Recruiting - 2023

[Pistol]

Samson Aletan - PF/C, 6-9, 200 - Dallas, TX (Lake Highlands) - AAU: Next Page Force (Adidas Gold) - Twitter: @MrAletan
Offers: Saint Louis.

Interest: St. Bonaventure, Duquesne, Illinois, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU, Iowa State, Vanderbilt, Oregon, Utah, Houston, Tulsa, Colorado State, Air Force, Louisiana Tech, East Tennessee State, Sam Houston State, Incarnate Word, Georgia State, Texas State, Texas-Arlington, Louisiana-Monroe, Oral Roberts, Iona, Idaho, Stetson, Liberty, Texas-Rio Grande Valley.

Latest News: Aletan received an offer from SLU. (7/6/21)

Scouting Report: Aletan is a talented big man that has a good mix of size, length, and mobility. He's athletic and has a strong frame with the potential to add more weight. He has good hands and finishes strong in traffic. He's a solid rebounder and blocks and alters shots with his length. He's raw but developing offensively.

[brianstl]

On 6/16/2021 at 10:33 AM, Pistol said:

New offers:

Finley Bizjack - SG, 6-4, 170 - Keller, TX (Byron Nelson) - AAU: Southern Assault (Adidas) - Twitter: @FBizjack
Offers: Saint Louis, DePaul, TCU, Stanford, SMU, Texas-Arlington, New Mexico State, Texas-Rio Grande Valley.

Interest: George Washington, Creighton, Xavier, Butler, Wisconsin, Kansas, Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Florida, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Georgia, Utah, Washington State, Memphis, UNLV, Colorado State, Boise State, Air Force, Saint Mary's, Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, Drake, Belmont, Rice, North Texas, Marshall, Northern Illinois, Oakland, East Tennessee State, VMI, Sam Houston State, Abilene Christian, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Central Arkansas, New Orleans, Georgia State, Texas State, Little Rock, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Iona, Oral Roberts, UNC-Asheville, Montana State, Liberty, Howard, Alabama State.

Latest News: Bizjack received an offer from SLU. (6/16/21)

Scouting Report: Bizjack is a skilled combo guard and on-ball shot creator with a potent pull-up game. He has natural shot creation traits and spaces the floor efficiently. He has range and a quick release. He scores on all three levels. He's got good handles and creates for his teammates, as well. He's a vocal player who plays with energy and intensity. His stepdad played football at SMU.

 

Robert (R.J.) Jones - SG, 6-3, 175 - Aubrey, TX (John Paul II) - AAU: Drive Nation (Nike EYBL) - Twitter: @RJJones2023
Offers: Saint Louis, TCU, USC, Tulsa, Texas-Arlington, Texas-Rio Grande Valley.

Interest: Florida State, Minnesota, Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Iowa State, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Mississippi State, Arizona State, Stanford, Utah, Washington State, Houston, SMU, Utah State, Colorado State, Boise State, Rice, Youngstown State, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Georgia State, Georgia Southern, Oral Roberts, UC-Irvine, Stetson, Liberty, Howard, Grambling State.

Latest News: Jones received offers from SLU and USC. (6/16/21)

Scouting Report: Jones is a combo guard with high-level scoring ability. He's a confident shooter who scores on all three levels. He has a strong frame and uses it to his advantage, playing angles and contact smartly. He reads defenses well and is effective off the ball.

 

These are both Phil Forte offers, as confirmed by the players. He offered both during his brief time at UTRGV, even though both have stronger offers, as well (not all of his SHS/UTRGV recruits would be SLU-level, but some are). He's not wasting any time.

Bizjack tweeted that he really likes Forte, who has been recruiting him since his Sam Houston State days and was one of the first D-I coaches to follow him on Twitter. I think he's visiting Oral Roberts right now and says he wants to get out to Stanford, Wisconsin, and a few others soon.

Jones is visiting TCU tomorrow. Played really well at the Pangos Camp last week.

