Recently offered 2020 big man Yussif Basa-Ama committed to Yale. Doesn't sound like we were in the running. It was either Yale or West Virginia. Gonna say he made the right choice.

(09-11-2019 10:41 AM)mrbig Wrote:  As a reminder, Rice should have 4 open scholarships for 2020, with Ako Adams, Tommy McCarthy, Robert Martin, and Tim Harrison graduating.

Rice currently has 1 commit - 6'5" SF Cameron Sheffield.

Rice has offers to the following players (some players are not on this list because they posted a list of top schools and did not include Rice) (according to verbal commits, 247sports, and me double-checking on twitter):
PG - 6'1" Justin Wright (offered 10/16/18)
PG - 6'1" Andre Henry (offered 7/17/19)
PG - 6'2" Evan Nelson (offered 6/15/18, trimmed his list to 3 schools including Rice on 8/14/19)

SG - 6'3" Jayden Stone (offered 7/5/18, his recruiting has blown up)
SG - 6'5" Ricky Council (offered 7/16/18)

SF - 6'6" Jackson Sivills (offered 7/23/18, Rice apparently saw him on 5/2/19)
SF - 6'6" Andrew Laczkowski (offered 9/6/19)

PF - 6'8" Matt Zona (offered 6/10/19, has some big offers)
PF - 6'9" Mylyjael Poteat (offered 7/15/19)
PF - 6'8" Reece Brown (offered 7/3/19, official visit supposedly scheduled for 9/27/19)

Removed Yussif Basa-Ama (Yale commit) and Ryan Kalkbrenner (Creighton commit) from the list.

New offer out to 2021 Houston Mallette. 6-4 guard out of California with a bunch of mid offers and a couple bigger names.

(09-27-2019 11:27 AM)elw4796 Wrote:  New offer out to 2021 Houston Mallette. 6-4 guard out of California with a bunch of mid offers and a couple bigger names.

Washington State, Pepperdine & UNLV, among others. (http://verbalcommits.com/players/houston-mallette)

Evan Nelson committed to Harvard which really, really hurts . But not sure anybody can blame him. Higher level of academics, better program, better program support. That leaves our only point guard offer to Justin Wright, who we offered in October 2018. While I'm sure we'll end up landing a point guard the staff likes, we've now missed on every higher profile (but still gettable) PG target.

Butler -> San Diego State
James -> Tulane
Lanier -> Davidson
Gharram -> Yale
Nelson -> Harvard

Lost out on Evan Nelson but picked up a committment from North Carolina big man MylyJael Poteat. He's a 6-9, 260 pound big man who's in the process of slimming down. Offers from a bunch of good mid majors including Ivies. Kind of a diverse skillset even though most of what he does is operate in the paint. Obviously way too strong for most HS kids, big wingspan, good touch around the hoop, and looks like he has good vision for a big man. Won't jump out of the gym, but don't think that'll necessary hurt his interior defense. Has the strength to body other bigs up and the wingspan to block shots.

(09-30-2019 11:15 AM)elw4796 Wrote:  Lost out on Evan Nelson but picked up a committment from North Carolina big man MylyJael Poteat. He's a 6-9, 260 pound big man who's in the process of slimming down. Offers from a bunch of good mid majors including Ivies. Kind of a diverse skillset even though most of what he does is operate in the paint. Obviously way too strong for most HS kids, big wingspan, good touch around the hoop, and looks like he has good vision for a big man. Won't jump out of the gym, but don't think that'll necessary hurt his interior defense. Has the strength to body other bigs up and the wingspan to block shots.

Does he run well?

