Recruiting 2019

[humbleopinion]

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?

I would guess that that would be a priority for the defenses of the teams we play.

[valpo64]

By the way, who are our guys who can shoot from the outside?

[VU2014]

https://twitter.com/scottybscout/status/1091904417723490304
https://twitter.com/scottybscout/status/1091484086026321920
https://twitter.com/DonovanClay11/status/1081835431757598720
https://twitter.com/DonovanClay11/status/1074667752374329345



https://www.hudl.com/video/3/8663096/5c2783d15b3d2e06748e4d09
https://www.hudl.com/video/3/8663096/5c34660f6e8b35105c04e8fc
https://www.hudl.com/video/3/8663096/5c447fd1665595122010c961

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qOLYFz81M4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ixn3y_FeQpI

https://twitter.com/GregShashack/status/1081781278612049921

[VU2014]

It sounds like Valpo may have found a late bloomer. It sounds like he had a late growth spurt. Interesting to hear he was considered a top JUCO prospect and now he committed to VU. One thing that really stands out to me (my untrained eyes) from watch just a little tape is that he has some natural rebounding abilities. He skies for rebounds. From his social media he seem very much a team first kid. Sounds like a 3 & D guy.

I think his high school team Alton is class 4A in Illinois. That is down south (close to St. Louis). Central and Southern Illinois gets pretty under-recruited and under-reported about because the Chicago Public League sucks up most of the attention. Potentially a diamond in the rough?

[M]

Can he shoot it from deep?

[VU2014]

https://twitter.com/joehoopsreport/status/1091929177970872321

[wh]

Sounds like Donovan has everything we're looking for. Can't wait to see him in a Crusader uniform!  I like that his team was involved in a brawl with a rival team, some of their players got suspended, and Donovan still carried his team to victory with a dominating performance. That's called picking up the slack when you're short handed. BTW a little brawling is not always a bad thing.

[humbleopinion]

Since he was labeled a top JUCO prospect, do we presume he will redshirt his freshman year to grow into his body?

[bbtds]

Donovan Clay is from Alton, IL the same town that Deion Lavender is from. It's a bit north of St. Louis directly on the Mississippi River and near the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. It's also the home of Fast Eddie's Bon Air.

https://www.fasteddiesbonair.com/legend.html

[FieldGoodie05]

Donovan Clay is from Alton, IL the same town that Deion Lavender is from. It's a bit north of St. Louis directly on the Mississippi River and near the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. It's also the home of Fast Eddie's Bon Air.

https://www.fasteddiesbonair.com/legend.html

Earlier someone listed him as 6'6" or 6'7" I believe.  Was reading this article where he's listed as 6'3" from just November...what's up?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.bnd.com/sports/high-school/article221614480.html

[VU2010]

Lol that's what I was confused about - he grew 4 inches since November???

[M]

What are reasons kids go juco:
Grades
Looking for higher level offer
Mature their body

Am I missing anything?

[valpolaw]

How many years of eligibility will he have left? That article looks like it was written in January this year and talks about him being a senior so I'm unsure

[VU2014]

How many years of eligibility will he have left? That article looks like it was written in January this year and talks about him being a senior so I'm unsure

I think he'll have 4 years and he'll be a true freshman.

I sounds like the plan was for him to go JUCO because he was fairly under-radar till recently.

[VUGrad1314]

Looks like he'll make a great addition. Also signals that we're not getting Akot (not that we really had much of a chance anyway) and since this closes out 2019 we can now turn our focus to 2020.

[M]

I don't know that it necessarily closes out the 2019 class.  You got to believe one or two guys currently on the team are going to transfer.

[JD24]

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?

Because it's a lot easier finding an open guy who can't shoot on this roster than it is finding a guy who can shoot. Right now, without Fazekas, there's no reliable option.

[valpotx]

Donovan Clay is from Alton, IL the same town that Deion Lavender is from. It's a bit north of St. Louis directly on the Mississippi River and near the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. It's also the home of Fast Eddie's Bon Air.

https://www.fasteddiesbonair.com/legend.html

Also, home to this guy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Wadlow

[vufan75]

An article on Donovan Clay written in early January. Apparently he did grow 4 inches last summer. He is 6-7.

https://m.riverbender.com/articles/details.cfm?id=32914

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[vu72]

Wow!  If he can play the point in college, that could make a huge impact for us.  When was the last time we had a 6'7" point?  Ali Berdiel.

[M]

Nickerson was that tall and ran point quite a bit.

[vufan75]

I'm just hoping he is a solid and consistent shooter from outside! We sure need that ability added to the roster going forward. He should have pretty good guard skills since his big growth spurt was pretty recent.

Donovan Clay is getting nice compliments on Twitter from his neighbor it seems. Sounds like we may have found a sleeper with upside. If you are on Twitter check out @BarryWaller61 tweets about Mr. Clay.

   

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[vu72]

I'm just hoping he is a solid and consistent shooter from outside! We sure need that ability added to the roster going forward. He should have pretty good guard skills since his big growth spurt was pretty recent.

Donovan Clay is getting nice compliments on Twitter from his neighbor it seems. Sounds like we may have found a sleeper with upside. If you are on Twitter check out @BarryWaller61 tweets about Mr. Clay.


   

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Gotta love this one:

He and Freeman are going to be a real force in a couple of years and maybe even next year and Donovan is quite a bit like Marcus Liberty, Freeman's Uncle, except he shoots better

[VU2010]

I'm excited we got a commitment. It does worry me though that he grew that much that quickly. I've never seen him play. But, the only comparison is Mileek who - if I'm not mistaken - also had a big growth spurt. My concern is if it takes him a while to get a feel for his body. Not sure? I wonder if it's more than a b-ball IQ thing for Mileek but also a him getting more comfortable in his size thing, Hence another reason for the fouls.

[crusader05]

It sounds like this kid has better ball skills than mileek did and Mileek played out of position most of his time in college so I'm hoping the learning cure won't be as steep