Vader's Midseason Review and Recruiting Notes
- Thread starter Vader_Storm
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I don't expect anyone other than Kene and George to leave, but you never know. There are always surprises, but that's what it would be, a surprise.
As for Brown, he'll probably be in the same situation he is in this year, with Hugley replacing Hamilton. I think it's overly optimistic to think a freshman like Max is going to play before a senior like Brown.
Of course, if Capel were to land a really big-time recruit that would change everything.
As for Brown, he'll probably be in the same situation he is in this year, with Hugley replacing Hamilton. I think it's overly optimistic to think a freshman like Max is going to play before a senior like Brown.
Of course, if Capel were to land a really big-time recruit that would change everything.
I believe the advantage to Max coming in would be that he's a much more natural build for the 5 in this offense versus Hugley or Coulibaly, or even Hamilton.
I agree that Max is a more natural 5. But I think Hugley will be ready to play a lot as a freshman, and that's probably going to be mostly at the 5 if you're going to get the best players on the court. I don't see Hugley playing the 4 much, with Brown or Max playing instead of Justin or Toney. I just see Brown having the same role next year as he has this year, and not being passed by Max.
Please provide actual evidence of Capel and X not having a good relationship. And don't say X not playing at the end of games. That's not a personal thing for Capel. That's a situational trust reason.
Coaches don’t decide minutes based on relationships. They decide them based on who gives them their best chance to win.
I think X himself would tell you he’s disappointed in how he’s played at times this year.
But there’s been countless interviews and articles about how much Capel mentors X and is constantly working on him to become a better, more consistent player and leader. Sounds like a good relationship to me.
George will graduate in 3 years as he is said to be a good student. He is taking advantage of summer credits. Then he will move on to a lower level to get his graduate degree and hopefully play a little BB. But his ship will be open and needs to go to a true PG.
Never want to "run" anyone off a team or anything, but this would probably be the only way to do it (unless Brown literally just leaves on his own accord), but if Capel can get a re-class or a highly-regarded BIG man from wherever, then it may happen. Losing both of your big man from one season to the next, is not ideal at all, but talent can definitely beat out experience at schools.
Possible re-classes may not happen until April-June, like with Trey and Toney. Plus, the Grad Transfer market too.This option could be better too, but not going to shoo away a 5* talent at the 4-5 spot.
I don't have any idea what will happen but I want a re-class and I want it to be Jeffress.
There are a number of factors in play here. But lets start with biggest team needs.
Pg
Sg / Sf- (lights out shooter the most)
C
It is very difficult to recruit quality big men. Every top school is fighting for them because they are very hard to recruit. They also take more time to develop normally. If we have a chance to get a stud center, we are taking him for either 2020 or 2021 regardless of who is on the current roster. No team is going to pass on an elite Top 50 National center. This is a case of striking when the iron is hot if the opportunity presents itself.
We got in on Max Amadasun at the right time because if he didnt commit when he did, I guarantee his offer sheet would be growing very rapidly right now. Here's Max's stats from today, another double double 13-11-2 game in only 18 minutes today. Our Savior Lutheran continues to pound teams with Max in the paint. And he is doing it against Top competition in a lot of his games in the grind session.
Point Guard is going to be interesting. We are monitoring plenty without putting offers out yet. Eric Gaines is the potential big sleeper right now. He missed most of AAU with a stress fracture so isnt a big name currently among many (remember RJ Davis missing AAU and Olivier Nkamhoua etc...). Gaines exploded at the tournament of champions recently and is very athletic and gets to his spots fast. He is one to watch closely because it appears he has worked hard on his 3 point shooting which would make him very dangerous down the road. Rahsool Diggins is another one among others getting traction with a lot schools and is starting to shoot it well. In the first set of updated 2021 rankings Jalen Warley came in at 105 Nationally. A bit low but got the 4 star rankings bump as I expected.
We need a lights out shooter 2 or 2 / 3 tweener . Bryce Mcgownes would be ideal but early PT is a big challenge because he wants a lot of it. Depending on Trey Mcgownes development and if Trey starts seeing more pt at point guard, it could be a nice selling point to his brother for open PT and playing together. His 3 point shooting has exploded this year and could be just what we need to open our offense. Ike Cornish also came in at 119th Nationally in those new 2021 rankings from prephoops. Another shooter I mentioned earlier that is rising. We are being careful with the new offers right now and focusing on quality players. Cornish has no offer yet.
Will Jeffress is a talent we arent going to pass up, obviously, as a 3 /4 tweener.
And of course, the Elite Centers we are after.
Jeff Capel is going to challenge players to step up their game. It wasnt long ago that Xavier Johnson found himself riding the bench being out of control with his shots and turnovers. Better players can not only put current players on this current team on the bench, they can also put them in a new uniform on another team. Minutes are going to be earned, not given.
It was only a matter of time before Capel starting reeling in talent. Our next couple of commits are going to be highly rated players. Talent that is going to be like his future "bulldog" in the paint. Good things are on the horizon.
Big John said he's not a 5 and JC knows that and we don't want to push him out so I'm sure he'll probably play a couple minutes there but I'm guessing they would have brown or Max and Karim playing with him most of the time so he'll play the four. IMO
So many bigs say they aren’t a five but that’s what they end up playing.
