Hijacked recruiting thread--miscellaneous

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Donny Z
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Hijacked recruiting thread--miscellaneous

Post by Donny Z »

Kansas st, BYU, UCLA and DePaul have also offered.

https://247sports.com/college/basketbal ... -117296312
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Re: New hoops offer

Post by randymc »

His mom was an Olympic women's basketball player in two Olympics in the 1990s for China and went on to be a coach. One of his asst. coaches when Zhang played at La Lumiere in Indiana was Jaren Jackson Sr., a New Orleans native who went on to play in college with Georgetown and then the NBA.
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Re: New hoops offer

Post by tjtlja »

Looks like he would be a great get this late in the game.

Do you see us signing three more guys? I had also heard of a player from Oklahoma that was considering transferring to us but cannot remember his name.
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Re: New hoops offer

Post by SomeBiz »

Point Guard Xavier Johnson, one of Tulane's early targets for this class, has reopened his recruiting after previously commiting to Nebraska.

Johnson, a 4-star prospect, is 6-3 and graduates this year from Bishop O'Connell High School in Arlington, Va.

https://www.prepcircuit.com/news_articl ... id=1293611
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Re: New hoops offer

Post by PeteRasche »

SomeBiz wrote:Point Guard Xavier Johnson, one of Tulane's early targets for this class, has reopened his recruiting after previously commiting to Nebraska.

Johnson, a 4-star prospect, is 6-3 and graduates this year from Bishop O'Connell High School in Arlington, Va.

https://www.prepcircuit.com/news_articl ... id=1293611
4-star guard? Yes, please.
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Re: New hoops offer

Post by waverider »

Since we don't have a dedicated hoops recruiting thread, I'll post here that Dexter Dennis from Baton Rouge just signed with Wichita. Was he someone we were actively recruiting?
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Re: New hoops offer

Post by Donny Z »

Looks like we got him! Coach Dunleavy retweeted this tweet.

https://twitter.com/realyuang/status/98 ... 03616?s=21
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Re: New hoops offer

Post by PeteRasche »

Donny Z wrote:Looks like we got him! Coach Dunleavy retweeted this tweet.

https://twitter.com/realyuang/status/98 ... 03616?s=21
Probably deserves its own thread now, or at least a retitling of this one. Pretty good list of competition we beat out! My only concern is whether he fills an actual need.
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Re: New hoops offer

Post by GSx »

Very nice.
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Re: New hoops offer

Post by randymc »

video of Zhang here (look for the behind the back pass from him just past the two minute mark of this video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBssL5EW1CM
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Re: New hoops offer

Post by ml wave »

PeteRasche wrote:
Donny Z wrote:Looks like we got him! Coach Dunleavy retweeted this tweet.

https://twitter.com/realyuang/status/98 ... 03616?s=21
Probably deserves its own thread now, or at least a retitling of this one. Pretty good list of competition we beat out! My only concern is whether he fills an actual need.
Need for good players?
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Re: New hoops offer

Post by sr »

Looks like he hangs around the 3 pt. line a lot. Wonder if he has an inside game? A good get never-the-less.
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Re: New hoops offer

Post by long green »

There are some other clips that show him dunking in traffic and blocking shots, the sort of power forward stuff we need, along with rebounding and the quickness to guard AAC power forwards. The clip you refer to makes him look a lot like Moses Wood.
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Re: New hoops offer

Post by TU23 »

It's clear that Dunleavy wants guys who know how to play team basketball (especially defense), can create their own offense when needed and can shoot from the perimeter. Three really good "gets" with size for their positions.

Also re Zhang: he played on a really good team with some really big bodies inside (4 other guys over 6'9 with bulk), so it's not surprising that he didn't get a lot of action this year in the paint. His role was mainly to shoot the basketball. If you watch his junior tape with La Lumiere (Ade Aruna's former school), he plays more inside. He's going to be a really good player once he gets into a college weight room because everything else is there.
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Re: New hoops offer

Post by PeteRasche »

ml wave wrote:
PeteRasche wrote:My only concern is whether he fills an actual need.
Need for good players?
Let's hope he is one.

Said it before, will say it again and again, we need people who can guard opponents. This past year virtually everyone we played blew right past us (except Frazier and, seemingly, Slater). MD appears to want to outscore opponents by raining threes with a lineup of 6'7 (-ish) guards, but that won't work consistently in college because he won't get consistent-enough shooters, and 6'7 guards (at least the ones we get) aren't quick enough to stop anyone we play. We had games where we were hot and pulled off some good wins, but as fatigue added up (as it will do every season), shooting dropped off and we were dead in the water because we couldn't stop them and couldn't outscore them.

