TGer'nLHornLand- check the latest War Room, there's a couple of basketball tidbits. Also, there's an article today on Tashawn Mabry. He is down to LSU, VCU, and Miami, and he wants to make a summer commitment.
Tashawn Mabry is considering LSU?? Scout does not even have LSU listed under - Schools of interest. No one in the ACC except NCst has offered him. (again thats according to Scout) You guys know some stuff!!!!!
That news is coming from Rivals. An article there says that LSU has been talking to Mabry and he sports an offer from LSU (although when you look at his profile, it hasn't been updated to include a LSU offer). Supposedly, Miami, VCU and LSU have been recruiting him the hardest. But, he's definitely visiting Miami and "may" visit LSU. It's an interesting contrast. Mabry's listed as a SF and I can see why, he's a very solid 6'5", but can drift outside and go down low. Perhaps he's a Delwan Graham but with a more refined perimeter game. His Rivals highlights definitely make him look like a pretty decent player both shooting the 3 and taking it to the hoop. If you compare him to Derenbrecker, Matt's a taller, pure shooter. But, Mabry is definitely got strength to take it down low and elevate over folks. It may be another reason why Matt is coming in early? Both kids want to take visits over the summer and Mabry would like to commit by the early period. For those that may think Trent and staff are just "waiting" around, I don't think that's the case. I think at every position they have contingencies and are communicating to good players who might backfill spots if our LA players don't take interest in LSU. As it should be. At some point all good programs have players that WANT to play for them, and the program starts to recruit for itself. I think Trent definitely wants to emphasize LA kids and give the best kids offers, but if they're not going to commit to their home state school, there will be others that will.
Well, the question isn't moot, I guess, and 2010 becomes ever so important for Trent. You can read about having 4 spots instead of 3 now in 2010, in the 2009 thread and what that means for current 2010 LSU prospects--someone's got to get the ball rolling! It's interesting to me how the recruiting behind the scenes in college basketball seems so "back room" and noone knows how these things happen. But, it seems like LSU is just poised to become such a player in the SEC, just needs to have recruiting follow the success of last year and what's to come. Also somewhat troubling to me is the LACK of recruiting coverage for our local high school players. Louisiana Select was in a big tourney in NY two weekends ago, and there was nothing... this was all I could find that even mentioned them... http://www.newenglandrecruitingreport.com/news/article/861/Rumble-in-the-Bronx-Saturday-Recap.php Apparently, the LA Select team has been competitive, but come up short in a lot of the tourneys. Several of the LSU prospects are on that team, including Galloway, Derenbrecker and Williams, and others certainly are Div -1 prospects on that team. Scout and Rivals should take note and do an article on them. For the near future, there are just a few big AAU tourneys left mostly in July, LSU camps, current players back on campus working out and whatever time Trent and Staff can find to RECRUIT RECRUIT RECRUIT. Interestingly, it seems like Trent is interacting with these kids a lot, but what kind of job are the assistant coaches doing?
Apparently Brent Scott is keeping busy, working the Southeast. New article on Rivals about Andre Stringer. Still high on LSU and Bama, and LSU should definitely get an official visit ... in the fall. http://lsu.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=958264
Galloway commits to St. Joes and Derenbrecker picks up an offer from Stanford. (sources: TB) Too bad we didn't recruit Markel Brown...
Ouch. And, now as well, Brian Williams out of Glen Oaks commits to Ok St. Look, of the LA recruits, certainly Galloway is the one that folks felt LSU was fighting an uphill battle on. Family in the St. Joes area, and a relationship with one of the coaches there. Plus, I think as far as fit goes, Langston being a "tweener" guard, it's hard for him probably to think about whether kids like Andre Stringer and Ralston Turner fill the PG and SG roles better in Trent's system. Who knows. But, at some level again, it is difficult to say that every LA recruit has to stay in state at LSU. No doubt, Trent is going to have to close on some key recruits in 2010. But, perhaps Galloway's and Williams' commitments make the landscape clearer for the Tigers. I think signing Derenbecker remains a priority, but 2010 is a deep enough year in LA that there are other LA prospects worth scouting and keeping in touch with, as well as other OOS kids that I'm sure LSU is talking to (e.g., Mabry). It's a long recruiting season, and we have to be patient (I think).
I would agree that, at some level, losing 2 out of the 3 LA recruits you're actually "after" is troubling. I think if you want to be rational about it, you do have two kids that have at some level wanted to leave the state, and also, you have two kids that play the same position as another highly regarded LSU SG recruit, Ralston Turner. Now, I don't know if the truth is that Butch Pierre is calling these guys every day, or if these prospects just don't feel the attention from the LSU staff. But, part of me is still of the mindset that either these kids probably didn't want to go to LSU in the first place, or from the LSU perspective we weren't going to chase kids that didn't want to be chased. It's not like Trent is a bad coach, that LSU isn't a great location to play college athletics and it isn't a program on the rise. At some level Trent's feeling is that you have to find kids that WANT to be here. Now, I think if Trent doesn't land some combination of Stringer, Turner, and Derenbecker (or moves in quickly with others that can really contribute) to go with Courtney we certainly have reason to be concerned. But, Derenbecker and Stringer would be POY for LA and MS, and Turner is another top 100 recruit. All hope is not lost. (am I rationalizing things again? ... :grin
yes. a little. but its very early. at some point excuses will have to stop. the whole "we want kids that want to be here" mantra makes sense regarding potential one-and-done players, but unless im wrong none of these recent disappointments (galloway, williams, johnson) fit that description. a good recruiter can make kids want to be here. BUT only if ctj doesnt put a good product on the court. im sure no one here cares how well he recruits in and of itself. myself, i'll give him two more seasons before i make strong comprehensive judgments about his ability to run lsu's program.