(09-30-2019 11:25 AM)Tiki Owl Wrote:  

(09-30-2019 11:15 AM)elw4796 Wrote:  Lost out on Evan Nelson but picked up a committment from North Carolina big man MylyJael Poteat. He's a 6-9, 260 pound big man who's in the process of slimming down. Offers from a bunch of good mid majors including Ivies. Kind of a diverse skillset even though most of what he does is operate in the paint. Obviously way too strong for most HS kids, big wingspan, good touch around the hoop, and looks like he has good vision for a big man. Won't jump out of the gym, but don't think that'll necessary hurt his interior defense. Has the strength to body other bigs up and the wingspan to block shots.

Does he run well?

He seems pretty mobile for his size.

(09-30-2019 11:15 AM)elw4796 Wrote:  Lost out on Evan Nelson but picked up a committment from North Carolina big man MylyJael Poteat. He's a 6-9, 260 pound big man who's in the process of slimming down. Offers from a bunch of good mid majors including Ivies. Kind of a diverse skillset even though most of what he does is operate in the paint. Obviously way too strong for most HS kids, big wingspan, good touch around the hoop, and looks like he has good vision for a big man. Won't jump out of the gym, but don't think that'll necessary hurt his interior defense. Has the strength to body other bigs up and the wingspan to block shots.

Great name - maybe another Sean Obi type?

(09-30-2019 05:25 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  

(09-30-2019 11:15 AM)elw4796 Wrote:  Lost out on Evan Nelson but picked up a committment from North Carolina big man MylyJael Poteat. He's a 6-9, 260 pound big man who's in the process of slimming down. Offers from a bunch of good mid majors including Ivies. Kind of a diverse skillset even though most of what he does is operate in the paint. Obviously way too strong for most HS kids, big wingspan, good touch around the hoop, and looks like he has good vision for a big man. Won't jump out of the gym, but don't think that'll necessary hurt his interior defense. Has the strength to body other bigs up and the wingspan to block shots.

Great name - maybe another Sean Obi type?

I'm kind of awful at judging player ability and projections but he kind of reminds me of QMB except with a completely different body type. Can be a good defender without having elite athleticism. Decent touch around the rim. He might be stronger than QMB at this point while possessing less advanced post scoring.

Here are his highlights:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaCnBzRU1_M

(09-30-2019 06:31 PM)elw4796 Wrote:  

(09-30-2019 05:25 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  

(09-30-2019 11:15 AM)elw4796 Wrote:  Lost out on Evan Nelson but picked up a committment from North Carolina big man MylyJael Poteat. He's a 6-9, 260 pound big man who's in the process of slimming down. Offers from a bunch of good mid majors including Ivies. Kind of a diverse skillset even though most of what he does is operate in the paint. Obviously way too strong for most HS kids, big wingspan, good touch around the hoop, and looks like he has good vision for a big man. Won't jump out of the gym, but don't think that'll necessary hurt his interior defense. Has the strength to body other bigs up and the wingspan to block shots.

Great name - maybe another Sean Obi type?

I'm kind of awful at judging player ability and projections but he kind of reminds me of QMB except with a completely different body type. Can be a good defender without having elite athleticism. Decent touch around the rim. He might be stronger than QMB at this point while possessing less advanced post scoring.

Here are his highlights:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaCnBzRU1_M

Well, he can make bunnies, something the Owls have struggled to do for years. Welcome to Rice!

In addition to Mylyjael Poteat committing to Rice and Evan Nelson committing to Harvard, Jackson Sivills committed to Murray State and Matt Zona committed to Notre Dame. I have removed all four from my earlier list. Here is the current list of Rice basketball offers for the 2020 class (according to verbalcommits and 247sports):

Quote:PG - 6'1" Justin Wright (offered 10/16/18)
PG - 6'1" Andre Henry (offered 7/17/19)

SG - 6'3" Jayden Stone (offered 7/5/18, his recruiting has blown up)
SG - 6'5" Ricky Council (offered 7/16/18)

SF - 6'6" Andrew Laczkowski (offered 9/6/19)

PF - 6'8" Reece Brown (offered 7/3/19, official visit supposedly scheduled for 9/27/19)

