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July 29, 2008 2:30am
Here is a look at the recruiting classes from writer of Calm Before the Storm column on Johnny Jungle, Garrett Knieste + quick analysis of those classes by Pico Dulce (of course Pico is not his real name), the proprietor of the East Coast Bias blog. For each team, we list the recruiting class, the individual player rankings from Rivals and Scout, and some short notes about how the school will be affected by the incoming class.
The format: Player name; Class (transferred from/ to if applicable); POSITION; Size; Rivals rank (in stars); Scout rank (in stars) –or– statistics from previous Division I school.
Obviously, some schools are very set in their rotation, and freshmen may be learning through limited minutes (let's say under 40% of the minutes they could have played). Other schools have needs, and will be plugging freshmen in to critical roles off the bench. And some schools will have serious needs and will have to depend on their freshmen to hold down a role. One or two freshmen can make impacts on a veteran squad, but leaning solely on freshmen is not a recipe for success, as we know from last year's St. John's team and 2007's Connecticut team. But the right freshman/ first year player can lead one's teams to all kind of heights. Purdue pulled off the 4-freshman roster off very nicely; freshmen can have program-changing impact at the Big East level as well.
By the same token, players and whole teams can regress as well; the impact of the freshmen can be offset by poor performance by the returning veterans, by team in-fighting, by coaching and player issues, and by injury. Players are spending the summer getting stronger, building endurance, and learning how to counter that team that scraped them last year. The Big East has some fluidity, no matter how many writers go off in June about how there will be 9 NCAA Tournament teams from the league. So take the early pre-season commentary with a grain of salt, and know that some team is going to come out of next-to-nowhere like Notre Dame did last year.
So, let's take a look at the incoming recruits of the Big East in Part 3 of 4 of this series continuing our path in reverse alphabetical order keeping an eye towards how they will play, and each team's early outlook for the 2008/2009 season:
Pico Dulce is a midwest guy with east coast roots. He enjoys watching his sports via satellite TV because you aren’t catching too many New York games in Chicago bars. PIco is a diehard Mets and St. John’s fan and yes he does have an East Coast Bias. You can email him at pico.dulce@gmail.com
Who’s In?
• Ashton Gibbs (freshman) PG – 6’2” 185lbs ***/ ***
• Dwight Miller (freshman) PF – 6’8” 220lbs ***/ ***
• Nasir Robinson (freshman) SF – 6’5” 210lbs ***/ ****
• Travon Woodall (freshman) PG – 5’11” 185lbs ***/ ***
• Jermaine Dixon (transfer from Tallahassee C.C. – Junior) PG – 6’3” 185lbs
Who’s Out?
• Mike Cook (graduation) – 24.9mpg, 10.4ppg, 2.8rpg
• Keith Benjamin (graduation) – 26.7mpg, 9.1ppg, 3.0rpg
• Ronald Ramon (graduation) – 31.7mpg, 8.5ppg, 3.6apg
Pittsburgh 27-10 (10-8)
Jermaine Dixon's status, last I heard, was in the air. Assuming he becomes eligible, Pitt will have numerous guards to choose from to fill the outside scoring hole left by their three seniors; Dwight Miller will provide depth. Gibbs and Woodall will get some run at the point guard position, dependent on Jermaine Dixon's status. Improvements to this team will come from the seniors Sam Young and Levance Fields and the sophomores Blair, Brown, and Wanamaker. Either Gibbs or Woodall will log some minutes at the point, but the team will depend on its veterans. This team loses 28ppg from their graduating players.
Freshman Impact: Medium impact. The freshman will have some say in how far the Panthers get, because someone has to take up the missing scoring slack for the departed Ramon/ Cook/ Benjamin trio. They will have more impact if one of them emerges as an outside threat, or plays a lot of point guard minutes, which would indicate something wrong with Levance Fields.
Overall: To be honest, I'm tired of picking Pitt to get to the Elite Eight. They should have the talent for it, but until I see it, I'll predict Sweet Sixteen. The Panthers could use some improved outside shooting, for when teams put the clamps on Blair or Young; Sam Young, in particular, looked terrible against Rutgers. The Panthers need their defense to be more dominant to be a top Big East club.
Notre Dame 25-8 (14-4)
Who's In?
• Ben Hansborough (transfer from Miss. St. – Junior) – 33.5mpg, 10.5ppg, 3.8rpg *must sit out 08-09 season
• Scott Martin (transfer from Purdue – Sophomore) – 14.3mpg, 4.2ppg, 2.0rpg *must sit out 08-09 season
Who's Out?
• Rob Kurz (graduation) – 28.6mpg, 12.5ppg, 7.1rpg
Notre Dame is pretty set with the roster they have now, though Rob Kurz was a big part of their interior game, especially on defense. His role will be taken by Zach Hillesland and Luke Zeller; the roster has height on the bench. The new recruits and solid transfers will be eligible in 2009, but 2008 is the Harangody/ McAlarney/ Tory Jackson show.
