2021 Recruiting

[furpop16]

While licking my wounds I tried to focus on the silver lining as well: David vs. Goliath and David again made it a match. So in a moment of overconfidence I surfed over to the Clemson board to find:

finalists were VCU, Wake Forest, College of Charleston and Furman.

You think we will compete in the ACC by winning recruiting battles with those teams?

https://www.tigernet.com/forum/message/ ... g-27432099

Though we're clearly making progress, we've still a ways to go.

[youwouldno]

Furman will never beat out ACC schools for basketball recruits on anything other than the rarest of occasions. That's just the nature of the game. Furman doesn't win a super high rate of recruiting battles against other mid-majors at this point either, if you look at where most of the players Furman offered last year wound up. A couple wound up at big schools, but most didn't.

[FurmAlum]

Beadle quoted in the Charleston P&C saying playing in the ACC was important. He also said the degree from Clemson weighed over the other schools. “That made a big difference.”

In my mind a degree from Furman means a whole lot more than one from Clempson, and it's not even close. Except maybe in Engineering, as FU is not an Engineering school.

As for playing in the ACC being important, that I can buy and agree with. But I think if FU had played in the ACC last year, we would have won at least half our games. Playing 1/2 of our hypothetical ACC games at the Well would have resulted in a lot of hypothetical wins .

[CharlieFU]

Beadle quoted in the Charleston P&C saying playing in the ACC was important. He also said the degree from Clemson weighed over the other schools. “That made a big difference.”

In my mind a degree from Furman means a whole lot more than one from Clempson, and it's not even close. Except maybe in Engineering, as FU is not an Engineering school.

As for playing in the ACC being important, that I can buy and agree with. But I think if FU had played in the ACC last year, we would have won at least half our games. Playing 1/2 of our hypothetical ACC games at the Well would have resulted in a lot of hypothetical wins .

The value of a degree from Furman vs Clemson is a much closer debate than it used to be. There are areas other than Engineering where Clemson would be favored. Many programs they have (nursing, e.g.) that Furman does not have. Plus it is not nearly as disparate in the humanities as it used to be (like when I graduated from high school in 1980.)

[Furmanoid]

Beadle quoted in the Charleston P&C saying playing in the ACC was important. He also said the degree from Clemson weighed over the other schools. “That made a big difference.”

In my mind a degree from Furman means a whole lot more than one from Clempson, and it's not even close. Except maybe in Engineering, as FU is not an Engineering school.

As for playing in the ACC being important, that I can buy and agree with. But I think if FU had played in the ACC last year, we would have won at least half our games. Playing 1/2 of our hypothetical ACC games at the Well would have resulted in a lot of hypothetical wins .

The value of a degree from Furman vs Clemson is a much closer debate than it used to be. There are areas other than Engineering where Clemson would be favored. Many programs they have (nursing, e.g.) that Furman does not have. Plus it is not nearly as disparate in the humanities as it used to be (like when I graduated from high school in 1980.)

In our county (Aiken) Clemson is clearly the school of choice for the “smart kids” if they can get in. Furman doesn’t have the majors they are interested in (engineering, nursing, anything practical) and it costs at 2-3 times as much even with financial aid. The Furman Scholars all politely say “thanks but no thanks”. I wish we could fix this.

[JohnW]

It's the cost. Furman's relatively small endowment prohibits offering the kind of aid packages needed. Richmond for instance offers Virginia residents making 60K or less a full ride. Imagine Furman able to offer that to locals. Applications would go through the roof.

[tya1]

One of the Paladins' offered recruits for the class of 2021 has made his decision.

Connor Hickman, 6'3 guard from South HS in Bloomington, IN, has chosen Bradley University. Hickman picked the Braves over six other offers, which also included Wofford, Elon, Ball State, Toledo, and Evansville.

[tya1]

Verbal Commits says Jarvis Moss, 6'4" guard from the Cannon School in Concord, NC, has an offer from Furman.

Moss helped his school to the NC state championship in their divison. He has 9 other listed offers on Verbal Commits, including UNCG, Samford, Penn, and Bucknell. He took unofficial visits to Clemson, Wake Forest, and Tennessee this season and has a number of schools following but without offers yet.

Right now he is mainly known for his excellent shooting stroke and overall scoring abilities.

[tya1]

Recruits making decisions. Garrett Johnson, 6'7" wing from Virginia has picked Princeton. He says that they were the first school to start recruiting him three years ago and were constantly in touch. Furman made the final cut before he made his choice, joining four Ivy League schools, Richmond, George Mason, and East Carolina in the final eight. Johnson received at least 22 reported offers before narrowing it down.

Angelo Brizzi, 6'4" guard, (also from Virginia) cut his long list of offers down to 8 - Arizona, Michigan, Villanova, Colorado, Northwestern,California, Dartmouth, and Davidson.

My guess would be Villanova, but Michigan and Arizona look strong too. Maybe Davidson has a shot. Brizzi is a big Steph Curry fan.

