2018 Recruiting

DoubleDipper wrote:

PilotNut wrote:Great timing to have Theo on campus... Let's hope the visit continues to go well, as he would be a great addition to the program.

Apparently Theo has at least one more official visit to make before he decides where to attend college...

Coach Bob Cantu wrote:We had an excellent official visit with the ideal student athlete and his family for the University of Portland in past 2 days. We will patiently wait for his decision on Monday.  He has choices from SEC, Conference USA, and Sun Belt Conference. #overachiever

Wait...

Three conferences in four days? The young man will be making a sleep deprived decision.

Geezaldinho wrote:Wait...

Three conferences in four days?  The young man will be making a sleep deprived decision.

I have no idea which schools are in which conferences, but my roommate, who talked with Theo at the Robotics Club, said that Theo had visited Western Kentucky a few months ago, visited another school last weekend, visited UP this week, and will visit another school this coming weekend.

I don't know what other schools Theo visited, but that's four schools that we know about....three of them in 10 days.

Shocker out of USF. Star freshman PG Souley Boum is transferring. Interested to see where he lands. He torched UP at home for 20+ points. So far, UP has avoided any major transfers unlike Pacific, USF and Pepperdine.  While we’ve lost out on some recruits this year, it’s a net positive if we are able to retain all of last year’s star recruiting class. Go Pilots!

Well, one internet source is indicating good news:


This wasn't retweeted by anyone of note yet, so don't hold your breath... but that is an Alabama recruiting site.  Lets hope it is correct!

https://twitter.com/BAMAMIXTAPE/with_replies

Well, the same website which issued the tweet about Theo that PilotNut posted, in articles that appear to have been written in January, 2018 or later, by Jeff Johnson, had this to say about him:

6’9 Brewbaker Tech Senior Center Theo Akwuba isn’t a household name in recruiting circles. At the beginning of the season you didn’t find him on any of the state’s pre-season top senior lists. Hell if you said his name last week around the local street basketball community in his hometown of Montgomery, Alabama, chances are you’d have gotten a  blank stare and a “Who?” would have accompanied it. But after his performance in the Larry Chapman Invitational, Akwuba’s name is buzzing. During this tournament, Akwuba had a coming out party and earned his first Division 1 offer from North Alabama. Now that the secret is out, “The Nigerian Nightmare” as we’ve started calling him, is about to be a spring priority for programs looking for a shot blocking big man with high upside and great academics.

And this too:

Relatively new to the game of basketball, you would think he wouldn’t have the timing or instinct to impact the game the way he does. But he has a nice feel, stays on his feet and lets the opposition make their move before he swats it to the rafters. Unlike most shot blockers that jump for everything, his 7’5 wingspan allows him to have the patience to bait the other team into thinking they can get shots off. The way he’s dominated games this season has been jaw dropping. I went to the tournament the first day to check out some more known prospects. But I went back the next two days to see if Theo would have a drop off in production. What I saw was three dominating triple-double performances against some of the state's best teams and it solidified his status to us as one of the states elite prospects and had our phones at BAMAMIXTAPE buzzing asking were his stats misprints and why haven’t they heard of him before. Theo started off the tournament with a 13 point, 15 rebound and 17 block game against 6A Power Sidney Lanier in front of a University of North Alabama assistant who quickly handed down a scholarship offer. In the Double OT loss, he showed great timing on blocks, post moves and emotion that he’s never showed before. The next night against a ranked 7A Robert E. Lee squad, he was equally impressive with 12 points, 14 rebounds and 11 blocks. And to top off his all-tournament team performance against 5A Greenville high school he had 14 points, 15 rebounds and 21 blocks in front of an assistant coach from Troy University. Akwuba showed flashes in the past that made you say “he has a chance” or that kid just needs some more time. But he put in the work this summer and fall and it has shown in a major way. Be on the lookout for Brew Tech in March.  With Theo in the middle along with high scoring guards Desmond Williams and Evan Carter they are going to make some noise. And look for Theo to have his pick of schools come April.

And this:

GPA: 3.4   ACT: 24

Offer: North Alabama

Interest: Alabama State, Morehead State, Samford, St. Bonaventure, Texas A&M, Troy & Western Kentucky.

And gives us this unattributed quote:

"Theo Akwuba has a chance to end his high school career as the state of Alabama’s most decorated shot blocker."

Theo, if you're coming, welcome. Hope it is true.

As we wait for Monday's decision from Theo Akwuba, I did a little research on Jacob Tryon.

wrv wrote:But to restate, I am questioning whether this young man was one of the top 5 freshman and one of the best skilled big men.

Obviously all scouting reports are subjective, but this report from Jerry Mullen/Mullen Sports JUCO scouting, not only shows Tryon to be the #1 JUCO freshman power forward, but also the #1 JUCO power forward in the country, period!


