Agreed. Although not having seen either Courtney or Tobi O play, I'm not yet sure how the double PF set would play--although it's certainly doable. They're both about 6'7"-8" and 200+ lbs. Tobi plays both 4 and 5, as I suspect Courtney probably does. Either way, I think it'll be a disappointment if we don't get one of these guys, you'd love to land both. You'd definitely like to see CTJ establish recruiting ground in both MS and TX going forward... :geauxtige
More from Rivals on Phil Pressey, one of the top PGs in the country out of Dallas. http://lsu.rivals.com/content.asp?cid=914634 As expected, his recruitment continues to blow up, as now Big East schools like Pitt, Marquette, and UConn are in the mix. Who hasn't offered is the question? Not sure we can get our hopes too high for this kid folks. As we continue to watch the PG spot, we may have to rely on Spencer and CTJ's development of Bass, potentially some combo guard recruits, like Langston Galloway for the PG spot. Cedric Jenkins is another local guard to watch if Pressey just doesn't appear to be there for the Tigers.
this is a little bit of old news, but take a look at this scout's write up of Eddie Ludwig and Matt Derenbrecker... http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/recruiting/basketball/mens/news/story?id=3802762 Why do I bother? Well, at tonight's game against UF, apparently the entire Country Day team was there. After scoring 49 in one game during this tournament in FL (going 9 of 11 on threes), Matt Derenbrecker has apparently attracted the interest of none other than Florida. Billy D can't be wrong, right? CTJ's gotta keep these kids in-state... :geauxtige DON'T UNDERESTIMATE THE COACH.
No, but I think it's hard to expect early commits at this time. But, I have to say, with football recruiting starting, I wonder what's the policy of CTJ and CLM with respect to two-sport straddlers in football and basketball. Usually that's a lot harder to pull off than baseball football, but Nick Jacobs is a bruising 6'5, 240, and plays basketball reasonably well. Just curious, b/c it also wouldn't be a basketball schollie expended.
Well, here's a link to an article on hoops recruiting in Alabama (http://blog.al.com/ray-melick/2009/03/melick_tide_tigers_need_help_b.html) It says that after being asked by the reporter at the Alabama state tournament not one of the BB players at the tournament said they wanted to play fo Auburn or Alabama. Most of the players listed storied programs like Memphis, UNC etc. It seems Alabama kids may be growing up daydreaming about playing for schools or coaches outside the state. I wonder if this is true in Louisiana. Last year the no. 1 recruit in the nation (Munroe) signed with Georgetown. I wonder if LSU would have had a chance with coach Trent Johnson in place. So this article begs a couple of questions: 1) Is this the same for Louisiana? 2) Will CTJ be a storied coach nationally and how will he affect recruiting? 3) Is the SEC down as a whole because their best players are going not only out of state but out of the SEC lately? Hmmm...
i dont think CTJ will be "storied" for a while. my hunch without any research is that education is generally undervalued in the South and then the SEC gets too many kids leaving school/becoming ineligible. its ok for kids that have a reasonable shot, say like bass and davis (even though they left too early) as opposed to davidson and beverley.
