Matthew Atewe -> Auburn -> Washington

[GATA]

We'll have to see how our guys pan out and the guys we've offered pan out but it would seem that with guys like Webster and Atewe and some others we're showing that we're good at identifying initially undervalued prospects. That's the sort of skill you absolutely need in order to succeed at a school that doesn't have a big basketball tradition.

Very good point. Offer lists and stars on rivals.com aren't everything (although I do put a greater significance on the offer lists), but mostly it's about fitting into a system. I trust our coaching staff to bring in players who fit well with what we want to do.

As for Duke showing interest, they're probably just doing their due diligence in case options A, B and C fall through. Still, it's nice that we're hot after a guy that all of a sudden Duke thinks is good enough to take a look at. Hopefully he values playing time because he can get that for four years in Lincoln.

[Huskerpapa]

Very good point. Offer lists and stars on rivals.com aren't everything (although I do put a greater significance on the offer lists), but mostly it's about fitting into a system. I trust our coaching staff to bring in players who fit well with what we want to do.

As for Duke showing interest, they're probably just doing their due diligence in case options A, B and C fall through. Still, it's nice that we're hot after a guy that all of a sudden Duke thinks is good enough to take a look at. Hopefully he values playing time because he can get that for four years in Lincoln.

You kind of made me chuckle GATA - I wonder how often Duke basketball has to deviate from their A list? I trust it would not be often. Also, doesn't Duke have higher academic requirements then many other schools? Given the big guy is in a prep school, perhaps he does not fit into their fine institution?

[Silverbacked1]

I think that they might find a way to get him in.

Can't think that all those players who have gone to Duke over the years would have got in if they didn't play a sport at a high level.

Not all, but at least some.

[colhusker]

I wish Miles would recruit for us and stop finding kids for the Dukes of the world!

[TheKamdyMan]

You kind of made me chuckle GATA - I wonder how often Duke basketball has to deviate from their A list? I trust it would not be often. Also, doesn't Duke have higher academic requirements then many other schools? Given the big guy is in a prep school, perhaps he does not fit into their fine institution?

Id say roughly 95% of the good Canada players come to the US and the only schools they can attend are prep schools since they are not US citizens so public schools are out. If you look at the current Canadian national team every player on it is playing for a prep school in America.

[Norm Peterson]

In case anyone's interested, here's some video of Matt Atewe and his teammates at Notre Dame Prep taking on Hargrave Military Academy a couple of weeks ago. Atewe is #12 in white.

[bball23]

From the little I see, I LOVE the way he gets up and down the floor. Looks very mobiles and runs smoothly for a big. Needs to "bang" a little more it looks like, but his skillset and movement looks fairly smooth.

[basketballjones]

Hmmmm....

A few observations:

1. Can a brotha get a pair of shorts that fit? Catholic schools really taking the "above the knee" approach a little too far.

2. Looks pretty raw offensively. Doesn't seem to catch it well or have a ton of moves. Liked his stroke from the FT Line.

3. Rebounder and shot blocker, obviously. And heck, we've missed a 4-man like that for a long time. A guy who can just change the game from an athletic stand-point.

4. My Lord... Are we sure we're recruiting him for basketball? Looks like he needs to be running the 100m or 200m. He's barely getting to top speed by half-court and he's got to bog it down. Looks like he has another gear or two.

I'd be really surprised is Duke is really after him. But hey, it sure helps. I'd be lying if I didn't say that he was probably 5 or 6 on the guys I noticed while watching that film.

[TheKamdyMan]

Hmmmm....

A few observations:

1. Can a brotha get a pair of shorts that fit? Catholic schools really taking the "above the knee" approach a little too far.

2. Looks pretty raw offensively. Doesn't seem to catch it well or have a ton of moves. Liked his stroke from the FT Line.

3. Rebounder and shot blocker, obviously. And heck, we've missed a 4-man like that for a long time. A guy who can just change the game from an athletic stand-point.

4. My Lord... Are we sure we're recruiting him for basketball? Looks like he needs to be running the 100m or 200m. He's barely getting to top speed by half-court and he's got to bog it down. Looks like he has another gear or two.

