2019 Recruiting

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NilesGold
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Re: 2019 Recruiting

Post by NilesGold » Wed May 22, 2019 6:50 pm

^ The comment was made in regard to DeGray, but it applies to more players, and more schools than just UMass. In my limited purview, it seems like there's a significant % of recruits who are very much looking for the "biggest" offer, regardless of whether that school is objectively a good fit for them or not.

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Re: 2019 Recruiting

Post by TheOFFSeason » Wed May 22, 2019 6:51 pm

Floyd wrote: Wed May 22, 2019 4:47 pm UMass has got to show that they can make some noise first in the A10 if they want to land higher rated kids. If there's a consistent run at league titles and more often than not postseason play, UMass will be more attractive. Great school, great campus, great facilities, but got to win consistently
While what you are saying is a general truth, if you are super talented at what you do you can get it done...Cal got Roe to commit in the fall of ‘90 with no noise in the A10 to speak of and less than stellar facilities. All of his friends, teammates and even family thought he was going to Syracuse(which was thee school to a kid in the northeast at the time) but Cal sold him on a vision and he bought in. TB is no Cal but he does connect very well with kids...I think he gets a commitment from a high quality kid by early signing next year. Mitchell would also qualify for that but the circumstances made that a no brainer.

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Re: 2019 Recruiting

Post by Floyd » Wed May 22, 2019 7:07 pm

Interesting that you say TB and not MM
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Re: 2019 Recruiting

Post by 69MG » Wed May 22, 2019 8:46 pm

NilesGold wrote: Tue May 21, 2019 2:20 pm
69MG wrote: Tue May 21, 2019 2:17 pm
NilesGold wrote: Tue May 21, 2019 12:51 pm

Kolton Mitchell is going to be the guy to complete UMass' 2019 class, and I'm very happy about it.
Count me in. I think he's a work in progress, but I love the potential. If East is as good as we hope, there won't be a lot of pressure on Kolton and he can be brought along at whatever pace fits him.
There's nothing to indicate that Kolton is a work in progress compared to Sean East. I suspect both guys will be given ample opportunity to prove themselves. Sean East might have a slight advantage having started Summer Session I yesterday, but I think both of these guys are good and will earn meaningful playing time.
I rewatched a little more video and I came away hoping that both are good enough to split the PG duties roughly 50/50. My reasoning is that we will be much harder to game plan for if that happens. East is a bit more polished, makes good decisions, will give us some scoring and is almost always under control. Kolton is dynamic, goes 110%, will also give us some scoring, makes some spectacular passes and sometimes gets a little out of control. I think those 2 will drive opposing coaches a little crazy trying to prepare. This will be fun to watch.

EDIT: The dead period ends Saturday at midnight. I want Kolton here for his visit on Sunday!!!

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Re: 2019 Recruiting

Post by 78 » Wed May 22, 2019 11:09 pm

So, not to be a wet blanket here, but I remember all of the excitement around the last point guard signed, Tre Wood. It’s not easy being a freshman point guard unless you are at the top of the recruit rankings. I for one am keeping my expectations low and hoping to be pleasantly surprised by our freshman point guard(s) and the entire squad.
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Re: 2019 Recruiting

Post by Jackson96 » Thu May 23, 2019 7:08 am

I don’t necessarily have a ton (or any) expectations for our freshman point guards (assuming we are going to land one more), as I have no real idea how quickly they will be ready to play, but I don’t think rankings play much of a factor in all about how easy the transition is. Sure the top of the class should be ready to play right away more than lower ranked kids and that’s often the case, but there are also quite a few lower ranked guards and wings (and probably a few bigs too but to a much less extent) who do well in extended minutes right off the bat. See Lofton and Honor right here in the A-10 last year as example A and B.
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Re: 2019 Recruiting

Post by 78 » Thu May 23, 2019 7:10 am

^^

Good and well made point.
Last edited by 78 on Fri May 24, 2019 1:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: 2019 Recruiting

Post by eldonabe » Thu May 23, 2019 7:25 am

Floyd wrote: Wed May 22, 2019 7:07 pm Interesting that you say TB and not MM
You do- realize that Cal was not the lead recruiter in the early days.... Bayno (mainly) was the one who got his foot in the door with all those kids.

Cal and MM were/are closers, not set up guys.

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Re: 2019 Recruiting

Post by NilesGold » Thu May 23, 2019 8:08 am

78 wrote: Wed May 22, 2019 11:09 pm So, not to be a wet blanket here, but I remember all of the excitement around the last point guard signed, Tre Wood. It’s not easy being a freshman point guard unless you are at the top of the recruit rankings. I for one am keeping my expectations low and hoping to be pleasantly surprised by our freshman point guard(s) and the entire squad.
Jackson's point about rankings is a good one. You never know for sure what's going to happen with kids when they jump to D1, but it's easier to predict with some kids vs others. I won't sit here and tell anyone that Kolton Mitchell & Sean East are guaranteed to be stars in the league, but I am more optimistic about them than I was with Tre Wood.

I didn't watch much of Tre Wood before his time at UMass, but based on what little I saw, what I read, and the stats I was able to get my hands on, I did have some concerns, but figured playing behind Pipkins he wouldn't be heavily relied on right away. Kolton & Sean have taken a post-grad year at prep schools where they were the starting PG, played almost every minute of games, and had heavy usage. They've both played against good competition (East to an even greater extent)... they've been battle tested, so to speak.

I like both Kolton & Sean, they've got a lot of similarities. Assuming we get both, I feel pretty good about PG. Way too soon to predict how the minutes are spread, I suspect the coaches don't even know yet, but I think they'll both earn time.

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Re: 2019 Recruiting

Post by Floyd » Thu May 23, 2019 12:23 pm

eldonabe wrote: Thu May 23, 2019 7:25 am
Floyd wrote: Wed May 22, 2019 7:07 pm Interesting that you say TB and not MM
You do- realize that Cal was not the lead recruiter in the early days.... Bayno (mainly) was the one who got his foot in the door with all those kids.

Cal and MM were/are closers, not set up guys.
You do-realize that he was comparing TB and Cal, one assistant and one head coach. Thus my comment
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Re: 2019 Recruiting

Post by Roadtrip » Thu May 23, 2019 1:05 pm

^Hence the need for "thus."

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Re: 2019 Recruiting

Post by uz2b-len » Thu May 23, 2019 2:42 pm

So is the implication that MM lacks the emotional skills but TB has 'em?
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Re: 2019 Recruiting

Post by 69MG » Fri May 24, 2019 6:23 pm

Can't get him here fast enough.
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2019 Victory Rock Prep (FL) PG Kolton Mitchell (@KoltonMitchell) tells us he will be on his official visit to #UMass May 29th to 31st

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Re: 2019 Recruiting

Post by Battle Ax » Wed May 29, 2019 6:29 am

Kolton Mitchell starts his visit today. Let’s hope we can get him to commit before he leaves.

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