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2014 Targets

mattrob

Club Member
Club Member
With the April evaluation period coming up, I'm sure we'll start hearing more information about who the staff is taking a close look at, but who does everyone want to see sign in November? I have a feeling we're going to be heavy on the Colorado and Arizona kids this year, and it sounds like we're already in decent position with nearly all of them. The guys I'd like to see us go after hard:

PG- Collier, Benson and Perkins- they've all been discussed at length, and I'd be happy with any of them.

SG- With Boyle's comment that a "knockdown shooter" is a priority, we may move away slightly from the long, athletic kids we've taken the last few years. Dorian Pickens seems like a perfect fit, and I'm sure we'll be in on Namon Wright and Chris Sandifer too. Jeremiah Paige is another kid to keep an eye on, but I'm not sure if he'll be a priority target this year.

Wing- Zylan Cheatham, Andre Adams and DJ Wilson should all be high on the wishlist. I really like all three, although Adams is more of a shot-blocking/rebounding 4, while Wilson and Cheatham probably have better offensive games. I believe Cheatham has family in the Springs too.

C- The list pretty much begins and ends with Idrisso Diallo, even though I'm not sure we have a great shot at getting him out of Southern California. Evan Fitzner is intriguing, but he's more of a 6'11" shooter, and I'm not sure that's the style the staff really wants from its bigs.

With this being the time of year for Way Too Early Projections, and assuming Spencer leaves to give us 3 scholarships next year, my early guess at next year's class is:

PG- Dom Collier, Rivals #61 prospect
SG- Dorian Pickens, Rivals #88 prospect
PF- Andre Adams, Rivals #54 prospect
 
With the April evaluation period coming up, I'm sure we'll start hearing more information about who the staff is taking a close look at, but who does everyone want to see sign in November? I have a feeling we're going to be heavy on the Colorado and Arizona kids this year, and it sounds like we're already in decent position with nearly all of them. The guys I'd like to see us go after hard:

PG- Collier, Benson and Perkins- they've all been discussed at length, and I'd be happy with any of them.

SG- With Boyle's comment that a "knockdown shooter" is a priority, we may move away slightly from the long, athletic kids we've taken the last few years. Dorian Pickens seems like a perfect fit, and I'm sure we'll be in on Namon Wright and Chris Sandifer too. Jeremiah Paige is another kid to keep an eye on, but I'm not sure if he'll be a priority target this year.

Wing- Zylan Cheatham, Andre Adams and DJ Wilson should all be high on the wishlist. I really like all three, although Adams is more of a shot-blocking/rebounding 4, while Wilson and Cheatham probably have better offensive games. I believe Cheatham has family in the Springs too.

C- The list pretty much begins and ends with Idrisso Diallo, even though I'm not sure we have a great shot at getting him out of Southern California. Evan Fitzner is intriguing, but he's more of a 6'11" shooter, and I'm not sure that's the style the staff really wants from its bigs.

With this being the time of year for Way Too Early Projections, and assuming Spencer leaves to give us 3 scholarships next year, my early guess at next year's class is:

PG- Dom Collier, Rivals #61 prospect
SG- Dorian Pickens, Rivals #88 prospect
PF- Andre Adams, Rivals #54 prospect

My dream class based off of our known offers:
PG- Josh Perkins - Rivals #42 prospect
SF- Malik Pope - Rivals #7 prospect
PF- Zylan Cheatham - Rivals #68 prospect

It doesn't seem like anyone has much of an idea of what Pope is thinking at this point, so I'm not writing him off until he comes out and says he's not considering us.

Who do I see us ending up with if I had to guess:
PG- Dom Collier, Rivals #61 prospect
SG- Dorian Pickens, Rivals #88 prospect
PF- Andre Adams, Rivals #54 prospect

It's nice to have a dream class of one 5* and two 4*'s and a realistic class projection of three 4*'s.
 
My dream class based off of our known offers:
PG- Josh Perkins - Rivals #42 prospect
SF- Malik Pope - Rivals #7 prospect
PF- Zylan Cheatham - Rivals #68 prospect

It doesn't seem like anyone has much of an idea of what Pope is thinking at this point, so I'm not writing him off until he comes out and says he's not considering us.

