Is he overrated?
Our shooting could use a little help, and he’s a shooter from Virginia. Did we think he won’t be able to get his shot off at the ACC level?
And also #13 in the Class of 2020 Isaiah Todd as you know, verbally committed to Michigan, but did not sign anything with them. Are we trying to get re-involved with him? I see that UVa offered him a couple of years ago.
I’m not the one to talk to about those 2 you mentioned. But I can tell that the 2020 class is a scoring machine. Carson Mccorkle is a great 3 point shooter and has a high basketball IQ. Jabri Abdur-Rahim is a pure scorer from all over the court. One of the best in the 2020 class. Then the PG Reece Beekman is averaging almost a triple double in high school. I’m looking forward to this class along with Sam Hauser who is already there and can burn it up from the 3 point line.
The simple answer here is you don’t waste your time recruiting players that you can’t get or that don’t fit. They recognized right off that Cam would fall into one of those categories, and pretty quickly with Todd.
They were never involved with Cam. He skipped his sophomore season at Oscar Smith to work on his game to showcase during the summer. I suspect that turned UVA off. He’s a bucket getter that wants the ball in his hands with total freedom. His college choice boiled down to the place that would offer him the best opportunity to do that right away, then hopefully move on to the league. LSU fits perfectly.
Todd was the first guy they offered in the 2020 class while at John Marshall in Richmond. They realized pretty quickly it wasn’t going to happen and moved on. He was considered the #1 player in the class early on. I haven’t kept up with him in a long time. There are rumors that he could go overseas for a year instead of college. Maybe that’s why he chose not to sign yet, I don’t know. Either way, UVA won’t be involved.
Obviously, Abdur-Rahim, Reece Beekman, and the transfer Sam Hauser are big-time recruits in every sense! I have not seen Carson Mccorkle play in person. What are his strengths that convinced Bennett that he could help UVa win big in the ACC? Thanks.
As far as Cameron Thomas goes, he was first-team All-State in Class 6 (the largest high schools in Virginia) as a freshman at Oscar Smith.
I’m only guessing: from Thomas’ comments, he felt that his coach thought he was going to transfer to another high school. Thomas said that he had no plans to transfer from Oscar Smith. Then, Thomas said that his coach didn’t want him on the team.
By then, it was too late to transfer to another school.
Thomas is averaging over 33 points-per-game so far this year for Oak Hill Academy. Last season as an 11th-grader, he averaged over 26 ppg. As a ninth-grader for Oscar Smith, he averaged 24 ppg. At least he’s going to a non-ACC school.
I got to agree with @HoozGotNext here. One thing I know about the Virginia staff is they only recruit within themselves and what fits their system. Cam’s style of play does not fit Virginia basketball, and clearly anyone eyeing going overseas right away as Todd may be, is not a UVa type player. Not a knock on either young man, but I’m a firm believer that culture = success in athletics and the great programs know their culture and work within it. TB is one of the greats at that, and his staffs recruiting targets reflect. that.