(07-04-2022 10:04 AM)Miggy Wrote:  

(07-04-2022 08:40 AM)RamyEMU Wrote:  

(07-04-2022 07:08 AM)Luckeyone Wrote:  Miggy stated earlier that he’s cleared to play.

Miggy is amazingly informative in so many ways. BUT, until Johnson verbals or we see him on the roster, we can’t say if he is even considering EMU. Likewise, for the “cleared to play”.

He’s considering EMU, but like anything else in life it’s not done until it’s done. Who wouldn’t want to consider playing with Noah, Bates, and company. Players know when a team is special, want to be part of it, and is capable of going deep into the NCAA tournament

I know I'm going to drive someone (or someones) up the wall, but I've already checked where the first round sites for the 2023 NCAA Men's Basketball Tourney are.

Just a little summary from "Sunshine Steve."

We have the makings of a very good, very deep team. As everyone here knows, we are in the TRANSFER ERA. If the stars align, a team can rise faster than a 4th of July fire cracker.
We have a beautiful arena and a very good, personable coach. We are short drive to Detroit. Transfer have been coming to EMU full speed under Heath.

We just needed the stars to align and now could be that time. Turbocharge the rebuild. That's where Emoni helps. He put EMU clearly on the basketball map. There are 360+ D-I MBB programs. A program needs to distinguish itself from scores of similar programs.

Stan has proven that he can get transfers from high major programs. Other MAC teams may be looking at 2-star preps we are looking at 3, 4 or 5 star transfers. In all deference to Akron, Kent, UB, Ohio, Toledo, etc. I think we are NOW the new destination program in the MAC (it was UB under Nate Oats).

And Stan is building a program which can endure. He brought in a highly rated freshman, redshirt freshman, junior and others (e.g., Bates, etc.). This is not a one and done program.

(07-04-2022 11:38 AM)emu steve Wrote:  Just a little summary from "Sunshine Steve."

We have the makings of a very good, very deep team. As everyone here knows, we are in the TRANSFER ERA. If the stars align, a team can rise faster than a 4th of July fire cracker.
We have a beautiful arena and a very good, personable coach. We are short drive to Detroit. Transfer have been coming to EMU full speed under Heath.

We just needed the stars to align and now could be that time. Turbocharge the rebuild. That's where Emoni helps. He put EMU clearly on the basketball map. There are 360+ D-I MBB programs. A program needs to distinguish itself from scores of similar programs.

Stan has proven that he can get transfers from high major programs. Other MAC teams may be looking at 2-star preps we are looking at 3, 4 or 5 star transfers. In all deference to Akron, Kent, UB, Ohio, Toledo, etc. I think we are NOW the new destination program in the MAC (it was UB under Nate Oats).

And Stan is building a program which can endure. He brought in a highly rated freshman, redshirt freshman, junior and others (e.g., Bates, etc.). This is not a one and done program.

Well said.

How good is Keyontae Johnson? Simply the best. As in his last season at the Univ. Of Florida that was cut-short by a health problem, he shot 77 percent at the rim, 56 percent on 2-point jump shots, and 42.9 percent on three’s. Bart Torvik rankings.

BTW, one recruiting note: I believe grad transfers can declare their intention to transfer after May 1 w/out jeopardizing their eligibility.
I assume the rationale is that after the student/athlete has graduated that both the athlete and school have fulfilled their implied obligation, i.e., give the athlete an opportunity to play inter-collegiate sports and graduate.

So any new grad transfers who show up in the portal are good to go. No problems.

As I have indicated, if we still have available scholarships we are sitting in the cat bird seat. If another scholarship opens, (another) grad transfer would be a good place to look.

(07-04-2022 07:17 PM)Miggy Wrote:  How good is Keyontae Johnson? Simply the best. As in his last season at the Univ. Of Florida that was cut-short by a health problem, he shot 77 percent at the rim, 56 percent on 2-point jump shots, and 42.9 percent on three’s. Bart Torvik rankings.

