Sal Koureissi - 2018 Signee
- Thread starter SFspidur
- Start date
2018 wasn't looking too good, but the staff rebounded well. I think this kid will be a star for us.
I have been harping on this open spot for weeks. Nice job by the staff to land a quality player when our other options moved on. Well done.
Welcome to Richmond Soul. The Corey Evans comment is promising.
I noticed Richmond bball twitter account retweeted the news. Is that now allowed? I didn't think you could comment on verbal committments. I never remember us doing that on social media before until they were signed.
I noticed Richmond bball twitter account retweeted the news. Is that now allowed? I didn't think you could comment on verbal committments. I never remember us doing that on social media before until they were signed.
Congrats to our staff and to Sal for making UR Sal's new home. There appears to be some major potential here, including ball-handling, passing, and a very nice shooting stroke (which can never be overlooked). Look forward to seeing Sal in the RC next fall.
Does anyone have any info on Sal's high-school stats or stats from any AAU teams? It would be nice to know what his FT shooting % is, along with 3-point shooting %, and any other more easily obtained stats, like PPG, RPG, and APGs. Thanks to anyone who is willing to do a little background check...
Does anyone have any info on Sal's high-school stats or stats from any AAU teams? It would be nice to know what his FT shooting % is, along with 3-point shooting %, and any other more easily obtained stats, like PPG, RPG, and APGs. Thanks to anyone who is willing to do a little background check...
Just to make sure I'm not saying it wrong, how is his name pronounced? Soul rhyming with bowl? Soul rhyming with cool? Or I've seen some on here refer to him as Sal, which I guess would rhyme with pal. After Kwesi last year I want to make sure I'm getting this right.
Welcome aboard Soul!
Welcome aboard Soul!
Yes, "Sal" is his chosen nickname. BTW, his commitment video was awesome.
From the early Dick Tarrant days, Sal reminds me of Johnny Newman: long arms,
skinny and good ball handler.
skinny and good ball handler.
Carolina, good observation; same could be said for Nathan Cayo. Been saying this for a while, but IMHO our recruiting the last few years has been at a high level. Might also say that of all our so-called targets this year, I would have preferred Sal over all of them (Of course, I would). Just my opinion.
I do agree that our recruiting seems on the upswing. It would appear from the early discussions and Mooney's interviews that Gilyard is a top 6 of the rotation guy right away, and Cato will have opportunity to show he deserves a spot somewhere. It will be very interesting to see how Schneider, Ford, and Verbinskis pan out. Some of the articles kind of insinuate that we are still looking for a 2018? Anyone know? I am assuming they are just writing this because we have only one commit, not realizing that is all we have room for currently in 2018.
Good article, I like this part: "he has -- at minimum -- a 7-5 wingspan".
Sounds like it is really just the strength/athleticism holding him back from the big boys. May be very key that we sign him next week before his season plays out.
I feel like we were also looking to sign a forward sized player a little more athletically developed, but it seems like Sal has some really nice upside. Even without a lot of strength, you can't teach 7-5 wingspan. And with skills.
yeah, he's long enough to play the 4, but he's a 3. very versatile. great highlights and still developing. will be interesting to see what he becomes. I'm not predicting 2,000 points or anything, but the John Newman comparison is a good one. long, thin, can shoot and slash. blew up the past 6 months. perfect high upside kid for this class.
Great get by Mooney. We had one slot to fill and we needed a front court player who was sought after. Sal checks those boxes. I am critical of Mooney's recruiting as anyone on here but this is exactly the type of player we need to be getting with all of our signees. If Seton Hall, Umass, and half of the A-10 is interested in you, that means a lot.
I also see but haven't checked accuracy of - Souleymane is a name of Arabic origin.
The name Souleymane has its origins in dialect Arabic Slimane or standard Arabic Salomon, meaning "healthy, intact, safe". In other Arabic dialects, it also means "the one who bites"
If that is accurate, that bodes well.
http://www.thesportster.com/basketball/top-15-most-impressive-wingspans-in-nba-history/
Yes Urmite, this is after the proud heritage of the Ancient Mali Kingdom and richness of its people.
Minnesota and Seton Hall - two teams that offered a scholarship to Sal - are top 25 in preseason poll. URI - also offered Sal - is just outside with a decent number of votes.
Yes, those 3 offers are pretty outstanding offers. I think there are many of us on here who are not asking for 4-5 star kids with offers to UVA, Duke, UNC to choose us, that is not realistic. What we are asking is for 3 star kids with a couple smaller BCS offers (like Seton Hall and Minnesota) and an ability to out recruit other A-10 schools.
