Recruiting - 2013

[HusakAttack]

We had him in for a visit and we went out to Cali to visit him so it would seem the staff views Randy as a big priority.

do you know we went to Cali to visit RO? Or was it maybe to visit TL and reports got mixed? Seemed like interesting timing

[RiseAndGrind]

Looks like Abell wants to decide quickly. But he hasn't visited any of the schools.

http://www.indystar.com/article/20130507/SPORTS0601/305070092/IU-basketball-Remy-Abell-will-transfer-St-Louis-St-Mary-s-Xavier

[NH]

do you know we went to Cali to visit RO? Or was it maybe to visit TL and reports got mixed? Seemed like interesting timing

It was specifically for RO. They may have also tried to talk to Tanner while there I don't know.

[RiseAndGrind]

https://twitter.com/justin_albers/status/331921147534901248

https://twitter.com/justin_albers/status/331927873315282944

[prebilliken]

Who is this "important guest" ole Ben W is speaking of?

https://twitter.com/BWeixScout/status/331946238406688768

[RUBillsFan]

I'm starting to wonder if RO is sort of a tease and is really just holding out for a BCS or higher profile type program.

He visits SLU and by all accounts has a fantastic visit. Presumably Crews even expected him to sign an LOI on the first day of the signing period because he said he expected 2 signings and Agbeko was the only one who signed. Then RO visists Miami (OH) and has a great visit perhaps even likes it better than SLU if you glean that from Ben's tweet. However, he doesn't commit. Now there are rumors about RO and Pitt despite it seeming like Pitt doesn't have much interest.

While I would like to get RO, I am happy that SLU is looking at other options. Hopefully they have made their best pitch to him and now they are "moving on" to others while still leaving RO's offer on the table.

[Bobby Metzinger]

Who is this "important guest" ole Ben W is speaking of?

https://twitter.com/BWeixScout/status/331946238406688768

John (Pay)Wall.

[Littlebill]

Who is this "important guest" ole Ben W is speaking of?

https://twitter.com/BWeixScout/status/331946238406688768

Could it be Gilman? I know Ben tweeted he was on campus this afternoon..

[kshoe]

I suspect at this point the staff would gladly take any of the 4 guards (RO or any of the 3 transfers) and be happy. All have their pros and cons but we can't afford to wait on one while the others decide. The first one to decide will get the spot. I suspect this will all be settled within a week or so.

[pretty_ricky]

I suspect at this point the staff would gladly take any of the 4 guards (RO or any of the 3 transfers) and be happy. All have their pros and cons but we can't afford to wait on one while the others decide. The first one to decide will get the spot. I suspect this will all be settled within a week or so.

I would hope so seeing as the signing period ends in 8 days

[Clock_Tower]

Is it just me or does anyone else have a fear about taking transfers. Sure, many might have huge talent, etc. but many also have baggage. RM used to say that he wanted to coach them for all 4 years (not 2 or 3) and that he preferred to take someone who did NOT already know or who had learned a different system -- tougher to correct or re-teach someone who has "different"/"bad" habits. Plus, while transfers leave for all reasons, some do leave b/c of bad attitudes, bad work ethics, and failures to reach their projected abilities. I would prefer JC take a high school Senior and then have MM and JJ show him how it's done.

[JettFlight5]

Is it just me or does anyone else have a fear about taking transfers. Sure, many might have huge talent, etc. but many also have baggage. RM used to say that he wanted to coach them for all 4 years (not 2 or 3) and that he preferred to take someone who did NOT already know or who had learned a different system -- tougher to correct or re-teach someone who has "different"/"bad" habits. Plus, while transfers leave for all reasons, some do leave b/c of bad attitudes, bad work ethics, and failures to reach their projected abilities. I would prefer JC take a high school Senior and then have MM and JJ show him how it's done.

Seems that it's about 1 a year recently (Barnett, McBroom). I think the idea of balancing classes comes into play here.

You're 100% right that I'd like to see a freshman PG get to learn from Mike McCall and Jordair Jett. Those two have been through a lot in their time here. Just like Kwamain Mitchell.

[Box and Won]

Is it just me or does anyone else have a fear about taking transfers. Sure, many might have huge talent, etc. but many also have baggage. RM used to say that he wanted to coach them for all 4 years (not 2 or 3) and that he preferred to take someone who did NOT already know or who had learned a different system -- tougher to correct or re-teach someone who has "different"/"bad" habits. Plus, while transfers leave for all reasons, some do leave b/c of bad attitudes, bad work ethics, and failures to reach their projected abilities. I would prefer JC take a high school Senior and then have MM and JJ show him how it's done.

