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Recruiting - 2021


Pistol

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15 minutes ago, TJHawk said:

What has Hardaway done to prove he can do anything?  He had a KY like team last year and he sucked.  He's a high level AAU coach that rolls out basketballs and says let's shoot around for practice.  He's already been exposed as a fraud.  Memphis offers nothing that SLU can't offer.

You're welcome to take this viewpoint if you want, but I can promise you that recruits are not going to think like this so you should prepare to continue being disappointed. Memphis does offer one thing that SLU (and Illinois) don't offer and that is playing for a coach who was a generational talent in the NBA. My guess is that is likely why they won this recruitment.

Like I said, I think SLU would've been a better choice. But I also can see why someone would want to play for Penny.

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1 minute ago, Pistol said:

I think Nesbitt thinks he has 2-and-done kind of potential but if things don't work out down there, the door is never really closed until a player's eligibility is done.

Yeah, I would have to think the coaching staff kept the relationships at a good point with guys like Cam Fletcher and Jordan Nesbitt. I would say Love too, but I don't think there is any way he doesn't work out, he is just so damn good. It will be interesting to see what this class ends up looking like now that our primary fall target is off of the board.

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Not to sound like a broken record, but we're now in October and we don't seem like we have any players close to committing. I don't think that's a problem in and of itself, but it underscores the fact that in the past two offseasons we've lost two experienced recruiters in Bailey/Macon and replaced them with zero experienced recruiters. Granted, Stuen did a great job with Strickland and Lorentsson, and seems like he has a really high work ethic. But building these recruiting relationships takes time and resources, and we're not doing ourselves any favors in the resource department lately.

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21 minutes ago, Pistol said:

It looks like he talked to a bunch of media members leading up to the decision. Their crystal ball picks all went to Memphis, and now he's getting a big wave of coverage that was already written up. I'm not sure how many players do this but it's the first time I remember seeing it with a guy we were a finalist for.

So I guess whenever you see crystal ball picks coming in or flipping in the days leading up to a decision, it's basically official.

Still stings. Wasn't Illinois, thankfully, but I really wanted him at SLU.

The only solace I take from this recruitment is that Illini "insiders" remain as delusional as ever.  Once again Derek Piper and Brian Snow pimped them for a few clicks in the final days before a commit.

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I don't get too wrapped up in losing a recruit, but this one stings. Something obviously happened in the past 3 or 4 weeks. Memphis is a $hit hole and the campus is pretty much a reflection of the city. I get playing for an NBA'er is cool, but they don't really have a big history of success as head coach's. 10-8 in CUSA last year - here's hoping they continue in mediocracy and we blow them out next year, with this kid watching from the bench. 

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11 minutes ago, NH said:

Not to sound like a broken record, but we're now in October and we don't seem like we have any players close to committing. I don't think that's a problem in and of itself, but it underscores the fact that in the past two offseasons we've lost two experienced recruiters in Bailey/Macon and replaced them with zero experienced recruiters. Granted, Stuen did a great job with Strickland and Lorentsson, and seems like he has a really high work ethic. But building these recruiting relationships takes time and resources, and we're not doing ourselves any favors in the resource department lately.

From what Frank has been saying, it sounds like Kern might be getting close to committing. I would think SLU still has a really good chance to get him.

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34 minutes ago, NH said:

You're welcome to take this viewpoint if you want, but I can promise you that recruits are not going to think like this so you should prepare to continue being disappointed. Memphis does offer one thing that SLU (and Illinois) don't offer and that is playing for a coach who was a generational talent in the NBA. My guess is that is likely why they won this recruitment.

Like I said, I think SLU would've been a better choice. But I also can see why someone would want to play for Penny.

Not going to be disappointed at all.  I would prefer top talent  wasted at Memphis over going to a coach that could actually do real damage against teams I care about.  

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13 minutes ago, JettFlight5 said:

https://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/news/memphis-hardaway-lock-down-commitment-of-four-star-jordan-nesbitt

This story paints the recruitment as a 2 horse race.  That is the reason I hate these "Top X" scenarios.

