(09-09-2021 05:15 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  We're likely not going to be as successful retaining underclass players from 2021-22 to 2022-23 as we were last year. I also think Quincy Olivari might be a possibility to go to the NBA after this year. I know some people will scoff at that possibility but if Trey Murphy can be a 1st round pick, then I think he has a chance to be a 2nd round pick at least.

I guess we should just enjoy this season now and worry about the 2022-23 season later.

I'm very fond of Quincy, but stop comparing him to Murphy, who is a MUCH more versatile and two-way player given his ball-handling, height and length. They're both "plus" 3-point shooters, but Murphy is the far superior defender and rebounder, and IMO a better all-around offensive contributor.

Olivari can be an NBA player, but as others have said, it'll require a bit more work. He has to work on his handle and driving, he needs to become sharper in the midrange, and it he has to better utilize his length on defense. There's an NBA player in there somewhere. But there is still plenty of refinement that is needed. On the plus side, his step from freshman year to sophomore year was massive and shows he's willing to put his head down.

Chancellor White to Louisiana (over us and Houston according to Mark Berman).

Staff also watched 2023 Gehrig Normand recently. 2023 guard who we offered and I think will get some more mid-major offers over the next year or so. Limited athletically but good shooter and scorer.

Looks like the staff has been reaching out to 2022 PG Cord Stansberry, who we've offered. Had power conference interest from Butler but seems like they've backed off.

Jesaiah McWright commits to La Tech. A very typical Konkol guard recruit. Should be a decent pairing with BB Knight.

Shawn Jones to Texas St (he had cut us from his list a few weeks ago).

Bube Momah to Lehigh (hadn't seen links to Rice for a long while).

Jeremy Gregory to ETSU (superfluous with Akuchie's commitment regardless of interest).

Looks like 2022 Blair Thompson recently visited. From NY playing at Northfield Mount Hernon. Late bloomer (he's grown a few inches in the past couple years). Now listed at 6-8, but definitely more guard than forward. Probably more comparable to Peterson than Murphy out of HS. He can play PG and isn't quite as awkward as Murphy was in his senior year. Like Peterson, there's some athleticism there and good shot mechanics. Most of the time isn't beating his guy with speed (if he was 6-8 and was then he'd be a 4-star or 5-star). Offers from Harvard, Yale, Penn, Bucknell, and Xavier. Interest from the likes of Minnesota, Vanderbilt, and Penn State.

Sounds like Van Green went to see 2022 CG Anthony Arrington play. Out of Georgia with offers from Wofford, Mercer, EMU, and others. Other guys we've watched over the past couple days are 2023 Brandon Rechsteiner and Shey Eberwein.

Arop Arop commits to Columbia. He visited there last week. I hope he ends up fulfilling his potential - if he does, he's a matchup nightmare in the Ivy League. Cleaning up other loose ends, Elijah Saunders to San Diego State and KyeRon Lindsay to UNLV. Like that Lindsay picked UNLV over the power conference programs, think he can eventually be dominant in the Mountain West. And big recruiting win for former Owl and now UNLV assistant Carlin Hartman.

Sean Logan to Davidson, Josh Reed to Cincinnati.

Would love to see us go after 2022 combo guard Jaquan Sanders.

Just rescinded his commitment to St John’s and wants to leave the NYC area.

Had offers from primarily A10 and MAAC schools prior to committing to St John’s.

Sounds like the staff has reached out to 2022 PG Adante' Holiman. Kind of an odd recruiting profile. A 3* recruit, considered by some the best available player from Oklahoma. Decommitted from Tulsa a few months back. Most recent offers have been from mid-majors (UTRGV, Hofstra, etc.) but also received 2021 offers from Arizona and Ole Miss (albeit in January and March respectively). Smaller guard (recruiting services say 5-9, he says 6-0 on Twitter). Don't think he's as quick as some kids who are 6-0 or smaller, but definitely some shiftiness. And his speed will play up because he's got great shot mechanics and really good range. Everybody here knows my thoughts on smaller PGs (I love them), so even this minimal interest warms my heart. I also think a PG recruit to round out the 2022 class is smart. With McBride and Mullins graduating, Hutchins will be the only PG on the roster next year.

