Basketball Recruiting Update

[MarketingBully]

Good job on list, smoot, but I don't think South Carolina under Martin will be back to tier 4 as long as he's there

Basketball is all about talent and Martin has proven that he can lose if he doesn't have elite talent. If Dozier leaves, South Carolina goes back to the bottom tier of the league.

[MarketingBully]

I'm not confident enough to tell you you'll ultimately be wrong, I'll just say that right now nobody has him projected as a 1st round pick. Draft Express lists him as the #24 prospect in the SEC alone. I think the issue is that he's sort of a rich man's Gavin Ware. He's really a center but doesn't have the size to play it on the next level.

After looking more, though, nbadraft.net lists PJ Dozier as a 1st round pick. If he leaves, South Carolina probably drops into Tier 4.

That's why you have work outs. When Maten does the work outs, I bet he gets a first round grade.

[Dawg61]

Looking at that list (thanks Smoot) I think we beat Kentucky next year. Granted I haven't seen any of their signees play but the constant turnover for them is gonna eventually bite them in the ass and we have zero bad turnover with some good signees coming in and Ado with a years worth of practice.

Redshirt Datcher? No. I like Datcher a lot.

[smootness]

Good job on list, smoot, but I don't think South Carolina under Martin will be back to tier 4 as long as he's there

You're probably right, but Thornwell, Notice, and Dozier have been huge pieces in getting them to competitiveness the last 2 years. Lose all of them at once, and it will be a tough task to get next year's team back to respectability. He builds on defense, so it's certainly possible, but if Dozier leaves, that will be a young and not particularly talented roster. They will need a guy like Keita to step up big time.

Here's a very early (so ultimately inaccurate) guess at lineups for next year:

Alabama:
G Collin Sexton (Freshman)
G Dazon Ingram (Sophomore)
F Ar'Mond Davis (Senior)
F Donta Hall (Junior)
F Braxton Key (Sophomore)

Arkansas:
G Anton Beard (Senior)
G Daryl Macon (Senior)
G Jaylen Barford (Senior)
F Justin Thomas (Senior)
F Daniel Gafford (Freshman)

Auburn:
G Jared Harper (Sophomore)
G Bryce Brown (Junior)
F Mustapha Heron (Sophomore)
F Danjel Purifoy (Sophomore)
C Austin Wiley (Sophomore)

Florida:
G KeVaughn Allen (Junior)
G Eric Hester (Sophomore)
F Keith Stone (Sophomore)
F Kevarrius Hayes (Junior)
C John Egbunu (Senior)

Georgia:
G Tyree Crump (Sophomore)
G Juwan Parker (Senior)
G Jordan Harris (Sophomore)
F Derek Ogbeide (Junior)
C Yante Maten (Senior)

Kentucky:
G Quade Green (Freshman)
G Hamidou Diallo (Freshman)
F Jarred Vanderbilt (Freshman)
F Wenyen Gabriel (Sophomore)
C Sacha Killeya-Jones (Sophomore)

LSU:
G Skylar Mays (Sophomore)
G Antonio Blakeney (Junior)
G Brandon Sampson (Junior)
F Aaron Epps (Senior)
F Duop Reath (Senior)

Mississippi State:
G Lamar Peters (Sophomore)
G Nick Weatherspoon (Freshman)
G Quinndary Weatherspoon (Sophomore)
F Aric Holman (Junior)
C Schnider Herard (Sophomore)

Missouri:
G Terrence Phillips (Junior)
G Jordan Geist (Junior)
G Frankie Hughes (Sophomore)
F Jordan Barnett (Senior)
F Kevin Puryear (Junior)

Ole Miss:
G Deandre Burnett (Senior)
G Terence Davis (Junior)
G Cullen Neal (Senior)
F Justas Furmanavicius (Senior)
F Marcanvis Hymon (Senior)

