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Coulibaly - down to 2

This Syracuse game highlights the need for a bigger bodied player who can finish at the rim and shoot it from the short corner or further out.

Whether that's this kid or someone else; it's a deficiency on Pitt's team this year.
 
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I’m not the biggest fan of Coulibaly or Hugley. But, if I had to choose between the two, I’d definitely take Coulibaly. Neither seems to have ACC level athleticism, but Coulibaly definitely has a solid skill set. The twins and McCreary are much more athletic.
 
I’m not the biggest fan of Coulibaly or Hugley. But, if I had to choose between the two, I’d definitely take Coulibaly. Neither seems to have ACC level athleticism, but Coulibaly definitely has a solid skill set. The twins and McCreary are much more athletic.
Out of curiosity, have you seen them play? I have seen very limited tape on them.
 
Out of curiosity, have you seen them play? I have seen very limited tape on them.
No, I haven't watched any players on our radar live, but I do study as much tape as I can find. I coach high school baseball players, not basketball, so my opinions/evaluations are for "personal use only". With that being said, I really like Jeffress & Morton. I realize that Morton is probably not going to happen, but 1 out of 2 would be great for Pitt. Also, I'm a huge fan of DJ Gordon. These are 3 really good local players. As for 2019, I don't think Coulibaly is athletic enough to compete in the ACC and Hugley's body is still a work in process. Neither player plays above the rim, so I would prefer a more athletic option.
 
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Isn't Dante Taylor our biggest bust in the last 15 years?......

No way. He didn't live up to the McDonald's AA billing, but that was never going to happen. He's still a guy who I'd take on literally any Pitt team. Physical presence, big heart, efficient from the field, very good rebounder and, as far as I know, a good guy to have in the locker room. There isn't a single Pitt roster in history that wouldn't be made better by having him on it somewhere.

Malcolm Gilbert was a top 75 player who did nothing. He ended up averaging 0.9 PPG in his last year after transferring to Fairfield. You could throw Darnell Dodson into the mix, but that seems unfair because of clearinghouse issues. There are a number of ~top 100 guys who contributed either nothing or almost nothing here - Isaiah Epps, Damon Wilson, etc. Those are your real busts, Taylor was fine.
 
No way. He didn't live up to the McDonald's AA billing, but that was never going to happen. He's still a guy who I'd take on literally any Pitt team. Physical presence, big heart, efficient from the field, very good rebounder and, as far as I know, a good guy to have in the locker room. There isn't a single Pitt roster in history that wouldn't be made better by having him on it somewhere.

Malcolm Gilbert was a top 75 player who did nothing. He ended up averaging 0.9 PPG in his last year after transferring to Fairfield. You could throw Darnell Dodson into the mix, but that seems unfair because of clearinghouse issues. There are a number of ~top 100 guys who contributed either nothing or almost nothing here - Isaiah Epps, Damon Wilson, etc. Those are your real busts, Taylor was fine.
Epps was supposed to be so good that one and done talk surrounded him . Donte didn’t live up to his clippings ,but he gave Pitt the best he could .
That’s why doubting a coaches eye , especially when he’s been around elite talent , is just plain stupid .
If Capal wants them I want them !
 
Epps was supposed to be so good that one and done talk surrounded him . Donte didn’t live up to his clippings ,but he gave Pitt the best he could .
That’s why doubting a coaches eye , especially when he’s been around elite talent , is just plain stupid .
If Capal wants them I want them !

I remember Taylor crying his eyes out during a press conference at the end of his career here. You could see how much Pitt and the game of basketball meant to him. I got a bit misty myself, not going to lie.

As for Capel, absolutely. I'm not sure there's anybody in America I'd trust more when it comes to evaluating young basketball talent. It seems like he prioritizes character as well, Dante would have fit in well with some of these young guys and it'd be nice having someone like that on our roster again.
 
I’m not the biggest fan of Coulibaly or Hugley. But, if I had to choose between the two, I’d definitely take Coulibaly. Neither seems to have ACC level athleticism, but Coulibaly definitely has a solid skill set. The twins and McCreary are much more athletic.
I have to strongly disagree with this. Hugely figured out his conditioning issues last year, and has been making huge progress, to the point a number of Bluebloods have gotten involved.

These two players are on completely different levels - Hugely has 5star potential, and is possibley getting out of our league recruiting-wise.
 
Epps was supposed to be so good that one and done talk surrounded him . Donte didn’t live up to his clippings ,but he gave Pitt the best he could .
That’s why doubting a coaches eye , especially when he’s been around elite talent , is just plain stupid .
If Capal wants them I want them !
The one and done talk surrounding Epps came from Epps, no one else.
 
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I have to strongly disagree with this. Hugely figured out his conditioning issues last year, and has been making huge progress, to the point a number of Bluebloods have gotten involved.

These two players are on completely different levels - Hugely has 5star potential, and is possibley getting out of our league recruiting-wise.
Not trying to be a jerk, but this video is only 2 months old and I'm just not seeing an ACC level big man. However, I certainly hope he continues to make progress.
 
No, I haven't watched any players on our radar live, but I do study as much tape as I can find. I coach high school baseball players, not basketball, so my opinions/evaluations are for "personal use only". With that being said, I really like Jeffress & Morton. I realize that Morton is probably not going to happen, but 1 out of 2 would be great for Pitt. Also, I'm a huge fan of DJ Gordon. These are 3 really good local players. As for 2019, I don't think Coulibaly is athletic enough to compete in the ACC and Hugley's body is still a work in process. Neither player plays above the rim, so I would prefer a more athletic option.
I would like a couple of players that play below the rim, but are brick walls keeping opponents from getting close to the rim.
 
