Diong to UNLV
- Thread starter King Of All Message Boards
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Not really. I had a few thoughts pass through my head when mailing the OP but I figure sometimes you gotta play the set up man. Figured someone would go with it.
Ugh, that sucks. I smell shadiness here. Definitely need a grad transfer or a JuCo at center.
We need to bring in a Grad Transfer and/or Juco that can play right away. I liked the potential of Diong, but we need immediate help.
Don't think you're the only one. I've seen a cpl comments expressing "surprise" he essentially committed almost the minute he set foot on campus.
Perhaps. But until he signs his LOI I hope the staff continues to Chiekh Mbacke with Diong.
The kid lived in a hut. He said he had never seen anything like Pittsburgh. How did you think he would respond to Vegas?
"Pitt lock" that was never actually a Pitt lock # 3,846.
NEEEXXXXT!!!!!!
NEEEXXXXT!!!!!!
Yea, this would be a classic Jamie miss. He made losing recruits to teams in lesser conferences an artform. The fact that Stallings lost this kid to a team in the Mountain West is troubling to say the least. I mean the kid would have started from Day 1 in the ACC.....and we still have no legitimate starting center for next year.
Haha - yeah. I was just being facetious about UNLV being so far below Pitt. Their hoops history is much better than ours. It's not like he signed with Nebraska.
I miss towel biting Tark. He seemed like a cool dude.
I remember when Paul Evans was at Pitt. We lost a recruit to UNLV. Evans on his radio show said flat out that UNLV bought him. He might have said they gave his dad a job and the kid a car. I don't remember the name. I will try to find it.
Found it - Karl James (around 1986 or 1987)
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That really sucks, Diong
See kids, that's why proper punctuation is important.
See kids, that's why proper punctuation is important.
Here is a link to the Flying Star Pipeline (Senegal) regarding Diong and Lahat Thioune, who appears to be every bit as good as Diong
https://www.verbalcommits.com/blog/flying-star-pipeline
https://www.verbalcommits.com/blog/flying-star-pipeline
He had interest but was far from ever being a Pitt lock. He was a Louisville lock not too long ago though.
He may or may not have wanted to go to Louisville, but when the said they wanted him to reclassify and come in next year, that was a no go.
He spoke in SUPER glowing terms after the visit here ... That is why people thought he was in the bag, he was gushing.
When I saw the Verbal Commits article and also read the articles at 247 sports, it never "read" as if Diong was a Pitt "lock".
It's about time you guys realize Stallings isn't landing elite guys. Stallings has probably 2 more years of this trash basketball before the new AD cuts ties.
It was wishful thinking that we would get this guy. UNLV paid for him to go there and he bit. 'Ville would have done the same thing. Let's face it. That's how these programs get these recruits.
So now we have no post player again. Unless there's some unknown JUCO guy out there that no one is in on, we're in bad shape for next year....again.
So now we have no post player again. Unless there's some unknown JUCO guy out there that no one is in on, we're in bad shape for next year....again.
Well.....why don't we "pay" for these guys? I mean we have these big time, big mouth donors who love to interfere in the program, well why don't they be useful and put their money really where we need them to put it.
Yeah, something occurred on his UNLV visit. Maybe he just like the program or the city, is possible. But it is odd given they weren't even high on his list from what I could tell.
Choosing the Mountain West over the ACC is a head scratcher, given he could have been starting here as a freshman.
UNLV fan here with a lot of family in the Pittsburgh area.
If you look at who we currently have committed I doubt we are throwing large sums of cash in player's directions. Marvin Menzies has a history with big men so that's probably a very big factor in his decision. That and players feel like Menzies takes the role of "father figure" so maybe these international players relate more to that.
I know what you're saying about the MWC and, speaking collectively for our fan base, it's a terrible conference. I won't dispute that at all. That being said, UNLV does get players drafted so it's not like nobody sees our games/players.
On side note, are any of you worried that the Steelers are spending way too much for Brown and, possibly, Bell? Seems like they'll leave too little cash to keep Ben or any future QB that gets drafted this season (we need one.. L Jones is not that answer, he's not even a good question) healthy.