Bizjack made his debut on in Rivals '23 rankings at 78.  Keep an eye out for him.

[Box and Won]

20 minutes ago, brianstl said:

Bizjack made his debut on in Rivals '23 rankings at 78.  Keep an eye out for him.

You know I'm on it!

[brianstl]

3 minutes ago, Box and Won said:

You know I'm on it!

Got to love the kids that have the game to go along with the name.  We are at least in play for him right now.  He is part of the same Southern Assault AAU program as Williams. 

From Rivals on Saturday:

Quote

Coming off a great weekend in the live period with his high school program, look for Bizjack’s recruitment to continue to take off as he goes back to playing with Southern Assault in July on the Adidas 3SSB circuit. Guards with his all-around game and lethal shooting stroke are always in high demand, especially when they come with a strong academic background. SMU, Stanford, Wisconsin and Saint Louis all seem to be in good shape early on, although Bizjack says he has no favorites and is still open to all schools.

https://nebraska.rivals.com/news/colleges-taking-notice-of-finley-bizjack-s-all-around-game

[brianstl]

 

 

[BilliesBy40]

10 minutes ago, brianstl said:

Got to love the kids that have the game to go along with the name.  We are at least in play for him right now.  He is part of the same Southern Assault AAU program as Williams. 

From Rivals on Saturday:

https://nebraska.rivals.com/news/colleges-taking-notice-of-finley-bizjack-s-all-around-game

Do you know whether Sam Houston State was actually in on these kids while Forte was still there? Or is Forte finally able to leverage some of his relationships now that he is at a higher level program?

Interested in @Pistol's perspective too.

[Billiken Rich]

17 minutes ago, brianstl said:

 

 

Man shorts ARE getting shorter.......

[brianstl]

7 minutes ago, BilliesBy40 said:

Do you know whether Sam Houston State was actually in on these kids while Forte was still there? Or is Forte finally able to leverage some of his relationships now that he is at a higher level program?

Interested in @Pistol's perspective too.

Back in November SHS signed Damon Nicholas who was a 3 star kid who had offers from SMU, North Texas, Oral Roberts and Cleveland State.  While not the Blue Bloods, they were all a step up from SHS.

[Pistol]

3 hours ago, BilliesBy40 said:

Do you know whether Sam Houston State was actually in on these kids while Forte was still there? Or is Forte finally able to leverage some of his relationships now that he is at a higher level program?

Interested in @Pistol's perspective too.

 

2 hours ago, brianstl said:

Back in November SHS signed Damon Nicholas who was a 3 star kid who had offers from SMU, North Texas, Oral Roberts and Cleveland State.  While not the Blue Bloods, they were all a step up from SHS.

Piggybacking on Brian's comment, I'd say that Forte appeared to be getting his programs in on the 2023 kids as early as possible, and given how few college coaches had been able to see most of them, that SHS and UTRGV were indeed in on them. That said, they've got 2 HS years to play and recruiting has reopened and things evolve. They're hard to keep in the Southland or WAC when the Big XII gets involved. He was recruiting the way those schools have to - get in early and hope to stay involved/get early commitments, find late bloomers, and so forth.

So they're not all guys those two schools offered or were recruiting hard, but they're guys who he knew about and liked, and now that he's at SLU he's got a bigger program with more resources to offer them.

[NH]

1 hour ago, Pistol said:

 

It should be noted that Forte was not a recruiting assistant at SHS. Sure, they're all involved to some degree, but he i wasn't a full, direct recruiting assistant until he went to UTRGV for a few months before taking the SLU job.

I think Forte actually was one of the 3 assistants who could recruit at Sam Houston, which is why I was always a little confused why he went to UTRGV (didn't seem like a step up to me, granted I didn't look into it that much)

[Pistol]

3 minutes ago, NH said:

I think Forte actually was one of the 3 assistants who could recruit at Sam Houston, which is why I was always a little confused why he went to UTRGV (didn't seem like a step up to me, granted I didn't look into it that much)

I think you may be right. He must've gone from third assistant to a higher run on the ladder, I guess. Edited my post.

