OurDecay

Absolutely

Yeah, I'm not sure I buy into failing to land our chosen targets as ever being a positive. If Miles didn't feel like we wanted them or needed them, we wouldn't be pursuing them. I doubt Miles is 'aww shucks, we'll get em next year'. Next year is critical. You have high expectations. He needs to win again or last year looks like a fluke and it's hard to recruit. Miles is not going to sacrifice 2014-2015 for the sake of the following year or recruiting class. We can't do that...one of the hazards of being so far ahead of schedule! (A good thing overall)

For the record, I hope we gave a hard look at Jerome Frink down at FIU. He is a decent scoring 6-6 F that was recruited by Richard Pitino originally out of St. Anthony's. Former teammate of Tarin Smith. I know he's been mentioned on here before but I'm new to the board so I apologize if this has been covered already. He averaged in double-figs as a true frosh down there, and then 8 & 4 this year as a soph under a new coach. He still hasn't landed yet.

This would be a strange pursuit for us IMO given what he appears to bring (or not bring) to the table, and some of the seemingly better transfers out there that we didn't appear to pursue very hard (like the guy at Oregon St, the other guy at G-Town, Ian Chiles, Cole Huff, etc.). I'm not sure how this guy would fit. I understand that whomever we recruit in this class will need to be comfortable not being the #1 or #2 (or maybe even #3?) scoring choice, but still..I don't get this.

Yes!

Just to be clear, I'm thrilled by the caliber of players we've gotten interest from. Who we are targeting under Miles is exciting...he is fearless and we are going into places and after players that previously we had no business going after. On top of that, we are building relationships years in advance...laying the groundwork for future interest. I like the fact that Miles recognizes that we need a certain level of talent to compete and that we can't just "coach em up". I don't get too caught up in recruiting rankings. What I look at is who we target and how successful we are at landing them. I am ecstatic about Tarin Smith for example. He's a guy who is under the radar but has every quality we should want...and we nabbed him. The place where I get disappointed is when we have guys that won't even visit despite what I feel we objectively have to offer. That's not anybody's "fault", but it is disappointing. Im not talking about 5-star guys either...but our chosen targets. I'm hoping time and continued success changes that and we can at least get real consideration from our targets.

We really seem to still have a problem closing out recruits. Hopefully continued success will make that go away. I mean shoot...hasn't Harriman been recruiting Deng for like 6 years or something?

Agree 100% with all this.

That video is AWESOME.

If you do end up watching any of the full game footage he basically is their main weapon on offense. He spent of a lot of time as a point forward. Thats something he wouldnt be asked to do at NU which would dramatically reduce his turnovers if hes not handling the ball the majority of the time. That Trahson Burrell kid must be pretty sick. Averaging over 25 a game. Believe he's headed to Memphis.

His sophomore stats page: http://stats.njcaa.org/sports/mbkb/2013-14/div1/players/dengdengjbs6 His sophomore game log: http://stats.njcaa.org/sports/mbkb/2013-14/div1/players/dengdengjbs6?view=gamelog One red flag that appeared back when he first hit the scene is how turnover prone he is. Last time I checked in late Febuary he was averaging 5.1 TO/game out of his team's 14.9. I haven't watched his individual game tapes yet (they are out there), so I don't know how or why that's happening...but it stuck out.

That's a fair point. I was mostly speaking in terms of actual playing time. There's a big difference between practice squad and go-time...particularly in the Big Ten. Even if you just look at him as a sophomore..that's still a very impressive stretch. There was a pretty marked improvement in his play, production and consistency over the course of the year. 10.0 PPG & 4.8 RPG in Big Ten play is pretty good at this point in his career. If - IF - he can carry that trajectory into next year at the start of the year...he could eventually be a 15 PPG guy and at that point I think he'd start to get some attention. But again...I agree that he won't be drafted by the NBA.

