Recruiting 2019

[VUGrad1314]

Any word on Akot? Has Valpo registered interest in him? Do we know who's in on him?

[VU2014]

Any word on Akot? Has Valpo registered interest in him? Do we know who's in on him?

Haven't heard but I'd hope they would and I'd hope Daniel would make a solid recruiting pitch for us. He's a SF which, just so happens to be a serious position of need for us in 2020-2021 season which is also when he'd be eligible again. I'm thinking our coaches will definitely reach out though.

He is going to be a highly coveted transfer. Just because he didn't find great success at Arizona doesn't mean P5s won't come calling. He'd be a huge recruiting get for us. This total speculation on my part but I think Utah will be a contender because he nearly committed to them before eventually committing to Arizona.

[VUGrad1314]

The in-conference transfer issues might make a move to Utah hard but I'm sure there's always a workaround.

[tiny707]

Akot is a 4.7 star recruit per verbal commits.

[valpopal]

Any word on Akot? Has Valpo registered interest in him?

[VUGrad1314]

Any word on Akot? Has Valpo registered interest in him?

That's exciting! Visit coming soon?

[VUGrad1314]

Akot is a 4.7 star recruit per verbal commits.

You don't get that by accident. He would do great in the  MVC if he chose to come here.

[wh]

Any word on Akot? Has Valpo registered interest in him?

That's exciting! Visit coming soon?

It certainly doesn't hurt that Daniel has become a starter and bypassed older, more experienced/established players in the process. That sends a message to a potential recruit that despite a ton of returning players playing time is up for grabs.   

[wh]

Why did Emmanuel Akot choose to leave the Arizona Wildcats now?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/tucson.com/sports/arizonawildcats/basketball/pascoe/why-did-emmanuel-akot-choose-to-leave-the-arizona-wildcats/article_ea4ef532-1927-11e9-a917-a7d48b25ce0c.amp.html

[FieldGoodie05]

Why did Emmanuel Akot choose to leave the Arizona Wildcats now?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/tucson.com/sports/arizonawildcats/basketball/pascoe/why-did-emmanuel-akot-choose-to-leave-the-arizona-wildcats/article_ea4ef532-1927-11e9-a917-a7d48b25ce0c.amp.html

Having watched some of his highlight tapes, this is a very confident young man.  He's interested in show boating after his dunks which by itself is "meh".

I'd be most interested to see if he's a fit with our basketball culture first and foremost.   Someone earlier said it best that our program is a team effort whereas some programs have perennial conference player of the year candidates. I think we fared better with athletes who are one step down from this but can play in a team system.

https://youtu.be/H5hdmNel6R4

[SanityLost17]

Akot represents the perfect kind of transfer we are looking for our 1 scholarship next year (assuming no transfers).   A forward who sits next year and has 2 years of eligibility remaining right when graduation hits us hard.  It doesn't have to be this guy, but a guy like this is who we should be looking for.   

I will say the fact that he didn't play out the year for his team and then transfer is a bit concerning, but with talent like that you would be willing to roll the dice and hope he conforms in his year on the practice team.

This is another example of where winning helps.   I said we needed to go at least 11-7 to get enough buzz going to keep any of our studs from exploring grad transfers.  Same goes for recruiting.  If we somehow stay in the top 3 in the MVC this year that keeps our current players excited and might make an elite transfer excited to join up as well, especially if they know they are likely to be "the guy" after a big graduation of successful seniors.   

[VU2014]

Wisconsin and Minnesota are keeping tabs on Skogman's recruitment. Rutgers has also offered. I think he's probably a long shot to sign with VU but worth providing an update.

https://twitter.com/McNamaraRivals/status/1089201239450103808

[VU2014]

Wisconsin and Minnesota are keeping tabs on Skogman's recruitment. Rutgers has also offered. I think he's probably a long shot to sign with VU but worth providing an update.

https://twitter.com/McNamaraRivals/status/1089201239450103808

and there is the Minnesota offer

https://twitter.com/dskogman42/status/1089694143088128001

[VUGrad1314]

Time to put the eggs in the Akot basket and hope that Sackey and the coaching staff can bring him here?

[wh]

Time to put the eggs in the Akot basket and hope that Sackey and the coaching staff can bring him here?

Next year's team should be pretty stacked as is. Minutes for an incoming freshman will probably be pretty limited. Akot, on the other hand, would have the whole year to practice with the team and develop his game (especially his shooting), and prepare for a huge redshirt junior year, along with future stars Javon and Daniel. THAT would be a 3-headed monster for 2 hopefully memorable years.

[VU2014]

Time to put the eggs in the Akot basket and hope that Sackey and the coaching staff can bring him here?

Next year's team should be pretty stacked as is. Minutes for an incoming freshman will probably be pretty limited. Akot, on the other hand, would have the whole year to practice with the team and develop his game (especially his shooting), and prepare for a huge redshirt junior year, along with future stars Javon and Daniel. THAT would be a 3-headed monster for 2 hopefully memorable years.

