Rawle Alkins - SG - Word of God - ARIZONA

Quote from: newsman13 on March 07, 2016, 11:34:25 AM

Quote from: Poison on March 07, 2016, 09:46:33 AM

Our super recruiters don't have to land every local star, but they do need to get their share. If this kid may not qualify, I don't want him. It's time for that trend to stop. Let's get kids who have their shit together.

Ponds is our share for this year and he has his shit together.  I don't think this staff is done recruiting 2016 yet.

Grad transfer

Ah, but who?

I will  say this about Rawle...lots of people taking shots at him for "enjoying"  the process but he's a teenager who has been afforded/earned both the limelight and the opportunity to visit colleges and new places....not sure why he/this has offended people

I believe most think he was stringing us along like a lot of other recent local recruits have done. If he had legit interest in coming here and didn't then oh well but if he was just adding our name to his list like others have done then that's why people would be upset. We obviously won't ever know if we ever seriously considered us.

Anything after what we already have is a cherry on top.

Sima and Yakwe should both improve
Ellison should be more capable and confident.
We keep hearing how insane Lovett is.
We have no idea what Owens is. Freudenberg will elevate our shooting % as will Ponds.

Sima-Yakwe-Freudenberg-Ponds-Lovett with Owens-Mussini-Ellison-Ahmed and even Alibegovic for 5 minutes is at least a .500 team in conference play to me. That's where I would set my expectation.

I can't see us losing to NJIT, Fordham, and Incarnate again and had we not lost to them and had this batch of players, I think we could stole it from South Carolina, we would've been 11-2 going into Conference play. Being .500 in conference play would've left us at 20-11. Even without South Carolina it's 19-12. This would've left us as likely being the reverse of our situation and been #7 playing DePaul. Then playing Xavier who we would've had a fighter's chance against, and then very likely Seton Hall who we'd have a good chance against.

Obviously this is more than the ideal scenario but it's very possible to look at this roster next year and say we are definitely capable of getting to at least 18 wins and a win in the Big East tournament. Landing Rawle, if eligible, would be amazing and would accelerate the program's transition. Especially since it could help land Thon Maker. But if we lose out on him, I fully trust in this staff's ability to land the right missing piece. I'm very confident in next year.

And how am I confident that we can be at least .500 in conference play? We lost 8 conference games by 10 or less. Improvements to our bench and lineup and some increased confidence and development from our returners makes me believe in this squad.

Quote from: SJU79 on March 07, 2016, 12:20:32 PM

I will  say this about Rawle...lots of people taking shots at him for "enjoying"  the process but he's a teenager who has been afforded/earned both the limelight and the opportunity to visit colleges and new places....not sure why he/this has offended people

I believe most think he was stringing us along like a lot of other recent local recruits have done. If he had legit interest in coming here and didn't then oh well but if he was just adding our name to his list like others have done then that's why people would be upset. We obviously won't ever know if we ever seriously considered us.

Such a ridiculous notion.  Every school outside of the one he picks was "strung along"... Isn't that the case with every recruit?

Quote from: Wods317 on March 07, 2016, 12:26:20 PM

Quote from: SJU79 on March 07, 2016, 12:20:32 PM

I will  say this about Rawle...lots of people taking shots at him for "enjoying"  the process but he's a teenager who has been afforded/earned both the limelight and the opportunity to visit colleges and new places....not sure why he/this has offended people

I believe most think he was stringing us along like a lot of other recent local recruits have done. If he had legit interest in coming here and didn't then oh well but if he was just adding our name to his list like others have done then that's why people would be upset. We obviously won't ever know if we ever seriously considered us.

Such a ridiculous notion.  Every school outside of the one he picks was "strung along"... Isn't that the case with every recruit?

No it's not. Some kids in the past have just kept us on the list as the hometown school but never had interest in us. Not saying Rawle did that but some feel he never had interest in us.

Not to start a war, but  that's always what Coach Lavin thought.....it was still probably worth trying to get him

Not to start a war, but  that's always what Coach Lavin thought.....it was still probably worth trying to get him

Didn't hurt us to go after him. Maybe we never had a chance but can't let the best city kid go without even trying.

He wasn't stringing us along guys.  My understanding is that there are various reasons he chose Arizona, one of which of course is that it is a great program.

