guest Posted October 27, 2004 Share Posted October 27, 2004 October 27, 2004 Two Big Ten offers for 2006 Leonard -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jerry Meyer RivalsHoops.com Jarod Leonard, one of the top performers at this past summer’s Nike Hoop Jamboree and the No. 105 ranked player in the class of 2006 had a breakout summer with the St. Louis Eagles AAU program. Now the 6-foot-6, 179-pound wing player from DeSmet Jesuit in Maryland, Mo., has two Big Ten offers. “I like Miami, Florida, North Carolina State, Virginia, USC, St. Louis, Missouri, Illinois, Purdue, Iowa, and Florida State,â€said Leonard. “Coaches from North Carolina State, Purdue, Illinois, Missouri, and St. Louis have been to my school to see me play.†Purdue, Iowa and St. Louis have all offered scholarships to Leonard. At this point, Leonard is only concerned about being able to contribute on the floor for his future college. "I just want to go in and know I can contribute,†he said. “I don’t want to sit on the bench. I feel I’ve worked hard and just want to be able to play." Rivals.com has this scouting report on Leonard based on his play at the Nike Hoop Jamboree: Leonard is a slasher and big time play maker. Not only can he attack the rim, but he can shoot it and pass it. He consistently knocked down 18-footers and will soon have consistent three point range. If he gains weight and keeps improving his skills, the athletic Leonard could one day make a living as a shooting guard. Leonard had a similar assessment of his game. "I think if I get more consistent on my three-point shot and get stronger, the skies the limit,†he said. Leonard, who has a 2.5 GPA, averaged 10 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists per game last season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3star_recruit Posted October 27, 2004 Share Posted October 27, 2004 "I just want to go in and know I can contribute,†he said. “I don’t want to sit on the bench. I feel I’ve worked hard and just want to be able to play." Well, he do that at every school on his list except Florida and NC State. All the other schools are middle of the road high majors. It all depends on whether he wants to stay in-state or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted October 27, 2004 Share Posted October 27, 2004 it p!sses me off that one has to read the article to know that saint louis university also offered. the title makes no mention of slu event though we are on even footing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLURadioBoy Posted October 27, 2004 Share Posted October 27, 2004 Think we're still the favorites for Jarod? I hope the acquistions of Liddell and Lisch wouldn't scare him away, thinking he would be spending a lot of time on the bench since they'd be around through his junior year. "Praises we sing, to you our alma mater, Praise to the white and blue. Our hymn shall ring, in tribute strong to you, We hail Saint Louis U." Official Billikens.com sponsor of Andrew Latimer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3star_recruit Posted October 27, 2004 Share Posted October 27, 2004 He'd still be in the rotation those first two years, he just wouldn't start. I think when a player refers to "the bench", he means being that 10th or 11th guy who only gets garbage minutes. Most freshmen are non-starters. The question is, would Jarod prefer to be the 7th man at SLU rather than the 7th man at say, Purdue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted October 27, 2004 Share Posted October 27, 2004 you think he will be scared he wont get pt at slu, but he will at big ten schools? that's interesting. one would think the opposite. leonard comes in as newborne graduates. would seem to me a wing spot will be up for grabs. i would think between lisch, liddell, polk and leonard they could split 120 minutes and be very happy. in fact, we could easily throw another one or two into that equation and have ample minutes for everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3star_recruit Posted October 27, 2004 Share Posted October 27, 2004 What happened to Meyer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiken Rich Posted October 27, 2004 Share Posted October 27, 2004 Didn't he transfer to SEMO??? I know. Iknow. That's mean. and players families read the board etc..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quality Is Job 1 Posted October 27, 2004 Share Posted October 27, 2004 Remember to factor Danny Brown and Darren Clarke into the equation. Should Jarod Leonard choose SLU, when he's a freshman, Clarke will be a senior, Brown and Luke Meyer will be juniors, and Tommie Liddell will be a sophomore Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLURadioBoy Posted October 27, 2004 Share Posted October 27, 2004 Well what I meant was that we'll have a lot of quality guards at SLU and they should be around for a long time. It would probably be a while till Leonard could be "the man" and I didn't know if he'd be willing to wait or not. But you're probably right, I'm sure Big Ten schools are in the same situation. "Praises we sing, to you our alma mater, Praise to the white and blue. Our hymn shall ring, in tribute strong to you, We hail Saint Louis U." Official Billikens.com sponsor of Andrew Latimer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjray Posted October 27, 2004 Share Posted October 27, 2004 Maybe I have too high of expectations for Liddell but one really has to consider how many years he shall be at SLU before making himself eligible for the draft. He's not as highly touted as Larry the legend coming in ... but one should not dismiss the comparison. If I had to put money on it, I'd say Liddell stays 2 years. If so, that would mean Clarke and Liddell leave after Leonard's freshman year. It's kind of a catch22 with Liddell (assuming he does not weird out on us and jump ship at the last minute). If he is in a position to get drafted in the 1st round after 2 years, that means Tommie has had an outstanding first 2 years at SLU and we had good showings in the conference and NCAAs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted October 27, 2004 Share Posted October 27, 2004 Tommie isn't even ranked in the top 20 of the 5th year prep players. He has a lot of work ahead of him before he is going to be ready to declare for the NBA draft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLU_Nick Posted October 27, 2004 Share Posted October 27, 2004 It is absurd to think that Liddell has NBA skills right now. He did not even dominate games in