2018 Recruiting

[Dawgs99]

Yep, we desperately need a big body or two down low to attract attention and take the pressure off of our perimeter shooters. Miller and JDS and all of our guards will continue to be beaten into submission by opposing Ds and have little impact until Paulsen can balance the roster.

What this team desperately needs is some shooters.....we only have one guy who can create his own shot (otis), our starting off guard refuses to shoot the 3 ball even when left wide open and Jaire can't create a shot for himself and he handles the ball like a poor mans Sherrod Wright. While I agree another big would be helpful, I doubt that Greg and Reuter play together next year so you have a solid 2 deep at the 5. A team as small as ours coupled with the lack of shooters really makes scoring a challenge. I hope J D-S is the shooter this team desperately needs.

 

[GSII]

The way Lil Dave wants to play defense, no steals, get all the rebounds, we need another big. But the make up of the roster doesn't support his philosophy. Small fast guys thrive in getting steals that lead to easy buckets. But we don't or can't do that.

 

[GMU_DCU]

The way Lil Dave wants to play defense, no steals, get all the rebounds, we need another big. But the make up of the roster doesn't support his philosophy. Small fast guys thrive in getting steals that lead to easy buckets. But we don't or can't do that.

We did do that against Umass to great success but that seems to have been a one off thing.

 

[GMUgemini]

We did do that against Umass to great success but that seems to have been a one off thing.

We also held UMass to under 20% from 3 (5-27), which also appears to have been a one-off.

 

[Jack Strop]

Glad you agree we have roster issues caused by Lil Dave.

Yep, again! Dave is responsible for the roster and there are issues. However, there's not an organization on the planet where people can't quit and go elsewhere. Well, there is North Korea and the Islamic State, so there are actually a few. People leave for a variety of reasons. I'm not going to speculate on who left Mason and their reasons for leaving. Fact is, it happened, it sucks.

If Coach Dave were negligent or had nefarious intentions then he would have already been fired, or at least, there would be an investigation. Since neither have happened then we need to live with a shorthanded roster and move forward.

Tally-ho!!!!!

 

[GSII]

I disagree. I believe his intentions were good and he is a good coach, I see early mistakes. There was no need to plug in DII players that meant nothing to our program. It's just gonna take an extra 3 years to recover and cost two great kids a chance to go to ncaa's who actually mean alot to our program.

 

[GMUgemini]

I disagree. I believe his intentions were good and he is a good coach, I see early mistakes. There was no need to plug in DII players that meant nothing to our program. It's just gonna take an extra 3 years to recover and cost two great kids a chance to go to ncaa's who actually mean alot to our program.

To be fair, Dixon, Newman, and Abram all transferred to D-1 schools.

 

[GSII]

To be fair, Dixon, Newman, and Abram all transferred to D-1 schools.

Then allow me rephrase. Not A10 level players.

 

[gmujim92]

I disagree. I believe his intentions were good and he is a good coach, I see early mistakes. There was no need to plug in DII players that meant nothing to our program. It's just gonna take an extra 3 years to recover and cost two great kids a chance to go to ncaa's who actually mean alot to our program.

It’s easy to play Monday morning quarterback, especially about recruiting, but how could our coaches have known those guys weren’t A-10 caliber players before any of them had played a minute in college?

If you say it’s because none of them had very good offers — except Relvao, who was committed to a legit program in Valpo — I would note that the same applied to Otis and Jaire and they’ve both turned out OK.

By your measure, Dave should never have offered Otis. He played in a talent- and media-rich part of the country against top competition and yet only one Division I coach saw fit to offer him a scholarship before Mason did. Clearly we were the only school that thought he was good enough to play in the A-10.

Recruiting teenage males is an inexact science, particularly when you are hired late in the recruiting cycle and have to scramble because half your new team decommits or transfers out.

You hit on some and you miss on some. Just like every other coach in the history of college basketball. Even John Wooden had recruiting misses and that’s when UCLA was buying the best talent from coast to coast.

 

[GSII]

Otis is a diamond in the rough. Grayer too. Dave knew that. You can tell what a player can do in your league. Problem was everyone and their mother knew Dixon was not A10 caliber. Neither was Murrel,l and Dave knew that too, but did it anyway. Coaches know. Dave said we are gonna like Miller and JDS. We can see that already.

Process is gonna take longer.

 

[gmujim92]

Otis is a diamond in the rough. Grayer too. Dave knew that. You can tell what a player can do in your league. Problem was everyone and their mother knew Dixon was not A10 caliber. Neither was Murrel,l and Dave knew that too, but did it anyway. Coaches know. Dave said we are gonna like Miller and JDS. We can see that already.

Process is gonna take longer.

I’ve covered recruiting of high school athletes for the better part of the last 30 years and can assure you that there are many times coaches don’t know whether they’ve found a diamond or a dog turd until they get kids in practice and see how they compete.

 

[Patriot8]

Atleast one member of the coaching staff was in the house last night to watch Amir Harris, former Rhody commit, 6’5 combo guard. We were also at Jaylen Richards game tonight. I expect Richard to receive an offer soon.

 

[gmujim92]

Atleast one member of the coaching staff was in the house last night to watch Amir Harris, former Rhody commit, 6’5 combo guard. We were also at Jaylen Richards game tonight. I expect Richard to receive an offer soon.

Harris is really good. Never quite understood why we weren’t all over him as soon as he decommitted from URI.

Richard is an uber athlete. AJ-caliber hops. I guess you can never have too many of those.

 

[Patriot8]

Harris is really good. Never quite understood why we weren’t all over him as soon as he decommitted from URI.

