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(07-27-2017 03:17 PM)Gilesfan Wrote:  We haven't gotten as many freshman bigs because we had Arledge, Stith, and Porter fall into our laps. They recruited Kah for a number of years before getting him.

HOw many of the 1,000 will be bigs is unknown, but there will be a lot of them. And I'm sure some will be looking for playing time, especially in a grad transfer.

I know that coaches are not supposed to recruit transfers, but keep in mind they have a relationship with a lot of these kids and there are a lot of back room deals that get done that aren't supposed to.

Im sure they will go after high school senior and transfers alike.

I would have to go back and look at how many offers were to bigs. Off the top of my head I would say maybe 10-12

I would agree with you about Stith since he came in a package deal with his father and it was probably pretty much assured early on that he would, but I am not nearly as sure that your comment applies to Arledge or Porter. Could be just as true that they luckily fell into our lap and saved an otherwise failed recruiting season for bigs, as it was by any kind of long term plan.

Of the estimated 10-12 that you came up with off the top of your head ... How many of them are guys that ODU should have a reasonable chance with, i.e., they aren't being recruited by P5 schools or a dozen high mid majors?

We got freshman big guys like Hassell because he was a local guy from Indian River High School that had the build but was a project. Coach Taylor saw the potential in him even though he was not being heavily recruited. It paid off.

We got guys like Valdas because again he was an overseas guy playing locally at Norfolk Collegiate and while he had some other offers, the recruiting of him wasn't too excessive. It paid off.

We got guys like Laughton and Lee due to having an "in" via some contacts that helped with the recruiting. It paid off.

I could name others, but you get the point (I think). Success in this area can come through a variety of means, but there should be some level of success to be seen and thus far there hasn't been. These coaches (including the assistants) should all have some local high school contacts, some overseas contacts, some AAU contacts, etc. that can give them a better than average chance to get in with the player land some bigs coming out of high school. It is strange to me that to date that has not happened with this group of coaches (with bigs). They have not had the same issues with recruiting the smaller players - guards and small forwards.