Miggy,

I believe the current state best player is Keyontae Johnson because of his size, skill, speed and strength.He would probably win MAC POTY because his body is ahead of Noah and Emoni. I believe that Noah is ahead of Emoni in the 4S department. Noah can jump out of the gym and has amazing handles. I said at the end of last season that the MAC doesn’t know how good Noah is because he played with below average talent last year. Noah could get his shot off on anyone, could get to the lane on anyone and finish pretty well at the rim with no stretch teammates. I believe Noah will be NBA ready if he has improved these three things since last season: 1) Strength - needs 10-15 LBs of muscle. 2) Leadership- by example. Does his teammates see his work ethic and how he encourages others as helpful and do they look for him. Last year he was the Best player but very rarely our freshmen captains. 3) Tenacity on defense where he works just as hard as Spottsville to stop his opponent from scoring. From my perspective, Noah is better than Ryan Rollins as a shooter, better vertical (eye test) and better handles. However, Ryan Rollins is a much more physical guard than Noah but than can change. Finally I would say from a future state perspective Emoni has the highest ceiling because he’s still growing into his body at 6’9” and 190 LBs as an 18 year old. I watched Emoni take it to 17 and 18 year olds when he was 14 years old. Emoni will be a lottery pick if he gets to 205 LBs. Emoni has skill, speed, size but not strength as of today.

Finally Noah, Emoni and Keyontae could all improve on the fifth S which is stamina. Looking forward to Keyontae signing with EMU.

I love your last year’s optimism Miggy when you raved about the 2021 recruiting class as being an top class. If we get Keyontae, then certainly I would join you in saying we have a top 10 2022 recruiting class. If that happened we would be strong at all positions.

Noah - has reaffirmed his 5 star status
Emoni - 5 star
Kayontae - NBA level

Golson, Acuff, Geeter, Billingsley, Luka, Randle and Lovejoy would make EMU tough to beat unless we play a top 10 team.

(07-04-2022 10:06 PM)Luckeyone Wrote:  

(07-04-2022 07:17 PM)Miggy Wrote:  How good is Keyontae Johnson? Simply the best. As in his last season at the Univ. Of Florida that was cut-short by a health problem, he shot 77 percent at the rim, 56 percent on 2-point jump shots, and 42.9 percent on three’s. Bart Torvik rankings.

Miggy,

I believe the current state best player is Keyontae Johnson because of his size, skill, speed and strength.He would probably win MAC POTY because his body is ahead of Noah and Emoni. I believe that Noah is ahead of Emoni in the 4S department. Noah can jump out of the gym and has amazing handles. I said at the end of last season that the MAC doesn’t know how good Noah is because he played with below average talent last year. Noah could get his shot off on anyone, could get to the lane on anyone and finish pretty well at the rim with no stretch teammates. I believe Noah will be NBA ready if he has improved these three things since last season: 1) Strength - needs 10-15 LBs of muscle. 2) Leadership- by example. Does his teammates see his work ethic and how he encourages others as helpful and do they look for him. Last year he was the Best player but very rarely our freshmen captains. 3) Tenacity on defense where he works just as hard as Spottsville to stop his opponent from scoring. From my perspective, Noah is better than Ryan Rollins as a shooter, better vertical (eye test) and better handles. However, Ryan Rollins is a much more physical guard than Noah but than can change. Finally I would say from a future state perspective Emoni has the highest ceiling because he’s still growing into his body at 6’9” and 190 LBs as an 18 year old. I watched Emoni take it to 17 and 18 year olds when he was 14 years old. Emoni will be a lottery pick if he gets to 205 LBs. Emoni has skill, speed, size but not strength as of today.

Finally Noah, Emoni and Keyontae could all improve on the fifth S which is stamina. Looking forward to Keyontae signing with EMU.

I love your last year’s optimism Miggy when you raved about the 2021 recruiting class as being an top class. If we get Keyontae, then certainly I would join you in saying we have a top 10 2022 recruiting class. If that happened we would be strong at all positions.

Noah - has reaffirmed his 5 star status
Emoni - 5 star
Kayontae - NBA level

Golson, Acuff, Geeter, Billingsley, Luka, Randle and Lovejoy would make EMU tough to beat unless we play a top 10 team.

Noah, Emoni, and Johnson all have NBA potential.

I’ll reserve assessing their play till the season starts. All three are very athletic, are terrific scores, and can get their shot anytime they want to. All three are built differently, and their mental decision-making skills are directly related to the amount of years they’ve played college ball.

Because their respective games differ a lot, I intend to refrain from comparing them to each other.

It should be noted that it appears that Noah is two inches taller than last season. I do look for Noah to uphis game in many areas. He plays with intensity, his bb IQ is very high, and he has set goals he wants to achieve.

