Rice Basketball Recruiting

by **George S. Patton** » Wed Nov 05, 2008 12:38 pm

Billy Joe wrote:Bottom line: SMU basketball has underachieved and done less with more than most programs in the country. When was the last time SMU basketball was relevant? When was the last time SMU had a winning conference record? Our competition is still out recruiting us and many of you simply make excuses for it. It is the primary reason we lose. How long does Doh get around here? We built one of the nicest basketball facilities in the country. I expect better results with recruiting and on the court than what is currently happening. No more excuses.

You do that

by **PonyDoh** » Wed Nov 05, 2008 10:41 pm

Jai Lucas is transferring from Florida. Pretty decent rumor that he's looking at local schools, Rice & Houston.

by **George S. Patton** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 9:14 am

PonyDoh wrote:Jai Lucas is transferring from Florida. Pretty decent rumor that he's looking at local schools, Rice & Houston.

Side note on that: When Minnesota coach Tubby Smith was at Kentucky, that was the lost recruiting battle the pretty much got the Blue Nation all over him and accelerated his departure. I think I remembered this story correctly.

Interesting how the lives of Smith and Lucas have changed.

by **PonyDoh** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 10:26 am

George S. Patton wrote:
PonyDoh wrote:Jai Lucas is transferring from Florida. Pretty decent rumor that he's looking at local schools, Rice & Houston.

Side note on that: When Minnesota coach Tubby Smith was at Kentucky, that was the lost recruiting battle the pretty much got the Blue Nation all over him and accelerated his departure. I think I remembered this story correctly.

Interesting how the lives of Smith and Lucas have changed.

It'll be interesting to see how Paul McCoy performs for SMU. He was the recipient of what many call the "Jai Jump.' By waiting till Spring, and holding out as long as possible, a good player suddenly becomes great. The number of offers he gets goes through the roof etc. In Jai's case, he's a gnome w/o superior quicks. Very good player, but it's hard to compensate for being that small, when you aren't that quick/fast.

I believe McCoy was a 3 star type prospect until the Kentucky/UVAs started sniffing, then all of the sudden, he's a 4 star kid. I just hope he plays up to his potential.

by **mathman** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 10:41 am

What happened with Lucas to make him leave? Haven't heard.

by **PonyDoh** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 10:54 am

mathman wrote:What happened with Lucas to make him leave? Haven't heard.

He's not on the same planet as Nick Calathes as a player. Donovan isn't going to take the ball out of Calathes' hands to make Jai the PG. Beyond that, They have Kenny Boynton coming in, and a frosh that has surprised, who is going to eat some of his minutes.

In short, he was recruited over. Some homesickness has been thrown around as well. Either way, Doh should call John Lucas and see what is up. If we were recruiting Nick Russell/Will Cherry etc, might as well make a run at Jai

by **ponyboy** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 10:55 am

PonyDoh wrote: I believe McCoy was a 3 star type prospect until the Kentucky/UVAs started sniffing, then all of the sudden, he's a 4 star kid. I just hope he plays up to his potential.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I've sort of discounted the four star rating based upon the above. But if he plays like a three star guy, we'll get some good mileage out of him.

by **The XtC** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 4:16 pm

[quote="PonyDoh"][quote="mathman"]What happened with Lucas to make him leave? Haven't heard.[/quote]

He's not on the same planet as Nick Calathes as a player. Donovan isn't going to take the ball out of Calathes' hands to make Jai the PG. Beyond that, They have Kenny Boynton coming in, and a frosh that has surprised, who is going to eat some of his minutes.

In short, he was recruited over. Some homesickness has been thrown around as well. Either way, Doh should call John Lucas and see what is up. If we were recruiting Nick Russell/Will Cherry etc, might as well make a run at Jai[/quote]

Jai started at point guard last year, but Calathes took the job from him. They tried moving Jai to shooting guard (He started their first exhibition game this year), but there is a logjam for playing time there, it really isnt Lucas's position, and his height is detrimental when facing a taller defender. Bottom line is that he isnt happy there. Homesickness and seeing a reduced role for himself within the team will do that sometimes. Donovan doesnt seem that upset about him leaving.

by **Stallion** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 5:16 pm

PonyDoh I too think there might be something to Spring Recruiting Jump-but not in all cases. I'm sure you are well aware some players improve dramatically both physically and on the Court in all sports. I think you can also make the argument that players that don't perform well during their Senior Season are often overhyped. Just trying to point out that preseason lists are sometimes very flawed-I see it more in Football. Senior years should be considered too.

by **George S. Patton** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 5:18 pm

Which is exactly why national team rankings shouldn't start until December.

by **Stallion** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 5:23 pm

any recruiting service that doesn't periodically adjust its rankings to reflect the most current evidence is flawed. Rivals does adjust its Top National, State, Position and Star rankings so its more accurate in my opinion. (Talking Football)

by **mathman** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 6:14 pm

Stallion, how often do they do the adjustments?

by **Stallion** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 6:58 pm

throughout the year. The position, State and National rankings I would say are adjusted at the very least 4 times and the star rankings adjust throughout the year-about 3-4 of SMU's 6 3 stars at least have been adjusted upwards this year. Heck I think they all have really-as I don't remember any starting out a 3 star except for Fontana

by **PonyDoh** » Fri Nov 07, 2008 11:02 am

Stallion wrote:PonyDoh I too think there might be something to Spring Recruiting Jump-but not in all cases. I'm sure you are well aware some players improve dramatically both physically and on the Court in all sports. I think you can also make the argument that players that don't perform well during their Senior Season are often overhyped. Just trying to point out that preseason lists are sometimes very flawed-I see it more in Football. Senior years should be considered too.

Stallion, I completely agree that kids improve over the course of a season, both physically and w/regards to certain learned skill sets. Unfotunately, actual scholastic seasons seem to be of very little importance in hoops evaluations/rankings. In recent years, most or all updates seem to come right before or after open evaluation periods. The only jumps you get in the spring, after senior year, are for those kids that held out, got a slew of offers etc. I've never seen a kid in hoops, get bumped up a star or two, after their senior season, just b/c they played well.

Obviously, kids get bumped up all the time in hoops, just based on who they gave a verbal to. A 4 star kid that verbals to Dook has a shot at 5 star, that sort of thing. Anyway, its a pretty flawed system that almost completely discounts high school ball. Hoops rankings are AAU and camp based

by **EastStang** » Fri Nov 07, 2008 11:56 am

These camps and AAU travelling teams also mean that certain kids will never go to a certain school depending on the shoes that the school wears. For example a kid from a Nike sponsored AAU team, will not have much access to a coach from an Adidas team and vice versa. But of course that is not the sort of thing the NCAA worries about. So in addition to having to be a great recruiter and floor coach, a coach has to figure out how to get around the AAU coach who has a shoe contract with a different company.

Rice Basketball Recruiting

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