Who do I see us ending up with if I had to guess:
PG- Dom Collier, Rivals #61 prospect
SG- Dorian Pickens, Rivals #88 prospect
PF- Andre Adams, Rivals #54 prospect

It's nice to have a dream class of one 5* and two 4*'s and a realistic class projection of three 4*'s.

Yeah, I really think we could have 3 top-100 prospects in this class. The talent just keeps getting better! As for a dream class, I'd probably have Diallo in there, just because I think he may be the only legit big man in the west this year, but I really like both of Pope and Cheatham too.
 
Yeah, I really think we could have 3 top-100 prospects in this class. The talent just keeps getting better! As for a dream class, I'd probably have Diallo in there, just because I think he may be the only legit big man in the west this year, but I really like both of Pope and Cheatham too.
Diallo will no doubt end up a top 100 player IMO as well.
 
If Boyle can't bring Pope or Cheatham to Boulder then I would hope his next target is Jack Williams. Great motor and a beast on the boards. I saw a couple of clips of him and he has a nice touch on his shot. One clip showed him knocking down a 3 but there's no telling if that's a common occurrence. Ultimately I see Williams as a better rebounding version of Default.
 
If Boyle can't bring Pope or Cheatham to Boulder then I would hope his next target is Jack Williams. Great motor and a beast on the boards. I saw a couple of clips of him and he has a nice touch on his shot. One clip showed him knocking down a 3 but there's no telling if that's a common occurrence. Ultimately I see Williams as a better rebounding version of Default.
He is a really average to below average athlete from what I've seen though. Productive no doubt, but I'm far from sold on him.
 
My dream class based off of our known offers:
PG- Josh Perkins - Rivals #42 prospect
SF- Malik Pope - Rivals #7 prospect
PF- Zylan Cheatham - Rivals #68 prospect

It doesn't seem like anyone has much of an idea of what Pope is thinking at this point, so I'm not writing him off until he comes out and says he's not considering us.

Who do I see us ending up with if I had to guess:
PG- Dom Collier, Rivals #61 prospect
SG- Dorian Pickens, Rivals #88 prospect
PF- Andre Adams, Rivals #54 prospect

It's nice to have a dream class of one 5* and two 4*'s and a realistic class projection of three 4*'s.

This is a continuation of the discussion in Cheatham's thread, but I'd also consider him the top realistic get this year. For both the realistic and dream class, we're pretty similar, with the only difference being that, even in a dream scenario, I'd take Pickens over Pope. I get all the reasons for wanting Pope, but there are two main reasons I'm listing Pickens here:

1. Pope seems to be as close as you can be to an Arizona lock. Even in a dream scenario, I have trouble putting a kid like Pope, who we probably have a 1% shot at, on my list.

2. There are only so many balls to go around and Pope is similar to so many other players on the roster (albeit a more talented version). There's a good chance Pope could be a one-and-done talent, and in that one year, I could see Pope, Cheatham, XJ, Thomas, and, to a lesser extent, Fletcher tripping over themselves playing the same role. I just think we'd see a couple of really talented players relegated to the bench and be a non-factor because of the glut of talent at the 3-4 positions. In contrast, Pickens brings a unique skillset to the team with his ability to shoot the basketball. He's also very unselfish, shares the ball with his teammates, and is a very efficient scorer when he does look for his own shot. A backcourt of he and Perkins would be ideal, bringing the ballhandling and scoring ability you want in a backcourt, while getting the frontcourt the ball in position to score and keeping everyone happy. In all honesty, I could see a 2014 lineup with Perkins, Pickens, Cheatham, XJ (Jr.) and Scott (Jr.), with guys like Thomas, Hopkins, Ski, Gordon, and Fletcher also in the mix, as a team in the discussion for national championship contention. And depending on attrition, it may be the same story in 2015. I know that may sound optimistic to some, but that seems to be an almost perfect combination of talent and experience, ballhanding and scoring, length and athleticism, defense and scoring potential.
 
