2009 Recruits

I don't care what Dennis is rated, he is not one of the best in the country. He is slow and not very quick. He can't take quicker guards off the dribble b/c of his lack of quickness.

Texas players are very good, and I agree that they could play with other states. But, that doesn't mean that UT can't recruit better players or that the Texas players fit what we are looking for.
 
It's already been noted on another post, but Nolan Dennis is committed to Memphis now.

During the school year, Texas had a pretty impressive list of players who were "interested". As the summer proceeds, that list is getting shorter and shorter. That tells me a couple of things: 1) those lists aren't very accurate and 2) we might not be getting the "epic" class that some of us were hoping for.

Nolan Dennis is going to Memphis. Dominic Cheek is favoring Villanova. Isaiah Armwood (from Durant's old HS), who listed Texas, committed to 'Nova. Renardo Sydney is talking about maybe playing in Europe. Falling back on Boynton.

Obviously, none of this is inside info...but it's hard to see any of this as positive momentum. If Jordan Hamilton doesn't come, it will be like a kick to the groin. That would be bad.
 
A great class would be Bradley, Hamilton and one more from Williams, Hill or Mason-Griffin. And if Gaddy was the third, then that would be Texas' best class by far.
 
It's been a long time since I've been excited about Nolan Dennis.

I will say I'm a little disappointed that Armwood committed to Villanova so early. From my Longhorn fan vantage point, I just don't think Jay Wright has much of a track record of developing 3/4 tweener types, although he's done an outstanding job with guards. Maybe Armwood is the player who changes that --- and, of course, there's simply a huge burnt orange bias working on my end, so maybe it's an unfair conclusion to begin with.

The reason Texas went after so many national guys is because of this very reason. You don't want to get caught short as some of the targets start falling. If Hamilton commits somewhere else it would be a definite blow, but Texas hasn't ever led with any of the other players.

In state, they're in good shape with Shawn Williams and Mason-Griffin, only Mason-Griffin wants to wait until spring to make a decision.

BTW, they did get the best player in the state last year in J'Covan Brown, however challenging that recruitment was --- and continues to be, for that matter.
 
Boynton was invited to the tryouts (July 1-3) at the verizon center for the U-18 USA basketball team (to be played in Argentina in July) but he withdrew due to an injury

SI Link
 
As a player. He's very talented, but he lacks competitive fire. There are some guys who can turn it on or off --- because they're so talented, they're rarely challenged, but when they get in a situation where they're up against comparative talent, they turn it up a notch.

I haven't seen Nolan Dennis turn it up a notch in quite some time. I like players like Gary Johnson, Tommy Mason-Griffin, and even J'Covan Brown. They're at their best when going against the best, but their competitive fire never really seems to dwindle.

But Dennis is still a very talented prospect, make no mistake about that. I'm just not a big fan at this point, and I was at one time. There's a big part of me that's glad he chose Memphis.
 
BTW, they did get the best player in the state last year in J'Covan Brown, however challenging that recruitment was --- and continues to be, for that matter.

J'Covan Brown was not the best player in the state last year. Willie Warren was the best. Hands down.

Brown may belong in the next tier of 2008 players with Bobo Morgan and Anthony Jones. But given all of Brown's recent struggles(broken foot, etc.), Brown might even fall into the next group with philip mcdonald, jeremy green, dwight miller, etc.

When Brown is on his game, he is awesome. He is a pure scorer who can put the ball in the hole from almost anywhere on the floor. But his stock is not as high right now as it could be due to the problems he has been facing.

TC
 
Just think if Texas had gotten the top three Players from Texas.
Willie, J'coven ,either one is 1or 2 in the state and J Green/ Dennis/ McDonald , IMO would have given us a great class to go with our team.

Oh yeah! Boyton is just another pipe dream.
Armwood,Vinson, Spurlock all from Durant's school are signing with other teams.
Would be nice to get Bradley to go along with Hamilton , if he comes here.
 
You and I disagree, True Colors.

I think Willie Warren is a more explosive athlete, but it's my opinion J'Covan Brown is a better basketball player. I stand by my statement that J'Covan Brown was the best basketball player in the state last year.
 
I would be curious to know what you are basing that on.

SL I have read your posts for some time and I do respect your views on things. But it seems like you may be looking through some orange tinted glasses on this one.

I would go with J'Covan over Willie Warren in one regard. He can effectively knock down shots anytime from anywhere. Warren is not bad in that area(not at all), but I could see someone making the case for J'Covan there. The two are probably about equal when it comes to spotting up and shooting from the 3 point line. However, Brown is better at shooting on the move and off of the dribble.

In all other aspects though, I believe that Warren has the advantage. Ball handling, passing, creating shots for others, finishing at the rim, rebounding, physical size, strength, leaping ability, defense........virtually every other category that comes to mind favors Willie Warren.

