2017 Recruiting

up7587 wrote:Can this be true?

@coachbobcantu wrote:Exciting to see Portland recruiting class ranked #17 in country by HoopScoop!! Go Pilots! Future bright!

Hilarious. The recruiting class seems like such a motley crew to an outsider. A Puerto Rican guard who's only been in the US for three years, a Kiwi, a Malian by way of Japan, and a juco transfer from a school no one around these parts had ever even heard of...and now it's considered among the best in the country. Love it.

I checked out the http://www.hoopscooponline.com/ and all I see about it is the headline "UCLA and Kentucky Top the List of Our Top 50 Ranked Recruiting Classes After the Conclusion of the Fall Signing Period" - wonder if we'll get any more info on it at some point. I'm very curious to see if it's one of these guys pulling the ranking up, or more of a group effort.

From the official release: "According to the HOOP SCOOP's rating system, all four Portland commits are rated among the Top 300 incoming players in the nation, while Tahirou Diabate and Taki Fahrensohn crack the Top 100 individually."

http://portlandpilots.com/news/2016/12/14/mens-basketball-recruiting-class-ranked-no-17-nationally.aspx

Kevin Bailey is the highest-rated recruit I can remember from the Reveno era... just checked, and his HOOP SCOOP's national rating was 97.

Not sure about the Holton era, but I would guess that either Pooh Jeter or Donald Wilson was our highest-rated recruit?

Top of the conference back then probably wasn't that big an achievement nationally. Gonzaga was doing all right, but they weren't yet a recruiting juggernaut. That said I expect our rating to drop some as it seems unlikely we'll be signing anyone in the spring period and other teams will be picking up more players. Two top 100 players is the best I can remember. In fact I think Kevin Baily may be our only prior top 100 recruit...ever.

Rob's Jacket wrote:Let's not forget that Hoop Scoop has given the Pilots high recruiting rankings before:

With less than three weeks on the job after being hired in April, Holton and staff assembled a recruiting class voted the tops in the conference according to Hoop Scoop Online, a leading internet college basketball scouting service.

That class consisted of Karl Aaker, Erik Soderberg, Eric Knight, Patrick Galos, Porter Troupe, and Brian Kim.

AKA murderer's row!!!

Only Karl Aaker lasted out of that group. Sigh.

But I do have fond memories of using the "Kim Cam" with MattyWizz, Rochin54, DaTruRochin, etc.

Stonehouse wrote:Only Karl Aaker lasted out of that group. Sigh.

And although Karl was only a part time starter, he did marry the best looking young lady on the dance team....and got his UP degree!  

Yes, UP has had some good recruits in the past, but this class offers not only more excitement than any other, but also the incoming recruits cover the most "desperate" needs of the team going forward....

As dholcombe mentioned, UP's rank of #17 could change some after the spring signing period, but it won't change much, and the coaching staff should be very proud of their accomplishments to this point.  I think it is notable that UP and Western Kentucky are the only two schools that are included among the top 20-ranked recruiting classes that do not belong to one of the powerhouse conferences (ACC, SEC, Pac-12, Big-10, Big-12, and Big East).

I just looked through the article from HoopScoop (it lists the Top-50 recruiting classes), and our men Austin Stone and JoJo Walker are in fact listed as Top 300 recruits, and Taki Fahrensohn is a Top 71-100 recruit, but Tahirou Diabate is actually ranked 41-70....so he's very well liked by the recruiting service.

I briefly met Diabate during his visit, and was very impressed by his personality, but it was Chier Maker and few others who scrimmaged with him.  When I asked Chier of his impression of Diabate, his reply was, "he's big and he's fast and he can jump."  According to Rashad, he was, "very difficult to defend" near the hoop and blew by defenders on a couple of occasions.  So, it wasn't just the recruiting service that was impressed!