Give me a lightning-quick point guard with great defensive skills and a quick, athletic, strong inside guy. I know, "good luck with that", right? Regardless, I think we're all set with "6'5 to 6'8 guys who can dribble and pass and shoot threes". Just MHO.
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Re: New hoops offer

Post by long green »

TU23 wrote:It's clear that Dunleavy wants guys who know how to play team basketball (especially defense), can create their own offense when needed and can shoot from the perimeter. Three really good "gets" with size for their positions.

Also re Zhang: he played on a really good team with some really big bodies inside (4 other guys over 6'9 with bulk), so it's not surprising that he didn't get a lot of action this year in the paint. His role was mainly to shoot the basketball. If you watch his junior tape with La Lumiere (Ade Aruna's former school), he plays more inside. He's going to be a really good player once he gets into a college weight room because everything else is there.
Thank you for the added perspective. Two good shooters flanking an explosive player like Crabtree (who can shoot it himself) ought to work. A banger (Ajang?) and a true, solid point would round things out. I hope we don’t have to wait longer than this fall to get those things.
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Re: New hoops offer

Post by PeteRasche »

long green wrote:Two good shooters flanking an explosive player like Crabtree (who can shoot it himself) ought to work. A banger (Ajang?) and a true, solid point would round things out. I hope we don’t have to wait longer than this fall to get those things.
I'm really curious what next year is going to look like. Going purely on tape (of newcomers) and what I've seen of our current returnees, there's going to be quite a battle for PT in three guard spots (1, 2, 3) next Fall between Ona Embo, Cornish, Barrett, Daniels, and likely Crabtree. Of those, my preference for the PG spot would be a new signee as I described above (quick, quick, quick), but I don't know if that even exists as a possibility. I still wouldn't be surprised to see Paul starting at the 5 spot again, because last year's performance didn't appear to phase MD a bit (i.e., he started regardless of his performance in previous outings). Hopefully Ajang or possibly even Koka improve enough to start taking those minutes. I'd still like to see Sehic starting at 4 and playing a lot rather than platooning with Paul (and the others) at 5. Wood and Zhang look like they need a year of college strength and might not play a lot this year (though I'd be happy to be wrong and find they are better than our known quantities... I just don't see it in those highlights). Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if we played some four-guard looks with the first four names I mentioned above (all returnees) on the floor, as they are all (relatively) tall.
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Re: Kevin Zhang - New basketball commit

Post by tjtlja »

Pete, given your background, when you look at Wood and Zhang, what are their strengths and weaknesses and do you see ALOT of upside?
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Re: Kevin Zhang - New basketball commit

Post by wave-em in »

Dang, Zhang and Ajang gonna bang!
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Re: Kevin Zhang - New basketball commit

Post by Donny Z »

Re: PG don’t forget our grad transfer visitor from earlier this month - Mike Cunningham. He’s visiting Oklahoma, Oklahoma state and Louisville over the next week or so and then will make a decision.
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Re: Kevin Zhang - New basketball commit

Post by PeteRasche »

Donny Z wrote:Re: PG don’t forget our grad transfer visitor from earlier this month - Mike Cunningham. He’s visiting Oklahoma, Oklahoma state and Louisville over the next week or so and then will make a decision.
Not counting chickens... :mrgreen:
Have you watched tape on him and is he quick?

Tjtlja: check your pm.
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Re: Kevin Zhang - New basketball commit

Post by NJwave »

We are by far the most diverse college basketball team in the country. We could start a line up with a French point guard, Canadian shooting guard, Chinese Small forward, Bosnian power forward and South Sudanese center and have a 6th man from South Sudan as well.

Dunleavy clearly likes players that prevent match up problems for opponents. I get it but you still have to guard people. It feels like we have a team of interchangeable parts with major question marks at point guard and center.

Assuming Frazier stays in the draft, we have placed Frazier, Reynolds and Slater with Wood, Crabtree and Zhang. I’d feel a whole lot better if we can get a graduate or Juco point guard or center.
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Re: Kevin Zhang - New basketball commit

Post by MattK »

NJwave wrote:
Dunleavy clearly likes players that prevent match up problems for opponents.
That was Conroy's approach too

:jerry:
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Re: Kevin Zhang - New basketball commit

Post by gerryb323 »

In depth article on Kevin from last year: http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basket ... ll-pioneer

The 24/7 recruiting page on him still shows him as 100% to UCLA and committed to us. :lol:
Wandering around somewhere in a matchup zone
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Re: Kevin Zhang - New basketball commit

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