Opportunistic

[gmujim92]

So I find myself with a little time on my hands, and as I often do, I started thinking about Mason basketball -- specifically, what a remarkable job of recruiting our staff has done in basically a year on the job.

Considering the state of our roster post-Hewpocalypse, and getting such a late start on both the 2015 and '16 recruiting classes, I am frankly astounded by the coaches' ability to spot opportunities and pounce:

Otis L was seriously considering prep school because his offer list was so underwhelming. Got him on campus, sealed the deal and he became an all-rookie pick as a starting PG in the 7th-best league in America.

Grayer was going to prep in the hopes of landing some higher-level offers. Instead, staff convinced him he'd have a chance to be a 4-year starter. Should've made all-rookie team.

Abram had zero D-I offers and wound up averaging 6 ppg while starting several games and showing flashes of big-time promise.

Relvao got hung out to dry at Valpo, which tried desperately to place him in prep school so he could be part of their 2016 class. The fact that Bryce Drew wanted to keep him that badly tells me the kid has major upside.

Everyone assumed Boyd was gonna play football at VT or ECU. Staff got him to visit and commit, then watched him get voted POY by NC high school coaches association. For basketball.

Likewise, everyone assumed Temara was headed to a JUCO. Most schools didn't even bother offering. Now he's killing the books as a senior and we wind up with a crazy athletic 6-9 swing forward who reminds me of the Sam Dekker kid from Wisconsin.

Those 6 young men combined for 10 recruiting "stars" -- the same number awarded to future Duke teammates Harry Giles and Jayson Tatum.

Three of them are still in wait and see mode until they set foot on a court in college.

But they all look to be part of a very promising foundation for our program's future -- one that was built in less than 12 months.

Just goes to show what can happen when you hire aggressive, passionate and especially competent people.

 

[Walter]

I am confused. How is this related to the CRA and the Great Recession?

But seriously, good points. Honestly, though, we still don't know what we have . . . other than some promising players and a coach that appears to know what he is doing . . . and hope that wins and championships will come.

Hewpocalypse?

 

[gmutom]

Honestly, though, we still don't know what we have . . . other than some promising players and a coach that appears to know what he is doing . . . and hope that wins and championships will come.

This is where I'm at as well. I'm all for the rah-rah Paulsen speeches and Hewitt bashing, but time will tell if Paulsen is bringing in the right players and implementing the right systems to consistently compete in the A10. I have no doubt the is the he right guy now to rebuild the program as evidenced by some of the big wins we had in his initial season.

I think the key moving forward will be bringing in more guys like Boyd who can play at a high level at both ends of the court, because many of our current players probably gave up as many points as they scored — which also might explain why they were under-recruited. I love that DP is a gym rat and old school coach who stresses fundamentals, so some of that defense will get better over time. I also know that Otis, Grayer and the other freshmen will do everything they can to get better in that regard.

We won't know for two more seasons whether we he can turn things around, so I'm fully onboard with the warm fuzzies. In fact, as my avatar says, everybody just needs to "Keep calm and put some Dave on."

 

[Pikapppatri8]

I am confused. How is this related to the CRA and the Great Recession?

But seriously, good points. Honestly, though, we still don't know what we have . . . other than some promising players and a coach that appears to know what he is doing . . . and hope that wins and championships will come.

Hewpocalypse?

That part of your quote - which you think is minor - is actually so diametrically opposed to what we had in the Hewitt years that it is significant. That alone is progress and I expect more next year.

Or I could just be recovering from battered spouse syndrome.

 

[JPgmuswim]

I have been impressed with the talent that our new coaching staff has been able to bring in given the short amount of time they have had. I appreciate the fact that these recruits are what we call hidden gems, or under recruited, can't wait to see what Boyd and Temara look like playing in green and gold.

That being said after Paulsen and Company have had a couple years to recruit as George Mason coaches, I would love to see us recruiting players considered "A-10 talent". As much as I love the staff leaving no leaving no stone unturned to find players, I'd just like to see our name mentioned for recruits that are also considering other schools in our conference or equal to our conference.
I am in no way a talent evaluator and I don't post on here often. I come here daily because I enjoy reading other people's opinions on our beloved patriots. Gmujim92, I always enjoy your insite on the recruits because I know you go to a lot of high school games down here in the Richmond area.