South Carolina:
G Rakym Felder (Sophomore)
G Hassani Gravett (Junior)
F Chris Silva (Junior)
F Sedee Keita (Sophomore)
C Maik Kotsar (Sophomore)

Tennessee:
G Lamonte Turner (Sophomore)
G Jordan Bowden (Sophomore)
F Grant Williams (Sophomore)
F Jalen Johnson (Freshman)
F John Fulkerson (Sophomore)

Texas A&M:
G JJ Caldwell (Freshman)
G Admon Gilder (Junior)
F DJ Hogg (Junior)
F Tonny Trocha-Morelos (Senior)
C Tyler Davis (Junior)

Vanderbilt:
G Riley LaChance (Senior)
G Payton Willis (Sophomore)
G Matthew Fisher-Davis (Senior)
F Jeff Roberson (Senior)
F Clevon Brown (Sophomore)


It should be a pretty good league next year. Some of the teams that are either not very talented or lack size (Arkansas, Ole Miss, Missouri) will be the most experienced teams in the league and pretty loaded with upperclassmen. And the coaching in the league has improved so drastically over the last several years, and we will continue to see the results of that every year. You've replaced a group of Rick Ray, Darrin Horn, Donnie Tyndall, John Pelphrey, Anthony Grant, Tony Barbee, and Dennis Felton with Ben Howland, Frank Martin, Rick Barnes, Mike Anderson, Avery Johnson, Bruce Pearl, and Mark Fox. That's incredible improvement. I think the changes at Texas A&M and Vanderbilt were mostly even changes, and though you obviously had a downgrade at Florida, I think White is a good coach.

[smootness]

That's why you have work outs. When Maten does the work outs, I bet he gets a first round grade.

I'm just not sure he's athletic enough.

[smootness]

Looking at that list (thanks Smoot) I think we beat Kentucky next year. Granted I haven't seen any of their signees play but the constant turnover for them is gonna eventually bite them in the ass and we have zero bad turnover with some good signees coming in and Ado with a years worth of practice.

Redshirt Datcher? No. I like Datcher a lot.

I don't think the turnover will bite them so much as they will inevitably have years where their freshmen aren't as good, and those are the years they will dip. I think next year could be one of those years, but it's tough to know until the guys are on campus and playing. Their 2012 class was ranked higher than this upcoming class, and it proved to be subpar by their standards, which led to an NIT berth. Their other slight dip occurred last year where their class was again ranked slightly better than this one, but Labissiere didn't do anything, so that killed them. At the same time, two years ago was phenomenal even though that freshman class wasn't unbelievable, but it's because they had some carry over from the previous class, and Anthony-Towns was a beast.

They'll need Gabriel and Killeya-Jones to step up, and they may need Briscoe to stick around. Otherwise, they'll have to hope one or two of their freshmen are better than advertised. They also still have a good shot at the #3 player in the class, which would help quite a bit. I agree it's possible we're better next year, but it's just hard to know until they start playing.

[Dawg61]

I don't think TeaSpoon starts immediately for us. I think we will be better with him running the second team with Carter, Ado and Stapleton as his outlets. Our starting lineup will stay the same next year.

PG Peters
SG TableSpoon
SF Kegler
PF Holman
C Herard

[MarketingBully]

I don't think TeaSpoon starts immediately for us. I think we will be better with him running the second team with Carter, Ado and Stapleton as his outlets. Our starting lineup will stay the same next year.

PG Peters
SG TableSpoon
SF Kegler
PF Holman
C Herard

I was thinking that as well. If we finish strong and finish in the top four of the SEC with that starting five, we should get a lot of pre-season recognition. I think Kegler continues to improve and it will be harder and harder to keep him out of the starting five at the small forward spot.

[smootness]

I don't think TeaSpoon starts immediately for us. I think we will be better with him running the second team with Carter, Ado and Stapleton as his outlets. Our starting lineup will stay the same next year.