Richard is an uber athlete. AJ-caliber hops. I guess you can never have too many of those.

I don’t know much about Harris’s game. My favorite thing I’ve seen about Richard is his pull up. Guy seems to be a scorer from all 3 levels and looks like he’s grown a lot in the last year.

 

[JimP]

General recruiting thought - if Schmidt could get Mobley and Adams to come to Olean, Paulsen should be able to get and develop similar players at Fairfax.

I think - though not 100% that Schmidt has relied more on transfers than Paulsen traditionally has.

It did take Schmidt some time - Bonnies were in at least as bad shape (if not more) as Mason when he arrived.

 

[Patriot8]

Upon further review of Jaylen Richard, I’ve developed a deep love, and I really hope we offer him. If you look at him from last year to this year, it looks like he lived in the weight room. He is physically ready for college, has a massive wingspan and as Jim said, he has AJ-like hops. He has no problem attacking the basket with either hand and can finish with either hand. He has a Vertrail Vaughans kind of shooting motion; high arching that starts from his ear, but it is more under control. He has plenty of range and looks comfortable as a spot up and pull up shooter from deep. My favorite aspect of his game that I’ve seen is a deadly midrange pull up that the defender can’t do much about. The biggest weakness I’ve noticed is that his handle can be a bit loose at times, so he’s a little turnover prone. Defensively his long arms lead to a lot of steals/tipped passes, and as mentioned, he can go up and protect the rim with ease when he’s needed.

I totally understand that some of you are saying, “what? ANOTHER 2 guard?” and I’m inclined to agree with you to a certain extent. However it should be pointed out that some
of the people saying that are also the people complaining the most about having no depth. This kid is a legit 3-level scorer who grew up as a primary ball handler, but has physically developed into looking like an A-10 level wing.

Sorry for the book, but I watched a lot of this guys internet film this morning and got excited.

 

[sleeperpick]

Upon further review of Jaylen Richard, I’ve developed a deep love, and I really hope we offer him. If you look at him from last year to this year, it looks like he lived in the weight room. He is physically ready for college, has a massive wingspan and as Jim said, he has AJ-like hops. He has no problem attacking the basket with either hand and can finish with either hand. He has a Vertrail Vaughans kind of shooting motion; high arching that starts from his ear, but it is more under control. He has plenty of range and looks comfortable as a spot up and pull up shooter from deep. My favorite aspect of his game that I’ve seen is a deadly midrange pull up that the defender can’t do much about. The biggest weakness I’ve noticed is that his handle can be a bit loose at times, so he’s a little turnover prone. Defensively his long arms lead to a lot of steals/tipped passes, and as mentioned, he can go up and protect the rim with ease when he’s needed.

I totally understand that some of you are saying, “what? ANOTHER 2 guard?” and I’m inclined to agree with you to a certain extent. However it should be pointed out that some
of the people saying that are also the people complaining the most about having no depth. This kid is a legit 3-level scorer who grew up as a primary ball handler, but has physically developed into looking like an A-10 level wing.

Sorry for the book, but I watched a lot of this guys internet film this morning and got excited.

None of our shooting guards can shoot so why not. JDS supposed to be our scoring savior but Javon was also supposed to be a sharpshooter and look how that has gone

 

[Patriot8]

None of our shooting guards can shoot so why not. JDS supposed to be our scoring savior but Javon was also supposed to be a sharpshooter and look how that has gone

I think Javon will be fine. It took Karmari some time to adjust, and it’s just taking Javon a bit longer. I’d love for him to continue attacking the basket and let the 3s come in rhythm. He’s thinking too much.

 

[Mason2005]

All you cry babies. Are you all on the same blow up raft, floating in your river of tears? We are still rebuilding, do you understand what that means? You can't compare rebuilds bc they all start at a different place and ppl rebuild in different ways. It took Hurley 6 seasons to rebuild and everyone thinks he'll get poached this off-season. Do you want the rebuild to go faster? Throw more money into the program. Front up or shut up!

Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

 

[gmujim92]

Upon further review of Jaylen Richard, I’ve developed a deep love, and I really hope we offer him. If you look at him from last year to this year, it looks like he lived in the weight room. He is physically ready for college, has a massive wingspan and as Jim said, he has AJ-like hops. He has no problem attacking the basket with either hand and can finish with either hand. He has a Vertrail Vaughans kind of shooting motion; high arching that starts from his ear, but it is more under control. He has plenty of range and looks comfortable as a spot up and pull up shooter from deep. My favorite aspect of his game that I’ve seen is a deadly midrange pull up that the defender can’t do much about. The biggest weakness I’ve noticed is that his handle can be a bit loose at times, so he’s a little turnover prone. Defensively his long arms lead to a lot of steals/tipped passes, and as mentioned, he can go up and protect the rim with ease when he’s needed.

I totally understand that some of you are saying, “what? ANOTHER 2 guard?” and I’m inclined to agree with you to a certain extent. However it should be pointed out that some
of the people saying that are also the people complaining the most about having no depth. This kid is a legit 3-level scorer who grew up as a primary ball handler, but has physically developed into looking like an A-10 level wing.

Sorry for the book, but I watched a lot of this guys internet film this morning and got excited.

Richard had 36 last night against a really good Panther Creek team, including a ridiculous 1-hand facial over a big-time prospect in Justin McKoy.

You were spot on about his handle, which reminds me a lot of Cam Long when he first got to Mason. High and very loose. Gotta tighten that up considerably to play the wing in the A-10.

But he can shoot it — his splits are 50/40/90 — and he’s definitely the caliber of athlete we need to be recruiting. Puzzled why he’s still unsigned and his best offer is Hofstra.