Kern would be a strong add here to what is a very nice talent base. 

Well, the article states Penny told him he could be one and done. That had to be a big reason. What’s confusing Is it came down to  UI and Messphis. All the gurus had us in the lead two weeks ago. We didn’t even get a nod. Get Kern and move on time. I’m not worried about Travis’ recruiting. 
As for the NBA star as college HC I can’t think of one that’s done all that well except for Grant at SVU. Ewing at GU has not set the world on fire and neither has Penny. 

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24 minutes ago, JettFlight5 said:

https://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/news/memphis-hardaway-lock-down-commitment-of-four-star-jordan-nesbitt

This story paints the recruitment as a 2 horse race.  That is the reason I hate these "Top X" scenarios.

Kern would be a strong add here to what is a very nice talent base. 

Two things:

First, you better get used to the top X scenarios, because 99% of recruits do it.

Second, Nesbitt's explanation for his decision shows how fickle the recruiting process can be. Nesbitt claims Penny kept it real by telling him he can be one-and-done. That sounds EXACTLY like telling the player what he wanted to hear. I wish the best of luck to him. He's a hell of a player. 

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56 minutes ago, NH said:

You're welcome to take this viewpoint if you want, but I can promise you that recruits are not going to think like this so you should prepare to continue being disappointed. Memphis does offer one thing that SLU (and Illinois) don't offer and that is playing for a coach who was a generational talent in the NBA. My guess is that is likely why they won this recruitment.

Like I said, I think SLU would've been a better choice. But I also can see why someone would want to play for Penny.

Jordan Nesbitt was born after Penny Hardaway was finished as a starting player in the NBA.  It has been over 20 years since lil Penny was a cultural icon.  I don't think Penny's NBA career has much effect on the kid's themselves.  These kids only really know Penny as a guy who ran an AAU program and has not made an NCAA tournament in his two years as a college coach. Now, that is probably not the case with some of the adults that surround these kids.  

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1 minute ago, brianstl said:

Jordan Nesbitt was born after Penny Hardaway was finished as a starting player in the NBA.  It has been over 20 years since lil Penny was a cultural icon.  I don't think Penny's NBA career has much effect on the kid's themselves.  These kids only really know Penny as a guy who ran an AAU program and has not made an NCAA tournament in his two years as a college coach. Now, that is probably not the case with some of the adults that surround these kids.  

Frank tweeted that Nesbitt's dad told him he would play video of Penny Hardaway to Jordan as a kid so in this specific case, his NBA career probably did have an impact.

The article from basketball recruiting is odd.  Nesbitt says Penny isn't like coaches that say "come here and you'll start right away" but kept it real by saying "come here and you can be a one and done".  I feel like if a coach says the first thing, that can be true, like when Ford recruited Goodwin and French.  I feel saying the second thing is something the coach really can't guarantee to any kid that isn't a top 10 talent so I would say the first coach could be honest, 2nd one is just saying something to make the kid feel good.  

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1 minute ago, BilliesBy40 said:

Two things:

First, you better get used to the top X scenarios, because 99% of recruits do it.

Second, Nesbitt's explanation for his decision shows how fickle the recruiting process can be. Nesbitt claims Penny kept it real by telling him he can be one-and-done. That sounds EXACTLY like telling the player what he wanted to hear. I wish the best of luck to him. He's a hell of a player. 

Nesbitt was recruited by tons of coaches and Penny was the only one who was “keeping it real” by telling him he could be one and done? 
So either Penny is full of it or every other coach who recruited him isn’t a good judge of NBA talent. Which one seems more likely?

I hope it works out for him and I hope he is a one and done guy. Losing a one and done guy doesn’t sting as much as losing a 4 year star.

 

 

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1 hour ago, Pistol said:

This one stings, even if we saw it slipping away from us in recent days. Not only would he have been the ideal replacement for Goodwin, but we looked like the clear frontrunner just a couple weeks ago.

