Leslee Smith

[nebrasketball10]

It definitely seems as though we're heading in the right direction. Time will obviously tell. But if we would've signed/offered Hawkins, Smith and Sai with Doc or BC, it would've been par for the course. The others have some higher offers, but no one out of the ordinary. I think we competed with OK St for Shang Ping!!

But again, I feel as though we are heading in the right direction. I'm just going to refrain from "best class since _____!" talk.

The difference is that in the past when Nebraska has signed guys like Hawkins, Smith, and Atewe they didn't sign guys like Tummala, Fuller, and Webster to build around them.  It's not like Nebraska has never has good players/role players.  The issue is that they didn't have big time playmakers/scorers/go-to guys playing around them.  There have been plenty of guys that have played for Nebraska in recent years that would have done just fine on other teams like Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio St, Minnesota, Michigan St, etc.  There is no doubt in my mind that guys like Brandon Ubel, Toney McCray, Brandon Richardson, Sek Henry, Lance Jeter, Eshaunte Jones, Ryan Anderson, Ade Dagunduro, etc. could have seen playing time on some really good teams, because I think they have all been pretty good players.  It's just that Nebraska didn't have big-time scorers on the floor with them, so alot of times they were forced to do more than their skills allowed, and many times they were forced to play out of position.

 

I don't think the issue is that Nebraska can never sign any players that are the same caliber as some of the players they have had over the last few years.  I think the issue is that when they sign this caliber of player, they need to sign a few playmakers/scorers/go-to guys (Sai Tummala, Nick Fuller, Tai Webster) to place around them.  That way the role players can play their roles, instead of being forced to do more than what their skills allow, and instead of being forced to play out of position.

 

Agreed 100%. But we're assuming these guys will be scorers/go-to players. Sai's best offer is BYU. Fuller was offered late by Wisconsin, I think. Webster is a big question mark - offers from Pitt and St. Mary's. It's not like we've never beat out the Pitt's and St. Mary's of the world for a recruit (although Pitt is admittedly a pretty good team to beat out).

 

I agree with Norm that the film on Fuller (and possibly Sai) suggests that they could be good. But I will not assume they can be go-to players - especially as underclassmen - until I see them. I'm also excited about Webster, but anyone who has watched the most recent film of him (and the competition in it) knows that Webster is far from a guarantee.

[Nebrasketballer]

 

It definitely seems as though we're heading in the right direction. Time will obviously tell. But if we would've signed/offered Hawkins, Smith and Sai with Doc or BC, it would've been par for the course. The others have some higher offers, but no one out of the ordinary. I think we competed with OK St for Shang Ping!!

But again, I feel as though we are heading in the right direction. I'm just going to refrain from "best class since _____!" talk.

The difference is that in the past when Nebraska has signed guys like Hawkins, Smith, and Atewe they didn't sign guys like Tummala, Fuller, and Webster to build around them.  It's not like Nebraska has never has good players/role players.  The issue is that they didn't have big time playmakers/scorers/go-to guys playing around them.  There have been plenty of guys that have played for Nebraska in recent years that would have done just fine on other teams like Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio St, Minnesota, Michigan St, etc.  There is no doubt in my mind that guys like Brandon Ubel, Toney McCray, Brandon Richardson, Sek Henry, Lance Jeter, Eshaunte Jones, Ryan Anderson, Ade Dagunduro, etc. could have seen playing time on some really good teams, because I think they have all been pretty good players.  It's just that Nebraska didn't have big-time scorers on the floor with them, so alot of times they were forced to do more than their skills allowed, and many times they were forced to play out of position.

 

I don't think the issue is that Nebraska can never sign any players that are the same caliber as some of the players they have had over the last few years.  I think the issue is that when they sign this caliber of player, they need to sign a few playmakers/scorers/go-to guys (Sai Tummala, Nick Fuller, Tai Webster) to place around them.  That way the role players can play their roles, instead of being forced to do more than what their skills allow, and instead of being forced to play out of position.