New offer to 6-4 2022 Mason Jones. Plays at Link Year Prep. Only other offer is from SIUE. Not to be confused with the 6-4 2022 Mason Jones who plays in Dallas. Decent shot mechanics, decent handle, some flashes of athleticism. Hard to get a better read because I'm only seeing highlights of his AAU play.

Couple new offers:

> 2023 F Keanu Dawes (6-7, Houston)
> 2024 G Jakeel Registe (6-5, Houston)

Interesting how Pera's shotgun approach is diametrically opposed to the minimalist concept used by Bloomgren. To this point, it looks like a huge talent advantage to MBB's theory.

(10-10-2021 10:52 AM)WRCisforgotten79 Wrote:  Interesting how Pera's shotgun approach is diametrically opposed to the minimalist concept used by Bloomgren. To this point, it looks like a huge talent advantage to MBB's theory.

The thing is that Pera's shotgun approach hasn't necessarily worked, even if this year's team looks to be the best we've had in a few years. Instead, he's just proven to be tidy at scouting and projecting. You typically use the Bryant "offer as many people as possible" strategy to maximize your opportunity to lure in somebody who might have more attractive offers (e.g., pitching Rice to 40 guys with power conference offers might be more successful than pitching it to 15 guys) or to target guys who you expect to blow up. Excluding Pera's first real recruiting class (Mullins, Murphy, Peterson, Osborne, Moore): Sheffield's best offer was probably from James Madison, Poteat's best offer was probably from Wofford, Fiedler's best offer was probably from Furman, Olivari's only D1 offer was from Charleston Southern, McDowell's best offer was probably Montana St, Geron's only offer was UC San Diego, and by the time Hutchins was ready to commit most of his interest was mid- or low-major.

The measurement for how well a recruiting strategy works probably has to be the number of commits you get who are above your "weight class" in terms of offers. Of the 8 high school recruits on the roster, seven of them didn't even have one mid-major (let alone high-major) offer.

But I do agree that Pera's approach is interesting, because it really does go against the grain when compared to similar schools. For example, Bucknell, Colgate, Lehigh, William & Mary, and Lafayette have a combined 17 outstanding offers (9 of which are Lafayette's). We alone have 16. And it's impossible to know the reasoning behind it. Does Pera just prefer offering more kids? Is the staff good at identifying kids, meaning a lot of the offers are to players who then blow up? Is the staff having trouble selling Rice to kids? Are other teams using the youth of Pera's staff against him?

Blair Thompson to Columbia, which might help explain the new offer out to Jones and the new interest in Holiman and Arrington.

Looks like 2023 F Isaiah Manning was on campus for an unofficial visit. Top-150 recruit according to 247 and Rivals with offers from Oklahoma St, TCU, and Texas A&M (among others). Received an offer 2 days ago. Plays at Mansfield Legacy. Athletic wing. Can make shots but has kind of funky mechanics. Good diversity of scoring moves. Saw some drives, step backs, post fades. Like a lot of HS wings, how good his handle is and how much it develops will be key in how good he ends up.

New offer to 2023 PF Matthew Reed. Big body (6-9, 240) from Lewisville, TX. The very rare big man in HS whose highlight reel is 50+% post moves. Offers from TCU and Cleveland State (Georgetown offered 3 years ago). Has deceptive quickness for his size and a decent enough handle for a big guy.

Also an offer out to 2023 G Gabriel Warren who plays in Plano. Offers from TCU and Oakland. Took an unofficial to UTA. Some interest from other schools. Seems to have a well-rounded game. Good shot mechanics, length to finish around the rim, decent enough handle.

(10-10-2021 10:52 AM)WRCisforgotten79 Wrote:  Interesting how Pera's shotgun approach is diametrically opposed to the minimalist concept used by Bloomgren. To this point, it looks like a huge talent advantage to MBB's theory.

The idea of recruiting and offering a large number of potential recruits was a strategy espoused by former Football Coach Todd Graham during his "short" tenure at Rice. I do think it tells recruits that Rice is not shy about competing against a number of schools which long-term may be an advantage for the Rice Hoops program. It may also tell recruits that if they don't commit to Rice, there are plenty of other recruits in the wings that the program finds attractive and vice-versa. That may help improve the odds of certain players to say yes earlier in the recruiting process, fearing that they will lose an opportunity if they sit back and wait...