Midnight Madness - 2015

what high school recruits did StJohn's host this evening at Midnight Madness ?
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Otis
Paultzman was kind enough to post the very impressive group of 2017 and 2018 recruits, as well as Shamorie Ponds in another thread.
Very impressive.
 
So did the place fill up? Lively crowd? Or did we actually miss the presence of the geezers?
 
what high school recruits did StJohn's host this evening at Midnight Madness ?
Click to expand...

Here is a partial list of expected attendee recruits:

StJohn's commit Shamorie Ponds Rivals #42 nationally class of 2016

Luther Muhammad (Hudson Catholic, class of 2018)

Atiba Taylor (Roselle Catholic, class of 2018)

Jahvon Quinerly (Hudson Catholic, class of 2018)

Louis King (Roselle Catholic, class of 2018, projected Rivals #18 nationally)

Andre Rafus (Roselle Catholic, class of 2017, projected Rivals #67 nationally)

Myles Cale (Shooting guard. Middletown, Delaware, class of 2017, projected Rivals #75 nationally)
 
I read that UCONN invited a desired recruit's entire team to their midnight madness. Seems like an effective way to build the brand, not to mention the desired recruit feels like a million bucks because his teammates know why they all got invited. Does SJU do this?
 
I just watched the video of the scrimmage. I was very interested to get my fist look at the new players. Although it is hard to read too much into a scrimmage here are some impressions.

1) Marcus LoVett- He is by far our quickest player. He seems to have an unbelievable motor and is a great ball handler. He constantly is running, penetrating and dishing. He will be very good in the open court, breaking down defenses off the dribble and making plays on the defensive end. His shot was not on and my best guess is that is not the strongest part of his game. I definitely hope he is eligible because he will be fun to watch and no one else on the team can come close to matching his skill set.

2) Federico Mussini- is going to get a lot of playing time. He seems to be our best outside shooter by far. He nailed three open three pointers, he also showed a good overall floor game, handles the ball very well and has good quickness.

3) Durand Johnson - Seems to me to be a really team oriented player. He made really good passes and always seemed to set up his teammates well. He runs the floor and displayed good athleticism. He is another player I expect that will see a lot of minutes.

4) Yankuba Sima - Raw but talented big man. I believe he has a very big upside. Runs the floor well, Is athletic and displayed a good touch on his shot. His size and athleticism should help greatly in defending the interior for us. He is a player that should see a lot of floor time and I believe he will get better and better throughout his St. John's career.

5) The Rest - In general the team showed outstanding passing and movement as a whole and I suspect this will be a mark of the Mullin coached teams. They seemed to have good energy and I suspect there will be a chance to see great improvement over the course of the season as they learn to play against real competition. Tarig Owens is long thin, quick and athletic. I think he can be a presence on defense when he becomes eligible next year. Malik Ellison showed off some good skills. He made a three (the only one made other than Mussini's). I think he will get some playing time and that he is another who is likely to improve over his four year time here. Kassoum Yakwe definitely has size and is raw but seemed like he will be able to develop with experience. We will need his size on the interior. Ron Mvouika seems like a complimentary player who can fit in, do a variety of little things well and should get minutes based on maturity and previous D1 court experience. I wondered why Darien Williams hardly played. Is he injured? Also Elijah Holifield did not play that much.

Of the returning players Christian Jones stood out as the player who shined the brightest last night. He looked very fit, quick and coordinated. I am wary that this is a mirage because I have seen flashes from him before but he looked really good during the scrimmage. Amar Alibegovic seems to be a bit quicker and more athletic than last year. I believe he might play less around the perimeter and more on the interior than he did last year. Felix Balamou displayed his usual high level athletic skills. I am sure he will get far more minutes this year than at any other time during his St. John's tenure providing he stays healthy. Surprisingly he made an outside jumper during the scrimmage. Hopefully there will be more of this to come.

Overall I am excited to see this team play. My expectations are not ultra high but I believe Coach Mullin has some talent to work with and hopefully can get this group to play some good exciting team ball.
 
I just watched the video of the scrimmage. I was very interested to get my fist look at the new players. Although it is hard to read too much into a scrimmage here are some impressions.

1) Marcus LoVett- He is by far our quickest player. He seems to have an unbelievable motor and is a great ball handler. He constantly is running, penetrating and dishing. He will be very good in the open court, breaking down defenses off the dribble and making plays on the defensive end. His shot was not on and my best guess is that is not the strongest part of his game. I definitely hope he is eligible because he will be fun to watch and no one else on the team can come close to matching his skill set.

