Recruiting Update

[bronxboy10]

JG would have won 3 games the last 2 years at Fordham.

I don't know about what his record would be, but there certainly would be more drama with the team than an episode of Days of our Lives.

 

[Fordham Road]

For sure Bronx Boy!

[ace93]

Valid point but how do you think Gaston feels entering his senior year with nothing but question marks with regard to whom he will be playing with upfront?

That's a separate issue. You set yourself up as best you can for the current season, that's all I'm saying.

[John]

How many more minutes a game should Canty have gotten in order to remove those question marks? 

Gaston is more concerned about the progress of our guards than he is who is going to play in the front court.  He knows Canty will get more minutes this year along with Dominque. More importantly, he knows that if our guards defense and shooting do not improve it will not matter who plays up front with him.  Improved guard play is the key to replacing Bristol, not who plays center.  Bristol was forced to help a lot because of our poor perimeter defense.  Improve the perimeter defense and the center does not have to block 8 shots a game to avoid the other team having a lay up contest.  He can focus on rebounding.  If the guards shoot better then the defense must stretch out giving Gaston more room to work and allowing whoever plays center to get layups on penetration as opposed to having to step out to 15 feet and make a jump shot. 

What he said.

For a while, folks opined about how more effective Gaston would be if he had a defensive minded big man (a Mushon Ya'akosi type was mentioned) helping him. Well, Bristol essentially fulfilled that role last season, and the improvement in the team's record was not very dramatic. This is really attributable to the 3-ring perimeter circus that was Fordham guard play last year. The big offseason issues will be (1) can Fatty take over at PG and free up Frazier to play his more natural shooting guard position? Fatty sort of fumbled the PG role away in mid-season, Frazier stepped up, but he just had too much to do. Opponents learned that they could inhibit us by keying on Frazier. (2) Will these guys learn to shoot? It will be a big help if Canty isn't lunging for rebounds off of poorly-taken shots all night; and (3) can the guards tighten up perimeter defense, as Rich says?

Gaston's already a world-class rebounder. Canty doesn't have to do all that much to be an effective complement next year, but the guards need to grow up a bit.  If they do, respectability is well within our grasp for the coming season.

[SIram]

The official announcement of our complete recruiting class for next year cannot come soon enough for me

[Fordham Road]

its killing me too

[RAM71]

The official announcement of our complete recruiting class for next year cannot come soon enough for me

The "official" announcement may come by the end of May but we will know by April 20, I believe.

[pjd]

it will be Pecora-Euphoria!!!

[El Jefe]

On the bright side, the dead period has ended and the signing period begins April 11, less than a week away.   

[rambacker]

Former Ram forward Brian Freeman will play at Binghamton next season.  He averaged 5.6 points and 3.5 rebounds per game for Harcum Junior College this past season, shooting 54 percent from the floor.

[RAM71]

Former Ram forward Brian Freeman will play at Binghamton next season.  He averaged 5.6 points and 3.5 rebounds per game for Harcum Junior College this past season, shooting 54 percent from the floor.

Thanks for that information, Rambacker. Those are not exactly impressive numbers. It will be interesting if Binghamton is on our schedule next year. 

[joeb]

So much recruiting action right now,  sad to see us uninvolved.

[alanccrx]

So much recruiting action right now,  sad to see us uninvolved.

           Think the coaching staff is going over which "walk-on" will get a full ride 'ship for next season?
           

[Rich93]

So much recruiting action right now,  sad to see us uninvolved.

Why do you say we are uninvolved? 

[rambacker]

Rutgers forward Gil Biruta is transferring to Rhode Island to play for his former high school coach, Danny Hurley.

[John]

So much recruiting action right now,  sad to see us uninvolved.

I'm certain we'll have announcements. If there's one thing we've learned, it's that Pecora keeps his recruiting activity very close to the vest.  I suspect he even has a hand in when guys announce their "verbals" to us. A bit of an adjustment after seeing the old regime blast every tall kid sighting into the Twitterverse, but a sign of improvement and stability, nonetheless.

As for Freeman, good for him. Most of our castoffs never turn up again in Division I ball. And Binghamton seems to need all the help it can get. Must be odd, getting his first D-1 action in what would have been his senior year of college, eh? I assume he's got only 2 years of eligibility left?

[85]

Freeman will be a great trivia question for years......only player to never play a minute in a Ram uniform yet he is on the stat sheet for a technical foul for dunking warm ups!

[joeb]

Why do you say we are uninvolved? 

I realize our staff is tight-lipped, but the recruiting "experts" twitter accounts are buzzing with activity, including the abundance of transfer activity and the only mention of FU Ive in seen in a week or so is thaddeus hall.

[Rich93]

I realize our staff is tight-lipped, but the recruiting "experts" twitter accounts are buzzing with activity, including the abundance of transfer activity and the only mention of FU Ive in seen in a week or so is thaddeus hall.

Fair enough but I would hold off on thinking we are uninvolved.  Maybe it will turn out to be true but I am not willing to be sad because our recruiting efforts are not making the twitter accounts. 

[85]

I'm certain we'll have announcements. 