It may take a year or two or more before this recruiting class actually lives up to the accolades, but this class has certainly added some excitement like no other, and gives us some hope that we may soon play in the WCC Championship game in Las Vegas.

About JoJo Walker:

Lompoc Record wrote:But then, Walker went into an attack mode, as he constantly found crevasses in the paint that were created by Serra’s trap defense. Walker not only charged inside, but dazzled the crowd at Cowitz Court with his crossovers and finishing touch. The University of Portland commit finished with a game-high 32 points through his array of fast break layups, free throws and 3-pointers.
 
“I think they threw a man-to-man zone on us,” Walker said. “At first, I didn’t know how to counter it, but then I got used to it and it was easy at the end.”  

http://lompocrecord.com/knights-pull-away-in-battle-of-cif-southern-section-champions/article_a69e07ea-a2c7-59a7-9bce-cd429512b9d0.html

A guy that sits near me keeps saying JoJo Walker will replace Alec in the line-up next year.  I'm leery of freshmen, but, then I see this . . .

@CoachCantu wrote:UP Recruit Class update: JoJo Walker avg 25ppg, 9 Asst, 5 reb.Shooting 49% Last 2 games scored 38 pts with 8 asst, and 37 pts with 17 asst.

up7587 wrote:

@CoachCantu wrote:UP Recruit Class update: JoJo Walker avg 25ppg, 9 Asst, 5 reb.Shooting 49% Last 2 games scored 38 pts with 8 asst, and 37 pts with 17 asst.

Obviously JoJo has had some lower scoring games too, but his last two games were the semi-final and final in the White Mountain Invitational Tournament in northern Arizona.....but that's not the whole story.

St. Joseph's High School won all five of its games in the Vegas Invitational 12/26-29 (5 games in 4 days) and then won all four games in the White Mountain Invitational on 12/30 and 12/31 (4 games in 2 days)....I don't know how many minutes JoJo played in those 9 games in 6 days, but it would seem he's working his way up to an Alec Wintering pace. (High school games are 32 minutes in length).

St. Joseph's is currently 11-2 (they lost to Lincoln of Tacoma (14 pts) and West Ranch of Valencia, CA (26 pts) in a four game tournament prior to Christmas), and they play a 27 game schedule plus the post-season....their first conference game is this coming Tuesday.

wrv wrote:Coach Cantu is a good interview.  Cantu did mention that our soon to be resident Malian who speaks four languages is a "little raw in some areas."

Coach Bob Cantu wrote:  UP Class Update:6'10 Tahiroue Diabiate avg this yr 37ppg and 24 reb. He had 45 points and 26 reb in his final game. He graduates in March...  

It would seem his opponents may also be a "little raw in some areas."

Coach Cantu reported tonight that Austin Stone dislocated his ankle and is out for the rest of the year. And JoJo Walker sprained his ankle. Tough night.

up7587 wrote:Coach Cantu reported tonight that Austin Stone dislocated his ankle and is out for the rest of the year.  And JoJo Walker sprained his ankle.  Tough night.

Seems it's always something.  

A couple of years ago JoJo broke his leg and that seems fine, so you just gotta hope the sprain is not too bad and Austin's ankle heals as strong as ever.  

Austin needs games to develop....the coaches will just have to see how much development he'll need when he comes to UP this summer.  Already a possible candidate to redshirt, this injury could be a set back to his timetable.

up7587 wrote:Coach Cantu reported tonight that Austin Stone dislocated his ankle and is out for the rest of the year.  And JoJo Walker sprained his ankle.  Tough night.

Yuck..."dislocated ankle" sounds nasty. His final numbers for the year - 15 GP, 7.9 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 55% from the field.

National Prep Hoops is reporting that UP has offered 6-0 PG Iziah James from Legacy Charter School in Greenville, SC.

James does not put up big numbers, but he plays in a very tough conference of private schools.