Freshman Impact: No impact.
Overall: Notre Dame will be pretty much as they were last year; if they can toughen their defense, they have a chance to be a top-4 Big East team… that's a big if. Their defense wasn't bad overall, but wasn't particularly good against quality opponents like Louisville, Georgetown, Marquette, and Georgia Tech. And the offensive turd the Irish dropped in the Washington State tournament game is a little worrisome. I don't know if I would pick them in the "big game," but they're closer to the top of the conference than last year.
Marquette 25-10 (11-7)
Who's In?
• Chris Otule (freshman) C – 6'10" 245lbs **/ **
• Joseph Fulce (transfer from Tyler J.C. – Sophomore) SF – 6'7" 200lbs
• Jimmy Butler (transfer from Tyler J.C. – Sophomore) SF – 6'6" 215lbs
• Liam McMorrow (transfer from Durham College, ONTARIO) C – 7'1" 260lbs *will redshirt 08-09 season
Who's Out?
• Dan Fitzgerald (graduation) – 14.3mpg, 4.2ppg, 2.0rpg
• Ousmane Barro (graduation) – 19.8mpg, 5.5ppg, 5.5rpg
• Lawrence Blackledge (graduation) – 6.7mpg, 1.6ppg, 1.5rpg
• Scott Christopherson (transfer – Iowa State) – 4.8mpg, 1.3ppg
Marquette brings in two JC forwards with good size and athleticism. Which is good, because one of those players might find himself logging minutes at center. Chris Otule may get more minutes than he is ready for; there is not much returning height on the team Marquette is heavily dependent on its guards, however, and there are some strong-bodied players on the roster like Lazar Hayward who will do the banging.
Freshman Impact: Medium impact; the guards will be as tough as ever and will enjoy more playing time from Trevor Mbakwe and perhaps Pat Hazel and Dwight Burke, but the team might miss Ousmane Barro's rebounding. The Golden Eagles never played very big, anyway, preferring to pressure and deflect and get steals.
Overall: They will go as far as their guards will take them, which should be a game or three into the NCAA Tournament, assuming they play a similar style to previous years under new coach Buzz Williams. Steals, disruptions and deflections will be huge for this team. And if their big three – James, McNeal, and Matthews, are going to hoist from the outside, they should… well, maybe they should reconsider.
Louisville 27-9 (14-4)
Who's In?
• Terrence Jennings (freshman) PF – 6'10" 225lbs *****/ ****
• Samardo Samuels (freshman) PF – 6'9" 230lbs *****/ *****
• Kyle Kuric (freshman) SG – 6'4" 175lbs ***/ ***
• Jared Swopshire (freshman) SF – 6'7" 195lbs ***/ ****
• Reginald Delk (transfer from Mississippi State – Junior) SG – 6'4" 175lbs (26.1mpg, 9.5ppg, 2.0rpg) *sat out 07-08 season
Who's Out?
• Juan Palacios (graduation) – 17.7mpg, 6.0ppg, 3.8rpg
• David Padgett (graduation) – 23.5mpg, 11.2ppg, 4.8rpg
• Terrance Farley (graduation) – 6.5mpg, 1.4ppg, 1.2rpg
Rick Pitino brought in the top power forward recruit (Samardo Samuels) a shot blocker in Jennings, and a deep range shooter in Swopshire, along with guards Kuric and the transfer Delk who can also shoot. Samuels will get a lot of run alongside Earl Clark, and Jennings will definitely have a chance to play now that Caracter is gone at least for the year. For Louisville to reach the Final Four, Edgar Sosa will need to improve his game; Earl Clark and Terrence Williams are already special players. The team should nickname Terrence Williams Young Dirty Bastard, because like Ol' Dirty, there's no father to his style. Blocks? Assists? Rebounds? He can do it all.
Freshman Impact: Strong impact; Samuels, at the very least, won't be the distraction and underwhelming performer Caracter was. And he might be a more consistent defensive presence, powerful rebounder and score; we could see DeJuan Blair's freshman campaign, but with a center's height.
Overall: The team didn't really need an impact freshman, but gets one to join an already good team. They may want to think about taking fewer three-pointers, but otherwise, this should be an Elite Eight or Final Four team. If the freshman can hit outside shots, this team will be able to come back in any game. Williams and Clark have to shoot free throws better; as a whole, the team shot 64.7% from the charity stripe. The lesson learned from this year's national championship is that while Memphis' free throw shooting might not have lost them the game, it sure didn't help.
Coming Soon...
Thursday 7/31/08 Part 4: Georgetown, Depaul, Connecticut, Cincinnati
Brent "Buzz" Williams is the head coach for men's basketball at Marquette University.[1] Williams took over as head coach on April 7, 2008 following former head coach Tom Crean's move to Indiana University. He served as head men's basketball coach at the University of New Orleans during the 2006-2007 season, and has also served as an assistant coach at Texas A&M, Colorado State, Northwestern State, Texas A&M Kingsville and The University of Texas at Arlington
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