2014 Colorado Basketball Recruiting

[Buffnik]

As much as hoops recruiting goes early, I think the 2014 class is very much a work in progress.

Definite targets are Collier and Perkins from in-state.

Beyond that?

I think we have to remember that many of the guys Tad signed for 2012 and 2013 weren't really on our radar at this time ahead of those respective classes.

Further, when the success of CU basketball is making guys like Xavier Johnson and Jaron Hopkins put CU at the top of their lists (in regional recruiting surprises, to be completely honest)... what happens if CU is ranked this year and makes a decent tourney run? I think we are going to be in it for names that no one every expected.

We're quickly getting to point where a CU offer is a badge of honor for a recruit in the West and is respected in the East / Central regions. Before, we could sell success with wings because of Burks. Then we could sell success of combo forwards because of Dre. Next we could sell success with different types of combo guards because of Mayor and Ski. Now, it looks like we can sell success with post players because of Jelly. Not only are we winning, but Tad can show any type of player a very recent example of his style of play working in our system. This is huge.

I expect a Top 25 class in 2014.

 

[absinthe]

What is the scholarship picture for 2014?

 

[Goose]

What is the scholarship picture for 2014?

	Seniors	Juniors	Sophomores	Freshman
PG	Spencer Dinwiddie	Eli Stalzer Xavier Talton
SG	Askia Booker		Jaron Hopkins
SF			Chris Jenkins* Tre'Shaun Fletcher
PF		Xavier Johnson	Dustin Thomas
C		Josh Scott	Wesley Gordon*
	2 Scholarships	4 Scholarships	5 Scholarships	2 Scholarships

Honestly, I expect Dinwiddie and Scott to be off of that list by the time the 2014 class rolls around, so we should have anywhere from 2-4 scholarships available.

 

[absinthe]

You have to figure at least 1 in attrition too

 

[Buffnik]

What is the scholarship picture for 2014?

Lots of moving parts.

Here's our current breakdown (13 scholarships for MBB):

2013 Team	Name	Total
Freshmen	Tre'Shaun Fletcher Wes Gordon (RS) Jaron Hopkins Chris Jenkins Dustin Thomas	5
Sophomore	Xavier Johnson Josh Scott Eli Stalzer Xavier Talton	4
Junior	Spencer Dinwiddie Askia Booker	2
Senior	Jeremy Adams Shane Harris-Tunks Ben Mills Andre Roberson	4
		15

We have to assume that 2 of the projected seniors will leave early. We've been thinking Dre and then the other likely coming from Shane graduating or Jeremy not being able to medically continue. Also potential that Mills would transfer, but Tad will not force anyone out.

Let's figure that we have 2 seniors for the 2013 season.

That means our baseline is 2 scholarships available for the 2014 class. Odds are that attrition will be at least one person. So, I'd guess that we'll recruit 3 for 2014.

 

[Tractor]

Yeah I think there is 0% chance The Mayor plays for us as a senior. We could really use some of that CO PG talent for 2014.

Jelly....not sure. You're probably right.

 

[hefdub]

Top 25 for 2014? Come on Nik, let's have fun. I could see three top 100 players. Top 15, maybe 10?

 

[Buffnik]

Top 25 for 2014? Come on Nik, let's have fun. I could see three top 100 players. Top 15, maybe 10?

It's possible. But Tad's staff actually recruits. They don't just follow the lists, they uncover guys like Dre and Ski.

 

[MtnBuff]

Top 25 for 2014? Come on Nik, let's have fun. I could see three top 100 players. Top 15, maybe 10?

In a crazy twist I could see us turning down a guy who would be higher rated to take a guy who Tad likes better than the services do. Of course the guy would still be highly rated but not as high as the guy we could have gotten. If Tad does this I am not going to argue with him one bit.

 

[RumblinBuff]

If Tad does this I am not going to argue with him one bit.

Yeah, I tried to find a fault with him this year, just to find something that I disagreed with. I picked Sabatino and the starting lineup, and was immediately made to look the fool by Chen's solid play. At this point, I just sit back, and assume whatever Tad decides is 100% right.

