Transfers SJU May Get Involved With

[bobo]

I probably shouldn't take the bait, but Queens is far from a shit hole in 2017, and if you still lived in the borough (and I realize some do, like I do), you would have a better pulse on what's happening here, basically a rebranding of sorts, spearheaded by several elected officials, championed by Melina Katz. Whether that's made a true impact (yet) on the campus is probably debatable. For recruits, I think it's a case by case basis, and for many I don't think the campus beauty (or lack thereof) is a factor whatsoever. I speculated in another post that Kante visiting Georgia on a summer-like day and then coming to SJU on a wind swept rainy day just a few days later probably didn't bode well for us, but in all likelihood, it wasn't a factor at all.

I've been to most Big East campus's at one time or another. Many of them have a very similar feel to SJU...utilitarian, suburban/urban feel. Butler, Xavier, Providence, Creighton, Seton Hall...these are not "pretty" schools whatsoever. Villanova and Georgetown have a lot going for them in overall campus appeal, but nobody in our conference has MSG or NYC. Jamaica Queens is not the issue with our recruiting slump.

Gut feeling is the staff is doing a lot of things right on the recruiting trail, but hit a small skid of bad luck this spring. I'm still very optimistic about the long-term health of the program.

Go Queens!!

I agree with you on most points, however, you must realize that as great and fantastic Manhattan is for these kids, its also extremely expensive for them to enjoy what's available to them. These kids are not going to be taking a bus and train to Manhattan. They go by cab. Uber probably costs $20-$25+ each way. Their pockets are not very deep. Clubs are expensive. Food is expensive. Everything is expensive. Before SJU had dorms and the players were making money from their housing allowances they experienced a much higher standard of living than todays student athletes.

 

[kred]

Queens is not a shit hole. It is the most diverse county in the country.

Do you think the average high school star athlete cares if Queens is diverse though?

The things athletes generally look for we are probably lacking in. Sucks but it's true.

But somehow this trash school and area has 4 four star recruits ( Ponds, Yawke, Clark, lovett, and one five star recruit ( Simon).

I certainly didn't call it a trash school or area. And I never said we don't have nice players. But if visuals matter, and I have to assume they do, then a kid is going to see a lot of other campuses nationwide that will beat St. John's--rolling hills, mountains in the distance, the beach, tits as far as the eye can see.

I've always wondered why we haven't been able to sell to one-and-doners, though -- if you aren't going to be any place long enough to make a real connection, why not do it in NYC? I will say that if St. John's was located where NYU is, that would be a much easier sell, however.

Players only care about one thing. They go to programs that prepare them to make money playing the game. The campus barely fits into that equation. They are not typical students at this level.

At Kentucky yes. At Jamaica not so much. PT is more important so at the outside, maybe 1 or 2 will make a couple of bucks playing basketball but certainly not enough to sustain a career and raise a family.

 

[austour]

Queens is not a shit hole. It is the most diverse county in the country.

Do you think the average high school star athlete cares if Queens is diverse though?

The things athletes generally look for we are probably lacking in. Sucks but it's true.

But somehow this trash school and area has 4 four star recruits ( Ponds, Yawke, Clark, lovett, and one five star recruit ( Simon).

I expect Marvin Clark to be a nice little player for us but let's be clear, contrary to what many posters have stated recently, he was not a top 100 recruit and was rated 3 stars by most services including ESPN and Rivals.

 

[Red.Fans]

Queens is not a shit hole. It is the most diverse county in the country.

Do you think the average high school star athlete cares if Queens is diverse though?

The things athletes generally look for we are probably lacking in. Sucks but it's true.

But somehow this trash school and area has 4 four star recruits ( Ponds, Yawke, Clark, lovett, and one five star recruit ( Simon).

I certainly didn't call it a trash school or area. And I never said we don't have nice players. But if visuals matter, and I have to assume they do, then a kid is going to see a lot of other campuses nationwide that will beat St. John's--rolling hills, mountains in the distance, the beach, tits as far as the eye can see.

I've always wondered why we haven't been able to sell to one-and-doners, though -- if you aren't going to be any place long enough to make a real connection, why not do it in NYC? I will say that if St. John's was located where NYU is, that would be a much easier sell, however.

Players only care about one thing. They go to programs that prepare them to make money playing the game. The campus barely fits into that equation. They are not typical students at this level.

