Big Man On Campus Targets

Marillac2 said:
Freshmen centers not ranked in the top 50 are almost all useless on a top 25 team. If we added one, the plan would clearly be to use Prey at the 5 and the freshman only for practice and extreme emergencies.
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Strongly agree, the high school player targeted is not a game changer, but would be an emergency guy who would benefit from practicing v Zuby and Prey and hopefully stick around for 2026 - 2027 season. (HOPEFULLY lol)

I believe after adding this type big, SJ will be done recruiting and has potential after a lot of work re: chemistry, roles, rotations, etc. As noted, by many, Pitino & staff will have to work hard to get the new offensively geared up players to a reasonably effective level of defending. They need to have core competence at both ends of court to contend for a national championship imo.

No team is perfect, but psyched to see this group develop.
 
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lawmanfan said:
If we sign a guy named Maker does he automatically become Marillac's second-favorite after Ayo?
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No. My favorite player has always been Zuby. He doesn’t need the hype like my guy Ayo.

I really liked Maker long term. His shot-blocking would have really been a weapon, but he still needs to get his body ready.
 
paultzman said:
Strongly agree, the high school player targeted is not a game changer, but would be an emergency guy who would benefit from practicing v Zuby and Prey and hopefully stick around for 2026 - 2027 season. (HOPEFULLY lol)

I believe after adding this type big, SJ will be done recruiting and has potential after a lot of work re: chemistry, roles, rotations, etc. As noted, by many, Pitino & staff will have to work hard to get the new offensively geared up players to a reasonably effective level of defending. They need to have core competence at both ends of court to contend for a national championship imo.

No team is perfect, but psyched to see this group develop.
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NM
 
Marillac2 said:
Freshmen centers not ranked in the top 50 are almost all useless on a top 25 team. If we added one, the plan would clearly be to use Prey at the 5 and the freshman only for practice and extreme emergencies.
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Of course there are no absolutes here and the example I am using could be argued to be an outlier. However, for what it is worth Donovan Clingan was a significant contributor for the National Champion Huskies as a Freshman but was in fact outside the top 50.

Donovan Clingan - Basketball Recruiting - Player Profiles - ESPN

Learn about Donovan Clingan and other recruit player profiles on RecruitingNation.com.
www.espn.com www.espn.com
 
Rather surprised they are looking at a HS big as a sub for Zuby. Bigs usually take the longest to develop and a few mentioned here have the physique of a string bean which would likely not hold up against our competition. I guess they see Prey and Mitchel as Zubys back ups.
 
ghostzapper said:
Of course there are no absolutes here and the example I am using could be argued to be an outlier. However, for what it is worth Donovan Clingan was a significant contributor for the National Champion Huskies as a Freshman but was in fact outside the top 50.

Donovan Clingan - Basketball Recruiting - Player Profiles - ESPN

Learn about Donovan Clingan and other recruit player profiles on RecruitingNation.com.
www.espn.com www.espn.com
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Clingan was RSCI #37. Anyone that had him outside of 40 was just very off. He was very clearly a top 25 player.
 
Silly Donovan said:
Rather surprised they are looking at a HS big as a sub for Zuby. Bigs usually take the longest to develop and a few mentioned here have the physique of a string bean which would likely not hold up against our competition. I guess they see Prey and Mitchel as Zubys back ups.
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Plus you can’t count on players sticking around and developing.
 
Chriscin33 said:
This kid was also speculated..


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Played against much smaller competition but kid could benefit from practicing against Zuby. He's certainly ahead of Maker but not Vince imo. I don't think staff expected his departure but with all the scorers we could use a 5 minute backup who is a ferocious rebounder.

"Najai Hines of Plainfield is the 2024-25 New Jersey MaxPreps Player of the Year. The 6-foot-10 senior center led the Cardinals to a 29-3 record and their first state championship since 2012.

For the season, Hines averaged 18.8 points, 16.9 rebounds and 3.5 blocked shots per contest. He recorded double-doubles in all 26 games played.

Hines' most impressive performance of the season came in a 74-58 victory over Linden in the second round of the Section 2 Group 4 tournament when he piled up 32 points and 30 rebounds. He upped his averages to 23.8 points, 18.7 rebounds and 3.5 blocked shots per outing in six postseason games."
 
Sheesh......I was hoping for a better plan at back-up center. I get, if that is our biggest problem, then we are spoiled. However, I would have felt much better if we were continuing to work with Vince. As Marillac said, freshmen bigs are often......well......barely serviceable.

Zuby will need to stay healthy and Prey (as much as I like him) is not a traditional five.
 
JohnnyFan said:
Sheesh......I was hoping for a better plan at back-up center. I get, if that is our biggest problem, then we are spoiled. However, I would have felt much better if we were continuing to work with Vince. As Marillac said, freshmen bigs are often......well......barely serviceable.

Zuby will need to stay healthy and Prey (as much as I like him) is not a traditional five.
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My guess is Vince didn't see his minutes increasing with the arrival of Dillon. Hard to argue with that. While I agree Ruben is not a traditional five no reason he can't give us 7-8 mpg there imho if our last big isn't capable.
 
NCJohnnie said:
My guess is Vince didn't see his minutes increasing with the arrival of Dillon. Hard to argue with that. While I agree Ruben is not a traditional five no reason he can't give us 7-8 mpg there imho if our last big isn't capable.
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I think if Vince was going to be a sophomore or junior this upcoming year, he would have stayed. But with this being his last year, I am sure he wants to play more and make some extra $$$
 
Chriscin33 said:
I think if Vince was going to be a sophomore or junior this upcoming year, he would have stayed. But with this being his last year, I am sure he wants to play more and make some extra $$$
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I agree with this. But, if he wants to play 20+ minutes a game, he should look at an Atlantic-10 school (for example), not Georgetown.
 
JohnnyFan said:
Sheesh......I was hoping for a better plan at back-up center. I get, if that is our biggest problem, then we are spoiled. However, I would have felt much better if we were continuing to work with Vince. As Marillac said, freshmen bigs are often......well......barely serviceable.

Zuby will need to stay healthy and Prey (as much as I like him) is not a traditional five.
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Vince declaring for portal late boxed us in a bit, thus limiting our options. He was alerted to opportunities and made his choice.
 
paultzman said:
Vince declaring for portal late boxed us in a bit, thus limiting our options. He was alerted to opportunities and made his choice.
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I guess his vacillating during the portal month was related to the back and forth interest with Mitchell and then when he got final word Mitchell was coming, he knew he would have better options.
 
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