Jamal Branch - PG - Texas A&M Transfer - ST. JOHN'S

Quote from: mjmaherjr on January 09, 2012, 07:38:33 PM

Quote from: Marillac on January 09, 2012, 07:35:14 PM

Quote from: Moose on January 09, 2012, 06:56:34 PM

May the floodgates open yet again.
Lets go!

Bingo.  It's like recovering a goal line fumble...we got some momentum!!!

Or the Giants D stopping a 4th and inches

... Or Tebow beating the Steelers after losing 3 straight and being known once again as the second coming.   

Did Branch commit at 3:16 pm ?

Quote from: DFF6 on January 09, 2012, 07:41:51 PM

Quote from: mjmaherjr on January 09, 2012, 07:38:33 PM

Quote from: Marillac on January 09, 2012, 07:35:14 PM

Quote from: Moose on January 09, 2012, 06:56:34 PM

May the floodgates open yet again.
Lets go!

Bingo.  It's like recovering a goal line fumble...we got some momentum!!!

Or the Giants D stopping a 4th and inches

... Or Tebow beating the Steelers after losing 3 straight and being known once again as the second coming.   

Did Branch commit at 3:16 pm ?

LOL!!!  Well, Branch is 6'3 and plays the 1 position... same numbers in 3:16.  Coincidence??   

just saw news of this now so i apologize if this has been discussed already...

great news here but will be even better when i hear he attended his first class.

i know he can practice after enrolling but can he travel with the team and be on the bench during games? i believe so but can someone confirm?

Does he lose a year of eligibility due to playing a few games this year or will he have all 4 years?

Quote from: yankcranker on January 06, 2012, 06:46:52 PM

Quote from: mkras99 on January 06, 2012, 06:27:07 PM

Quote from: bball purist on January 06, 2012, 06:01:16 PM

I was sniffing the wind right on this one.  ESPN reporting that Branch will verbal to St. John's shortly and enroll for sprig classes - WOW! That is faaaaast. Zoom!

Link?

It's in insider and I know how you feel about posting copyrighted pay materail but they're simply quoting Lenn Robbins who says he's close to signing.  I assume Lenn's article is already somewhere in this thread but just in case.  http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/college/basketball/st_john_closing_in_on_former_texas_r04lwjCX9uKeMGTVwfIEkJ

So basically it's worthless.  Thanks.

You're welcome - it was way off.  I felt Jamal would come to St. J's because it's a better fit.  SJ's has our Harrison, and the Terps gonna have their Harrisons commit for 2013!  These staffs will not be stopped. Once Coach is adequately rested and healthy, it's back on 100%.  Get Rico on board and one more big, and this squad will give up the pea shooter down low.  Time to start banging harder next season.

just saw news of this now so i apologize if this has been discussed already...

great news here but will be even better when i hear he attended his first class.

i know he can practice after enrolling but can he travel with the team and be on the bench during games? i believe so but can someone confirm?

Does he lose a year of eligibility due to playing a few games this year or will he have all 4 years?

He retains 3.5 years of eligibility.  The bonus is that he gets the benefit of having 2 semesters of coaching and practicing at SJU before his eligibility clock starts ticking.  He'll begin playing for SJU having practiced this semester, weights and conditioning all summer and practicing all next fall.  He won't be your average freshman next year, but eligibility-wise essentially a freshman.  Optimal recruit for us right now.  In addition, just realize that he was very highly recruited and teams like Kansas wanted him over Tharpe last year.  Legit pure pg for us.

I know some guys hate answering these type of questions,but who can we compare his game with?

My very uneducated guess but ill say Vander Blue from Marquette. Who we will see on wednesday. Similar build, adept passer and lead guard. Not the best shooter

according to scout, JB was the number 1 defensive PG in his entire sr. class.  with Sir Dom and JB at the top of our zone those 3s will get will get a lot tougher.

Quote from: redstorm212 on January 09, 2012, 07:26:26 PM

Just wondering if anyone knows, is he the "mystery recruit"?

It wasn't a mystery recruit it was a mystery transfer and no it wasn't him.  This is something that just came up recently.

Correct! Actually about a week ago. He knows D Harrison from the Houston AAU circuit as both played AUU ball in the Houston area. He was the possible transfer I alluded to and a great get as a 4* player and a national top 10 at his position in 2010.

In The Jungle... / Re: Most of the recent recruiting threads are 2013 or later kids
« on: January 04, 2012, 08:45:22 PM »
Possible transfer and another JC plus an uncommitted. They are not linked to an offer yet. Once offered, the names will be made public.

Been bitin my tongue fo awhile on Jamal but this was in the bag 10 days ago thru a very strong effort not least of which was an assistant who's been maligned on these here pages. Just remember that when y'all start evaluatin peeps.

Quote from: kjd01067 on January 09, 2012, 07:00:50 PM

Quote from: STJ11Redmen on January 09, 2012, 06:56:51 PM

Wow this is great news!  Not only will he help a bunch next season but I think we will see a drastic improvement in Greene and D'angelo just having a very good guard to practice against for the remainder of the season.

