Recruiting - 2020 Class (Optimal Vision Class)

[slu72]

10 minutes ago, RiseAndGrind said:

He starts and plays a lot. Ford is so tough on all of his guards. I think it is natural. 

Jacobs spoke highly of Travis in that interview with the PD a couple of months ago. He said Ford challenges him all the time. He's an enigma to me in that he's got skills, but he's got a tendency to turn them on and off. They should be in the on position every minute. I can see where that would frustrate a coach. 

[Sheltiedave]

Thatch May or may not be back.

[CBFan]

There is no reason for Jacobs to leave and here are some reasons.

1) Weaver graduates means even more playing time for Jacobs.

2) Next season’s team will probably finish in the top 2 of the A10 and make it to the NCAA tournament and Jacobs will probably start again next season.

3) Name a better program for Jacobs  to play on then what SLU has to offer next season?

I watch every single shoot around before the games and cheer the team leaving the court through the tunnel and I see Jacobs working and interacting with his teammates and I have never seen Jacobs going through the motions.

What I see from Jacobs is a player that when he sees his shots going in he plays with more confidence and that is when we see the how great he can be however when he misses shots or has a turnover or makes a mistake he plays tentative and disappears.

It would be a big blow to next season’s team if Jacobs would transfer because his best has yet to come and would hurt the depth at the guard position.

[Reinert310]

8 minutes ago, CBFan said:

There is no reason for Jacobs to leave and here are some reasons.

1) Weaver graduates means even more playing time for Jacobs.

2) Next season’s team will probably finish in the top 2 of the A10 and make it to the NCAA tournament and Jacobs will probably start again next season.

3) Name a better program for Jacobs  to play on then what SLU has to offer next season?

I watch every single shoot around before the games and cheer the team leaving the court through the tunnel and I see Jacobs working and interacting with his teammates and I have never seen Jacobs going through the motions.

What I see from Jacobs is a player that when he sees his shots going in he plays with more confidence and that is when we see the how great he can be however when he misses shots or has a turnover or makes a mistake he plays tentative and disappears.

It would be a big blow to next season’s team if Jacobs would transfer because his best has yet to come and would hurt the depth at the guard position.

This is my constructive criticism of Jacobs, it’s just my personal opinion based off of watching games this year. I think he lacks confidence. When I say that, I don’t mean that he lacks confidence in his own skills necessarily, but that he isn’t ready to really take over a game. I think he defaults too much to other guys (Has, JGood, Perkins). He’s not quite to the point where he’s looking to go find his shot. And I think a lot of that is justified. This is essentially year 1A for him, and Has and JGood are obviously the leaders on this team. I think that’s part of the reason Ford gets on him so much, because he knows what’s in there, and he’s trying to find a way to bring it out. I’ve never had a problem with Jacobs’ effort, he just needs to be more aggressive. But he’s eventually gonna find it and when he does,  just imagine this team with all the options we already have, Thatch and Jimerson coming back, and all of a sudden Jacobs is firing on all cylinders. Look out A10.

[CBFan]

22 hours ago, RUBillsFan said:

We made Donte Houston Jr's top 5 (Middle Tenn, UCF, SLU, New Mexico, MO State).  Pretty cool to be making guys top 5s when we don't actually have an open scholarship to give.  Kind of a weird top 5.  They're fairly spread out geographically.  SLU doesn't really fit culturally with the others.

 

Thank you for the post RU.

This is the recruit I have been posting about for months.

Houston in my opinion will move right into French’s position in his sophomore season and carry on the bully ball reputation at the power forward position.  I also think he would be in the rotation as a freshman resting French and Bell.

I truly believe signing Houston would put SLU in a position that would make next season’s team so deep at every position that SLU will surprise the country at tournament time if there are no injuries.

I know the scholarships are all used and if there are no transfers then so be it but I can enjoy the dream of what SLU would look like with Houston on the roster.

