I have heard about Odoh....JUCO Center. The Swilling thing is puzzling as hell. No one seems to know what the real story is with him.
Dandy Dons Site (dons son) is reporting of a staff hiring - Robert Kirby for the basketball team. suppose to be a great recruiter.. anybody have anything on this?
TigerBait broke this story... http://lsu.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1360222 If this sticks, Wow, CJJones, wow. I like this assistant hiring ALOT--although some of the home town guys might still be wondering if Livingston gets his crack. However, Kirby, has a ton of SEC experience as a assistant for Miss St. (read extensive recruiting ties in MS), and now has had a chance to learn from one of the better coaches in the game, JTIII. Throw in the fact that he was a lead recruiter for Gtown for Devonta Pollard (McD AA from MS who has still not signed) and you just have to be impressed with how CJJones is putting together a staff and being aggressive as all get out. I've always said, if LSU could recruit LA, TX, and MS effectively, it would be a national contender. And, that's clearly the way CJJones is going about it. He's got Forrest for TX, Kirby for MS, and presumably he'd cover LA. It's a great recruiting staff that's for sure. And, as far as Pollard goes, I don't know what's going to happen, but rumor was that GTown, Texas and Alabama were frontrunners, although his Mom was pushing for closer to home. Now does LSU get into that mix, as a much closer to home? With CJJones different style than CTJ, Pollard will also frankly fit much better into his style of play. Pollard is a versatile slasher, who would like to develop a more refined 3 game. Interestingly though, Trent has already signed Coleman (juco). You could have some serious competion at the big wing spot. Although, Pollard at closer to 6'8" might be a slashing 4 in a smaller, quicker line up. It's getting very interesting folks. Very interesting.
I'm excited too Horn....this hire is something that we will not be able to completely quantify for several years, once we've seen the results of his recruiting and coaching efforts. That said, just the fact that we are drawing interest from McDAA's when only three weeks ago our recruiting conversations were all revolving around three names: Hammink, Coleman & Pelle; only two of which were viable to begin with, speaks volumes about the direction of the program. That is no slight to Hammink or Coleman, both of which will be crucial to our rebuilding effort, but our choices were limited. Not anymore! Deaf Dome is coming back, baby!
Is there a time limit on the recruiting period we are in now? Seems like I saw something about it ending Sunday @ 6pm?
was just looking at 2013 prospects on scout.com and, given the way our recruiting strategy seems to be rounding into shape, we are going to have a sh*t ton of top end talent within our grasp. take a look at the list I assembled below. I stopped with just 5 stars and 4 stars or this list could have gotten out of hand. five of these kids already list LSU among their favorites. enjoy.... ***** PF - Julius Randle (6-8,215) Plano, TX ***** PG - Andrew Harrison (6-5, 205) Richmond, TX ***** SG - Aaron Harrison (6-5, 205) Richmond, TX ***** SG - Keith Frazier (6-4, 180) Dallas, TX ***** SF - Nick King (6-6, 210) Memphis, TN ***** PF - Jonathan Williams (6-8, 190) Memphis, TN ***** PF - Jordan Mickey (6-7, 190) Arlington, TX ***** PG - Anthony Barber (6-1, 165) Hampton, VA (Lists LSU among favorites) **** PF - Jarrell Martin (6-7, 210) Baton Rouge, LA (Lists LSU among favorites) **** C - Moses Kingsley (6-9, 225) New Albany, MS (Lists LSU among favorites) **** C - Austin Nichols (6-9, 205) Memphis, TN (Lists LSU among favorites) **** PF - Brian Bridgewater (6-6, 230) Baton Rouge, LA (Lists LSU among favorites) **** C - Karviar Shepherd (6-9, 210) Arlington, TX I am sure Horn can expound on this list but at least you can see that the talent pool is rich for 2013 in our neck of the woods. With our current coaching staff I really like our chances of landing a banner crop next year. I haven't been this excited about LSU basketball in many moons...
How many openings will we have in 2013? I know its not a hard number because of the variables but just a educated guess.
We had 12 on scholarship this year, so 1 was open already, plus the 3 seniors and Justin Hamilton leaving, means we have 5 available scholarships this year, not counting any transfers. Ludwig will be a senior next year, so that's another one. If only Turner and Stringer are transferring, and no one leaves early next year, we will have 8 scholarships become available this year and next. Coleman, Hammink, and Morgan will take 3 of those. Assuming no one leaves early for the NBA draft and Turner and Stringer are the only transfers this year or next, we will have 5 available scholarships next year. Assuming no one leaves early for the NBA draft next year and no one transfers this year or next, we will have 3 available scholarships next year.