I do believe if Noah would dribble slower in the beginning of each half-court set rather then explode toward the hoop from above the three point line, Noah would give himself more options and would garner more assists, commit fewer turnovers, and shoot a higher FG percentage. He should expose to the hoop more from the foul-line. I basically want him to copy Steph Curry’s game.


Do want to see the coaches improve Emoni’s decision-making and defense.

A little dated, but a very comprehensive listing of transfer candidates, and their destination, if they have one.

https://watchstadium.com/every-player-in...4-21-2022/

Why would Keyontae Johnson come to EMU? Does he have any connections?

(07-06-2022 08:36 AM)JonesGoddard Wrote:  Why would Keyontae Johnson come to EMU? Does he have any connections?

To play with 5 star Emoni Bates and former 5 star Noah Farrakhan plus walk-on Andrew Wells (last name I threw in for good measure:-)

(07-06-2022 08:57 AM)Luckeyone Wrote:  

(07-06-2022 08:36 AM)JonesGoddard Wrote:  Why would Keyontae Johnson come to EMU? Does he have any connections?

To play with 5 star Emoni Bates and former 5 star Noah Farrakhan plus walk-on Andrew Wells (last name I threw in for good measure:-)

Are there any actual reports that he's interested in coming to EMU? I haven't been able to find anything to that effect, but admittedly could be looking in the wrong places.

(07-06-2022 09:02 AM)truEMU07 Wrote:  

(07-06-2022 08:57 AM)Luckeyone Wrote:  [quote='JonesGoddard' pid='18309303' dateline='1657114593']
Why would Keyontae Johnson come to EMU? Does he have any connections?

To play with 5 star Emoni Bates and former 5 star Noah Farrakhan plus walk-on Andrew Wells (last name I threw in for good measure:-)

True. Emoni has the connection with Johnson. No official reports. Someone also posted here his name was discussed at EMU practice.

If Johnson comes, EMU will have four players-Noah, Johnson, Acuff, and Bates, who can all stroke the 3-ball exceedingly well. All four are also very good at scoring at the rim. Opponent defenses will have to pick their poison. But not wise to double-up on any of the four. Same if just three of them are playing together.

Randle would get playing some at Center. Nothing better than having a Center who averaged 10 blocks per game in HS.

(07-06-2022 09:29 AM)Miggy Wrote:  If Johnson comes, EMU will have four players-Noah, Johnson, Acuff, and Bates, who can all stroke the 3-ball exceedingly well. All four are also very good at scoring at the rim. Opponent defenses will have to pick their poison. But not wise to double-up on any of the four. Same if just three of them are playing together.

Randle would get playing some at Center. Nothing better than having a Center who averaged 10 blocks per game in HS.

I'm trying to remember back to the '96 team (remember, there wasn't Internet and a ton of sports channels back then).

I know Theron Wilson was a shot blocker, etc. but I forgot what he did on offense. Was he like the 3rd or 4th option?

Randle could be similar. Essentially pick up the points in the paint on stick backs, etc.

(07-06-2022 09:25 AM)Miggy Wrote:  

(07-06-2022 09:02 AM)truEMU07 Wrote:  

(07-06-2022 08:57 AM)Luckeyone Wrote:  [quote='JonesGoddard' pid='18309303' dateline='1657114593']
Why would Keyontae Johnson come to EMU? Does he have any connections?

To play with 5 star Emoni Bates and former 5 star Noah Farrakhan plus walk-on Andrew Wells (last name I threw in for good measure:-)

True. Emoni has the connection with Johnson. No official reports. Someone also posted here his name was discussed at EMU practice.

THERE ARE NO REPORTS OF JOHNSON CONSIDERING EMU. Not on this board nor anywhere else. Luckey talked to one of the coaches at an open practice who told Luckey something to the effect, “they were working on bringing in an impressive grad transfer.” Anything beyond that is “forum fantasy” (to borrow Steve’s phrase).

Sunshine Steve then looks up who is the most impressive transfer still in the portal, and suggests this mystery transfer may be Keyontae Johnson. The only connection Steve pointed out was Johnson used to play in Gainesville, FL and Coach Heath used to coach in Orlando, FL. Now, since EMU has Noah and then Emoni, this board is suffering from “delusions of grandeur” and think Johnson might actually be considering EMU.