Exhibit A: Charles Smith
Sure ... but it’s doubtful he’ll be ready for any kind of significant minutes in his first year.
IMHO, fully ready or not, he still could see lots of minutes if we go with two bigs in the lineup most of the time next season which seems highly probable—at least to me—given we are going to have more bigs on the roster.
I know you are a big advocate for size (having to be at least 6-8 in actual height measured with a ruler), but I really doubt we'll play two bigs at one time unless you consider Justin a big.
Assuming Xavier stays, our 1-2-3 spots will be X, Trey, Gerald, Murphy and Horton. Toney will be 3 and alot of 4 and Justin will be the four, along with Noah (and maybe a little of Karim).
We'll likely divide the five between Coulibaly, Hughley, Terrell and Max.
My thought is that kids want to play as many minutes as they can, and they want to win.
If the best lineup is Hughley, Justin, AuDiese, Trey and X and they play the most and that's a lineup that is successful, I don't think Big John will have any problem.
Having said, put me in the more cautious category with Hughley for now. He's got to defend at this level, and his mobility will be tested for a freshman. At the moment, I've got him for 15 minutes per game.
Don't get me wrong, I think he plays at the 5.
What I am saying, is he can look around and see other size and not "know" he is the only choice.
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Not to sound rediculous, but putting Hugley at the four, how can you not at least pencil in Brown at the five. I mean...he has to be there right?
I may be wrong but i think that Hugley tweeted “I’m not a 5, I’m a basketball player” or something along those lines. I took at this as him saying that he doesn’t want to be thought of as a typical 5 and that he can only do what such players that are “centers” can do. I think that he meant that he doesn’t want to fall in the description of a typical center and think that he can do more than just play around the rim. Not that he doesn’t want to play the 5. I could be wrong though. That is just how I interpreted his tweet. And I don’t think that when some of you say “Hugley doesn’t want to play the 5 is what he truest meant.
Good point I really didn't look at it like that you may be right. I was just taking it as face value because you know these young guys these days usually it's all about me and what I want but you may just be right
Bigs , wings , and points
you folks need to let go of this 4 or 5 stuff
you folks need to let go of this 4 or 5 stuff
Pitt has played a 4-1 almost exclusively. I don't recall them ever going to a 3-2 set-up. At this point, Pitt doesn't have the bodies for an effective 3-2 offense. That could change a bit next year with Hugley's skillset but I expect that we will see mostly a 4-1 rotation.
I think we’ll get him but also think the reclass is less than likely.
I was hoping for maybe 10-15 mins from Max. I also hope we can get somewhere around 20-25 from Big John. I would like to see a little less of Justin and Toney at the 4. Let Justin and Toney take minutes from Murph, who shouldn't be on the floor that much next year.
I don't believe that is correct
I think there is still 1 open scholarship for 2020 and with George who is almost guaranteed to leave that leaves 2. If Brown or anyone else tleaves that makes it 3 or more.
Chukwuka is considered a senior and already counts against next year's open scholarships so we cannot gain it only lose it if he returns through a medical hardship.
We have 12 scholarship players for the 2019-20 season because we left one unfilled. Hamilton and Chukwuka are the team’s two seniors who are coming off of the scholarship count at the end of the season. That’s a total of three open scholarships for the 2020-21 season. We signed Collier, Amadasun, and Hugley, so as of today every scholarship for the 2020-21 season is taken.
Of course, that assumes that no players will leave early (for one reason or another) and free up additional scholarships. I think every Pitt fan recognizes that at least one player will leave early with eligibility on the table, so we will functionally have at least one more scholarship available for the 2020-21 season. But as of today, we’re technically full for 2020-21 with all 13 scholarships accounted for.
Just to expand on this, we currently have on scholarship:
SR - Chukwuka (1), Hamilton (2)
JR - Brown (3), George (4), Murphy (5)
SO - McGowens (6), Johnson (7), Toney (8), Horton (9)
FR - Champagnie (10), Coulibaly (11), Drumgoole (12)
Open - (13)
Coming in - Hugley (replaces Chukwuka), Collier (replaces Hamilton), Amadasun (replaces Open)
We’re assuming Samson isn’t coming back, and I think that’s what ends up happening - as do most Pitt fans. As I said, I was expressing the current scholarship situation as it exists today, and the current situation as it exists today is that Samson has another year of eligibility and counts for one more year against the 13 man limit.
Each player who leaves with eligibility on the table at the end of the year - Samson, Xavier, or otherwise - opens up an additional scholarship.
I mean -
How many times do we have to watch college basketball to start recognizing a back to the basket quality big is an absolute rarity the past 20 years
@oldpantherfan
2020-2021 (0 available scholarships)
Seniors: Terrell Brown, Samson George, Ryan Murphy
Juniors: Trey McGowens, Xavier Johnson, Au’Diese Toney
Sophomores: Gerald Drumgoole, Karim Coulibaly, Justin Champagnie, Ithiel Horton
Freshmen: Noah Collier, Max Amadasun, John Hugley
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