Harrison Barton #11

[Stallion]

Barton becomes the 3rd SMU commit in the Vype Magazine Greater Houston Top 50 coming in at No. 43. That's a pretty decent spot-Greater Houston doesn't have quite as many prospects as DFW but I always differentiate the DFW Top 50 from Top 100 because some in the bottom half are actually pretty average recruits

http://vype.com/houston/2015/05/01/hous ... he-spring/

[Pony_Law]

His offer list doesn't get me excited, but his film sure does. He is extremely mobile and athletic and carries 285 lbs well. Will be an athletic 310 lb guard in no time. Think he may be overlooked being at a small private school.

You never know with offers lists. Maybe football is second to education with this kid and as a result he made it clear that he was only interested in top tier academics. That eliminates a whole host of schools.

[leopold]

Well, 6-3 285 is a heckuva place to start.

Congratulations Barton! You'll love it here!

[Morris Code 11]

A few quick thoughts since I know you all hang on my every word:

1 - Him at center. I agree. You want intelligence, leadership, quick motor reflexes, and long arms at center. It looks like he has all of that except I don't know how long his arms are. But if he's got the first 3, long arms is not primary.

2 - His offers list. Many of the verbal commits coming in this week, on the surface, don't look very good and we might be complaining if this was the previous regime. HOWEVER, the one thing I keep reminding myself is that we are laying foundational relationships at these critical HS programs (Cedar Hill, Manvel, etc etc). It's not so much about getting their BEST players (although that would be ideal), it's about taking care of those coaches and building solid relationships with the 16 and 17 kids to establish pipelines and solid reputations that will push over kids on the fence that have, say, a Houston offer or several distant P5 offers (and maybe even cherry pick a stud or 2 here and there). Having said all that, I still think we get our fair share of 3 stars and a 4 star or two by the time this class wraps up and be in the top 50 (top 5 G5) once it's all said and done. And then 2017 being MONSTER.

While I think building a pipeline is important, we aren't offering kids just to appease their high school coaches. Our coaches priority #1 is getting talent, if you take care of a coach and build a pipeline as a by-product of that, great. You don't fill up half of your offers to build relationships, I think that's the least of their worries. Relationships is the only thing we have, what we don't is talent.

[ojaipony]

A few quick thoughts since I know you all hang on my every word:

1 - Him at center. I agree. You want intelligence, leadership, quick motor reflexes, and long arms at center. It looks like he has all of that except I don't know how long his arms are. But if he's got the first 3, long arms is not primary.

2 - His offers list. Many of the verbal commits coming in this week, on the surface, don't look very good and we might be complaining if this was the previous regime. HOWEVER, the one thing I keep reminding myself is that we are laying foundational relationships at these critical HS programs (Cedar Hill, Manvel, etc etc). It's not so much about getting their BEST players (although that would be ideal), it's about taking care of those coaches and building solid relationships with the 16 and 17 kids to establish pipelines and solid reputations that will push over kids on the fence that have, say, a Houston offer or several distant P5 offers (and maybe even cherry pick a stud or 2 here and there). Having said all that, I still think we get our fair share of 3 stars and a 4 star or two by the time this class wraps up and be in the top 50 (top 5 G5) once it's all said and done. And then 2017 being MONSTER.

While I think building a pipeline is important, we aren't offering kids just to appease their high school coaches. Our coaches priority #1 is getting talent, if you take care of a coach and build a pipeline as a by-product of that, great. You don't fill up half of your offers to build relationships, I think that's the least of their worries. Relationships is the only thing we have, what we don't is talent.

I hear you. All I'm saying is relationships are first then talent comes (and we WILL be getting talent in 2016 and even more after that BECAUSE of the relationships and pipelines are being built -- not mutually exclusive).

[blackoutpony]

There is exactly a zero percent chance that you could be the #5 G5 class and be top 50. There probably won't even be 1 G5 class in the top 50 (maybe Houston and that's it). Top 5 G5, whatever that is, would be a great start.

[Stallion]

yeah usually averages about 1-2 per year especially with TCU, Louisville and Utah part of P5 Conferences. BYU is neither fish nor foul. UCF has done it. USF has recently. Cincy I think. Boise. UH has a shot