recruiting big men

[demoncore1031]

i dont follow bball recruiting nearly as much as football (which is going to change!), so what i am wondering is why we seem to be targeting only guards? i know with fred's system, we need scorers and i think we will be fine with all the young guys (thomas, morris, SDW etc.), but i cant compehend why we dont try to land a couple big guys for defensive purposes and for rebounding. melvin will be a senior next year, and we will not find another guy like him. a 6'6" guy playing power forward and leading the conf. in rebounding is just plain impressive. imagine if we had a true center and melvin could guard guys his own size and not get into foul trouble. the guy was on the bench ALOT because of fouls. that took away from what his revounding numbers could have been... anyways, i was taking a look at this guy on rivals that could be a pretty good inside player (just needs to bulk up) and it seems like we are in pretty good shape in recruting him. Sean O'Mara - Yahoo! Sports

anyone have some inside info on this kid? are there any other big guys (non JUCOs) that we are looking at for the future?

 

[JohnnyFive]

He is targeting bigs as well. Obviously guards are a priority in his offense so he's been landing those kinds of recruits so far. I don't know if the four-guard sets he runs is scaring off some of the potential post recruits or not. It shouldnt. Niang is thriving in this offense.

 

[demoncore1031]

agreed. i would think a big guy would love this type of offense!!

 

[demoncore1031]

imagine kelvin cato on this team!! awesome shot blocker and rebounder and can score in the middle. niang could drive and dump it off to him or kick it outside. lucious could drive and dish or throw him the lob for a monster dunk

 

[crash_zone]

Wish we could have gotten Kyle Washingon for this class. It isn't as if the staff isn't targeting bigs, just that they haven't had a lot of luck.

 

[Rhoadhoused]

I think if Fred is going to go after a big hard, he will have to be able to shoot. That is pretty rare, and while I'm sure we have been after some the big guy that fits this system is tough to get. That's why Niang is such a huge recruiting hit.

And just because we don't have one tall guy playing the 5, doesn't mean we can't play big. It is just as effective to force teams to play without a center and have our SG, SF, PF average 6'7 in height with agility.

 

[cyclones500]

imagine kelvin cato on this team!! awesome shot blocker and rebounder and can score in the middle. niang could drive and dump it off to him or kick it outside. lucious could drive and dish or throw him the lob for a monster dunk

Adjoining the OP's detail, there's no question even a semi-Cato could have provided a significant puzzle piece this season (especially when the team began to seriously gel down the stretch).

But I've reminded myself the following: As 2011-12 commenced, the roster included a "small big-guy" (Ejim), a freshman frontcourt player (Gibson), a soph center with potential (Railey), a transfer big-body with shooting range (Booker) and a "risky" transfer power forward we like to call "Royce White" — but no true point guard.

 

[Let's Go State]

I keep looking at our recruits as they come up hoping that one is 6-11 to 7-2 that we can steal.... But not many seem to be our radar.

i think Fred will adjust to what he has, and adding that dimension to change up a game on a competitor would be awesome.

 

[wcbsas]

The bottom line is a supply and demand issue.

The availability of quality big men is scarce. If you are 6'10, 6'11" or taller then every blue blood school on the planet is looking at you.

Not only do you have the Kansas, Texas and Oklahoma's chasing every 6'10+ body there is but you have the Iowa's, Creighton's, Minnesota's and Missouri's chasing them. ISU more times than not is not going to get the tier 1 quality big man. Which now means ... would you rather have a quality under-sized player like Niang or a plodder like Landen Lucas or Adam Woodberry?

 

[State43]

Yeah, just can't seem to land any. Which is why I feel Fred will always go the transfer or Juco route for big men.

 

[Rural]

I keep looking at our recruits as they come up hoping that one is 6-11 to 7-2 that we can steal.... But not many seem to be our radar.

i think Fred will adjust to what he has, and adding that dimension to change up a game on a competitor would be awesome.

Adjusted for the population of the country, there are none.

The days of unathletic 7 footers, clobbering each other in the post, are over, unless you're in Iowa City.

 

[LLCoolCY]

Fred will recruit bigs in the future. Fans need to remember over the past two years due to graduation ISU has loss Allen, Christopherson, Lucious, Babb, Clyborn, and McGee. College basketball, especially with CFH's system, is guard centric thus, the emphasis on recruiting shooting and combo guards. Often Fred deploys a 4 game lineup thus there is an even greater need of combo guards. An advantage of Fred's system by having 5 shooters on the floor is necessary, it forces the other team to play small, (KU, OSU and WV were forced to pull their 7 footers in each game). Thus team there is even less of a need of a post presence.
Also it isn't like ISU don't have any bigs, the last two years our starters was Royce, Ejim, Niang and the backups were Book (top 100 recruit) and Percy. There was no reason to focus on adding another big to the past couple of classes to Play behind those 4, thus once again, the emphasis on skill players. We have two bigs Edozie and Armardi this year, to play behind Ejim, Niang and Percy. There is just no need to focus on another big the past two years to sit on the bench.

