2024 Recruiting

Patriot8

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GIVING DAY 2023
Watched most of Begg's 4:30 game. Really like what I saw. Playing next to Tre Johnson (one of the best prospects in the country), he's not going to post the stats of some other guys. But he seems to be a smart player, spacing the floor well. Quick, good shooter, and perimeter defender. Sign him up.
16pts & 5asts. Shots fell today that didn’t fall yesterday. Helps having Johnson too. He didn’t last night.
 
Didn't get to watch today but McDermott stats look amazing. Hope we are in a good spot with him since he might blow up after this tournament.
 

Patriot8

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GIVING DAY 2023
Just watched the game. Skinn is in on quite a few of guys on both sides. Beggs looks like a strong pg. Thoughts on Somerville this week? @Patriot8
Didn't have a great week, and likely needed to have one. Never say never, but I don't for see him being being a key name to watch moving forward.
 

Patriot8

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GIVING DAY 2023
Who's your top 3/5?
I’d be thrilled with any of:
-Okojie
-Begg
-Walker
-Blocker
-Vinson

If we don’t land Lewis, slot Warlick into that spot.

If we don’t lane Begg, slot Simmons into that spot.

I’d take McDermott over everyone but I fear he’s played well enough to be out of reach.

Don’t know enough about Stewart.

I really do like everyone on the list, including Warlick and Simmons. Warlick is just a tad bit too small to play the 4 in this league. Simmons is excellent, and if Begg didn’t exist I’d be all about it, but as good as he is, he hasn’t shown a consistent ability to hit outside shots. For that reason alone, Begg is my 1A and Simmons, respectfully, is my 1B.
 
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Patriot8

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GIVING DAY 2023
Any update on Ty Bevins from the weekend?
Same situation as Somerville in my view. Didn't have a great week.

As of right now we have multiple options at PG and at Forward. I think the staff was hoping for someone to separate at the 2/3 spot. Somerville, Bevins, and Birmingham didn't do anything to separate themselves, hence the Dominick Stewart offer. Landren Blocker is probably leading that pack right now. I wouldn't be surprised (and I actually expect) for there to be a couple more offers to 2024s at the 2/3 following the final live period this weekend.

One name I wanted to include in the write up that I didn't due to a lack of information is Divine Ugochukwu, 6'3 G. He holds an offer, and from what I gathered, he played well this weekend at the Adidas event. Not sure if he's playing anywhere this weekend.
 
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dr. gunnie

Administrator
Staff member
The game I watched Bevins didn’t do much. I don’t think he stood out in any of his games this past weekend, but I only saw him 1 time. It’s near impossible to get stats for the UA/Adidas games.

Some of my thoughts:

Begg was very good and lightning quick. He was able to get by every guard he faced. My favorite is when teams would switch on a high screen - Begg would blow by the big defender like the defender was standing still. If Begg was three inches taller, his offer sheet would look totally different.

Only saw Walker once because Adidas sucks, but he did well again. He’s kind of got some Ryan Pearson in him in the fact that he plays below the rim, but is super crafty and just uses his body really well. If he can develop a consistent outside shot, look out.

Blocker reminds me of AJ as far as athleticism goes. Just didn’t get the minutes of some of the other guys. Put him on another team where he would be more of a focal point and his numbers would definitely be better. He’s kind of a sleeper in that sense, but has solid offers so college coaches love his athletic ability.

I saw Simmons a few times. Liked him after the first game. The more I saw him the more I liked him. He’s not that lightening fast guard like Begg. Having said that, nobody I saw over the weekend got the ball to their teammates in a better position to score than Simmons. McDermott probably averages 4 points less over the weekend if it wasn’t for Simmons. He’s a terrific passer.

McDermott is so polished. He’s got post moves that you normally don’t see in a high school player. He’s very good. He does get a lot of touches, but if he’s hitting the shots, why stop? He’s athletic, he can post up or play facing the basket. He’s the real deal.

Vinson is more of a project in my eyes, but I can see why coaches like him. I only saw him once and it was more of a track meet than I’m guessing Vinson would like, but you can seen glimpses of what he could be. Great frame, good presence defensively. After a year or two in a college program and he could make a huge jump. The outside shot is impressive for his size.

I did not see any Okojie last weekend, but hope to this weekend.

Warlick is very physical and gets a ton of touches on his team. Everything went through him. I just wonder how he would do on a better team and if he would still be putting up the same numbers. I would also love to see someone like Blocker get the touches that Warlick did. Warlick is the kind of player that would dominate in the Patriot League. I don’t know if he is tall enough to physically dominate in the A10. Luckily, I don’t have to make that decision.

Got to see Somerville some. Didn’t really stand out when I saw him. Only caught a game or two of him, so obviously hard to judge on a limited window.

When you’re watching 20+ games over a four or five day span, things start to get a little blurry… but those are a few of my takes.
 
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dr. gunnie

Administrator
Staff member
Watched a few more games yesterday.

Didn’t know much about recent offer Dominick Stewart - was a 2024 kid who might move back to 2025. Watched two of his games at EYBL - really good three point shooter, has good height, and showed some quickness. Probably a spot up 2G at the next level, but could definitely develop and become someone who drives to the basket more. Would like to see a few more games from him.

*edit* - watched some Mt Zion Prep clips, Stewart definitely takes it to the rim a lot more than he showed for Team Durant. No worries about that part of his game.

Also got my first recent look at Baraka Okojie. It was the UAA championship game vs Middlesex Magic. I don’t think it was Baraka’s best scoring game - Patriot8 would know better as he has seen him more, but came away very impressed. If you took Begg and Simmons and combined them, you’d have Baraka. He’s very quick (although I’d still give Begg the edge), but has more of the size and court vision/command like Simmons. In the championship game, most of his shots were at the rim. I know he can shoot from further out, just didn’t see it from that game. He’s going to be playing this weekend so hopefully we’ll get some access to watch a few more of his games.
 
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