 

[gmujim92]

I have been impressed with the talent that our new coaching staff has been able to bring in given the short amount of time they have had. I appreciate the fact that these recruits are what we call hidden gems, or under recruited, can't wait to see what Boyd and Temara look like playing in green and gold.

That being said after Paulsen and Company have had a couple years to recruit as George Mason coaches, I would love to see us recruiting players considered "A-10 talent". As much as I love the staff leaving no leaving no stone unturned to find players, I'd just like to see our name mentioned for recruits that are also considering other schools in our conference or equal to our conference.
I am in no way a talent evaluator and I don't post on here often. I come here daily because I enjoy reading other people's opinions on our beloved patriots. Gmujim92, I always enjoy your insite on the recruits because I know you go to a lot of high school games down here in the Richmond area.

JP, my post was meant to be an acknowledgement that if you have a good enough staff, you can find A10-caliber players in places where other people aren't looking.

It's nice for bragging rights to sign guys who are popular with the recruiting services, but what those "analysts" don't tell anyone is that their player evaluations are often based on seeing a kid play 1-2 times if that. It's a scam.

Frankly, unless (until???) we build up our facilities and become a legit threat to make the tournament every year, it's gonna be tough to go head-to-head and beat even the top programs in our own league for recruits.

The good news is we have a staff who knows exactly the type of kid they're looking for. They have a plan and are recruiting to fit it, not to add a bunch of redundant parts who might be more "talented" or have more stars beside their names.

It might not be particularly sexy, but I have no doubt it will be successful.

 

[Bricker]

I actually got my hands on an official GMU recruiting questionaire from the previous regime

1. Do you stomp opposing players and then blow 27-point leads?
2. Are you 6' 7"?

The rest of the page was blank.

 

[GMU92]

I actually got my hands on an official GMU recruiting questionaire from the previous regime

1. Do you stomp opposing players and then blow 27-point leads?
2. Are you 6' 7"?

The rest of the page was blank.

You wanted more than 2 questions? How dare you impose these draconian conditions on someone stealing...errr...getting paid only $700K+ per year.

 

[GMUSig03]

So I find myself with a little time on my hands, and as I often do, I started thinking about Mason basketball -- specifically, what a remarkable job of recruiting our staff has done in basically a year on the job.

Considering the state of our roster post-Hewpocalypse, and getting such a late start on both the 2015 and '16 recruiting classes, I am frankly astounded by the coaches' ability to spot opportunities and pounce:

Otis L was seriously considering prep school because his offer list was so underwhelming. Got him on campus, sealed the deal and he became an all-rookie pick as a starting PG in the 7th-best league in America.

Grayer was going to prep in the hopes of landing some higher-level offers. Instead, staff convinced him he'd have a chance to be a 4-year starter. Should've made all-rookie team.

Abram had zero D-I offers and wound up averaging 6 ppg while starting several games and showing flashes of big-time promise.

Relvao got hung out to dry at Valpo, which tried desperately to place him in prep school so he could be part of their 2016 class. The fact that Bryce Drew wanted to keep him that badly tells me the kid has major upside.

Everyone assumed Boyd was gonna play football at VT or ECU. Staff got him to visit and commit, then watched him get voted POY by NC high school coaches association. For basketball.

Likewise, everyone assumed Temara was headed to a JUCO. Most schools didn't even bother offering. Now he's killing the books as a senior and we wind up with a crazy athletic 6-9 swing forward who reminds me of the Sam Dekker kid from Wisconsin.

Those 6 young men combined for 10 recruiting "stars" -- the same number awarded to future Duke teammates Harry Giles and Jayson Tatum.

Three of them are still in wait and see mode until they set foot on a court in college.

But they all look to be part of a very promising foundation for our program's future -- one that was built in less than 12 months.

Just goes to show what can happen when you hire aggressive, passionate and especially competent people.

Boner alert