[CBFan]

5 minutes ago, Reinert310 said:

This is my constructive criticism of Jacobs, it’s just my personal opinion based off of watching games this year. I think he lacks confidence. When I say that, I don’t mean that he lacks confidence in his own skills necessarily, but that he isn’t ready to really take over a game. I think he defaults too much to other guys (Has, JGood, Perkins). He’s not quite to the point where he’s looking to go find his shot. And I think a lot of that is justified. This is essentially year 1A for him, and Has and JGood are obviously the leaders on this team. I think that’s part of the reason Ford gets on him so much, because he knows what’s in there, and he’s trying to find a way to bring it out. I’ve never had a problem with Jacobs’ effort, he just needs to be more aggressive. But he’s eventually gonna find it and when he does,  just imagine this team with all the options we already have, Thatch and Jimerson coming back, and all of a sudden Jacobs is firing on all cylinders. Look out A10.

You did a better job of articulating what I was trying to say, good post.

I think he will get better however there is so much talent on this team he still may have a tendency to sit back next season and be more of a table setter, ball handler and defender.

[slufanskip]

30 minutes ago, Reinert310 said:

This is my constructive criticism of Jacobs, it’s just my personal opinion based off of watching games this year. I think he lacks confidence. When I say that, I don’t mean that he lacks confidence in his own skills necessarily, but that he isn’t ready to really take over a game. I think he defaults too much to other guys (Has, JGood, Perkins). He’s not quite to the point where he’s looking to go find his shot. And I think a lot of that is justified. This is essentially year 1A for him, and Has and JGood are obviously the leaders on this team. I think that’s part of the reason Ford gets on him so much, because he knows what’s in there, and he’s trying to find a way to bring it out. I’ve never had a problem with Jacobs’ effort, he just needs to be more aggressive. But he’s eventually gonna find it and when he does,  just imagine this team with all the options we already have, Thatch and Jimerson coming back, and all of a sudden Jacobs is firing on all cylinders. Look out A10.

Imo one of the problems with Jacobs is that he's easy to guard out of a half court offense due to how slow his release on his shot is. It seems to me he's more productive as we play at a faster pace. If I was Jacobs I'd have Yuri or someone fire passes to me all summer and I'd work on getting my shot off quicker. I think he's valuable and a nice player as he is, but improving the quickness on his release will make him much better. He's obviously athletic, so I'm not sure if it's a confidence thing on the shot or if he's just overly deliberate. 

[3star_recruit]

Donte Houston's team has struggled this year, going 13-12, and the team's scoring is also down.  Seems to have had a negative impact on his recruiting.  There are Texas players who are currently ranked below him who have earned better offers.  That's usually an indication that a player will drop pretty significantly the next time the recruiting rankings are updated.  We won't know until Houston gets to a college program whether he failed to develop as expected or whether his team just wasn't good enough for his talent to help them.

 

[almaman]

there are 5 players 1 ball. four players will always be "going through the motions".

[CBFan]

32 minutes ago, 3star_recruit said:

Donte Houston's team has struggled this year, going 13-12, and the team's scoring is also down.  Seems to have had a negative impact on his recruiting.  There are Texas players who are currently ranked below him who have earned better offers.  That's usually an indication that a player will drop pretty significantly the next time the recruiting rankings are updated.  We won't know until Houston gets to a college program whether he failed to develop as expected or whether his team just wasn't good enough for his talent to help them.

 

I trust your knowledge 3 star is SLU a good option for Houston or because of his size and position he will get better offers in the spring that can offer more playing time right away.  I know you have posted in the past that players like Houston in the spring are in higher demand and if a better offer than his top 5 comes around then it would change to a top 6.

[Reinert310]

1 hour ago, slufanskip said:

Imo one of the problems with Jacobs is that he's easy to guard out of a half court offense due to how slow his release on his shot is. It seems to me he's more productive as we play at a faster pace. If I was Jacobs I'd have Yuri or someone fire passes to me all summer and I'd work on getting my shot off quicker. I think he's valuable and a nice player as he is, but improving the quickness on his release will make him much better. He's obviously athletic, so I'm not sure if it's a confidence thing on the shot or if he's just overly deliberate. 

I think part of the problem there is he’s very 1 dimensional a lot of the time, but I think a lot of that is due to him defer to his teammates. He’s quick and athletic enough to take defenders off the dribble, but he rarely does...and when he does, it often results in an incredible dunk. If he can keep defenders off balance with even an occasional drive to the bucket, it won’t matter if his release is a little slower. But when defenders can just sit on his 3-point shot obviously, having a slow release can be a problem. I’d love to see him hunting for shots more. Not being selfish, but when he sees an opening, he takes it.

