Ellison leaving St. John's.

[RU-Choppin-Ohio]

Ellison is a bench player at RU right now and doesn't defend at the level we need to improve the program....he mirrors Laurent as a hybrid SF and wanted to get Ellison as a SG/SF to compliment Laurent.....Ellison would not beat out Mike Williams at SG, so you would have duplicate players at SF ......he's better than Laurent in some aspects, but Laurent is tougher and a more determined player on the glass.

I don't think Matt Ryan ever really recovered to a level before he had hip injuries in HS....I would take Ryan if he was a 5th year transfer, but he also doesn't defend or rebound or play with any sort of toughness.

These are players that can help us and the goal at this stage is to make sure we recruit the right type of two-way player. If Ryan or Ellison show little effort to guard anyone, they become a negative player in the B1G, because they aren't going to score enough points to offset what they give up.....

Stick with the staff and the key remains you are holding a ship for next year, which restricts your depth and you may only get one year out of the player on the court the following season....You are better off taking a one year grad transfer, where you improve your roster immediately on the court and keep your ships open for the true building blocks of the program.

You can take a transfer if the player is a lock to start and plays both offense and defense....otherwise, you pass....

Malik Ellision to PITT.....good enough for PITT, but not Rutgers.

 

[RutgHoops]

Malik Ellision to PITT.....good enough for PITT, but not Rutgers.

Stallings gets a very different kind of player than Jaime did (imo). I watched about 15 SJU games this year and I'm not a big Ellison fan.

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

Malik Ellision to PITT.....good enough for PITT, but not Rutgers.

What is the point of your post regarding Pitt.....I never said Ellison wasn't capable of securing a ship at a school or that Pitt or UVA or anyone else should not be interested in Ellison, I maintain he is not or St. John's did not play any defense, which is not something I would want on my roster based on the two years of play I saw at SJU.....Hope that clears that up....

 

[Hondo77]

Knights...no disrespect intended, but, the entire "he spurned" us two years ago so we don't want him now is a little silly. If he can help in 2018, if Pikiell wants him and can make it work with the roster...who cares what happened two years ago. Pikiell was not even the coach at the time.

Here's what I do know....It's been a long time since Rutgers had a big guard at 6'5, 6'6" that can drive it into the lane and finish near the basket. As far as his outside shot....he shot 34% from 3 point land...not great, but, not horrible.

I agree with that but he's not worth a 3 for 2 in my opinion.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

I watched about 15 SJU games this year

that's disturbing

 

[RU-Choppin-Ohio]

What is the point of your post regarding Pitt.....I never said Ellison wasn't capable of securing a ship at a school or that Pitt or UVA or anyone else should not be interested in Ellison, I maintain he is not or St. John's did not play any defense, which is not something I would want on my roster based on the two years of play I saw at SJU.....Hope that clears that up....

Not playing good defense is different from can't play defense. You were pretty harsh on Ellison by calling him a bad defender. The coach sets the tone for how guys will play on defense. St. Johns, like Rutgers under Jordan, had Offensive minded coaches. When a player goes from an offensive minded HC ( Jordan for example) to the defensive minded HC (Pikiell for example)........magically, they start playing good defense.

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

Not playing good defense is different from can't play defense. You were pretty harsh on Ellison by calling him a bad defender. The coach sets the tone for how guys will play on defense. St. Johns, like Rutgers under Jordan, had Offensive minded coaches. When a player goes from an offensive minded HC ( Jordan for example) to the defensive minded HC (Pikiell for example)........magically, they start playing good defense.

Ellison is a bad defender from what I saw over both seasons...he should be a better player based on all the measurable items he has as a player....perhaps a sit out season with two left to play, gets him on track....I can assure folks that Stallings at Pitt would not have taken him, without some commitment to playing both ends of the floor....he's a hard driving coach that perhaps will get the production out of Ellison that he should have shown at St. Johns (wasted two seasons under Mullin)...most of what I saw was a player looking to drive and could take an open shot, if uncontested, but we landed Laurent instead or missed out on Ellison.....Ellison probably would have been what the doctor ordered for RU, but who knows now....

I would trust Pike to get an Ellison on track, but I definitely would not invest an open scholarship for a player at his level with only one potential season on the court.....he should have left St. John's after his freshman season.....but.he could land elsewhere for his 5th year and I may be the first person begging for him to sign with RU in another couple of years, if he puts it together down the road for his one potential season on the court at Pitt..... He's stepping up to the best conference in the ACC from the Big East, so there won't be any question about comparisons to schedule etc...

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

He's stepping up to the best conference in the ACC

:eek: not this year...i hope

 

[AshCatchEm]

We need guys than can help us now, not a year from now. Many of us are tired of losing seasons. Enough is enough.

If you were truly tired of losing, you would want this team built for long-term success rather than making demands about how we should win next year at whatever cost