Tryon is the only PF on the list that is rated as "High Major potential" (MM-HM). He is also the tallest, has the highest GPA and is one of only two players on the list academically qualified for D1 out of high school (the other, LeCesne, spent a year at PU before putting in a JUCO year).

The 2nd man on the list, Kuath, signed with Oklahoma.  The 3rd and 4th don't appear to have the grades for D1, and the 5th and 6th men on the list signed with New Mexico and San Jose St.

Coach Cantu wrote:"Big fella really put in work at East LA College and became one of top 5 freshman in the country and one of best skilled big men!!! Had bigger schools but choose fit over star power. Awesome student athlete and worker @Jacob_Tryon33"

He appears to be a great get and I am happy Tryon signed.

Couple of obvious points. You argue a point inconsistent with the tweet--that is that Tryon is one of the top "JUCO" forwards in the nation. The tweet which you are trying to support does not limit its scope to JUCO players. In fact the tweet seems to assert that the author is referring to the "top 5 freshman in the country," with no limitation on which level they are playing at.

And you, DD, keep repeating that "scouting reports are subjective." By scouting reports you obviously mean recruit ratings. I counter that results are not subjective. In this world of basketball promotion where the truth gets hidden in hype and subjectivity, there remain objective results from games to be played. As I also wrote, let's wait and see what happens next year to see what we have.

One can assert all day long that last years recruiting class was subjectively a top ten class in the nation(why stop at top ten for that matter), but I think the objective results of the year that the Pilots had undermines the subjective statement about how good our recruits were. Coach Porter asrguably will be on the hot seat if our recruits do another face plant in year two, subjective evaluations notwithstanding.

Good post, DD. Appreciate the info.

Dean Murdoch wrote:Good post, DD. Appreciate the info.

Agreed, thanks, DD!

This is definitely THE place to learn and share information about everything that affects the Portland Pilots.  This thread is an excellent example of that.  I've looked at quite a few fan forums over the last couple of years, and none I've seen have the factual, need-to-know information PilotNation does.....

I'm sure this will sound humorous to some, but I really enjoy posting here because, except on rare occasion, everyone here shares information with humor and sincerity without making pointed remarks or directing personal criticism.

We all suffered through a tough year last year.  Honestly, it’s been a rough 25 years for me as a committed Pilot basketball fan, with a few notable exceptions.  This forum gives us a chance to hope for brighter days.  The undeniable truth is Terry Porter, Cantu and Johnson bring the ability to recruit we’ve never remotely experienced. We should be grateful for their efforts and wish them nothing but the very best.

Everybody wants the Pilots to do well, and for Porter, Cantu, Johnson and Knutson to continue to recruit well. I like PilotNation because we generally all get along. It's great we can have different opinions and respect each other....

Go Pilots!

The Wingman wrote:The undeniable truth is Terry Porter, Cantu and Johnson bring the ability to recruit we’ve never remotely experienced.

True...while it has yet to result in wins, and the entire conference is improving, the 2 most recent recruiting classes are improvements. We are recruiting against higher level programs than we have in the past.

PilotNut wrote:

The Wingman wrote:The undeniable truth is Terry Porter, Cantu and Johnson bring the ability to recruit we’ve never remotely experienced.

True...while it has yet to result in wins, and the entire conference is improving, the 2 most recent recruiting classes are improvements.  We are recruiting against higher level programs than we have in the past.

And even though it's likely the Pilots will now look for a transfer to fill the last remaining scholarship for 2018 (assuming Akwuba will sign a NLI), all the coaches are out on the road this weekend looking at high school players and recruiting for the future while showing their Purple!

It can't be fun traveling state to state and city to city watching early morning scrimmages and eating crappy food while on the go, but New Jersey, Nevada, Indiana, and California all have big prep tournaments going on, and each of the UP coaches could  attend as many as three each over the weekend.

The Wingman wrote:Shocker out of USF. Star freshman PG Souley Boum is transferring. Interested to see where he lands. He torched UP at home for 20+ points. So far, UP has avoided any major transfers unlike Pacific, USF and Pepperdine.  While we’ve lost out on some recruits this year, it’s a net positive if we are able to retain all of last year’s star recruiting class. Go Pilots!

As I wrote in the West Coast Conference thread, it's probably all about playing time for Souley...which means that even without him on the USF team, the Dons should be even stronger next season.

As D1 players continue to come and go during this offseason it's still difficult to predict the Pilots potential record or where the they could finish in the WCC over the next two or three years, but there is no doubt in my mind the "bottom six" schools in the WCC are all trending upward…

Pepperdine is undergoing a major reloading under Coach Romar, and he has brought in some major talent while even turning away at least one recruit who verbally committed during a visit, but before the signing period. There's never been a doubt Romar could recruit, but there've been plenty of questions about his coaching ability.