At Kentucky yes. At Jamaica not so much. PT is more important so at the outside, maybe 1 or 2 will make a couple of bucks playing basketball but certainly not enough to sustain a career and raise a family.

IMHO we've got 8 or 9 guys that will make "a couple of bucks" playing basketball including Alibegovic. Maybe 1 or 2 could spend time in the NBA based upon natural improvement of what we saw last season. After this season we could revise that.

 

[JackofVirginia]

Queens is not a shit hole. It is the most diverse county in the country.

Do you think the average high school star athlete cares if Queens is diverse though?

The things athletes generally look for we are probably lacking in. Sucks but it's true.

But somehow this trash school and area has 4 four star recruits ( Ponds, Yawke, Clark, lovett, and one five star recruit ( Simon).

I expect Marvin Clark to be a nice little player for us but let's be clear, contrary to what many posters have stated recently, he was not a top 100 recruit and was rated 3 stars by most services including ESPN and Rivals.

Yet Izzo thought enough of him to give him a schollie.

 

[L J S A]

I expect Marvin Clark to be a nice little player for us but let's be clear, contrary to what many posters have stated recently, he was not a top 100 recruit and was rated 3 stars by most services including ESPN and Rivals.

Decent scorer in high school, but not much of a rebounder. Muscular guy who's going to have to play as a undersized big for us for most of the game.

I'm not sure what others expect, but if he gives us 6+ rpg and leadership I think he's a huge success.

 

[logen]

Not to be even more of a downer, but right now don't we only have 9 eligible scholarship players for next year? Are we not at least a little worried about injury, foul trouble, the odd midseason defection/expulsion? There has to be a grad transfer out there that would want to play in the big east east and get an advanced degree on us. We could use bodies regardless of position.

Don't you get it? We aren't supposed to be concerned. If we don't get another recruit everything will be ok.
That's what many posters say.

Actually, don't you get it; almost universally posters would like to get another recruit; I don't know anyone who has posted otherwise. It is just some of us don't think this pervasive "end of the world" scenario is valid. Personally, I don't think the snide and snarky comments about Matt A. are appropriate; the guy has recruited some real talent here against tremendous odds in a very short time. I personally think we are going to be VERY GOOD next year, a tournament team and anyone who knows my posting I am far from a rosy eyed optimist. And that is regardless of whether we sign another "big" for no other reason than to sign one as many want to do. Not sure why my opinion is less valid than yours since yours is based on a lot of 'maybes"; maybe we have injuries, maybe someone is ineligible, etc., etc., etc., ad infinitum. Not arrogantly saying I am right but that is my belief; I have no problem playing small, I will take talent over size any day and I think we have seven talented players and hopefully Yakwe makes the jump many people think he is capable of, and I mean people not associated with the program. I think Ponds and Lovett and possibly Ahmed make serious improvements after getting a year under their belts; history tells us talented players make that leap between freshman and sophomore years and both obviously have very real talent. As I said we shall see.....................

 

[paultzman]

Not to be even more of a downer, but right now don't we only have 9 eligible scholarship players for next year? Are we not at least a little worried about injury, foul trouble, the odd midseason defection/expulsion? There has to be a grad transfer out there that would want to play in the big east east and get an advanced degree on us. We could use bodies regardless of position.

Don't you get it? We aren't supposed to be concerned. If we don't get another recruit everything will be ok.
That's what many posters say.

Actually, don't you get it; almost universally posters would like to get another recruit; I don't know anyone who has posted otherwise. It is just some of us don't think this pervasive "end of the world" scenario is valid. Personally, I don't think the snide and snarky comments about Matt A. are appropriate; the guy has recruited some real talent here against tremendous odds in a very short time. I personally think we are going to be VERY GOOD next year, a tournament team and anyone who knows my posting I am far from a rosy eyed optimist. And that is regardless of whether we sign another "big" for no other reason than to sign one as many want to do. Not sure why my opinion is less valid than yours since yours is based on a lot of 'maybes"; maybe we have injuries, maybe someone is ineligible, etc., etc., etc., ad infinitum. Not arrogantly saying I am right but that is my belief; I have no problem playing small, I will take talent over size any day and I think we have seven talented players and hopefully Yakwe makes the jump many people think he is capable of, and I mean people not associated with the program. I think Ponds and Lovett and possibly Ahmed make serious improvements after getting a year under their belts; history tells us talented players make that leap between freshman and sophomore years and both obviously have very real talent. As I said we shall see.....................