I'd like Akot as well but if there happens to be a transfer and scholarships frees up I'd like it to go to a freshman center. Use next season as "grooming" period for the Center of the future. Life after Smits and Sorolla at the Center position could have a lot of growing pains if we hand the keys to a freshman... Remember the Smits and Sorolla's freshman/Sophomore seasons? Let's try and mitigate the rebuild at that position. That may have been the game plan with Bediako but he chose to go to Santa Clara.

[NativeCheesehead]

A dude who got an offer from Arizona is not coming here. Period. End of Story. (Unless his name is Casey.)

[VU2014]

A dude who got an offer from Arizona is not coming here. Period. End of Story. (Unless his name is Casey.)

It's unlikely but it's not impossible. It all depends on what the kid wants. It may help having his friend Daniel Sackey on the team. It at least may get us a look. We also could offer him immediate playing time when he'd be eligible again. If our Coaches could build a relationship with him, you never know.

[Valpo2013]

A dude who got an offer from Arizona is not coming here. Period. End of Story. (Unless his name is Casey.)

It's unlikely but it's not impossible. It all depends on what the kid wants. It may help having his friend Daniel Sackey on the team. It at least may get us a look. We also could offer him immediate playing time when he'd be eligible again. If our Coaches could build a relationship with him, you never know.

Cmon man
Cheesehead is spot on
You really think anyone would come to Valpo over Arizona?
Unreal

[VUGrad1314]

A dude who got an offer from Arizona is not coming here. Period. End of Story. (Unless his name is Casey.)

It's unlikely but it's not impossible. It all depends on what the kid wants. It may help having his friend Daniel Sackey on the team. It at least may get us a look. We also could offer him immediate playing time when he'd be eligible again. If our Coaches could build a relationship with him, you never know.

Cmon man Cheesehead is spot on You really think anyone would come to Valpo over Arizona? Unreal

He already left Arizona... I wonder what his list of schools is...

[NativeCheesehead]

This young man prolly made more money last year at Arizona than our head coach.

[vu72]

A dude who got an offer from Arizona is not coming here. Period. End of Story. (Unless his name is Casey.)

Sure, he wouldn't come to Valpo out of high school if he had an offer from Arizona but neither did Casey.  We have a long list of guys who had and accepted offers from Majors and then came to Valpo.  You need not look back any further than Joe Burton.

[VUGrad1314]

We've got two of them playing right now in Fazekas (Providence) and Evelyn (Nebraska) and another sitting out his redshirt year in Eron Gordon (Seton Hall)

Past players include:

Will Bogan (Ole Miss)

Ben Boggs (Virginia Tech)

Shane Hammink (LSU)

Cory Johnson (Iowa State)

And I'm sure I'm forgetting a bunch. We have a long history of P5\BE transfers playing big roles on the team and that doesn't even mention

Brandon Wood (SIU) Keith Carter (SLU) Deion Lavender (UAB) and  Nick Robinson (St Joseph's currently sitting out) as transfers from upper mid major leagues that have made\are making\will make significant impacts.

[wh]

We've got two of them playing right now in Fazekas (Providence) and Evelyn (Nebraska) and another sitting out his redshirt year in Eron Gordon (Seton Hall)

Past players include:

Will Bogan (Ole Miss)

Ben Boggs (Virginia Tech)

Shane Hammink (LSU)

Cory Johnson (Iowa State)

And I'm sure I'm forgetting a bunch. We have a long history of P5\BE transfers playing big roles on the team and that doesn't even mention

Brandon Wood (SIU) Keith Carter (SLU) Deion Lavender (UAB) and  Nick Robinson (St Joseph's currently sitting out) as transfers from upper mid major leagues that have made\are making\will make significant impacts.

Calum MacLeod  Gonzaga

Mousse Gueye  Alabama

E. Victor Nickerson  Charolette

Bobby Capobianco  Indiana

Alex Rossi  Cal

[nkvu]

After watching our three point shooting suck game after game (absent Fazekus) could we recruit one pure three point shooter from somewhere?  I mean atheletes are great and all but there is a role for a pure shooter in this game yet other than Fazekus and Peters before him and Rowdy before him, we don't seem to value them. Yet for mid majors, that is the great equalizer when playing high major teams.  If we have one every four year cycle we are lucky.

Find a couple of pure shooters each recruiting cycle. It will give your athletes room to do what they do if someone has to guard our guys on the perimeter. And if we happen to have a big who can catch the ball in the post without turning it over every time, and maybe making a pass or two, so much the better.

One of the big problems I've noticed lately is when we are late in the shot clock, the ball ends up in the hands of someone who can't shoot worth a damn. How is it our sets regularly manage to find the guys who can't shoot when the  clock is winding down?