific stroke out to 22-feet and his release is ultra-smooth."

-It appears Clemson offered in the fall. I wonder if that's still on the table, given the Djambo signing and other bigs they're recruiting in the spring.

-Many are questioning Bone, if he did indeed prompt the decommitment by saying Lancona wouldn't play much. Here's a good one: http://allcougdup.com/2013/04/12/recruiting-2013-tanner-lanconas-mutual-decommit-from-washington-state-basketball-a-total-miss-by-cougs/ - pull quote: "Maybe I’m not watching the same game film. Maybe I haven’t seen enough basketball. The prevailing thought among WSU coaches is that Tanner Lancona would have been a “developmental” prospect. But I have to be honest, at 6’8″, 225 lbs Lancona looks much more polished than Josh Hawkinson (6’9″, 235 lbs) who is another big man the Cougs have committed and the coaches are VERY high on Hawkinson. Not only that but Lancona’s competition in California was probably higher than the competition in Washington and the stats were pretty identical between them."

-From everything I'm reading and seeing, he's definitely not as much of a project as Jolly. I'm betting he wouldn't challenge for starting minutes freshman year, but given his mobility and skill set right now, wouldn't take a long time to develop into a contributor (like Manning is doing - and I'm fine with - or like Jolly would need).

[Pistol]

All right, I need some sleep. In the meantime, he's @tjlancona on Twitter. He, like the rest of our recruits, seems very, very in tune with what people say about and to him on Twitter. It'd be nice to see SLU get mentioned as much as K-State in his feed. Just saying.

[moytoy12]

More on Lancona:

-From ESPN: "Lancona has a high-major frame with great length and extremely long arms. The lanky left-hander is a fluid athlete who runs well in transition. The most impressive aspect of his game is his shooting ability. He has a prolific stroke out to 22-feet and his release is ultra-smooth."

-It appears Clemson offered in the fall. I wonder if that's still on the table, given the Djambo signing and other bigs they're recruiting in the spring.

-Many are questioning Bone, if he did indeed prompt the decommitment by saying Lancona wouldn't play much. Here's a good one: http://allcougdup.com/2013/04/12/recruiting-2013-tanner-lanconas-mutual-decommit-from-washington-state-basketball-a-total-miss-by-cougs/ - pull quote: "Maybe Im not watching the same game film. Maybe I havent seen enough basketball. The prevailing thought among WSU coaches is that Tanner Lancona would have been a developmental prospect. But I have to be honest, at 68″, 225 lbs Lancona looks much more polished than Josh Hawkinson (69″, 235 lbs) who is another big man the Cougs have committed and the coaches are VERY high on Hawkinson. Not only that but Lanconas competition in California was probably higher than the competition in Washington and the stats were pretty identical between them."

-From everything I'm reading and seeing, he's definitely not as much of a project as Jolly. I'm betting he wouldn't challenge for starting minutes freshman year, but given his mobility and skill set right now, wouldn't take a long time to develop into a contributor (like Manning is doing - and I'm fine with - or like Jolly would need).

Sounds like CE 2.0.

[RiseAndGrind]

Sounds like CE 2.0.

Yup.

Similar to Djambo, if SLU can get this guy along with Onwuasor I'll be extremely happy. Would be a heck of a class all things considered.

[jbizzle09]

Sounds like CE 2.0.

That's what I was thinking when reading about him.

You have to hand it to this staff, they have been very busy and have a lot of irons in the fire. Seriously, this has to be the most info we've gotten ever in a spring signing period. Also from what I've seen it appears that they are active on the 2014 class.

[gobillsgo]

Tanner dunk many times. Tanner dunk real good.