Somewhat disappointed Williams left, because he could contribute in spurts when healthy, but Yakwe improvement is real wild card. With our core guards & wings, I still think we can be middle of BE pack team & w/o injuries of significance, possibly sniff Tourney. If Yake makes a decent leap, season could be fun.

 

[beast of the east]

If physical basketball seems rough, recruiting is the real blood sport. Takes an enormous amount of ability and drive to recruit for a moribund program. Once you prime the pump it's different, but at this point Mullin and Matt have a gargantuan task on their hands - probably much more difficult than they ever thought.

 

[Las Vegan]

I have no idea how recruits size up schools these days, but I think we would be in better shape if all three assistant coaches were fully involved in the recruiting.

 

[redfan259999888]

Not to be even more of a downer, but right now don't we only have 9 eligible scholarship players for next year? Are we not at least a little worried about injury, foul trouble, the odd midseason defection/expulsion? There has to be a grad transfer out there that would want to play in the big east east and get an advanced degree on us. We could use bodies regardless of position.

Don't you get it? We aren't supposed to be concerned. If we don't get another recruit everything will be ok.
That's what many posters say.

Actually, don't you get it; almost universally posters would like to get another recruit; I don't know anyone who has posted otherwise. It is just some of us don't think this pervasive "end of the world" scenario is valid. Personally, I don't think the snide and snarky comments about Matt A. are appropriate; the guy has recruited some real talent here against tremendous odds in a very short time. I personally think we are going to be VERY GOOD next year, a tournament team and anyone who knows my posting I am far from a rosy eyed optimist. And that is regardless of whether we sign another "big" for no other reason than to sign one as many want to do. Not sure why my opinion is less valid than yours since yours is based on a lot of 'maybes"; maybe we have injuries, maybe someone is ineligible, etc., etc., etc., ad infinitum. Not arrogantly saying I am right but that is my belief; I have no problem playing small, I will take talent over size any day and I think we have seven talented players and hopefully Yakwe makes the jump many people think he is capable of, and I mean people not associated with the program. I think Ponds and Lovett and possibly Ahmed make serious improvements after getting a year under their belts; history tells us talented players make that leap between freshman and sophomore years and both obviously have very real talent. As I said we shall see.....................

Actually me personally, I never made any Matt A jokes, so you must be talking about others. Yes, I agree that they should be a very good team too, their backcourt is loaded. We seen in Artests last year (98-99?), that you could win without a big. They got to the elite8 with Tyrone Grant as the center at 6'7. Then in the elite8 game against OSU and Ken Johnson what happens?

Well in the middle of typing this I looked at reference.com to see the box score of that game.
The thing that stuck out to me was Johnson 7block shots and we only lost by 3 77-74, if we had a big blocking 4 or 5 of their shots to counter Ken, maybe we could have won.
I'll admit that I didn't know that we out rebounded them 41-26, and 18-3 on the offensive glass, and that Ken only had 4boards and 1 off board in 37minutes.

 

[Class of 72]

Queens is not a shit hole. It is the most diverse county in the country.

Do you think the average high school star athlete cares if Queens is diverse though?

The things athletes generally look for we are probably lacking in. Sucks but it's true.

The things your average 4 star athletes look for we have on the Jamaica campus. A great training facility. Brand name coaches. The chance to play in the greatest city in the world for athletes. Except for January and February, the weather is good.
What we don't have is buzz that comes with winning. .......period!
I have been to Storrs many times.......it sucks!
I took course at Baylor while in the military. Waco SUCKS BIG TIME!
I have never been to that hotbed of college basketball Spokane, Washington but something is making it more attractive than NYC.
And, having had nieces and nephews that went to St. John's AND NYU in the past 10 years, there is one universal thing we have in common with any college in America:

[/quote]

 

[fun]

what I'm saying is that considering the fact that we have one of the top recruiters in the country on our staff, we should be able to land one able due-tre star big body for next year to bolster our front line

Then you should say that. Had you said that, as opposed to "before he accomplished much of anything, Matt backed his bosses in to a corner and publicly negotiated himself a nice raise" I wouldn't have responded.

 

[fun]

Queens is not a shit hole. It is the most diverse county in the country.

Prison is pretty diverse too, but I wouldn't want to spend four years there.

Seriously and no offense intended but have you ever been off Long Island? Queens is awful and Jamaica makes Raleigh look like Paris.