(PS, I meant the delusions of grandeur thing as a joke- tongue in cheek. But I do think you guys are being WAY TOO hopeful/ optimistic on this)

(07-06-2022 10:32 AM)RamyEMU Wrote:  

(07-06-2022 09:25 AM)Miggy Wrote:  

(07-06-2022 09:02 AM)truEMU07 Wrote:  

(07-06-2022 08:57 AM)Luckeyone Wrote:  [quote='JonesGoddard' pid='18309303' dateline='1657114593']
Why would Keyontae Johnson come to EMU? Does he have any connections?

To play with 5 star Emoni Bates and former 5 star Noah Farrakhan plus walk-on Andrew Wells (last name I threw in for good measure:-)

True. Emoni has the connection with Johnson. No official reports. Someone also posted here his name was discussed at EMU practice.

THERE ARE NO REPORTS OF JOHNSON CONSIDERING EMU. Not on this board nor anywhere else. Luckey talked to one of the coaches at an open practice who told Luckey something to the effect, “they were working on bringing in an impressive grad transfer.” Anything beyond that is “forum fantasy” (to borrow Steve’s phrase).

Sunshine Steve then looks up who is the most impressive transfer still in the portal, and suggests this mystery transfer may be Keyontae Johnson. The only connection Steve pointed out was Johnson used to play in Gainesville, FL and Coach Heath used to coach in Orlando, FL. Now, since EMU has Noah and then Emoni, this board is suffering from “delusions of grandeur” and think Johnson might actually be considering EMU.

(PS, I meant the delusions of grandeur thing as a joke- tongue in cheek. But I do think you guys are being WAY TOO hopeful/ optimistic on this)

I hinted that a high level player was being recruited by EMU on on page 1, posts 4 and 9 of this thread, but did not mention his name. Mpleafan first mentioned Johnson’s name, and said he heard it thru the “grapevine” on page 1, post 18 of this thread, and again on page 2, post 24, when he said he heard Johnson’s name at a “basketball camp.”

I thin we’re all hopeful, but realize we have to see where the chips fall.

(07-06-2022 11:03 AM)Miggy Wrote:  

(07-06-2022 10:32 AM)RamyEMU Wrote:  

(07-06-2022 09:25 AM)Miggy Wrote:  

(07-06-2022 09:02 AM)truEMU07 Wrote:  

(07-06-2022 08:57 AM)Luckeyone Wrote:  [quote='JonesGoddard' pid='18309303' dateline='1657114593']
Why would Keyontae Johnson come to EMU? Does he have any connections?

To play with 5 star Emoni Bates and former 5 star Noah Farrakhan plus walk-on Andrew Wells (last name I threw in for good measure:-)

True. Emoni has the connection with Johnson. No official reports. Someone also posted here his name was discussed at EMU practice.

THERE ARE NO REPORTS OF JOHNSON CONSIDERING EMU. Not on this board nor anywhere else. Luckey talked to one of the coaches at an open practice who told Luckey something to the effect, “they were working on bringing in an impressive grad transfer.” Anything beyond that is “forum fantasy” (to borrow Steve’s phrase).

Sunshine Steve then looks up who is the most impressive transfer still in the portal, and suggests this mystery transfer may be Keyontae Johnson. The only connection Steve pointed out was Johnson used to play in Gainesville, FL and Coach Heath used to coach in Orlando, FL. Now, since EMU has Noah and then Emoni, this board is suffering from “delusions of grandeur” and think Johnson might actually be considering EMU.

(PS, I meant the delusions of grandeur thing as a joke- tongue in cheek. But I do think you guys are being WAY TOO hopeful/ optimistic on this)

I hinted that a high level player was being recruited by EMU on on page 1, posts 4 and 9 of this thread, but did not mention his name. Mpleafan first mentioned Johnson’s name, and said he heard it thru the “grapevine” on page 1, post 18 of this thread, and again on page 2, post 24, when he said he heard Johnson’s name at a “basketball camp.”

I might be inaccurately associating this to Sunshine Steve’s “Florida Connection” post- which I do still think was the first there was on this matter. But you may be right you, Mpleafan also posted on the matter. And his grapevine has proven reliable in the past.

Is Johnson actually considering EMU????? That would be insane to have Noah, Emoni, and Johnson all on the same team!