2) Federico Mussini- is going to get a lot of playing time. He seems to be our best outside shooter by far. He nailed three open three pointers, he also showed a good overall floor game, handles the ball very well and has good quickness.

3) Durand Johnson - Seems to me to be a really team oriented player. He made really good passes and always seemed to set up his teammates well. He runs the floor and displayed good athleticism. He is another player I expect that will see a lot of minutes.

4) Yankuba Sima - Raw but talented big man. I believe he has a very big upside. Runs the floor well, Is athletic and displayed a good touch on his shot. His size and athleticism should help greatly in defending the interior for us. He is a player that should see a lot of floor time and I believe he will get better and better throughout his St. John's career.

5) The Rest - In general the team showed outstanding passing and movement as a whole and I suspect this will be a mark of the Mullin coached teams. They seemed to have good energy and I suspect there will be a chance to see great improvement over the course of the season as they learn to play against real competition. Tarig Owens is long thin, quick and athletic. I think he can be a presence on defense when he becomes eligible next year. Malik Ellison showed off some good skills. He made a three (the only one made other than Mussini's). I think he will get some playing time and that he is another who is likely to improve over his four year time here. Kassoum Yakwe definitely has size and is raw but seemed like he will be able to develop with experience. We will need his size on the interior. Ron Mvouika seems like a complimentary player who can fit in, do a variety of little things well and should get minutes based on maturity and previous D1 court experience. I wondered why Darien Williams hardly played. Is he injured? Also Elijah Holifield did not play that much.

Of the returning players Christian Jones stood out as the player who shined the brightest last night. He looked very fit, quick and coordinated. I am wary that this is a mirage because I have seen flashes from him before but he looked really good during the scrimmage. Amar Alibegovic seems to be a bit quicker and more athletic than last year. I believe he might play less around the perimeter and more on the interior than he did last year. Felix Balamou displayed his usual high level athletic skills. I am sure he will get far more minutes this year than at any other time during his St. John's tenure providing he stays healthy. Surprisingly he made an outside jumper during the scrimmage. Hopefully there will be more of this to come.

Overall I am excited to see this team play. My expectations are not ultra high but I believe Coach Mullin has some talent to work with and hopefully can get this group to play some good exciting team ball.
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Williams apparently is a bit hobbled
 
I just watched the video of the scrimmage. I was very interested to get my fist look at the new players. Although it is hard to read too much into a scrimmage here are some impressions.

1) Marcus LoVett- He is by far our quickest player. He seems to have an unbelievable motor and is a great ball handler. He constantly is running, penetrating and dishing. He will be very good in the open court, breaking down defenses off the dribble and making plays on the defensive end. His shot was not on and my best guess is that is not the strongest part of his game. I definitely hope he is eligible because he will be fun to watch and no one else on the team can come close to matching his skill set.

2) Federico Mussini- is going to get a lot of playing time. He seems to be our best outside shooter by far. He nailed three open three pointers, he also showed a good overall floor game, handles the ball very well and has good quickness.

3) Durand Johnson - Seems to me to be a really team oriented player. He made really good passes and always seemed to set up his teammates well. He runs the floor and displayed good athleticism. He is another player I expect that will see a lot of minutes.

4) Yankuba Sima - Raw but talented big man. I believe he has a very big upside. Runs the floor well, Is athletic and displayed a good touch on his shot. His size and athleticism should help greatly in defending the interior for us. He is a player that should see a lot of floor time and I believe he will get better and better throughout his St. John's career.

5) The Rest - In general the team showed outstanding passing and movement as a whole and I suspect this will be a mark of the Mullin coached teams. They seemed to have good energy and I suspect there will be a chance to see great improvement over the course of the season as they learn to play against real competition. Tarig Owens is long thin, quick and athletic. I think he can be a presence on defense when he becomes eligible next year. Malik Ellison showed off some good skills. He made a three (the only one made other than Mussini's). I think he will get some playing time and that he is another who is likely to improve over his four year time here. Kassoum Yakwe definitely has size and is raw but seemed like he will be able to develop with experience. We will need his size on the interior. Ron Mvouika seems like a complimentary player who can fit in, do a variety of little things well and should get minutes based on maturity and previous D1 court experience. I wondered why Darien Williams hardly played. Is he injured? Also Elijah Holifield did not play that much.

Of the returning players Christian Jones stood out as the player who shined the brightest last night. He looked very fit, quick and coordinated. I am wary that this is a mirage because I have seen flashes from him before but he looked really good during the scrimmage. Amar Alibegovic seems to be a bit quicker and more athletic than last year. I believe he might play less around the perimeter and more on the interior than he did last year. Felix Balamou displayed his usual high level athletic skills. I am sure he will get far more minutes this year than at any other time during his St. John's tenure providing he stays healthy. Surprisingly he made an outside jumper during the scrimmage. Hopefully there will be more of this to come.