If you look at who we currently have committed I doubt we are throwing large sums of cash in player's directions. Marvin Menzies has a history with big men so that's probably a very big factor in his decision. That and players feel like Menzies takes the role of "father figure" so maybe these international players relate more to that.
I know what you're saying about the MWC and, speaking collectively for our fan base, it's a terrible conference. I won't dispute that at all. That being said, UNLV does get players drafted so it's not like nobody sees our games/players.
On side note, are any of you worried that the Steelers are spending way too much for Brown and, possibly, Bell? Seems like they'll leave too little cash to keep Ben or any future QB that gets drafted this season (we need one.. L Jones is not that answer, he's not even a good question) healthy.
No disrespect meant to UNLV. I'm sure Las Vegas >> Pittsburgh had something to do with it. It's a little disappointing from our perspective as he seemed to be the big we need and he could have started here next year, too. The fact that he was so high on Pitt is a good sign though, especially considering a few of the guys we have our sights on for 2018.
As far as the Steelers go, I think they need to consider drafting Peterman and letting him back up Ben for a few years. At worst he projects to be a solid backup and he could be a solid starter option down the road. The Ben drama looks like it could Favre-like every offseason moving forward. I don't know how long he plays but I'm not counting on more than a year or two if I'm the Steelers.
I'm a Pitt grad and Las Vegas resident who has stated numerous times here that UNLV isn't paying anyone, that's all leftover residue from the 80's and 90's.
When Lon Kruger was hired it was leaked to local media that he was actually paying part of the marketing budget from his own pocket. UNLV is notoriously frugal in paying for coaches, some boosters were willing to pony up for Pitino but that was about it. This supposed slush fund to pay players hasn't existed in decades.
UNLV's recruiting successes are no real mystery. Superpower schools Bishop Gorman and Findlay Prep are a couple of miles from campus. Ex HC Dave Rice's brother is the head coach at Gorman and undoubtedly steered some players there. Every high profile recruit in the world comes through Vegas at least once to play in the country's highest profile AAU tournaments.
In addition Las Vegas is also home to team USA basketball and the Lebron James Skills Academy. Many NBA players, coaches, and scouts also live in Vegas. It's literally a major NBA city without having an actual franchise at the moment. Big time recruits these days care very little about anything other than making the league, and Las Vegas is very attractive in that respect.
If Pitt had some of those advantages I guarantee they would be recruiting at a higher level.
We had to redo our entire roster last season when we hoped to lure Dixon to UNLV. He took one of our best recruiting assistants with him to TCU and that's why he's attracting better players there than he had at Pitt. Also, we have 11 wins right now. 11. That's not a typo.
My point is, any recruit can see that PT is readily available here. Menzies developed a relationship with the kid and that's how he was able to lure him away from the ACC (I'm not saying that in a mocking tone.. I'm being respectful of your top 2,3 conference). Pitt and Louisville were trying to land him.
I will say this, too, I'm not trying to troll or anything. I've liked Pitt since I was a kid. I was just giving you an explanation from UNLV's perspective.
Good luck in your postseason. We'll be eliminated in our first MWC Tournament game (unless God grants a miracle to us this season).
My point is, any recruit can see that PT is readily available here. Menzies developed a relationship with the kid and that's how he was able to lure him away from the ACC (I'm not saying that in a mocking tone.. I'm being respectful of your top 2,3 conference). Pitt and Louisville were trying to land him.
I will say this, too, I'm not trying to troll or anything. I've liked Pitt since I was a kid. I was just giving you an explanation from UNLV's perspective.
Good luck in your postseason. We'll be eliminated in our first MWC Tournament game (unless God grants a miracle to us this season).
"Stallings isn't landing elite guys"? It's about time everyone realize that Pitt "isn't landing elite guys", and hasn't since the Golden Panthers were in business. Since moving to the ACC, we haven't even been landing legit P5 starting caliber guys. At least in the BE and with the right assistants we had a nice NYC pipeline of good, if not spectacular, players.
You are actually wrong. Ironically, the downturn at Pitt occurred during a time period in which we landed 3 Elite ranked players (Taylor, Birch, Adams). The problem was we got away from recruiting tough, hard nosed players, that played as a team, and developed over their time at Pitt.
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