This offer probably comes as a bit of a surprise to Pilots fans, especially with JoJo coming in next year, but the staff always seems to be on the lookout for talent in the expectation/off chance/hope that someone may transfer from the team at the end of the school year.

James reportedly has offers from Alcorn, Grambling, Maryland Eastern Shore, and Southern Illinois, and getting looks from a number of southeastern schools plus UTEP....

up7587 wrote:A guy that sits near me keeps saying JoJo Walker will replace Alec in the line-up next year.  I'm leery of freshmen, but, then I see this . . .

@CoachCantu wrote:UP Recruit Class update: JoJo Walker avg 25ppg, 9 Asst, 5 reb.Shooting 49% Last 2 games scored 38 pts with 8 asst, and 37 pts with 17 asst.

Hmm, very interesting, in last night's Portside With the Pilots, Jazz said that "next year he'll be playing the 1."  

With so many 2/3 players on the roster, this does not surprise me, but it looks like JoJo will get a little time to learn the college game before being handed the keys to the team.  We'll just have to wait and see.

Jazz at the point? It's official, I now have zero clue what the 2017-18 Pilots will even look like. Probably Jazz at the 1 and Taylor at the 4 but beyond that? Haven't the slightest clue.

DoubleDipper wrote:National Prep Hoops is reporting that UP has offered 6-0 PG Iziah James from Legacy Charter School in Greenville, SC.....

Okay, a little update here.

Iziah is a lot like Alec in many ways....not only on the basketball court, as you can see in the tape, but also in that he's transferred to another school for the second time, Cape Henry Collegiate (tuition $20,000+ per year, but that includes lunch) in South Hampton Roads, Virginia, and although he's listed at 6-0 in various places, he's actually around 5-10. And finally, he plays with a little attitude, a little chip on his shoulder....I really like that!

I've watched a number of tapes of Iziah, and I really like to way he keeps his head up on offense and finds the open man, and he's a much better defender than most point guards at this stage of their development.

This is one of his most recent and shortest tapes....you can find plenty others online:

On the radio broadcast following the LMU game, Coach Cantu said they were close to picking up a couple of commits from some "impact players" - didn't go into too much more detail, but I'm counting 13 scholarships committed for next season even if both Porters are counted as walk-ons.

Considering Monson has only played 15 minutes this season I guess he'd be the most likely possibility to transfer out and free up a scholarship, so there's one...so I guess either the staff expects someone else to transfer, or one/both of these new guys are coming as walk-ons.

I heard the interview as well. It was Coach Ben Johnson, not Cantu. And the recruiting comment did not specifically refer to the class of 2017. Based on the scholarship situation, I assumed he was talking about recruits for subsequent classes.

The coaches have been clear that they do not believe they have enough players with the skills to compete at the level necessary for WCC competition. I expect there will be some hard discussions post-season with the players, about what is best for all involved.

up7587 wrote:The coaches have been clear that they do not believe they have enough players with the skills to compete at the level necessary for WCC competition.  I expect there will be some hard discussions post-season with the players, about what is best for all involved.

Unfortunately, I believe that this is a necessary evil.

SouthCarolinaPilot wrote:Unfortunately, I believe that this is a necessary evil.

Seems to me it is necessary,  but instead of evil, it is very good....even excellent!

All D1 staffs and players sit down for an end-of-year evaluation, and decisions about what is the right move for the program and the player are made.  Over 500 D1 players transfer each year....the decisions to transfer are ofen made or encouraged at these meetings.

btw....none of the players are having "grade issues."

up7587 wrote:The coaches have been clear that they do not believe they have enough players with the skills to compete at the level necessary for WCC competition.  I expect there will be some hard discussions post-season with the players, about what is best for all involved.

And perhaps there should be some self searching about losing leads at the end of games and what role playing a short bench had.

And I expect that when the new recruits come, the coaches will be held responsible.

StudentPilot wrote:
btw....none of the players are having "grade issues."

We apparently have talked to different folks.