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Men's recruiting class

B

bengalman

Active member
So here is who appears to be in the men's recruiting class.

Justin Smith 6'6
Scotty Tyler 6'7
Andrej Slavik 6'9
Ajak Magot 6'10
Jeffrey Solarin 6'4
Marcus Bradley 6'6
Ben Wilson 6'6
Evann Hall 6'4

If nothing else, it appears that next year's team will be deeper and definitely bigger. I worry about who is going to score, but I think with the added length of the recruits, we will be very good defensively. One of the reasons that Syracuse's zone is so good is they are so long and athletic. It appears that Coach Evans is trying to recruit to his system. It looks like the days of signing small guards (Morgan, McGowen, Gilchrest, Nick Mason, Vishal Banipal, etc) is over. I'm not saying it's a good or bad thing. Just a difference of philosophy between O'Brien and Evans.
 
This team shouldn't finish last in the conference for rebounding at least. A few more rebounds should lead to some second or even third chance opportunities. Isn't Andre 6'4 or something like that, but he led the team in rebounds? He played above his size last season for sure.
 
Wasn't Andrej a guard at Western Wyoming Junior College? I think he was 6'4 not 6'9. I'll check and see if their line up is still posted.
 
Andrej might be 6'9. I was thinking of Solarin who went to WWCC. 6'4 is right for Solarin who played guard for WWCC. Where did Andrej go to school?
 
I agree with Sin City Spudhead, if this team is low on the rebound stats, then something is wrong.I'm in support of Coach Evans and think he is on top of the rebuilding process. There are a few that he didn't get, but I believe things happen for a reason. I look forward to ISU having a good season and for those that chose to go elsewhere, I wish them success as well.
 
Just to avoid confusion, I was referring to 6'4" Andre Hatchett who led the team in rebounding this season. The new recruit, Andrej Slavik, is listed at 6'9".
 
....don't we still have that young man that signed to play both football and basketball this coming year?.....sage burmeister...or something like that.....shooting guard i think?.....he should be listed...right?...
 
Yeah, as far as I can tell, Sage Burmeister will be coming to ISU as well, playing both sports.
 
I think what we're seeing in this recruiting class, especially with the additions of Hall and Wilson, are manifestations of Evans' coaching style. He's going for long, athletic wing players who can fit in well with his 2-3 zone philosophy. I was a little surprised the Bengals didn't go for more of a pure 3-point shooter (neither Hall nor Wilson's 3-point shooting stats are remarkable), and a natural point guard, but they've opted instead for players who fit better with Evans' defensive style. Given his commitment to a defense-first philosophy, I probably shouldn't have been surprised.

It will be interesting to see how Burmeister, who wasn't really a basketball recruit, will fit into this style. He doesn't have the prototype size to fit Evans' long wing philosophy, and judging from his video, he's more of a scoring-first type guard who needs to have the ball in his hands a lot. Regardless of how he fits into this system, it will be an interesting experiment to see if he can stay committed to two different sports.
 
Agree Skippy, and if he wasn't really a basketball recruit, I'd about bet that football will be his sport of choice. We all know there have been those that excelled at football and baseball, and basketball and baseball. I have not seen to many that have excelled at football and basketball, although there must be some. Having football over lapping basketball creates a problem in itself. Perhaps not at ISU though! No, just joking. The point guard doesn't have to be the best shooter on the team as we all know. Their roll is in directing the team and being a leader. I watched one a couple years ago that fit what you are saying. He was a very good athlete, but he wanted the ball in his hands 85% of the time and took 85% of the shots. Yes he scored a lot, but his percentage was low. It didn't matter if you was the shooting guard or not, once they threw the ball into him, your chances of getting a shot, even an open shot, was marginal.
Zone is a lazy man's defense to me, but if the team doesn't have the speed to play man to man, it leaves you very little choice. Boehner of Syracuse has had great success with it and uses it about 95% of the time. The way to beat the zone is inside penetration and outside shooting.
It's funny because when I played, before the 3 point arc, if we played a team that used the zone, I knew that I was going to start. I wasn't very tall, but had a good eye in shooting from the outside. I hated to drive inside, and back then there wasn't to many that could do it like the guards in high school today. There is no comparison. :)
 
with the extension of the three point arc a few years ago zone defense became less effective if teams didn't also have the speed to get out and defend the three point shooters. Teams that can really defend the zone now should have the speed to play man. IMHO.
 
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