The national signing starts tomorrow.
We have three scholarships to give.
Are we planning on signing anyone tomorrow? or soon?
Last year we had three or four committed in early signing period - none so far this year - that I know of?
We have 2 scholarships available I believe. Dirk Williams signed in the early period.
Very doubtful we would sign anyone on the 1st day or even the 1st few days.
We probably will have the last 2 within a week or so I would guess.
Keep an eye on:
IU guard Stanford Robinson
Miami guard Deandre Burnett
Tommy Burton
Quadree Smith
Willy Kouassi
Ricky Tarrant
We have a month to get anybody signed. Dirk is signed, and he should play a big role next year. I'm guessing we will sign at least one more guy, 2 open scholarships would be a lot. I would ideally like to see us find a big guy who is a fifth year transfer. That would give us size we don't currently have, and a little more experience. I really don't know what the plan is, because it seems like we have been recruiting all types of players. My guess is Haase has something up his sleeve though.
I predict unless we get a guy that will be a big impact we won't sign anyone else and hold them for next year.
I'm still on board with Quadree smith as a bit of a project. He can come in and provide a big body at minimum. he could be a special player if we could get him in shape.
I think that would be a big mistake to not sign anyone else. To go into the season with only three undersized "big men" is a huge risk.
(04-14-2015 11:04 AM)The Answer UAB Wrote: [ -> ]I think that would be a big mistake to not sign anyone else. To go into the season with only three undersized "big men" is a huge risk.
We have no players signed after the 2017-18 year. I hope Watts hasn't told Haase not to sign anyone because he is killing the program.
We need to sign 2 big men.
We don't need to sign big men just because they are big. They should have some talent too. There aren't many of those around. Between Lee and Mehinti, we probably are considered rich in big men by many schools.
Unless a big man is extremely talented (and if he is, he probably is looking at bigger schools), he is probably looking at UAB and realize he is not going to be getting much playing time behind Lee and Mehinti.
The only guy we have who has legit D1 center size and muscle is Mehinti, and he's still a little small. As we all know, he is also very foul prone. That leaves us Cokley, who for all his offensive prowess, isn't a good defender, as well as Lee, who plays a lot on the perimeter.
Even if it's an undersized "power forward" like Rod Rucker, we need another guy who can back up our forward/center positions. I'm incredibly glad we have the big men that we have on this roster, but we need some depth and insurance. I don't see Sullivan playing huge minutes at the PF spot. Madison plays like a PF, but is really short for the position.
We need a guy who can come in and give us 10-15 minutes a game and not be a total liability on offense and/or defense. We don't need the next Patrick Ewing.
I just know Hasse stated they are not going to sign someone just to fill a roster spot. He would have to be an impact player. take that for what it's worth. That's why I am thinking unless we find that impact player we sit pat. If we don't sign anyone else we are still looking like mid 20 win team contending for the Championship.
(04-14-2015 01:21 PM)The Answer UAB Wrote: [ -> ]The only guy we have who has legit D1 center size and muscle is Mehinti, and he's still a little small. As we all know, he is also very foul prone. That leaves us Cokley, who for all his offensive prowess, isn't a good defender, as well as Lee, who plays a lot on the perimeter.
Even if it's an undersized "power forward" like Rod Rucker, we need another guy who can back up our forward/center positions. I'm incredibly glad we have the big men that we have on this roster, but we need some depth and insurance. I don't see Sullivan playing huge minutes at the PF spot. Madison plays like a PF, but is really short for the position.
We need a guy who can come in and give us 10-15 minutes a game and not be a total liability on offense and/or defense. We don't need the next Patrick Ewing.
I disagree about Sullivan. I see him as sort of like Madison last year. Madison wasn't really given a lot of minutes last year until late in the season. Sullivan hasn't been given a lot of minutes this year. If the change from freshman year Madison to Sophomore year Madison works out to be the same for Sullivan, he is going to be a contributor.
Given the relative few minutes he was on the court, I liked what I saw.
Sullivan is a tad slow but I liked his aggressiveness. I agree with you MB. I agree with that assessment.
(04-14-2015 01:39 PM)Memphis Blazer Wrote: [ -> ] (04-14-2015 01:21 PM)The Answer UAB Wrote: [ -> ]The only guy we have who has legit D1 center size and muscle is Mehinti, and he's still a little small. As we all know, he is also very foul prone. That leaves us Cokley, who for all his offensive prowess, isn't a good defender, as well as Lee, who plays a lot on the perimeter.
Even if it's an undersized "power forward" like Rod Rucker, we need another guy who can back up our forward/center positions. I'm incredibly glad we have the big men that we have on this roster, but we need some depth and insurance. I don't see Sullivan playing huge minutes at the PF spot. Madison plays like a PF, but is really short for the position.
We need a guy who can come in and give us 10-15 minutes a game and not be a total liability on offense and/or defense. We don't need the next Patrick Ewing.
I disagree about Sullivan. I see him as sort of like Madison last year. Madison wasn't really given a lot of minutes last year until late in the season. Sullivan hasn't been given a lot of minutes this year. If the change from freshman year Madison to Sophomore year Madison works out to be the same for Sullivan, he is going to be a contributor.
Given the relative few minutes he was on the court, I liked what I saw.
I agree with you in that I think Sullivan will contribute next year, but my point was that I don't see him playing at either the PF or C spots, where we need depth.
I think Sullivan will probably slide into CJ's role off the bench next year. I also liked what I saw. He seems like an very talented and multifaceted player with height, but he was just too slow and poor on defense last year.
I would like another 4-5 guy but not just at the expense of a scholarship. He needs to be able to log some good minutes IMHO.
(04-14-2015 01:45 PM)ATTALLABLAZE Wrote: [ -> ]I would like another 4-5 guy but not just at the expense of a scholarship. He needs to be able to log some good minutes IMHO.
Another aspect of recruiting is practice. Its always nice to be able to practice against the type of player you'll face. That's one place where having a variety of players is a benefit even if many see no game time. They are very important for preparing the team. Not saying we need to burn a scholly on a practice player, but, especially for a 1 yr sr transfer, this could come into play. When UAB lost half the team after mid-terms during the Davis era, one major problem was there weren't enough guys to practice against...
(04-14-2015 01:55 PM)WesternBlazer Wrote: [ -> ] (04-14-2015 01:45 PM)ATTALLABLAZE Wrote: [ -> ]I would like another 4-5 guy but not just at the expense of a scholarship. He needs to be able to log some good minutes IMHO.
Another aspect of recruiting is practice. Its always nice to be able to practice against the type of player you'll face. That's one place where having a variety of players is a benefit even if many see no game time. They are very important for preparing the team. Not saying we need to burn a scholly on a practice player, but, especially for a 1 yr sr transfer, this could come into play. When UAB lost half the team after mid-terms during the Davis era, one major problem was there weren't enough guys to practice against...
Preach!!
Mercer's leading scorer (15.1ppg) Ike Nwamu has been granted a release and will be available immediately as a 5th-yr. He would be a great pick-up IMO.
"The 6-foot-5 guard ... averaged 3.3 rebounds per game this season, shooting 42.9 percent from the field and 37.4 percent from beyond the arc."
(04-14-2015 11:25 AM)Memphis Blazer Wrote: [ -> ] (04-14-2015 11:04 AM)The Answer UAB Wrote: [ -> ]I think that would be a big mistake to not sign anyone else. To go into the season with only three undersized "big men" is a huge risk.
We have no players signed after the 2017-18 year. I hope Watts hasn't told Haase not to sign anyone because he is killing the program.
Modus operandi says to check to see if we've scheduled anyone past that date