Recruits

[Charlesbt4]

When will we know more about the 2009 recruiting class?

[xuhuh!]

I would say they have to be signed before they can be discussed

[Theo Huxtable]

2009

[jaxalum]

Its a 3 man class/ possibly 2 if MIller doesn't get the guys he wants. At this point it looks , in order of priority position wise;
1. SF
2. PF
3. COMBO SG/SF

Some 2009 names to throw out there......"Book" Stewart was brought in mostly for his connections in Ny...hence there are quite a few guys being looked at in that area.

Ari Stewart (SF) is the top guy Miller is looking at(he's a top 20 player). Some other players consist of Tevin Baskin, Omari Lwrence, Kevin Parrom.....The link below is scouthoops generalized list of who X is looking at and vice versa.

http://scouthoops.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p= ... atingValue

Really the best info you will ever get with regards to recruits is Musketeerscoop.com with Brian Snow. Its a paysite(10.00 bucks per month) but Snow sees all these kids in person, has established relationships with most of them, and is pretty thorough in his analysis. I've been over there for awhile and it was really interesting to see how the "journey" that was the Kenny Frease recruitment. The Mark Lyons commitment came out of nowhere but could prove to be the most pivotal next year (starting PG.) Brad Redford and Brian Walsh were both at the top of Millers 08 rec. board and Walsh looked headed to Maryland for most of his recruitment. It will be interesting to see as well how B. Redfords career matches up with Dominique Buckleys(signed at Iowa State) Buckley was 90% X until he went on a last, almost courtesy, visit to Iowa State, and verballed there shortly after. We/MIller lucked out in grabbing a sort of ying and yang ie Lyons the confident slasher/disher vs Redford the sharpshooter/conservative , high IQ guard.

Musketeerscoop.com though is the best place for recruit info, and he writes 3-5 articles per week as well. Its a nice site.

[MADXSTER]

I concur Jax. If you're into information gathering and not flaming that is definitely the place.

Snow not only gets with recruits but also Larkin from time to time for additional inside info.

[xuhuh!]

Now what GREAT BASKETBALL PLAYER wouldn't want to play for SEAN MILLER? @ X!

[XinAlbany]

I read an article in a local newspaper, The Albany Times Union, about X being in the mix for Taran Buie. He attends Bishop Maginn High School which is ranked #2 in the state for class AA and he is the younger brother of current Penn St. PG Talor Battle. I believe he is more of a 2 guard but I am not sure. The news paper article said he is the number 21 overall recruit in the nation for his class and is being pursued by colleges such as UNC, Duke, Pitt, G'Town, St.John's, and Dayton among many others. However, it stated that X is currently one of his top picks. He also may be a sophmore. I couldn't find his graduating class but he is 6'2" and leading his team in scoring, which has two seniors who will attend D1 programs, at 359 points in 24 games. If anyone wants more info I'll send a link but since he may not graduate until 2010 I wasn't sure if anyone would really care. That's the scoop.

[muskieman]

Your appointed to keep us informed about this kid, XinAlbany.

[MillerTime]

I've saw the Buie kid was listed at scouts...2010 X prospect class looks to be guard heavy. We'll have 3 schollies open then as well. 3 in 2009, 3 in 2010. Whether we use them all is another question.

The only thing that I am worried about is this: when you swing for the fences and miss, it can set you back. For instance, it doesn't appear we are recruiting a lesser known small forward in the class of 2009. Our top SF targets appear to be Ari Stewart, Tevin Baskin, Kevin Parrom. All 3 of those guys have been offered by many big time programs. What happens if we miss on all 3? I have faith in Miller has a recruiter, but it's certainly not out of the question that we could miss on them. If we do miss, who is going to start at the SF position in 2009? I guess there are certainly holes you could plug (3 guard set, DBrown may be able to play on the wing by the time he is a senior, etc, etc), but we would lack a true small foward. I guess we just have to let it play out....

[jaxalum]

I've saw the Buie kid was listed at scouts...2010 X prospect class looks to be guard heavy. We'll have 3 schollies open then as well. 3 in 2009, 3 in 2010. Whether we use them all is another question.

The only thing that I am worried about is this: when you swing for the fences and miss, it can set you back. For instance, it doesn't appear we are recruiting a lesser known small forward in the class of 2009. Our top SF targets appear to be Ari Stewart, Tevin Baskin, Kevin Parrom. All 3 of those guys have been offered by many big time programs. What happens if we miss on all 3? I have faith in Miller has a recruiter, but it's certainly not out of the question that we could miss on them. If we do miss, who is going to start at the SF position in 2009? I guess there are certainly holes you could plug (3 guard set, DBrown may be able to play on the wing by the time he is a senior, etc, etc), but we would lack a true small foward. I guess we just have to let it play out....

I get a bit worried at times as well because Miller and staff is now consistently going after only topvv flight kids. Our 2007 class is a classic example of going after all top flight kids and only landing one prep player out of three spots open (Dante Jackson, who was a great get). Other names in that class X missed out on Jujuan Johnson, R Hummel, Scott Martin,etc. This class was so close to being top 20. Jordan Crawford was basically begging to verbal to X for about a year, but the staff wanted to wait on Jeff Teague(Rivals top 70 PG, who eventually signed with Wake Forest) Crawford starting turning some heads and Indiana/Sampson swooped in and got him to verbal within a week. Matt Howard was a stud top 80 6'8 PF from Indiana with offers from a bunch of BCS schools (IU, Purdue, Iowa, UK). He lived clsoe to Butler and they were in on him early. It came down to X and Butler, amd although X seemed to be leading in his recruitment for quite sometime, he decided to stay closer to home, and picked Butler (his best friend from HS PG ? Hahn also had verballed to Butler which was a major factor for Matt) So basically, the class was inches away from being Dante Jackson Rivals top 85/Matt Howard Top 75/and Jordan Crawford...a kid who is killing it for Indiana as a combo PG/SG.

Losing Juwan Staten to UDump does hurt. At this point he is a possible top 100 type talent, and he's a PG, which will be a must in the 2010 class for X.

-The only two reasons X should EVER lose a recruiting battle to the Dumpsters is first; the recruit is native to the UDump area and wants to stay close, he grew up a fan, went to games there as a kid...I mean let's be honest...kids around that area are brainwashed into the UDump basketball culture (granted there is NOTHING else there/only ticket in town) from birth. Have there ever been fans that rant and rave over so little achievement. They are the Kevin Federleins of college basketball....hilljacks walking around with a sense of totally undeserved accomplishment. So Staten had that pulling at him as well as every other brainwashed (and most likely unwashed) hilljack pressuring him to stay and play for the "hometown" team.

-The second reason why a recruit would pick UDump over X; IMMEDIATE PLAYING TIME. At UD L Warren (offered by Jacksonville, the school , not the NFL team,.....XU87) will be graduating and Stephen Thomas (rumors abound that he may be transferring) will be a Sr., and he basically, well......he's just not good......2 star recruit with offers from Highpoint and IUPUI. J Staten realizes he will start day one at the Dump...Period. At X, he would sit for two years behind Mark Lyons, and possibly another year if Redford redshirts. X has lost quite a few recruits for this reason alone. Unless the recruit is a 5 star stud he will have to wait for his turn, which many recruits don't want to hear(How many times have you heard a prep player say he chose "X" school because they were told they could play/contribute immediately). That was THE reason Stephon Pettigrew and DJ Kenndy decided to go elswhere. To much talent in front of them.

I think someone mentioned this, but atleast Staten verballed early so Miller can concentrate on other options. Remember, it is the 2010 class.