 

Agreed 100%. But we're assuming these guys will be scorers/go-to players. Sai's best offer is BYU. Fuller was offered late by Wisconsin, I think. Webster is a big question mark - offers from Pitt and St. Mary's. It's not like we've never beat out the Pitt's and St. Mary's of the world for a recruit (although Pitt is admittedly a pretty good team to beat out).

 

I agree with Norm that the film on Fuller (and possibly Sai) suggests that they could be good. But I will not assume they can be go-to players - especially as underclassmen - until I see them. I'm also excited about Webster, but anyone who has watched the most recent film of him (and the competition in it) knows that Webster is far from a guarantee.

Sai is a 6'7", 215 lbs, he can handle the ball well, he has a good mid-range jumpshot, can stroke the 3, can finish above the rim, can play with his back to the basket and has solid post moves.  Add that to the fact that he has spent a year with Michigan and the coach said that he was the most athletic player on their team aside from Trey Burke.  There are not many teams in the country on which Trey Burke would not be the most athletic player.  That Michigan team that he was a part of is in the sweet16 this season, so I feel confident saying that he has been around big-time basketball and will not have to spend any time getting used to the speed of the game.

[Nebrasketballer]

And Smith has a year of Division I basketball experience under his belt as well.  Not B1G, but still Division I experience.  The learning curve should not be as rough with these two.

[TheKamdyMan]

The thing on Sai that youre not factoring in is that unlike most Juco players he is academically eligible to transfer assuming he graduates after just one year. (why wouldnt he, 4.0 gpa)  NO ONE got to see him play at Michigan as a freshman and he transfer to a juco and is freshman elgibility wise.  Most kids go there right away or have played somewhere that you can base that off of to follow up on to sign them in the fall.  Most schools fill up in the fall for their class before Sai even played his first college game.  Now that people got to see how good he is, a lot of schools are already filled up and couldnt sign him if they wanted to do so.  Like Norm stated if he stayed another year Sai's offer list would be huge but luckily for a NU or BYU they have the spot and need available and can get a kid that basically fell under the radar due to his unique situation.

[bobcat402]

im plenty happy to be competing with St.Mary, BYU, Virgina, and Ok St for recruits..those are all tourney teams or in virgina and byu cases fringe teams who almost/should be in the dance..were not gonna get 4 and 5 star recruits for a while ya we may be in Okafor's top 5 but lets be honest we're all gonna be shocked if he signs here, same way with Reid Travis and a few others. Guys like Webster, Fuller, Hawkins, potentially Sai and Atewe are guys we need, and next year with just 2 schollie's we need more guys like these international players with potential and a yearning to learn the game in America, and solid high school athletes 3* and a high 4* and than eventually one day 5* will come and hopefully not the one and done variety...ask rick barnes in texas how well that turned out for him.

[bobcat402]

and plus the film i saw on Sai, he is the player i want, a previous poster mentioned but he his a +10000000 more fluid version of CS he looks like the scary hybrid 2,3,4 that are taking over College BBALL. Fuller, Webster, Hawkins, and Atewe look awesome as well, but Sai is the one we need.

[Norm Peterson]

I understand the skepticism and the caution about getting too giddy.  I understand it.  Definitely.  I sympathize with it.  I don't like being disappointed.  When I don't have a lot of information about a kid who has a lot of hype, I worry that he'll disappoint.

 

I may be wrong here, but I honestly feel like I can learn a lot about a player's skill level by watching ample amounts of film.

 

You're (some of you) cautious about Sai.  He was a walk-on at Michigan and not a scholarship player.  He has limited offers.  All of that is true.  I think he's a gem and not a diamond in the rough but a kid who's already pretty skilled.  And his GPA suggests to me he's going to be a pretty smart player.

