Why is Duke so good at out recruiting do we think? I dont know the answer if we assume that is true
Rivals story on Trevor Keels
“I think that it is a great program. I knew some of the basketball program already so I felt like I fit right in. Whenever I came up there, Tony Bennett took me through the visit, so it was just great.”
Interesting if not recurring list there as @hoosgotnext said. OSU Nova Maryland and now Duke. Seems to be common theme of teams we recruit against.
On MItchell, what’s your read here. Bennett leaning towards wanting 2 guys capable of playing point on court together? 21 would seem to have plenty of ballhandlers, Kihei, Reece, Casey, Carson, Coleman.
Frankly, I’m good with it though, if they both are capable bucket getters which he and Reece would seem to be.
Still would need a big guard/wing (Trevor, hello) on the court for defensive purposes. Need to already be looking ahead to JARs replacement
Short answer is that 13 scholarships are too many. lol Bennett’s recruiting is always simple, especially with guards. He repeatedly fills the same roles. Never about the immediate unless it absolutely has to be. If everything somehow goes as scripted and there aren’t any late additions in Spring, they’ll have room for a 2nd guard which would be a PG or a wing with small ball 4 size.
Anything happening with Isa Silva?
They’re definitely still talking to Silva. I think they wanted him to visit before his season started, didn’t work out. He’s in that no man zone for this time of year. No need to evaluate further, yet not ready to push for him either due to other positional needs.
“everything goes as scripted” - what would that entail?
- No one transfers 2. No late additions at guard. 3) They get the '21 Brogdon style guard (Keels, etc) on board or at least leaning hard that way by July.
Guard situation is very messy right now. Lots of variables to prepare for.
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Can’t leave that hanging, what do you mean by messy? Is it something along the lines of we still don’t know what we really have with Kody, Tomas, lesser extent Casey and because of that we might see a transfer out and or bring in another 20 guard this Spring. Hence we are still murky for guard need in 21.
As is, there are 6 guards in '21. There’s room for one more that would have expectations of competing for playing time right away, and it would take a pretty special player to do that. So ideally that spot is reserved for what you need most…the big guard. In a perfect scenario, they get that done and still have time to find another guard who maybe is okay with waiting his turn a bit…You’re not getting Isa Silva after Trevor Keels for example, and Keels or someone similar is more important. Stevie Mitchell? Possibly. But then again, this thing might not go smoothly. By summer or even sooner, it could turn into best available. That’s why you stay involved with someone like Carter Whitt.
And that’s without taking into account the departure/late addition angle.
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Another big shot for Keels tonight. Crazy game. They’re in overtime #7 now in Philly. Jay Wright there.
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He must really want Keels since he also had a game to coach yesterday in Newark. Lots of Competition to land Keels now.
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Villanova is also recruiting the PG on the other team Rahsool Diggins.
Jay Wright is going to put together another super class in '21. Just like in '19, he’ll get pretty much whoever he wants. He punted on 2020 to make sure of it. It’ll be a full lineup, maybe a 6th man. Versatile 4-man Trey Patterson is as good as theirs. Local wing/guard Jordan Longino just announced his offer minutes ago. Same deal there. They’ll also get their choice of a couple local bigs. They’re still deciding which PG to offer, again guys they’ll have their choice of. It only leaves a 2-guard. Keels, Max Christie, and Langston Love are the targets.
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Yeah, I was looking at Villanova’s recruits for 2020 and noticed that they didnt have any?! But a very strong 2019…Should we will begin to employ a similar strategy? Perhaps if we dont land any top 100 recruits for 2021, could it make sense to just punt like Villanova and have a stronger chance of locking in better recruits for 2022…not sure if it is feasible, and UVA’s coaches know what is best for their situation much better than I do… But I guess Im just expecting that after winning a national championship, you deserve to level up big time in terms of recruiting success, and UVA’s coaches should not settle. Thats just my feelings admittedly based on emotions. With that said, I will trust and fully accept anyone they choose for the team. Im just an outsider looking in with limited info and just enjoying the ride!
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My opinion is there is a balance there. A. maybe coaches dont wanna recruit over existing guys and B. top players at same positions maybe less likely to go to school where strong class is ahead of them. So I think it kinda goes both ways the “problem” is not always knowing exactly what you are getting with incoming guys.
This was the case in my time when we had our own Fab 5 that was at the time Jeff Jones first recruiting class in 1991: Cory, Junior, Yuri Barnes, now coach Jay Williford and Big Chris Alexander. There was no incoming class behind them.
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I’m a big fan of how Jay Wright recruits, and I actually think UVA has evolved closer to his strategies in some ways. He doesn’t settle, you’re right. They might take a project here and there, but always guys they really want. Sometimes that means they’ll have a lean year that leads to a thin bench. The other thing that stands out is they don’t go after many recruits. When they offer someone, it’s a serious thing. They believe they can get him and back it up by Wright investing his time personally.
The uneven class thing probably just happened by circumstances though. UVA was the same way for a long time until this off-season’s chaos actually balanced it out. One of the best recruiting decisions Bennett made was not settling in '18 when things went bad. That led directly to Kadin Shedrick, and made it much easier to get Morsell. He’s shifted away from the Wisconsin model of filling spots no matter what. They’ve also moved toward a Villanova like strategy of offering few players, ideally 2 per spot. So they’re all seriously recruited. Early on, Bennett made a lot of empty offers, as most college coaches do.
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Coach Tony Bennett has got to have one of the highest “likability” ratings of coaches in the NCAA. Seems like they should really concentrate on leveraging that and using his good natured and genuine personality to go after the few recruits that are the best fit or strike out until you hit that home run, just like Villanova does and how Wright invest his personal time. Im guessing UVA already does this now. I believe you said Bennett has personally visited Efton Reed three times already. That really is quite a powerful message they are delivering to Efton and anyone else that they recruit in this way. Not sure if that is standard among bball coaches, but if the coach of the national champions shows up to see me, I’d be on top of the world.
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Trevor Keels had a great visit but now the competition is as tough as it gets. I hope he visits Trevor weekly
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Is Duke really competition for Trevor Keels? Duke already has a verbal from 5-star '21 SG AJ Griffin and they’re favored to land 5-star SG Max Christie.
Greedy bastards.
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