I'd be really surprised is Duke is really after him. But hey, it sure helps. I'd be lying if I didn't say that he was probably 5 or 6 on the guys I noticed while watching that film.

the shorts were my first thing. Speed and defense were second. As for being 5th or 6th on the list I can understand it considering the talent at Hargrave this season. They have 4 players rated 128 or higher on Rivals 150. Then ND Prep has a couple highly rated 3 star players. The prep schools on the east coach and in the NE are always stacked and a lot more fun to watch thats for sure.

[Norm Peterson]

From an athletic perspective, he's an interesting prospect. From a skills perspective, he has a long way to go.

I think he must still be pretty new to the game. It looks like the game has not slowed down for him yet and he's still thinking things through rather than just playing by feel. A couple of examples. There was at least one time where a shot went up from outside and he looked for a guy to box out. And that's good. But the bad part was no one was immediately there to box out and he kept looking for someone to box out while someone else went and got the rebound.

Another time, he got lost in the flow of the passing and allowed his defensive assignment to get way inside of him and clean up an easy offensive rebound. Geesh. It reminded me of what Kamdy said about the Schilling kid. Here's a guy who's the tallest player on the floor and he's getting lost in the action. On the offensive end, he waits for someone to screen but then doesn't effectively roll to the basket. He should be leaning into the other team's post trying to get position for an entry and, when that's not there, THEN go try to set your screen. When the ball goes up, he's getting too deep under the basket to have good rebounding position. Just all kinds of little things that I saw.

It makes me wonder what kind of coaching these prep school kids are getting -- both on the prep school level and on the AAU level. I see offenses that seem to be designed more to showcase a particular guard than to maybe win the game. Are they teaching this kid how to be a post? He's a great athlete, no question. But he has a long way to go to be a player.

[TheKamdyMan]

I think hes a kid that has the raw abilities to be pretty special. He was selected to represent Canada this past summer on their U-19 team. Canada has produced a ton of hoops talent as of late. He was their starting center on a team that lost in the championships. His minutes were low despite starting but the rest of the starting 5 on Rivals is rated #30 or better for the next two classes so he was in good company.

[Swan88]

It's the "Curse of Akoy." We went all-in to land Akoy. Once he got away for certain and a "Plan B" player or two couldn't get qualified, we are scrambling for the best big still available--who just happens to be, in terms of ratings and rankings, somewhere WAY below the guys we were on from the beginning and closed. But hey . . . Tim Miles & Co. appear intent on getting this player in the fold as an athletic big to cause disruption in the paint on the defensive end--and who has potential to develop into something more.

Here is some background information on Matthew from an article dated in December of 2011:

"Matthew is of Nigerian decent and was born in Brampton, Ontario. He wasn’t anywhere as enthusiastic about basketball as some of his peers may have been--he admits he didn’t start taking basketball seriously until he was about 14, about the same time he hit a huge growth spurt. Matt now stands at 6’9, weighs about 225lbs and wears size 17 shoes."

[Norm Peterson]

I think hes a kid that has the raw abilities to be pretty special. He was selected to represent Canada this past summer on their U-19 team. Canada has produced a ton of hoops talent as of late. He was their starting center on a team that lost in the championships. His minutes were low despite starting but the rest of the starting 5 on Rivals is rated #30 or better for the next two classes so he was in good company.

Kamdy, I always appreciate your insight. You often come up with angles and perspective and information that we'd not see or hear, otherwise. So, I thank you for that. And, I throw that in there so that you don't interpret this as being argumentative. But when I watch that video, I think I get a pretty good idea of the type of player that Atewe is. And I think he's a splendid athlete at 6'9". I mean, he really is. He runs the floor very fast. Very mobile for a guy that size. Don't know about his leaping ability or how long his arms are but I'm guessing a kid with that kind of speed is probably a pretty good leaper as well.

But, as far as being a basketball player, he looks like a project to me. Like a Kyle Marks. Superb athlete who's just very raw. In the game film I posted, I think he had 4 rebounds at half but only 1 point on 0-1 shooting from the floor. He looks like he has stones for hands. Obviously, with his athleticism, you can build on it. It's hard to find a guy that size with the kind of athletic ability he appears to possess. But I think we need to be realistic about how much he'd be able to contribute next season if he chose to come here.

