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2021 Recruiting

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As much as I appreciate coach L's contribution to our basketball program, and that's an understatement, his staffs inability to recruit
big men, especially with so much playing time available in the coming years, as been the one area that has kept our program from reaching
the big time. Even when we advanced in the tournament, many of those players were transfers. Recently our portal players have been OK, but
certainly not elite. I would suggest an assistant coach that was a previous big man with name recognition.
 
rch said:
As much as I appreciate coach L's contribution to our basketball program, and that's an understatement, his staffs inability to recruit
big men, especially with so much playing time available in the coming years, as been the one area that has kept our program from reaching
the big time. Even when we advanced in the tournament, many of those players were transfers. Recently our portal players have been OK, but
certainly not elite. I would suggest an assistant coach that was a previous big man with name recognition.
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It's almost like our "Fans" don't realize how scarce good bigs are. Either Miami has to go out and recruit transfers(Which L has done relatively well), or hope that they can hit on a Tonye Jekiri type, a kid that has size, but needs to be developed. It's tough to hit on developmental guys, and with guys not willing to redshirt, it's tough to keep guys in the program. Look at guys like Julian Gamble or even Reggie Johnson. You wouldn't dare pull that stunt today, kids would bail. Amazing how the game has changed in less than a decade.

The top end, impact freshman bigs are few and far between, and most of them are heading to the "Name Brand" programs to play one year and bail. A lot of schools are moving more towards the positionless basketball model, where traditional bigs aren't the necessity they once were. Should Miami be looking to find guys that can defend the rim and rebound? Yes, find as many athletic guys that can do that as humanly possible. Frankly, our fans should be whining more about the lack of shooters. That's a significantly more pressing concern. Build a team of athletic guys and shooters, and you'll win a ton in today's game.
 
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Interesting article about the state of Florida and basketball recruits. It appears Florida has one of the highest raw number of high-level basketball recruits, but maybe more spread out given the size and population of Florida. I know Coach L doesn’t recruit the Florida well (or at all), but when we got the Angel Rodriguez and Shane Larkin types, it helped supplement or rosters a lot. Not sure why we don’t do a better job recruiting Florida. It’s not as if this current team, who just struggled against Jacksonville University and lost to FGCU, is dominating college basketball.
 
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Canedude08 said:
It's almost like our "Fans" don't realize how scarce good bigs are. Either Miami has to go out and recruit transfers(Which L has done relatively well), or hope that they can hit on a Tonye Jekiri type, a kid that has size, but needs to be developed. It's tough to hit on developmental guys, and with guys not willing to redshirt, it's tough to keep guys in the program. Look at guys like Julian Gamble or even Reggie Johnson. You wouldn't dare pull that stunt today, kids would bail. Amazing how the game has changed in less than a decade.

The top end, impact freshman bigs are few and far between, and most of them are heading to the "Name Brand" programs to play one year and bail. A lot of schools are moving more towards the positionless basketball model, where traditional bigs aren't the necessity they once were. Should Miami be looking to find guys that can defend the rim and rebound? Yes, find as many athletic guys that can do that as humanly possible. Frankly, our fans should be whining more about the lack of shooters. That's a significantly more pressing concern. Build a team of athletic guys and shooters, and you'll win a ton in today's game.
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The problem is we can't even get the Jekeri or Izundu types to commit here anymore.

Since the signing of Dewan Hernandez in the 2016 class, these are the bigs we've signed out of high school:
2017 - Sam Wardenburg and Deng Gak
2018 - none
2019 - none (unless you consider Anthony Walker a big)
2020 - none (unless you consider Matt Cross a big)
2021 - none so far

So essentially the last true PF/C we signed was Deng Gak in 2017. This is indefensible.

We plugged this massive hole thru transfers (Keith Stone, Brooks), but that is not a sustainable way to succeed, especially when said transfers haven't been very good.
 
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So who are we still in play for? Plenty of playing time available down in Coral Gables, especially at positions 3, 4, and 5.
 
Once Coach L gets fired we should open up with more recruits and become more of a young team. Hopefully we retain the commits we do have.
 
Gables Canes said:
So who are we still in play for? Plenty of playing time available down in Coral Gables, especially at positions 3, 4, and 5.
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Anyone?

Based on 247, there aren't many options left if you filter on our offer list

247sports.com

Miami 2021 Basketball Offers

Miami
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The only prospects we've offered who are not committed anywhere are:
PG Lynn Greer (highly doubt we would take another guard)
SG Trevor Keels (same thing, but he wasn't coming here anyway)
SF Wesley Cardet
C Elijiah Hutchins-Everett (crystal balls to Penn State)
 
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Gables Canes said:
Anyone?