 

OK, let's do this.  Let's say what we've seen from a player we all know and like.  Shavon Shields impressed most everyone this year.  He has a hard-nosed approach.  He's aggressive on the drive and kind of has a nose for the basket.  However, he is NOT a very good jump shooter at this point.  That's something he needs to work on.  Nor does  he have great post moves at this point.  How tall is he?  About 6'6" to 6'7".  Overly athletic?  Nope.  His game primarily fits the PF spot but his size is maybe not quite there.

 

OK, what have we seen of Sai?  Well, for one thing, I can tell you the kid can stroke it.  And I don't say that about everyone.  Generally, I am pretty critical.  But this kid can stroke it.  Not only does it look that way on film (great elevation, nice high release, good wind-up, etc.) but his stats show that it's not a fluke.  He shot over 40% from beyond the arc for the year.  What else do I know about him?  He has shown better post moves in his video than I have ever seen out of Shavon Shields.  He has a very good lefty hook, which he hit several times from the baseline about 10-15 feet out in the videos I've seen.  Shows that it's a move he's competent with.  He also has some other quality post-up moves, including a drop-step to his left for mid-range jumper.  He's maybe Shavon's size or slightly larger.  If you like Shavon, I'm telling you this kid has some things Shavon doesn't yet have.  Does he have Shavon's intangible of being just a hard-nosed player?  No way of knowing till he gets here (assuming he comes.)  But stats and video tell me he is well worth the offer.

 

Atewe.  Let's talk about him.  What does he bring?  Well, he's raw and not very skilled and I'm not going to sugar-coat it.  I have said from the very beginning of the 40+ page thread over there that he's raw and we shouldn't expect him to come in here and dominate right away.  Maybe not even start.  He has some work to do.  But, you can clearly see how extremely athletic he is for a guy his size.  When they run lines, he'll probably be able to beat some/a lot of the guards.  He is very fast in the open floor, very strong build.  Great physique.  Can he develop?  Who knows, but you gotta take a chance on a physical specimen like this.  He seems to have a great attitude, is a student of the game, and has a strong desire to develop his abilities.  I like him as a prospect and like the fact that KSU and Marquette were among his offers.

 

Smith, I don't know much about him.  His stats are not overwhelming and I've seen no video.

 

Hawkins is a very skilled player with great hoops IQ.  Decent handles, decent shooter, not convinced about his athleticism.

 

Tai, I'll withhold judgment on because I just haven't seen enough of him facing quality competition.  BUT ... those who have say he's the real deal and I'll defer to their greater judgment.

 

Now, Fuller.  I don't care what anyone says.  Quote me on this.  Nick Fuller is like the 2nd coming of Erick Piatkowski.  Great feel for the game and a fantastic jump shot.  Very accurate and sweet-looking stroke.  You heard it here first.  The kid can play and I think he'll contribute right away next year.

 

Of this large group, IMO, most likely to contribute significantly off the bat next year:  Fuller, Tummala, Webster.

 

I understand the reluctance.  But I do so like what I've seen and the stats back it up that it's not just smoke and mirrors.

[49r]

Norm's got his sunshine pump turned up to 11 this offseason!  

[Norm Peterson]

Norm's got his sunshine pump turned up to 11 this offseason!  

Straight. 

[hhcmatt]

Norm's got his sunshine pump turned up to 11 this offseason!  

Straight. 

 

With good reason....the future's so bright all emoticons need shades    B) B) B) B) B) B) B)

[faqlsr]

Here is a link with some full game videos:

http://www.livesportsvideo.com/teamselector.asp?subcat2=Seward%20County%20Community%20College&sport=Basketball

[Nebrasketballer]

Anoter thing to consider about Leslee Smith.  Not sure who it was, but I think it was Robin Washut.  He was talking on 93.7 The Ticket around 12:00 or so today.  He said that Smith's stats are a little misleading and don't necessarily represent his potential production if he were to sign with Nebraska.  He said that Smith only played about 20 minutes per game and that the offense they ran was very guard oriented, so the offense wasn't designed for him to have big numbers.  They didn't pound the ball inside much.  He will be a big physical player that can bang around in the post.  With all of the scoring potential that Tim Miles has brought to the team at the 1,2, and 3 spots, Nebraska doesn't necessarily need to have a post players that light up the score board.  They need to be able to bang and make sure that teams can't just dump the ball down low and get easy baskets all game long.

