talhadfoursteals said:
Ryan Richardson's end of season stats: http://www.maxpreps.com/athlete/ryan-richardson/ppha_PTuEeKZ5AAmVebBJg/gendersport/basketball-stats.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
In 22 games, he was 79-158 from 3pt range for 50%. I really think he might be the most under-rated player joining the Wildcat program. He was the Co-MVP for the Mesa area with major BYU recruit Payton Dastrup. He might be the guy who is flying under the radar and could shock a bunch of us next season by getting some PT. I still think it would be best for him to Red-Shirt so that he can add some weight and also, so that he can acclimatize to the college game and keep his stellar outside shooting intact. I think Richardson's upside is incredible. He will end up having an excellent career here at Weber State.
Rahe has done an outstanding job reloading on talent. Next year's class might be one of the more talented to ever take the court at Weber State. I'm not saying they are the best, but they are very talented. Chemistry, knowing your role, leadership, and playing within a system are also factors that determine a teams ability to be considered great. Those things will hopefully occur, but as for the players joining the program, wow...there is a lot of talent in Ogden. A guy like Richardson, in the past, would be considered as the top recruit. This season, he is kinda being over looked and somewhat forgotten (Wazzu and I both think he will end up as a Weber State great) by the fans because of the other guys joining the team. Braxton, Jefferson, Coston, and Golden all deserve the acclaim too. Gonna be some good times in the future!!
Braxton's numbers...he was double and tripled teams all year are incredible!! Highlands Ranch is a 5A program too. Same level as Lone Peak. His numbers are better than Mika's were when he was a Senior. YIKES!! How can Weber fans not be excited?!
In both HS and at BYU Mika was used quite different than just a pure post player. At BYU (and in HS) his success came largely on fast breaks and in transition, especially early in his freshman year. The one thing he truly excels at is running the floor. He certainly did not impress me with his skills as a back-to-the-basket player, although that improved as the year went on. Tresnak totally schooled him and so did a lot of other WCC centers.
I bring this up because I think the bigs we have next year bring a more solid set of all around post skills. Mika's skills fit the style that Coach Rose loves to run and our big's skills fit more Coach R's system. In a way I feel sorry for Mika because if he wants to go on to the next level he will need these skills. But it seems like BYU tends to exploit a players strengths to excess and not develop the over all player (Jimmer?) How many bigs has BYU had that have overachieved (0?) versus underachieved (too many to count?)
Compare that to Coach Rahe where we have a number of bigs that were not highly recruited but developed into very solid players. This is not to say that Mika will not become a great post player, just that Coach Rose does not have a track record of getting the best potential out of the posts. Coach Rahe seems to be able to develop post players into more of an overachiever, which is very promising given the increasing skill level of our recruits.