[WVBilliken]

28 minutes ago, Reinert310 said:

I think part of the problem there is he’s very 1 dimensional a lot of the time, but I think a lot of that is due to him defer to his teammates. He’s quick and athletic enough to take defenders off the dribble, but he rarely does...and when he does, it often results in an incredible dunk. If he can keep defenders off balance with even an occasional drive to the bucket, it won’t matter if his release is a little slower. But when defenders can just sit on his 3-point shot obviously, having a slow release can be a problem. I’d love to see him hunting for shots more. Not being selfish, but when he sees an opening, he takes

I am a big Jacobs fan.  Some posters expect too much too soon.  Limited minutes last year, now a key member of a 7 to 8 man rotation.  The coaching staff does have an offensive strategy and does have a priority regarding who they want to get the most shots.  Clearly Jacob's is not in the top three in that pecking order.  So, it is to be expected that often he is expected to defer to higher option shooters unless he has a very high percentage shot.  I say, his time will come.  He is doing great.  He is a solid support player working himself to a greater role in the future.  And if that doesn't happen, so be it.  He is a solid contributer and good defensive player.

[Reinert310]

4 minutes ago, WVBilliken said:

I am a big Jacobs fan.  Some posters expect too much too soon.  Limited minutes last year, now a key member of a 7 to 8 man rotation.  The coaching staff does have an offensive strategy and does have a priority regarding who they want to get the most shots.  Clearly Jacob's is not in the top three in that pecking order.  So, it is to be expected that often he is expected to defer to higher option shooters unless he has a very high percentage shot.  I say, his time will come.  He is doing great.  He is a solid support player working himself to a greater role in the future.  And if that doesn't happen, so be it.  He is a solid contributer and good defensive player.

Absolutely. I just think he passes up opportunities sometime, but again, it’s completely understandable. He’s improved SIGNIFICANTLY over the past year. I fully expect he will do the same next year. And if he does, we’re gonna he a scary dangerous team.

[Crewsorlose]

7 hours ago, 3star_recruit said:

If a scholarship opens up, we have the luxury of taking traditional big man transfer who has to sit out a year.  The transfer waiver rule, if approved in April, wouldn't start until the 2020-2021 academic year.  Transfers in the 2019-2020 period would still have to sit out a year.

I'm talking about a 5th-year senior. I can't fathom Ford using a scholly on a guy who has to sit out a year unless he's a sure-fire starter. Ford realizes that his class of 2021 needs to be pretty amazing to replace the Big 3. 

[3star_recruit]

1 minute ago, Crewsorlose said:

I'm talking about a 5th-year senior. I can't fathom Ford using a scholly on a guy who has to sit out a year unless he's a sure-fire starter. Ford realizes that his class of 2021 needs to be pretty amazing to replace the Big 3. 

What's more likely - getting a high major transfer who can play 25 min right away or signing a high school big who can?  I'd love to be able to land a Hasahn French every four years but I wouldn't count on it.

[Quality Is Job 1]

3 hours ago, 3star_recruit said:

What's more likely - getting a high major transfer who can play 25 min right away or signing a high school big who can?  I'd love to be able to land a Hasahn French every four years but I wouldn't count on it.

It's Coach Ford's job, and I believe he can do it.

[Crewsorlose]

14 hours ago, 3star_recruit said:

What's more likely - getting a high major transfer who can play 25 min right away or signing a high school big who can?  I'd love to be able to land a Hasahn French every four years but I wouldn't count on it.

It's not just about finding a guy who can play; it's about a scholarship log jam. There's none left right now. For the 2021 class, three will open up. Ford is not going to take a transfer who sits out a year, thus giving up two years of a scholarship for one year of play. That means he can't be as aggressive with current HS juniors. 

The 2021 class is going to be huge and Ford won't foreclose options by signing a DJ Foreman-type this spring. 