 

[Class of 72]

Queens is not a shit hole. It is the most diverse county in the country.

Prison is pretty diverse too, but I wouldn't want to spend four years there.

Seriously and no offense intended but have you ever been off Long Island? Queens is awful and Jamaica makes Raleigh look like Paris.

Seriously? LMFAO! FUN, we take nothing you say seriously! That's why we love and hate you at the same time.
I know it's been a long time since you ventured to Queens and Jamaica Estates but St. John's actually looks like a college campus now with big trees, dorms with slutty coeds and even a Jitney bus to take students from campus to campus and dorm to dorm. Even Broadway and Times Square are changed from the peep show palaces you may have spent your Saturdays to big open malls with real babe's from Germany, Sweden and Italy along with some hot Dominican and Colombian girls.
Of course we can't compare to a "real" college town like Storrs or closer to your neck of the woods, Loudonville and good old Siena College.

[/quote]

 

[usguard]

Not to be even more of a downer, but right now don't we only have 9 eligible scholarship players for next year? Are we not at least a little worried about injury, foul trouble, the odd midseason defection/expulsion? There has to be a grad transfer out there that would want to play in the big east east and get an advanced degree on us. We could use bodies regardless of position.

Don't you get it? We aren't supposed to be concerned. If we don't get another recruit everything will be ok.
That's what many posters say.

Actually, don't you get it; almost universally posters would like to get another recruit; I don't know anyone who has posted otherwise. It is just some of us don't think this pervasive "end of the world" scenario is valid. Personally, I don't think the snide and snarky comments about Matt A. are appropriate; the guy has recruited some real talent here against tremendous odds in a very short time. I personally think we are going to be VERY GOOD next year, a tournament team and anyone who knows my posting I am far from a rosy eyed optimist. And that is regardless of whether we sign another "big" for no other reason than to sign one as many want to do. Not sure why my opinion is less valid than yours since yours is based on a lot of 'maybes"; maybe we have injuries, maybe someone is ineligible, etc., etc., etc., ad infinitum. Not arrogantly saying I am right but that is my belief; I have no problem playing small, I will take talent over size any day and I think we have seven talented players and hopefully Yakwe makes the jump many people think he is capable of, and I mean people not associated with the program. I think Ponds and Lovett and possibly Ahmed make serious improvements after getting a year under their belts; history tells us talented players make that leap between freshman and sophomore years and both obviously have very real talent. As I said we shall see.....................[/quote

I agree with you with the exception of Matt recruiting some talent since he has been here. He is doing what he has been hired to do. I would not want him to recruit non talent. I understand recruiting is difficult here all knew but he has not recruited a game changer yet,perhaps he will Also, Mitch has he been influential in getting us anyone ? Not trying to be picky but we all long for some action

 

[frank61]

This outright bad language is absolutely crude and should not be tolerated. Why are the moderators allowing this?

 

[Section3]

The idea that SJU can't compete for recruits because of the campus or no mountains or whatever is downright stupid. Sure there are some kids who want an idyllic setting in the mountains somewhere. However, we all know kids go to and choose schools for many varied reasons. If the original argument were true the University of Hawaii would be the top ranked program in the country. It is not. St. John's has trouble recruiting right now because we haven't done one thing and that is WIN. We have been a poorly run organization at least athletically for quite some time. Bad coaching hires, frequent turnover that has led to empty recruiting years etc.

I am sure we have a lot to sell in that we are located in the greatest city in the world with many opportunities during and after school. We just need to make sure we have the right people selling the vision.

I agree. Although the aesthetics might be an initial attraction, college becomes what it is - school. My daughter recently graduated from Penn State - a great campus and the quintessential college town. After a very short "honeymoon' it quickly becomes "been there done that".

If we win, we will turn it around...if we don't , it'll be more of the same. Hence, year 3 is critical.

 

[Las Vegan]

This outright bad language is absolutely crude and should not be tolerated. Why are the moderators allowing this?

I think it is because the main offenders are borderline personalities, possess weapons and have the home addresses of the moderators.

 

[redmannorth]

This outright bad language is absolutely crude and should not be tolerated. Why are the moderators allowing this?

Hello Frank61 I believe I posted a day or two ago , perhaps in the Darien Williams thread , asking posters to tone it down. Doing my best but I am not a babysitter and I truly have no desire to delete posts unless they are way over the top. We are all adults on this site and posters should behave accordingly.