Interesting player just became available....

[seels2662]

6'5" guard Kobe Paras, a Rivals Top 150 player for 2016, has withdrawn from UCLA. Supposedly even though he is a good student and has all the requirements to be cleared to play by the NCAA he didn't do great on his SATs and UCLA's entrance scores are pretty strict and high. I think we require only the minimum allowed by the NCAA so that shouldn't be an issue..can UCLA's loss be our gain? Yes we lose a 2017 scholarship but wouldn't we be hoping to fill it with a Rivals top 150 guard anyway? So why wait?

 

[ScarletLongIsland]

He's not coming here. He will have plenty of better options

 

[higgins3]

lol, it is true.There is maybe a 2% chance he comes here.

It is one thing if he was from NJ, had friends on the team, loved NY, those things provide some kind of leverage.

It does not seem like any of those pertain to this current player. I think our shot is almost 0%.

 

[seels2662]

I don't think he grew up in the US so there wouldn't be a difference where he went.

It doesn't hurt to make a phonecall.

 

[FELONIOUSMONK]

What's a Rutgers?

 

[PiscatawayMike]

I don't think he grew up in the US so there wouldn't be a difference where he went.

It doesn't hurt to make a phonecall.

Agree. RU has to do its due diligence. If Pikiell thinks Paras can improve the team, it's his job to reach out to see if he has any interest in RU.

 

[Russ Wood]

I did the Pac-12 early signing period breakdown for Rivals last November. As I researched the recruiting class for UCLA I learned three things about Paras:

1) He is from the Philippines and has only been in the U.S. for a couple of years.
2) He was not going to be playing much, if at all, in the upcoming season and very little the following season.
3) He was a political get for UCLA. Steve Alford was trying to establish a pipeline to the Compton Magic AAU program -- and it worked. Taking Paras got him five-star power forward T.J. Leaf (who originally committed to Arizona), and five-star center Ike Anigbogu.

Just to make it look good, Alford and the athletic department put up a good fight to get Paras into UCLA so Compton Magic is happy about that.

Meanwhile Alford got two five-stars, another scholarship to use in 2017 and a good relationship with one of the top AAU programs in Southern California.

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

Good stuff Russ Wood....Alford has to start dominating recruiting to keep up with Arizona and the upstarts like Oregon and Utah....The ranking system is somehow flawed enough that a kid lands with a Top 150 ranking and suddenly a school like UCLA (who really can admit almost anyone with reasonable grades), suddenly backs off....perhaps he's a Top 400 kid after all is said and done, but if USC wanted to take this kid or Sean Miller suddenly had room for him, UCLA would make it happen.......but the AAU folks are taken care of, so all good on that front and a kid doesn't burn a year of his eligibility by starting in a program he's not going to contribute to....

 

[RUJMM78]

He's not coming here. He will have plenty of better options

It took 20 minutes for a possible Rutgers recruit to be mentioned and told that he is not coming.I think I have heard a similar refrain for over 20 years.Some day ,some year ,the story will change.Long suffering Rutgers mens basketball fans deserve better.

 

[Russ Wood]

It took 20 minutes for a possible Rutgers recruit to be mentioned and told that he is not coming.I think I have heard a similar refrain for over 20 years.Some day ,some year ,the story will change.Long suffering Rutgers mens basketball fans deserve better.

He's a possible Rutgers recruit to the extent that he was denied admission to the school he signed with and Rutgers has a scholarship available. Beyond that I don't know that there is any mutual interest.

There are reports that 80+ schools have reached out to inquire about him.

 

[ho26rus]

I did the Pac-12 early signing period breakdown for Rivals last November. As I researched the recruiting class for UCLA I learned three things about Paras:

1) He is from the Philippines and has only been in the U.S. for a couple of years.
2) He was not going to be playing much, if at all, in the upcoming season and very little the following season.
3) He was a political get for UCLA. Steve Alford was trying to establish a pipeline to the Compton Magic AAU program -- and it worked. Taking Paras got him five-star power forward T.J. Leaf (who originally committed to Arizona), and five-star center Ike Anigbogu.

Just to make it look good, Alford and the athletic department put up a good fight to get Paras into UCLA so Compton Magic is happy about that.

Meanwhile Alford got two five-stars, another scholarship to use in 2017 and a good relationship with one of the top AAU programs in Southern California.

Russ thank you very much.
To me, at least, that is the most insightful look at national recruiting that goes beyond offer and accept stories i have seen

 

[RU_DIO]

Always appreciate Russ's info.

 

[RUTGERZ_R00LZ]

Always appreciate Russ's info.

Always appreciate RU_DIO's avatar.

 

[RUKeystone]

It took 20 minutes for a possible Rutgers recruit to be mentioned and told that he is not coming.I think I have heard a similar refrain for over 20 years.Some day ,some year ,the story will change.Long suffering Rutgers mens basketball fans deserve better.

Dead honest anytime I open up a thread on the basketball board/RT about any basketball recruit, 99 percent of the time I fully expect them to have no interest whatsoever in coming here. That is where we are right now lol, hoping like hell Pikiell is the one to change that. I can promise you that I will be doing a double take the day I read a nationally sought after recruit picks Rutgers.