Miles Thomas - Small forward
- Thread starter Ulla1
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recruiting is confusing sometimes. like fan1 said, his body control is excellent. he's athletic. he can shoot and handle. like Fan2 said, he's clearly playing at a different level than his teammates and competition. I'd like to see highlights in an AAU setting where other players are of D1 caliber. A lot of guys look good against weaker comp. But the tools seem to be there. I do wonder where the offers are. maybe they're coming. or there's a reason beyond the highlights that they aren't. but yeah, he's looks good.
Well, that is better than some of the offers that some of our current and recently departed players have had. At least other Division 1 schools see this guy as a D-1 talent.
There is a lot to like about Miles Thomas, based on 7 minutes of highlight film alone. First, he looks like he has the potential to be a total lock-down defender, and we need to strongly weigh defensive skills in our upcoming class. We lose 3-4 of our best defenders, without a doubt, this year (counting ANO), so we cannot afford to bring in guys who are "pure" shooters. Miles appears to be an outstanding athlete, very similar to some of our all-time bests at SF, and very much like Trey Davis. He also has an excellent "handle," which also reminds me of Trey. The key, frankly, is how much will his outside shooting improve (or how good is it now)? If the coaches seem him as having "good enough" shooting range, then he could easily be a strong "early" recruit in this year's class. What we also do not see in the video is the consistency of his "motor," but based on 7 minutes of film it looks like that motor can be present, in a big way, when he wants to turn it on. If he can shoot 70% from free-throw range, and can hit 30% from 3-point range, then he looks like a great fit for out sytem. Even if these areas are a bit uncertain, we have seen that guys who don't light it up from outside can add a lot of value. I hope he visits soon, and that he leaves with lots of smiles and a solid, "committable," offer. This is one of the more impressive videos we have seen of a small-forward in a while, and we certainly could use a player with skills like those in the video.
He looks good, but it is a highlight video and he is clearly a man playing among boys in most of those clips. So, yes, while I like his highlight video, it is a high school highlight video against inferior competition. He should look really good in that type of forum if we are recruiting him.
Really like his handle, overall quickness and athleticism. I would still hope that we get a commitment from Nick Sherod.
Just to clarify this post, you'd think a commit from Thomas would close the door on Sherod? Is that right?
Wow, had never really watched this kids highlights, but I like. Again, I know these are highlights, and look like from hs and the competition not high level. But he does have athleticism that jumps off the page - and seems to have a good handle and decent shot. I'd be OK with bringing him and Sherod if we can get the guy from Indy. Really though it does seem like we need two 6'8" guys + DaMonte + wing. Great to have DaMonte on board to start this process.
i am only guessing but I would assume if Thomas commits , then Nick would have to look elsewhere. I just think that its very important to get 2 bigs. If I was Nick, I would be paying attention to this. I am sure the staff makes that clear to these young men.
But if the choices are one quality big and Nick or one quality big and a marginal big, we may be better off accepting a smaller lineup of great players. We'll still have Paul and the quality big, with opportunities to pick up more bigs through transfers or future recruiting classes
I keep watching Thomas' highlights looking for something I don't like. I can't. he's longer and more explosive than Sherod. he shoots it well. but man, Sherod is a stone cold scorer. his range is ridiculous. I want then both. just don't see how it fits. they'd compete with KoVien at the 3. our SG talent is overflowing and Nick is a 2. Thomas may be the better fit at the 3. but Sherod is too good not to find a spot for.
Nick seemed like a strong UR lean. he's had a huge summer though, so maybe he's thinking higher major conference? up to the coaches to get a feel for that. if we still think he's coming, I think we have to wait on him. but from the video, I think you jump at a verbal from Thomas if offered.
at some point though we HAVE to add size or we're going to be in big trouble soon, counting on freshmen when Cline and Wood graduate.
Nick seemed like a strong UR lean. he's had a huge summer though, so maybe he's thinking higher major conference? up to the coaches to get a feel for that. if we still think he's coming, I think we have to wait on him. but from the video, I think you jump at a verbal from Thomas if offered.
at some point though we HAVE to add size or we're going to be in big trouble soon, counting on freshmen when Cline and Wood graduate.
We have had 6'6 play the 4 and the 5 in the past. Derrick Williams was 6'6 and was excellent at the 4 and 5 before his back injury. Dayton had success last season with no one over 6'6 on their team. I see no reason why a commitment from Miles Thomas would take away Nick Sherod's spot or vice versa.
I'm with you on all this. I like what i see from Thomas a whole lot too.
But Nick is such a scorer. And we need a scorers. Nick's gotten a handful of offers this week and may just be waiting to see if any additional offers come in, which only seems reasonable. To this point, none of the offers jump off the page as ones i'm overly concerned with, but you never know how he might connect with another coach.
So what happens if Miles Thomas says he's committing when he leaves on Sunday? Do we tell him we're waiting on Nick or do we tell Nick we're full or do we say yes to both? Interesting conundrum.
We take both and plan to play a lot more small ball once CJK and MW are gone. Perhaps like our 1984 team where Tarrant moved Bill Flye (a natural stretch 4) to the 5, and played Newman with 3 guards. PF would play the Bill Flye role, unless we sign a super-stud big or two next recruiting season.
I think you guys are absolutely right but it puts some major pressure on staff to get an "A-10 ready" big man or two next year. Those do not fall off trees.
Get Miles and Nick both. Don't need a 6'8" project in place of guys that can play. Dayton is a perfect example. They didn't go so small by design, but I always prefer talent.
Agree, does put pressure to land a study 4/5 player. BUT, this is a problem for all A10 programs - landing big men. Go check out the URI board, as much as we laud Hurley as some great recruiter - they are complaining about inability to land big guys. The "can't miss" big guys are in the ACC, etc.
^^^ +1
fan2001 ... DWill was like 270. KoVien and Miles are like 170. I think they're true SFs. you can play one at the 4 and get offensive mismatches, but then our 5 better be a monster.
This is a very good point. Either way I think we are better picking up a good 6'6 3/4 than a project 6'9/6'10 5. In the A10 a 6'6 player can play the 4 easily. Quickly looking at the kenpom depth chart, it seems the average 4 in the A10 is ~6'7, but there are some teams with 4s as small as 6'4. The weight is the bigger issue. I think we only need 1 player this class in the 6'8+ range.
If we have success this year it may be easier to recruit bigs in the next class, especially if we can also offer some guaranteed instant playing time. Just some food for thought.
In 2 years, Paul will be the only player on the roster taller than 6'5 (a player I might add who is coming off an ACL injury). So, no way in my mind we take on this kid and Sherod. If we get Sherod, this offer gets slow played, because we are going to be looking at the other 2 slots for 4's and 5's.
97, I hear you and I was thinking the same. but I keep watching Miles' video and dang! kid's really good. our roster would be a little out of whack for a year with not enough frontcourt, but we could balance it the next year. we'd have to get luck injury-wise for one season, or play small.
I'm just comparing Miles to previous SF talents. Deion, Trey, Robbins, Martel etc. Miles looks better. not as big and strong, but something like Terry with a better jumper. it's just a highlight video, but I'll leave it up to the coaches to see if they want to go this route.
we don't even know if Miles has us as a top destination or not. he might have other plans.
I'm just comparing Miles to previous SF talents. Deion, Trey, Robbins, Martel etc. Miles looks better. not as big and strong, but something like Terry with a better jumper. it's just a highlight video, but I'll leave it up to the coaches to see if they want to go this route.
we don't even know if Miles has us as a top destination or not. he might have other plans.
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