It doesn't concern me at all, especially in this day and age. I don't get the impression that most of today's transfers are guys with baggage. We've typically had pretty decent experience with transfers, and I'd certainly rather take a transfer over a JUCO.

[Clock_Tower]

Seems that it's about 1 a year recently (Barnett, McBroom). I think the idea of balancing classes comes into play here.

You're 100% right that I'd like to see a freshman PG get to learn from Mike McCall and Jordair Jett. Those two have been through a lot in their time here. Just like Kwamain Mitchell.

Yes. Then again, I was worried about balancing classes as well with RM's first incoming class. 4 years later, though, only BC and KC were left and then KM the following year due to The Situation. Things usually take care of themselves.

[Clock_Tower]

It doesn't concern me at all, especially in this day and age. I don't get the impression that most of today's transfers are guys with baggage. We've typically had pretty decent experience with transfers, and I'd certainly rather take a transfer over a JUCO.

Yes and no. First, we haven't had all that many transfers to speak of. Second, our recent transfers have been from MAC schools. Don't recall too many transfers from the better programs. I recall the transfer guard Brad got but not many others. Third, Spoon did quite well with JUCOs.

[The Wiz]

So, to recap:

Onwuasor: SLU, Miami (OH), & Pitt (?)

Abell: SLU, Xavier, St. Mary's

Jesperson: SLU, USC, UNI, & Nebraska

Yacoubou: SLU, Pitt, GT

I'm starting to think SLU is the one telling Onwuasor to wait...

So to further recap......

Onwuasor....SLU ..A+......Mia OH....D......Pitt........A+

Abell.............SLU...A+......X.............B.......St. M....A

Jesperson.....SLU..A+......USC........B-......UNI.......B+......Neb....C+

Yacoubou.....SLU..A+.......Pitt..........A+.....GT........B-

[kshoe]

So to further recap......

Onwuasor....SLU ..A+......Mia OH....D......Pitt........A+

Abell.............SLU...A+......X.............B.......St. M....A

Jesperson.....SLU..A+......USC........B-......UNI.......B+......Neb....C+

Yacoubou.....SLU..A+.......Pitt..........A+.....GT........B-

Wiz, I know this has been brought up multiple times earlier in this thread but comparing the rankings of teams from last year only as if they should be major factors in a recruits decision process is pretty silly. A recruit should really be focused on forward looking projections for the next 4 years.

If you want to draw an analogy to the financial markets, even if you believe the past performance does predict future success, I've never seen anybody look at just the last single year of performance and draw conclusions based on that. Rather, a full market cycle of 5-10 years should be evaluated. Does your model have averages from the past 5-10 years that you can share with us?

[BilliKat]

Who is this "important guest" ole Ben W is speaking of?

https://twitter.com/BWeixScout/status/331946238406688768

Has this been figured out yet?

[The Wiz]

Wiz, I know this has been brought up multiple times earlier in this thread but comparing the rankings of teams from last year only as if they should be major factors in a recruits decision process is pretty silly. A recruit should really be focused on forward looking projections for the next 4 years.

If you want to draw an analogy to the financial markets, even if you believe the past performance does predict future success, I've never seen anybody look at just the last single year of performance and draw conclusions based on that. Rather, a full market cycle of 5-10 years should be evaluated. Does your model have averages from the past 5-10 years that you can share with us?

You are correct.... past performance is no guarantee of future success....yet financial companies still use it in their advertising because it says we have a successful program. It is a point of reference/comparison to how others are doing at that same point. We have been to the Dance the last 2 years...no guarantee we will go back but again a reference point/ comparision point. Students use past data when choosing a school. If SLU has had great academics in the past, it doesn't mean they will have great academics in the future but a prospective student figures that into his calculation. Does posting a school graduation rate mean that you will graduate that amount in the future. Of course not but schools still use them in their advertising as a reference/comparison.

I use the letter grading as way for people to compare teams. People look at a Neb or a USC and try to guess how good a program is by looking at their record or where they finished in their respective conference. Being a bottomfeeder in the Big 10 is not the same as being a bottomfeeder in the Southwestern conference.