We are still waiting on the announcement that Samuell has been released from his schollie and the announcement that Jared Fay has been awared a schollie.  We may well get some players and lose some players but the announcments are never a guarantee.

[RAM71]

Fordham mentioned in Zach Braziller NY Post recruiting article on 4/6:

Finally healthy, Curtis’ Martin picking up interest: Curtis standout Hassan Martin played his first game with New Heights on Thursday night in Spring Fling in New Jersey and already he has begun to pick up significant Division I interest to go along with standing offers from Fordham and St. Joseph’s. Creighton, Rhode Island, Iowa State and St. Bonaventure have been in touch with the 6-foot-6 Martin, who missed much of his junior season with a torn tendon in his left finger, and coach Rich Buckheit, the Curtis coach said.
 
Hall sets South Carolina visit: Jefferson senior Thaddeus Hall will visit South Carolina next weekend, coach Lawrence (Bud) Pollard said. The Gamecocks new coach, Frank Martin, came to see Hall on Thursday along with Dayton coach Archie Miller and assistant Allen Griffin. He has offers from Fordham, South Carolina, Dayton, St. John’s, Hofstra, Virginia Tech and Maryland. Hall has visited St. John’s unofficially and may see Maryland as well. He plans to commit sometime near the end of April.

[rambacker]

An update on PG Jermaine Myers from Blair Academy in New Jersey - he recently visited Fordham and Western Kentucky.

[rambacker]

Some video of Sekou Harris:

[RamVan]

An update on PG Jermaine Myers from Blair Academy in New Jersey - he recently visited Fordham and Western Kentucky.

I posted it back on March 13th:

Myers was at the Temple game.  I also understand that he had his official visit to Western Kentucky and it just so happened to be a game where they beat the first place team in their conference at the time and it was an exciting game.  Don't know much about his talents but, Canada is an untapped market with a lot of good players. 

From what I understand its between us and Western Kentucky to get this kid and its going to be close.  Unfortunately, even though they didn't have a great record they still had a nice run and got into the NCAA tournament and won a game which could sway Myers towards Western.  At the same time, the kid grew up in the Toronto area and maybe likes being in a city which would help us get him.  We'll see what happens soon enough.

[85]

RV, good earlier post that was simply ignored but not by us. I really dont see where Canada has any relevance, unless he can skate. We previously had Jermaine Anderson from Tah-ran-Tah.... Nicholson of course is great and Stevie Nash and maybe Tristan Thompson.....but again, didnt we have some real dud from Toronto that ended up at Wayne State?  Im not so sure it is a gold mine of un-tapped talent.

Is this kid a com bo or a pure point?  What do you think?

[RamVan]

RV, good earlier post that was simply ignored but not by us. I really dont see where Canada has any relevance, unless he can skate. We previously had Jermaine Anderson from Tah-ran-Tah.... Nicholson of course is great and Stevie Nash and maybe Tristan Thompson.....but again, didnt we have some real dud from Toronto that ended up at Wayne State?  Im not so sure it is a gold mine of un-tapped talent.

Is this kid a com bo or a pure point?  What do you think?

Hey you never know, maybe Minnesota is going to give him a hockey scholarship! 

What I was getting at is that sometimes Canada does get overlooked in terms of their talent when it could be a good place to go to and get a very good player who might be overlooked and is flying under the radar that some of the big boys may miss.  Look at Steve Nash for example, ends up at Santa Clara and when all is said and done will be a Hall of Famer one day. 

I remember that kid that ended up going to Wayne State but, his name escapes me, I know he was a "the bad coach" recruit.  Anderson on the other hand was a steal and is now playing pro ball in Europe, I think he's in Montenegro now but played in Russia last year. 

I'm not 100% sure in regards to Myer but, I think he's more of a pure PG than a combo guard.  He looked about 6-1 or 6-2 when I saw him at the Temple game, so he might be more suited to play the point at our level than to play the SG spot.  I'd like someone a bit taller at the SG just to create a little mismatch.  But, that's just me. 

[RAM71]

I am guessing it is 65/35 Fordham/WKU for Myers. WKU has 3 guards visiting this week. He would be a B+ signing for us. Solid, reliable PG- not flashy or extremely athletic. Just gets the job done efficiently and with few mistakes, from what I hear. Would definitely challenge Fatty for minutes, maybe start immediately.

[ace93]

I remember that kid that ended up going to Wayne State but, his name escapes me, I know he was a "the bad coach" recruit.

Ashanti Burke, I believe.

[RamVan]

Ashanti Burke, I believe.

Thanks Ace!!

[RamVan]

I am guessing it is 65/35 Fordham/WKU for Myers. WKU has 3 guards visiting this week. He would be a B+ signing for us. Solid, reliable PG- not flashy or extremely athletic. Just gets the job done efficiently and with few mistakes, from what I hear. Would definitely challenge Fatty for minutes, maybe start immediately.

I wonder if Samuel leaving was a sign that Myers was coming to Fordham? Fatty actually could be a player that's better coming off the bench, almost like a Vinnie Johnson was with the Pistons back when they were winning in the late 80's.