 

Pitchford and Tummala (if he were to sign) could provide the offensive attack in the post.  Atewe and Smith (If they were to sign) would be able to provide the bigger bodies that would be able to bang and play the defensive role and get rebounds.

[TheKamdyMan]

Here is a link with some full game videos:

http://www.livesportsvideo.com/teamselector.asp?subcat2=Seward%20County%20Community%20College&sport=Basketball

 

watched the first half of the Indenpendce game.  Nothing much to write home about.  He's got a thick body.  Nothing jumped out to me but nothing did as it was fairly lackluster all around.  He no speedster by any means, and he didnt really show great post moves, just basic moves.  I'd like to see him more with the ball in his hands as it was only a few times to really get a grasp on what he can do offensively.

[Nebrasketballer]

https://twitter.com/RobinWashut/status/317440502301601792">March

 

https://twitter.com/RobinWashut/status/317442651349729280">March

[Nebrasketballer]

Here's the link for the Juco Junction Top 150.  Like Robin Washut's tweet says, Leslee Smith is #37.

 

http://rivals.yahoo.com/jucojunction/basketball/recruiting/rankings/rank-3203?

[Huskerpapa]

Another list...

 

http://www.jucorecruiting.com/2013-juco-top-100-player-rankings/

[nebrasketball10]

 

 

It definitely seems as though we're heading in the right direction. Time will obviously tell. But if we would've signed/offered Hawkins, Smith and Sai with Doc or BC, it would've been par for the course. The others have some higher offers, but no one out of the ordinary. I think we competed with OK St for Shang Ping!!

But again, I feel as though we are heading in the right direction. I'm just going to refrain from "best class since _____!" talk.

The difference is that in the past when Nebraska has signed guys like Hawkins, Smith, and Atewe they didn't sign guys like Tummala, Fuller, and Webster to build around them.  It's not like Nebraska has never has good players/role players.  The issue is that they didn't have big time playmakers/scorers/go-to guys playing around them.  There have been plenty of guys that have played for Nebraska in recent years that would have done just fine on other teams like Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio St, Minnesota, Michigan St, etc.  There is no doubt in my mind that guys like Brandon Ubel, Toney McCray, Brandon Richardson, Sek Henry, Lance Jeter, Eshaunte Jones, Ryan Anderson, Ade Dagunduro, etc. could have seen playing time on some really good teams, because I think they have all been pretty good players.  It's just that Nebraska didn't have big-time scorers on the floor with them, so alot of times they were forced to do more than their skills allowed, and many times they were forced to play out of position.

 

I don't think the issue is that Nebraska can never sign any players that are the same caliber as some of the players they have had over the last few years.  I think the issue is that when they sign this caliber of player, they need to sign a few playmakers/scorers/go-to guys (Sai Tummala, Nick Fuller, Tai Webster) to place around them.  That way the role players can play their roles, instead of being forced to do more than what their skills allow, and instead of being forced to play out of position.

 

Agreed 100%. But we're assuming these guys will be scorers/go-to players. Sai's best offer is BYU. Fuller was offered late by Wisconsin, I think. Webster is a big question mark - offers from Pitt and St. Mary's. It's not like we've never beat out the Pitt's and St. Mary's of the world for a recruit (although Pitt is admittedly a pretty good team to beat out).

 

I agree with Norm that the film on Fuller (and possibly Sai) suggests that they could be good. But I will not assume they can be go-to players - especially as underclassmen - until I see them. I'm also excited about Webster, but anyone who has watched the most recent film of him (and the competition in it) knows that Webster is far from a guarantee.

