Re: 2017 Recruiting

by DoubleDipper Mon May 15, 2017 4:35 pm

Dean Murdoch wrote:
DoubleDipper wrote:While we wait for Marcus Shaver's decision (Sunday!!), it is worth noting that this thread, 2017 Recruiting, is now the most viewed thread on PilotNation, ever.

I guess you didn't specify WHICH Sunday.

Haha, apparently he made his decision yesterday, but he's going to announce it during school tomorrow....or so various tweets have intimated.

Hearing it's down to BSU and UP....we shall apparently know something tomorrow, but I'm confident UP will be a better choice for Shaver than BSU.

Starting lineup: Walker, Shaver, Diabate, McSwiggan, and F. Porter? Still a day away from knowing, and six months away from first game!

by DoubleDipper Mon May 15, 2017 4:55 pm

cjacks14 wrote:I bumped into Taki hobbling around downtown yesterday. He said that the knee surgery is from a torn meniscus so nothing too major. He's about 3 weeks into rehab and is hoping to be back soon.

I'm not sure if this has been posted anywhere else yet but he also mentioned they will be going on a preseason trip to London.

What, you bumped into some poor guy on crutches! Razz

I'm guessing Taki leaked a little insider information about the trip to London this summer. It was apparent the team was going somewhere so they could begin practicing together sooner, but the school has not announced the date or location.

According to New Zealand basketball news reports, Taki hurt his knee quite a long time ago (first of the year?), but because of his national team duties, his surgery was delayed until just three weeks ago. Already a good candidate to redshirt this coming year in order to balance out the classes and develop some strength, this late surgery may make it even more likely he'll sit a year.

by The Wingman Mon May 15, 2017 5:08 pm

Per Coach Cantu's, tweet this afternoon:" Kaboom!!!"
We just landed ourselves a big time recruit, Pilot Nation! Amazing recruiting class. Congratulations to the coaching staff and my hat goes off to our AD. Everything he touches turns to gold: men's soccer, volleyball, men's tennis. Now let's cheer for TP and his staff to develop this influx of talent. It's been 21 years since our last conference title. I don't know about everyone else, but I'm ready to compete again!

by Dean Murdoch Mon May 15, 2017 5:46 pm

I'll be damned.

by wrv Mon May 15, 2017 5:56 pm

Dean Murdoch wrote:I'll be damned.

Ditto that.

by Stonehouse Mon May 15, 2017 5:59 pm

Ooooooh! Can't wait to officially update the scholarship chart thingy!

by wrv Mon May 15, 2017 6:00 pm

The Wingman wrote:Per Coach Cantu's, tweet this afternoon:" Kaboom!!!"
We just landed ourselves a big time recruit, Pilot Nation! Amazing recruiting class. Congratulations to the coaching staff and my hat goes off to our AD. Everything he touches turns to gold: men's soccer, volleyball, men's tennis. Now let's cheer for TP and his staff to develop this influx of talent. It's been 21 years since our last conference title. I don't know about everyone else, but I'm ready to compete again!

Thanks for the post.

by Guest Mon May 15, 2017 8:42 pm

Geezaldinho wrote:From the LOI site:
Copies transmitted by facsimile or electronically are considered to be valid."

He could instagram it.

Maybe it was caught up in the global cyber attack. Do we need a PilotNation GoFundMe for the ransom payment?

by **PilotNut** Mon May 15, 2017 9:18 pm

NLI signing period ends on 5/17, so we should know something soon.

I am just posting this here for the record:
2017 Recruiting - Page 26 Captur10

by Sound Voltex Mon May 15, 2017 10:26 pm

YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
it's happeniiiiiiiiiiiiiing

by Dean Murdoch Tue May 16, 2017 9:33 am

DoubleDipper wrote:Haha, apparently he made his decision yesterday, but he's going to announce it during school tomorrow....or so various tweets have intimated.

So if today is "announcement day" for Marcus Shaver, here's his list of schools to pick from (all offers reported since he decommitted from UCSB two months ago).

Portland
New Mexico State
Boise State
Santa Clara
Eastern Michigan
Fordham
UC Davis
Illinois Chicago
Portland State
Seattle
Hawaii
Northern Arizona

by DoubleDipper Tue May 16, 2017 9:42 am

....and Eastern Michigan and Northern Arizona, apparently.

There was a flurry of activity and stepped-up recruiting surrounding Shaver after all the accolades he received from his performance in Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago.

Seen some reports that he would have been recruited even more, but many schools were out of scholarships.

by Dean Murdoch Tue May 16, 2017 10:00 am

DoubleDipper wrote:....and Eastern Michigan and Northern Arizona, apparently.

Oops, thanks. Added them both.

by ExpatPilot Tue May 16, 2017 10:01 am

I'm spending my day writing a paper and frequently refreshing my Twitter feed.

by NoPoNeighbor Tue May 16, 2017 10:14 am

Just playing devil's advocate here... Maybe Cantu's "Kaboom!!!" is about Shaver, but maybe it's not. Maybe it's about Chris Giles. Or Cockfield? Or a grad transfer who we haven't heard about yet?

Assuming we land another PG who can play next year, our backcourt looks like it will be fairly deep, if inexperienced. The front court is still a concern. With the three incoming big guys (Stone, Diabate, Hogland) and Hartwich, will we be able to put a balanced offense out on the floor? We haven't been able to do that since van der Mars graduated.

