RE: NIU Hoops Recruits for 2022-23
The JUCO Players:
Dantwan Grimes - 6’2” - PG - JUCO Freshman - 2* recruit from Kilgore College (Kilgore, TX) - Grimes attended PHS Academy which is a prep school geared towards athletes getting into D-I programs. Grimes’ hometown is Ocala, FL. Last season at Kilgore, Grimes played in 23 games (19 starts) averaging 12.2 ppg and 28.7 minutes shooting 42.1% from the field (40 of 108 3PT - 37%) and 68.4% FT (39 of 57). He’s a muscular kid who looks to have filled out quite a bit in the past year. Strong shoulders and looks close to being a finished product (physically). He looks to be a decent PG but may fit better as a SG. He’s got a decently quick pull up from 3PT and looks most comfortable shooting anywhere outside of the lane. He doesn’t attack the basket but has a quick step back fadeaway shot that gets separation from defenders. I could see him being anything from a spare part to a floor leader. It’s hard to tell as these kinds of players have to emerge. Grimes has received additional offers from Tulsa, Eastern Michigan, South Florida, Wichita State, Drake, Florida A&M, North Texas, Coastal Carolina, UIC, Utah Valley, Bryant, Weber State, FIU, Morgan State, NJIT, Jacksonville, St. Bonaventure, UMBC, and Robert Morris.
David Coit - 5’11” - COMMITTED - PG - JUCO Freshman - 2* recruit from Atlantic Cape CC (Hamilton, NJ) - Coit is from Princeton, NJ and attended Scotland Campus Sports (prep school in Scotland, PA) before joining ACCC. Stats and info, as well as video, is hard to come by for Coit. In his senior season at Princeton Day School, he averaged 19.6 points. He’s a smallish, kinda skinny armed kid (from pictures I’ve seen) but he looks quick….(I know…outstanding scouting here Big Red…). Anyway, with not much to go on, I’ll make no other assumptions. Coit received additional offers from NJIT and North Carolina A&T.
Skylar Robinson - 6’8” - PF - JUCO Sophomore - 2* recruit from Chabot College (Hayward, CA) - Robinson is from San Roman, CA and attended Dublin HS. My first impression of Robinson isn’t all that complimentary. He’s tall and long and is pretty athletic but he doesn’t overly impress me as a PF. Then I started thinking a little differently as I saw him handle the ball, pass and shoot from the outside. See, I just didn’t see much jumping ability and being on the thinner side, I didn’t see a usefulness on the inside. But then I started to think about Anthony Crump and thought…okay…I really don’t like Crump…but could this kid be a better version of Crump I could start to like? Maybe? He’s got the makeup of a tall and lanky SF/SG who can probably handle the ball if he had to . Those guys can create mismatches and can be useful if they’re good enough. As a freshman at Chabot, Robinson played in 29 games (9 starts) and averaged 6.3 ppg and 17.4 minutes shooting 41.8% from the field (30.9% 3PT - 17 of 55) and 62.3% FT (33 of 55…which isn’t great). In addition to NIU, Robinson has received no other offers (again…not the best sign but it’s also early for a JUCO sophomore).
Kieves “Deuce” Turner - JUCO Freshman - 6’2” - SG - 2* recruit from South Plains College (JUCO - Levelland, TX) - Malvern Prep School (Malvern, PA) - born in Coatesville, PA - Deuce started his career at Bucknell where he played in 11 games (1 start) and averaged 8.3 ppg and 19.9 minutes but transferred out and apparently was able to call last year a red shirt because he’s listed as a freshman at South Plains College. At SPC, Turner has played in 28 games (23 starts) averaging 18.5 ppg and 23.1 minutes shooting 44.2% from the field (38.2% 3PT - 71 of 186) and 89.4% FT (144 of 161). He’s not that big but is strongly built. He can go to the basket if need be but his bread and butter is on the perimeter. He’s got a compact shot and can dial it up from a really long distance stretching the defense out well beyond the arc. Otherwise, it’s hard to tell much. He’s getting a lot of attention, I will say that. In addition to his offer from NIU, Turner has additional offers on the table from IUPUI, UTRGV, McNeese, and Tarleton. Obviously, playing JUCO in Texas is going to get some Lone Star State attention, but now he’s getting it up north as well. The offers from NIU, IUPUI, UTRGV, and McNees all came in today (3/15/22).
Drake Allen - JUCO Freshman - 6’4” - SG - 2* recruit from Snow College (Ephriam, UT) - Westlake HS (Saratoga Springs, UT) - born in Eagle Mountain, UT - Allen is getting a lot of attention right now. He’s played 1 season at Snow and has played in 33 games (all starts) averaging 30.2 minutes and 12.9 ppg/2.21 steals/4.7 rebounds and 5.9 assists shooting 53.8% from the field (28.6% 3PT - 24 of 84) and 62.9% FT (73 of 116). When I watch him, the word “clever” comes to mind. I bet he’s a pain in the ass to play against. He’s not that big and not overly fast. He is quick and is a good jumper though. He just seems like a guy who would annoy the other team. I didn’t see video of him diving on the floor but I bet that’s part of what you get with him. He had a lot of Tyler Cochran things about him with his steals (sneaking up behind guys and poking the ball away…stuff like that). His outside shot is average and he doesn’t light it up from outside but he can make a shot from there. His instincts tell him to go to the basket. It appears he makes about 99% of his points from about 1 foot from the basket. He’s clever in getting around defenders (ie, he doesn’t blow them away as much as he just tricks them…which may very well not play at the D-1 level). Again, he’s a good jumper and can easily dunk the ball (he does it a lot…) but his size concerns me. At least he’s kinda tall for a guard. To play more inside, he’d definitely have to put on bulk. In addition to NIU, Allen has offers on the table from IUPUI, Radford, FIU, SIUe, Bowling Green, Southern Indiana, Western Illinois, Southern Utah, Northern Arizona, and NJIT. The offers from NIU, IUPUI, Radford and FIU all came in today (3/15/22) and the offers from SIUe, Bowling Green, Southern Indiana, and Western Illinois came in yesterday (3/14/22). So, interest in him has heated up real quick.
(This post was last modified: 03-15-2022 08:20 PM by Big Red.)
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