Deshawn Harris Smith had two chances to tie or win the game and made horrible decisions both time.
Down two and you have time. Pass the ball or drive. Dont chuck the three. Maryland sweating realizing they sold DHS on being a pg but then realizing they can just get a pg in the portal whenever they want.
At a minimum, at least one playing somewhere other than Duke would be a comfort.
This kid impressed me more than Isaiah Abraham. Was on the Boozer Bros team. Was benefitting off all the attention they got. Reminds me of the front court players Houston plays; athletic tenacious and versatile. Need that in our front court (also why Im a fan of Damarien Yates. Not as athletic as this kid below but more offensively versatile with a lot of room to grow)
How does this performance from Austin score in the efficiency ratings?
Austin WilliFSU. Wow thats impressive
Offer that young man!
I watched the game I think all he shot were threes and dunks.
Iāll throw this out there STABās PG, Chance Mallory, is an ACC player. Heās got a lot of Kihei in him.
Easy summary for columbus vs pvi. Boozer brothers head and shoulders above everyone else on the court. Abraham has a lot of work to do. Didnāt appear to be an option on the offensive end of the court. Of course his teammates werenāt keen on passing the ball.
Isnāt St Germaine the PG now that heās back from being hurt? Mallory ran it in the interim though.
Travis Perry
Bishop Boswell
Damarien Yates (take him in 2023 and redshirt him)
Thomas Sorber (maybe needs to redshirt to get his body right with Mike Curtis)
Shaedon Simpson in 2023 (4 year athlete/3pt shooter).
See if they can get Kayvaun Mulready in 2023 (if Reece is out)
Jamie Vinson at Oak Hill in 2024 redshirted to 2025 (7-5 wingspan, can hit open 3s)
Athletes, wingspan, 3pt shooters, ability to play 3 playmakers on the floor at the same time, rebounders. Some of the kids who are patient and may buy into the process (and if they transfer out so be it) Everything really.
idc about the names even. Just give me recruits who do these things.
If one of the pg prospects backs away from crowded situation throw in Ty Davis
Add this to Dante McKneely Bond Dunn Traudt Gertrude and Buchanan and we are money again.
Austin gonna mess around and be real nice with it
Maybe this should be a thread in itās own but: The Quest to find the next DeAndre Hunter
Ive seen Williford mention always looking for the next DeAndre Hunter. But from a fan perspective what does that mean? So first we must watch DeAndre Hunter clips from HS and see what made staff excited about the pick up then (other than punking that 5 star who ended up at Kansas)
I think itās not just that Hunter was incredibly skilled but he was tenacious in attacking the rim and going at people. Honestly watching his highlights is a breath of fresh air; a lot of the prospects you watch their clips and you can see they have honed in their skills in workouts but man they are so gahdamn soft. Itās like they only practice against cones and a lot of the time they are going for the fancy fade away move instead of going at the defender and drawing the foul. A lot of kids who if they came to UVA they would be a part of the stand around crowd when the set play being called didnāt work out. Not kids who can go get you a bucket and create when nothing is there, even with all their skills.
The mental aspect of Hunter I think is just as important if not more important than the skill level (you can increase your skill level over time but Im not sure if you can 180 your mentality)
I do think the mentality aspect is also why Im excited about Dunn and Bond (on top of being long athletic wings). Neither of them, rewatching their highlights, is as skilled as Hunter was but at least they are aggressive and going at people/attacking the rim when they can. Not a lot of fadeaways or moves to avoid contact, although nothing wrong to have that in your arsenal at all. Itās not just fading away though, itās using your body to attack and create that space and then fading away or rising up.
I think there are a fair number of guys like Hunter, but what made him unique to us is that the timing of his injury in high school suppressed his recruiting profile, which made him accessible for UVA.
I still think this VJ Edgecombe, from Ryan Dunnās old high school, very close even though heās a 6ā5 guard.
That Damarien Yates forward kid I think has the mentality down (and I LOVE his rebounding numbers) but is still very raw skill wise. Would love to see that mentality/drive combined with 5 years of staff developing the IQ/Curtis developing the physique/Damin developing the individual skills.
Marcus Allen, that top 50 2024 they contacted, might be the closest.
Honorable mention Caden Diggs if he ever has a mentality shift and becomes super aggressive all of a sudden instead of standing around a lot of the time.
Thanks for the smiles ā¦ that was fun ā¦ the pull up J ā¦ exquisiteā¦
Thatās fair. To be also fair though there are kids with similar profiles (not mirror image top 4 picks lol) ending up at numerous schools and even midmajors who you would think would struggle to get the same type of kid.
Yeah, there are some who make everyone wonder how he didnāt get better offers. Maybe related to low profile of the high school or competition or perhaps even background issues. Hunter was pretty exceptional when he did play, though, and it was in the Philly Catholic league. High majors just dropped the ball or were worried about his injury.
Also big assist to Mikal Bridges for existing and being a year older. Kept Nova more out of it than they wouldāve been, is my guess
Dreā was so skilled coming in. His shot was already legit from all over the floor, even if it was a little bit low.