Without getting too detailed into it, you raise some great questions, and thanks for the post. First, let me just say a couple things about these perceptions about 'Bama and the SEC. The SEC may be "down" but that's because the SEC is young, not necessarily b/c best players are leaving the area. When you look at key states like Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, etc., many of the best players stay in the SEC. Just note that this year recruits are not choosing to stay in the SEC b/c if you look back to a year or two ago, MANY top players are now sophomores and freshman on young SEC teams... look at Nick Calathes, Patrick Patterson, kids on Arkansas', Tennessee and Miss St teams, were top rated recruits. As for 'Bama, it's a little unfair, b/c this is a year where 'Bama has a lame duck coach and Auburn, well, Lebo's been on the hot seat for a few years now (you haven't even mentioned Mike Davis at UAB--who in part is responsible for another top 5 player, D. Cousins, leaving the state). And, as we saw the last few years with Brady, if recruits get the feeling that the natives are restless and the program is stalling, they stay away. So, as for LSU, is it different from Bama? Yes, I would not put LSU in Bama's category. First, LA like MS and 'Bama, for a state it's size, has good basketball talent--it's very hard to keep ALL of its talent in state, and it's hard to at times convince hard core hoops players of not playing hoops in the Big East or ACC where hoops is king--it is impossible to keep all the kids in state, especially if it's UNC or Georgetown calling. But, the other reason I'd say LSU is different is that when you really look at the history of SEC basketball, LSU is second only to Kentucky in terms of SEC titles. LSU has a history of Final Fours--as a result, you look at even the Brady era, you've got Stromile Swift, Brandon Bass, Glen Davis and Tasmin Mitchell who all signed with the home state school. If you look at Bama in the glory years of Mark Gottfried, he had some good classes too. It ebbs and flows with times and momentum of a program. We missed out on DJ Augustin and Greg Monroe lately, but give CTJ some time and I think we'll get them more than we lose them. Which brings me to CTJ. I think that given time CTJ will be a very established recruiter in LA and bordering states, b/c he's a winner and he is a great developer of talent. He won't land every recruit, b/c he's old school. He doesn't lead with how he's going to get Anthony Randolph to the NBA. He leads with you go to LSU to get an education, to play with your teammates and to play as a team--that is not going to land every one and done kid out there. But, I think it's going to help a lot with smart 3-4 star kids like Dotson, Ludwig, and hopefully next year with kids like Galloway, Derenbrecker and Williams--this is really part of your class that will be there for you 3-4 years. I think this season was needed for folks in the state, AAU coaches to see what kind of staff CTJ has, etc. I think that come spring recruiting on the AAU circuit, the LSU staff will be a more known commodity. Whether he's compared instantly to Coach K, Coach Self or Williams, is still to be seen---BUT, I think that if kids in the south want to play close to home, and develop as a player and student, they will listen to CTJ. That's all you can ask. I have a feeling like 2010 will be a real nice class, and build on what CTJ's staff can do from a recruiting standpoint. So, bottomline, while I think this year players from 'Bama are fleeing the state, you can't really blame them. In Louisiana, the good players are going to feel like LSU is always an option for them, and many of them will stay... :geauxtige LSU IS A BASKETBALL SCHOOL. BE A PART OF THE TRENT JOHNSON ERA.
I know there's a separate thread announcing this, but thought I'd put this news in the hoops 2010 recruiting thread. Last night, after a Miss title game, Scout reports that Jalen Courtney announces he's signing with LSU! This is tremendous news for a couple reasons. http://louisianastate.scout.com/a.z?s=107&p=8&c=1&nid=3403389 1. This is an EARLY commit, and a testament to the job that CTJ and staff have done this year. And, early commitments have a way of snowballing into convincing other kids to commit early too. 2. This is a Mississippi commitment to LSU hoops. When's the last time that LSU got a significant MS signing in hoops? Maybe Ronald Dupree? It's been a while, since Stansbury and Kennedy have made the two MS schools respectable and Brady couldn't break that hold. This could be a very good trend for the Tigers to start cherry picking good MS high school prospects every so often, especially when you consider that the likes of Chris Jackson have made up part of LSU lore from MS. 3. Courtney is a bona fide big man. Yes, he's 6'7"-8" ish. But, at a solid 210 he's a bigger guy who can, and is not afraid to, bang down low. He plays center on out 17', and averaged over a 20-10 in HS. I liken him to maybe a poor man's Brandon Bass. 4. Some folks are saying he made the commitment largely b/c he's been a LSU fan, but supposedly he likes the chemistry on the team. Likes CTJ, likes Aaron Dotson, and will try to recruit others to LSU. This is a very nice first early commitment in 2010. I'd like to wrap up maybe Brian Williams or Matt Derenbrecker next. :geauxtige LSU IS A BASKETBALL SCHOOL. BE A PART OF THE TRENT JOHNSON ERA.
i think its time for a 2011 thread. See we got a LA commit http://louisianastate.scout.com/a.z?s=107&p=8&c=1&nid=3997125