 

[tante]

I think how long scott stays here depends on how much weight he puts on during the offseasons. The guy will probably need to be a solid 240 or so to play in the NBA and he looks about 25 to 30 pounds shy of that right now.

 

[Darth Snow]

Yeah, I tried to find a fault with him this year, just to find something that I disagreed with. I picked Sabatino and the starting lineup, and was immediately made to look the fool by Chen's solid play. At this point, I just sit back, and assume whatever Tad decides is 100% right.

I'm thinking the only thing you can say about Tad is that he's not the greatest offensive coach. But that might just be because he prefers to focus on defense since you can be more consistent at it. As in, Tad could totally be a brilliant offensive coach, but he just prefers to put his resources into defense.

 

[MtnBuff]

I'm thinking the only thing you can say about Tad is that he's not the greatest offensive coach. But that might just be because he prefers to focus on defense since you can be more consistent at it. As in, Tad could totally be a brilliant offensive coach, but he just prefers to put his resources into defense.

I agree that Tad could be a much better offensive coach if that is where he wanted to focus. His goal is winning and he knows that while you can have bad nights offensively, good defense is there every game. As time goes on I think we will see more offensively but a lot of our scoring will always come off our defense.

 

[WasianCU]

We've got athletes at every position now so you never know where the scoring is going to come from. This week we saw what a great defense does though as we neutralized the top players on every team we played.

 

[Daaah]

We've got athletes at every position now so you never know where the scoring is going to come from. This week we saw what a great defense does though as we neutralized the top players on every team we played.

Wasian?

 

[tante]

I agree that Tad could be a much better offensive coach if that is where he wanted to focus. His goal is winning and he knows that while you can have bad nights offensively, good defense is there every game. As time goes on I think we will see more offensively but a lot of our scoring will always come off our defense.

this is a good point. It is going to take a couple of years until the guys fully understand his system, I would expect him to explore offense a bit more next season when we aren't going to have as much inexperience starting.

 

[Buffnik]

I'm thinking the only thing you can say about Tad is that he's not the greatest offensive coach. But that might just be because he prefers to focus on defense since you can be more consistent at it. As in, Tad could totally be a brilliant offensive coach, but he just prefers to put his resources into defense.

I think that Tad's philosophy is to recruit guys who are skilled on offense. Then, the deal is that they're allowed to play free on the offensive end within our motion system... as long as they commit to Tad's demands with defense and rebounding. Considering that philosophy, he actually does an excellent job of getting the team to play unselfishly on O while also making the defense work and taking very few bad shots.

Bottom line: In Tad I Trust

 

[J.R. Ewing]

Wasian?

He used to be Ian, but he isn't any more??

 

[WasianCU]

Wasian?

Yes?

 

[mattrob]

Is anyone here familiar with Ronnie Harrell out of East for the 2014 class? He may not be a huge name but William seems to like him and CTB reportedly is keeping an eye on him. He is supposed to be a very good shooter. Can anyone give a first-hand report on his game?

 

[BeBe]

Here's a quote from a post on "Colorado Hoops Tracker" a board that follows CO high school boys and girls hoops......referring to East game week of 12/4 ... I'm guessing that "CC" might be Cherry Creek:
"I was at the East CC game. East is good. They made 10 three's, six by Harrell. Four of those were from 8 feet behind the line. He looked like the best player that night"
Also other posts from the summer called him one of the best shooters in the state

 

[mattrob]

Here's a quote from a post on "Colorado Hoops Tracker" a board that follows CO high school boys and girls hoops......referring to East game week of 12/4 ... I'm guessing that "CC" might be Cherry Creek:
"I was at the East CC game. East is good. They made 10 three's, six by Harrell. Four of those were from 8 feet behind the line. He looked like the best player that night"
Also other posts from the summer called him one of the best shooters in the state

Thanks BeBe. If he can shoot like that he could be a nice addition to that 2014 class with, say, Collier and a big.