And unlike the financial markets which never stop, you can freeze a moment in college basketball time for about 7 months (April to Nov) Once next year's season starts then the numbers truly become history. Whether you agree with my numbers or not I think most will agree that the Bills have been a better team the last 2 years then Mia OH. My system tries to objectify it a bit by answering the question of " How much better are the Bills?" in a simple way.

Bottomline ....grading system is for comparison in the here and now not for future success. During the season, the comparisions are good day to day after the season they are good for about 7 months.

[Pistol]

Update for the last spot.

Offers:

Hakim Saintil, PG: 5-11, 170, Roselle Catholic HS, Roselle, NJ. Offers: SLU and Fairfield. Possible offers: St. Bonaventure, Rutgers, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Cincinnati, and SMU. Prep school a possibility. Latest (5/6): Not much progress on a decision, but he visited St. Bonaventure over the weekend. Plenty of retweets from Bona fans. Also, yesterday a Tweet to a friend indicated that he's still uncertain whether he'll sign or go to a prep school. Previous: Slow to make a decision between prep school or a college. His AAU team has been playing in weekend tournaments, and playing well. He hit a clutch 3 to tie, followed by a steal and layup to win one of these tournaments a couple weekends ago.

Jordan Strawberry, PG: 6-1, 170, Mater Dei HS, Santa Ana, CA. Offers: SLU, UC-Riverside, and at least 2 others (UNCW likely). Claims interest from Arizona, Virginia Tech, Gonzaga, California, and Florida State. Latest (5/2): This list came out on 5/1 and Strawberry's name and picture is in it. Interestingly, Onwuasor and Lancona are not mentioned. He also told a buddy on Twitter that his visit "out there" went well and he's trying to make his decision. Previous: Visit to SLU (and dad) went very well. Since then, UNC-Wilmington has gotten in the mix and has one scholarship left to give after Addison Spruill, a shooting guard from Brevard CC, committed yesterday, 4/30. No confirmation on an offer from UNCW but it seems likely they've made one. He seems to be SLU's backup plan to Randy Onwuasor, but SLU seems like his best opportunity.

Randy Onwuasor, PG: 6-3, 190, Inglewood HS, Inglewood, CA. Top Choices: SLU, Miami-Ohio, and Pitt. Other offers: UC-Irvine and Cal State-Fullerton. Interest from Tennessee, Tennessee Tech, Seton Hall, Florida State, Arkansas, UNLV, Tulane, New Mexico State, and Utah. Latest (5/8): Tennessee and Tennessee Tech are suddenly in the mix. A TTU assistant apparently visited, and he now says he plans to visit Knoxville soon. No word on offers from either. What looked like a SLU-Miami race has now opened back up. Previous: Onwuasor has visited SLU and Miami-Ohio. SLU and Miami have both made in-home visits. His Twitter feed has gotten fairly quiet outside of retweets from SLU and Miami fans. He said to Ben Weixlmann that his final three choices are SLU, Miami, and Pitt. He will be playing in the Nike Global Challenge in DC in July. He has been retweeting SLU fans a lot, but the last two are about Tennessee and Tennessee Tech.

Others:

Achraf Yacoubou, SG: 6-4, 210, Villanova. Transfer eligible as junior in 2014-2015. Interested in SLU, Pitt, and Georgia Tech. Latest (5/7): He will be visiting Pitt on May 14th. According to pantherlair.com writer Matthew Steinbrink, Pitt is focused on Yacoubou, Sheldon Jeter (if he decides to transfer), and DeAndre Kane. Previous: Two Tweets from sportswriters on Friday, 5/3 said that Yacoubou visited SLU and will be visiting Pitt and Georgia Tech next. UNLV and Miami are officially out of contention.

Remy Abell, SG: 6-4, 201, Indiana. Transfer eligible as junior in 2014-2015. Interested in SLU, Xavier, and St. Mary's. Latest (5/8): Abell will be visiting Xavier on Friday, SLU on Monday, and St. Mary's after SLU before making his decision. He reportedly has an offer from VCU but has not listed them as a finalist. The sophomore averaged 10.7 MPG and 3.5 PPG in his two-year IU career (12.0 and 4.0 this past season). He's transfering for more minutes and because he lost his best friend on the team - Cody Zeller - to the NBA. He's a Louisville native, and of the three schools on his list, only Xavier recruited him in high school.