I'm going to blame his coaching. I think with a kid that big and strong and quick, they ought to be entering it into the post on every possession. All these big kids want to be face-up players and take shots from the perimeter when it's so important for teams to have a guy who can get points in the paint. But there's another video of Atewe floating around out there where all he's doing is practicing 18 foot jump shots. He needs to be developing a low-post arsenal. And that doesn't appear to be happening.

Dean Smith (our Dean Smith, not the real one) could teach that kid 5 sets of post-up moves in 30 minutes or less. I'm frustrated watching that tape and seeing how that kid isn't being developed. Sorry, rant over.

[nebrasketball10]

I think hes a kid that has the raw abilities to be pretty special. He was selected to represent Canada this past summer on their U-19 team. Canada has produced a ton of hoops talent as of late. He was their starting center on a team that lost in the championships. His minutes were low despite starting but the rest of the starting 5 on Rivals is rated #30 or better for the next two classes so he was in good company.

Kamdy, I always appreciate your insight. You often come up with angles and perspective and information that we'd not see or hear, otherwise. So, I thank you for that. And, I throw that in there so that you don't interpret this as being argumentative. But when I watch that video, I think I get a pretty good idea of the type of player that Atewe is. And I think he's a splendid athlete at 6'9". I mean, he really is. He runs the floor very fast. Very mobile for a guy that size. Don't know about his leaping ability or how long his arms are but I'm guessing a kid with that kind of speed is probably a pretty good leaper as well.

But, as far as being a basketball player, he looks like a project to me. Like a Kyle Marks. Superb athlete who's just very raw. In the game film I posted, I think he had 4 rebounds at half but only 1 point on 0-1 shooting from the floor. He looks like he has stones for hands. Obviously, with his athleticism, you can build on it. It's hard to find a guy that size with the kind of athletic ability he appears to possess. But I think we need to be realistic about how much he'd be able to contribute next season if he chose to come here.

I'm going to blame his coaching. I think with a kid that big and strong and quick, they ought to be entering it into the post on every possession. All these big kids want to be face-up players and take shots from the perimeter when it's so important for teams to have a guy who can get points in the paint. But there's another video of Atewe floating around out there where all he's doing is practicing 18 foot jump shots. He needs to be developing a low-post arsenal. And that doesn't appear to be happening.

Dean Smith (our Dean Smith, not the real one) could teach that kid 5 sets of post-up moves in 30 minutes or less. I'm frustrated watching that tape and seeing how that kid isn't being developed. Sorry, rant over.

Kyle Marks had freakish hops, but was relatively SLOW and lacked any sort of quickness (and strength) whatsoever. Chris Balham was a freak athlete in terms of hops, quickness, and strength. Talk about raw... He had to have had the worst hands of any player I've ever seen. Some of that has to fall on our coaching staff(s) at the time for failing to work with him, but a lot of that falls on him. When his knees were bugging, coaches tried to get him to spend practice working on his hands, but he'd do the drills for about ten minutes and then get bored and start watching practice.

We need to remember that we're still Nebraska. While it's great to be "in" on some "top" recruits, we're still going to end up with MOSTLY mid-level guys or "projects" such as Atewe or Balham or Marks. Or guys like Sergej who MAY have the skill set (I hope), but need further physical development. Hopefully we have a coaching staff that can tap into the potential with these types of guys over the 4-5 years we have with them. Ideally, these types of guys come in and redshirt for a year to develop skills/strength, but we obviously may lack that luxury next year.

[Norm Peterson]

I feel like, with Sergej, if the coaching staff felt he could contribute down the road, they would have redshirted him this year. He's played 2 minutes in 10 games. And it ain't likely that his minutes are going to increase as the season goes along. If they were intending to develop him, then they SHOULD have redshirted him this year. It's a waste to have played him so sparingly if they intended for him to be around 4 years. I could be waaaaay off on this guess.

