Ishmail Wainright, SF Baylor Verbal

[MCNPA]

 Lets not diminish Gathers. Hes a bull and we were dying to get him. We could have used another player w bulk. As much of a suprise as Jones seems to be, he is not in Gathers catagory. That said, Lavin has done a great job recruiting and will continue to do so. We have some great players on our radar.

 
Agree one thousand percent. Some of our fans as soon as we lose a recruit diminish his value because we didn't get him. Don't know for sure how good Gathers will be but he is definitely a BEAST. Anyone wanting to size him up better not insult him lol.

 

I'm not sure whether Christian Jones is on his level or not, but he has similar bulk as Gathers. No doubt though that Gathers is the much higher ranked player. Gathers is a bull without much of a skill set outside of 10 feel and known for his bullying in the post. Our Christian Jones seems to be similar in size and athleticism with similar game. Won't know who is better until we play, but nod goes to Gathers until proven otherwise. I wouldn't sell Jones short just yet though. Be fun to see them match up against one another though. 

I do remember a recent report that Gathers dropped 20 lbs this summer and de-bulked a bit, which would put him at about the same stature as Jones. Not sure Gathers can dunk from the FT like like Jones though.

 

[Jnaw17]

 Lets not diminish Gathers. Hes a bull and we were dying to get him. We could have used another player w bulk. As much of a suprise as Jones seems to be, he is not in Gathers catagory. That said, Lavin has done a great job recruiting and will continue to do so. We have some great players on our radar.

 
Agree one thousand percent. Some of our fans as soon as we lose a recruit diminish his value because we didn't get him. Don't know for sure how good Gathers will be but he is definitely a BEAST. Anyone wanting to size him up better not insult him lol.

 

Not diminishing him, but he is shorter than you want for a power forward. We knew that when we were recruiting him, and nothing has changed. I'm glad we got Obekpa as I think he is more of a game changer, but we'll see if we meet them in Charleston. I will say this, that once a recruit decides to go somewhere else, that's their problem. We will move on and not look back. If he doesn't want to be here, then we find someone who does, and then we root like hell that we pound them into the ground if/when we play. 

 

[guru]

 Jones and gathers are very similar but jones was very under the radar!! Like I said from what I've seen and heard jones will surprise everyone and is VERY game ready!!!

 

[SJUalum98]

 Lets not diminish Gathers. Hes a bull and we were dying to get him. We could have used another player w bulk. As much of a suprise as Jones seems to be, he is not in Gathers catagory. That said, Lavin has done a great job recruiting and will continue to do so. We have some great players on our radar.

 

I don't think it's a matter of diminishing Gathers. I always felt that even if we got him, he'd have all types of problems playing Forward in the Big East.

Jones is a legit 6'7 and more athletic than Gathers. Gathers from everything we can tell is the stronger of the 2.

Hey, we can all solve this by grabbing Jarell Martin in the spring. :ngrin: He was touted as the best player in Louisiana even as a junior.

 

[austour]

As I told "Happy" this morning I now hate Baylor almost as much as I hate Duke.

A few years ago my anger over this would linger for a while.

I'm still shocked because I was beginning to think he was a lock for us but if there was 1 position that was the least of our needs it was small forward.

After seeing how we recovered from the Gathers thing and actually pretty much of all of last year I'm not worried in the least and it's not even like we have that many schollies anyway.

Finally we are working from a position of strength. Season getting closer. Cant wait !!! 

 

Beating Baylor to win the Charleston Classic would also go a long way to pay back. Tall order though.

 


Agree MCN. Winning, in general, will bring more rewards in recruiting, but a win over Baylor would be icing. Is a very tough outing indeed.

 

I did take a peek at Baylor's roster and stats from last year. Their backcourt is by far their strength, with Pierre Jackson and Brady Heslip returning. Both are excellent shooters and double digit scores. Can't leave them open. Baylor's "weakness" is that they don't return any starters in the frontcourt nor double digit scorers. Their entire frontcourt is new, but there is size and talent there with Gathers, Austin and others.

If by any chance we advance to a game against Baylor, the key will be shutting down their backcourt and keeping Jackson from distributing effectively.

 

Well Isaiah Austin was a top 5 recruit and the #2 C in the country this year. And J'Mison Morgan was a top 25 big in the class of 2008 though he hasn't played in two years. Why he got his 6th year back I'm not sure. I'm sure CRGreen can tell us since he was originally at UCLA. And of course Rico was very highly ranked as well. They are a pretty well rounded team if the frosh and returning play to their press clips.