(04-15-2024 03:35 PM)Dukes_Royals Wrote:  If Justin Taylor is inbound is Eddie Ricks going to play the 3?

Taylor is 6' 6" and Ricks is 6' 7"

2, 3 and 4 in many modern offenses is essentially the same.

He’s here

Still hate the transfer portal.

But we are doing well in it.

Three good pickups today!

Taylor's mom played ball @ JMU.

This guy looks good, I am starting feel better as we some ins and not only outs

Interesting info on Taylor in Mettlen’s article announcing the commits:

Quote: Taylor, a 6-6 rising junior, is a Charlottesville native who starred at St. Anne’s Belfield before transferring to IMG Academy as a senior then signing with Syracuse out of high school. Taylor’s mother, Kerri Borchardt Taylor has two degrees from JMU and played basketball for the Dukes under Sheila Moorman.

Taylor also played for the Team Takeover AAU program out of Washington DC, of which JMU assistant Calvin Baker has deep ties.

https://www.dnronline.com/sports/college...7382d.html

(04-17-2024 03:34 PM)Bill Wrote:  

What's very interesting is Southern Indiana is in the OVC with Morehead State.
The last game Smith played against Morehead state was on Feb 20th:
30 mins
18 pts
9 rebounds
4 assists
Also shot perfect 8-8 free throws

They clearly knew about him, so seems like a good add.

Interesting side note: Southern Indiana won 80-73. It was also the last time Morehead State lost in the regular season.

(04-17-2024 03:34 PM)Bill Wrote:  

(04-17-2024 03:57 PM)JMad03 Wrote:  

(04-17-2024 03:34 PM)Bill Wrote:  

What's very interesting is Southern Indiana is in the OVC with Morehead State.
The last game Smith played against Morehead state was on Feb 20th:
30 mins
18 pts
9 rebounds
4 assists
Also shot perfect 8-8 free throws

They clearly knew about him, so seems like a good add.

Interesting side note: Southern Indiana won 80-73. It was also the last time Morehead State lost in the regular season.

Good stuff. Thanks for the quick research.

Sent from my Pixel 7 Pro using Tapatalk

In Other news:

Paul Lewis leaves Vanderbilt for UT-San Antonio

(04-15-2024 03:55 PM)PhillyDuke Wrote:  

(04-15-2024 03:35 PM)Dukes_Royals Wrote:  If Justin Taylor is inbound is Eddie Ricks going to play the 3?

Taylor is 6' 6" and Ricks is 6' 7"

2, 3 and 4 in many modern offenses is essentially the same.

Up to seven scholarship players with the addition of Smith

G - Damon "Redd" Thompson, Jr. (Freshman)
G - Justin Taylor (Junior)
G - Xavier Brown (Junior)
F - A.J. Smith (Junior)
F - Eddie Ricks III (Sophomore)
F - Quincy Allen (Redshirt Sophomore)
F - Jerrell Roberson (Junior)

(04-17-2024 05:39 PM)Duke It Out Wrote:  

(04-15-2024 03:55 PM)PhillyDuke Wrote:  

(04-15-2024 03:35 PM)Dukes_Royals Wrote:  If Justin Taylor is inbound is Eddie Ricks going to play the 3?

Taylor is 6' 6" and Ricks is 6' 7"

2, 3 and 4 in many modern offenses is essentially the same.

Up to seven scholarship players with the addition of Smith

G - Damon "Redd" Thompson, Jr. (Freshman)
G - Justin Taylor (Junior)
G - Xavier Brown (Junior)
F - A.J. Smith (Junior)
F - Eddie Ricks III (Sophomore)
F - Quincy Allen (Redshirt Sophomore)
F - Jerrell Roberson (Junior)

Smith looks good in highlights and is an impressive rebounder but needs to work on his shooting percentages from the field.

(04-18-2024 11:55 AM)Deez Nuts Wrote:  

Not surprising and don't think he was going to be back even if Byington had stayed. He is just very injury prone and has not shown that his HS career can translate to college.

(04-18-2024 12:11 PM)jmu98 Wrote:  

(04-18-2024 11:55 AM)Deez Nuts Wrote:  

Not surprising and don't think he was going to be back even if Byington had stayed. He is just very injury prone and has not shown that his HS career can translate to college.

They just added three guys that play the two/three...that probably had something to do with it. Same applies to Brycen Blaine.

Listened to Ricks III interview with Riggert. I really like him.
Also gave me an idea on the type of player and what is important.
Family is a huge thing.
Coach P really does get to know the player and talks to them about more than basketball. Same goes for their family.
Ricks was getting contacted by other schools, but he said they were saying all the wrong things to him. They were talking about money and NIL and didn't get to know him at all.
When it came down to it, it was a no brainer to join Coach P and staff.
Also said a lot of great things about JMU. Said if you had told him it was a power school he would have believed it.

FWIW, 247 sports ranked the various players in the basketball transfer portal and both Ricks and Taylor were in the top 260 or so (Edwards and Carey also made the list).

Ricks mentioned in his interview that he was playing the 4 at Morehead State, but a lot of the reason was that OVC was a smaller league.
He will most likely be playing the 3 and sounds like he prefers to play at the 3. He talked a lot about how it really developed him as a player.
While it has been mentioned before, Ricks said that defense will be a huge focus for Coach P and this team. Talked about how the staff really made him better, especially on defense.

Ricks sounds like a great kid, glad he's a Duke and the alignment in philosophy between Coach P and Chez is uncanny. We have so many good kids at JMU and they are going to bring even more, that should be appreciated.