Paul Jesperson, SG: 6-6, 197, Virginia. Transfer eligible as junior in 2014-2015. Interest from SLU, Northern Iowa, USC, Nebraska, and Florida. Latest (5/7): Jesperson is visiting USC on Thursday and SLU over the weekend. He has already visited Northern Iowa. Previous: Decided to transfer despite starting 33 of 35 games, likely because two transfers become eligible this season and he stood to lose minutes. I'm not sure how SLU is on his radar, but he did play for Brad Soderberg's brother Kurt in high school - Merrill, Wisconsin, where he was the Gatorade Player of the Year for the state. One sportswriter says the school he's hearing most in connection with Jesperson's name is Nebraska. Jesperson recently tweeted back and forth with a Northern Iowa player.

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. Latest (5/6): After visiting SLU, he made a visit to the Air Force Academy. He seemed to like both places a lot. But it isn't clear that any offers are coming in; what's clear is he's a project and the back-up plan at most places that have shown interest. After the Lancona signing, Jolly can't possibly be a SLU target anymore.

Alex Fitch, SG: 6-3, 180, Notre Dame HS, Quincy, IL. Possible walk-on. Latest (5/1): There isn't much out there recruiting-wise on Fitch. Most of what can be found are articles from small Quincy-based newspapers with game recaps that mention him. He's playing in a regional all-star game played at Quincy University's arena on June 8. It's not clear he has any offers.

[Box and Won]

I asked my IU grad friend about Abell. His response: "He and Zeller are gay for each other."

[kappy96]

Yes. Then again, I was worried about balancing classes as well with RM's first incoming class. 4 years later, though, only BC and KC were left and then KM the following year due to The Situation. Things usually take care of themselves.

Exactly...who's to say that one of our freshman won't redshirt.

[kmbilliken]

So, to recap:

Onwuasor: SLU, Miami (OH), & Pitt (?)

Abell: SLU, Xavier, St. Mary's

Jesperson: SLU, USC, UNI, & Nebraska

Yacoubou: SLU, Pitt, GT

I'm starting to think SLU is the one telling Onwuasor to wait...

I think Pitt may be telling him that.

[SShoe]

I asked my IU grad friend about Abell. His response: "He and Zeller are gay for each other."

My IU friend used the term "great teammate," which I think is just another way of saying "gay for each other." He also had nothing but positive things to say about Abell and thought he'd be a good addition to SLU.

This is outstanding work by the staff, as they've really gotten in on a lot of players in a short amount of time. Any of the 4 guys left on our list would be great adds.

[ACE]

So, to recap:

Onwuasor: SLU, Miami (OH), & Pitt (?)

Abell: SLU, Xavier, St. Mary's

Jesperson: SLU, USC, UNI, & Nebraska

Yacoubou: SLU, Pitt, GT

I'm starting to think SLU is the one telling Onwuasor to wait...

I hope so. I know people were originally excited with Randy because he had a highlight video with a lot of uncontested dunks and he has a cool name and we didn't have a lot of other good options at the time. But now with one of the three transfers being a possibility, I'm not sure why anybody would still view him as out top choice. Sure, he could be a diamond in the rough and turn out to be better than the three transfers, but the reality is that he only solid offers are from us and Miami (Oh). He talked about Seton Hall, but never got a visit. HE has talked about Pitt, but they only have one scholarship and have not invited him for a visit. Contrast that to Yacoubou, who actually IS going to visit Pitt. That tells me who the better player likely is. Also, Jesperson has a visit to USC among other BCS programs. Despite being in USC's backyard, Randy apparently was unable to attract interest from them or any other Pac-12 school. As for Abell, I saw him play a bit with Indiana and he would be a nice addition. Wouldn't it be nice to beat Xavier and St. Mary's for a recruit instead of Miami (Oh)?

First the Lancona signing and now the interest from these three transfers are real positive signs that our recent success is attracting more interest from high level recruits. It sounded like Randy had his chance to sign with us right after his visit, but he chose to wait. In the time he made us wait, it has given us time to attract interest from players that very well could be better than Randy, so make him wait now. For those who are worried about not adding another point guard to next year's roster, I am not worried. I feel confident that we will be able to add a point guard in the fall who is better than Randy.

All three of these transfers seem similar... they are big, they would all have two years of eligibility and be in McBroom's class and I think they could each be good backcourt mates to pair with the smaller AB. Having all been in the rotations for BCS teams, they would also bring much needed experience to an inexperienced 2014-15 roster. They also seem like good kids just looking for more playing time. I understand the caution with some transfers, but this is not like SPUMAC bringing in the kid from Pepperdine who had a couple of physical altercations with his coach. These guys seem solid.