[3star_recruit]

34 minutes ago, Crewsorlose said:

It's not just about finding a guy who can play; it's about a scholarship log jam. There's none left right now. For the 2021 class, three will open up. Ford is not going to take a transfer who sits out a year, thus giving up two years of a scholarship for one year of play. That means he can't be as aggressive with current HS juniors. 

The 2021 class is going to be huge and Ford won't foreclose options by signing a DJ Foreman-type this spring. 

What if he can get Tyler Cavanaugh or TJ Cline instead?

[Aquinas]

Any one know how Yaya Keita is doing? If we are still interested in him? If he is interested in us?

 

[3star_recruit]

2 hours ago, Aquinas said:

Any one know how Yaya Keita is doing? If we are still interested in him? If he is interested in us?

 

De Smet is still one of the worst passing teams I've seen all year which nullifies Keita's effectiveness.  He's a classic big -- he needs someone to feed him the ball in the post. Otherwise he has to crash the glass to hit double figures, a milestone he hits about every one out of every three games.

You'll have to ignore stats when it comes to projecting Keita or Gassama in a Billiken uniform and think more about what Yuri's passing could do for either one of their games.  Either guy would be the most athletic 6'9/6'10 guy in the A10 once Toppin goes pro.  

[Pistol]

Eric Gaines committed to LSU.

If we had room for another guard in this class, he would've been my top choice. Absolutely electric player. He visited the same weekend as Strickland.

[Box and Won]

1 minute ago, Pistol said:

Eric Gaines committed to LSU.

If we had room for another guard in this class, he would've been my top choice. Absolutely electric player. He visited the same weekend as Strickland.

Skip and I can confirm that Wade has some quality bag men down at LSU.  They use these purple crushed velvet cash bags that resemble Crown Royal bags - very professional.

[JettFlight5]

1 minute ago, Box and Won said:

Skip and I can confirm that Wade has some quality bag men down at LSU.  They use these purple crushed velvet cash bags that resemble Crown Royal bags - very professional.

Well, you know it was gonna take a strong-ass offer...

[Cowboy]

15 minutes ago, Box and Won said:

Skip and I can confirm that Wade has some quality bag men down at LSU.  They use these purple crushed velvet cash bags that resemble Crown Royal bags - very professional.

-oh that is nice, I hope that we have graduated from the Busch Light 12 pack container, but it is, after all, easy drinkin'

[Pistol]

Latest offer:

Brandon Murray - SG, 6-5, 225 - Baltimore, MD (Baltimore Polytechnic Institute) - AAU: Team Melo (Nike EYBL) - Twitter: @IamBm23
Offers: Saint Louis, Rhode Island, St. Bonaventure, George Washington, DePaul, Virginia Tech, Ole Miss, North Texas, East Tennessee State, UNC-Greensboro, Coastal Carolina, Hofstra, Towson, Siena.

Interest: VCU, Davidson, St. Joe's, George Mason, Georgetown, Creighton, St. John's, Virginia, Maryland, Purdue, Texas, Kansas State, Auburn, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Washington State, Connecticut, Wichita State, Temple, Central Florida, Tulsa, Loyola Marymount, Murray State, Old Dominion, Middle Tennessee, Florida International, Toledo, Ohio, Louisiana, American, Loyola-Maryland, Delaware, James Madison, Elon, Marist, Winthrop, Charleston Southern, Merrimack, Mount St. Mary's, Howard, Florida A&M, South Carolina State.

Latest News: Murray received an offer from SLU. He led BPI to a city championship last week. (3/2/20)

Scouting Report: Murray is a big, strong guard who scores on all three levels. He scores in bunches and plays a smart, efficient game, not forcing things or taking bad shots. He is deadly from the perimeter and goes to the rim strong. He's a good rebounder and shot blocker at his position and a smart passer, as well. He has a college-ready body and plays extremely tough, with a chip on his shoulder.

-This kid has an unbelievable build for his age. He's a big-time scorer and super efficient, too. He scored 44 in the Baltimore City semifinals, going 7-8 from 3 and throwing down a few big dunks. Rivals recently said he's averaging 23 PPG this season on close to 70% shooting from the field and 53% from 3. He's taking an official visit to Ole Miss on 3/27, his first. He had one offer (Towson) heading into 2020. Safe to say he's blowing up.