Question about the Basketball recruiting class.

[Rayburn8]

I know about Tookie and Weatherspoon but what about Joseph Strugg? He is committed to us and is a 247 composite 3 star PF out of Montgomery Alabama. Then also does anyone have anything on Shawntrez Davis? He is a 247 composite 4 star PF out of the Atlanta area in Georgia, he is 100% CBed to us.

[smootness]

Don't know much about Strugg, honestly. I think he's pretty much pure athlete at this point, though maybe a little further along than Black.

I think I remember saying there was something holding Davis back, maybe academics. But I remember people saying we wouldn't take him and that probably no one else would, either.

[Ifyouonlyknew]

We're not recruiting Davis haven't for a while. Boston College recently offered him. Strugg is a really good athlete but on the thin side. He's built like Varnado game is similar just not as good.

[chef dixon]

Is Ray going after Bruce Stevens from Bay Springs? Heard he was watching him today. Kid is 6'8" Dandy Dozen and seems like he has skills. Dude dropped 20 and 20 in the state title game. A lot better showing than Hicks today.

[msstate7]

Are we recruiting anyone besides Malik for this year?

[Ifyouonlyknew]

Is Ray going after Bruce Stevens from Bay Springs? Heard he was watching him today. Kid is 6'8" Dandy Dozen and seems like he has skills. Dude dropped 20 and 20 in the state title game. A lot better showing than Hicks today.

Bruce isn't a SEC player & it's not fair to judge Hicks off of 1 game. It's a reason he has the offers he has.

[smootness]

After watching some videos and searching a little more, here are my mostly uneducated and probably worthless opinions on our incoming players:

Quinndary Weatherspoon - I think he definitely has 4-star upside, though I'm curious as to how much of an immediate impact he'll make. He has a good looking stroke but his 3-point numbers in both HS and AAU aren't great (30-33%). He seems to be a pretty good athlete who can attack the rim when he wants to, though I think he needs to be more aggressive; his highlight videos are mostly made up of jump shots. He looks like he can develop into a good all-around guard. I think his upside is a very good college player, though I'm not sure he's a future star. I like his attitude in his videos - just does his job, puts his head down, and gets back on D. Hopefully he can give us at least 10 mpg with around 4-5 ppg next year.

Tookie Brown - I think he should be a 4-star guy. The only thing holding him back is his size, and while it's important, there have been plenty of smaller PGs who have become stars at the college level. I think he can be an immediate impact guy with the potential to become a Nate Robinson type. Short but strong and extremely athletic. Very good ball-handler with a nice crossover, will beat college guys off the dribble in man-to-man with ease. His jump shot looks good, seems like a decent shooter; more of a pure scorer who can get hot and light it up from everywhere than a true shooter, though. I think he can become a star at State, though his bust potential may be higher simply due to his size. I think he can come in and get at least 6-8 ppg immediately, though, if we give him enough time on the floor.

Joseph Strugg - Sort of an unknown. He plays on the AAU team with Newman and Weatherspoon, but he doesn't seem to get a lot of minutes. It's very tough to find stats or video of him as well. ESPN actually lists him as a 4-star (along with both Weatherspoon and Tookie), but I'm always skeptical of their rankings. He looks to be 6'8" or 6'9" and definitely lean. He will have to add some muscle and strength in order to really be a difference-maker, but he is an elite athlete. We will have two guys on next year's team, in Houston and Strugg, that are truly elite in terms of length and athleticism. If we don't redshirt him, I think the best we can hope for next year from him is a few minutes here and there, sort of an Oliver Black role from this year. Best-case scenario, he can block a couple of shots and grab a couple of offensive rebounds in spurts. I think his potential is pretty high, higher than Black's, but he definitely has a high risk because of how raw he seems to be. Again, it's tough to find out much about him, but he's 6'9" with long arms and can jump through the roof; not a bad place to start.

All in all, I like this class. I think it has the potential to be very good down the line. A lot of it will depend on Strugg's development, but at the very least, we should end up with two very good college players out of the class. I just hope they can step in quickly enough to give us a big boost next year.

[Political Hack]

Ricky Ray is starting to recruit guys that should play for Butler. They're good players but we still don't have the elite level athletes it takes to bang in the SEC. QW will contribute quickly, but I don't see it being much more than being used to extend a zone or perch on the 3-point line to open up driving lanes for Chicken.

We're just not very good offensively and we're not going to be under Ray, ever. We should be a better team offensively next year with Zuppardo healthy and Black having another year of experience, but I doubt it results in many more W's.

[smootness]

Ricky Ray is starting to recruit guys that should play for Butler. They're good players but we still don't have the elite level athletes it takes to bang in the SEC.

I honestly have no idea what you're talking about here. When you say 'athlete,' do you mean athletic? Because we will be extremely athletic next year. Houston, Strugg, Sword, Black, Tookie...this recruiting class is not a bunch of guys who have fundamentals but can't hang athletically. So I'm not seeing what you're seeing. At all.

[Bothrops]

It will result in more wins, but probably not enough to get us in the post season.