Question/Discussion

[Leesburg Chankenstank III]

I don't know much about recruiting and what the mind set is of today's recruits are so I am asking because I truly want to know:

I know some consider this a throw away year for us and want Paulsen to only focus on the future but my concern is that we have been losing for 4 straight years and we are gong into our 5th straight sub par year.

We know the context of all this losing and know we are on the correct trajectory. But how much will this effect our recruits and potential recruits (especially since its about to get a lot worse with the Marquise injury)? Will they stay excited about coming here when they see all these lopsided losses, last place records, low attendance on TV games etc...?

Thoughts?

 

[gmujim92]

I don't know much about recruiting and what the mind set is of today's recruits are so I am asking because I truly want to know:

I know some consider this a throw away year for us and want Paulsen to only focus on the future but my concern is that we have been losing for 4 straight years and we are gong into our 5th straight sub par year.

We know the context of all this losing and know we are on the correct trajectory. But how much will this effect our recruits and potential recruits (especially since its about to get a lot worse with the Marquise injury)? Will they stay excited about coming here when they see all these lopsided losses, last place records, low attendance on TV games etc...?

Thoughts?

Just like sales, in recruiting you have to have an angle that appeals to the people you are targeting.

In our case, it is early and meaningful playing time.

The kids we are recruiting see an opportunity to come in and make an impact right away -- not a place where they'll have to cool their heels for two years while a veteran at their position takes all the playing time.

They see Otis, Jaire and even DeAndre starting and playing major minutes as freshmen, and they get the message that if they're good enough, DP will put them in the game.

The good news, if you want to call it that, is many kids in today's generation are impatient and don't want to have to pay their dues. It's a big reason why there are 700-plus transfers every year in D-I hoops.

Until we start rolling and can sell kids on the allure of competing annually for NCAA tournament bids, playing time will have to do.

 

[Leesburg Chankenstank III]

Jim,

I hope you're right. The first test will be if Temara signs. When is the first day he is legible to sign?

 

[gmujim92]

Jim,

I hope you're right. The first test will be if Temara signs. When is the first day he is legible to sign?

Late signing period starts sometime in April.

Not to be disagreeable, Chank, but I think the first real test of our staff's recruiting prowess will be the 2017 class.

Unlike DP's first two classes, most of our 2017 targets have several other offers from schools that boast superior recent on-court performance.

Barring transfers/other issues, we're only going to have two scholarships to offer in that class, so the staff will have to be selective.

And our roster is going to be so young, they will have to convince HS kids to come here and compete for playing time against guys like Otis and Jaire -- both of whom look like sure-fire 4-year starters.

If we could somehow land an elite scorer like Chris Lykes, that would be a massive step up (on paper) in the level of our recruiting.

 

[Leesburg Chankenstank III]

Not to be disagreeable, Chank,

Not at all. Like I said, I am a huge fan but I have zero clue on the dynamics of basketball recruiting nowadays. That's why I posed the question to posters like you, Tom, Petey, Pablo etc... to give me some insight.

I am hoping to get to a .500 record in the A10 and just trying to gauge realistically how long that would take.

 

[GMUgemini]

Not at all. Like I said, I am a huge fan but I have zero clue on the dynamics of basketball recruiting nowadays. That's why I posed the question to posters like you, Tom, Petey, Pablo etc... to give me some insight.

I am hoping to get to a .500 record in the A10 and just trying to gauge realistically how long that would take.

Depends on how many of these guys coming in are going to be like Otis and Jaire and how many are going to be like Dixon, Murrell and Abram (needing a lot more seasoning).

If Otis and Jaire get the sophomore bump, we're going to have a pretty nasty starting back 3 next year, the question shifts to to front court -- how effective are Dixon, Jalen, and Relvao are going to be?

The bonus is, it seems like a lot of A-10 teams are back court heavy, with fairly soft front courts. I'm not sure how much our inexperienced forwards are going to matter if we can play really solid perimeter defense.

 

[gmujim92]

Depends on how many of these guys coming in are going to be like Otis and Jaire and how many are going to be like Dixon, Murrell and Abram (needing a lot more seasoning).

