Nice article Zach, thanks for the insights.
Good interview. My biggest take-away was that he knows very little about UVa. That makes me a bit skeptical about his recruitment. Regardless, it should be interesting. I hope an official visit can be arranged.
I’d look at the recruitment like Joe Harris… he knew very little about UVa… he committed to CTB, not UVa.
True, but Joe Harris knew about Tony Bennett prior to his recruitment. I wonder whether Ryan Dunn knows any more about Coach Bennett than he does about UVa. And, presumably, he doesn’t know a great deal about many of the schools pursuing him. As I said, I think this is going to be an interesting recruitment.
From what I have heard he will do Post Grad year. Maybe this attention changes that. If he picks a school early my intuition says it is not UVa unless that includes post grad
Great work by boy wonder
Y’all need to read Zach’s comment in the other thread.
cant keep up. what Boy Wonder say?
In regards to the “I don’t know a lot about uva” quote, Zach said “from context i took that to mean as a school. also, i’d guess he’s just not super tuned into college ball, not a lot of kids are nowadays anyway. definitely didn’t come off as negative in the interview, only good things to say”
Right. Yes not negative at all as when you do learn about it or see it you will be blown away. Sometimes not knowing is better than knowing I think
I know the area he is from very well- south shore of LI and his HS team is run like a college program. Great parents etc. If he is patient with it he proly becomes a Hoo
No issue with him not knowing much about UVA, but I’d kind of like a player I am recruiting to be super into college basketball. If you’re not now, why would you be in practice, the weight room, film sessions or crunch time?
Simply because he isn’t into college basketball doesn’t mean he isn’t into basketball itself. Given that he is at a point in his development that Coach Bennett offered him a scholarship, I think there’s reason to believe that he would be into whatever level of basketball in which he is participating. As I said, I think his recruitment is going to be interesting. I don’t have any more doubts than normal about his suitability to play for Virginia.
Honestly this should be one of the easiest recruitments of the Bennett era. Just show him pictures of Joe, JA, Dre, Dev, Trey, and Sam. Then ask if every other coach on that list combined can claim half as many NBA wings. Then sign him.
You guys have drawn me into the great unknown of big time college basketball recruiting. There is one common theme: overthinking everything and yes I am guilty.
NY area different animal when it comes to college basketball. You have so many pro sports to compete for your time etc. I wonder for example if Donovan Mitchell had favorite college teams coming up as the son of a pro baseball player
Edit: is a big choice for guys like him to even pick what HS they will attend in a place like Long Island so…
UVA had a NY recruit that was pivotal to our winning the championship in “2019 I think.” There are plenty of pre college interviews of that recruit where he sounds pretty damned hyped to play college basketball. One of the stories CBS often repeated during the NCAA run was how that recruit and his dad went to multiple NCAA championships together before and how special it must be for that dad to sit in the stands and watch his kid win one. I can only think part of why they attended the championships before and why winning one was so special was, in part, because of a shared love of (if not UVA) college basketball.
Maybe the interviewer was wrong and he loves college basketball. But if he wasn’t, yeah, that’s a red flag for me.
Ty is special as we know. He would take the train by himself to watch college games at MSG. He knew exactly where he wanted to be after HS… playing against the best in college. He proly knew at age 7.
Dunnwent from 5-9 PG to 6-7 or whatever in 3 years and just found himself blowing up. Shit he may have likes soccer or lacrosse better before. Hoo knows
True. Mamadi was obviously a misplaced basketball player on the soccer field before becoming a UVA legend. It’d still be a concern for me though. Good thing I’m not Tony.
Not even a remote concern for me. If he is so focused on other levels of the game, especially on that in which he participates, that focus will follow him to the college game once he is a part of it. For some, it is all about the game, and not the level at which it is played. If his only immediate concern is high school basketball (and/or AAU ball), that’s fine. That is where he is playing. That should be his concern. Let him worry about college when he gets there. If others followed a different path, that’s okay, too. There is no one way to achieve excellence in college basketball.
I’m simply saying it’s not a certainty. Apparently, you are too.