GW Hoops / Recruit: Tafara Gapare, Forward, 2022 - (Committed to Massachusetts)

**Posted by Florida Colonial** 1/01/2022 8:39 pm

Tennessee Colonial.. I guess thats your opinion. But I find recruiting to be interesting. In Gapare's case he's someone we are all very familiar with and my guess is there are people on here who would be interested in where he ends up.. So feel free to not read the thread if its a "waste of time". You must have been somewhat interested to click on the Gapare thread. Happy New Year

**Posted by Mike K** 1/03/2022 7:10 am

Florida Colonial wrote:
Tennessee Colonial.. I guess thats your opinion. But I find recruiting to be interesting. In Gapare's case he's someone we are all very familiar with and my guess is there are people on here who would be interested in where he ends up.. So feel free to not read the thread if its a "waste of time". You must have been somewhat interested to click on the Gapare thread. Happy New Year

I agree 100%

Seriously, I enjoy following the GW recruits, and would follow him in the box score and few MD games I watch.

**Posted by Steve** 1/03/2022 10:06 am

HOW DARE YOU ALL SPEAK HIS NAME. HE ISN'T COMING HERE SO HE DOESN'T EXIST.

**Posted by Gwmayhem** 1/03/2022 11:35 am

Happy New Year everyone.

I think there's two conclusions which may be potentially drawn. One is that competing at a major program would be in Gapare's best interest if he wants to one day play in the NBA. Sure, we can point to several recent players, most notably Yuta, as positive examples to try to emulate. The other is that this decision was made after GW's lead recruiter, Nima, was dismissed from the program. This could be coincidental though it may not be at all.

In any case, it would be perfectly reasonable for fans to want to know where the player of this caliber who once verbally committed to GW ends up playing. The fact that Maryland may have interest makes this an even more notable story.

**Posted by danjsport** 1/03/2022 4:06 pm

This looks less and less like a situation that turns out to be a win-win.

**Posted by jf** **Online!** 1/03/2022 6:04 pm

That would be putting it mildly, given our needs this year.

**Posted by Steve** 1/04/2022 9:10 am

The win-win thing sounded silly at the time, looks silly now, and while it may end up being the case, I would bet up to $8.28 that it will be silly looking back.

**Posted by dmvpiranha** 1/05/2022 5:42 pm

To me, the biggest disappointment of the JC era has been the lack of international recruiting thus far (wins and losses aside). It's unfortunate that Tafara reopened his commitment, but to me I'm more upset that we haven't landed anyone international in general. Harvey as a transfer is a good start I guess?

Davidson continues to land international guys at a ridiculous rate (they just got another guy from Europe the other day) but we should be as good at landing guys from overseas. Nima was supposed to be that guy but after he departed it doesn't appear there is anyone on staff with those connections (I'm guessing Atkins has more local connections having played HS ball in Baltimore). The international guys have a more polished game and are strong with their fundamentals - something this team could use in spades - whether that be passing, rebounding, or shooting the ball.

**Posted by gwstudent2024** 1/05/2022 7:29 pm

Dayton signed someone from Mongolia the other day I believe

**Posted by GW0509** 1/22/2022 9:09 pm

Maryland Offer https://www.instagram.com/p/CYsVzOUruC6/?utm_medium=copy_link

**Posted by dmvpiranha** 4/10/2022 10:25 am

Looks like Tafara is playing for Team Melo on the EYBL circuit. He had 11 points in the first two contests in Orlando yesterday.

Box Score vs. Team Durant
Box Score vs. City Rocks

**Posted by Free Quebec** 4/11/2022 3:10 am

Wonder if there’s any chance Caputo could recruit Gapare. He had a New Zeeland player at Miami in Sam Waardrnburg.

**Posted by BM** 4/24/2022 8:17 am

Just noticed he's now a 2023. He was born in 2003 so he'll be 20 as a freshman. Makes sense for him to go straight to the pros.

Last edited by BM (4/24/2022 8:19 am)

**Posted by cagwu** 5/23/2022 6:56 am

Syracuse in the mix: https://insidetheloudhouse.com/2022/05/22/syracuse-basketball-big-offers-interest-pour-soaring-6-foot-10-wing/

**Posted by Mike K** 5/23/2022 7:22 am

a lot of offers lately...

**Posted by jf** **Online!** 5/23/2022 9:59 am

Looks like we handled this well in previous regime, keeping open a spot for him for what seemed like years.

**Posted by Gwmayhem** 5/23/2022 10:42 am

jf, assuming some sarcasm in your post, unless you had a problem with keeping a spot open for someone who was described as a legitimate NBA prospect at the time GW was doing this, I can only respond by saying that hindsight is 20/20. Our program is such where you have to be willing to take a big swing, even if this means missing, when such an opportunity presents itself.

As for holding the spot, I do know that GW has very stringent academic requirements for international students. Am guessing this is something that CC may have raised before taking the job and that subsequent guidelines will hopefully be more lax moving forward. Gapare had not prepped in the U.S. at the time he reopened his recruitment (this has since changed) which did not help matters. But regardless of what's happened since, at the time, Gapare's handlers had likely heard enough and decided to move on. Also worth mentioning that Nima was a primary contact and he had also moved on.

So, you may find fault with GW for it's academic requirements. Or, you may find fault with Nima being asked to leave, which is difficult without fully knowing what happened there. But, I can't find fault with JC keeping a spot open for someone with this player's "upside." Particularly since he did verbally commit to GW at some point.

**Posted by jf** **Online!** 5/23/2022 3:27 pm

Not worth rehashing, but this didn't happen suddenly or surprisingly, even if you just
look to publicly available information. Probably even discussion here.
And his academics should not have been a surprise, during his very long commitment, in which he reclassified to another academic year.
Nima could be hired by another A-10 school and his odd departure was another unusual point in this story,
whatever the situation was.
And given all this, was the possibility/really the prospect--he wasn't coming, figured into our recruiting at the appropriate time.?
To their credit, JC or JC and Nima spotted what appears to be a diamond in the comparative rough.
But this hardly came out of left field.

**Posted by Gwmayhem** 5/23/2022 4:47 pm

Am not saying that any part of this was a major surprise. Your comment about academics does not make much sense to me. Just because someone is a questionable academic admit does not automatically mean that they will not get into the school. The hope is that the player will do what they need to do as a student to get themselves qualified, with the school's guidance which I am sure was provided.

Moreover, what would you have liked the school to do under these circumstances? GW has a realistic chance at landing a Top 100 player but there are some evident obstacles. Better to just walk away when there still was a possibility that things would work out? And, what was the harm in hanging in there? Am not sure there was ever a point in time where a projected 13 scholarships would be taken with Gapare using one of these. And even if that wasn't the case, we all can clearly see what the transfer portal has looked like the past couple of seasons. Not everyone stays, practically anywhere. So in reality, it's not like we were denying another player by waiting on Gapare's situation.

**Posted by Poog** 6/03/2022 8:21 pm

According to Joe Tipton on Twitter, Gapare will announce the decision about his future on Monday at 6:00 p.m. Two pro;leagues plus 5 colleges in the mix: Maryland, Illinois, Virginia Tech, DePaul, and UConn.