Texas locking down 2011 basketball talent

A few notes: Lewis hasn't so much looked bad this spring as much as he just hasn't played much. As Lewis has had a bad hamstring and has also skipped a few tourneys in his efforts to get his grades up and qualify at Texas. McClellan hasn't played very well, but his team hasn't played in many national events so it hasn't been a plethora of bad performances but the few times he has been seen he didn't impress. I'm not too worried as he was absolutely dominant with Bellaire this year and one Texas HS evaluator ranks him as the best BY FAR regardless of class. Yes that includes Perry Jones, LeBryan Nash, Jamal Branch, Tony Mitchell, Cameron Clark and Phil Pressey.

Thomas Gipson isn't Texas good, he might not be North Texas good either. My ultimate pipe dream for 2011 is to get the UTEP transfer Moultrie along with Christmas and 2011 center Norvel Pelle out of Cali.

Justin Jackson may not be there now but he's very impressive playing up and with physical maturity ( really skinny and really long arms) he'll probably catch up by 2013. The Robinson twins aren't as good as the Harrison twins and what makes it worse is that the Robinsons are at least a full year older and not as developed physically or skill wise.
 
GQ, I'm not worried about McClellan either. He is a stud. I was just pointing out that he hasn't performed well this spring.I don't think the UTEP guy is coming. II've heard too many things pointing elsewhere.My wish list goes like this:
2011
1A) Christmas
1B) O'Bryant
Wiltjer

2012:
Tough to say because on paper we won't have any scholarships. Regardless of what we have open I would say
Muhammed
Drummond
LJ/Reese/Rasheed S.

2013:
Andrew and Aaron Harrison
Julius Randle
Derrick Griffin
Keith Frazier
Isaac Hamilton

Or Rodney Purvis and Tyreke Coger from NC.
 
One wonders how much Wiltjer, now listed at 6'9", might still grow. His dad, Greg Wiltjer, went from 6'2" to 6'6" at the age of 17, when he started playing basketball as a hs junior, and he wound up as a 6'11" center.

The Link

I wonder if Sikma's kids are doing the same thing.
 
I asked the question earlier of 3ball, but I'm not sure if he saw. Are we actually recruiting Drummond? I haven't heard that anywhere.

LeBryan Nash moved up a lot in Rivals' eyes over the past eval, which surprised me because he looked lackluster when I saw him playing Perry Jones and Duncanville (they both did, actually). The upside with him is I think he could play a post position in college until we get better/more interior players.

I think we will have more players in 2012 with guys like Hamilton, Cory, and Tristan going pro.
 
For 2011: Rakeem Christmas & Norvel Pelle. I understand Wiljter is a better player than both but after what our staff has done with Hill and Chapman I would rather not go down that road.

For 2012: Isaiah Austin & Winston Sheperd. This class has fallen off considerably IMO. The class is deep it just doesn't have the national elites it was once considered to have. I would've included LJ Rose but in watching him he plays a lot like Mike Bibby and while thats great I don't think I would take that when it could include losing Andrew Harrison(as well as Aaron).

For 2013:Harrison Twins, Derrick Griffin, Julius Randle (longshot), Isaac Hamilton, Keith Frazier (longshot) and Justin Jackson. Also look out for Ishmael Wainright as well as he is already listing Texas and he is rumored to be moving into the state soon. The 2013 class is what the 2012 class was once thought to be, absolutely loaded!!!
 
Which led to a lot of giddy enthusiasm with the Austin Run videos on Texas360.com last summer. Chapman was hitting 3s, looking comfortable shooting them, making reverse layups, etc.

He's always looked pretty good in space on offense. With a man bodied up to him, not so much, and he just doesn't have good defensive reactions. Combined with the fact that he is such a good target for a pass, the end of the 208-09 season steal near the timeline, drive the length of the floor, convert, get fouled, make the free throw sequence always has me wondering what Chapman could be if only . . .well, if only he would be that.
 
GQ: Sorry, but I'm done with having these classes where we just completely skip over positions. Like the Gary Johnson class where we had no guards and last year's class with AB and JH where we had no post players. Leaves us trapped in bad situations like a couple years ago when we had no perimeter players and in 2011 when we'll have no bigs. Have to at least throw L.J. or Reese in that class. I don't want Sheppard at all.
 
Our 2012 class could have a little as 3 recruits and as many as 5 depending upon who leaves and stays or transfers.