If Otis and Jaire get the sophomore bump, we're going to have a pretty nasty starting back 3 next year, the question shifts to to front court -- how effective are Dixon, Jalen, and Relvao are going to be?

The bonus is, it seems like a lot of A-10 teams are back court heavy, with fairly soft front courts. I'm not sure how much our inexperienced forwards are going to matter if we can play really solid perimeter defense.

Ian Boyd will most likely be our fourth guard -- and first off the bench -- next season.

Think about that for a second.

 

[Petey Buckets]

I don't know a ton about recruiting, but I know enough to know that there's no unified field theory about what recruits like or don't like. Some like to stay close to home. Some want immediate playing time. Some want the prestige of going to the biggest and best school that'll take them. Like Jim said, you need to play to your strengths and hope your message resonates with the guys you want to build your program.

Record aside, Mason has a ton of strong selling points. We're in an annual top-8 conference in the suburbs of a major city. We're within a six hour drive of high-school basketball hotbeds up and down the east coast (NY/NJ, Philly, Baltimore, DC, Virginia Beach, North Carolina, etc). Plenty of hot recruits can sign here and say things like "I wanted to be close to a city without being in the city" or "I wanted to get away from home but not so far away that my family couldn't visit." From what I read, recruits tend to talk as much about this stuff as they do the quality of the program.

My biggest concern with Paulsen initially was recruiting, but I think he's worked magic so far. Kam is the only guy among the current freshmen who looks like he might be a miss. Otis and Jaire have flashed future all-conference ability. Assuming continued development, Deandre and Danny look like they'll be solid rotation guys at minimum. And I can't wait for the Ian Boyd/Karmari Newman era to start - those guys look legit as hell.

To answer your initial question, .500 in the A-10 could happen as early as next year, but a lot would have to go right. My totally biased, blatant homer prediction is that we skate in a little under .500 next year but then get real damn competitive in 2017.

 

[Patriotsince81]

To answer your initial question, .500 in the A-10 could happen as early as next year, but a lot would have to go right. My totally biased, blatant homer prediction is that we skate in a little under .500 next year but then get real damn competitive in 2017.

Pretty much my expectation as well. The goal should be to hit the top 4 and NCAA in 2017-2018.

 

[GSII]

I cant see Boyd coming off the bench. We are talking about a player right here.

 

[gmulion]

I cant see Boyd coming off the bench. We are talking about a player right here.

Who's starting spot do you see him taking? I think he could be a good player, but he is a tweener. He is a 6'2 SF.

 

[gmujim92]

Considering that we will be a guard-dominated team moving forward, I don't think it's a slight to Boyd to suggest he'll come off the bench as a freshman.

As far as I'm concerned, (barring injury/other issues) three of the five starting spots for next season are on lock: Marquise, Otis, Jaire. If a freshman is good enough to come in and send one of those guys to the bench, I will be shocked.

Regardless, Boyd will still get plenty of playing time. That's a good thing because Otis and Jaire won't have to play 35-plus MPG when we're no longer shorthanded.

 

[Dawgs99]

I think what the staff did in getting all these guys so late in the process was really outstanding. Otis and Jaire seem like future stars and Deandre and Danny look like they will be solid contributors. Kam Murrell is a short shooting guard and looks like perhaps he might have already been recruited over. I agree with Jim in that the 2017 class will be telling, can we land some guys that have offers from other A10 schools and better? I have a sneaky feeling that Relvao is going to turn some heads next season. Chris Lykes has offers from Villanova and Miami....seems like that will be a tall order.

 

[gmujim92]

I think what the staff did in getting all these guys so late in the process was really outstanding. Otis and Jaire seem like future stars and Deandre and Danny look like they will be solid contributors. Kam Murrell is a short shooting guard and looks like perhaps he might have already been recruited over. I agree with Jim in that the 2017 class will be telling, can we land some guys that have offers from other A10 schools and better? I have a sneaky feeling that Relvao is going to turn some heads next season. Chris Lykes has offers from Villanova and Miami....seems like that will be a tall order.

