recruiting - jordan akwenuke Jesuit?

Pilots have 3 commits and there is one more scholarship open? surfing the net and this site has Jordan Akwenuke from Jesuit as a verbal to UP. Has anyone heard anything about this? I have never seen him play but it would be great to get another local kid.

http://oregonpreps.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1170224

I remember seeing this rumor a while ago BEFORE signing day, and yet there was never any letter of intent signed soooo.....

I wonder if the team is looking more in either for another post or more in the PG direction (I think the last game showed our lack of depth in that dept... but what do I know?)

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/recruiting/player/_/id/82738/jordan-akwenuke

He sounds like more of a "tweener" who may not be getting much attention from Division I schools. Yeah, we probably need either some depth at point guard or another big at center. I'm hoping that Barker Riley bulks up a bit in the off season. The trainers are pretty good about getting our guys in shape...

The Pilots have three point guards now, why would they recruit another one unless one was to drop from the prograam. They DO NEED A ;POSTPLAYER, and hopefully a JC player and a good one.
The player from Jesuit is only 6-6 and a liittle slender for the post, probably about 190.I believe he commited after the early signing pereiod so the coaches cant sign anybody until sometime in April.

Who is the 3rd? I certainly hope you aren't suggesting Rodgers... His aptitude at the 1 is, well, the last game should speak for itself (read: he isn't a point guard). And the 2nd one, Waterford, will be a senior next year. They need depth at that position going forward, the team dropped off drastically when Tim was injured for the last 2 games, it threw the entire offense off. As for posts, we have Barker, Nicholas and Bailey (who red shirted) coming back, plus we will add Cason, so we aren't paper thin at the post at least....

Agreed. I am not sure where Rodgers best position is, but with his inability or unwillingness to ever shoot from the outside, we must play basically 4 against 5 when he is in the game at the point. Teams totally drop off him, taking away his drive to the hoop. Another PG to work with Tim D. is important.

Here's another undeclared one star recruit with a familiar last name who recently played in Washington state's 3A state championship...where Bellevue lost to Lakes:

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/recruiting/player/_/id/114512/nate-sikma

I'm not sure if he's the rebounder that his brother is, but, there's a chance he might be an even better shooter... Who knows.

Rodgers might not be the PT guard U want buut he played it at JC and was recruited as one. It would be foolish to have four PT guards o n the roster with the young team we have for next year.
Barker played cwell this year and willbe better next, but he played what 200 min. ? Nicholas at the end was played the best of the frosh in the front line. Barker didn't get in for LMU at egas. Henry had some good work as a red shirt I'm sure, but hes' still inexperienced. I'll say it gain we need a bigger, stronger post player than what we have coming back. Takke a look at the other teams, Gonzaga, USF , USD, St. Marys. Post players upperclass men and probably ave. 6-10 or better a nd going250 lbs or better.

Northwest Hoops rate N. Sikma #2 forward in Class of 2011, ave 19.7 pts. , but at 6-7 and 200lbs he wont be playing at the post. Forward ok and wemay need someone like that if he can rebound half as good as Luke.

I think we need another 5. We have three point guards coming back in Tim, Eric, and Derrick. We have three 4's in Ryan, John and Carson. We have three wings returning in Nem, Tanner and Kevin joining as a frosh. But we only have one returning center in Riley. That is the position we are thin at. I think Riley will be fine with another off season of work but you cant play with just one post.
I believe we are very solid in our guards, wings and power forwards, if Rev can find a big that is able to come in and contribute I think the team will be very competitive next year.

Any word on post season play? Have to think we will land somewhere with another 20 win season.

After watching the AAA game I dont know if Nate Sikma is ready for the D1 level. He is a solid high school player but I dont think he is 6'7 more like 6'5 and he needs bulk. I see him being successful at perhaps the NAIA or maybe D2 level. IMO

Agreed. I think we need another big man. Not sure who is available out there though as I don't follow high school or AAU basketball.

Old timer, you laid our next years roster perfectly. If wecan fill that one big hole we shuld be very competitive

If injuries or whatever happen and we have to rely on the Waterford/Rodgers rotation at the PG, we won't be very competitive at all, no matter how many bigs we might have...

from what i can figure from the O, looks like carr is playing pt at central cath. anyone seen him play? is he more stohl or, hopefully mcconnell?

Carr's game is definitely more camparable to Stohl than McConnell. He is a little bigger than Jared but strokes it just as well. His release is not quite as quick as Stohl so he needs an extra split-second to get his shot off. He's a smart player and is not a bad passer, but his handle isn't great. He's not going to blow by anyone for a layup. A good defensive guard like Steven Holt would give him a lot of problems. Of course, we said the same thing about Jared, and over the last few years he's developed the ability to keep defenders honest by putting the ball on the floor every now and then. If Carr can do that, he has the potential to be every bit as good as Jared.

Carr and Akewenuke will face each other in a semifinal tomorrow at 3:15 in the Rose Garden. Wish I could make it to that one.

If we should suffer an injury to ANY key player we won't be competitive, Nik was an example. You have to hope that somone can step up. If Nem should go down for any length of time next year for example it would really hurt, or Barker perhaps. Our rosters have never been deep with skill players but if the program can continue to improve hopefully that problem will improve.

tmac2218 wrote:Carr's game is definitely more camparable to Stohl than McConnell. He is a little bigger than Jared but strokes it just as well. His release is not quite as quick as Stohl so he needs an extra split-second to get his shot off. He's a smart player and is not a bad passer, but his handle isn't great. He's not going to blow by anyone for a layup. A good defensive guard like Steven Holt would give him a lot of problems. Of course, we said the same thing about Jared, and over the last few years he's developed the ability to keep defenders honest by putting the ball on the floor every now and then. If Carr can do that, he has the potential to be every bit as good as Jared.

