(09-11-2022 12:13 PM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  

(09-11-2022 11:59 AM)HawaiiOwl Wrote:  

(09-08-2022 04:57 PM)elw4796 Wrote:  Pera and staff continue their hot streak. 2023 G/F Brady Dunlap is down to six schools: Rice, Providence, Notre Dame, Nebraska, Colorado, and San Diego State. California kid out of Harvard-Westlake. Ranked #83 by ESPN and was ranked as high as #60 by 247 (oddly he fell 59 spots yesterday, quite possibly because schools like Kansas dropped out). Also had "offers" from Kansas, Illinois, Arkansas, Minnesota, and others. "Offers" in quotes because some of these were soft offers. Played on Bronny James' EYBL team and score 16 a game on 46/34/100 splits (leading the team...though, to be fair, they kind of stunk).

His quote about Rice and Pera: "I just recently had a zoom call with Rice. Coach Pera probably gave me my first official offer. He saw me when I was a rising freshman and offered. It’s nice having a relationship that far back. I’m a big relationship guy and he’s been recruiting me ever since, calling and checking up on me. The relationship goes deeper than basketball. The academics is also very good at Rice and having that degree would be very good for my future.”

Wing with a good body who plays mostly on the perimeter and in the midrange. Would be a good fit in Pera's system...checks a lot of the boxes that Pera looks for in a guard.

No offense ,but I'll call it a hot streak when these guys actually arrive, or at least sign

Arrive.

And stay.

Arrive.
Stay.
Graduate.
Get elected Governor.

We still got 49 states to go. Let’s get to work here!

Very much disagree that we need to actually sign guys for the staff to be hot. This is Rice, not Duke. Our highest ever ranked recruit on 247 is Quez Letcher-Ellis, who at his peak was #161 in his class. Dawes, Friedrichsen, and Dunlap are borderline top-100 4-stars, all deciding to consider Rice within a singular month. Like it or not, this is the next recruiting step (for both the men and the women). You don't just start signing top-100 talent overnight. There's a transitionary step that must be taken which includes these semi-wins. The women started taking it under Langley (e.g., being a finalist for top-25 Kyndall Hunter, top-60 Fatou Samb, etc.) but progress reset when she left. Before you start landing these guys, you have to convince a few to even consider your program. This is that. Even if we miss out on all three of them, it will be an undeniable win for Pera. He's convinced not one but three guys to seriously consider Rice over a multitude of high-majors, despite the fact that our program is treading water (if not underwater). That's a massive accomplishment and can only be a positive if we can turn things around on the court. And this is coming from somebody who has been one of Pera's biggest critics on this board.

(09-11-2022 08:35 PM)elw4796 Wrote:  Very much disagree that we need to actually sign guys for the staff to be hot. This is Rice, not Duke. Our highest ever ranked recruit on 247 is Quez Letcher-Ellis, who at his peak was #161 in his class. Dawes, Friedrichsen, and Dunlap are borderline top-100 4-stars, all deciding to consider Rice within a singular month. Like it or not, this is the next recruiting step (for both the men and the women). You don't just start signing top-100 talent overnight. There's a transitionary step that must be taken which includes these semi-wins. The women started taking it under Langley (e.g., being a finalist for top-25 Kyndall Hunter, top-60 Fatou Samb, etc.) but progress reset when she left. Before you start landing these guys, you have to convince a few to even consider your program. This is that. Even if we miss out on all three of them, it will be an undeniable win for Pera. He's convinced not one but three guys to seriously consider Rice over a multitude of high-majors, despite the fact that our program is treading water (if not underwater). That's a massive accomplishment and can only be a positive if we can turn things around on the court. And this is coming from somebody who has been one of Pera's biggest critics on this board.

One was on campus for the football game Saturday, not sure which one. The whole basketball team was out there at a tailgate.

(09-11-2022 08:35 PM)elw4796 Wrote:  Very much disagree that we need to actually sign guys for the staff to be hot. This is Rice, not Duke. Our highest ever ranked recruit on 247 is Quez Letcher-Ellis, who at his peak was #161 in his class. Dawes, Friedrichsen, and Dunlap are borderline top-100 4-stars, all deciding to consider Rice within a singular month. Like it or not, this is the next recruiting step (for both the men and the women). You don't just start signing top-100 talent overnight. There's a transitionary step that must be taken which includes these semi-wins. The women started taking it under Langley (e.g., being a finalist for top-25 Kyndall Hunter, top-60 Fatou Samb, etc.) but progress reset when she left. Before you start landing these guys, you have to convince a few to even consider your program. This is that. Even if we miss out on all three of them, it will be an undeniable win for Pera. He's convinced not one but three guys to seriously consider Rice over a multitude of high-majors, despite the fact that our program is treading water (if not underwater). That's a massive accomplishment and can only be a positive if we can turn things around on the court. And this is coming from somebody who has been one of Pera's biggest critics on this board.

