Great news! And, great quotes from what seems like a great kid. It's frankly, too, one of the highly regarded N.O. kids, who toyed around with committing later. TigerBait.com - Morgan commits to LSU As I mentioned before, getting Gathers and Felix would have been nice but this is a kid that fits in the system, and really can score. You think about John Isaac and this kid playing behind Turner, Stringer and Hickey, and you've very substantially upgraded our perimeter. Which is going to keep LSU in games better. Now, need to lock up some bigs, and keep it rollin'.
Great to hear some good news from basketball land. This reminds me... I still need to renew my season tickets.
hoops recruiting Hornland, I know the list will change from time to time as players commit elsewhere or to LSU but do you or can you make a list of the players that LSU has made offers to? Its confusing out there as Scout for instance only shows four offers & don't even list some players that Yahoo lists & shows offers to.
TC, I'll say that there are probably other chat boards where this topic is getting better justice... I've noticed over the years that hoops chatting on TF is waning, so only the synopsises get posted. In any case, this is a good topic and one of course that only Trent and staff really understand and know. The issue of course is that going off publicly available sources like Rivals or Scout puts you in the imprecise hands of some "sources" that are incomplete in themselves. Who knows if those lists are up to date (i.e., offers that no longer stand or were never given by the school and only reported by the player) or actually on top of recent offers. In any case, I surmise this, Trent and team are after one or two guards and are largely focusing on SF wings, and big men. They got their guard in Malik Morgan, so I would imagine their focus is to find some big man depth, to transition guys like Warren and Hamilton when they leave. There are alot of versatile, athletic SFs on the board, b/c in Trent's system and in the SEC, you need rangy, athletic 6'7-6'8" guys that can do a little bit of everything. LSU was on some big names early, but now, the real question is how hard is LSU pushing and how interested are those big names. Those big names right now primarily reside in MS and TX, now that Gathers is off the board. There are a few names farther away, but to me, the key question is does Trent and his staff focus somewhere? It's fine to have the laid back "come to LSU if you're interested" approach if you're truly a national name, but it's harder this year. You really have be showing the love to these recruits, which requires a focus on your part, and at the same time, you have to be showing these kids that they fit best into your system. Here's my breakdown, relatively quickly, of at least supposed offers made, according to lists out there, and interest that may remain or that remain uncommitted: Troy Jones (PF/C, LA) LJ Rose (PG, TX) Devonte Pollard (SF, MS) Clyde Santee (SF/PF, TX) Robert Upshaw (C, CA) Wannah Bail (SF, TX) In addition to this list of "offerees", LSU has certain shown alot of interest in and get listed as a school of interest on a ton of other players' lists on Rivals and Scout. Key names on the not yet offered list, but LSU is hanging around list, include names like Shaquille Cleare (C, TX), Cimeon Bowers (SF, Midwest), Twymond Howard (SF, MS), Tamron Manning (SG, KY), and a host of other LA propsects, including Darryl Milburn, Michael Qualls, and Jamuel Samuels. Here's my quick theories on what I'd be doing if I were Trent. He's stated publicly that while he acknowledges that recruiting isn't going as well as he'd liked, he also knows that the LA 2013, 2014, and 2015 classes are getting deeper and more talented and I think he believes that if he can establish a reasonable bridge of talent in 2012, he'll have better luck finding the right mix of players locally that are interested in LSU to sustain something. Obviously folks have heard of Bridgewater in 2013, but I think Jarrell Martin out of Madison Prep in 2013, is a need to sign guy, for example (6-8-9", athletic SF/PF). Now, i wouldn't rest on my laurels in 2012 given where the program is and where Trent sits on a very potentially hot seat. So, I would like to sign at least 3 guys in 2012. To me, the key in the rest of the 2012 class is to try to find some talented SFs and/or one big man to fill the frontline void--one Center to learn under Hamilton, one PF to practice with JOB, and fill the void of us having a pretty thin 3 position... Ludwig and Jalen Courtney are probably the only "3s" in our system (and they are really both transitioning "4"s). If you were Devonte Pollard, for example, you'd come to LSU and start immediately probably--so I think that's certainly the message from the LSU side--the issue is can we get a Pollard to take a visit and can Trent really paint the picture where his system will prepare Pollard for the NBA (let's make no bones about it, Pollard wants to be a one and done). As such, I think that the primary targets for LSU seem to be either a MS target like Devonte Pollard or Twymond Howard (and perhaps hoping for an inside connection through JOB, Stringer) or a TX target like Santee or Bail. Frankly, if then you wanted to make a "package" deal, in TX, the class is so deep, you could really see if if a TX SF could be paired with a big, like Shaq' Cleare (reported a Maryland lean, b/c of them hiring Turgeon, but a closer "big man U" is right here closer in LSU) or Prince Ibeh, or another late bloomer big in TX. I personally like the idea of getting into Eastern TX with a kid like Santee or Bail, maybe then you have a chance at Cleare or Rose. But, right now those are very speculative. I imagine we have a better shot at a MS kid than a TX kid right now. You also can't underestimate the possibility of LSU hitting on a later pick up of a LA prospect--frankly, it may be that we'll be watching to see which LA senior blows up this coming year with a kind of Tyrus Thomas, Bo Spencer sort of signing. So, it'll be interesting on what shoe drops next. In any case, :geauxtige:bball:!
