Bryce McGowens is N

2 minutes ago, Bugeaters1 said:

That kid was an animal last night. He ended up with almost half of his teams points. And Jaden Hardy, he hit a couple of 35' treys with ease last night. his team won, And he had almost half of his teams points.

I think Emoni Bates was also on ESPN last night, yeah? Best high school player since Lebron, in my opinion. If he reclassifies to the 2021 class and actually ends up at Michigan State, the big ten will be insane next year. 

Just now, millerhusker said:

I think Emoni Bates was also on ESPN last night, yeah? Best high school player since Lebron, in my opinion. If he reclassifies to the 2021 class and actually ends up at Michigan State, the big ten will be insane next year. 

I don't remember that name Maybe he was on the early game. I just watched the last two.

1 hour ago, millerhusker said:

I've followed basketball recruiting closely for almost a couple decades now. Every year there are 5 stars who shouldn't be 5 stars. Usually they're uber athletic kids with no actual basketball skill. This is frustrating, because they end up getting labeled as a bust by their school's fanbase and the media, but in reality they should have never been that highly ranked to begin with. I hate to put too much hype on a kid, but as a recruit, Bryce is underrated. I think he's a top 10 or 15 recruit in this class. Jaden Hardy is the only guard I'd for sure put ahead of him. Maybe Max Christie and Trevor Keels.

 

Many 5 star recruits end up struggling their freshman year, but Bryce has a skill that'll translate to the next level even if he struggles in every other aspect of the game. He can flat out shoot the ball. He has legitimate NBA range right now and his 1-motion shot (a la Steph Curry and Trae Young) allows for that range and to get off his shot very quickly. His stroke is so compact and repeatable. Go watch some of Bryce's high school games on Youtube. The competition he played at Wren was solid, but his teammates were rough to watch. He was face-guarded everywhere he went. A lot of his shots were off the dribble and heavily contested, and he still has shot 42% from 3 in his high school career as a high volume shooter. 

 

I'm gonna compare him to Hunter Sallis again, because Husker fans are more familiar with Hunter than other high profile recruit. Both guys play on and off the ball for their high school teams and can be called combo guards. Both have tight handles and pretty good court vision. Bryce is a couple inches taller and longer. People rave about Hunter's athleticism and the only knock on Bryce seems to be his lack of explosiveness. But, there are videos of Bryce damn near hitting his head on the rim... Due to his long and lanky build, it almost looks like he's playing in slow motion. I think he has sneaky athleticism like James Palmer.  I believe Bryce played AGAINST better players in SC, but Hunter played WITH much better players at Millard North (all 5 starters on last years team will play D1. 4 of them will be at Power 5 schools). Usually kids that have to carry their high school team, do it with low efficiency and low shooting percentages. Bryce averaged more points, rebounds, steals, blocks and less turnovers than Hunter. He's also a much better shooter. 

Hunter made 27/88 three point attempts for 31%.

Bryce has shot 542 threes over the past 3 years! At a 42% clip. 

Hunter's mid-range game is his best offense at this point, but that'll likely have to change in college, due to his slower release and increased athleticism of his defenders. I like Hunter and think he'll be just fine at the next level. But if I'm a coach and had to choose only one of these guys to win with next year, I'm taking Bryce and it's not really close for me. 

 

 

I don't disagree with this. I think I've already said so. 

Player comp: Caris Levert. 
Long, deceptively athletic. Pure shooter, but not just a shooter. Can score in a variety of ways: mid-range, floaters, creative finishes, euro steps, dunks in transition. Great change of pace and can make plays for others. I see a lot of similarities in their games.

6 minutes ago, millerhusker said:

Player comp: Caris Levert. 
Long, deceptively athletic. Pure shooter, but not just a shooter. Can score in a variety of ways: mid-range, floaters, creative finishes, euro steps, dunks in transition. Great change of pace and can make plays for others. I see a lot of similarities in their games.

Very apt comparison.  Levert plays at 205lbs.  I think we can put at least 20lbs on BM.  

7 minutes ago, millerhusker said:

Player comp: Caris Levert. 
Long, deceptively athletic. Pure shooter, but not just a shooter. Can score in a variety of ways: mid-range, floaters, creative finishes, euro steps, dunks in transition. Great change of pace and can make plays for others. I see a lot of similarities in their games.

Finally, we have a guy we don't have to call a "poor man's" this or that. Yeah. We can compare our guy to Caris Levert. Straight up. Bitches.