In other words, how much of an upgrade do the three newcomers (two frosh and a JC trasnfer) provide over Barreno? I'm a bit disappointed that we didn't go after a grad transfer big guy, e.g. Atewe (transferred from Washington to Pepperdine) or Bigby-Williams (from Oregon, who still hasn't announced his destination).

by aleppiek Tue May 16, 2017 10:22 am

I have been relatively silent around these part for a while, been lurking for sure Smile

I'm cautiously really excited about the infusion of athleticism on this squad. I'm curious if we may see a wholesale shift in style moving forward.

If in fact the kaboom is Shaver, we could have a really athletic Walker Shaver backcourt with a smaller frontcourt that can really run the floor. McSwiggan certainly has some bounce, Hogland looks the part of a transition beast. Who knows maybe throw some full court press out there?

If nothing else, I think the number of dunks we see out of the Pilots has certainly doubled or tripled from last year.

by DoubleDipper Tue May 16, 2017 10:52 am

NoPoNeighbor wrote:Just playing devil's advocate here... Maybe Cantu's "Kaboom!!!" is about Shaver, but maybe it's not....

....The front court is still a concern. With the three incoming big guys (Stone, Diabate, Hogland) and Hartwich, will we be able to put a balanced offense out on the floor?....

In other words, how much of an upgrade do the three newcomers (two frosh and a JC transfer) provide over Barreno?

Sorry to dissect your post, NPN, but my 2 cents:

1. I'll be surprised if Marcus Shaver does not come to UP.
2. I think there's a good chance Stone will redshirt due to his relative lack of experience and the injury that cut his season short at JUCO. Not sure if redshirting will help spread out the recruiting classes...NPN's area of expertise. Cool

3. These new guys are light years ahead of both Barreno and Hartwich. Stone is technically very strong, Hogland is diamond in the rough and probably the "sleeper" of the class, and Diabate will be WCC Freshman of the Year.

The biggest concern is not the talent (the best I've personally seen at UP), but the jelling of the talent into a TEAM. This is a Top-10 recruiting class (the best Mid-Major class in the country), but now the pressure is really on the staff to turn those recruits into winners.

The staff has talked of a 3-year plan that puts UP no worse than 6th in the WCC next year and in the Top-3 in three years.

Earlier I predicted a starting lineup that includes Walker, Shaver, McSwiggan, Diabate, and F. Porter....a young lineup for sure, but if they are able to come together, a team that will certainly not have to play until the Saturday in Las Vegas.

by DoubleDipper Tue May 16, 2017 11:13 am

NoPoNeighbor wrote: I'm a bit disappointed that we didn't go after a grad transfer big guy, e.g. Atewe (transferred from Washington to Pepperdine) or Bigby-Williams (from Oregon, who still hasn't announced his destination).

Yeah, I too was disappointed until I realized the staff was hell-bent on getting another point guard/combo guard, and were confident the current recruits could handle the load inside with skill and athleticism instead of bulk....although Stone has got some "heft" to him.

With today's announcement there will be 14 players on the roster with only Clark needing to redshirt due to transfer rules. If the staff were to go after one more player three things will have to happen, IMO:

1. TP will have to sell the Porsche to afford paying for another Porter walk-on. Razz

2. The final addition will have to be a BIG who can help the team upgrade inside significantly and immediately.
3. The BIG will most likely be a grad-transfer with just one year of eligibility, unless that player is REALLY a stud and the staff doesn't mind another redshirt on the bench.

Always nice to have the luxury of an additional scholarship.....just in case!

by Dean Murdoch Tue May 16, 2017 11:18 am

DoubleDipper wrote:Diabate will be WCC Freshman of the Year.

DoubleDipper wrote:The staff has talked of a 3-year plan that puts UP no worse than 6th in the WCC next year and in the Top-3 in three years.

2017 Recruiting - Page 26 Atomic-mushroom-cloud-explosion-2-2

by DoubleDipper Tue May 16, 2017 12:23 pm

Hahaha, laughed pretty hard at that bomb going off.....

DoubleDipper wrote:
@EvanDaniels wrote: Sophomore guard Paris Austin just received a release from Boise State, per a source. Averaged 12.3 PPG.

ParisAustin30 wrote:After talking with my family. I have decided to come home and play for Cal Berkeley. I just want to say thank you to all the coaches

Can't even imagine Austin would have been happy after growing up in East Oakland and then ending up in Boise. It probably wouldn't be as drastic a change for someone like Marcus Shaver, but it would still be a helluva an adjustment.

by ExpatPilot Tue May 16, 2017 2:10 pm

Those are some really hot takes -- especially coming from the level headed voice of reason on this board that is DD. If you are excited, then I am going to be excited.

It's dinner time on the East Coast, and still no news.

by **PilotNut** Tue May 16, 2017 2:16 pm

My day has pretty much devolved into sitting here clicking the refresh button...

by Sound Voltex Tue May 16, 2017 3:01 pm

PilotNut wrote:My day has pretty much devolved into sitting here clicking the refresh button...

Ditto.

by Dean Murdoch Tue May 16, 2017 3:08 pm

Sound Voltex wrote:
PilotNut wrote:My day has pretty much devolved into sitting here clicking the refresh button...

Ditto.

F5
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Google "mushroom cloud gif"
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by NoPoNeighbor Tue May 16, 2017 3:16 pm

DoubleDipper wrote:Sorry to dissect your post, NPN, but my 2 cents:...

No need to apologize; that's why I posed the questions. I'm really glad to hear your optimistic responses, DD. Thank you!

The hype surrounding this recruiting class here on this board makes me think we have a few potential "firsts in a long time" on our hands:

• First transfer from a P6 school to UP (Clark) since _________
• First three-star recruit (Shaver) since _________
• First WCC freshman of the year since __________

I would guess that the second one is Kevin Bailey. Not sure about the others.