BTW, last week when I was overly reading up on the Emoni signing, I would come across some people noting the duo of Emoni and Noah such as below- these were national guys saying such things, not just locals…
https://mobile.twitter.com/brhoops/statu...5781273600

Can you imagine adding a former preseason All-SEC favorite to that duo? Unreal!

EDIT: to further note, the tweet above was one of the gem tweets in a sea of “Eastern Who?” Or “Why Eastern” tweets. Just to be clear. Hope we mess up a lot of people coming season!

(07-06-2022 11:21 AM)RamyEMU Wrote:  

(07-06-2022 11:03 AM)Miggy Wrote:  

(07-06-2022 10:32 AM)RamyEMU Wrote:  

(07-06-2022 09:25 AM)Miggy Wrote:  

(07-06-2022 09:02 AM)truEMU07 Wrote:  To play with 5 star Emoni Bates and former 5 star Noah Farrakhan plus walk-on Andrew Wells (last name I threw in for good measure:-)

True. Emoni has the connection with Johnson. No official reports. Someone also posted here his name was discussed at EMU practice.

THERE ARE NO REPORTS OF JOHNSON CONSIDERING EMU. Not on this board nor anywhere else. Luckey talked to one of the coaches at an open practice who told Luckey something to the effect, “they were working on bringing in an impressive grad transfer.” Anything beyond that is “forum fantasy” (to borrow Steve’s phrase).

Sunshine Steve then looks up who is the most impressive transfer still in the portal, and suggests this mystery transfer may be Keyontae Johnson. The only connection Steve pointed out was Johnson used to play in Gainesville, FL and Coach Heath used to coach in Orlando, FL. Now, since EMU has Noah and then Emoni, this board is suffering from “delusions of grandeur” and think Johnson might actually be considering EMU.

(PS, I meant the delusions of grandeur thing as a joke- tongue in cheek. But I do think you guys are being WAY TOO hopeful/ optimistic on this)

I hinted that a high level player was being recruited by EMU on on page 1, posts 4 and 9 of this thread, but did not mention his name. Mpleafan first mentioned Johnson’s name, and said he heard it thru the “grapevine” on page 1, post 18 of this thread, and again on page 2, post 24, when he said he heard Johnson’s name at a “basketball camp.”

I might be inaccurately associating this to Sunshine Steve’s “Florida Connection” post- which I do still think was the first there was on this matter. But you may be right you, Mpleafan also posted on the matter. And his grapevine has proven reliable in the past.

Is Johnson actually considering EMU????? That would be insane to have Noah, Emoni, and Johnson all on the same team!

I'm going to make a 'bread crumbs' remark...

Remember we are in the TRANSFER ERA. We now have two players, Noah and Emoni , who have a lot of contacts and experience in hoops.

We all know about Emoni although we don't truly know his hoop friends from across a wide swath of the country. Do know he has friends in Detroit and a few are now at EMU (this is from Tony Paul in the Detroit News).

Noah, has been in NYC suburb, IMG in Florida, E. Carolina, and now EMU. Here is a sentence from Noah's EMU bio I found very informative: "…Also played at the IMG Academy in Florida...Guided team to the 2019 GEICO High School National Championship…: Msybe I'll try to find the roster for that team. Wonder if some are in the NBA already.

These guys know players. We just don't know who they know. In professional occupations it is called "networking.' Players network also.

The old days when Hoopster and I would go through the Detnews, Freep, Steve Bell's reports looking for h.s. players from S.E. MI are gone. Those days ended when social media became popular.

Maybe it is getting more like the NBA where players want to play with certain other players.

All it takes is for a transfer player to contact someone like Noah or Emoni as ask how they like EMU. Maybe they watch some EMU 2022/23 games on cable and see if they like what they see. And as I've noted, a coach like Murphy or Heath can scout other college players without leaving their office.

(07-06-2022 11:33 AM)RamyEMU Wrote:  BTW, last week when I was overly reading up on the Emoni signing, I would come across some people noting the duo of Emoni and Noah such as below- these were national guys saying such things, not just locals…
https://mobile.twitter.com/brhoops/statu...5781273600

Can you imagine adding a former preseason All-SEC favorite to that duo? Unreal!

EDIT: to further note, the tweet above was one of the gem tweets in a sea of “Eastern Who?” Or “Why Eastern” tweets. Just to be clear. Hope we mess up a lot of people coming season!

He hasn't officially signed yet that we know of.