Paultzman what about Fergunson - a no go on him also

They have great recruiters but do you think they will ever land a top ten recruit

Won't be eligible

Anything after what we already have is a cherry on top.

Sima and Yakwe should both improve
Ellison should be more capable and confident.
We keep hearing how insane Lovett is.
We have no idea what Owens is. Freudenberg will elevate our shooting % as will Ponds.

Sima-Yakwe-Freudenberg-Ponds-Lovett with Owens-Mussini-Ellison-Ahmed and even Alibegovic for 5 minutes is at least a .500 team in conference play to me. That's where I would set my expectation.

I can't see us losing to NJIT, Fordham, and Incarnate again and had we not lost to them and had this batch of players, I think we could stole it from South Carolina, we would've been 11-2 going into Conference play. Being .500 in conference play would've left us at 20-11. Even without South Carolina it's 19-12. This would've left us as likely being the reverse of our situation and been #7 playing DePaul. Then playing Xavier who we would've had a fighter's chance against, and then very likely Seton Hall who we'd have a good chance against.

Obviously this is more than the ideal scenario but it's very possible to look at this roster next year and say we are definitely capable of getting to at least 18 wins and a win in the Big East tournament. Landing Rawle, if eligible, would be amazing and would accelerate the program's transition. Especially since it could help land Thon Maker. But if we lose out on him, I fully trust in this staff's ability to land the right missing piece. I'm very confident in next year.

And how am I confident that we can be at least .500 in conference play? We lost 8 conference games by 10 or less. Improvements to our bench and lineup and some increased confidence and development from our returners makes me believe in this squad.

Ahmed starts and is probably our best all around player IMO.   

Ellison should be more capable and confident.

Ellison has too much confidence already. He'd be a better player if he developed some doubts about how well he plays basketball.

Quote from: johnniesfilmmaker on March 07, 2016, 12:31:25 PM

Ellison should be more capable and confident.

Ellison has too much confidence already. He'd be a better player if he developed some doubts about how well he plays basketball.

Agree. He isn't the only one. Amar should be looking at old tape of Tomas J. He thinks he is a gunner.

Quote from: johnniesfilmmaker on March 07, 2016, 12:31:25 PM

Ellison should be more capable and confident.

Ellison has too much confidence already. He'd be a better player if he developed some doubts about how well he plays basketball.

At least he inherited the never nervous thing from his dad if nothing else lol
But seriously I think he has some skills and since he has the physical ability he can be one of those guys that gets better every year.
I think he is first guard off the bench next year behind Ponds and Lovett.

I haven't seen or really heard much of Bashir so I can't really say. But it's hard for me to envision Freudenberg and Ponds not starting or Yakwe. Unless one of them struggles early on and we relegate them to 6th man. Either way I think a frontcourt of Sima, Yakwe, Owens, and Alibegovic (at like 5 minutes) and a backcourt of Ponds, Lovett, Ellison and Mussini. And Freudenberg and Ahmed on the wings is more than capable of being at least .500 in conference play next year.

Won't be eligible

At Arizona he will be

This.  Although a better shot at one of the bigger, more influential schools like Arizona.  Said to say, but true in my opinion.

Won't be eligible

Bocoum from Ark St is 6'10 260 from Harlem, must be the big being talked about as a 5th yr senior. But with Yakwe, Sima, Owens throw in AA and CJ (if he stays) size is decent.

Thank you, Rawle, for not jerking us around as long as Kyle Anderson and Isaiah Briscoe did.  Good luck in Tucson.

Simply, both Anderson and Briscoe made their decision before the season started, well before Rawle did... you can't blame the kid for the school having no backup plan.

Quote from: simplyred on March 07, 2016, 10:28:14 AM

Thank you, Rawle, for not jerking us around as long as Kyle Anderson and Isaiah Briscoe did.  Good luck in Tucson.

Simply, both Anderson and Briscoe made their decision before the season started, well before Rawle did... you can't blame the kid for the school having no backup plan.

It's not like Rawle was our only recruiting target. We still, as of today, have the best class in the conference and a top 20 nationally. It's not like with Lavin where a guy like Briscoe was pretty much his whole recruiting plan. Losing Rawle sucks, but it's not a crushing blow to the future of the program. Especially since there's a good chance he may not be eligible.

And it's not a done deal yet. Thigns could change