No dig at you, Dawgs, but I think Murrell is being evaluated somewhat unfairly because of the immediate success of the other three freshman guards.

He obviously didn't get off to a good start shooting the ball, and thus was unable to secure additional playing time to further build his confidence the way Otis and Jaire have.

DeAndre benefitted both from the fact that he is 6-7 and could be utilized as a stretch 4, but also because he got to start and get comfortable with the pace of the game during Marko's suspension.

We do have a lot of guards coming in, including one whose calling card is shooting the 3, so you could be right that Kam is in danger of being recruited over.

But when I watch the ball come off his fingers now, I see a guy who, if given an opportunity, will shoot a high percentage from 3 once the game slows down for him. He has a beautiful stroke. It's already looking better than the beginning of the season when he was rushing and firing up bricks and airballs all over the place.

Maybe he doesn't get that chance. Maybe Newman and Boyd come in this summer and light it up, and Kam only gets garbage minutes again next season. If so, so be it. It's a competitive deal and I want the best players on the court whoever they are.

But like children in school, not all athletes develop at the same rate. I think Kam is one of those guys who needs just a little more time.

 

[psyclone]

I had a short talk with one of the assistant coaches and I mentioned I had heard some good things about who was coming in next year. He said that one of the benefits will be raising the competition among the players who are already here, some of whom are guaranteed lots of minutes given that options are currently rather limited.

 

[gmutom]

We really could have an embarrassment of riches in our backcourt next season, so it will certainly come down to the survival of the fittest. We already know that Moore, Otis and Grayer are likely going to get 25-30 minutes a game, so that leaves Abrams, Murrell, Boyd, Kier and Newman fighting for whatever is left. Abrams can obviously get some minutes at the 4, but that leaves us really vulnerable defensively.

The flip side about competition is that we really won't have much at all in the post. Jenkins, Revalo and Dixon will all be handed minutes since we lose Thompson and Marko (and to a minimal extent Royal). Temura would obviously compete for minutes right away if he commits, but that's still a pretty weak rotation.

I do agree that we could possibly see a lot of 4-guard lineups given how talented our backcourt is and the lack of experience/depth in our frontcourt, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Gemini made what I consider the most astute point in this thread when he pointed out that the A10 is a guard-dominated league, and that's where we are shaping up to excel for the next several years.

If Paulsen can bring in one or two really solid big men — and develop the ones we already have — I see no reason why we can't be a .500 team in two years.

 

[gmujim92]

I don't have any inside info, but I wouldn't be surprised if DP lands a senior transfer big man in the spring/summer.

It's just too obvious that we're going to be brutally young up front -- and most bigs take longer to develop than guards -- so we could use an Isaiah Armwood-type to come in and help Jenkins up front while the kids contribute off the bench.

DP was smart to hold on to the last 2016 scholarship, given the massive number of guys who transfer every spring. Can't imagine there's a HS senior out there who would be interested in playing for Mason and could help us as much as a 22-year-old senior transfer.

 

[GSII]

I want to correct Tom when he said above we wont have much in post play next year. Heck, we have zero in the post this year. Shevon has 8th grader moves, Jenkins cant make a point blank shot after making a simple drop step post move. I think next year we finally see some.skill from the post compared to this garabage I just watched vs Rhody.

 

[gmutom]

I want to correct Tom when he said above we wont have much in post play next year. Heck, we have zero in the post this year. Shevon has 8th grader moves...

Seriously, GS? We will be 10x worse without Shevon, who managed yet another double-double (17 and 10) tonight with his 8th grade moves. Thompson is certainly not a polished player (far from it), but he is the only guy on our roster opponents fear. If you think we will be better next year in the post, you are seriously delusional.

 

[liem.le.3388]

Seriously, GS? We will be 10x worse without Shevon, who managed yet another double-double (17 and 10) tonight with his 8th grade moves. Thompson is certainly not a polished player (far from it), but he is the only guy on our roster opponents fear. If you think we will be better next year in the post, you are seriously delusional.

I think having more guards next year will negate the absence of Shevon. We literally have one true sg on the team and he's not ready. How do we even practice with 4 guards right now.