SEC recruiting breakdown... This is a tad dated (as noted, Felix's commitment had not yet been reflected), but this by far is the best SEC hoops breakdown to come out in the last few weeks... Hard core studiers can take a look... Basketball confidential: Part II I think what you can take from this is that Devonte Pollard, is seriously being pursued by SEC folks. What's interesting is that Miss St already has plenty of commitments and MS schools may be losing out on him, and Alabama seems to be leading for Pollard. However, Mississippi is in hot pursuit. Other leaders for Pollard had been reported to be Kentucky and perhaps G-town. But, according to this article Kentucky is actually prioritizing Archie Goodwin from AR (another SG with a LSU offer, but I didn't mention him earlier b/c he's really not had LSU in contention for some time). So, what if Trent, JOB and Stringer, and make a push to get a visit from Pollard? Pollard would be crazy to choose Mississippi over the Tigers, given how Kennedy has basically not developed a forward ever in the time he's been there. And, well Alabama. Not the first time we'll see a SEC recruit have to choose between Grant and Johnson. Grant may be seemingly the hotter coach given last year's surprise year, but time will tell--he was largely playing with Gottfried's seasoned recruits. Trent has some bigs for the next couple of years that Pollard may be well suited to play with. Trent also has taught both a set and a motion offense which favors wings and guys flashing out to shoot. Pollard needs that badly in his game to get to the NBA. He's a raw slasher with an ok shot if he has the time. But, working out of a system that's developed guys like Casey Jacobsen, Landry Fields, Marcus Thornton, might be something to consider. Turner certainly has blossomed, and I think a Pollard type of 6'8" athletic wing could benefit from Trent's system. As I mentioned before, I think getting that kind of 6'7 - 6'8" 3 who can play on the wing, is the next big key for this class, followed by a big body who can rebound and play post. This writer also has another name that has appears on Rivals' list, a PF Jamal Hester out of MS, to play that big.
Deontae Hawkins We can all debate the virtues of the "highly recruited one and done wannabe" versus the "prospect turned 3-4 year player", but make no bones about it, recruiting for college hoops is a difficult thing to project. Case in point, while losing out on a Ricardo Gathers for 2012 (note: there is some skuttlebutt out there that his recruitment's not over yet), a top 35 sort of kid, here's another name to add to the mix: Deontae Hawkins, a 6-7 200 lb kid out of Ohio. Apparently, LSU has scouted him early, and while it's unclear whether he ever got an offer (or whether he's got LSU at the top of his list), the description of the kid is intriguing. ALL-OHIO RED F DEONTAE HAWKINS OPENS EYES ON AAU TRAIL | NBE Basketball Report Since this article, he's apparently hauled in various SEC offers, and he's sort of blown up--will likely visit Georgia, Auburn & Tennessee along with Dayton (where Matt Derenbecker transferred to). The kids an athletic project perhaps, but heck, who knew about Tyrus Thomas before he blew up? I have a feeling that Trent and team are going to be looking hard for some of these types. Devonte Pollard, Wannah Bail, Clyde Santee, Deontae Hawkins, Michael Qualls, Troy Jones?.. that athletic, versatile SF/PF guy is what we're looking for.
Jarmal reid is another guy trent should go hard at,the report on him is he has the same physical game as ricardo gathers but a better outside game says he consistently knocks down the three point shot. Scout shows him with interst in LSU.
