Well, Jason Nelson is a pretty good local kid who chose us. So is Sherod. And Buckingham.
Alphonzo Billups - 2022 Offer
- Thread starter SFspidur
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No offense to Sherod, Nelson, and Buckingham - but I don't remember they drawing interest this high and being ranked as high as this kid.
I am not a believer in that rankings are the end all for how a kid will turn out, especially on our mid-major level. I think once you get past the top 75-100 - there is likely not much difference between player 124 and 174. But I do think offers from other schools is a better indicator since those assistants have likely seen the kid play several times and watch film on them.
But with that being said - I always think you need a mix of kids to be successful. you need to find kids who fit your system and might be underecruited - which is where I think the bulk of UR recruiting lives under Mooney. But you also need to get those higher profile, higher ranked kids as well to mix in. Something I think we struggle at and the result is waiting 3-4 years until we have a large group of upperclassmen. Could admissions be holding us back - very possible. Could lack of NCAA appearances be holding us back - very possible.
I am not a believer in that rankings are the end all for how a kid will turn out, especially on our mid-major level. I think once you get past the top 75-100 - there is likely not much difference between player 124 and 174. But I do think offers from other schools is a better indicator since those assistants have likely seen the kid play several times and watch film on them.
But with that being said - I always think you need a mix of kids to be successful. you need to find kids who fit your system and might be underecruited - which is where I think the bulk of UR recruiting lives under Mooney. But you also need to get those higher profile, higher ranked kids as well to mix in. Something I think we struggle at and the result is waiting 3-4 years until we have a large group of upperclassmen. Could admissions be holding us back - very possible. Could lack of NCAA appearances be holding us back - very possible.
True, but those are not top level BCS recruits either and I think that was the refence point. Nelson had a Vandy offer (nice but not exactly a P6 powerhouse). Sherod, I think had a Tech and Texas Tech offers. Buck had a bunch of nice P6 offers but if I recall most of the big boys backed off Buck after an injury. Honestly, every recruit we sign should have a BCS offer or two, that is the level we should be hitting at in, my opinion. And then maybe we hit on an even bigger recruit because we get the local connections, ala Billups in this discussion.
But yes, point taken, those were good local kids that chose us.
Nelson and Billups won a state title together at Varina. Nelson was the state player of the year, but he's not a big guy so he wasn't as highly regarded nationally as Billups is.
Two more recent examples that I don't remember us being in contention for their services were Robbie Beran (Collegiate School - Northwestern) and then twice for the Joe Bamisile (Monocan HS - VA Tech and Transfer to George Washington).
I don't think we need to rely on local kids, but when you have a top 100 or near top 100 in your backyard and your not even being mentioned with them, that should be a concern.
I don't think we need to rely on local kids, but when you have a top 100 or near top 100 in your backyard and your not even being mentioned with them, that should be a concern.
I understand your point, and I would love to secure a Henry Coleman now and again.
I think I'm just reacting to the absolutism on here: we NEVER are in on good local kids and VCU ALWAYS gets top local kids.
But the facts are that we were indeed mentioned (actually, offered) Robbie Beran and Joe Bamisile. And taking on Bamisile this offseason was a terrible roster fit, so saying we "missed" twice is incorrect.
And a quick scan suggests that VCU has exactly 0 players from Virginia, much less Richmond.
And of the four recent total local players that fit into the "top 100" category: Bamisile, Coleman, Efton Reid, Roosevelt Wheeler, neither of UR or VCU have secured them.
I think I'm just reacting to the absolutism on here: we NEVER are in on good local kids and VCU ALWAYS gets top local kids.
But the facts are that we were indeed mentioned (actually, offered) Robbie Beran and Joe Bamisile. And taking on Bamisile this offseason was a terrible roster fit, so saying we "missed" twice is incorrect.
And a quick scan suggests that VCU has exactly 0 players from Virginia, much less Richmond.
And of the four recent total local players that fit into the "top 100" category: Bamisile, Coleman, Efton Reid, Roosevelt Wheeler, neither of UR or VCU have secured them.
VCU is a different story. They don't need to secure them because they have shown they are fully capable of securing top talent from outside of Virginia and Richmond area because they are well known - a result of making the tourney 8 of last 9 years. So they are able to go out and get top 150 kids from outside the area. They got Bones - he was I think right around top 100 and was from Delaware. And I don't expect either school to load up on top 100-150 talent. That is a tough ask for a mid-major program. But it just seems to me they are mentioned more with these P6 kids, and the more your mentioned - the better chance you got of winning a few of them. Not to mention - with the new transfer portal and rules, it will likely pay dividends to be in these kids final lists and if they decide to go P6 and it doesn't work out, you already got a good relationship to get them as a transfer.
Kneepad, respect the analysis there. You are correct, neither us or VCU is getting the big time local talent. As Trap, points out though, VCU is going out and getting big time local talent outside of RVA though, whereas we haven't.
Mooney does have a record of being able to capture some good local players, so it would be nice if he could grab one of these more top flight players in RVA. I suspect that will only occur in Mooney starts taking us to the NCAA more and building a winning reputation for us. An at large bid this year would be a great step in that direction.
97, that is the issue - Mooney does not have the track record to say to top talent: Come here, I know how to get you in the NCAA. The VCU's, Gonzaga's, SDSU's, St. Mary's, Dayton's, etc have coaches or programs that can make that claim and use as a selling point. Like you noted, get in this year and you can start to turn it around. Let's see results instead of the usual excuses.
They have a very good selling point in Bones: Come here, be the man and u can get to the league.
8legs1dream
Team Manager
8legs1dream
Team Manager
Mooney needs to win, get in the tourney and win a game. Do that, maybe Burton makes a roster in a couple years - that is the exposure we need. This crapping his pants every year is just becoming a repeating pattern and top guys are staying away. I'm old, but I think the top tier talent (not the G league/one and done guys) but the top 50-200 guys) want to play for a program that makes the tourney, and sends some guys to the NBA. We are currently offering zero in the last several years. OK, done with my vent. We need to make the tourney very minimum this year. Sweet 16 would give us much more spotlight and should help recruiting.
Success begets success.
commonwealthtimes.org
Alphonzo Billups, a top-100 recruit, commits to VCU men’s basketball The Commonwealth Times
Noah Fleischman, Sports Editor For Varina High School senior Alphonzo Billups, the college recruiting process was tough. Coaches were in constant attendance at his games — sitting in the stands, watching his every move. The highly anticipated decision weighed on Billups, so much that Kenneth...
commonwealthtimes.org
Well, crap. VCU wins again. I wonder if Mooney is as tired as I am of VCU beating us on the court, getting to the NCAA's, and getting top notch recruits each year. That's a joke of course. His 1.3 million annual paycheck comes whether he beats VCU in any capacity or not. But man, do you got pride? Cause I wanna see some f*cking pride. That ship has sailed too
Good get by VCU. As Gkiller says, success begets success. I expect them to be successful every year because it is demanded at VCU. Here at UR, it is expected but always excused if it is not realized
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