There have been a lot of people (myself included), concerned over the thought of CU giving out a sixth scholarship to the class of 2012. With 'Nik's post yesterday, it seems like a given that we will have a sixth member of this recruiting class, so I thought I'd take a look over the roster and see if we're freaking out over nothing or if we should be concerned.
Note: the players listed on here who have not committed or signed LOI's with the Buffs are purely speculation on my part. I tried to use common sense, taking in to account our team needs and players that are supposedly high on us. So while I am cautiously optimistic about some of the players I put down, others are pure guesses. I also removed all walk-ons. No offense to the Beaus, but this is purely about scholarships, and honestly I doubt they get much PT in the future anyway (would love to be proven wrong on that one guys, so keep working).
2012-13 Buffs (6 incoming freshmen)
This is the lineup we're looking at next year - assuming that we have zero attrition (note: I used Tayler as our sixth recruit, but it could easily be Marvelle Harris or Chris Jones or someone we don't know about could be that sixth). Honestly, there's a lot of speculation about players leaving, but it doesn't affect next year's numbers anyway, so I'm keeping everyone on. Honestly, I think Nik's lineup is pretty dead-on for next year, so we probably won't see many minutes for Shannon, Ben Mills, Talton/Tayler and Jenkins. Two of the frosh will redshirt, and for the purpose of this exercise I think it will be Jenkins and Talton (note: I'm incredibly high on Talton and think he's going to be a steal, but it might take him a year to adjust to the speed of the PAC-12). So what does that lead to for the next season?
2013-14 Buffs (2 incoming freshmen)
Sharpe and Mills are gone freeing up two scholarships to use on the class of 2013. Sharpe is due to his knees, and Mills is due to wanting more PT. Roberson is also an early entry for the draft concern, but I wanted to keep him because it makes the hypothetical team more dangerous. This is my post, let me be. Talton and Jenkins have redshirted. For recruiting, we brought in Hopkins & Jones, which is my #1 dream for 2013 that doesn't involve Isaac Hamilton (note: it wouldn't surprise me if Dakarai Allen is a Buff in 2013 either. Keep an eye on him as he fits the Boyle profile perfectly). With those changes, all of a sudden you're starting to see a lot more balance in between the classes. I'm incredibly nervous about the thinness of our front court, but this is hypothetical, so I'm now officially worrying over nothing.
2014-15 Buffs (3 incoming freshmen)
Three years from now, our classes are almost perfectly balanced. And honestly, if Josh Scott is as good as many think he could be (or XJ), we may have three scholarships to use on the class of 2015. So does this mean that the six recruits in one year plan is completely foolproof? Hell no. There are still lots of things that could change and we could end up with a serious backlog of players in one class. But I can see what Boyle & Co are trying to do here, and it makes sense. The lesson in all of this? Tad Boyle is a motherf**king mad scientist, and we should all stop questioning him.
In a side note, if we can land the players that are listed on this depth chart, the Buffs are going to be VERY good and will be a consistent top 20-30 program that has a sweet 16 run or two in them.
:gobuffs:
Note: the players listed on here who have not committed or signed LOI's with the Buffs are purely speculation on my part. I tried to use common sense, taking in to account our team needs and players that are supposedly high on us. So while I am cautiously optimistic about some of the players I put down, others are pure guesses. I also removed all walk-ons. No offense to the Beaus, but this is purely about scholarships, and honestly I doubt they get much PT in the future anyway (would love to be proven wrong on that one guys, so keep working).
2012-13 Buffs (6 incoming freshmen)
Position | Senior | Junior | Sophomore | Freshman |
PG | Shannon Sharpe* | Spencer Dinwiddie | Xavier Talton Brendyn Tayler | |
SG | Sabatino Chen* | Askia Booker | http://www.allbuffs.com/showthread.php/66477-12-MI-SF-Chris-Jenkins-(Verbal-to-Colorado) | |
SF | Andre Roberson Jeremy Adams* | Chris Jenkins Xavier Johnson | ||
PF | Wesley Gordon | |||
C | Shane Harris-Tunks* Ben Mills | Josh Scott |
This is the lineup we're looking at next year - assuming that we have zero attrition (note: I used Tayler as our sixth recruit, but it could easily be Marvelle Harris or Chris Jones or someone we don't know about could be that sixth). Honestly, there's a lot of speculation about players leaving, but it doesn't affect next year's numbers anyway, so I'm keeping everyone on. Honestly, I think Nik's lineup is pretty dead-on for next year, so we probably won't see many minutes for Shannon, Ben Mills, Talton/Tayler and Jenkins. Two of the frosh will redshirt, and for the purpose of this exercise I think it will be Jenkins and Talton (note: I'm incredibly high on Talton and think he's going to be a steal, but it might take him a year to adjust to the speed of the PAC-12). So what does that lead to for the next season?
2013-14 Buffs (2 incoming freshmen)
Position | Senior | Junior | Sophomore | Freshman |
PG | Spencer Dinwiddie | Brendyn Tayler | Jaron Hopkins Xavier Talton* | |
SG | Askia Booker | | ||
SF | Andre Roberson Jeremy Adams* | Xavier Johnson | Chris Jenkins* | |
PF | Wesley Gordon | |||
C | Shane Harris-Tunks* | Josh Scott | Torren Jones |
Sharpe and Mills are gone freeing up two scholarships to use on the class of 2013. Sharpe is due to his knees, and Mills is due to wanting more PT. Roberson is also an early entry for the draft concern, but I wanted to keep him because it makes the hypothetical team more dangerous. This is my post, let me be. Talton and Jenkins have redshirted. For recruiting, we brought in Hopkins & Jones, which is my #1 dream for 2013 that doesn't involve Isaac Hamilton (note: it wouldn't surprise me if Dakarai Allen is a Buff in 2013 either. Keep an eye on him as he fits the Boyle profile perfectly). With those changes, all of a sudden you're starting to see a lot more balance in between the classes. I'm incredibly nervous about the thinness of our front court, but this is hypothetical, so I'm now officially worrying over nothing.
2014-15 Buffs (3 incoming freshmen)
Position | Senior | Junior | Sophomore | Freshman |
PG | Spencer Dinwiddie | Brendyn Tayler | Jaron Hopkins Xavier Talton* | Dominique Collier |
SG | Askia Booker | Josh Perkins | ||
SF | Xavier Johnson | Chris Jenkins* | ||
PF | Wesley Gordon | Jack Williams | ||
C | Josh Scott | Torren Jones |
Three years from now, our classes are almost perfectly balanced. And honestly, if Josh Scott is as good as many think he could be (or XJ), we may have three scholarships to use on the class of 2015. So does this mean that the six recruits in one year plan is completely foolproof? Hell no. There are still lots of things that could change and we could end up with a serious backlog of players in one class. But I can see what Boyle & Co are trying to do here, and it makes sense. The lesson in all of this? Tad Boyle is a motherf**king mad scientist, and we should all stop questioning him.
In a side note, if we can land the players that are listed on this depth chart, the Buffs are going to be VERY good and will be a consistent top 20-30 program that has a sweet 16 run or two in them.
:gobuffs: