1 of 1- Gwmayhem
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Recruiting Concerns
Theoretically, all is well with recruiting. We don't NEED to sign anyone during the early signing period which is just over a month away. CC and staff can still assemble an outstanding freshmen class for 2023-24, each announced during the April-May signing period.
Let's also remember Year 2:
Hobbs: Pops, Mike, Omar, Carl (who then prepped for a year)
Lonergan: Pato, Kevin, Joe, Kethan (and Zeke who was a Year 1 transfer but first played in Year 2).
For 2022-23, the team's youth looks like this:
Max Edwards...4 years of eligibility remaining. Should be solid as long as he stays healthy.
Daniel Nixon...Anyone know whether last year was a redshirt season? Still holds promise but we were able to learn very little last season
Jabari West...Incoming freshman who apparently will not be playing this season.
Either Must or Could Be Leaving After This Season:
Brendan Adams
James Bishop
EJ Clark
Amir Harris
Ricky Lindo
Qwanzi Samuels
Once we add all of the above up, I'm feeling some recruiting pressure for this program. Can't get too worked up over a player like Davin Cosby who simply blew up over the summer and signs with Nate Oats and Alabama. More difficult to absorb is to lose out on Malik Mack, a point guard from a DC high school where we've had some success (St. John's) who chose Harvard. The latest prize recruit is Christian Jones who lists GW, Cal and Charlotte as his final three. I feel like we need to land a solid, quality player to "go first". Others are more likely to follow.
The coaching staff appears to be a plus. But that's on paper, based on prior experiences. We need them to work their magic today. Some high quality November signings are exactly what this program could use. With so many roster spots set to open up, next year will be the time to get young again. Not adverse to one or even a handful of transfers; however, a new "Core 4" or something to this effect is hopefully what CC and staff are focusing on. It's hard to blame MoJo for recruiting due to timing and JC in retrospect was likely concerned about saving his job and became understandably over-reliant on bringing in more experienced transfers.
CC and staff's slate is as clean as it's been for a while. Time to bring in a big freshmen class for next season. Hoping this is viable.
- Basketball Jones
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Re: Recruiting Concerns
i have no doubt about Caputo's and staff recruiting skills
I expect a quick jumpstart and refocus on the recruiting program
al a GMU i expect at least 1/2 of the current team to be gone at the end of the season
as they are not Caputo's recruits
they will be replaced with a mix of grad transfers, undergraduate transfers and incoming freshmen
as this mix is the best way to win quickly and re-establish the program
my only concern is that the academic standards of GWU will limit some of the recruiting
- AT Hiker
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Re: Recruiting Concerns
Well, we have at least five players who will either graduate or end their eligibility, so if one or two other leave that will mean 6-7 scholarships are available.
- GWRising
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Re: Recruiting Concerns
Basketball Jones wrote:
i have no doubt about Caputo's and staff recruiting skills
I expect a quick jumpstart and refocus on the recruiting program
al a GMU i expect at least 1/2 of the current team to be gone at the end of the season
as they are not Caputo's recruits
they will be replaced with a mix of grad transfers, undergraduate transfers and incoming freshmen
as this mix is the best way to win quickly and re-establish the program
my only concern is that the academic standards of GWU will limit some of the recruiting
I almost spit my coffee out when I read your last line. Of course, GW Admissions is going to limit who CC can bring in. GW Admissions has never understood dating back to the Hobbs era that its standards for basketball have to be relaxed if we are to compete. You could fill a A-10 winning roster with kids GW was told no on (and who would likely have come to GW) who went to other A-10 schools and thrived over the years. Probably the number one thing besides a practice facility holding us back.
- Poog
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Re: Recruiting Concerns
GW is a very long way from having difficulty “absorbing” the loss of a student, athlete or not, to Harvard. We can’t even claim to be the Harvard of the Potomac.
- GW0509
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Re: Recruiting Concerns
I thought it was funny during the Q&A at Hoops Fest the question was asked "Who on the team would make the best HC." While JB was answering, CC sort of said under his breath "whoever gets the best players."
I think CC and his staff understand that in order to climb in the A10 we need to get better talent-wise. What makes that tough is the whole chicken and egg thing about how to get better players to come to a school that is down in the W-L department but also in fan enthusiasm/engagement. Hopefully we can get lucky and have HS recruits come to campus on a night when the student body actually shows up to the game.
