Hoops Recruiting (2012)

I read this somewhere else yesterday. I hope this is just a rumor.....

 

It's official. Hamilton is gone.

 

Hamilton is gone, TJ is leaving, LSU basketball is up the creek it seems. Wonder what the future holds now. Maybe it will all work out for the best...

 

Ok insiders, Johnny hit the ground running it says, will he be able to reclaim Gathers? Who else is he lookin at? Anybody out there have any information on basketball recruiting at all? I was kinda against him till it became official & now i'm kinda excited. This has got to be a step up from what we had in almost every way. Whats the word Horn & crew?

 

Gathers still hasn't signed with Baylor, but is supposed to on Monday according to his high school coach.

Hmmmmm.....

 

Hopefully Johnny Jones will read this article, or better yet already have this plan in mind. Looks like over the last 10 - 12 years a lot of high school basketball coaches in the state of Louisiana felt a bit alienated from LSU. With all the talent at Peabody and other programs throughout the state, LSU needs to be getting some of these elite players to stay home. Good read.


http://lsu.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1354702

 

Geert said he's telling his son to take a good look at LSU since the JJ hire! " but with Coach Jones there, I would fully advise him that I think LSU is a good place for him.”
http://louisianastate.scout.com/2/1177256.html

 

Yessir!

You have to think that this was a big part of the Jones/Alleva discussion. It's no coincidence that Geert played under JJones and Brown, and this helps solidify a LSU alumnus with 3 boys that play ball. It also doesn't hurt for 2013's class with Taylor's son. All in all, it's all about recruiting.

But, here's the first test. We saw what Trent could do right away with his announcement in 2008. He frankly laid somewhat of an egg. Signing Ludwig (probably to get his foot wet in N.O.), Dotson (who is now gone), and Bass (another LSU alumnus' brother), sort of laid the foundation for his years 2 and 3. You wonder now, if Trent either didn't have time to acclimate to the LA hoops scene (again, JJones won't have that problem, b/c he already knows the scene) or he just underestimated his recruits. For the sake of fans having something to get excited beyond the next month or so, where the prospect of the Tigers being good down the road, or a nice young coaching staff, NOW is the time when we see if JJones the "recruiter" is what he claims to be.

Here's the thing I'll say. People are giving him grief for being at UNT for so long, or not recruiting NBA talent. I'll give him some credit. Signing Tony Mitchell, and competing with Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, and every other big name program (AZ, UNC, Duke, etc.) coming into Texas to sign kids is going to be tough at a Sun Belt school. Would we ever bash a ULL or ULM coach for not being able to recruit against LSU? Who has Richard signed since going back to ULM? I think that JJones can set his sights a little bit higher now. What we do know is that he won at UNT more than anyone else before him and frankly, UNT was the best hoops program in the Metroplex (over SMU and TCU in the same time). The flipside to that of course, is that yes, he's now at a bigger platform. So, if he can't get kids turned on to LSU, is it a knock against him? Yes, probably. What's it does appear he's doing, as MrGreen says, is assembling a much different coaching staff at LSU. He's going "local" hard. Lock up LA, supplement that with Mississippi and Texas, and you really don't have to go too far national from that. Sure, you'll want to ocassionally get that kid from NY, GA, CA, TN or KY, but win with the players down home, and you build crowds, and the better national players will take notice.

Seems like the early impressions from Coleman and Hammink camp are good with the hire. The key now, is what can Jones do with kids like Martin (2013), Victor (2014)? Randy Livingston and Q White would be a huge asset there in N.O., but at the end of the day, the "glamour" of the hire will wear off, and kids will still be comparing LSU with the likes of UNC and Duke or Georgetown like Monroe did. Don't see Gathers turning, but if he did, wow, no better testament to the hire than that. In any case, recruiting now is two fold, what can Jones do with the same amount of immediate time that Trent did early, and then what kind of reputation resides there after the "glow" of the immediate hire, for 2013?

 

Word is CJJ is getting his first recruit sighed sealed and delivered today! I'll say it again he's hit the ground running. I'm thinking it will be Hammink or Pat Swilling Jr. Can't say PSJ excites me much because he and Morgan are similar in size and play the same position but take a look at the kids youtube highlights, kid can play. Looks like he watches a lot of Lebron James. He looks for the open three and he drives hard to rim. What I do like, he has a nice first step and he takes contact well! Thats what you need in the SEC. CJJ open up that NO pipeline and get few bigs!