I have no idea if Walter will ever be drafted by the NBA or not (I suspect not), but there is undeniably some reasons for optimism based on how the season went for him. Just strictly looking at statistics, post-Biggs dismissal/@PSU debacle, this is what Walter put up in the following games: MINN: 13 PTS, 4 REB IND: 11 PTS, 3 REB @ #10 MICH: 10 PTS, 4 REB @ NW: 15 PTS, 5 REB ILL: 7 PTS, 1 REB @ #9 MSU: 18 PTS, 5 REB PSU: 11 PTS, 6 REB PUR: 10 PTS, 5 REB @ ILL: 2 PTS, 5 REB (they apparently own him?) NW: 10 PTS, 9 REB @ IND: 17 PTS, 9 REB #9 WISC: 15 PTS, 5 REB #24 OSU: 15 PTS, 5 REB Now, I obviously left off the Baylor game (scoreless with 5 rebs), but prior to that was a 13-game stretch where he was in double-figures 11 times, and averaged 11.9 PPG (up from his season average) and 5.5 RPG. He did that into the teeth of a Big Ten schedule as a sophomore, in his (essentially) FIRST EVER season of D-1 play. In his last 3 games against ranked teams prior to the NCAAs, he put up 18, 15 and 15. Petteway and Shields are also sophomores, but had a lot more previous playing experience. Walter played 22 total minutes in 2011-2012...and suddenly is facing Adreian Payne and Frank Kaminsky down the stretch. Yo. He was essentially a freshman. He was a consistent contributor down the stretch, proved to be a pretty clutch 3-point shooter (shot 26-54 - 48.2%!!!) over that 13-game stretch. Add to that the fact that he really stepped up his game defensively and also served to draw away interior defenders, and he was a pretty valuable player for us. Its impossible to say at this point where his ceiling is...but I believe it is quite high. His only issue is that unlike some others, he cannot create his own shots...he relies on spacing, passing, and some concerted effort to get him involved. Usually when he disappeared it was mostly a matter of his teammates not getting him looks. I half-jokingly have compared him to a potential Robert Horry to some friends...but he does have that kind of promise IMO. If it weren't for the fact that we also have two of the top-10 returning scorers in Big Ten play on the same team, we would be hyping him up quite a bit more. Just my $.02.

Agree with this. I think it needs to be somebody that can be okay being the #3 scoring choice though too. Spot-up 3-pt shooter, or somebody that can eventually take TP's role when he's gone. Not sure what the board's stance was on him but I do think you lose something defensively with Rey graduating. We'll need an athletic guy that can help us outside on both ends of the court. Cornish would seem to be a nice fit for us...he's got a B1G-ready body and he's now grown into a 6-6, 210-lb big guard. He's not overly quick or athletic (seems more smooth and strong to me), but I like the idea of bringing him for both immediate help and seeing how he develops in the future. I don't think we want or need a top-scorer who needs a lot of shots. We already have that guy in Terran.

Hi everybody...long time anonymous browser of this great site but finally decided to register and participate. I wanted to chime in Moses' height...my son and I happened to be walking into the Spring Game right behind Coach Miles, Terran Petteway, and Moses. Standing side by side flat-footed, Moses was barely taller than Terran. I'm guessing 6'-7" at most. I see him listed as 6'-9" in places and considered a center...and due to his wingspan and skillset that's probably what he'll play...but I think people should be prepared for the fact he's not overly tall. That doesn't mean he isn't a great pickup or won't do everything we need him to, but I had to do a double-take. (or maybe Terran is even taller than I realized!) On that note...I sometimes think that "height" is overrated. I look at Edward Morrow's videos and even though he's listed on the shorter side, his long arms turn him into an inside force. Truly, watching him inside dunk with seemingly no effort, not requiring great leaping ability...he plays much longer than his listed height. I believe Moses will be the same. Great finally interacting with you fellow true NU believers. Been a fan and season ticket holder since Iba.