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Foreign Players...why not?

keefusb

keefusb

Graduate Assistant
Mar 19, 2010
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Was watching GW beat Hofstra in the NIT last night, and the Colonials were led by a trio of foreign players (Garino-19pts, Larsen-16pts, Watanabe-15pts).

Given our spate of recruiting misses over the past several years (next years class not withstanding), can anyone come up with any reasons why we wouldn't want to increase our overseas recruitment? I see programs all over the country who have top-notch foreign players on their rosters:

Hield - OK
Poeltl - Utah
Simmons - LSU
Labissiere - Kentucky

That doesn't even include Gonzaga who have two of the best big men in college hoops (Sabonis and Karnowski, both from Europe).

So why not?
 
All three of those GW guys are only sort of foreign in terms of their recruiting, as they all spent at least one year in the U.S. at prep schools. GW has a great draw for foreign students due to its location.

We've done the foreign thing a bit with Martel and Duinker. Been rumored a few Euro guys here and there.

Maybe something we should take more seriously, but not sure we'll be able to land top tier guys. It's a lot of effort to try to find and recruit the guys who are actually overseas, but clearly others are doing it.
 
Seems like most do a year of prep over here before college, but I think the trick is to spot them before then. I believe there are a lot of gems in Europe that we are not even aware of.
 
coachfezz said:
http://u16men.fibaeurope.com/en/default.asp

We always should be here and also B because of strong single players on weak teams. I have said before this is differenr recruiting technique if player is not in US prep school. Different values. Euro players I know like how campus is so Coach should go to see players at FIBA tourn
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Coach, I would think Euro players might like to play in Coach's system...especially big guys with a shooting skill set. In your experience do you think we should start trying to target more international players?
 
I believe Labissiere was living in Tennessee since he was like 14 or something. foreign by birth but Kentucky didn't travel far to recruit him.
 
^^That doesn't change the overall idea that we should be seeking out more foreign players. My point is there are a lot of good players who are either outside the US or they recently came here. I think we are missing the boat by not looking more closely in places like Europe, or even South America. Basketball has become very popular in places like Argentina and Brazil.

So far Coach Fezz thinks it's a good idea...
 
We can and should, UR is very attractive to international students. I don't recall us ever having any players outside of the US/CAN/AUS though.
 
good point Rick, I guess I had thought of GasMo has a domestic recruit because we pulled him from the prep ranks, and Oumar was a transfer. Maybe the better question was who have we recruited internationally...
 
Kadeem Smithen was Canadian... Not exactly a shining example of big-time international talent though.

You'd think with the emphasis Admissions has seemingly placed on international students, it would be a natural fit for a basketball player from Europe to come here, even just by dumb luck at this point from having known another kid who came here.
 
MrTbone said:
We can and should, UR is very attractive to international students. I don't recall us ever having any players outside of the US/CAN/AUS though.
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UR has consistently had one of the best rankings for international education over the past few years, both for students going abroad and those going to UR. It really is something that we should use to our advantage, I think.
 
I was really thinking more about non-Canadian players, we might as well consider that a very friendly state to the north. Specifically, I can't recall a single European player being a Spider. Anyone...Bueller?
 
we don't want too high of a % of foreign scholie students of the total international community on campus, would hurt our numbers for the elite academics out there who know what a campus should look like.
 
Coach, I would think Euro players might

Yes we should i am sure but think we will not because of lack of knowledge how to start. But it should be in budget for one coach to go . The word swagger meand nothing to the persons I know there. So yiou see it is different and more team score not like American get my points block the shot and dunk the ball. I think coach who goes must do research on things and has to fix thoughts that are from American recruiting. Just my own opinion


FIFY --- somehow you had set it up as a quote
 
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my understanding recruiting in Europe is heavily dependent upon contacts
 
Contacts very important for sure, but knowing where to go to see players, and language barriers are other factors. Still think if we can land one or two impact players from Europe, it would be worth it.
 
my point was more start by building contacts, not sure if you understood that
 
I feel like if we send someone over there to start watching players, the contacts will come. Otherwise, we will need to either hire an assistant who has contacts, or we will have to go through the process of building them from a clean sheet, not sure any of us want to wait that long.

it probably doesn't matter anyway, CM never does anything different or new, like looking overseas for players. Pipe dream.
 
keefusb said:
Contacts very important for sure, but knowing where to go to see players, and language barriers are other factors. Still think if we can land one or two impact players from Europe, it would be worth it.
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Isn't UR famous for its international business studies. What better on the job training than going to Europe and recruiting basketball players? :)
 
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it is easy. Buy ticket. get off plane. go to gym. watch games. meet everyone. have fun and drink and food. Much easier than AAU pomyje.

I think just have someone show up and watch all the games A and B in FIBA U16 is very simple. Someone who is able to drink and have fun while being good coach. I think not have to kiss AAU coach dupa either is a big opportunity.
Only those who have been there can understand the cultures but smile and friendly and let s have toast na zdravi. Stiff and no humor gets no recruits. Learn some words . Very easy. does anyone understand this, yes?
 
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The Ulla spent 4 years working at universities in Germany and The Netherlands, and am well schooled in how to drink, eat and have fun. Am ready for this new overseas assignment. OSC
 
coachfezz said:
it is easy. Buy ticket. get off plane. go to gym. watch games. meet everyone. have fun and drink and food. Much easier than AAU pomyje.

I think just have someone show up and watch all the games A and B in FIBA U16 is very simple. Someone who is able to drink and have fun while being good coach. I think not have to kiss AAU coach dupa either is a big opportunity.
Only those who have been there can understand the cultures but smile and friendly and let s have toast na zdravi. Stiff and no humor gets no recruits. Learn some words . Very easy. does anyone understand this, yes?
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Well I finally figured out where Fezz is from, dupa tipped me off. I'm still trying to figure out his plate of food avatar.
 
MrTbone said:
Well I finally figured out where Fezz is from, dupa tipped me off. I'm still trying to figure out his plate of food avatar.
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Slavic, but not sure of the country. Albanian, Lithuanian or Polish. My guess on the country would be Albania and as to the food my guess is that is a family recipe for Grandma’s Albanian Cabbage Stew – Mish me Lakra:
8d8206f01b35b2a305106fae2064f3e0.jpg
 
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