From Alex Kline's Twitter feed (EDIT ... link now attached)

https://twitter.com/TheRecruitScoop/stat...7514469376

"Rice transfer Drew Bender has received an offer from Northern Colorado."

Apologies if I missed this earlier.

Bender's playing time really went down as the season progressed. I was afraid that either he or Kapic would be a victim of the new basketball coaching staff and playing style as there really won't be much playing time for both.

That said, I don't want to lose any other players just because of the stigma attached to a loss (plus it can't help the APR). I really would like to see news about a transfer to Rice for a change.

Next year will be a tough transition year. But I have high hopes for this staff within two years. If they get the 6-4 kid from PA (over Michigan will be a tall task), that would be a great start. An immediate upperclass transfer would be another huge plus because next year's roster (I believe) is 2 seniors (1 a walk-on), 2 juniors, 4 sophomores (2 walk-ons) and at least 4 freshmen. We have at least 3 open scholarships and perhaps a 4th one now.

First I'd heard about it.

Getting transfers IN will be key. Real test is whether Rhoads made a personal impact on kids he recruited for VCU who decided to go elsewhere.

The silver lining is that ANYONE that Rhoads ever talked to while on the VCU staff would be accretive to our talent base.

I saw on Verbal Commits that there is one new transfer coming in from Arizona State. Will have to sit out next year but will have three years of eligibility left.

http://www.verbalcommits.com/players/egor-koulechov

Geesh-I thought that he looked pretty good when he played and wondered why he didn't get more PT. What a mess.........

http://www.thesundevils.com/ViewArticle....=209293617

Rhoads knows the cupboard is bare and he wants to win. I expect him to beat the bushes hard for transfers.

Scott Pera was the ASU Recruiting Coordinator and got Igor to Arizona State.

Honestly, one of my concerns was that the roster was underclass-heavy and did not provide the staff the opportunity to bring in guys for their system. I hope the players are not chased away from Rice if they genuinely want to be there and graduate, but I think there is a positive in this in that the staff has some leww to recruit their own players.

So far the theme is long guards.

(04-17-2014 01:36 PM)talon owl Wrote:  So far the theme is long guards.

You can't teach height!

7 starts for an ASU team that made the NCAA tournament (and lost on a last second shot to Texas in the opening round) is probably an improvement over Bender. I liked Drew and wish him the best but it's probably for the best he gets a fresh start somewhere else. His confidence was really shaken at the end of the season.

And great news on an incoming transfer. I don't recall any during the Braun era.

(04-17-2014 01:36 PM)talon owl Wrote:  So far the theme is long guards.

6-4 or 6-5 tweeners are exactly what you need to play 94-foot basketball. And I've said it before, that's the kind of player that Rice can attract. I'd be happy getting a half dozen of them.

(04-17-2014 02:56 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  And great news on an incoming transfer.

+1. I'm usually less keen on transfers than you are, but in this situation (very few upperclassmen and lots of HS recruits already committed elsewhere) it makes complete sense. 3 years of eligibility is also a plus.

By my count we still have 2 scholarships to give.

(04-17-2014 11:35 AM)bobreinhold1 Wrote:  Scott Pera was the ASU Recruiting Coordinator and got Igor to Arizona State.

Pera was at ASU a few years back but he's been at Penn the last two seasons. He might have been involved in his recruiting early in the process when he was a high school junior. But perhaps ASU knew the player was leaving and Pera talked to some of the current ASU coaches to get the process rolling?

Pera recruited him when he was a junior, and Egor committed before his senior season.

I see where we're getting a visit from Cameron Johnson this weekend. He's a 6-6" guard from Olsh Pa. (outside Pittsburgh) He was a 1st team All-Stater but in Class A. However in two pre-season games against 4A competition (highest class there) he scored 61 points. He averaged 27.8 ppg.

(04-17-2014 05:35 PM)bobreinhold1 Wrote:  I see where we're getting a visit from Cameron Johnson this weekend. He's a 6-6" guard from Olsh Pa. (outside Pittsburgh) He was a 1st team All-Stater but in Class A. However in two pre-season games against 4A competition (highest class there) he scored 61 points. He averaged 27.8 ppg.

Looks like he played PG in HS too. Potentially a really good sleeper.

http://www.hudl.com/athlete/2965865/high.../120938377

The competition is not great, but there's appears to be some good all-around skill there and definitely some length.

The long guard theme continues