Please indulge me as I try to surmise our current recruiting situation (this is going to be long). Bryan said on the news his priority is to sign another Big and another Guard. I interpret that as Adong Makoui & AJ Staton-McCray, based on North Pole Hoops saying SIU was about to get another Canadian Juco Big (likely Makoui) and some of our insiders reporting Staton-McCray was close to verballing to SIU. That would put us 10 deep for next season.
In the interview with Reis, Bryan said it was "possible" he might get another verbal in the next 24-48 hours, but it didn't sound likely. Bryan also said he was looking at both Transfers and Preps. With the Coronavirus delaying recruiting, it's obvious that players are waiting longer to make their decisions. We know at least 3 of our prospects have set future dates to announce their decisions. So, I don't necessarily see that as a bad thing. Bryan evidently feels we are still in the running for some of those players.
My feeling is Bryan would like to have 2-3 schollies available for 2021 recruits for class balance. Instead of leaving those open, why not use them on one-year Grad Transfers? I believe that's why we are connected to so many of them. A bunch of them are still out there and we are in a unique position to offer them. I'm confident we won't just be signing "warm bodies" this year.
So, taking into account all information available to me (Twitter posts, recruiting sites, rumors from other Saluki-Insiders, etc.) this is my list of 30 unsigned players we are or have been connected to. I've grouped them into three categories. If our staff is still following them, I'm assuming we are still in play. If neither Bryan or Brendan have continued to follow them, I'm assuming we have backed off due to grades or lack of interest (on their part or ours). I'm including my own educated guess as to where some will end up signing, just to make me look smart! I could be spot-on or I could be way off. Here we go:
HIGH PROBABILITY
Adong Makoui 6'9" PF(Juco) SIU
AJ Staton-McCray 6'5" G (Prep) SIU or Buffalo
Anthony D'Avanzo 6'8" F (Grad Transfer) SIU
Braden Burke 7'0" C (Grad Transfer) SIU
Willie Wilson 6'7" G/F (Prep) SIU or Juco
MEDIUM PROBABILITY
Kyler Filewich 6'8" PF (Prep) Presbyterian or SIU
Connor Niego 6'9" F (Transfer) no clue
Ramean Hinton 6'4" G (Prep) no clue
Jeremiah Williams 6'5" G (Prep) no clue (decides 4/22)
Desmond Polk 6'4" G (Prep) no clue
Kellen Tynes 6'2" G (Prep) 12 schools involved (decides tomorrow)
Steven Verplancken 6'4" G (Transfer) Loyola or SIU
Jayden Johnson 6'6" G (Prep) UIC or SIU
Reggie Strong 6'1" G (Prep) no clue
Detrick Reeves, Jr. 6'3" G (Prep) no clue
Eric Boone 6'3" G (Juco) no clue
Antwuan Butler 6'0" PG (Transfer) no clue
Vado Morse 6'0" PG (Transfer) no clue
Sam Rautins 6'4" G (Transfer) no clue
Zion Young 6'4" G (Transfer) no clue
LOW PROBABILITY
Ty Baynham 6'5" SF (Prep) Temple (decides 5/7)
Trevor Lakes 6'7" F (Transfer) Nebraska
Makhtar Gueye 6'10" C (Transfer) Virginia Tech
Drew Peterson 6'8" F (Transfer) high major?
Cory Hightower 6'7" F (Transfer) high major?
Destin Barnes 6'7" F (Transfer) high major?
Todd Burt, Jr. 6'8" F (Prep) Catawba College or Juco
Amar Brown 6'8" F (Prep) Juco?
Ariel Bland 6'7" F (Prep) Southern Utah or Prep School
Dylan Branson 6'5" G (Prep) Idaho
@rawdog thank you! with all those under "high probability" I feel calmer now. Not calm, but calmer
I couldn't locate the interview - can you post a link?
@rawdog
AJ Staton has too many offers, and is taking too long to decide, for me to count on him as being a lock.
Please indulge me as I try to surmise our current recruiting situation (this is going to be long). Bryan said on the news his priority is to sign another Big and another Guard. I interpret that as Adong Makoui & AJ Staton-McCray, based on North Pole Hoops saying SIU was about to get another Canadian Juco Big (likely Makoui) and some of our insiders reporting Staton-McCray was close to verballing to SIU. That would put us 10 deep for next season.
