"Recruiting Excitement" Question

[PhilaPhans]

Were you more excited for:

Mack, Jack, Carter, Seagears, Lewis, Randall, Kone, Taylor*

or

Sanders, Freeman, K. Johnson, Laurent, Goode*, N. Johnson*

(Notes: Taylor was Taylor and ... yeah, Goode came in technically mid-year last year, and Johnson is a transfer. I included them anyway.)

In '11, Mack was the "sure" thing, Carter was an incredibly overlooked talent (yes, he was almost an afterthought with the group despite being the most ready of any of them), Jack just gushed talent but lacked much experience, Seagers was a pretty highly ranked kid from NC, and the others seemed to be question marks filled with tons of potential. This year, we've got the most talented guard we've had since probably Rosario, an incredibly talented JUCO transfer, and a bunch of question marks with that talent potential.

I've got to give the edge to '11, but I'm just going crazy right now wanting to see Sanders and Freeman play (along with the others).

 

[seels2662]

I am more excited for this class but that is because I watched both Laurent and Freeman for a long time before they committed to us and I got what I wanted. With the '11 class alot of those kids came out of nowhere.

 

[studiokane]

Super excited about this class! The guy who seems less heralded that I'm also excited about is Kejuan Johnson. He shows offers from Kentucky, Florida, Memphis, and St. John's. Wasn't he super high ranked nationally at one point?

 

[PhilaPhans]

Yeah, back in 2011 he was considered one of the top prospects in his class. He was 6'5 back then. He's about 6'5 or 6'6 now, so his recruiting trailed off a little bit since he didn't grow any more.

 

[MADHAT1]

I believe the excitement of Rice's recruiting class was bigger, in my opinion
Expectations for the RU MBB program after Freddie left was at a high point and Rice was seen as a savior , his recruits were considered proof.
Jordan's recruits this year make the board very happy, but it's more of a let's see approach than when Rice's first recruiting class was being discussed .

 

[PiscatawayMike]

Super excited about this class! The guy who seems less heralded that I'm also excited about is Kejuan Johnson. He shows offers from Kentucky, Florida, Memphis, and St. John's. Wasn't he super high ranked nationally at one point?

Back in 2011, he was rated the No. 1 long-term 2015 prospect.





http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/26283066/33106995

 

[lilphilw]

It was definitely '11 for me but I think seeing that class being mediocre at best has me cautiously optimistic with this one. I'm very excited and happy with EJ right now

 

[PhilaPhans]

What makes me happy about this class is that it's sorta EJ's 2nd or 3rd class, depending on how you look at it.

'11 was Rice's "I'm a hot, young new coach" class. EJ's classes have got better every year, thankfully. Rice was almost hamstrung by '11 as after that there wasn't a ton of PT to offer around until those guys started transferring out.

(Again, thank you Mack/Jack/Kone/Lewis for staying as long as you did.)

 

[ecojew]

"I believe the excitement of Rice's recruiting class was bigger, in my opinion
Expectations for the RU MBB program after Freddie left was at a high point and Rice was seen as a savior , his recruits were considered proof.
Jordan's recruits this year make the board very happy, but it's more of a let's see approach than when Rice's first recruiting class was being discussed."

I think this kinda sums it up. The Rice class in '11 was ranked #15 in the nation IIRC. There was a lot of optimism following the FHJ disaster. But this class is coming on the heels of the Rice disaster, which brought far more negative attention to the program, even though that finally is beginning to fade into the background. Hopefully, this class will be key to turning things around + these players - now Eddie's players - will be able to run his system. If they lead us back into the tournament, it will put those other disasters behind us and give us new momentum.

 

[rubaseball78]

2011 had the newness of Mike Rice coming in so there was probably more excitement then. I'm pleasantly surprised how this class turned out.

 

[bac2therac]

I believe the excitement of Rice's recruiting class was bigger, in my opinion
Expectations for the RU MBB program after Freddie left was at a high point and Rice was seen as a savior , his recruits were considered proof.
Jordan's recruits this year make the board very happy, but it's more of a let's see approach than when Rice's first recruiting class was being discussed .

this and I caution everyone to keep things in check in light of expectatons last time. I think this class finally gives the program optimism and EJ a punchers chance

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

Coming off of only having 8 players in Rice's first year that overachieved and then having the combination of the incoming 2011 kids was a double whammy of excitement. It will be tough to imagine beating a class with Mack, Eli and Jack, but Mack and Eli with Seagears all showed flashes that they could be big pieces.

Carter was the last signee after Taylor didn't make it and was the most ready and least hyped out of the total class. Mack, Randall, Jack and Taylor held the local category and Lewis, Kone and Seagears was the DMV DC Assault category. Add in Judge as a late transfer for the next year and suddenly as a MCD AA, it's tough to beat that expectation level.

What tempers this somewhat is how much the team struggled at times to show signs of improvement, but it's easy to say it's the players fault or looking for stats etc....In any case, Rice recruited his tail off, but I think never figured out how to corral Carter after the Florida game. Once RU got robbed at Verizon Center vs GTown, things kinda went sideways and it never got back on track.

Eddie needs to recruit as hard as he can to enhance the roster and if there is a way to add a talented piece to start the 2016 class, if he can add another front court piece to essentially replace Freeman (yes you have to have someone lined up and ready) and go JUCO again for whatever is the weakest spot, you have a chance in 2016-2017 to make a move and show progress....Ideally it's Year 4 when Eddie needs to show improvement, but truthfully, he needs some minor improvement in 2015-16, to have a chance to get things above .500 in 2016-17.

This team is so green in a lot of spots that it's going to be very tough to expect any consistency, but I'm at least interested to see what this group of athletes can do in space and on defense. There is one thing Eddie mentioned in his first open practice and that he needed to raise the level or caliber of athlete (Size, speed, leaping ability, strength) to have any chance down the road. At least if he misses on a player, it won't be because they lack the necessary upside athletically. Freeman, Laurent and Sanders are extremely athletic, as is Kejuan Johnson and while Nigel Johnson may not be a high-wire act, he fits the profile of most programs athletes at a Power 5 school.

As talented as Rice's class was, it took time for the caliber of athlete to catch up in the Big East. Same concept applies here, although some of the kids are further along physically and should transition faster and better to the B1G.

 

[ouchmyknee]

I, personally, am more excited about this class because we have some size across the roster now. While I loved the 2011 class, we simply need bigger players, which it looks like we now have.

 

[RC85]

I, personally, am more excited about this class because we have some size across the roster now. While I loved the 2011 class, we simply need bigger players, which it looks like we now have.

Exactly, plus the 2011 class ranking was skewed by the quantity of commits. Arguably our top '11 recruit was consensus 4* but undersized Mack. As I recall both K-Jack and Seagears had split 3* and 4* ratings by the major recruiting services.

 

[jellyman]

A lot of good posts in this thread - many have merit, even when disagreeing with each other.

Madhat, Bac and NJHawk all post thoughtful comments that I agree with. But Magoo's post - though without depth, is ALSO correct!

I think, when taken together, this thread highlights very truly the arc of RU basketball and expectations since Rice started.