Not trying to be a jerk, but this video is only 2 months old and I'm just not seeing an ACC level big man. However, I certainly hope he continues to make progress.

Hey no prob. We just sharing opinions.

My opinion is this kid has made huge progress getting in shape, still has a ways to go, and may be a monster when he does. Look at the frame, the quicks, the coordination, the recent production, and project 2 years ahead. Tom Izzo has been to a couple of his games recently and is recruiting him...

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">2020 6’9 F John Hugley posted 27pts 12 rebounds and was 5/5 from the 3 pt line tonight.</p>&mdash; chet mason (@ChetMason32) <a href="">January 12, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
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John Hugley is only 15 years old I think and is about 6'8 270lbs. Obviously coaches like something about him because the entire Midwest plus Louisville are recruiting him. And Pitt has already offered per Vader. If 247 sports truly believes Hugley only weights 220lbs, whoever put his name in the database clearly either did not watch him or got him confused with another player. It takes all of 1 second to know Hugley is not close to 220lbs. And to take any scouting report seriously when the weight is so far off suggets 247 has never watched Hugley 1 time.
 
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John Hugley is only 15 years old I think and is about 6'8 270lbs. Obviously coaches like something about him because the entire Midwest plus Louisville are recruiting him. And Pitt has already offered per Vader. If 247 sports truly believes Hugley only weights 220lbs, whoever put his name in the database clearly either did not watch him or got him confused with another player. It takes all of 1 second to know Hugley is not close to 220lbs. And to take any scouting report seriously when the weight is so far off suggets 247 has never watched Hugley 1 time.
He’s not 15. My son is a sophomore and half of his classmates are already 16. But, I do think there’s something wrong with his 247 profile. He seems to have 2 profiles (Hugley and Hughley) with different weights. And, all do respect to Vader (I think his posts are great), but I’m not quite sure he’s at the level of being considered a viable offer confirmation source. At least not yet!
 
He’s not 15. My son is a sophomore and half of his classmates are already 16. But, I do think there’s something wrong with his 247 profile. He seems to have 2 profiles (Hugley and Hughley) with different weights. And, all do respect to Vader (I think his posts are great), but I’m not quite sure he’s at the level of being considered a viable offer confirmation source. At least not yet!
Maybe he is 16. I know this. I watched a video that is exactly 2 days old on John Hugley from the news herald. Hugley has a sweatsuit on and isnt anywhere close to as fat as the video posted above and the fro is gone. He may be alot less than the 270lb I said, maybe 250lb, he looks way different. I just watched this video literally 5 minutes ago for the first time. Hugley at one point was well over 300lbs, was overweight, and very slow.
 
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I think that Coulibaly has a very good case for being underrated at this point. He has consistently been very good in FIBA play, he was probably the second best player in this year's African U18s leading Mali to the title and played very well against good competition in the 2016 FIBA U17 worlds, and was the leading rebounder by DRB% (right ahead of Tshiebwe) on the Adidas summer circuit.

Honestly he was overrated when he was a top 100 player earlier this year but there was also no cause at all for his rating free fall over the past 6 months either outside of his lack of big time offers. He's probably a top 150 player who is hurt by his lack of ceiling but would be a very solid four year contributor.
 
I go by what my eyes sees not what they read. He looks like a kid who can help this team on the blocks and rebounding- which makes him a take for Pitt.

I think that Coulibaly has a very good case for being underrated at this point. He has consistently been very good in FIBA play, he was probably the second best player in this year's African U18s leading Mali to the title and played very well against good competition in the 2016 FIBA U17 worlds, and was the leading rebounder by DRB% (right ahead of Tshiebwe) on the Adidas summer circuit.

Honestly he was overrated when he was a top 100 player earlier this year but there was also no cause at all for his rating free fall over the past 6 months either outside of his lack of big time offers. He's probably a top 150 player who is hurt by his lack of ceiling but would be a very solid four year contributor.
 
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I think that Coulibaly has a very good case for being underrated at this point. He has consistently been very good in FIBA play, he was probably the second best player in this year's African U18s leading Mali to the title and played very well against good competition in the 2016 FIBA U17 worlds, and was the leading rebounder by DRB% (right ahead of Tshiebwe) on the Adidas summer circuit.

Honestly he was overrated when he was a top 100 player earlier this year but there was also no cause at all for his rating free fall over the past 6 months either outside of his lack of big time offers. He's probably a top 150 player who is hurt by his lack of ceiling but would be a very solid four year contributor.

I'm beginning to think that you're right. I've watched numerous videos of him playing in various FIBA competitions and his skill set looks well rounded. He's not an insane athlete, but he plays a smooth game. Footwork, body control, lots of "little things" that stand out in a good way.

Here's a compilation from 2016:



You can find more recent videos of him where he looks quicker and more efficient in terms of movement. I like what I've seen.
 
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John Hugley is only 15 years old I think and is about 6'8 270lbs. Obviously coaches like something about him because the entire Midwest plus Louisville are recruiting him. And Pitt has already offered per Vader. If 247 sports truly believes Hugley only weights 220lbs, whoever put his name in the database clearly either did not watch him or got him confused with another player. It takes all of 1 second to know Hugley is not close to 220lbs. And to take any scouting report seriously when the weight is so far off suggets 247 has never watched Hugley 1 time.
Hugley has already lost a ton of weight too, kid was huge, now he's just got to lose or convert 20 or 30lbs of fat.
 
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