@HoozGotNext, while I realized you touched on this subject briefly, would you care to expand on the notion of not settling for high school recruits late in the recruiting cycle as opposed to visiting the transfer portal in the spring? How likely is it we see the likes of Marco Anthony again? And, out of curiosity, which do you imagine the staff prefers: a grad transfer with experience such as Vander Plas, or a younger player leaving due to a coaching change (Anthony Gill), or the previously undervalued player looking to move up in competition with a couple of years of eligibility remaining (Braxton Key or Trey Murphy III)? Finally, in the past, most of the transfers have been players who were recruited by Virginia, or, at least, evaluated by Virginia, while they were in high school. In the brave new world of the transfer portal, is this likely to be a prerequisite or a simple preference? Thanks.
Interesting, up to 3 more guards in â24. Is that factoring the potential likelihood of Gertrude committing?
As I look at the roster, I understand one would be a true PG, but then two others (or not?) added in â24 to:
Murray (Sr)
McKneely (Jr)
Dunn (RS So or Jr)
Gertrude (So)
Maybe Dunn will no longer be considered a guard due to his growth spurt, could that be driving that?
BTW, thanks for the current overview. Good stuff.
Not HGN, but I think itâs b/c Dunn and Murray are more wings/forwards (at least Dunn) than true guards. Need more ballhandling/shooting combo guys, I guess.
Also, this from the mailbag sums it up well: âThe only reward in the end is knowing the story of each playerâs journey. You can read someone elseâs version after itâs over, but thatâs not the same as riding the roller coaster in real time.â Well said.
I think itâs a good point that you shouldnât settle in this transfer era. Other than Elmarko, is there any 23 PG left that actually be a real contributor next year? If Reece left after this season for NBA (low likelihood), weâd have tons of PT to sell to transfers and bridge the gap to 2024.
Undergrad transfers are not easy at UVA for anyone wanting to graduate ⌠so many classes donât transfer making it harder to get most guysâŚ.
And we arenât getting the top 15-20 guys either who are looking for NIL $$.
So far in NIL we got 2 guys who are not NBA materialâŚ. One who didnât get power 5 offers and one who was around 150 out of high schoolâŚ
Both of which are undersized and under athletic at the Acc level.
And the 3rd one was named after the coach ⌠and is underwhelming so far.
I actually think taking a chance on a higher 3 star (140-225ish) would be a better play as long as they are ok with being a potential rotation guy unless they progress or blow up while at UVA
I will commit atrocities if Dunn and bond are both redshirted
I would take a kid in this range especially if they are a 6-6/6-7 wing with plus wingspan who is just raw or just needs a D1 strength coach to work with them. Akil and Darion come to mind.
We looked up the requirements sometime last season, but UVaâs transfer requirements are like 2x as stringent as some of our hoops peers (e.g., Kansas). Need 60 UVa credits to graduate. Kansas was like 30. Some schools are the same as us (I remember Michigan and Duke).
Our sweet spot is going to be guys who have already graduated, or guys leaving after year one.
And we ainât getting anyone really good after year 1⌠at least thatâs my opinion until we do. Too much $ out there now.
Couldnât even get Murphy to stick to the script ⌠he was in a hurry once he had a chance to play year 1.
To the other point about getting a raw athlete or 2âŚ. This is the answer⌠guys who know they have no business thinking about the NBA at that current stage in their developmentâŚ
Gill back in the day but who knows how that goes in NIL-world. This upcoming portal season could be very interesting for us. We will have (hopefully) many returning really high level pieces, but will have some discrete roles where some transfers could jump right in and get some PT. Will be interesting to see how it plays out.
cough NIGERIAN HUNTER cough
Iâm cool with 3 stars if they are plus athletes or super skilled but need to fill out. Less so if theyâre more the Reuter, Anthony, etc types
The TJ power thread has officially been laid to rest by the honorable @HoozGotNext . Our thoughts our with @zblakey for his over bet.
The TJ Power thread is dead, long live the TJ Power thread.
Power commits to duke, the queen dies, coincidence?
Everything in recruiting is situational. For a time, UVA had very unbalanced classes. They basically skipped 2015 and 2017 because there was only one scholarship available during the early signing period so for the most part they just got a jump on the next year. Marco and Rueter were guys they grabbed in July, but they werenât exactly the typical July recruits. They werenât going to waste effort or time on the impossible, so they grabbed what they could that wouldnât interfere with what they were trying to do the next year.
Transfer recruiting is like a flea market. You canât be too narrow. If thereâs someone that generally fits youâre need, you go for it. I think in all those cases the player you mentioned wasnât exactly what they set out to find.
They never really recruited Gardner or Franklin. Itâs not a problem. Youâre just more likely to get players you already have a relationship with.
I purposely didnât mention either Gardner or Franklin as I view the situation in which they were recruited as pretty exceptional, and one I never wish to see again. I hope Virginia never has the sort of attrition it experienced in the spring of 2021 coupled with the inability to have evaluated anyone in the spring/summer of 2020.
Summoning Angelo Brizzi
Stars are becoming less and less a concern for me. I am becoming more and more interested in the observations of folks like @HoozGotNext (and a select few from other sites). The disparity in rankings by the various services is becoming increasingly obvious. It is as though ESPN and Rivals really donât care about prep basketball anymore. I have a suspicion that On3 will pass them by in the near future, if they havenât already done so (WRT prep basketball evaluations). Furthermore, in the winter and spring when we are just beginning to learn which prospects are drawing the most interest, most of them still only have two stars, and two stars are typically the way that the services say, âWe donât know anything about this prospect!â
Almost all of our best players have been top-150 players, with like two exceptions. Iâm not saying these services are the best scouts. They usually follow who is offering and pursuing a player. But as a tool for easily judging the general talent range for a player they are useful