With Winston Shepard...it all depends on how the kid develops. He's still a little raw on offense and he's a little too flashy/showboaty. However, he's a bigtime athlete that plays hard and rebounds. He also is unselfish, a good team player, has a good all around game and is a good passer.

Barnes and staff will need to identify quickly who they want and make sure that they land them. You don't want to lose out on your top guys because the other backup recruits are so good that they won't want to play 2nd fiddle.

The state of Texas is really loaded with future prospects. That bodes well for us but we simply cannot land them all.
 
Sorry bierce that I didn't make it clear that I was saying I realize Wiljter is better than Hill and Chapman.

Gohornsgo90, I understand what you're saying but trust me you don't want to pass on the twins for Reese or Rose. You don't want to pass on the twins for Reese & Rose either, although both are good. I just don't feel you can get Rose and the twins, but if you can then I'm all for it.
 
I still say Texas needs to give Thomas Gibson a very hard look. He's had some good showings this spring, and he's having another good weekend at the EYBL in LA. 6-6 240lbs that'll be a 4 year college player. The kid is a monster in the paint and plays his *** off on both ends. He's the kind of kid you want on your roster because he works so hard. Barnes has made a living recruiting enforcers like Gibson, but has recently gotten away from that.
 
I understand what you're saying, but as I stated earlier Gipson isn't Texas good. For all the people who complain about Gary Johnson and the fact that he isn't like the Baylor or A&M bigs. Well Gipson is the same height as GJ with about 1/10 the athleticism on top of the fact that he has no game outside of 5ft. If you want further proof, he was completely outplayed by OT Evan Washington in the state championship game.
 
GQ (or anybody else), I know this is nigh impossible, but can you give comparisons for some of the 2012 and 13 guys? For instance you said Rose was like Bibby in his game. Specifically, I'm looking for:

2012: Austin, Muhammed, Reese, Salaam, and Bail
2013: Harrison twins, Derrick Griffin, Justin Jackson, Keith Frazier (Inside Man anybody?), Julius Randle, Isaac Hamilton, Ishmael Wainwright (never heard of this guy till you mentioned him earlier)

Sorry to be a pest, but I love future recruiting and there's so little info out there that I can find right now on these guys. Any other prospects you're interested in feel free to comment on, and thanks!
 
I really like how Gipson uses his body to create space, but his offensive game is limited to 5 feet and in. Over the last three years, we have seen Gary Johnson struggle against taller opponents on both ends. Gipson seems to have a small size advantage over Johnson, but is he big enough to be an effective post player against high caliber college opponents?
I don't doubt that he would be effective against a lot of opponents, but the need is for someone who will be effective against big lineups likely to be seen in the tournament.
 
One guy not really mentioned much in this thread is PF Mike Shaw out of Illinois. It'll probably be tough to get him out of the Big10, but the kid is a bigtime rebounder and had got a nice game.
 
Kind of expect him to either go to Illinois or maintain his package deal with Wayne Blackshear (who is hell of a player, sorry we lost out on him) and go to the Ville.
 
Gipson & Johnson are the same height, but Johnson has game that can extend to 17ft, has way more athleticism and was way more dominant against AAU competition (guys you will see at the next level) than Gipson has ever been. If you think Johnson has struggled with size during his time at Texas then Gipson would probably never see the floor.

Mike Shaw has begun to fall off as a prospect as well because many feel he concentrates more on trying to be a wing where he isn't as good instead of playing down low. He's probably Illinois or Louisville bound anyways so it doesn't really matter.
 
I agree completely with 3ball on Austin. Rated highly on height. Saw him play along with quite a few teams at the Houston EYBL. Not impressed at all. Very, very thin. Get's pushed off his pick as an example of how frail he is.

Lewis looked good in the one game I saw the Hoops play. Their talent is sick. Too bad their results this spring don't show it. I am talking about the Lowe coached team. There are two 17-U teams for the Houston Hoops.

One guy I really liked during my time at League America was Justin Anderson of Boo Williams. Lefty, c/o 2012 I think. Very smooth player. Has leader written all over him. I believe he is being recruited by Duke and UNC, among others.

As far as the EYBL in general, it was great to see all those teams and players in one place. Coach Sikma sat next to me during his son's game. I didn't have a roster book the first day, so I didn't know his son was playing until he sat down. I was able to pick out his son pretty easily even before he got in the game. Coach and I had a nice chat at the half. Cool dude.