Based on 247, there aren't many options left if you filter on our offer list

247sports.com

Miami 2021 Basketball Offers

Miami
247sports.com 247sports.com

The only prospects we've offered who are not committed anywhere are:
PG Lynn Greer (highly doubt we would take another guard)
SG Trevor Keels (same thing, but he wasn't coming here anyway)
SF Wesley Cardet
C Elijiah Hutchins-Everett (crystal balls to Penn State)
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Certainly feels like the 2021 class is finished, though Hutchins-Everett's a bit of mystery. We were in on him before he committed to Penn State, but he de-committed after their coach got fired, and I haven't heard anything about him one way or the other since. Wouldn't be surprised if he ends up at Penn State.

My guess is the staff will try to add a transfer big or try to convince Brooks/Miller to come back. Given that we've whiffed on 5 big men in the last several months, a complete strike out wouldn't surprise me.

It just doesn't look good for this program right now. No way around it.
 
IncaneInTheBrain said:
Certainly feels like the 2021 class is finished, though Hutchins-Everett's a bit of mystery. We were in on him before he committed to Penn State, but he de-committed after their coach got fired, and I haven't heard anything about him one way or the other since. Wouldn't be surprised if he ends up at Penn State.

My guess is the staff will try to add a transfer big or try to convince Brooks/Miller to come back. Given that we've whiffed on 5 big men in the last several months, a complete strike out wouldn't surprise me.

It just doesn't look good for this program right now. No way around it.
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Miller already announced he's done, and I hope it stays that way. Brooks could possibly come back, but he's 24 now and apparently wants to start his own cooking business. He might be done. L has also said Gak is done after this season, too. Perhaps Sam comes back, but L has also alluded to the possibility of him going overseas to play professionally. With Cross gone, the only projected returning "big" is Walker. We need to add at least 2 transfer bigs, and we've struck out on some of our top options there already, too (Atkinson as an example). Just a pitiful situation to be in.
 
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IncaneInTheBrain said:
Certainly feels like the 2021 class is finished, though Hutchins-Everett's a bit of mystery. We were in on him before he committed to Penn State, but he de-committed after their coach got fired, and I haven't heard anything about him one way or the other since. Wouldn't be surprised if he ends up at Penn State.

My guess is the staff will try to add a transfer big or try to convince Brooks/Miller to come back. Given that we've whiffed on 5 big men in the last several months, a complete strike out wouldn't surprise me.

It just doesn't look good for this program right now. No way around it.
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I actually agree with you on that point. If Coach L is still the basketball coach and given the lack of any recruiting news we have heard, I could see him having some combination or all of Rodney, Sam and Nysier coming back since there are three scholarships left. Technically four since Matt is no longer on the team.
Given his desire for older players, this move would not surprise me at all.
 
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Da_Lucky_One said:
I actually agree with you on that point. If Coach L is still the basketball coach and given the lack of any recruiting news we have heard, I could see him having some combination or all of Rodney, Sam and Nysier coming back since there are three scholarships left. Technically four since Matt is no longer on the team.
Given his desire for older players, this move would not surprise me at all.
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Seniors using the free year don't count against the scholarship count if i remember correctly
 
Just because the Miami recruiting board is not active does not mean there is a shortage of talent across the country.
Hypothetically, if Coach L moves on and a new coach comes in with a new staff then that could cause a change in momentum for Miami.
Sure, if Coach L and his staff leaves then the entire recruiting class could be lost. Ok, that is part of the risk you take. However, if the new coach retains everyone on the roster to return the he has 6 available scholarships.
As mentioned earlier, what if the new coach get Lynn Greer to commit. He plays post grad with two bigs: Efton Reid and Charles Bediako. A new coach with the right philosophy and sales pitch of playing time along with playing together could get both of them to come to Miami. If you only get one but also sign Elijah Hutchins-Everett then Miami still has a PG along with two bigs.
Remember, Bensley Joseph has not signed his NLI so he is not technically in the class.
Maybe one of the signed wings stays committed but if not then signing Wesley Carder makes a lot of sense. He is a bigger wing at 6'6. If both the committed wings decide not to come then Miami could sign Ramses Melendez from Central Pointe.
In fairness, Coach L and the current staff could easily pursue two more bigs and they might actually be doing it. Unfortunately, we have not heard so we are left to wonder how hard and how committed they are to this current situation.
As bad as it has been on us fans, they are dealing with the situation along with a bunch of disgruntled fans.
 
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Da_Lucky_One said:
No but it is time for them to move on.
Let's be honest, do you expect any of them to improve anything with another year of college?
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I do think Nysier and Sam can absolutely help a good team. Rodney I wouldn't waste my time with. Although I do hope regardless of which bigs come back next year that we stick with the Walker at the 5 lineup and just be an uber athletic fast team.
 
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