The high school basketball season is over and we're not getting any 4 or 5 star recruits but help is on the way. We're bringing in good size with 6-8, 6-9 and 6-10 up front plus 6-3 and 6-5 guards. We will also have Nizar Kapic a 6-6 shooting guard whom I'm told is a very good shooter. He got a medical redshirt this year.

ANDREW DRONE--6-10, 260 from Gallatin County HS in southern Illinois. Was 1st team all-state and led team to the super sectional. Averaged 26 points per game.

MARCUS JACKSON--6-3, 160, Pacific Hills HS in Los Angeles. Team was state champion Division IV, scored 23 points in championship game. I saw him play on TV earlier this year, reminded me of a smaller version of Morris Almond. Very smooth.

DREW BENDER--6-5, 190 Pinnacle HS in Arizona. Team was Division1 state runner-up and sectional champion. Drew made 2nd team all-state, averaged 14.7 PPG, 4.1 assist and 1.4 steals. 2 point FG % 50%, 3 point 33.3%, 80% FT. Can play the 1, 2 or 3. Called a defensive stopper.

SEAN OBI--6-9, 250, Green Farms Academy HS in Connecticut, native of Nigeria, Class C Player of the Year. As a junior averaged 18.2 points and 20 rebounds a game. As senior hit 66% from field, had 56 double doubles. Won FAA and New England Championships. Went to a small academic school that was 1-14 three years ago. Obviously will be stepping up a lot in class, but size and agility look promising.

DENZEL DAVIS--6-8, 200, Orlando FL, Lake Highland Prep. Seeing his junior stats I wasn't too impressed but it looks like he may be a comer. Injured his leg badly as an 8th grader and didn't play again until his junior year. Hit 55% FG, 36% on threes. All around player his team didn't need him to score, but he rebounded 8 per game, blocked shots, played D, passed and can shoot from the outside.

Looks like a lot of potential coming in.

The ennis/debose/reichelle/gearhart/ibrahim class "had a lot of potential" and earned Braun an extension.

I wonder if we could renegotiate his contract to give him incentives for minutes played by juniors and seniors. Get him focused on keeping these kids around.

We definitely need the size, so that's good news. Will be interesting to see what happens next year without Tamir, since he dominated so much of the offense. Ideally it would be more balanced and efficient, but someone needs to show the ability to score 15 ppg or so. Could be Debose, but he was originally supposed to be more of a wing defender than a scorer. His being forced into taking on more of a scoring role last year might allow him to take on that role...we'll see

Excited about Obi and Drone, just because the team needs the size. Any idea what kind of competition Drone faced? Almost impossible to know how Obi's numbers will translate against much, much, much better competition in college.

(03-28-2013 10:34 AM)mrbig Wrote:  Excited about Obi and Drone, just because the team needs the size. Any idea what kind of competition Drone faced? Almost impossible to know how Obi's numbers will translate against much, much, much better competition in college.

I grew up in downstate Illinois (suburban St. Louis) - Gallatin County sits in a very rural portion of deep southern Illinois.

Drone's high school - his total high school - is listed with an enrollment of 215 and competes in the smallest of the four HS basketball classifications in Illinois.

Doesn't mean that he won't turn out to be a player and a great kid ... just suggests that he might be a bit of a project.

Drone and Obi both played in lower classifications. The other three all came from higher classes and played in the state tournaments. Some of our current players played with these guys on their recruiting trips and tell me we're getting good players. Also they get to go play with our guys in Canada this summer and get some extra practice time.

UT's leading scorer, Sheldon McClellan, is transferring. He is from Bellaire. I wonder if we are expressing interest

(03-28-2013 12:59 PM)MemOwl Wrote:  UT's leading scorer, Sheldon McClellan, is transferring. He is from Bellaire. I wonder if we are expressing interest

If he does come to Rice hopefully he will be allowed to play immediately...it seems that the NCAA owes us two immediate transfers.

(03-28-2013 01:30 PM)Tiki Owl Wrote:  

(03-28-2013 12:59 PM)MemOwl Wrote:  UT's leading scorer, Sheldon McClellan, is transferring. He is from Bellaire. I wonder if we are expressing interest

If he does come to Rice hopefully he will be allowed to play immediately...it seems that the NCAA owes us two immediate transfers.

Chronicle documents how Barnes yanked his playing time around. sounds like a great case for a hardship.

Based on regular reading of the Statesman sports page I am not sure we really want McClellan. He was constantly in the dog house for lack of interest in defense, rebounding, running the offense, etc. Not what a young team needs.

(03-28-2013 05:31 PM)austinowl73 Wrote:  Based on regular reading of the Statesman sports page I am not sure we really want McClellan. He was constantly in the dog house for lack of interest in defense, rebounding, running the offense, etc. Not what a young team needs.

My impression from watching his game was that he was another in a long line of UT shooting guards who shoot 25 shots a game and miss 20 (AJ Abrams, Jordan Hamilton, J'Covan Brown, Avery Bradley, etc). I know Tamir had similar numbers, but he didn't have the surrounding talent McClellan did.

(03-28-2013 05:31 PM)austinowl73 Wrote:  Based on regular reading of the Statesman sports page I am not sure we really want McClellan. He was constantly in the dog house for lack of interest in defense, rebounding, running the offense, etc. Not what a young team needs.

I think we'd need to know more than what gets printed on the pages of the A-S. You get in a coach's doghouse early, and no matter what happens you never seem to be able to get out. Would he do better here than there? Who knows? He might, he might not. The question is whether he's a better bet than somebody else. And of course, whether he is interested in us.