Agree and disagree with this.  What makes JG so special is his motor and how relentless he is.  Nesbitt has been the opposite up to this point in his career.  Talented as hell but doesn't play half as hard.  Now maybe he just hasn't ran into the right coach to get him going (Like Jordan and Travis).  His ceiling is higher than JG if he ever puts it all together but he wasn't going to walk in on day 1 and change the culture with his work ethic like JG did. 

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Nesbitt looks a little bit like a project for a coach. A little unpolished. Otherwise, super athletic and talented. That said, any player can be 1 and done if he goes out and averages 20 points for a good team as a freshman. It is just pretty unlikely that Nesbitt will do that. Good luck to him. He is similar to goodwin physically, but that is all.
 

Kern is physically similar to Javonte Perkins. He has shown good efficiency up to this point in his career. I hope we lock him up, and he can become the next JP here.

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1 hour ago, Pistol said:

This is a valuable aspect of recruiting with instant transfers becoming all but official.

I think Nesbitt thinks he has 2-and-done kind of potential but if things don't work out down there, the door is never really closed until a player's eligibility is done.

Agree, but at some point I hope SLU gets good enough, and gets enough local talent, that at some point that door really does close if they pick another school.  So long as players think they can always come back to SLU there's little downside to trying another school.  At some point that needs to end.  SLU needs to turn some of these "transfers back home" down to send the message that these kids need to realize their only chance of playing for SLU is if they pick SLU right out of high school.

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Nesbitt turned out to be similar to Mickey Pearson with one major difference, he did not commit to SLU and then came up with a sob story about Granny. Nesbitt showed he thinks he is better than SLU up front, so fine, this is his decision. All the best to him. Let's turn the page now.

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15 minutes ago, brianstl said:

Jordan Nesbitt was born after Penny Hardaway was finished as a starting player in the NBA.  It has been over 20 years since lil Penny was a cultural icon.  I don't think Penny's NBA career has much effect on the kid's themselves.  These kids only really know Penny as a guy who ran an AAU program and has not made an NCAA tournament in his two years as a college coach. Now, that is probably not the case with some of the adults that surround these kids.  

I was also born too late to remember Penny playing, but people my age definitely know Penny as an NBA legend. His Nike shoes still sell to this day (when most other players from that era don't have active shoe sales). The lil Penny commercials are famous. I think if you're a basketball junkie, like many of these recruits are, you definitely know who Penny Hardaway is.

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Penny Hardaway an “NBA legend?”  I don’t see that.  He wasn’t Top 50.  He didn’t win an NBA title did he?  I don’t see it..... he came and went like Derrick Rose, Carmelo Anthony, Ralp Sampson and so many others before him and yet to come.  Playing for him is like playing for Coach K, Calipari, Roy Williams?  I don’t think so.

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2 minutes ago, Taj79 said:

Penny Hardaway an “NBA legend?”  I don’t see that.  

Maybe icon is a better term than legend. Not in terms of body of work, but how good he was at his peak. He definitely has more cultural relevance than guys who had more success in their careers (Karl Malone, Chris Mullin, David Robinson, etc.)

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15 minutes ago, NH said:

I was also born too late to remember Penny playing, but people my age definitely know Penny as an NBA legend. His Nike shoes still sell to this day (when most other players from that era don't have active shoe sales). The lil Penny commercials are famous. I think if you're a basketball junkie, like many of these recruits are, you definitely know who Penny Hardaway is.

Do you know "Grand Mama" and those commercials? (Larry Johnson)

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An icon?  Because of Lil Penny?  Okay —— if you day so.  Seems pretty cheap of  a way to be an icon if you ask me.

I can’t wait to see just how well he “coaches” and “develops talent.”  Than I’ll be convinced.  

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6 minutes ago, NH said:

Maybe icon is a better term than legend. Not in terms of body of work, but how good he was at his peak. He definitely has more cultural relevance than guys who had more success in their careers (Karl Malone, Chris Mullin, David Robinson, etc.)

14 year NBA career, 4 x All Star,  2 x All NBA First Team. Call it what you want. 

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