JC came in thinking he could take players he recruited to Siena and turn them into A-10 players. Guys like Seymour, Walker, Ball, Brelsford, etc. clearly were not going to cut it. Well, maybe Brelsford if he stayed could've turned into a 10 mpg bench piece. JC then switched it up and went heavy on the transfers but as we saw team cohesion took a hit and our OOC record reflected that.
I agree with Gwmayhem that our 2023 high school recruiting may end up being like dominos and all we need is someone to go first. Once our first 2023 commits, I have a feeling we will see others commit soon after. Similar to JC's transfer portal strategy where we announced Bishop/Lindo and Lee/Bamisile/Adams in quick succession.
As of now we have 8 open scholarships for next season. I think it's likely to go 4 high school, 4 transfers. Another thing I heard CC say during Hoops Fest was that everyone like to talk about the HS prospects who are 18-19 but even better are guys who are 22-23. I don't think he's going to do the JC thing and throw a bunch of transfers on the wall and see what sticks, but I don't think he's going to do the Matt McCall thing either and have a team with 10 freshman and sophomores.
FWIW, I really hope we can land that Dane Marqus Marion. With Dayton in the mix now it may be a heavy task but he seems to be Lindo-esque in build and playing style.
- dmvpiranha
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Re: Recruiting Concerns
I am not sure that Malik Mack was a loss given he wasn't a guy we were actively pursuing. If we aren't trying to get a player to take an official here I can't imagine they are a priority. I do think a player like Mack fits a need on every team as a guy who can come off the bench and hit a couple of threes. His game is actually a lot like Brelsford. Not really a true point guard, but more of a combo that can create his own shot. He would have to put on a lot of strength to play meaningful minutes in the A10 and I'm not sure his defense would translate for a year or two. I do like his versatility on offense though. I thought the CAA would be great fit for his game but I think Harvard could be a good fit where Amaker will bring him along well. Maybe he can have an impact for them right away like Bez Mbeng did for Yale.
The two guards that intrigue me are Autry and Jones because I feel like they are more developed physically/further along defensively on-ball to be able to come in and play some minutes right away which we will need given we are losing pretty much everyone of consequence next year. The other guy that I think would definitely satisfy a need up front is Sultan Adewale, although I feel he is probably P6 bound. He plays with high motor and is strong defensively as well. Maybe Pops can help out with the recruiting given he's British. The one thing that CC said recently which is promising is that he wants to protect the rim under his regime. I feel like this is the year Noel has to prove he can be that guy for us down low at some point this season otherwise we need to find someone who can maybe fill that role moving forward. He doesn't have to be blocking shots left and right, but just taking up space in the paint and making it hard for the opposition to finish over him. While I like Hunter, he is more of a 4 and I think has more upside offensively than defensively. Hope to see an end to the layup line we were providing teams the past several years defensively. We may not be there on talent/offense this year, but one thing I do hope we take a step forward in year 1 itself is defense. While a team like South Florida was absolutely inept offensively, at least they had a strong identity on defense. San Diego State has won by clamping down defensively despite being a meh team on offense. GW has been in no man's land on both sides of the ball the past five years. Defense is all about effort and chemistry. I think the team chemistry is good, but the team effort/communication was inconsistent at best last year and I hope we show more heart there.
The reason I'm actually looking forward to the WBB season this year is that McCombs showed early on that defense would be a true identity for the team. The team was in dire need of a go-to scorer but I think McCombs has addressed the offense in year 2, and hopefully Jayla Thornton can be that go-to person for them this year. Mia Lakstigala would easily have been the best shooter on last year's team as well. For CC, hopefully it's the same trajectory. Instill a defensive culture this year, then upgrade the talent next offseason with half transfers and half freshmen as GW0509 mentioned above.
- Gwmayhem
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Re: Recruiting Concerns
Poog, I did not mean to suggest that there couldn't be valid reasons why a player would choose Harvard over GW. What I was doing was comparing the loss of a prospect to Alabama to the loss of a local player to Harvard. While both may be understandable, they are very different scenarios when viewed solely from abasketball perspective. Put another way, I would not expect to win too many battles with Alabama while I feel for our program to rebound, we have to start winning some of the battles (for players) against Harvard, particularly local players.