PG Peters
SG TableSpoon
SF Kegler
PF Holman
C Herard

It's not going to catch on haha. 'TeaSpoon' is not a terrible nickname. 'TableSpoon' is one of the worst I've ever heard.

[smootness]

Kegler's got to get a lot better to justify starting him over Nick Weatherspoon.

We won't run shifts with two different teams on the court. We'll mix and match, and Q, Peters, and Holman will all play a bunch of minutes.

[Dawg61]

It's not going to catch on haha. 'TeaSpoon' is not a terrible nickname. 'TableSpoon' is one of the worst I've ever heard.

Oh I am not letting the one opportunity in life to use TeaSpoon and TableSpoon go by the waste side. It'll catch on damnit!

[louisvilledawg]

I think Strugg might be a casulty. (Maybe even Datcher?) I just don't see them ever getting a chance now especially with Feazell, Brooks and Ado coming in.

Stapleton was a 3 star.

I read on another board that DJ Jefferies just switched to Penny Hardaways AAU team and it's Nike(Not good).

I like the targets for 2019 but not sure the real possibility to get any of those guys. But I guess we'll find out. I really wish we could pull Watford.

I hope Datcher is the casualty. I just don't think he's very talented. Big body? yes. Talented? meh

His only offers out of high school were us, UAB, and South Alabama. Don't think he's SEC Caliber

[Dawg-gone-dawgs]

I bet we see Ado start. Ben Howland has bragged on Ado many times and says he doesnt usually do that for a player that hasn't played a game and that everyone should get VERY excited about him. They have used him to be UK's Bam and Texas A&M's Tyler Davis in practice. Of course, I don't think we'll have a set starting 5, I think it will be whatever fits the need for any particular game.

[louisvilledawg]

Looking at that list (thanks Smoot) I think we beat Kentucky next year. Granted I haven't seen any of their signees play but the constant turnover for them is gonna eventually bite them in the ass and we have zero bad turnover with some good signees coming in and Ado with a years worth of practice.

Redshirt Datcher? No. I like Datcher a lot.

How?

[Dawg61]

I hope Datcher is the casualty. I just don't think he's very talented. Big body? yes. Talented? meh

His only offers out of high school were us, UAB, and South Alabama. Don't think he's SEC Caliber

You have the choice between Strugg being the casualty or Datcher and you pick Datcher? What? It's not even a contest. Datcher is miles ahead of Strugg.

[sorrydog]

Ado WILL help, but he is not a program savior.
-Averaged 7.9 points, 8.6 rebounds and 2.7 blocks as a senior as his team posted a 27-3 ledger.
-Averaged 9.9 points, 9.8 rebounds and 5.9 blocks as a junior en route to a 28-5 record.
-Averaged 9.8 points, 11.8 rebounds and 7.3 blocks as a sophomore.

[Dawg61]

Ado WILL help, but he is not a program savior.
-Averaged 7.9 points, 8.6 rebounds and 2.7 blocks as a senior as his team posted a 27-3 ledger.
-Averaged 9.9 points, 9.8 rebounds and 5.9 blocks as a junior en route to a 28-5 record.
-Averaged 9.8 points, 11.8 rebounds and 7.3 blocks as a sophomore.

Doesn't have to be just bring the blocks and rebounds baby we got plenty of scoring

[Ifyouonlyknew]

Herard doesn't have to be a savior neither does Ado but we need them to combine to make 1 very good center.

[Big4Dawg]

I hope Datcher is the casualty. I just don't think he's very talented. Big body? yes. Talented? meh

His only offers out of high school were us, UAB, and South Alabama. Don't think he's SEC Caliber

I really like Datcher and he can be the scrapper we need who gives his 110% and do the dirty work.

[Ifyouonlyknew]

I hope Datcher is the casualty. I just don't think he's very talented. Big body? yes. Talented? meh

His only offers out of high school were us, UAB, and South Alabama. Don't think he's SEC Caliber

So you would rather lose Datcher instead of Strugg? I don't see the logic behind that 1.