In the interview with Reis, Bryan said it was "possible" he might get another verbal in the next 24-48 hours, but it didn't sound likely. Bryan also said he was looking at both Transfers and Preps. With the Coronavirus delaying recruiting, it's obvious that players are waiting longer to make their decisions. We know at least 3 of our prospects have set future dates to announce their decisions. So, I don't necessarily see that as a bad thing. Bryan evidently feels we are still in the running for some of those players.
My feeling is Bryan would like to have 2-3 schollies available for 2021 recruits for class balance. Instead of leaving those open, why not use them on one-year Grad Transfers? I believe that's why we are connected to so many of them. A bunch of them are still out there and we are in a unique position to offer them. I'm confident we won't just be signing "warm bodies" this year.
So, taking into account all information available to me (Twitter posts, recruiting sites, rumors from other Saluki-Insiders, etc.) this is my list of 30 unsigned players we are or have been connected to. I've grouped them into three categories. If our staff is still following them, I'm assuming we are still in play. If neither Bryan or Brendan have continued to follow them, I'm assuming we have backed off due to grades or lack of interest (on their part or ours). I'm including my own educated guess as to where some will end up signing, just to make me look smart! I could be spot-on or I could be way off. Here we go:
HIGH PROBABILITY
Adong Makoui 6'9" PF(Juco) SIU
AJ Staton-McCray 6'5" G (Prep) SIU or Buffalo
Anthony D'Avanzo 6'8" F (Grad Transfer) SIU
Braden Burke 7'0" C (Grad Transfer) SIU
Willie Wilson 6'7" G/F (Prep) SIU or Juco
MEDIUM PROBABILITY
Kyler Filewich 6'8" PF (Prep) Presbyterian or SIU
Connor Niego 6'9" F (Transfer) no clue
Ramean Hinton 6'4" G (Prep) no clue
Jeremiah Williams 6'5" G (Prep) no clue (decides 4/22)
Desmond Polk 6'4" G (Prep) no clue
Kellen Tynes 6'2" G (Prep) 12 schools involved (decides tomorrow)
Steven Verplancken 6'4" G (Transfer) Loyola or SIU
Jayden Johnson 6'6" G (Prep) UIC or SIU
Reggie Strong 6'1" G (Prep) no clue
Detrick Reeves, Jr. 6'3" G (Prep) no clue
Eric Boone 6'3" G (Juco) no clue
Antwuan Butler 6'0" PG (Transfer) no clue
Vado Morse 6'0" PG (Transfer) no clue
Sam Rautins 6'4" G (Transfer) no clue
Zion Young 6'4" G (Transfer) no clue
LOW PROBABILITY
Ty Baynham 6'5" SF (Prep) Temple (decides 5/7)
Trevor Lakes 6'7" F (Transfer) Nebraska
Makhtar Gueye 6'10" C (Transfer) Virginia Tech
Drew Peterson 6'8" F (Transfer) high major?
Cory Hightower 6'7" F (Transfer) high major?
Destin Barnes 6'7" F (Transfer) high major?
Todd Burt, Jr. 6'8" F (Prep) Catawba College or Juco
Amar Brown 6'8" F (Prep) Juco?
Ariel Bland 6'7" F (Prep) Southern Utah or Prep School
Dylan Branson 6'5" G (Prep) Idaho
Nice post. I’m not sure that coronavirus is really delaying recruiting too much, although it is certainly complicating it. Other schools seem to be landing their share of guys ... Southern is just off to a slow start, which won’t matter much if they end up getting some good players in the coming weeks.
Here’s how I’d rank the Salukis’ most pressing needs:
1. Another decent big who can help right away
2. A transfer PG who can complement the young guys
3. Best available player beyond those spots who can provide some scoring and improve depth
AJ Staton just signed with Samford
Staton-McCray committed to Samford
https://twitter.com/nauticaman_aj/status/1251184644017586179?s=21
Just saw a tweet on Staton's twitter feed that he committed to Samford.?
I guess I was a little late!
Well this is awesome. We are literally missing on every single decent recruit.
WTFH??? I could see losing him to Buffalo... BUT SAMFORD? Fred must be happy today.
Formerly known as 81Dog
It would be nice to get Filewich. He looks like a monster on film.
WTFH??? I could see losing him to Buffalo... BUT SAMFORD? Fred must be happy today.
Was told his AAU coaches brother just got on the staff there... Didn’t even have an offer from Samford until this happened.
It would be nice to get Filewich. He looks like a monster on film.
I hope you're right but from what I see (again, nothing more than a different set of eyes), i see a BIG kid relative to his competition. Doesn't seem to have great footwork or agility. But does seem to have good court vision and passing ability. I remain unimpressed on this one.