DMVPiranha, I completely defer to your knowledge of the recruiting scene. If GW was not overly interested in Mack, then of course it would make sense for the young man not to play at GW. I guess I made the mistake of using Mack as a specific example when in reality, I was trying to make a more general point. Which as it turns out, did not really apply to Malik.
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Thread Starter- Long Suffering Fan
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Re: Recruiting Concerns
Thought this would be a good time to revive this thread. The 2 players that CC has now recruited to the team are Max Edwards and Trey Autry, one a power conference transfer with 4 years of eligibility left and the other having power conference interest. This is very impressive to me, especially given that neither would appear to be within our sphere of influence (i.e. no DC, Miami, CC, etc connections). IAd this to the anticipated upcoming verbal and it appear that not only has the recruiting bar been set higher but the coaching staff has the ability to then go out and get players with these new standards. If you haven't read the linkted by MG 14 (who I thank for doing this ) at 10:03 am earlier today (Monday) at around 10am in the recruits section, I recommend you read it. One lquote from Aubry that really stood out..."I enjoyed how intense their practices were and their play style as well". Hard to not feel better about life after reading that.
- GW69
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Re: Recruiting Concerns
I’m still amazed that I care so much at this stage of my life about GW recriuts.It always brings me great joy
to imagine the team doing well.I’m also happy for all of the gang on the board who I know struggle through
the vicissitudes of our program.LSF -this one is for you.
- BC
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Re: Recruiting Concerns
Its good to see at least one "good news coming" event has actually happened!
- jf
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Re: Recruiting Concerns
Here's what may be an interesting benefit from Coach Caputo's high-level pedigree.
We just got a commitment from the son of the Associate Head Coach of Syracuse, the same
league ACC where Coach Caputo was Associate Head Coach.
Coach Autry must be familiar with CC and like him enough that he is good with his son playing for
him.
It seems like CC's high-level connections, along with all the playing time, his coaching style, team's promise and excitement of going to school in powerful Washington, DC could make a real difference.
- Long Suffering Fan
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Re: Recruiting Concerns
Makes sense. Doubt that the teenage son of one assistant head coach would have had any contact with the assistant head coach at another university, but dad very well may have had props for CC that infulenced the decision. However he did it, it was done.
- Mike K
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Re: Recruiting Concerns
Great Point!
Here's what may be an interesting benefit from Coach Caputo's high-level pedigree.
We just got a commitment from the son of the Associate Head Coach of Syracuse, the same
league ACC where Coach Caputo was Associate Head Coach.
Coach Autry must be familiar with CC and like him enough that he is good with his son playing for
him.
It seems like CC's high-level connections, along with all the playing time, his coaching style, team's promise and excitement of going to school in powerful Washington, DC could make a real difference.
- Gwmayhem
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Re: Recruiting Concerns
As the initiator of this thread, I am both excited and relieved by today's news. As I stated, we do not have to sign anyone in the early period, but it would be a tremendous plus if we could. The comps are the Year 2 classes of Hobbs and Lonergan, both in terms of an initial full recruiting class as well as from the opportunistic standpoint of having lots of minutes to offer. This next recruiting class is vitally important for this reason.
Also to LSF's point, let's not forget EJ Clark (though we are conflating recruiting classes as Edwards and Clark technically belong to this year's class while Trey Autry belongs to next year's class). Though Clark may not have been sought after by the Power 5, he fills an important need for this team while not blocking anyone else from playing on the 2022-23 team (since there is an open spot) or next year (when he will have already finished his college career).
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Thread Starter- GWRising
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Re: Recruiting Concerns
Before we get too excited, just remember that there are going to be a lot of holes to fill next year.
For sure ... the following:
Adams
Harris
Clark
Lindo
Samuels
Likely but mot definite ...
Bishop
Dean
And that's with no other unexpected defections among ...
Brown
Nixon
West
Leaves only Harvey and Edwards as virtual locks to return.
So there is much work in the 2023-24 roster construction left to be done. I'd expect CC to bring in at least 6 or more players with a mix between 2023's and transfers.