2013 Recruiting Targets Part 2

Thanks Sbum, you do a great job keeping up with the recruiting my man.

I want to add a 4th man to this class, think you have to strike while the iron is hot here, and if we stick with a 3 man class we’re going to be a scholly short and if BJ elects to walk we could be 2 short again for next year.

I just checked espn on Owona and they have him at 6’7, how confident are you he’s legit 6’9 SBum? I’ve not done ton of work on him.

Surprised Curington is still out there, Boykins as well.

While my son was attending Duquesne, I began following that program as well as Lehigh’s. It was about the time they went from a doormat to a team that was getting votes for the top 25. Still they were not very high on the food chain. Every season they would parade in a new group of 6-9 to 7-0 guys to fill the exact role you are saying. Unfortunately all the quality in that height range was usually picked clean. They would last a year or 2 on the bench and leave and they settled for 6-6 to 6-7 athletic guys. Recruiting height for height’s sake at our level usually doesn’t go well although there are exceptions. Every so often though, like CJ, you get a guy who has talent but lacks size and then grows into it later. You can always put some solid beef on these 6-7 guys and maybe one or 2 grow a few inches yet.

TMH, I agree with you 100% about Lehigh’s search for bigs.  The talent over 6’7″ is picked clean by the big boys.  Lehigh’s only hope is to sign a late bloomer or late grower that blossoms.  You can certainly win with a group of five 6’6″ guys as we have seen at a lot of mid-major programs.  Butler and VCU immediately come to mind.  If a guy is 6’10” and can really play, you are probably never going to get him.

I did a lot of looking on two players over the weekend, Owona and Boykins.  I looked at every piece of video I could find from high school and AAU.  First, on Boykins, earlier I questioned his athletic ability in the video I saw of him.  He is a bean pole, really thin, and not terribly athletic.  He does play bigger than his listed 6″3″, primarily due to his long arms.  He shows nice range in his jump shot, and can extend to deep beyond the 3 point line.  His game, from what I saw, is two fold.  He shoots well from distance, and he is very effective at posting up smaller guards on the blocks, and finishing with a high fade away jump shot.  He would remind you of a smaller Reggie Miller type, although, obviously not in that league.  He doesn’t seem to be very effective off the dribble as he is not that quick and athletic, and has a really thin frame.  Not the quickest either on the defensive side of the ball.  He would seem to be a good PL fit.  Not sure if he can post up college guards, but would be a nice wing shooter.  He holds a lot of offers including 3-4 from the MAC and 1 A-10 offer.  So, he is a tough get.  One of his offers is from Miami, OH which is very close to his hometown in Ohio.  Maybe CJ is on the trail as he is a fellow Buckeye, although he is from a few hours away.  Another dynamic is maybe Boykins is tracking the progress of another Buckeye, Devon Carter, to monitor potential playing time in the future.  We seem to have a big of a logjam on the wing from the next couple of seasons.  Probably a good signing but will need to get stronger and develop a game off the dribble.

On Owona, he is a nice looking athlete.  I would say 6’6″ or 6’7″, and no bigger.  Not a wide body at all, but not skinny.  Looks more like a Chuku frame, or Conroy Baltimore.  There is one big problem with him and that is his style of play.  He is not a banger, low post guy at all.  He is more content to shoot from the wing or 3 point range.  I did not see him post up or finish on the blocks at all in any of the videos I saw.  He is athletic, can run the flooor, can block a shot, can rebound a bit, but not an inside presence at all.  So, I would never project him as a 5, and would be hesitant to project him as a 4 on the college level.  He looks like a 3 player, a big 3, but he has that style game.  The intrigue with him is he looks like a premium athlete, one who could perhaps dominate at the PL level, strictly on athleticism.  But, he is going to need to develop a game down low, and put on a few pounds.  From what I could see, his biggest offer looked to be from Bucknell, although not sure where he stands with them.  Again, happy to have him as an athlete, but not sure how to project him from what I saw.  Not going to be our savior in the middle.  Clearly, would be dwarfed by a guy like KM or even JM. 

I was thinking about Daren Queenan while listening to the basketball game. At 6-5, I believe he played center for his HS. Although, extremely talented and athletic, the big programs passed him by because he was obviously too small to play center but didn’t possess the ball skills to play guard. This tweener role probably kept him out of the NBA. But at 6-5, he hauled down over 1,000 rebounds because he knew how to attack the boards. I think Zahir may have fallen into that same category. IMHO, that is the guy we should be looking for. You won’t find him at an academy where at 6-6 or 6-7 he’s already playing SF. I’m thinking a bout a guy who at 6-6 or 6-7 was laying C all his life but is considered to short for major conferences but could do real damage in the PL. Anyone know this guy?

Thanks for doing the work on those two guys 90, good stuff.

I do want to say tthat when some of us on here talk about getting a big, we’re not asking for a Boozer or a Okafor or a Shelden Williams…but you can’t tell me that all the good bigs are taken and PL never gets bigs…McNaughton and Muscala come to mind, heck, just give me another Mgebroff or McCarthy and I’d be stoked…I don’t think I’m asking for much, and I don’t think it is impossible for us to get a big, I’d just like for every year that we have a legit center on the 12 or 13 scholarship roster…just one. We should be able to do that, right?