I remember when Knodel got to that point, after winning SWC in 1970. He got a visit from a player who ended up playing, but not starring, at North Carolina, and a couple of others at that level. Then Bo Hagan axed his recruiting budget. If you get the impression that I think most of today's problems stem from Bo, you're getting warm.

(09-11-2022 08:35 PM)elw4796 Wrote:  Very much disagree that we need to actually sign guys for the staff to be hot. This is Rice, not Duke. Our highest ever ranked recruit on 247 is Quez Letcher-Ellis, who at his peak was #161 in his class. Dawes, Friedrichsen, and Dunlap are borderline top-100 4-stars, all deciding to consider Rice within a singular month. Like it or not, this is the next recruiting step (for both the men and the women). You don't just start signing top-100 talent overnight. There's a transitionary step that must be taken which includes these semi-wins. The women started taking it under Langley (e.g., being a finalist for top-25 Kyndall Hunter, top-60 Fatou Samb, etc.) but progress reset when she left. Before you start landing these guys, you have to convince a few to even consider your program. This is that. Even if we miss out on all three of them, it will be an undeniable win for Pera. He's convinced not one but three guys to seriously consider Rice over a multitude of high-majors, despite the fact that our program is treading water (if not underwater). That's a massive accomplishment and can only be a positive if we can turn things around on the court. And this is coming from somebody who has been one of Pera's biggest critics on this board.

I don't know how far back 247 goes in its recruiting rankings, but Jason McKrieth (probably about 22 years ago?) was a top 100 recruit nationally - pretty much throughout all the ranking services that existed back then. And Morris Almond (who checks in from time to time here) was as well, at least on 1 or 2 top-100 lists.

Those might be the only two top-100 recruits we signed out of high school in the last 30-35 years (apologies if I'm forgetting someone)? One or two signees might have been top 100 on some list or another, but not the main ones. Bobby Crawford was a top-25 recruit who transferred to Rice from Michigan after 2 years (or it may have been one - it's been awhile and I don't recall that without looking it up). We've had a few other transfers who were borderline top-100's.

The top 10 recruit we absolutely came close to was Emeka Okafor, who was from Houston. Willis Wilson nearly convinced him to come to Rice instead of UConn.

For the women, the ranking services definitely weren't around 30 years ago, but Marla Brumfield absolutely would have been a top 25 national recruit when Rice signed her. They've had top 100 recruits through the years, but not a ton. And then like the men, they absolutely have had top-100 transfers.

Yeah, to be clear, 247 only goes back 10-15 years (as does most of my Rice basketball knowledge).

Also, I need to stop forgetting about Brooklyn Hicks, the fourth of the 2023 bunch to include us in his final schools.

Looks like 2024 Bryson McGlothin will also visit at some point. We're his only offer so far.

(09-11-2022 08:59 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  I don't know how far back 247 goes in its recruiting rankings, but Jason McKrieth (probably about 22 years ago?) was a top 100 recruit nationally - pretty much throughout all the ranking services that existed back then. And Morris Almond (who checks in from time to time here) was as well, at least on 1 or 2 top-100 lists.

Those might be the only two top-100 recruits we signed out of high school in the last 30-35 years (apologies if I'm forgetting someone)? One or two signees might have been top 100 on some list or another, but not the main ones. Bobby Crawford was a top-25 recruit who transferred to Rice from Michigan after 2 years (or it may have been one - it's been awhile and I don't recall that without looking it up). We've had a few other transfers who were borderline top-100's.

The top 10 recruit we absolutely came close to was Emeka Okafor, who was from Houston. Willis Wilson nearly convinced him to come to Rice instead of UConn.

Still pains me that those Harris/McKreith (and then Almond) teams didn't make an NCAAT. Kept running into UTEP/Nevada hurdles we couldn't get over in the WAC tournament.

I remember we got UConn/Okafor to play at Autry ... played them to within single digits. Think it was that same season that we had what was eventually a top-ten Stanford team absolutely beat and missed a bunch of free throws.

And one last recruiting recollection ... I seem to recall Demarcus Cousins somewhat randomly having us in his final five.

(09-13-2022 01:18 PM)Orange County Owl Wrote:  

(09-11-2022 08:59 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  I don't know how far back 247 goes in its recruiting rankings, but Jason McKrieth (probably about 22 years ago?) was a top 100 recruit nationally - pretty much throughout all the ranking services that existed back then. And Morris Almond (who checks in from time to time here) was as well, at least on 1 or 2 top-100 lists.

Those might be the only two top-100 recruits we signed out of high school in the last 30-35 years (apologies if I'm forgetting someone)? One or two signees might have been top 100 on some list or another, but not the main ones. Bobby Crawford was a top-25 recruit who transferred to Rice from Michigan after 2 years (or it may have been one - it's been awhile and I don't recall that without looking it up). We've had a few other transfers who were borderline top-100's.