On a side note, I couldn't tell if Barry Larkin was watching his son play or not during the E1T1 vs. Team Texas game. If that was BL, he sure looked different from his playing days. FYI - I wasn't too big on Austin Rivers, but he was having a crappy game. Saw some bright spots that lived up to the hype.
 
For 2012: I haven't seen Bail, but I would compare Reese to Acie Law, Sulaimon to Mario Chalmers, I haven't seen Muhammed either but many compare him to James Harden. Austin is difficult because he'll probably reach about 7'2 or 7'3 and have 3 point range and excellent ball-handling ability for his size. His only problem is that his body keeps growing too fast for him to add any significant muscle at this time. But when he puts it all together watch out!!!!

For 2013, its almost impossible because these kids may not grow anymore. At this moment, I would say Randle looks like a young Chris Webber, Wainright from Missouri looks like a young Carmelo but will need at least 2 inches to stay on that path. Andrew Harrison at times looks like a young Jason Kidd and sometimes like Tyreke Evans. Aaron Harrison kind of reminds me of Evan Turner. Derrick Griffin probably has the most potential of the bunch if he continues to grow but its hard to make any comparison until I see where he ends up physically. Same for Justin Jackson. Isaac Hamilton plays a lot like CJ Miles did in high school and Keith Frazier's game is hard to compare but I guess it would be similar to Jason Richardson. Hope that helps.
 
I like all of those comparisons. I'll add to it a little. Derrick reminds me of Damion James, but if he keeps working I think he could evolve into a KG type of player. Justin Jackson reminds me of Reggie Miller, without the trash talking. He is a deadly shooter. The only comparison I didn't see was Frazier. Jason Richardson is a freak of an athlete. I think his game compares a little more to Ray Allen. His shot is not that pure yet, but he can really stroke it and he has deceptive athleticism.
 
Damn we will have 14 NBA All stars in the next couple of years. What a great fantasy !!
All are real good HS players that are not physically/emotional grown up yet. To tag them as a Reggie,KG, DJ,Miles, etc. is really putting a lot of stuff on a 15-16 yrs old kids.
Do we really have those expectation of our incoming recruits if they get to the 40 ?
They have to learn a lot about college hoops lets give them 4-5-6 years to grow up and be seniors before we make them NBA stars but it does make the fun start early.
 
Really SMH?? Someone asked for a comparison in games, that doesn't mean this player is a lock to be Kidd, DJ, Ray Allen or whomever. All it is is describing the style in which a player plays. For example I had the hardest time coming up with Keith Frazier's comparison because I couldn't think of anyone off the top of my head that is a really good shooter from deep, that is athletic and a decent passer but not that great of a ball-handler.

I guess instead you wanted us to compare everybody to Deginald Erskin, Craig Winder and Matt Hill just to make you happy??
 
It was a comparison of who their game reminds us of. Style of play, skill set, etc. I don't think anyone is saying that they are the next __________.

At the same time I wouldn't be surprised if a few of the guys developed into NBA players. The 2013 guards are all 6'4-6'5 NOW. Derrick Griffin had a 40 point game and 3 triple doubles this season as a freshman. He averaged something like 20-20 in his two play-off games. The twins could easily have similar feats this year now that they will be eligible for varsity competition. It is a sick class.
 
I appreciate the comparisons greatly, guys. Obviously I didn't want comparisons to Kenton Paulino and Chris Wright. Especially since most of the kids we're recruiting now are high level recruits and have far enhanced skill sets and attributes.

BTW, that's pretty sick that Derrick Griffin had those kind of monster games already.
 
And Derrick is the LEAST skilled guy of the group. He by far has more upside, but his skill level is no where near the other guys.
 
"I guess instead you wanted us to compare everybody to Deginald Erskin, Craig Winder and Matt Hill just to make you happy?? "

Comparing a kids games of 15-16 yrs old to an NBA pro's game is just a trip to fantasy land. A world of difference of several years maybe more.

Show everybody what the kids skill set is and everyone will see usually a different player that they have seen on TV or a time or two on the court. It's all about skill sets that will change and develop during the course of growing up and playing more hoops.

There may be some stars in the making that will reach the show but only a few.
Saying that Isaac passes and handles better hen Jordan but Jordan is taller and rebounds better is about skill sets with players only a couple of years apart.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Weekly Prediction Contest

* Predict HORNS-AGGIES *
Sat, Nov 30 • 6:30 PM on ABC

Recent Threads

Prediction Results Threads

2024 Schedules

Back
Top