Are we recruiting for a B1G we perceive as not very athletic?

[Norm Peterson]

I think Fuller seems to be a decent athlete for a 6'7" guy.  Webster is reportedly a pretty good athlete (by New Zealand standards, anyway.)  I've always been a little cautious on Hawkins' athleticism, though.  His highlight vids show a tall kid who should be able to throw it down with authority and you don't see explosive athleticism in his highlights.  You see a skilled kid with high hoops IQ but not one who wows you with his athletic ability and I think he even acknowledged somewhere that athleticism is something he needs to work on.

 

Leslee Smith is a big dude.  Not sure how much you can tell about his ability to leap out of the gym.  The guy we didn't get -- Atewe -- was a splendid athlete at any size but particularly for a big man and I get the sense we cooled on him a bit (due to his relative lack of skill?)

 

Now, some of the guys we're looking at for '14 and '15 are probably pretty good athletes.  I'm guessing Zylan Cheatham is one of those guys.  But a lot of the guys are clearly NOT.  And it seems like there's been a run of recent reports of offers we've made to guys who don't seem to be players who would wow anyone with their explosive athleticism (because, frankly, they don't have explosive athleticism to wow anyone with.)

 

Take the Grandstaff kid, for example.  He does some nice things in his film and shows off another very skilled player but one who isn't jumping out of the gym by any stretch.  Then there's the Hammond kid.  Consistent comment from those who watched his film was the lack of explosiveness.  Then there's David Whacker who CWG posted was "an all-area performer and is said to be the most fundamentally sound big man in the area."  Saying a player has great fundamentals (and not commenting on his athleticism) is akin to saying a possible blind date has a great personality.  It's damning with faint praise.

 

Highlights for Andrew Fleming don't show him throwing it down at all.  (Reminds me a little bit, actually, of Wes Eickmeier.) 

 

Exceptions would be Mason Riggins -- who appears very athletic in his highlight vid -- and D'Angelo Russell.  And, of course, Zylan Cheatham.  But most of the recent names appear to be kids who are very skilled but not overly athletic.  Is this an indication of a direction we're going or not?

 

[TheKamdyMan]

I see Miles wanting a few athletes surrounded by very well skilled true basketball players with high bball IQ.  He seems to have a formula that has worked for him and I think this is the way we will see him recruit going forward.  He seems to want an athletic combo guard and an athletic big 3/small 4.

[FredsSlacks]

His CSU teams pretty much had no athletes.

[HuskerPower #nato73]

I like the formula.  Skills, depth, interchangeable parts to create match-ups and most importantly shooters.

 

We will still need the crazy athletes and we will get them.

[MandRHusker]

I think the best prediction of the future is the past. Coach Miles has brought in several athletic guys already. Our all athletic team would be Biggs, Gallegos, Webster, Petteway and Pitchford. All of these guys are superior athletes. And four of the five are Coach Miles guys. Also, Smith looks quite athletic on film for a guy who is 250 lbs. No super ups but he looks very light on his feet. I think this is an indication that Coach Miles will bring in superior athletes where needed.

[bobcat402]

there was an intial film on grandstaff, where he rose for a dunk and jus kept rising, must been a 35+ inch vert, but after watching some film you posted today, i wonder if whoever made the film for the intial video i saw, mislabled the kid.