Versatility would have to go to Warren as well. I could see him contributing in college as a PG, SG, or even at SF. Brown will play one position in college -- SG.

Warren also holds a massive advantage over Brown in terms of composure on the court and fitting in with team chemistry. That is a big part of being a good basketball player as well.

TC
 
First of all, you said that J'Covan Brown was the best player in the state last year. I do not see how this could possibly be true in light of the fact that J'Covan's AAU career ended prematurely last summer and then his high school career was also cut short by several months as well. To me a player cannot be considered the best during a season unless they are actually out there playing.

Willie Warren is not a "saint" and I would not use that word to describe him. In fact, he can be a real knucklehead sometimes. Occasionally he acts like a prima donna off the court and he expects to be treated like one.

However, do you really want to discuss how these two compare in this regard? Granted, Warren may sometimes act like a nitwit off the court(mainly attitude issues and having the bighead), but at least when Warren is on the court in games he does take care of business. I have never seen Willie's teammates try to get him kicked off of their squad nor have I ever seen him go apeshit and get kicked out of games. I never saw him walk out on his team while a game was still in progress nor did he ever get removed from his school's basketball program altogether. Granted, things did not work out for Warren at Oak Hill but that is not the kind of place that just anyone would fit in. Maybe you believe that things would have worked out so much better for J'Covan had he gone there. I do not.

I have seen J'Covan Brown play since he was 15 years old. He is a one dimensional player. Of course, that one dimension is certainly awesome. He is able to shoot and score just about any time he wants. He obviously projects as a a shooting guard at the next level. But he is not built to play other positions. He cannot be considered a point guard because he has never been a passer(not by any stretch of the imagination). Nor is he inclined to create a lot of shots for the people around him. And even if he could do those things, he has not demonstrated the correct demeanor necessary for the role of point guard. And Brown is not cut out for small forward, either. He does not have the size, athleticism, or physical strength to rebound adequately as a SF. So again, Brown is going to be limited to one position at the college level.

Willie Warren on the other hand is much more of a complete player. He could easily, easily step in at any Big 12 school and begin contributing immediately at three different positions. In fact, I would even go so far to say that Warren could actually start at 3 different positions for just about any of the Big 12 schools and it would not be a big deal.

UT and OU are going to be somewhat similar on paper next season. Great talent in the front court and a few pretty good guys in the backcourt. I expect Willie Warren to tear through that pretty quickly and establish himself as a full time starter at OU. I am not so sure that Brown will be able to do the same at UT.

I do not think that Brown is a bad player. I know he is a good player and he is actually outstanding at one particular thing. But apart from that one thing, Willie Warren grades higher at everything else.

TC
 
Compare the backcourt rosters at each program..........

UT has Abrams and Mason, plus a few other backcourt guys who have not done a lot yet.

OU has Austin Johnson and Crocker, plus a few other backcourt guys who have not done a lot yet.

Seems pretty even to me.

TC
 
TC....disagree bigtime in re: to J'Covan not being able to play PG. His passing skills are very underrated, and he will get a look at PG while in college. Barnes has stated this in interviews. If guys like Daniel Gibson and Royal Ivey can run the point at Texas, then J'Covan can do the same. He's easily just as good as both Gibson and Ivey...if not better.

It's easy for guys like Brown and Warren to play PG in HS b/c they are so much better than everyone, however, that doesn't translate to PG success in college. I expect both to be much better SG's than PG's.
 
On a different note, it seems like Texas will be getting a visit from Xavier Henry this summer. His plan is to visit UT and UCLA and then decide between Kansas, Memphis, UCLA, and UT. Didn't think we'd get a visit, so I'm mildly surprised. It'll be either KU or Memphis, if I was a betting man.

Here's the article:



CBS Sportsline
 
Roger Franklin is a hoss around the hole but he is expanding his skill sets. Shawn does like Texas and he is effective from three pt land and in.

We got lazy and had our asses handed to us by N Crowley. We should be awake this season. Not only that, we have two kids debuting this season that are absolute ballers. Say hello to...

Julian Washburn 6 6 stud transfer from hoop power Dallas Kimball moves into the line-up...oooh...ahhh....just love those lanky, silky scorers.

Reger Dowell 6 1 PG stud transfer from N Dallas HS joins the fold with his bad self...

Rumor Mill: Checking into status of stud Waxahachie G Jamison Stern...6 0 do it all G rumored to be attending D'ville, too. Brother attended D'ville.

Duncanville will win state if the fellahs are interested. Y'all hollah if y'all in the hood during the season.

Plano West has a couple of nice ballers: Jackson Jeffcoat 6 6 son of former NFL player Jim Jeffcoat and Bakari Turner 6 3 2G.
 
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