Sai is a 6'7", 215 lbs, he can handle the ball well, he has a good mid-range jumpshot, can stroke the 3, can finish above the rim, can play with his back to the basket and has solid post moves.  Add that to the fact that he has spent a year with Michigan and the coach said that he was the most athletic player on their team aside from Trey Burke.  There are not many teams in the country on which Trey Burke would not be the most athletic player.  That Michigan team that he was a part of is in the sweet16 this season, so I feel confident saying that he has been around big-time basketball and will not have to spend any time getting used to the speed of the game.

 

Bronson Schliep was the most athletic guy on our team for multiple years. Didn't say much. He has definitely been around big-time basketball, big-time players, a good coach... but he will DEFINITELY need to spend time getting used to the speed of the game. He never saw the floor at Michigan, and is currently playing JuCo. Again, I like the guy's film (albeit against weak competition), but I'm not buying that he's some stellar recruit that ONLY us and BYU are in on.

[nebrasketball10]

And Smith has a year of Division I basketball experience under his belt as well.  Not B1G, but still Division I experience.  The learning curve should not be as rough with these two.

 

Any his new flat out told him he was not good enough to play at that level... 

[nebrasketball10]

The thing on Sai that youre not factoring in is that unlike most Juco players he is academically eligible to transfer assuming he graduates after just one year. (why wouldnt he, 4.0 gpa)  NO ONE got to see him play at Michigan as a freshman and he transfer to a juco and is freshman elgibility wise.  Most kids go there right away or have played somewhere that you can base that off of to follow up on to sign them in the fall.  Most schools fill up in the fall for their class before Sai even played his first college game.  Now that people got to see how good he is, a lot of schools are already filled up and couldnt sign him if they wanted to do so.  Like Norm stated if he stayed another year Sai's offer list would be huge but luckily for a NU or BYU they have the spot and need available and can get a kid that basically fell under the radar due to his unique situation.

 

Makes some sense. I agree with Norm's thoughts on that. Hoping we are able to land him and he turns out to be a steal!

[Nebrasketballer]

And Smith has a year of Division I basketball experience under his belt as well.  Not B1G, but still Division I experience.  The learning curve should not be as rough with these two.

 

Any his new flat out told him he was not good enough to play at that level... 

Ok... What do you think Larry Brown would've said about guys like Andre Almeida?  Obviously, not the prototypical body type or athleticism for a basketball player, but Miles found a way to make him work in his system...

[Nebrasketballer]

 

 

 

It definitely seems as though we're heading in the right direction. Time will obviously tell. But if we would've signed/offered Hawkins, Smith and Sai with Doc or BC, it would've been par for the course. The others have some higher offers, but no one out of the ordinary. I think we competed with OK St for Shang Ping!!

But again, I feel as though we are heading in the right direction. I'm just going to refrain from "best class since _____!" talk.

The difference is that in the past when Nebraska has signed guys like Hawkins, Smith, and Atewe they didn't sign guys like Tummala, Fuller, and Webster to build around them.  It's not like Nebraska has never has good players/role players.  The issue is that they didn't have big time playmakers/scorers/go-to guys playing around them.  There have been plenty of guys that have played for Nebraska in recent years that would have done just fine on other teams like Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio St, Minnesota, Michigan St, etc.  There is no doubt in my mind that guys like Brandon Ubel, Toney McCray, Brandon Richardson, Sek Henry, Lance Jeter, Eshaunte Jones, Ryan Anderson, Ade Dagunduro, etc. could have seen playing time on some really good teams, because I think they have all been pretty good players.  It's just that Nebraska didn't have big-time scorers on the floor with them, so alot of times they were forced to do more than their skills allowed, and many times they were forced to play out of position.

 

I don't think the issue is that Nebraska can never sign any players that are the same caliber as some of the players they have had over the last few years.  I think the issue is that when they sign this caliber of player, they need to sign a few playmakers/scorers/go-to guys (Sai Tummala, Nick Fuller, Tai Webster) to place around them.  That way the role players can play their roles, instead of being forced to do more than what their skills allow, and instead of being forced to play out of position.

