Quote:
Originally posted by Mister Bater:
Carmelo v. Patrick Ewing Jr.= big difference.
|
First of all get a fucking clue what your talking about. The guy Pliedes is referring to is
Josh Smith who is drawing comparisons to Tracy McGrady. He was the #3 recruit in the country but is basically the #2. Dwight Howard the #1 recruit in the country is jumping straight to the NBA. Smith is a projected lottery pick so the decision between IU and the NBA will be a very tough one. Inside sources at Indiana say that he will be at IU for one year and one year only. His dad is also strongly urging him to go to IU which is another beneficial factor for the Hoosiers.
As Pliedes mentioned above with IU bringing in the #1 recruiting class in the nation it will be a HUGE boost for the Hoosiers. It's much different from football, in college basketball look at the key players on all of the major teams. Most are Freshman and/or Sophomores such as: Sean May, Rashaad McCants, & Raymond Felton (Carolina), Luol Deng, Shavlik Randolph, & J.J. Reddick (Duke), Paul Davis (Michigan State), Anthony Roberson & Matt Walsh (Florida), Mustafa Shakur (Arizona), Nick Caner-Medley & John Gilchrist (Maryland), Dee Brown & Deron Williams (Illinois) even Minnesota has a freshman leading there team in scoring and rebounding (McD's all-america Kris Humphries). College basketball is no longer a senior dominated game but more like a developmental league for the NBA with all the talent that is out there. Smith is that type of player that will come in and average 16 pts. a game 7 rebs. his first year of college, yes he is that good.
Not to mention IU has the #12 recruit in the country coming along as well in
D.J. White this guy is a fucking hoss just look at him he even looks mean. He's a 6'7 230 pound bruiser. He does all the small things (reb and blk) and is a force inside. He's the big banging prescense IU has lacked since Jarrod Odle left a couple of years ago.
Another one of the "Fab Five (possibly 6 in the spring)" is 6'5 do everything SF
Robert Vaden. Some of you may think that name is familiar and it is because he led last years state champion and #2 team in the nation (according to the USA Today high school poll) Pike to a 28-0 record while leading them in scoring and 3 pts. He was the pre-season favorite this year to win Mr. Basketball however he had to transfer to Bridgton Academy in New Jersey in order to qualify himself academically. Word is he's doing just that while leading Bridgton Academy averaging 25 pts. a game. Most people felt he was the best player in the state LAST YEAR as a JUNIOR.
To read about the rest of IU's class you can go
here. They have 5 of the top 75 recruits in the country which hasn't been done since Duke did it two years ago and before that it had never been done in the history of college basketball.
IU is also interested in a 7'2 center from California who is down to the Hoosiers and Arizona however Arizona is expecting a committment from another player which would put them out of schollies. This guy isn't expected to make an impact right away as he is viewed as a big project with tremendous amounts of upside. He's very comparable to starting 7'2 center for Illinois Nick Smith.
These numbers may not mean much to any of you but I'll try and give you a better idea of how good these guys really are. Out of high school Jarred Jeffries was the #5 prospect, Smith is the #3 in what is being a called a much more talented class then the year Jeffries came out. Bracey Wright was the #9 recruit out of high school while White is the #12.
It is very possible to see a starting lineup next year of:
1-6'2 PG Marshall Strickland
2-6'3 SG Bracey Wright
3-6'9 SF Josh Smith (he's a 6'9 player with SF skills, just amazing game with everything he does)
4-6'7 PF Pat Ewing Jr.
5-6'7 C D.J. White
IU will have a top 10 team next year if Smith comes and make a run at the National Title, mark my words. Even if Smith doesn't come they'll have a competitive team and make a run for the top 2 years from now. This is all assuming Wright stays in B-Town after this year which I think he will, he's to small to play SG in the NBA and needs to develop his PG skills a little more.
[ December 03, 2003, 05:49 PM: Message edited by: BigDongedHoe ]