Perhaps I'm just more used to how the former staffs might have handled things. You expected a certain amount of non-graduation attrition under Nee, Collier and Doc. And, right now, it looks like Sergej would have been a good candidate to be the next Suan Stegall or James Reynolds. Maybe Miles' approach is different and he expects the kid to develop. Or maybe he expects there to be some blowouts (losses) in conference play where Sergej will get some minutes.

Some people have said that Sergej has some skills and so don't write him off this early. And they're right to say that. But by not preserving his redshirt and then not playing him, one has to have at least some small measure of doubt that Sergej is in the long term plans for this coaching staff. And when I saw him in the exhibition, about the best word I could use to describe him is "frail." Contrasting Sergej with Atewe, if I was in a position where I had to choose between the two, there's no question I'd pick Atewe at this point.

I think Atewe's athleticism gives him a higher ceiling. But he's still raw and, IMHO, not likely to be a major contributor next season. If that's what we're looking for, then I think we need to keep looking.

[nebrasketball10]

It's also possible that Miles' staff HOPED that Sergej would develop into a contributor this year because of the immediate need. In which case, maybe the staff still hopes he can contribute down the road.

I agree that he's a clear candidate for future attrition. I think you expect a certain amount of attrition at all institutions - it's failry common throughout the NCAA, not unique to our previous staffs.

As far as Atewe, I agree that he is not a major contributor next year. Should we sign him, we may find ourselves in a similar situation where we can't redshirt him to develop his skills because we have the immediate need. But Miles is building a program for years to come, not just 2013-2014. So if he feels Atewe can be a difference maker with the proper development AND that his staff can facilitate that development, then he probably signs him with the future in mind. No one expects Miles to turn it around in year 2.

[TheKamdyMan]

I think hes a kid that has the raw abilities to be pretty special. He was selected to represent Canada this past summer on their U-19 team. Canada has produced a ton of hoops talent as of late. He was their starting center on a team that lost in the championships. His minutes were low despite starting but the rest of the starting 5 on Rivals is rated #30 or better for the next two classes so he was in good company.

Kamdy, I always appreciate your insight. You often come up with angles and perspective and information that we'd not see or hear, otherwise. So, I thank you for that. And, I throw that in there so that you don't interpret this as being argumentative. But when I watch that video, I think I get a pretty good idea of the type of player that Atewe is. And I think he's a splendid athlete at 6'9". I mean, he really is. He runs the floor very fast. Very mobile for a guy that size. Don't know about his leaping ability or how long his arms are but I'm guessing a kid with that kind of speed is probably a pretty good leaper as well.

But, as far as being a basketball player, he looks like a project to me. Like a Kyle Marks. Superb athlete who's just very raw. In the game film I posted, I think he had 4 rebounds at half but only 1 point on 0-1 shooting from the floor. He looks like he has stones for hands. Obviously, with his athleticism, you can build on it. It's hard to find a guy that size with the kind of athletic ability he appears to possess. But I think we need to be realistic about how much he'd be able to contribute next season if he chose to come here.

I'm going to blame his coaching. I think with a kid that big and strong and quick, they ought to be entering it into the post on every possession. All these big kids want to be face-up players and take shots from the perimeter when it's so important for teams to have a guy who can get points in the paint. But there's another video of Atewe floating around out there where all he's doing is practicing 18 foot jump shots. He needs to be developing a low-post arsenal. And that doesn't appear to be happening.

Dean Smith (our Dean Smith, not the real one) could teach that kid 5 sets of post-up moves in 30 minutes or less. I'm frustrated watching that tape and seeing how that kid isn't being developed. Sorry, rant over.

I agree he is a project. But there are flashes. I mean on his U-19 Canada team this summer he had games where he'd have 2 points and 2 boards, then come back the next with 5 and 10. We have to also take into consideration Atewe didnt start playing basketball until he was 14. He also had a tweet the other day that said he likes basketball but loves what it can do for him. I think, personally, from those two things he is just scratching the surface. Obviously the comment is a little alarming but I think if he gets into the right environment with players, coaches, etc that the room for growth is higher than most since hes still relatively new to the game. I still think though that being named to the national team means there are a lot of people that are intrigued with what he brings to the table, even if it may not be showing at this time.