 

Agreed 100%. But we're assuming these guys will be scorers/go-to players. Sai's best offer is BYU. Fuller was offered late by Wisconsin, I think. Webster is a big question mark - offers from Pitt and St. Mary's. It's not like we've never beat out the Pitt's and St. Mary's of the world for a recruit (although Pitt is admittedly a pretty good team to beat out).

 

I agree with Norm that the film on Fuller (and possibly Sai) suggests that they could be good. But I will not assume they can be go-to players - especially as underclassmen - until I see them. I'm also excited about Webster, but anyone who has watched the most recent film of him (and the competition in it) knows that Webster is far from a guarantee.

Sai is a 6'7", 215 lbs, he can handle the ball well, he has a good mid-range jumpshot, can stroke the 3, can finish above the rim, can play with his back to the basket and has solid post moves.  Add that to the fact that he has spent a year with Michigan and the coach said that he was the most athletic player on their team aside from Trey Burke.  There are not many teams in the country on which Trey Burke would not be the most athletic player.  That Michigan team that he was a part of is in the sweet16 this season, so I feel confident saying that he has been around big-time basketball and will not have to spend any time getting used to the speed of the game.

 

Bronson Schliep was the most athletic guy on our team for multiple years. Didn't say much. He has definitely been around big-time basketball, big-time players, a good coach... but he will DEFINITELY need to spend time getting used to the speed of the game. He never saw the floor at Michigan, and is currently playing JuCo. Again, I like the guy's film (albeit against weak competition), but I'm not buying that he's some stellar recruit that ONLY us and BYU are in on.

He played against a sweet 16 (maybe elite 8) team everyday in practice... That's about as good of competition as a player can face...

[nebrasketball10]

im plenty happy to be competing with St.Mary, BYU, Virgina, and Ok St for recruits..those are all tourney teams or in virgina and byu cases fringe teams who almost/should be in the dance..were not gonna get 4 and 5 star recruits for a while ya we may be in Okafor's top 5 but lets be honest we're all gonna be shocked if he signs here, same way with Reid Travis and a few others. Guys like Webster, Fuller, Hawkins, potentially Sai and Atewe are guys we need, and next year with just 2 schollie's we need more guys like these international players with potential and a yearning to learn the game in America, and solid high school athletes 3* and a high 4* and than eventually one day 5* will come and hopefully not the one and done variety...ask rick barnes in texas how well that turned out for him.

 

I'm happy, too... I'm just pointing out that those are all teams we've competed with before. By no means do I expect us to be pulling 4* and 5* recruits... that's just not reasonable at this point. But I'm still going to hold off on saying this is the best recruiting class since the mid '90s. It very well might turn out to be. My point is that - aside from POTENTIAL volume - it's not THAT unlike those that we've had for the last 10 years.

[nebrasketball10]

I understand the skepticism and the caution about getting too giddy.  I understand it.  Definitely.  I sympathize with it.  I don't like being disappointed.  When I don't have a lot of information about a kid who has a lot of hype, I worry that he'll disappoint.

 

I may be wrong here, but I honestly feel like I can learn a lot about a player's skill level by watching ample amounts of film.

 

You're (some of you) cautious about Sai.  He was a walk-on at Michigan and not a scholarship player.  He has limited offers.  All of that is true.  I think he's a gem and not a diamond in the rough but a kid who's already pretty skilled.  And his GPA suggests to me he's going to be a pretty smart player.

 

OK, let's do this.  Let's say what we've seen from a player we all know and like.  Shavon Shields impressed most everyone this year.  He has a hard-nosed approach.  He's aggressive on the drive and kind of has a nose for the basket.  However, he is NOT a very good jump shooter at this point.  That's something he needs to work on.  Nor does  he have great post moves at this point.  How tall is he?  About 6'6" to 6'7".  Overly athletic?  Nope.  His game primarily fits the PF spot but his size is maybe not quite there.