1 hour ago, millerhusker said:

I've followed basketball recruiting closely for almost a couple decades now. Every year there are 5 stars who shouldn't be 5 stars. Usually they're uber athletic kids with no actual basketball skill. This is frustrating, because they end up getting labeled as a bust by their school's fanbase and the media, but in reality they should have never been that highly ranked to begin with. I hate to put too much hype on a kid, but as a recruit, Bryce is underrated. I think he's a top 10 or 15 recruit in this class. Jaden Hardy is the only guard I'd for sure put ahead of him. Maybe Max Christie and Trevor Keels.

 

Many 5 star recruits end up struggling their freshman year, but Bryce has a skill that'll translate to the next level even if he struggles in every other aspect of the game. He can flat out shoot the ball. He has legitimate NBA range right now and his 1-motion shot (a la Steph Curry and Trae Young) allows for that range and to get off his shot very quickly. His stroke is so compact and repeatable. Go watch some of Bryce's high school games on Youtube. The competition he played at Wren was solid, but his teammates were rough to watch. He was face-guarded everywhere he went. A lot of his shots were off the dribble and heavily contested, and he still has shot 42% from 3 in his high school career as a high volume shooter. 

 

I'm gonna compare him to Hunter Sallis again, because Husker fans are more familiar with Hunter than other high profile recruit. Both guys play on and off the ball for their high school teams and can be called combo guards. Both have tight handles and pretty good court vision. Bryce is a couple inches taller and longer. People rave about Hunter's athleticism and the only knock on Bryce seems to be his lack of explosiveness. But, there are videos of Bryce damn near hitting his head on the rim... Due to his long and lanky build, it almost looks like he's playing in slow motion. I think he has sneaky athleticism like James Palmer.  I believe Bryce played AGAINST better players in SC, but Hunter played WITH much better players at Millard North (all 5 starters on last years team will play D1. 4 of them will be at Power 5 schools). Usually kids that have to carry their high school team, do it with low efficiency and low shooting percentages. Bryce averaged more points, rebounds, steals, blocks and less turnovers than Hunter. He's also a much better shooter. 

Hunter made 27/88 three point attempts for 31%.

Bryce has shot 542 threes over the past 3 years! At a 42% clip. 

Hunter's mid-range game is his best offense at this point, but that'll likely have to change in college, due to his slower release and increased athleticism of his defenders. I like Hunter and think he'll be just fine at the next level. But if I'm a coach and had to choose only one of these guys to win with next year, I'm taking Bryce and it's not really close for me. 

 

 

I agree with every word you have said here. And I have been lambasted for that opinion amongst my friends and bball friends. I've been much lower on Sallis than others have. But of course, everyone says, "Oh, I'm sure you know more than UNC, Duke, Kentucky, etc.." 
I've seen Sallis play, a lot. He's really good, no question. But if McGowens struggles with "explosion" then so does Sallis lol (btw, I've seen Sallis doink a couple dunks). I've also seen Sallis be completely shut down in the state tournament when forced to actually play point guard because Jaden Johnson fouled out. 

31 minutes ago, hhcmatt said:

Since the dawn of the ranking system, he now becomes our highest ranked recruit. That honor was previously held by Glynn Watson.

Depends on the ranking system you follow (Breidenbach passed Glynn if we're talking about ESPN - and the validity of their rankings can be debated) but, this is true:

https://247sports.com/college/nebraska/Sport/Basketball/AllTimeRecruits/

I'm hoping we can look back on this day and laugh about how we were so excited about our first 5* guy.

Remember, it really wasn't all that long ago when we were just hoping to land that first rivals 150 recruit!  It's exciting to think about how far we've progressed during the Miles and now Hoiberg eras.

I remember being excited that Roburt Sallie was just *outside* the top 150. That seemed like a big improvement for us. Now, I'm disappointed if we don't get a guy in the top 150.

7 minutes ago, Norm Peterson said:

I remember being excited that Roburt Sallie was just *outside* the top 150. That seemed like a big improvement for us. Now, I'm disappointed if we don't get a guy in the top 150.

I used to get excited when we’d sign a player who had an offer from another power 5 conference team. That’s no joke. There were many years of recruiting battles against Weber State and Pacific. 

Just nice to get on here and see all the positivity. Just like the rest of you I'm a huge Husker fan and nice to have a day in the sun. Hopefully this is one of many building blocks to bigger and better things.

