2015 Hoops Recruiting

A compromise with schools would be to have it where if a guy isn't on the team, his 4 year scholarship doesn't count against the total for the school. In other words, they are guaranteed a 4 year scholarship, but it is no longer an athletic scholarship if they are not on the team.

 

This has been my preferred change for a while now.

I also think that schools should be able to offer scholarships of varying terms. If a kid wants to sign a one-year deal, let him. If the school only wants to offer a one-year deal, let them. But if they offer and he accepts a four-year scholarship, they're both locked in for four years.

 

Should be some news coming in the next couple of days.

 

Anyone in particular to check out?

 

I think that this should not only happen, but that the scholarship should count in all four seasons, or until the kid graduates.

You wanna take a one and done? Fine. But after that one season, you're still toting an empty roster spot for three more seasons. It would do nothing to prohibit the player from leaving early, but it would prevent the perpetual stock-piling of one and domes like Kentucky and others do.

 

If you're referring to my recap of someone else's recapped recaps, then get ready because it's coming in way ahead of schedule.

I'm talking right now! Here we go!

• There was a list of roughly 7 teams with interest in Nick King pulled from Twitter a couple days ago. Vols weren't on it. Here it is:
  
  
• First concrete offer for Barnes seems to have been 2016 PF Nick Rakocevic from Illinois. Offer/interest list looks pretty strong.
  
• Dylan Ennis (G - Villanova) appears to have some kind of connection to Rick Barnes. What that is, I have no idea, but for $15 a month I will nail that down, no problem. Ball's in your court.
  
• The staff may view Mark Tollefson (6'9" grad transfer from USF - Dons, not Bulls) as an option. 14 and 5, 53% from the field and 38% from 3. If ESPN can be trusted, looks like he and Tariq Owens would be a nice welterweight matchup.
  
• 2015 current commit Shembari Phillips visited and reaffirmed his commitment. If Barnes and staff have other ideas for his or Schofield's spots, it would seem that they've had ample time and opportunity to convey that. I guess it could still be a fluid thing depending on what develops with guys getting released from LOIs, but it sure looks like they're both staying.
  
• The staff watched 2015 C Ebuka Izundu in Atlanta this week. He reclassified from 2016 last fall and committed to UNCC shortly thereafter. I'll take a guess that Dez Oliver had something to do with his recruitment there, as he's asking out of his LOI now and seems to have mutual interest. There's smoke that he may have committed to Tennessee, but I'm not even sure he's gotten released from his LOI. Could certainly be the big news on deck.
  
• The interest in JUCO PG Rob Gray would appear to be purely as a fallback as he supposedly no longer has a committable offer.
  
• Kyle Alexander (2015 C) was said to have been looked at by the staff while at Texas. He's unranked and from Canada, and I'm not sure to what extent the sites rank those guys (maybe it's mostly been guys that prepped in the US). Not sure you'd necessarily take both him and Izundu.
  
• Eric Davis now appears likely to stay at Texas.

Lots of weasel words in this one. Well, if the shoe fits.

 

That's a very interesting idea.

 

Sounds like an awful idea. I don't know why you want to punish college teams for an NBA rule.

 

It also sets certain players up for being hated just for coming there to play and then go to the NBA.

 

.

 

Vols get a Crystal Ball prediction for Izundu from Jerry Meyer of 247. More smoke.

Kimani Jackson, the Tyndall JUCO big man target from New Mexico, ends up at Colorado State.

 

http://247sports.com/Player/Ebuka-Izundu-66017

Jerry Meyer thinks we land this guy.

 

Justin Young @JustinDYoung
Ebuka Izundu went for 26 pts, 14 reb, 12 blks in a big semi-final win. This man is no joke. #ATLJAM

Justin Young @JustinDYoung
Available big man Ebuka Izundu is out here hooping. I'm a huge fan of this kid's game. 6-10, agile, active, athletic. #ATLJAM

The tweets are from editor-in-chief at Hoopseen.com, Justin Young.

 

12 blocks or is that a typo? Sign him up.

 

JUCO PG Rob Gray commits to Houston.

Torin Dorn was CUSA freshman of the year at Charlotte and is transferring. Don't think there's any more of a connection than Oliver.

Seems like guesswork, but here's a new name: Antonio Vrankovic. He's the son of Tecmo NBA Basketball jobber Stojko Vrankovic. And I guess there's this: "Has an offer from Charlotte and would be a big man that Desmond Oliver would be familiar with. Especially if Duke never makes a formal offer, he would make sense for somebody the Vols could get it in on."

[youtube]YJYRl04Kqt4[/youtube]

 

UT-Charlotte, IMO.

 

If Dorn ends up here, I hope he can field a grounder better than Roger.

 

There may be something to it, but I'd bet there's some path of least resistance reportage occurring.

 

How does requiring a college to give a four-year scholarship "punish" the college team, at all, much less for an NBA rule?

Isn't providing for the education of a student-athlete the stated intention of the scholarship program?

Doesn't it routinely take four years for college students to metriculate? Athletes are different from other students, insofar as they might enroll and graduate in a single year? You know, because that's the length of the current awarding of scholarships, one year at a time.

If a college doesn't want to provide a four-year scholarship, there's an easy answer...don't. But if they do offer a scholarship, shouldn't it be for the minimum amount of time that a normal student would likely require to graduate?

See, the problem with the one-and-done is that it is yet another example of the NCAA trying to have its cake and eat it, too. If they are students first, as claimed, then doesn't it make sense to expect the institution to be responsible for actually providing it? As it now stands, scholarships are awarded on an annual basis - and that doesn't benefit anyone but the university, itself. It certainly doesn't help the overwhelming majority of student-athletes who are not one-and-Dones.

You'd think that the NCAA would want to encourage and reward those colleges who actually move their student athletes along to graduation, and ensure that those who do not are held equally responsible and accountable.

Tell me more about the perceived travesty of this proposal, most particularly for the student-athlete.

 

How many instances of a fan base hating on a player for leaving early do you think will occur, before that school has essentially eliminated itself from consideration of any one-and-done players?

If they hate you for leaving after a year....you probably shouldn't attend that university.