And this demonstrates that we can successfully land a kid with these type of offers, so next time when Mooney brings in a kid with offers from American and Miss. Valley State, can we please stop saying that this all the better we can do. Apologies to AJ Ford, I could have referenced any of our recruits in this current class with this statement. It is just annoying when the same people come on here and say we can't do something and then try to draw some extreme and unrealistic comparison. No, a 12 year tenured coach with our facilities, league, and financial committments should be able to outrecruit a Minnesota, Seton Hall, Rhode Island, UMass, Temple type of program for a recruit. And all of our recruits should have this level of profile. If we want to take a flyer on a kid or two who is under recruited every once in a while, OK, but that should be the exception to the rule. Not the other way around.
Again, Congrats to Mooney and the staff for landing this kid. It is a very nice get. It doesn't assure us of him being a star for us but the fact that so many other good basketball programs were interested certainly speaks to the fact that he has the tools to play at a major program. And we are an upper level A-10 program, so stop selling us short on who we can recruit.
Sal currently is ranked the 8th best player in New York.
https://247sports.com/Season/2018-B...Rankings?InstitutionGroup=Highschool&State=NY
https://247sports.com/Season/2018-B...Rankings?InstitutionGroup=Highschool&State=NY
Do we know that we missed out on them? Could Sal have been our target from day 1? Just askin'
A) I only speak for myself, but I wasn’t complaining
B) No, you can’t dismiss the response as being premature. There is no indication we were in on Sal before we lost out on those other recruits.
C) I will concede that this counters my observation, that we have a closing problem. In this case we got it done, good job closing. To 97’s point (and he and I don’t always agree btw), we should be able to recruit at this level (more) consistently.
No, as near as I can tell, we didn’t offer him until 10/16, after we missed on our other targets.
Stork,
Thanks for the info on Sal's #8 ranking in New York State. I did a little bit of additional research and found the following "national rankings" (from 247 Sports), which certainly makes this commitment look like a "win."
Compare Sal's 264 rank nationally (and 3-star rating) to some of the really good players we currently have on our roster, listed in order of ranking:
Buck: Rank of 206 and 3-star
Nick: Rank of 250 and 3-star
Sal: Rank of 264 and 3-star
Jacob: Rank of 366 and 3-star
Verbinskis: Rank of 416 and 3-star
Grant: Rank of 446 and 2-star
Julius J: Rank of 462 and 2-star
Khwan F: Rank of 527 and 1-star
These are the 8 highest rated players who are currently on the roster (or will be next season). And, we fully expect that Buck, Nick, Jacob, and Grant will be starting for us this season. Also, Julius and Khwan are clearly excellent players, and would be in our "top-7". If there is validity in these rankings and ratings, then Sal will be a very positive addition to the team, and should have a chance to contribute significantly.
Thanks for the info on Sal's #8 ranking in New York State. I did a little bit of additional research and found the following "national rankings" (from 247 Sports), which certainly makes this commitment look like a "win."
Compare Sal's 264 rank nationally (and 3-star rating) to some of the really good players we currently have on our roster, listed in order of ranking:
Buck: Rank of 206 and 3-star
Nick: Rank of 250 and 3-star
Sal: Rank of 264 and 3-star
Jacob: Rank of 366 and 3-star
Verbinskis: Rank of 416 and 3-star
Grant: Rank of 446 and 2-star
Julius J: Rank of 462 and 2-star
Khwan F: Rank of 527 and 1-star
These are the 8 highest rated players who are currently on the roster (or will be next season). And, we fully expect that Buck, Nick, Jacob, and Grant will be starting for us this season. Also, Julius and Khwan are clearly excellent players, and would be in our "top-7". If there is validity in these rankings and ratings, then Sal will be a very positive addition to the team, and should have a chance to contribute significantly.
Mite, Thanks again for the great info and the summary of how our all-time recruiting rankings and ratings pan out.
The one clear take-away is that Sal appears to be an excellent addition to the program, and a terrific recruit in a year when we may have only one new recruit. Sal ranking in our top 5-10 rated recruits of all time certainly makes this recruiting cycle stand out.
The one clear take-away is that Sal appears to be an excellent addition to the program, and a terrific recruit in a year when we may have only one new recruit. Sal ranking in our top 5-10 rated recruits of all time certainly makes this recruiting cycle stand out.
Bryce was our #1 in this class.
We didn't hear about Sal until October, but there's no way the process didn't start much earlier. I assume we were working on him since spring or early summer when he blew up. perhaps it wasn't a firm offer until October as we may have been hoping to fill a 5 spot since we're losing JMA. but mutual interest had to be there to even get him to visit so quickly and now to commit.
