Recruiting: 2020

[FWalum]

Maybe this one dunk in Jacob Ognacevic's senior year compilation puts the athleticism question to rest... maybe.

Dunk happens at 3:01.

[VUGrad1314]

Food for thought on Wichita State

https://twitter.com/HoopvilleAdam/status/1239634340570714113

[wh]

Maybe this one dunk in Jacob Ognacevic's senior year compilation puts the athleticism question to rest... maybe.

Dunk happens at 3:01.

Did you also notice his step back 3? And how well he crosses under the rim in either direction to finish a post move? He has plenty of athleticism for my liking. It was reported that he stood out against top notch D-1 AAU players his size. He seems to have a big vertical. What's not to love about this kid? He could be another Matt Lottich recruiting home run.

[vu72]

Maybe this one dunk in Jacob Ognacevic's senior year compilation puts the athleticism question to rest... maybe.

Dunk happens at 3:01.

Did you also notice his step back 3? And how well he crosses under the rim in either direction to finish a post move? He has plenty of athleticism for my liking. It was reported that he stood out against top notch D-1 AAU players his size. He seems to have a big vertical. What's not to love about this kid? He could be another Matt Lottich recruiting home run.

Remember that the same thing was being said about Ryan Fazekas (played at a small high school so what he did there wouldn't translate to D1) Ryan now holds the career 3 point shooting percentage record in Valpo history.

[justducky]

He should have Krikke level freshman impact but his skill sets are a bit different. With Kiser and Fazekas gone the playing time opportunity will come mainly at the 3 and 4. How much of that can he grab? What will be the per game average minutes where 2 out of 3 of Krikke, McMillan and Ognacevic are on the floor together? Depending on his off season development this could be the bottleneck to his playing time. Note that our other 2 freshman will also compete at those positions. Fortunately Clay and Robinson can already slide out to the 1 or 2 and the motion offense seems to blur some of the lines.

Boiled down I guess the question becomes---How good of a freshman ball handler will he be?

[M]

I'm a big fan of positionless basketball. I loved seeing Freeman, Clay, Kiser bringing the ball up the court. Give me a team full of guys who can play and guard 3 or more positions on the court at anytime. Excited for the types of guys Lottich and staff are bringing in.

[VU2014]

Maybe this one dunk in Jacob Ognacevic's senior year compilation puts the athleticism question to rest... maybe.

Dunk happens at 3:01.

I'm curious at what % clip he'll shoot from the perimeter.

[FieldGoodie05]

Maybe this one dunk in Jacob Ognacevic's senior year compilation puts the athleticism question to rest... maybe.

Dunk happens at 3:01.

I'm curious at what % clip he'll shoot from the perimeter.

Do we expect them to get a volume of shots (say 3+ attempts per game) from deep?  I'm asking because I don't know his real game when he's playing other D1 athletes.

[justducky]

I'm a big fan of positionless basketball. I loved seeing Freeman, Clay, Kiser bringing the ball up the court. Give me a team full of guys who can play and guard 3 or more positions on the court at anytime. Excited for the types of guys Lottich and staff are bringing in.

Having the potential to be a ball-handler is a great thing but his freshman playing time will hinge on his actual ability to do it. I could see him struggle to earn 5 minutes or situationally be handed 15. We will be a low turn over team in 20-21. Sloppy ball handling with a 13 healthy player roster could earn him a lot of end of bench time.

[vu72]

He should have Krikke level freshman impact but his skill sets are a bit different.

I can't remember but I think Krikke played a lot of 5 in high school as well given his size.  What may be overlooked here is that Jacob is not only the leading scorer in Wisconsin, he is the SECOND leading rebounder, something we always can use.

[VUGrad1314]

If he can score and (especially) if he can rebound which has been an issue for this team for years he will find plenty of minutes. You can be sure of that.

[justducky]

If he can score and (especially) if he can rebound which has been an issue for this team for years he will find plenty of minutes.

Too broad a statement. Can you define "plenty"? Trying to pin down some of this unrestrained optimism is getting frustrating. So lets imagine him as a freshman Krikke with similar rebounding, shooting and ball handling skills. How many minutes does he get and who does he get them from? Also if you believe that he is a better defender, rebounder, shooter or ball handler than Krikke then make your case. I didn't see much open court dribbling in the high-lite reel nor were there many 2 star level players that he had to defend.

[VUGrad1314]

Ognacevic finished as a finalist for Wisconsin Mr Basketball but he did not win. Still plenty of good reasons to be really excited about this kid! Go Valpo!

[FieldGoodie05]

Ognacevic finished as a finalist for Wisconsin Mr Basketball but he did not win. Still plenty of good reasons to be really excited about this kid! Go Valpo!

So was he like JFL who finished (7th I think)?  Do you have the story you can share?

[VUGrad1314]

Sure Here you go!

https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/high-schools/2020/03/17/uw-recruit-johnny-davis-named-2020-wisconsin-mr-basketball/5067817002/

[FieldGoodie05]

Geez, Wichita State now has (6) transfers.

[FieldGoodie05]

Geez, Wichita State now has (6) transfers.

Make that (7) transfers and (1) Senior so he is needing to replace (8) players on his roster.  Here is a well detailed article on the situation and it sounds eerily like Valpo to some degree after 2018/19 season.

https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/article241321281.html

[VUGrad1314]

If that's the case then there's no reason to worry about them. They will be fine.

[VUGrad1314]

Congratulations Jacob!

https://twitter.com/MichaelOsipoff/status/1243517272443871233

[VUGrad1314]

Oh my GOODNESS! This young man can jump out of the gym! This is exciting! Potentially big time get by Lottich!

https://twitter.com/sheldon3edwards/status/1243015493071577093

[FWalum]

https://twitter.com/sheldon3edwards/status/1243015835872047104

I like this one, shows the hops even better. Top of head pretty much even with the rim!

[VU2014]

The Valpo Coaching Staff seems to be recruiting for the 2020 recruiting class even though there is no open scholarships. Probably smart, because you never know these days.

Sebastien Lamute - PG from Canada

https://twitter.com/tariq_nph/status/1246617726543691776?s=21

https://youtu.be/pdxMHPk_FcI

[VUGrad1314]

Numbers look good Academic credentials look good. Maybe we're losing a guard. Or maybe this is JFL insurance in case he does leave.

[M]

Scholarships are a year to year thing. Maybe they like him better then someone currently on the roster and that someone will be helped to find a better opportunity elsewhere.

Or maybe he's a security blanket if someone does head out suddenly.

[wh]

Strange -
• We have no openings unless and until someone announces they're leaving.
• We have no new 2020 offers, according to Verbal Commits.
• I don't see any mention anywhere else on the world wide web of any connection between this player and Valpo
• The list of schools mentioned in the tweet are all low majors except Valpo.
• Just a guess, but maybe he is someone we may have shown some interest in at some point in the past, but not currently. Then again, maybe we'll hear tomorrow that he's our newest Crusader. Who knows?