You are correct, Issac doesn't want to lose. As far as willing his team, he did that the first game more so than the second. Against Lusher, it was more the had nobody sice or speed wise to stay with him. I have been to both games, more so since I coached Anthony Davis and Wynton Robinson in the past. Both games have been exciting and you can see JI mature right on the court during both of them. Now, if they can get past Episcoal, you will see Gathers (as long as they win) vs Issac, things could get interesting.
I have no idea what his stats were, but Ricardo Ratliffe played at CFCC which is where I went to college before LSU. He was the #1 JUCO prospect and went to Missouri where he's starting. IIRC grades were the reason he had to go there originally. I know he had interest from a lot of the SEC, ACC, and Big 12 schools and had his choice of where he wanted to go. I don't think LSU was one of them though. He was a damn good scorer. I'd guess he probably averaged 30/game. Anyway, moral of the story is that if you can get an elite JUCO player it's equivalent to getting a player good enough to start right away.
I want to say that at one point, LSU was on this kid. But, not very long. I think you are generally right. But, I've also seen LSU chase a lot of JUCOs, along with other schools (e.g., Ratcliffe, Casey Mitchel who signed with WVU), and the best guys usually are just as pursued as the top high school kids. Frankly, how many of them are "impact" players is really often up to debate. But, I'd guess that probably the top 20 or so JUCOs can make an impact. Thornton was certainly a kid that made sense. Jaime Lloreda made an impact. These were all top All-American type recruits. But, then guys like Quentin Thornton, or even a "mid-tier" guy, will probably be equivalent to a 4 year guy that you've had in your program. That said, I think that folks can go back and look at Trent's 2008 and 2009 recruiting classes, and probably criticize him for not recognizing the need for someone who could play right away. I'm not sure he felt the "urgency" at that time to get that JUCO player. At the same time, I think as a new recruiter in the South, he was probably gravitating to kids with LA-LSU ties... Bass, Ludwig, White, all kids that wanted to be at LSU. I don't think that he was early enough in the game to get an All-JUCO in 2008, and in 2009, he seemed content with Ludwig and Dotson. Hard to know who was there in the JUCO ranks. In any case, I think Dylan Talley is a strong candidate, no doubt.
Episcopal, Pickering aiming for Top 28 berth - Leesville, LA - Leesville Daily Leader Here is the article before last nights game. It was a good one, but JI and Pickering just couldn't hold on to the lead. The lost to Episcopal 54-51. Issac was his normal self, but maybe tried a little harder than he needed to at times. The star for Episcopal is c/o 2013 star Brian Bridgewater, whats our status w/ him. From what I have read he could be LA next Greg Monroe type recruit, a player we can't afford to lose imo.
One thing for sure, by the time Bridgewater is a senior the jury will be in on TJ. On Mr. Issac I guess I was expecting more scoring from him in the biggest game of the year for Pickering. 18 pts is not bad but if he is a great outside shooter 25-30 would have been more like it.. He is coming in as a shooting guard isn't he?
He is coming in as a combo guard and will play alot at the 1. As far as his outside shooting he is not as good as some people have said. he is however more of a slasher/get to the rim type of player. which is why he will play alot of PG for the tigers. W/ the way he gets to the rim and ability to pass that he has, guys like turner, stringer, derenbrecker, dotson (our perimeter shooters) should find them selves wide open next year. I agree after watching him alot this year I expected more our of him last night. But, like I said earlier I believe at some points in the game he just tried to hard.
...and the best thing is that there are no media manipulated stupid hat trick signing ceremonies !!!!!
