I'm kind of close to his situation and know all parties involved, family, Cal and high school coaches. so I thought I'd add to the discussion……..
Lack of offers - He has experienced a 5 inch growth spurt within the last 9 months, so to high D1 recruiters he's an average 6' WPIAL guard. Coaches who aren't following him do not know he's 6'5". Secondly and perhaps most important, an injury caused him to miss the entire AAU summer circuit, I was told. No exposure + WPIAL basketball player = Insufficient to no new interest.
Calipari – It remains to be seen, but I see no upside in Cal offering Thiero as a favor to his dad or anyone. Mr. Thiero is an assistant coach at Sewickley Academy. He played under Cal for one year at Memphis before transferring to Duquesne. He’s not a coach at some feeder program like DeMatha or St. Anthony’s in Jersey where Cal stood to benefit from a relationship. I know of a handful of players recommended to Cal in the past by friends and acquaintances and Cal smartly passed on them and they were closer to Cal than Mr. Thiero.
Additionally, and of equal importance is the timing. It’s very late in the recruiting process for a 2022 recruit to receive an uncommittable offer. Perhaps there’s something behind the scenes cooking that I don’t know of like him being lined up to attend a prep school. If that’s the case, then it’ll play itself out in time.
Height – His situation reminds me a little of former Panther and now, Phoenix Suns' guard Cam Johnson. If you recall, Dixon was following CJ but it was the growth spurt that made him an attractive late addition to Dixon's class. Thiero's late growth spurt is what's driving interest from Kentucky, Indiana and OSU and will greatly shape his his future. His dad is 6’9” and his mom 6’2”, so it’s possible he’s just getting started and could end up 6’10”. Cal experienced this firsthand a few years ago with former Kentucky Wildcat and present day LA Laker Anthony Davis. Davis was barely 5'11" when he was 14. At 15, he was 6’2. By 17, 6’7. And by 19, he reached his current height of 6’10. A close friend of mine was 5’9” as a freshman, 6’4 as a senior at Quaker Valley in the 70’s and finished at Pitt as a 6’7” guard and a Bulls draftpick.
Guard Skills – H.S. Guards who are exceptional even at 5’11”- 6’2” and grow 5 inches are typically coveted provided they have high D1 athleticism, commensurate skills or both. It’s the difference between being recruited by Colgate, Bucknell and George Mason versus ACC and Big East Schools. He has legitimate guard skills because it's the only position he's played since his freshman year.
Athleticism – Adou plays defensively well above the rim. He has a high D1 vertical leap with arm length as a bonus. He has a quick jump, meaning he doesn’t require a deep knee bend to get maximum vertical height, which is why he’s so adept at blocking shots. His shot blocks are not when the ball leaves the hand of a guard, but close in shots where he slides over and anticipates the basketball’s path and meets it mid-way to the basket. This is highly uncommon for a high school point guard, regardless of if in Pittsburgh, New York, Philly or DC.
I’m unsure of his horizontal foot quickness because defensively he guards the opposing team’s 4 or 5, hence doesn’t find himself near the perimeter on an island. In the few times he found himself perimeter extended, his length and reach caused tipped passes and blocked shots from behind. He hasn’t adjusted to his leg length yet in my opinion. If he can develop Cam Johnson’s catch and shoot game he can be better than Cam. However, Cam has two inches over Adou currently.
Basketball IQ – Above average which is simply a byproduct of playing the point for four years. I can’t give him a high because I haven’t seen him run a disciplined half-court offense. As the go to guy, he had a green light to make things happen so executing half court sets with precision wasn’t something I witnessed. He did however have an innate sense of patience on when to and where to push the ball and penetrating to stress the defense.
WPIAL Affect - The WPIAL competition that some point to is a factor, has a few misnomers. First, big time program recruiters evaluate players in AAU against their peer groups, not the high school competition for the most part. They could care less about the WPIAL if the same player is tearing it up in AAU. If a player is not available or doesn't play on the right AAU team or in the right AAU tournaments, then the evaluation of their skill set and ability is more difficult, but not impossible.
The talent in this area doesn't come close to the talent in the larger cities, as we already know. There are a number of reasons for this, and they are not worthy of getting into. However, frequently a local player is under recruited simply because they are in Pittsburgh and in the WPIAL. I lived in Maryland for 30 years up until 2018 and attended every DeMatha game for 4 years due to my son playing in the band, so I had to watch complete JV and Varsity games every Tuesday and Friday for 4 years.
When I saw James Robinson was a mid or high 4 star, I attributed it to what I called the WCAC (Washington Catholic Athletic Conference) advantage or presumption, which essentially places a premium on a player solely because of the zip code, in this case it was PG County, similar in ways to Florida and football. I saw him play as a junior against Bishop McNamara at the Equestrian Center in P.G. County and thought he was a George Washington or Duquesne type recruit. He was a solid starter and a favorite of mine but to be honest I was shocked when he was seen as a difference maker after his commitment. I’ll go as far as saying if JR played at Quaker Valley or Beaver Falls, he’d be at Robert Morris, tops.
I also saw McConnell play in high school and wondered why ACC schools weren't pushing him to decommit from Duquesne. I'm positive, he would have been a top 5-10 D.C. area recruit if he attended a WCAC school instead of a WPIAL one. After seeing Thiero play this season, I'm 99.9% sure his recruitment would be substantially greater.