GBR!!!!

Any chance McGowens ends up on the McDonalds All-American team?

I honestly never thought I'd see the day that a 5 star player would come here out of high school. Even if we eventually get good, I didn't think I'd ever see it.

While we have had our fair share of misses, all of those misses just made today THAT much sweeter.

2 hours ago, uneblinstu said:

I honestly never thought I'd see the day that a 5 star player would come here out of high school. Even if we eventually get good, I didn't think I'd ever see it.

They’re pretty rare, 5-stars, when you think about it, what with Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina, Kansas, etc., taking their share. There tend not to be many left over for programs that have never won an NCAA tournament game.

One thought occurred to me driving home and listening to the radio.  I don't know what Kent Pavelka's plans are but I really hope he is calling games through next season and beyond.  If anyone deserves to see Nebraska win and win big, it's that guy!!!  I really hope he gets to call our first tournament win and then several more after that.

Stephen Bardo will have to find a new catch phrase when he visits Nebraska now. I think McGowens probably realizes how good he is already. 

27 minutes ago, Nebrasketball1979 said:

One thought occurred to me driving home and listening to the radio.  I don't know what Kent Pavelka's plans are but I really hope he is calling games through next season and beyond.  If anyone deserves to see Nebraska win and win big, it's that guy!!!  I really hope he gets to call our first tournament win and then several more after that.

Well, him too.

3 hours ago, hhcmatt said:

Any chance McGowens ends up on the McDonalds All-American team?

It's possible, DJ Steward was on it last year ranked 26th but he went to duke so i'm not sure how apt that comparison is.

6 hours ago, hhcmatt said:

Any chance McGowens ends up on the McDonalds All-American team?

 It would totally be a Nebrasketball thing to finally land a 5 star and they cancel the McDonalds all American game. 

It is very rare to find a truly talented wing with length, athleticism, ball-handling skills, basketball IQ, body control and true 3-level scoring.  McGowens is almost an ideal wing, can't wait to watch him live at PBA.  He may have to put on some muscle to bang night in and night out in the B1G, but he should be able to get there.  His brother certainly has strength and a solid frame, so the potential should be there.  

When I watched his video I was struck by how smooth he is on the court.  The scouting reports say he is not an explosive athlete, and that may be true, but he appears to glide on the court and almost levitates in the air.  When he jumps off movement he has incredible body control and his lift seems effortless.  As others have mentioned, he often looks like he is going to hit his head on the rim.  His height seems a legit 6'6" and I would be interested to know his wing-span, he looks to have nice length.  Handle is nice in the open court, but we still need to see how well he can handle in traffic when attacking closeouts in the B1G--this is often what separates good from great.

On a side note, when I saw Georgia was the competition, I immediately worried that $EC money bags would win out as we have seen so many times before.  But not this time.  I wonder if the NIL played some part in this.  Nebraska fans will get behind a big-time recruit like Bryce and this could increase he NIL appeal.  I also believe Moos, Frost and Fred are already being very "strategic" in developing ways to make sure the NIL pays "dividends" once implemented. 

Welcome Bryce-- GBR!

9 hours ago, Norm Peterson said:

 

Finally, we have a guy we don't have to call a "poor man's" this or that. Yeah. We can compare our guy to Caris Levert. Straight up. Bitches.

I don't want to rain on your parade Norm.  It is a great day.  But to be clear, at this point he is a very poor mans Caris Levert.  I don't expect anyone to have watched every Nets game in the bubble conclusion and regular season though where Levert was a superstar.  The point remains though and is correct.  I just had to give Levert his due, since I did watch all of that.  

11 hours ago, royalfan said:

 

I don't want to rain on your parade Norm.  It is a great day.  But to be clear, at this point he is a very poor mans Caris Levert.  I don't expect anyone to have watched every Nets game in the bubble conclusion and regular season though where Levert was a superstar.  The point remains though and is correct.  I just had to give Levert his due, since I did watch all of that.  

I assume people meant Levert the college player. If we’re talking the NBA player, he definitely is a poor man’s version. He did sign a $52.5M deal after all...

Bryce already changing things for the Big Red.  He's got our football team up by 21.  

Anyone know the story about their cousin?  I thought I saw a while ago they have a highly touted cousin.  Wonder if we are working on him at all now?  If anyone has the name, I would appreciate it.