(10-01-2019 10:05 AM)mrbig Wrote:  In addition to Mylyjael Poteat committing to Rice and Evan Nelson committing to Harvard, Jackson Sivills committed to Murray State and Matt Zona committed to Notre Dame. I have removed all four from my earlier list. Here is the current list of Rice basketball offers for the 2020 class (according to verbalcommits and 247sports):

Quote:PG - 6'1" Justin Wright (offered 10/16/18)
PG - 6'1" Andre Henry (offered 7/17/19)

SG - 6'3" Jayden Stone (offered 7/5/18, his recruiting has blown up)
SG - 6'5" Ricky Council (offered 7/16/18)

SF - 6'6" Andrew Laczkowski (offered 9/6/19)

PF - 6'8" Reece Brown (offered 7/3/19, official visit supposedly scheduled for 9/27/19)

Brandon Angel, who I believe we offered fairly recently, committed to Stanford.

PG Justin Wright, the last remaining point guard we had offered in 2020, committed to North Carolina Central. Noah Taitz committed to Stanford though I don't think we've been recruiting him for like 2+ years. Let's see what the new wave of offers holds.

North Carolina Central beat us out?

(10-06-2019 09:59 PM)OldOwl Wrote:  North Carolina Central beat us out?

Is that a penitentiary?

(10-06-2019 10:02 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  

(10-06-2019 09:59 PM)OldOwl Wrote:  North Carolina Central beat us out?

Is that a penitentiary?

HBCU that's been to the tournament a bunch the past few years with a very good coach who has helped with some of the Team USA camps and who will likely be poached by a bigger program in short order. Plus a fairly good fanbase. But I'm not sure we were actually in on Wright. Seemed to be behind a few of the other PGs who we had offered.

In other words, didn't *seem* like a priority but nonetheless means we've missed on every early PG offer for the 2020 class.

(10-06-2019 10:22 PM)elw4796 Wrote:  

(10-06-2019 10:02 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  

(10-06-2019 09:59 PM)OldOwl Wrote:  North Carolina Central beat us out?

Is that a penitentiary?

HBCU that's been to the tournament a bunch the past few years with a very good coach who has helped with some of the Team USA camps and who will likely be poached by a bigger program in short order. Plus a fairly good fanbase. But I'm not sure we were actually in on Wright. Seemed to be behind a few of the other PGs who we had offered.

In other words, didn't *seem* like a priority but nonetheless means we've missed on every early PG offer for the 2020 class.

Well we took their former head coach in another sport and look how that worked out... Buyer beware!

(10-07-2019 08:24 AM)ExcitedOwl18 Wrote:  

(10-06-2019 10:22 PM)elw4796 Wrote:  

(10-06-2019 10:02 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  

(10-06-2019 09:59 PM)OldOwl Wrote:  North Carolina Central beat us out?

Is that a penitentiary?

HBCU that's been to the tournament a bunch the past few years with a very good coach who has helped with some of the Team USA camps and who will likely be poached by a bigger program in short order. Plus a fairly good fanbase. But I'm not sure we were actually in on Wright. Seemed to be behind a few of the other PGs who we had offered.

In other words, didn't *seem* like a priority but nonetheless means we've missed on every early PG offer for the 2020 class.

Well we took their former head coach in another sport and look how that worked out... Buyer beware!

In fairness, Jerry Mack ran a spread-like offense with a mobile QB at NCCU and now Bloomgren has him running a power run offense.

(10-06-2019 09:07 PM)elw4796 Wrote:  PG Justin Wright, the last remaining point guard we had offered in 2020, committed to North Carolina Central. Noah Taitz committed to Stanford though I don't think we've been recruiting him for like 2+ years. Let's see what the new wave of offers holds.

Rice offered Andre Henry back on 7/17/19 and I have seen him listed as both a combo guard or PG, depending on the source. 247sports lists him as a CG and the #255 player in the country. Lots of positive articles out there about his summer performance.