Lack of offers - He has experienced a 5 inch growth spurt within the last 9 months, so to high D1 recruiters he's an average 6' WPIAL guard. Coaches who aren't following him do not know he's 6'5". Secondly and perhaps most important, an injury caused him to miss the entire AAU summer circuit, I was told. No exposure + WPIAL basketball player = Insufficient to no new interest.
Calipari – It remains to be seen, but I see no upside in Cal offering Thiero as a favor to his dad or anyone. Mr. Thiero is an assistant coach at Sewickley Academy. He played under Cal for one year at Memphis before transferring to Duquesne. He’s not a coach at some feeder program like DeMatha or St. Anthony’s in Jersey where Cal stood to benefit from a relationship. I know of a handful of players recommended to Cal in the past by friends and acquaintances and Cal smartly passed on them and they were closer to Cal than Mr. Thiero.
Additionally, and of equal importance is the timing. It’s very late in the recruiting process for a 2022 recruit to receive an uncommittable offer. Perhaps there’s something behind the scenes cooking that I don’t know of like him being lined up to attend a prep school. If that’s the case, then it’ll play itself out in time.
Height – His situation reminds me a little of former Panther and now, Phoenix Suns' guard Cam Johnson. If you recall, Dixon was following CJ but it was the growth spurt that made him an attractive late addition to Dixon's class. Thiero's late growth spurt is what's driving interest from Kentucky, Indiana and OSU and will greatly shape his his future. His dad is 6’9” and his mom 6’2”, so it’s possible he’s just getting started and could end up 6’10”. Cal experienced this firsthand a few years ago with former Kentucky Wildcat and present day LA Laker Anthony Davis. Davis was barely 5'11" when he was 14. At 15, he was 6’2. By 17, 6’7. And by 19, he reached his current height of 6’10. A close friend of mine was 5’9” as a freshman, 6’4 as a senior at Quaker Valley in the 70’s and finished at Pitt as a 6’7” guard and a Bulls draftpick.
Guard Skills – H.S. Guards who are exceptional even at 5’11”- 6’2” and grow 5 inches are typically coveted provided they have high D1 athleticism, commensurate skills or both. It’s the difference between being recruited by Colgate, Bucknell and George Mason versus ACC and Big East Schools. He has legitimate guard skills because it's the only position he's played since his freshman year.
Athleticism – Adou plays defensively well above the rim. He has a high D1 vertical leap with arm length as a bonus. He has a quick jump, meaning he doesn’t require a deep knee bend to get maximum vertical height, which is why he’s so adept at blocking shots. His shot blocks are not when the ball leaves the hand of a guard, but close in shots where he slides over and anticipates the basketball’s path and meets it mid-way to the basket. This is highly uncommon for a high school point guard, regardless of if in Pittsburgh, New York, Philly or DC.
I’m unsure of his horizontal foot quickness because defensively he guards the opposing team’s 4 or 5, hence doesn’t find himself near the perimeter on an island. In the few times he found himself perimeter extended, his length and reach caused tipped passes and blocked shots from behind. He hasn’t adjusted to his leg length yet in my opinion. If he can develop Cam Johnson’s catch and shoot game he can be better than Cam. However, Cam has two inches over Adou currently.
Basketball IQ – Above average which is simply a byproduct of playing the point for four years. I can’t give him a high because I haven’t seen him run a disciplined half-court offense. As the go to guy, he had a green light to make things happen so executing half court sets with precision wasn’t something I witnessed. He did however have an innate sense of patience on when to and where to push the ball and penetrating to stress the defense.
WPIAL Affect - The WPIAL competition that some point to is a factor, has a few misnomers. First, big time program recruiters evaluate players in AAU against their peer groups, not the high school competition for the most part. They could care less about the WPIAL if the same player is tearing it up in AAU. If a player is not available or doesn't play on the right AAU team or in the right AAU tournaments, then the evaluation of their skill set and ability is more difficult, but not impossible.
The talent in this area doesn't come close to the talent in the larger cities, as we already know. There are a number of reasons for this, and they are not worthy of getting into. However, frequently a local player is under recruited simply because they are in Pittsburgh and in the WPIAL. I lived in Maryland for 30 years up until 2018 and attended every DeMatha game for 4 years due to my son playing in the band, so I had to watch complete JV and Varsity games every Tuesday and Friday for 4 years.
When I saw James Robinson was a mid or high 4 star, I attributed it to what I called the WCAC (Washington Catholic Athletic Conference) advantage or presumption, which essentially places a premium on a player solely because of the zip code, in this case it was PG County, similar in ways to Florida and football. I saw him play as a junior against Bishop McNamara at the Equestrian Center in P.G. County and thought he was a George Washington or Duquesne type recruit. He was a solid starter and a favorite of mine but to be honest I was shocked when he was seen as a difference maker after his commitment. I’ll go as far as saying if JR played at Quaker Valley or Beaver Falls, he’d be at Robert Morris, tops.
I also saw McConnell play in high school and wondered why ACC schools weren't pushing him to decommit from Duquesne. I'm positive, he would have been a top 5-10 D.C. area recruit if he attended a WCAC school instead of a WPIAL one. After seeing Thiero play this season, I'm 99.9% sure his recruitment would be substantially greater.
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