Simpson spoke about some of his signees:
Of
Jason Blissett he said, “Jason was a kid I wanted to offer really bad last spring just off watching him work out, run lift. His junior tape was really raw, but when I met the person and saw the athlete I was like,
Golly.’ I said, Look, man, I want to offer you but I need you to come to camp and kind of prove it.’ He said,
Coach, no problem.’
“So he’s a competitor, and when he came to camp everything you thought about him was real and then some. He came a day early, we met, talked ball, then the next day at camp the guy just got better with every rep.”
Blissett also led UM to another signee.
“He said Coach, you have to look at
Jared (Hunte), my best friend,” Simpson said. “I’m like,
Alright, I’ll go check him out.’ I turn (on tape) of this kid - Jared is a little taller. If Jason is 6-3 1/4 barefoot, Jared is close to 6-4. And Jason weighs 275 and Jared weighs 290. So he’s a little bit of a bigger version of Jason and can dunk a basketball any way you want it. It is freaky watching this kid play basketball. Then you turn on his tape and see his aggressiveness, his ability to rush and turn and bend. I was like If I can put these two kids side by side, and then you add the
Jalar Holley kid, this is a home run.’”
Asked about Hill, who UM picked up Feb. 6, Simpson said, “He plays the game pretty well, I think he has a lot of juice in his feet. He’s a fast kid, jumps out of his stance, he bends around the corner really, really well. He’s very flexible, finishes on the corner. I’m excited about him. This can be great for him and great for us.”
Of Nnoruka, Simpson said, “He adds a little bit of age, a little bit of depth to that room at 3 technique.”