The one change I'd make to your '14 lineup would be that XJ would be the 3 and Cheatham would be the 4. Really, neither of them would be a true PF however. Also, I don't think Pickens would start over guys like Hopkins, Ski, or Fletcher. Pickens seems like a great guy to have off the bench.
 
The one change I'd make to your '14 lineup would be that XJ would be the 3 and Cheatham would be the 4. Really, neither of them would be a true PF however. Also, I don't think Pickens would start over guys like Hopkins, Ski, or Fletcher. Pickens seems like a great guy to have off the bench.
Yeah, I really didn't intend for that to come across as the starting lineup (which is why I used “in the mix" rather than “on the bench"), but I can definitely see where it came across that way. Perkins, XJ and Scott are probably the only locks to start in that lineup. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Pickens start in that scenario, since he's such a good fit, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it be Hopkins or Fletcher either.
 
The one change I'd make to your '14 lineup would be that XJ would be the 3 and Cheatham would be the 4. Really, neither of them would be a true PF however. Also, I don't think Pickens would start over guys like Hopkins, Ski, or Fletcher. Pickens seems like a great guy to have off the bench.

Good thing Tad doesn't use a true PF. He would rather have a guy like dre whoa can guard 2-5 (maybe even 1-5).
 
I haven't heard anything about us recruiting Pope. If you don't land him it will have nothing to do with Arizona (IMO). From what I've heard we are trying to fill our wing positions with Justise + Stanley for this class.
 
I haven't heard anything about us recruiting Pope. If you don't land him it will have nothing to do with Arizona (IMO). From what I've heard we are trying to fill our wing positions with Justise + Stanley for this class.

I was wondering where the pro-Arizona thoughts about Pope were coming from because I haven't heard anything from UA's side that they were recruiting Pope, and I haven't heard anything from Pope indicating he had any kind of favorite at this point. Hell, I haven't even heard rumblings.
 
I haven't heard anything about us recruiting Pope. If you don't land him it will have nothing to do with Arizona (IMO). From what I've heard we are trying to fill our wing positions with Justise + Stanley for this class.

Yeah, I had a mental block with Pope and Johnson. I think I did the same thing on two different boards too. But yeah, Stanley Johnson seems to be a strong AZ lean, with very little information out there on Pope.
 
I think that it is possible that CU will have three scholarships for '14, as The Mayor is likely to leave early. But, I think that Boyle may only sign two in November, because he cannot be certain the Spenser will leave (possibility of injury or for some reason wanting to finish his degree). In that case, the third player might not be signed until the April '14 period ... and that may change the dynamics of who CU can get. I make this point because I believe that Boyle will honor all of the scholarships in place now and in the future ... and because he will therefore likely not sign three unless he knows for sure there will be three openings. For those who think that he took a risk on the '13 group by signing three last November, remember that he had three kids who would graduate even though two were juniors with another year of eligibility ... so he met his commitment to see them through four years of college. He does not have that this time around ... so I think it is likely that he signs only two in November '13.
 
I think that it is possible that CU will have three scholarships for '14, as The Mayor is likely to leave early. But, I think that Boyle may only sign two in November, because he cannot be certain the Spenser will leave (possibility of injury or for some reason wanting to finish his degree). In that case, the third player might not be signed until the April '14 period ... and that may change the dynamics of who CU can get. I make this point because I believe that Boyle will honor all of the scholarships in place now and in the future ... and because he will therefore likely not sign three unless he knows for sure there will be three openings. For those who think that he took a risk on the '13 group by signing three last November, remember that he had three kids who would graduate even though two were juniors with another year of eligibility ... so he met his commitment to see them through four years of college. He does not have that this time around ... so I think it is likely that he signs only two in November '13.
It's possible, but if Boyle can get the 3 kids he wants in November, my money is on 3 early signees. There's always various forms of attrition, and with Spencer being likely to go, it doesn't seem to be a huge gamble, at least at this point in time.
 
Yeah, I had a mental block with Pope and Johnson. I think I did the same thing on two different boards too. But yeah, Stanley Johnson seems to be a strong AZ lean, with very little information out there on Pope.
I'm curious to see what happens with a Miller vs Calipari recruiting battle. I've heard we sit really good with him but Cal wants him... Should be interesting.
 
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