Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Recruiting Nuggets

This Friday marks the return of the spring evaluation period, in which coaches can watch players at AAU events for the first time since 2008. The SU staff will be very busy on the road where events will take place from Pittsburgh, and all the way out to Vegas. I will have a list of players that the staff will target at those events on Thursday.

This past weekend Goodluck Okonoboh(2013 PF) and Chris McCullough(2014 PF) were both in action and had very good performances from what I was told. Okonoboh still lacks offensive polish but plays with a very high motor and is always active on both ends of the court. McCullough showed the ability to knock down jumpers, and handle the ball very well for somebody his size. Not only limited for the 4 spot, but McCullough is starting to show that he can play at the 3 as well.

The SU staff has shown a lot of interest as of late in SF Ishmail Wainright. Wainright is originally from Missouri, but now plays his high school ball at Montrose Christian in Maryland. Wainright is also going to suit up for Team Takeover this Spring/Summer, which features several other SU targets as well.

The SU staff has also recently been in touch with 2014 Philly SG Sean Lloyd. Lloyd isn't an household name at this point but he has sparked interest from other high-majors as well besides SU.

Some have wondered whatever happened to Duane Notice from Canada, who some thought was going to be one of the premier players in the 2013 class. While he hasn't been a big name in the states up to this point, which could be due to staying in Canada for high school ball. The fact still remains that he's still a good prospect who has recently earned offers from good programs such as Cincy, Mizzou, Minnesota, and New Mexico. Notice will be the backcourt mate of SU target Tyler Ennis, for their CIA Bounce squad. Should be interesting to see if SU shows interest in him moving forward.

Things have been quiet on the Kuran Iverson front. I have been told despite the issues at UConn, Iverson is still a heavy lean to stay in-state and play for the hometown Huskies. Iverson is also very high on Kentucky, so the main competition could come from them if they offer him a scholarship.

In my best guards available post that I made a few months ago. Daiquan Walker and Torian Graham were two of the better guards left that I thought SU could give a good look at. At this point it's looking like both will end up at prep schools next season, which would obviously make them unavailable for 2012.

News broke yesterday that former SU target and Duke freshman Michael Gbinije plans to transfer, and SU has already reached out. Gbinije was originally offered by SU before he committed to Duke. Also Red Autry was his main recruiter back at Va Tech. The SU staff is very familiar with him and they could end up being the most logical choice, unless Duke blocks SU from Gbinije's list due to their future ACC membership. I like Gbinije as a tall SG with a high b-ball IQ, who can shoot with range and score on drives to the hole against smaller defenders. On defense, his 6'6 size would cause a lot of problems for other guards in the zone. Below is his highlight video from his senior season in high school for those not familar with his game.









  

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