Varez Ward commits to Texas!!!

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According to Rivals...Ward has finally signed with Texas.
He's a 6-2 combo guard that played alot of point at Patterson Prep. Chose Texas over Cincinatti (formerly committed to the Bearcats), Kansas State, Arkansas, Marquette, Florida State, Auburn and UTEP.

IMO, he's a very good pickup this late in the game. Ward played an extra year at Patterson Prep and really improved his game. Every team he's played has been extremely successful. Junior year = State Champion (6A Alabama); Senior year = State Runner-Up; 5th year for Patterson = 38-2 record; started on a very, very talented Prep team. 16ppg, 8 rebs, 8 assists

Here's ESPN's writeup (free)
The Link
This postgrad player plays very hard whenever he takes the court. Ward has tremendous quickness, leaping ability and hang-time, making him a very effective penetrator. He also has good strength, allowing him to withstand a blow in the paint and still finish successfully at the rim, plays good defense, using his lateral foot speed and strength to bother opposing guards and has good passing ability and vision. His jump shot, though the weak area in his game, has improved dramatically since the summer. He will need to continue his work on his jumper for the next level.
 
That's a great pickup in a must get position. Hopefully, J'Covan will make it on campus next fall as well. (I say that because J'Covan has had a bumpy road, which is hopefully over, but you never know.)
 
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I don't think J'Covan's road will be over until after his summer session/sessions. However, I feel confident in his ability to get done what he needs to get done.

This is a tremendous pickup, given the stage of the game, and AJ Abrams' apparent intentions not to return to Texas for his senior year.

I had my doubts when it took so long for this commitment to be publicly announced, but kudos to the staff for the job they did recruiting him, Varez Ward himself, and Ward's family for sticking to their guns.
 
This is a mildly off topic question: Why do some kids take a 5th prep year? How is this legal in high school leagues? What are the advantages of this over going to college, and possibly taking a red shirt year, if they need a little more development.
 
I think a lot of kids do the 5th year to improve their skills/athleticism in order to attract better scholarship offers. think this is also a way to get grades in order for NCAA qualification.
 
It's great we finally got another commit, but I don't share everyone's enthusiasm. He's only 3 star according to rivals and scout. This is a very weak class which only lets the better teams in the Big XII widen the gap between us and them. I don't see the team holding a candle next to last year's team. Am I missing anything? Do I need to re-tint my burnt orange glasses?
 
Hold up on that tint job. You may be seeing just fine in your evaluation of what is happening. This was a terrible recruiting year for Barnes,period.
J'Covan is still a question mark to qualify but is a Player if he ever hits the court for us. Varez has been compared to Mason right now but a better assessment would be Mason as a high school senior. Varez is getting his J into shape but has a long way to go for it to be effective at mid range.

The recruiting year was a pipe dream when you take a realistic view on the players we tried to get , Kevin was great but take a look at Evans, Spoon, and the other high profile players, they are not kevin type kids or players. Texas is still working in being preceived as a top 10 program by the players.

IMO that kid Landesberg was a great fit for Texas and he wanted to play here, We need a tall wing player and a good handle, assist point guard to have an elite team next year.
Landesberg and that kid , I forget his name, from New Mexico would have been great for us . They would have filled our needs and put us into the top ten area.

We will have a good team with Balbay and Mason at the guards spots. Brown (?) and Ward back ups and Harrison (?).
The 3 spot has DJames starting with Connor and Johnson at the 4-4 or 5 spots. Djames goes out we have,
Dex and Hill first off the bench with Johnson sliding to the #3 hole(???) The rest of the bigs will also get playing time as one gets hot or plays great defense.
We will have another 20 game season but it will be harder to do but Barnes always finds a way to win one way or another.
Defense and more Defense and trying to find some one or two to step up their offensive game to cover the 35-39% of the points we no longer have without DJ and AJ.
Will be another great season of ups and downs again but we will be in the games that we play well........
 
smh, until things clearly are headed downhill, I'm going to trust RB on recruiting. If he turned down Landesberg, I am sure he had a good reason.

Now, if they don't do well next year, that will be a problem.
 
SMH

While this could be regarded as slim, give Barnes credit where it's due.

For 2009, Scout's 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 16, 17, 21, 22, 31, 34, 37, 44 and 46 players all have interest in Texas. Who knows who we'll get, but supposedly we lead big for Jordan Hamilton (17), and throw 1 more in and we're pretty good.

And of course, for 2010, we already have a commit from Scout's #1 player.
 
A bunch of guys who are just going to leave after 1 year will not help Texas become a perennially elite program. Is Michael Beasley going to suddenly elevate Kansas State to powerhouse status? No. There has to be room for the guys who will come in and develop into great players and form the backbone of the team over the course of a 3 or 4 year career (i.e. the Connor Atchley types). Otherwise, you're spinning your wheels.
 
Yes, SLX has the right perspective. The 2009 class will be the crucial recruiting class. For this next year, Texas will still have one of the best (I mean top 2-3) players in the Big 12 in Damion James. He's going to be a JR and should be a beast. If the PG position is okay w/ Balbay, I think UT will still be one of the top 2 or 3 teams in the league.

If we strike out in 2009, though, I see think the outlook for the program will change. A bust in '09 will make 3 classes without the bump up in recruiting profile from the Durant/Augustin/James class.
 
The only time they've been a eight seed under RB was when they lost Tucker and Aldridge. Assuming no catastrophes at that level, they're still going to be good.

This team will be more inside oriented, no doubt. Of course, that means post-entry passing by the guards. This has not been a strength....
 
they referred to ward on the radio yesterday as a "defensive specialist." while i am glad that he is regarded as a great defender, i don't think that label does him justice. it's kind of like a girl that is "cute" or "has a great personality." i haven't seen video of ward, but a couple of people (whose judgement i trust) really like ward. i have a feeling he will be a great contributor to this program.
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