BroncoBot wrote:Where the He*# is Craigoscarson? He's usually got the scoop on these kids.
So far theres nothing being reported that wasn't already known, except that the basketball community wasn't aware of Eric Mika and now they are.
Nick Emery is going to be great, TJ Haws is a legit D1 shooting guard, and Eric Mika is going to continue the line of solid big men from Brandon Davies - Ian Harward - Nate Austin - Isaac Nielson - Eric Mika. (Nielson has a chance to be the best of the bunch, but Mika is going to be solid from day 1)
I am not as sold on Braiden Shaw or Luke Worthington (both 6'8"+ guys that are strong, fast, but neither play above the rim) who are also in this years class (Shaw is committed and Worthington has been offered) but they are athletic and can get up and down the floor so they will have the ability to contribute at the 4; however I don't expect either to ever start a game as a Cougar; which is a tribute to the quality of the future starters.
Jakob Hartsock will start games by the time he's an upperclassman. He's got the ability to score like his brother and hustles like his brother; however I don't think he'll finish his career as highly decorated as Noah simply because he's not quite as big and hasn't been as prolific in AAU and high school as Noah. (Noah nearly averaged 30 ppg as a prep senior and dominated the Lopez brothers in AAU) Jakob can stroke it and is nifty around the hoop too; he's just not very strong.
I love Chatman and Calvert from this years crop though. Calvert has a lot of Jimmer in him and Chatman could be a mix of Charles Abouo's D and Tyler Haws O. It'll just be a while before we see them seriously contribute. (Calvert could play this year in a pinch though). I absolutely loved the 86-89 BYU hoops teams so I'm ecstatic to see their kids playing at the Y. (Chatman, Haws, Nixon, and so on)
I think we should be talking more about the near future= Dalton Nixon, Brekkot Chapman, Payton Dastrup, and maybe we should be considering a current senior, 6'9" Casey Oliverson, who has played very very well in AAU but hasn't had any major offers outside of Utah State. Oliverson is one heck of a rebounder and enforcer and I'm not sure why major programs are lukewarm on him; maybe he's a juco to post mission guy, but he will contribute to a D1 team, more than I think Shaw and Worthington would.
And of course.... we can all dream about Jabari..... I know I do.
Bottom line, outside of very few guys (maybe the 7 footer at ASU and Stillman White (the UNC point that grew up a Utah fan) we really have not been missing on many LDS hoopsters). This was a problem during the end of the Roger Reid era, and the Steve Cleveland era. Dave Rose is not only a great coach but he's a miracle worker in recruiting.
(Bronco could learn a thing or two from Rose on how to seal the deal with recruits)
I'm excited for the next decade of BYU hoops, in fact 2012-13 might actually be the last year in the next 10 that we don't start each season in the top 20.