Overall I am excited to see this team play. My expectations are not ultra high but I believe Coach Mullin has some talent to work with and hopefully can get this group to play some good exciting team ball.
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This was fantastic, thank you so much.
 
So did the place fill up? Lively crowd? Or did we actually miss the presence of the geezers?
Click to expand...


Those geezers have supported Redmen teams, good or bad, starting with the DeGray gym, Alumni Hall and MSG.
Click to expand...

Proud to be a "geezer"! Moose even said hello to me once, although he mumbled something that sounded foul under his breath, as he pushed me out of the way. What's with that guy? :)
 
So did the place fill up? Lively crowd? Or did we actually miss the presence of the geezers?
Click to expand...


Those geezers have supported Redmen teams, good or bad, starting with the DeGray gym, Alumni Hall and MSG.
Click to expand...

Proud to be a "geezer"! Moose even said hello to me once, although he mumbled something that sounded foul under his breath, as he pushed me out of the way. What's with that guy? :)
Click to expand...
Sometimes he can act quite lugubrious. ;)
 
I just watched the video of the scrimmage. I was very interested to get my fist look at the new players. Although it is hard to read too much into a scrimmage here are some impressions.

1) Marcus LoVett- He is by far our quickest player. He seems to have an unbelievable motor and is a great ball handler. He constantly is running, penetrating and dishing. He will be very good in the open court, breaking down defenses off the dribble and making plays on the defensive end. His shot was not on and my best guess is that is not the strongest part of his game. I definitely hope he is eligible because he will be fun to watch and no one else on the team can come close to matching his skill set.

2) Federico Mussini- is going to get a lot of playing time. He seems to be our best outside shooter by far. He nailed three open three pointers, he also showed a good overall floor game, handles the ball very well and has good quickness.

3) Durand Johnson - Seems to me to be a really team oriented player. He made really good passes and always seemed to set up his teammates well. He runs the floor and displayed good athleticism. He is another player I expect that will see a lot of minutes.

4) Yankuba Sima - Raw but talented big man. I believe he has a very big upside. Runs the floor well, Is athletic and displayed a good touch on his shot. His size and athleticism should help greatly in defending the interior for us. He is a player that should see a lot of floor time and I believe he will get better and better throughout his St. John's career.

5) The Rest - In general the team showed outstanding passing and movement as a whole and I suspect this will be a mark of the Mullin coached teams. They seemed to have good energy and I suspect there will be a chance to see great improvement over the course of the season as they learn to play against real competition. Tarig Owens is long thin, quick and athletic. I think he can be a presence on defense when he becomes eligible next year. Malik Ellison showed off some good skills. He made a three (the only one made other than Mussini's). I think he will get some playing time and that he is another who is likely to improve over his four year time here. Kassoum Yakwe definitely has size and is raw but seemed like he will be able to develop with experience. We will need his size on the interior. Ron Mvouika seems like a complimentary player who can fit in, do a variety of little things well and should get minutes based on maturity and previous D1 court experience. I wondered why Darien Williams hardly played. Is he injured? Also Elijah Holifield did not play that much.

Of the returning players Christian Jones stood out as the player who shined the brightest last night. He looked very fit, quick and coordinated. I am wary that this is a mirage because I have seen flashes from him before but he looked really good during the scrimmage. Amar Alibegovic seems to be a bit quicker and more athletic than last year. I believe he might play less around the perimeter and more on the interior than he did last year. Felix Balamou displayed his usual high level athletic skills. I am sure he will get far more minutes this year than at any other time during his St. John's tenure providing he stays healthy. Surprisingly he made an outside jumper during the scrimmage. Hopefully there will be more of this to come.

Overall I am excited to see this team play. My expectations are not ultra high but I believe Coach Mullin has some talent to work with and hopefully can get this group to play some good exciting team ball.
Click to expand...

Thanks so much for a detailed scouting report. I'd caution anyone to set expectations based on a scrimmage. A few years back I was chatting with a college coach about a local kid who looked really good in a televised hs all star game. The coach was dismissive and said, "No one plays defense in those games. He's a college player, but doesn't have a high ceiling." He was right. We all got (and some here are still excited) by the fact that Max hit some wide open threes in garbage time when the defense gave him all the room in the world. When defenses stiffened when it counted, the result was much different.

Still that was a great account of a first look. I don't form any opinions until the season starts and we play a formidable opponent.
 
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