[nebrasketball10]

"We have to also take into consideration Atewe didnt start playing basketball until he was 14."

...Also comparable to Chris Balham

[uneblinstu]

Brian Rosenthal ‏@HuskerExtraBR

#Nebrasketball signed recruit Nick Fuller is scheduled to be on campus Jan. 6 when #Huskers host Matthew Atewe on official visit.

[BirdsOnTheBat]

Brian Rosenthal ‏@HuskerExtraBR

#Nebrasketball signed recruit Nick Fuller is scheduled to be on campus Jan. 6 when #Huskers host Matthew Atewe on official visit.

So, he will take his official visit on a Sunday?

[bball23]

After listening to Miles talk after the game last night I get the impression he isn't looking for bigs that are going to dominate on the block. I think he wants long, athletic wings, forwards. He wants to run a 4 out, 1 in type set with 4 shooters around the perimeter He made a comment that his biggest guy at CSU that played many minutes was 6'7. I think he likes Attewe's upside and what he can do with running the floor, guarding other teams bigs and being kind of a combo forward/center type player.

[FredsSlacks]

After listening to Miles talk after the game last night I get the impression he isn't looking for bigs that are going to dominate on the block. I think he wants long, athletic wings, forwards. He wants to run a 4 out, 1 in type set with 4 shooters around the perimeter He made a comment that his biggest guy at CSU that played many minutes was 6'7. I think he likes Attewe's upside and what he can do with running the floor, guarding other teams bigs and being kind of a combo forward/center type player.

I agree with this just based on what I've seen on the court. Miles has two senior big men that could be getting a lot more touches on the block, but he is using Andre to set picks up high and having Ubel set picks on the baseline. It would probably be better to have Ubel play around the free throw line and have Andre down on the block, but Miles is not going to run a different offense for 1 year. Pitchford and Atewe Would likely be much better in Miles motion offense because of their athleticism. NU will be able to play more uptempo with Pitchford and Atewe, which is what I think Miles wants to do in the future. I think there is about a 75% chance Atewe is going to be a husker. I don't think Duke is seriously interested, so I hope Atewe is not going to sit around and wait for an offer from them. K State and Marquette are his other top offers, but I think NU has the advantage with him visiting NU first. Location should not be a problem for him since he is from Canada. Nebraska should be able to put together an exciting atmosphere against Wisconsin for his visit.

[TheKamdyMan]

After listening to Miles talk after the game last night I get the impression he isn't looking for bigs that are going to dominate on the block. I think he wants long, athletic wings, forwards. He wants to run a 4 out, 1 in type set with 4 shooters around the perimeter He made a comment that his biggest guy at CSU that played many minutes was 6'7. I think he likes Attewe's upside and what he can do with running the floor, guarding other teams bigs and being kind of a combo forward/center type player.

I agree with this just based on what I've seen on the court. Miles has two senior big men that could be getting a lot more touches on the block, but he is using Andre to set picks up high and having Ubel set picks on the baseline. It would probably be better to have Ubel play around the free throw line and have Andre down on the block, but Miles is not going to run a different offense for 1 year. Pitchford and Atewe Would likely be much better in Miles motion offense because of their athleticism. NU will be able to play more uptempo with Pitchford and Atewe, which is what I think Miles wants to do in the future. I think there is about a 75% chance Atewe is going to be a husker. I don't think Duke is seriously interested. K State and Marquette are his other top offers, but I think NU has the advantage with him visiting NU first. Location should not be a problem from him since he is from Canada. Nebraska should be able to put together an exciting atmosphere against Wisconsin for his visit.

all is fine but the bold is wrong. He already had a visit to KSU on 9/20

[FredsSlacks]

Oh. Rivals does not have that listed. Might be a good sign that he hasn't signed with KSU 3 months after his visit.

[TheKamdyMan]

Oh. Rivals does not have that listed. Might be a good sign that he hasn't signed with them 3 months after his visit to KSU.

They have articles about his visit, but they just didnt put the visit date on his profile.

http://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1411929