Pacific has lost some big-time talent, and so far has not had great success in recruiting this spring (last I looked they had four open scholarships), but unlike Romar, Coach Stoudamire has proven to be a coach that can win at the college level, but with some doubt regarding the locker room atmosphere.

PilotNut wrote:

The Wingman wrote:The undeniable truth is Terry Porter, Cantu and Johnson bring the ability to recruit we’ve never remotely experienced.

True...while it has yet to result in wins, and the entire conference is improving, the 2 most recent recruiting classes are improvements.  We are recruiting against higher level programs than we have in the past.

Ditto.

And now Santa Clara loses a prized three star recruit from last year with Shaquille Waters announcing his transfer. Waters turned down Arizona State for the Broncos. I think Boum and Waters are weighing higher profile programs. They should be careful. It’s much better to be a star in a mid major conference than an average player at a higher profile program.  Again, a net positive for the Pilots if they can keep the talented recruits from last year.

The Wingman wrote:And now Santa Clara loses a prized three star recruit from last year with Shaquille Waters announcing his transfer. Waters turned down Arizona State for the Broncos. I think Boum and Waters are weighing higher profile programs. They should be careful. It’s much better to be a star in a mid major conference than an average player at a higher profile program.  Again, a net positive for the Pilots if they can keep the talented recruits from last year.

@JonRothstein
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Being a low to mid-major head coach is significantly harder than it was 10-15 years ago. If a player puts up big numbers, he's transferring up early or as a grad transfer late. The game has changed.

Seems there is some consensus that retaining players, aside from recruiting them, is difficult outside the P/5 or P/6 for basketball. Let's hope that Pilots do not suffer similarly--Coach Porter's character and that of the other staff may aid us there.

Four finals and a paper due this coming week, but I'm ready, so figured I'd surf the internet instead of studying...

Quite a bit of buzz has been created by Theo's announcement that he will be signing tomorrow after school.  

Western Kentucky (Conference USA) seems quite assured he'll be going to school there because the school has been in "on him" for almost a year..."before anyone else had even heard of him."

One fan who seems to know, has been told Arkansas (SEC) will redshirt Theo this coming season, but he'll "likely be a starter" after that.

Finally, Southern Mississippi (Conference USA) fans think they will "probably sign him tomorrow."

Talked to D in Christie Hall this morning, who said, "Theo told me he really likes UP  and is going to commit."

StudentPilot wrote:Four finals and a paper due this coming week, but I'm ready, so figured I'd surf the internet instead of studying...

Good digging, SP....it's been stated before, "studying is overrated anyway."

If, Theo signs tomorrow as D expects, that should be it for high school players for 2018 unless a "can't miss" kid becomes available or another scholarship opens up.

IMO UP should not be in a hurry to sign a transfer or grad transfer to the final scholarship until the dust settles a little and those transferring realize their options may be more limited than they anticipated.

With so few upperclassmen on the roster for the next couple of years, it would make a lot of sense to bring a proven grad transfer for this coming season, and then do the same for 2019-20.

DoubleDipper wrote:With so few upperclassmen on the roster for the next couple of years, it would make a lot of sense to bring a proven grad transfer for this coming season, and then do the same for 2019-20.

Agreed! We will need some experience on the roster next year... hopefully the staff can find the right fit.

PilotNut wrote:

DoubleDipper wrote:With so few upperclassmen on the roster for the next couple of years, it would make a lot of sense to bring a proven grad transfer for this coming season, and then do the same for 2019-20.

Agreed!  We will need some experience on the roster next year... hopefully the staff can find the right fit.

Ditto!!! I believe the coaches have improved recruiting, but I would love to see them bring in another experienced big man for the rotation this year.

DoubleDipper wrote:Pacific has lost some big-time talent, and so far has not had great success in recruiting this spring (last I looked they had four open scholarships).

Looks like one of those scholarships will go to Jefferson High's Khalil Chatman, son of UP grad, Canaan Chatman.

Khalil, an excellent athlete, but not a particularly good student to this point, carried his Jefferson team to the OCAA Championship game by dunking over his smaller, less athletic opponents this past season, but besides the coaches questioning his ability to matriculate at UP, they saw no indication Chatman could shoot with any consistency.

Probably a great environment in Stockton for Chatman, away from his Portland buddies and under the tutelage of his long-time close family friend, Damon Stoudamire.

StudentPilot wrote:Quite a bit of buzz has been created by Theo's announcement that he will be signing tomorrow after school.

What time are classes done in Montgomery?!

PilotNut wrote:What time are classes done in Montgomery?!  

Haha, yeah, good question.

As college signings have become a real point of pride for athletes, their parents, their teammates, and their school, I would imagine the ceremony will take place during the last period in school....and if the Brewbaker school day ends at 3pm, it's probably a good guess the signing will happen at around 2pm...about NOON our time!!

Realistically, we should know something by 1pm, with pictures and maybe even a video to follow...IF Theo is to become a Pilot!.

12:59pm