I was thinking the same thing about practice. It will be beneficial for both the current guys and branch to go against eachother in practice. Hopefully whatever went wrong at A&M doesn't continue here.

I don't think anything went wrong.  He signed up for Turgeon who left.  He gave it a chance and didn't like it.

He was committed to Turgeon at first tour years out as a frosh I think.    http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/1108/cbb-ncaa-commits/content.3.html    In fact he committed before Turgeon every coached a game.  The fact that he kept the commitment to the school after the coach he thought he was going to have for four years left actually shows a bit of character.  Transferring to STJ after 1 semester shows he has taste. ; )

PS he was #52 on RSCI so it wasn't some isolated instances of him being nationally ranked.  He was just 5 spots below D'Angelo. 

From an article on Scout last November (national signing day):
Best Defender: Jamal Branch – A premium in college basketball is placed on stopping penetration from the perimeter into the lane, and no one does it better in this class than Branch. He has complete lockdown capabilities on the outside, and takes pride in shutting his man down.

Been bitin my tongue fo awhile on Jamal but this was in the bag 10 days ago thru a very strong effort not least of which was an assistant who's been maligned on these here pages. Just remember that when y'all start evaluatin peeps.

  The ultimate 'what have you done for me lately" biz... 

  nice job Tony, nice job Lavs... 


  Keep the faith...In Lav we trust

Been bitin my tongue fo awhile on Jamal but this was in the bag 10 days ago thru a very strong effort not least of which was an assistant who's been maligned on these here pages. Just remember that when y'all start evaluatin peeps.

Didn't know that. Nice Great Job Lavin/Chiles and staff

I went on a Aggies board to discuss Branch, not surprisingly they don't seem too pleased.  http://texags.com/main/forum.reply.asp?topic_id=2021072&forum_id=7&page=&opt=post

Little refresher.  He's number 11 in this video.  After the initial highlights watch till the end because he reappears with some sweet floaters in the lane.

Grace Prep-Thanksgiving Hoopfest

Quote from: mkras99 on January 06, 2012, 06:47:54 PM

Quote from: yankcranker on January 06, 2012, 06:46:52 PM

Quote from: mkras99 on January 06, 2012, 06:27:07 PM

Quote from: bball purist on January 06, 2012, 06:01:16 PM

I was sniffing the wind right on this one.  ESPN reporting that Branch will verbal to St. John's shortly and enroll for sprig classes - WOW! That is faaaaast. Zoom!

Link?

It's in insider and I know how you feel about posting copyrighted pay materail but they're simply quoting Lenn Robbins who says he's close to signing.  I assume Lenn's article is already somewhere in this thread but just in case.  http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/college/basketball/st_john_closing_in_on_former_texas_r04lwjCX9uKeMGTVwfIEkJ

So basically it's worthless.  Thanks.

You're welcome - it was way off.  I felt Jamal would come to St. J's because it's a better fit.  SJ's has our Harrison, and the Terps gonna have their Harrisons commit for 2013!  These staffs will not be stopped. Once Coach is adequately rested and healthy, it's back on 100%.  Get Rico on board and one more big, and this squad will give up the pea shooter down low.  Time to start banging harder next season.

Not sure what I'm thanking you for or why you're patting yourself on the back, but I was saying that the ESPN insider report was basically worthless as it was just a rehash of Robbins' earlier tweet/article. Wasn't saying that the news, which was already reported by Robbins, was worthless. In any event, this is awesome news.

Quote from: Marco Baldi on January 09, 2012, 07:29:44 PM

I know some guys hate answering these type of questions,but who can we compare his game with?

My very uneducated guess but ill say Vander Blue from Marquette. Who we will see on wednesday. Similar build, adept passer and lead guard. Not the best shooter

Good comparison, Mase. 
This one really struck me really quickly and I think is a bit more accurate...two words for you:  Jason Hart (Syracuse). It's uncanny to me, really.

Let's get this kid on campus because our starters must be getting the worst practice looks in the nation.  Even our walkons are first year players....

From all the video's I've seen it appears like he is very adept going in with his left hand.

#11 here as well

GigEm247 Video: Bryan vs Grace Prep

Quote from: Choz4Life on January 09, 2012, 08:42:42 PM

Been bitin my tongue fo awhile on Jamal but this was in the bag 10 days ago thru a very strong effort not least of which was an assistant who's been maligned on these here pages. Just remember that when y'all start evaluatin peeps.

  The ultimate 'what have you done for me lately" biz... 

  nice job Tony, nice job Lavs... 


  Keep the faith...In Lav we trust

I've been one of those who's questioned the Rise situation....  so let me just say I'm not above giving credit where it's due:  GREAT job by Tony on this one!

Sounds like this was something that developed quickly, lots of kudos to the staff for having their ear to the ground and getting on top of JB.  It's clear they are a force recruiting nationally.  It doesn't appear we had any prior ties to Branch, didn't recruit him last year that we know of, nor do we have staff with roots in TX, so for them to find JB and woo him, all in the matter of a few weeks, really is impressive.