[brianstl]

 

[Pistol]

You're violating the number one rule of recruiting. Don't get too attached.

[Box and Won]

4 minutes ago, Pistol said:

You're violating the number one rule of recruiting. Don't get too attached.

I burned the rulebook when Justyn Mutts was being recruited.

[3star_recruit]

The staff is laying the recruiting groundwork to pull a top player from the state of Texas.  Now we have to get it done on the court.  That would be uncharted territory for our program.  We've had a top 25 season and a top 50 recruiting class but never in succession.

[Brighton]

2 hours ago, 3star_recruit said:

Now we have to get it done on the court. 

And therein lies the issue with a Travis Ford coached team.

[RiseOfTheBillikens]

44 minutes ago, Brighton said:

And therein lies the issue with a Travis Ford coached team.

 

[almaman]

58 minutes ago, Brighton said:

And therein lies the issue with a Travis Ford coached team.

last check, with the other 354 teams too.

[bauman]

1 hour ago, Brighton said:

And therein lies the issue with a Travis Ford coached team.

That horse is dead.  Stop beating it.

[Franchise_08]

Not sure if this a recruited by list or a cutdown.

[Pistol]

20 minutes ago, Franchise_08 said:

Not sure if this a recruited by list or a cutdown.

Offers and interest. He's not trimming his list yet. He's up to 10 offers and power conference schools are starting to recruit him seriously.

SLU is still very much involved. Hope we don't get squeezed out as his stock rises. Still a lot of time either way for a 2023 recruit.

[3star_recruit]

38 minutes ago, Pistol said:

Offers and interest. He's not trimming his list yet. He's up to 10 offers and power conference schools are starting to recruit him seriously.

SLU is still very much involved. Hope we don't get squeezed out as his stock rises. Still a lot of time either way for a 2023 recruit.

If we can get into the tournament and win a game, that would go a long way to maintaining a 4 star recruit's attention.  Bizjack's recruitment trajectory is typical of many a 4 star guard: mostly mid-major offers as a rising junior and mostly high-major offers as a rising senior.

[TheA_Bomb]

So Bizjack is listed as Byron Nelson High in Keller, TX.  Only that HS isn't in Keller,  where I used to live.   It isn't even in the same school district.  It's in Trophy Club North of Keller and Southlake where Southlake Carrol HS is located.   We have a history pulling a recruit from Southlake.   These are upscale suburbs, SLU can sell education. 

[Pistol]

8 hours ago, 3star_recruit said:

If we can get into the tournament and win a game, that would go a long way to maintaining a 4 star recruit's attention.  Bizjack's recruitment trajectory is typical of many a 4 star guard: mostly mid-major offers as a rising junior and mostly high-major offers as a rising senior.

He's a rising junior, though, so he's ahead of schedule in that regard.

7 hours ago, TheA_Bomb said:

So Bizjack is listed as Byron Nelson High in Keller, TX.  Only that HS isn't in Keller,  where I used to live.   It isn't even in the same school district.  It's in Trophy Club North of Keller and Southlake where Southlake Carrol HS is located.   We have a history pulling a recruit from Southlake.   These are upscale suburbs, SLU can sell education. 

I changed his bio in the Recruiting Lists thread to Trophy Club. Some sites say Keller, some Trophy Club. His own Twitter says Dallas.

[3star_recruit]

13 minutes ago, Pistol said:

He's a rising junior, though, so he's ahead of schedule in that regard.

I changed his bio in the Recruiting Lists thread to Trophy Club. Some sites say Keller, some Trophy Club. His own Twitter says Dallas.

Bizjack has 6 mid-major offers and 4 high-major offers.  All but one of his 6 offers this year have been mid-major.  Again, pretty typical at this stage.