I saw Carr and Central Catholic against Jesuit in the semis today. Carr won't be that big at the college level, but he runs the floor pretty well. He had a couple nice drives to the basket but had trouble making his layups. He wasn't CC's primary offensive option. Defensively he was solid and had a couple steals.

Jesuit faces Westview tomorrow and I just hope it's not a complete snorefest because Jesuit has been blowing everyone out. Again.

As for Kyle Wiltjer, well, he's on another level and you can see why Kentucky would be after him.

Best band: North Medford by far.

DaTruRochin wrote:If injuries or whatever happen and we have to rely on the Waterford/Rodgers rotation at the PG, we won't be very competitive at all, no matter how many bigs we might have...

Well, the problem is that we have 2 needs: backup point guard and center. I also feel much more confident in our team with Douglas at PG than Waterford or Rodgers. We are definitely going to loaded up at the shooting guard, small forward, and power forward positions with: John Bailey and Nicholas as options at power forward, Mitrovic coming back, and Kevin Bailey and Cason coming in and likely demanding immediate minutes.

Some questions other questions facing us for next year:

* What role will Tanner Riley play? Is he a backup shooting guard to Mitrovic or do the super recruits (Bailey and Cason) keep him out of the rotation? Can he possibly move to the PG position or is that out of the question?

* Will Kevin Bailey and Cason be inserted into the rotation at shooting guard or small forward immediately? These guys are so talented that they might be tempted to transfer if they don't get immediate minutes in my opinion...

* Are Korey Thieleke and Taylor Mossman good enough to break the rotation?

* Can Riley Barker bulk up a little bit in the off season?

--------------------

I personally like this potential starting lineup the best for next year:

Douglas--PG
Mitrovic--SG
K. Bailey--SF
R. Nicholas--PF
R. Barker--C

purple pride, I too saw the central jesuit game yesterday and I echo ur comments on carr. on offense he was more of a point guard and distributed the ball pretty well. as far as 3 pt. shooting it was nada, I don't thgink he took one. missed two or three at the rim allright after good drives. U can't say much seeing someone play once, but I don't know where he might play.
Akwenuke was a different story, scored 16 pts but hhe did it so quietly I th-ought he might have 9 or 10. Skinney as a rail, maybe 180-185 close to 6 -6 good defense and fairly long arms. mite be a good walk onbut not sure about a schlorship.

futbol, I would agree with ur tentative starting lineup, but i hope that rev wouldnot wait as long as he
did to insert douglas, if someone shows more talent.
if i can spell akwenuke, i can spell scholarship.

For tonight's championship game Akwenuke chose a pair of sneakers in an understated shade of day glow neon highlighter yellow. But, he backed it up with a pretty good game.

upsailor wrote:futbol, I would agree with ur tentative starting lineup, but i hope that rev wouldnot wait as long as he
did to insert douglas, if someone shows more talent.
if i can spell akwenuke, i can spell scholarship.

I'm not sure who is going to show more talent than that group next year. Even putting Kevin Bailey, a true freshman, into the starting lineup might be a stretch. I hope he does it though. We've never ever had a ESPN top 150 recruit as far back as I can remember. If that's untrue, maybe someone can correct me... Rev is a pretty conventional coach, and he usually values seniority...

K. Bailey and Cason sound like somewhat similar talents to me...both 6'6 swingmen who are better athletes than shooters. It wouldn't make much sense to start both of them together before Mitrovic graduates. At least, that's my initial impression without having seen them play beyond a few impressive Youtube clips.

Just to clarify onetouchfutbol, it's actually Rivals150 on yahoo (Kevin is currently 143). ESPN has top 100 but Kevin is actually not in it. Anyway, I don't think Rev will have any problem playing who he thinks gives the team the best chance to win each game. He had no issue playing TJ over Tiashi (who by the way is the last Pilot to be placed on the WCC all freshman team) And when TJ got into foul trouble in the WCC tournament in 2009 against Saint Mary's it was Eric Waterford who played most of the minutes (18 compared to 14 by TJ and 8 by Ito). I think one thing that this year showed, at least a little bit, is that Rev isn't interested in rebuilding. He is going to focus on winning now every year. Speaking of Eric, I don't think he is getting enough credit. Yes I get worried every time he is in the game, always have felt that way, but remember that he was the primary point guard during a long stretch when the Pilots were playing good ball. No he is never going to take over a game but as a back-up he is solid enough. If he continues to work on his shot and plays quality defense we will be just fine. Also, who at this time last year would have bet that Nem would show up the way he did. Rev has always preached that every day is an opportunity to get better and the summer workouts really show that. Another summer on campus will really go a long way with these freshman. As for now, let's just hope that two one-and-done trips to the CIT will be enough for this group of Pilots to get the W down there in Hawii.

purplepride13 wrote:Anyway, I don't think Rev will have any problem playing who he thinks gives the team the best chance to win each game. He had no issue playing TJ over Tiashi (who by the way is the last Pilot to be placed on the WCC all freshman team)...

I think Rev is a great coach, and I think that many great coaches lean toward going with seniority and experience. Dean Smith did that many times. However, I really think that it could have been strongly argued that Douglas deserved to have a starting position immediately after he lit up Portland State. Instead, we had to wait and watch Waterford be somewhat turnover prone in two losses on the road that really hurt us (SCU and USF). That's not to say that Douglas would have had a different result (and in all honestly Douglas has had his share of turnovers too), but, he definitely showed signs have more of an upside on the offensive end than Waterford early...

But, it's time to let bygones be bygones. I'm just hoping to see Kevin Bailey play significant minutes and hopefully start next year. I think when Rev watches him at practice, he may have no choice but to start him...