[Monday]

As a side note it is odd how much the "star ratings" given out by various recruiting services seem purely reactionary. When Beadle was being recruited primarily by Furman, Wofford, Charleston, and ETSU, etc. he was a 2 star recruit. When he started getting offers from Clemson and Wake Forest he became a 3 star recruit. Today, after committing to Clemson he is a 4 star. It is almost like the recruiting "experts" rate players by who is recruiting them, not the opinions of the "experts." The first time I saw this phenomenon in action was when North Carolina signed a complete unknown to a scholarship. He wasn't rated in any top 100 lists or even top 500 lists. But, sure enough, soon afterwards he was a 3 star player getting named to top 100 recruit lists. It turned out the player was the son of one of Dean Smith's teammates at Kansas and Dean signed him as a favor to his buddy.

Another example is Angelo Brizzi. He had been rated 2stars but now that he has trimmed his list to schools like Arizona and Michigan he’s 3 stars.

[furpop16]

Patience, gang.

Easy for me to say, I know, as I'm relatively new to this - at least compared to those on this board who've been carrying the water since 1980 and before. But if we're to learn anything from CBR's recent podcast and the recent escape of these higher-profile recruits, it's that Coach is playing on a higher level.

Everybody's got a price, Including Coach, I know, but we can only go by his words. Right now he's more interested in developing Quality Individuals than securing stars on Verbal Commits. If a 3-star makes a conscious decision to choose a program with an already higher profile - rather than buying into CBR's culture & formula - because the kid's got NBA on the mind and FURther-the-MAN is just too high-risk/high-reward, then God-bless-'em & Good luck.

Will Covid-19 turn out to be another hard-luck setback for FU? Can't say. But even in the best case, we've just got to have faith in Coach's formula and Coach's determination to see it through. Again, listen to his words. In the podcast he recounted the numerous times he ignored advice to "get out of there", especially during our 300+ KenPom days. He didn't jump ship then and he's only shown success since.

We have a ways to go, yes. But so far everything's pointing Coach's way. Even the recent disappointments of baseball & LAX, if looked another way, Pres. Davis is putting what chips she has on Coach & his philosophy. It'll take time to ultimately secure the Robertson's, Jabbar's, & Bradley's: the high-caliber individuals who are also top-flight recruits, but we're getting there. Until then we continue to be thankful for the Alex Hunters on this team - good players who are compelled - because they know it's either everything to Coach's vision, or go home to driving a dump truck.

[Monday]

As a side note it is odd how much the "star ratings" given out by various recruiting services seem purely reactionary. When Beadle was being recruited primarily by Furman, Wofford, Charleston, and ETSU, etc. he was a 2 star recruit. When he started getting offers from Clemson and Wake Forest he became a 3 star recruit. Today, after committing to Clemson he is a 4 star. It is almost like the recruiting "experts" rate players by who is recruiting them, not the opinions of the "experts." The first time I saw this phenomenon in action was when North Carolina signed a complete unknown to a scholarship. He wasn't rated in any top 100 lists or even top 500 lists. But, sure enough, soon afterwards he was a 3 star player getting named to top 100 recruit lists. It turned out the player was the son of one of Dean Smith's teammates at Kansas and Dean signed him as a favor to his buddy.

Another example is Angelo Brizzi. He had been rated 2stars but now that he has trimmed his list to schools like Arizona and Michigan he’s 3 stars.

Brizzi chose Villanova so he’s now a 4 star. If he chose Davidson, another finalist, he might have stayed a 3.

[tya1]

Isaiah Walker, the 6'5" wing from Ohio, has picked Belmont from among the many offers he received.

Seems players are making quicker choices this year than normal. You will have a few players picking schools before Fall, but most years the great majority will wait until at least August. Most choices will be made in August, September and October by prospects signing in November. Without AAU ball in the Spring and most of the Summer there was probably more time to concentrate on decisions.

Also, I note that Adam Kunkel, who Furman recruited a couple of years ago, is transferring from Belmont to Xavier. (Kentucky high school star we were after at the same time as Andrew Taylor.) Kunkel didn't play much as a freshman but had a big year this past season as a sophomore - averaged about 17 ppg.

[PaladinPower]

Love our chances to land SF Alex Williams (6’ 4”, 215). On social media he looks to be close with current Furman players. Would love to have him in a Paladin uniform!

If we could grab him along with one of the guard prospects (Jarvis Moss, Jake Heidbreider, Will Richard, Elijah Tucker), this class would be phenomenal.

Langdon Hatton (6’9” PF) would also be an incredible land for Furman.

[tya1]

PaladinPower mentioned Elijah Tucker.

A little more info on Tucker - He is 6'5" 170, from Cherokee HS and Tucker, GA.
Video shows that he is a strong leaper with a very quick first step, especially from the low post. Also has a smooth outside shot too.
Interesting timing on the Paladin offer. Tucker mentions getting the offer on July 13. His earlier offers are from Northwestern, Georgia Tech, St. John's, VCU, Iowa, Middle Tenn. State, Richmond, and Xavier. Not that often that Furman comes in with an offer after some of those prominent programs.