The top 10 recruit we absolutely came close to was Emeka Okafor, who was from Houston. Willis Wilson nearly convinced him to come to Rice instead of UConn.

Still pains me that those Harris/McKreith (and then Almond) teams didn't make an NCAAT. Kept running into UTEP/Nevada hurdles we couldn't get over in the WAC tournament.

I remember we got UConn/Okafor to play at Autry ... played them to within single digits. Think it was that same season that we had what was eventually a top-ten Stanford team absolutely beat and missed a bunch of free throws.

And one last recruiting recollection ... I seem to recall Demarcus Cousins somewhat randomly having us in his final five.

Top 3. I think the stated reason was his mom could get a job as a nurse in Houston but I doubt we were really considered.

D1 Baseball ranks top 100 programs…Rice comes in 80th.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CiyTW1-sJv1/...NkNDdiOGI=

Missed this, but looks like the 2023 PG Malik Mack was on campus this past weekend for an official visit. Also visited Harvard the weekend before. Is set to announce his decision today. Only prediction on 247 was registered yesterday and has him choosing Harvard with a decently high degree of confidence. My guess is it's either Harvard or Rice, considering he doesn't appear to have visited anybody else.

Brady Dunlap, one of the 2023s who had included us on his final list, chose Notre Dame. Don't know if he ever got to Rice for a visit, but not sure it would've made a difference if he had. Can't fault a kid for choosing Notre Dame. Great fan loyalty, ACC, and academics. We're still among the final schools for Dawes, Friedrichsen, and Hicks, though it wouldn't shock me for their recruitments to end in a similar fashion.

Other housekeeping: 2023 PG Vincent Delano committed to Portland and 2023 PF Ma'Shy Hill committed to Abilene. New offer out to 2024 Anthony Batson Jr. Shooting guard who plays prep ball in Arizona. Offers from Arizona St, UCSB, Nevada, and San Jose St.

Mack commits to Harvard. That'll probably sting more than losing any of the other guys. This wasn't a battle against a bunch of good mid-majors and high-majors. This looks like it was Rice vs. Harvard, visit vs. visit in consecutive weeks. Not the end of the world to lose out. It's Harvard, after all. But this backs up my position (purely a belief with no evidence) that Harvard, Yale, and Princeton are still bigger than Rice regardless of what conference we're in. The weight their names carry is just too much.

(09-13-2022 01:18 PM)Orange County Owl Wrote:  I remember we got UConn/Okafor to play at Autry

Wasn't that at The Summit? Or am I thinking of Georgetown back when they were somethingt special?

(09-25-2022 04:57 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  

(09-13-2022 01:18 PM)Orange County Owl Wrote:  I remember we got UConn/Okafor to play at Autry

Wasn't that at The Summit? Or am I thinking of Georgetown back when they were somethingt special?

Autry. I remember Charlie Villanueva killing us.

(09-25-2022 04:57 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  

(09-13-2022 01:18 PM)Orange County Owl Wrote:  I remember we got UConn/Okafor to play at Autry

Wasn't that at The Summit? Or am I thinking of Georgetown back when they were somethingt special?

Summit was Georgetown and the Michigan Fab Five. Both close games.

UConn/Okafor was Autry.

Friedrichsen also commits to Notre Dame, joining Dunlap in the 2023 class. Still to go: Dawes and Hicks.

2023 CG Jaland Lowe committed to Pittsburgh. Houston kid who we had offered in July.

Dawes is set to announce his choice tomorrow morning. He cut Texas and Oklahoma State from his list, leaving Rice, BYU, Utah, and Texas A&M. His order of visits was Rice (end of August), Texas A&M (September 22), BYU (September 24), and then Utah (October 3).

It's a pretty huge ask for Rice + Pera to get a guy to commit after visiting three high-majors (counting BYU as Big 12 for convenience). They all have better fan support, facilities, competition levels, and NIL commitments. It'll basically come down to: (1) how much does it mean to him that Pera was after him first and continued to recruit him aggressively and (2) how important are academics? Loyalty obviously means something, or else Rice wouldn't have made his final list. But (2) is always the big unknown (especially when you have a kid like Dawes who didn't even have Stanford on his preliminary list). Regardless, we'll know soon enough.

Holy crap, Berman reporting we got Dawes

Heck, yeah! 4-star recruit. Highest rated recruit ever? Was Kazemi a 4-star?

(10-11-2022 10:23 AM)wrysal Wrote:  Heck, yeah! 4-star recruit. Highest rated recruit ever? Was Kazemi a 4-star?

He was not. We’ve had 1 other 4 star who ended up going to Nevada. Don’t think we’ve ever had a 4 star make it to campus.