 

OK, what have we seen of Sai?  Well, for one thing, I can tell you the kid can stroke it.  And I don't say that about everyone.  Generally, I am pretty critical.  But this kid can stroke it.  Not only does it look that way on film (great elevation, nice high release, good wind-up, etc.) but his stats show that it's not a fluke.  He shot over 40% from beyond the arc for the year.  What else do I know about him?  He has shown better post moves in his video than I have ever seen out of Shavon Shields.  He has a very good lefty hook, which he hit several times from the baseline about 10-15 feet out in the videos I've seen.  Shows that it's a move he's competent with.  He also has some other quality post-up moves, including a drop-step to his left for mid-range jumper.  He's maybe Shavon's size or slightly larger.  If you like Shavon, I'm telling you this kid has some things Shavon doesn't yet have.  Does he have Shavon's intangible of being just a hard-nosed player?  No way of knowing till he gets here (assuming he comes.)  But stats and video tell me he is well worth the offer.

 

Atewe.  Let's talk about him.  What does he bring?  Well, he's raw and not very skilled and I'm not going to sugar-coat it.  I have said from the very beginning of the 40+ page thread over there that he's raw and we shouldn't expect him to come in here and dominate right away.  Maybe not even start.  He has some work to do.  But, you can clearly see how extremely athletic he is for a guy his size.  When they run lines, he'll probably be able to beat some/a lot of the guards.  He is very fast in the open floor, very strong build.  Great physique.  Can he develop?  Who knows, but you gotta take a chance on a physical specimen like this.  He seems to have a great attitude, is a student of the game, and has a strong desire to develop his abilities.  I like him as a prospect and like the fact that KSU and Marquette were among his offers.

 

Smith, I don't know much about him.  His stats are not overwhelming and I've seen no video.

 

Hawkins is a very skilled player with great hoops IQ.  Decent handles, decent shooter, not convinced about his athleticism.

 

Tai, I'll withhold judgment on because I just haven't seen enough of him facing quality competition.  BUT ... those who have say he's the real deal and I'll defer to their greater judgment.

 

Now, Fuller.  I don't care what anyone says.  Quote me on this.  Nick Fuller is like the 2nd coming of Erick Piatkowski.  Great feel for the game and a fantastic jump shot.  Very accurate and sweet-looking stroke.  You heard it here first.  The kid can play and I think he'll contribute right away next year.

 

Of this large group, IMO, most likely to contribute significantly off the bat next year:  Fuller, Tummala, Webster.

 

I understand the reluctance.  But I do so like what I've seen and the stats back it up that it's not just smoke and mirrors.

 

A lot of things well said, Norm. I would say there's no way Atewe starts as a Freshman. If he does, we're in trouble (or he improves dramatically). Out of high school, he looks almost IDENTICAL to Chris Balham out of high school. Maybe that's not a bad thing... maybe this staff will develop him better than the previous staff developed Balham.

 

I agree that Sai looks really good. I certainly hope we can land him.

 

Hope you're right about the extremely bold statement regarding Fuller!

[hhcmatt]

 

And Smith has a year of Division I basketball experience under his belt as well.  Not B1G, but still Division I experience.  The learning curve should not be as rough with these two.

 

Any his new flat out told him he was not good enough to play at that level... 

Ok... What do you think Larry Brown would've said about guys like Andre Almeida?  Obviously, not the prototypical body type or athleticism for a basketball player, but Miles found a way to make him work in his system...

 

Almeida played sparingly

[nebrasketball10]

 

 

And Smith has a year of Division I basketball experience under his belt as well.  Not B1G, but still Division I experience.  The learning curve should not be as rough with these two.

 

Any his new flat out told him he was not good enough to play at that level... 

Ok... What do you think Larry Brown would've said about guys like Andre Almeida?  Obviously, not the prototypical body type or athleticism for a basketball player, but Miles found a way to make him work in his system...

 

Almeida played sparingly

 

Right... Don't think too many of us would be too happy with a recruit whose ceiling was what Andre Almeida turned out contributing.