high school. When he played O'Fallon, Xavier Price was destroying him. Man, we need to realize how good someone has to be to head to the NBA before they graduate. Sorry, that post touched a nerve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billikenbooster Posted October 27, 2004 Share Posted October 27, 2004 How big is JL? I thought he was more of a sf than a guard. Official Billikens.com sponsor of John Duff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidlee Posted October 27, 2004 Share Posted October 27, 2004 I saw Price and Liddell play against each other several times over the past few years and I don't remember X ever destroying Tommie. Maybe we didn't see the same games. The games I saw Tommie had very productive outings. I think Tommie and Xavier are both very nice players and I hope they both have successful college careers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p diddy Posted October 28, 2004 Share Posted October 28, 2004 iiving over here in illinois, i saw most of the tommie-x price battles during their careers. x rarely got the best of tommie. liddell and lisch routinely dominted x in the head to head. even when they were freshman and x was already a big name, he got outplayed by tommie, who nobody even knew at the time. bad boyz for life Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted October 28, 2004 Share Posted October 28, 2004 Illinois is not a middle of the road high major. They are consistently a better team than NC State. Official Billikens.com sponsor of H. Waldman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3star_recruit Posted October 28, 2004 Share Posted October 28, 2004 Larry Legend averaged 27 ppg and 29 ppg in his junior and senior years of high school and then averaged 21 ppg as a college freshman. Tommie is a very good player but that isn't the type of offensive talent we're dealing with here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted October 28, 2004 Share Posted October 28, 2004 What makes everyone believe JL would play behind any current or future Bill. I think alot of people are discounting the confidence a player like JL probably has. There will be competition for playing time on every good team. Official Billikens.com sponsor of H. Waldman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3star_recruit Posted October 28, 2004 Share Posted October 28, 2004 I found this evaluation of Leonard's game from the article interesting: "He consistently knocked down 18-footers and will soon have consistent three point range." Marque Perry played here for four years and never had consistent three point range. Keith Langford after three years at KU still doesn't have consistent three point range. Yet this writer knows from watching Leonard knocking down a few 18 footers in some AAU games that he will soon have consistent three-point range? That's impressive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted October 28, 2004 Share Posted October 28, 2004 yea ... thats funny. I wonder why he's not helping some of these NBA teams evaluate their High School prospects. The clippers could have used his help with Miles. Official Billikens.com sponsor of H. Waldman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjray Posted October 28, 2004 Share Posted October 28, 2004 >Larry Legend averaged 27 ppg and 29 ppg in his junior and >senior years of high school and then averaged 21 ppg as a >college freshman. Tommie is a very good player but that >isn't the type of offensive talent we're dealing with here. Liddell is a complete package, not just a scorer. The NBA seems to draft on potential rather than a finished product. Also, I suspect TL will look to score more as he matures. I'm sure you agree TL could have averaged 20 per game in HS had that been his desire. We'll see how his career at SLU turns out and I hope to be proven wrong with this suspicion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3star_recruit Posted October 28, 2004 Share Posted October 28, 2004 Julius Hodge does everything Liddell does plus he's more potent offensively and is two inches taller. Yet he's entering his senior year of college. That's just one example. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jalensdad2002 Posted October 28, 2004 Share Posted October 28, 2004 You know I tried to stay out of this, but that is the most absurd statement I have heard. What basis did you use to state Xavier Price destroyed Liddell. They never really matched up because Liddell had the ability to play from the one- four spot on the high school level. During Liddell junior year he played perhaps his finest game against O'Fallon where he scored 21 points,grabbed 17 rebounds, and blocked 4 shots. When Price transferred to West where he was surrounded by better talent and coaching they beat East Side by about 24 points. But you have to look beyond the numbers as East Side were coming off 7 quick games( the last 4 being very tough). They were down. In the rematch at West Tommie dominated one of the best teams in the state by scoring 15 points in 3 1/2 minute span. He finished the game with 29 points, 7 rebs, and 2 blocks. One of the block was of an Xavier Price jumpshot which led to a dunk. I have the game disc to prove it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jalensdad2002 Posted October 28, 2004 Share Posted October 28, 2004 >Larry Legend averaged 27 ppg and 29 ppg in his junior and >senior years of high school and then averaged 21 ppg as a >college freshman. Tommie is a very good player but that >isn't the type of offensive talent we're dealing with here. I won't argue those numbers, but how many shots did Hughes average in high school. Liddell averaged slightly more than 12 per game. He also played for a 3 year coach who ran an offense that elevated his teammates to Liddell's level. Meaning Liddell teammates took an equal amount of shot. Any decent coach would no better. I look beyond his numbers as Liddell played poorly or indifferent against inferior competition. When he faced the Vashon's, Belleville West's, and Carbondale's of the world he dominated on most occasions. I often talked to Bennie Lewis Sr at the games, he stated he would have ran Tommie at the 3 and turned him into a scorer as opposed to a distributor. People forget Liddell was not only his team's leading scorer, he was also the leading rebounder, assist man, steals, and blocks. He went into big games every night knowing that if he didn't play at a very high level, his team would lose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.