Peach Jam Highlights from his dad’s youtube page (posts his son’s highlights). As “combo guard” as you can get. When you look up combo guard in the dictionary it’s just “George Washington III”. Don’t think he’s a pure 1, but he is the secondary/tertiary ball handler tony bennett loves to play alongside his floor general.
In that case I wonder if, assuming we could pull it off, we would pair him with Sheppard? Would Tony be okay with two combos? Or do we need a pure point?
Channeling my inner @HoozGotNext , I think it all depends on waiting to see how the Reed Sheppard domino falls, hence no offer yet. Also I don’t believe Tony has seen him play in person yet but I could absolutely be wrong. Think it has been mostly Getter and maybe another assistant.
I like GWIII a lot but I am also in the minority/controversial opinion of having GWIII higher on my personal recruiting board than Reed Sheppard. Thankful I have no input whatsoever on our program’s recruiting (but still believe we should stream the blue white game).
Interesting. Roster construction reasons or just like his game better?
A little of both. Maybe more patient to begin with, with potentially Reece Carson Taine McKneely and another guard on roster. I think he has more point guard skills/ball facilitator skills than Sheppard. Sheppard is a damn good scorer though and is used to playing systems where the ball moves well though.
Gotcha. I just see Sheppard as made in a lab to play for Tony. TB could coach 30 more years and I don’t know that a more perfect system and culture fit will ever come around.
Don’t think I would be in favor of 2 combos and no pure point guard. There is just something about a player who has played point guard since the first time he started dibbling the ball. I want want one of those on the team. Team them a combo sharing PG minutes or playing together but I want at least one on the team.
That’s two whole months away. I doubt we recruit him to any extent beyond Williford maintaining UVA presence and relations in the DMV recruiting scene but why announce two months ahead? Unless it is a heads up to passive schools like UVA to say “yo this is your last chance to take me seriously before I move on” which I get but still.
Agree with this 100 percent
Someone on the Sabre noted that GWIII’s dad was a long time assistant coach with the Texas Women’s team and worked alongside Tina Thompson. Don’t like invoking that last name though LOL.
Yeah, I think this is spot-on.
For all the focus on point guards, the reality is that Sheppard is our #1 priority in the backcourt. So, unless someone blows away CTB so thoroughly as to change that, very little is likely to happen until Sheppard decides what he’s going to do so the coaching staff knows exactly what role they need to fill.
And since that might take a while, I don’t recommend getting invested in any particular guard who comes along in the near future because nothing is likely to happen with them soon (plus, the season’s about to start so recruiting is kinda winding down anyway).
The right big man could move faster, but I think the coaching staff is in no hurry there, wanting to see how the current folks all shape up and whether Gardner is thinking of coming back for a 5th year.
The logical approach, but you don’t tell an addict of any kind (especially a recruiting addict) their next hit is in April lol.
Guard recruiting is super complicated right now.
As is, it’s a no brainer they need a PG in 2023 right? Okay but then they’ll want another in 2024 when Beekman leaves. They’re not getting quality multi-year PGs in back to back years. Not to mention, they’ll also want another guard during that time with Franklin leaving. it’s just not happening.
And we won’t know for sure whether Clark stays for year 5 until spring. If he doesn’t, they could look to add a transfer, possibly a multi-year player which changes the equation.
My guess is they’ll end up getting a true PG and another combo who can legitimately play the point but doesn’t need to. Maybe both in '23, maybe one waits until '24. And then down the road they’ll backfill a PG with a transfer in the '21 or '22 class to get spacing back on track.
Also though, we probably need to get used there being less serious early recruiting going forward. With easy transfers and super seniors, there just isn’t the same roster clarity as there used to be. I expect you’ll see TB get out during the HS season to check out some of '23s getting more serious interest, and make final decisions on them by spring. There’s less evaluation time next summer, so they won’t be wasting a lot of time looking at the players we’re talking about now.
If they only take one guard in 2023, can it be Reed Sheppard, who is ridiculously good but also not a true point guard, though? Im sure Tony will make it work however it may play out.
Even in regard to replacing Franklin we(fans not necessarily TB) don’t what we have or when it will be ready. Is Carson going to be an ACC starter, role player or will he move on for lack of playing time? How soon will Isaac M be ready for major minutes? Is Taine going to play more at 2 or 3? Same with Dunn and how long until he is ready?
Understanding my opinion matters zero, I’d like to see Kihei move on after this year, give Beekman the keys officially, get a transfer PG to provide minutes as needed (doesn’t need to be a star, good shooter though to provide contrast to Reece) and have Chase Coleman as a 4th year to provide backup mins / be an insurance policy.
Duke and UNC are taking commitments and lining up campus visits with top 25 2023 prospects right now. Other than Sheppard we seem to be slow playing everyone in 23 class. Talent is talent. Go for it.
Nah Tony will recruit who he wants. No need to offer a kid you havent seen play yet. There is always the transfer portal. 2022 ended up okay. Also there are probably unofficials being worked on as well anyways. And then there is always the summer risers/summer stock crashers you have to account for.
Also even if we push its still super early for 2023. UNC doesnt have any 2023 commits and Duke got one from a life long fan. A 2023 usually isn’t even looking to commit until spring. They are talking to any recruits they need to talk to.
I am not entirely comfortable with a rigid use of labels. Point guard, combo guard, and shooting guard are all terms which are limiting, IMO. The player’s skill sets should be of more importance. If I remember correctly, Harold Deane came to Virginia as a shooting guard (I believe Mike Powell was supposed to be UVa’s future PG). Years ago, I expressed the opinion that I thought that if Coach Bennett had his way, Virginia’s backcourt would be composed of three former point guards who could shoot from range. There’s no denying that a long history of playing point guard is of value. However, regardless of where a player was positioned in high school, ball handling, vision, decision making, leadership, shooting range, etc., are more important considerations. Lastly, based on the schemes which Virginia plays, a question of equal significance might be, “What positions can the prospect defend?”
Using labels to define positions might be helpful for fans, but it can be too limiting, IMO, in an age where positions are becoming less defined themselves. It’s not so much that good coaches are thinking outside the box as that they have totally broken the box.
Athletic combo guard