I would like a "Cato" type player added in the future and I do think we will see a couple of big time Bigs added soon, there just have been a number of circumstances that demphized the need to focus on traditional bigs really through the next two years.

To answer the OP other bigs ISU has offered in '14 and '15...
Reid Travis '14
Abdul Malik Abu '14
Sean O'Mara '14 (already noted by the OP)
Alex Illikainen '15
Henry Ellenson '15
Chieck Diallo '15

Get one or perhaps two of these to pair with Niang and we are set at the post for years to come.

 

[peteypie]

Don't forget Miroslav Jaksic '14. I am high on him. Duke is keeping their eye on him. Watch some video on him, he would be perfect for our system.

[video=youtube;XkVaEgOIPek]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=XkVaEgOIPek[/video]

 

[Cyclone1985]

The bottom line is a supply and demand issue.

The availability of quality big men is scarce. If you are 6'10, 6'11" or taller then every blue blood school on the planet is looking at you.

Not only do you have the Kansas, Texas and Oklahoma's chasing every 6'10+ body there is but you have the Iowa's, Creighton's, Minnesota's and Missouri's chasing them. ISU more times than not is not going to get the tier 1 quality big man. Which now means ... would you rather have a quality under-sized player like Niang or a plodder like Landen Lucas or Adam Woodberry?

This. Have you seen other "big men" we play against try and keep up with our pace.. doesn't work. Fred's offense is similar to the west coast offense in football; speed and shooting make up for size and strength.

 

[Cychl82]

I think if Fred is going to go after a big hard, he will have to be able to shoot. That is pretty rare, and while I'm sure we have been after some the big guy that fits this system is tough to get. That's why Niang is such a huge recruiting hit.

And just because we don't have one tall guy playing the 5, doesn't mean we can't play big. It is just as effective to force teams to play without a center and have our SG, SF, PF average 6'7 in height with agility.

Exactly this.....ohio state couldnt have amir williams and ravenel on the court because of the way we play. Teams have to match up with us or we will run them out of the gym. Im ok with strong tough 6'6" and 6'7" post men as long as they play tough....we'll be ok!

 

[LutherBlue]

If Gibson can make some progress, I will not be too worried about our size down low. I think we will try to play small in the foreseeable future. But yes, a taller guy who can shoot a little and defend/rebound would be ideal for this team.

I don't get the hate for Woodbury around here. He is a project, but is going to be very good. He is already a defensive presence and can pass the ball. He may never be a star, but he will be an impact player if he's not already.

 

[PabloDiablo]

Fred will recruit bigs in the future. Fans need to remember over the past two years due to graduation ISU has loss Allen, Christopherson, Lucious, Babb, Clyborn, and McGee. College basketball, especially with CFH's system, is guard centric thus, the emphasis on recruiting shooting and combo guards. Often Fred deploys a 4 game lineup thus there is an even greater need of combo guards. An advantage of Fred's system by having 5 shooters on the floor is necessary, it forces the other team to play small, (KU, OSU and WV were forced to pull their 7 footers in each game). Thus team there is even less of a need of a post presence.
Also it isn't like ISU don't have any bigs, the last two years our starters was Royce, Ejim, Niang and the backups were Book (top 100 recruit) and Percy. There was no reason to focus on adding another big to the past couple of classes to Play behind those 4, thus once again, the emphasis on skill players. We have two bigs Edozie and Armardi this year, to play behind Ejim, Niang and Percy. There is just no need to focus on another big the past two years to sit on the bench.

I would like a "Cato" type player added in the future and I do think we will see a couple of big time Bigs added soon, there just have been a number of circumstances that demphized the need to focus on traditional bigs really through the next two years.

To answer the OP other bigs ISU has offered in '14 and '15...
Reid Travis '14
Abdul Malik Abu '14
Sean O'Mara '14 (already noted by the OP)
Alex Illikainen '15
Henry Ellenson '15
Chieck Diallo '15

Get one or perhaps two of these to pair with Niang and we are set at the post for years to come.

This post sets the world record for use of the word 'thus'.

Also, will Amardi be a "semi-Cato"? Sounds like he was brought in for his athleticism, length, defense and rebounding.

 

[Cydkar]

Don't forget Miroslav Jaksic '14. I am high on him. Duke is keeping their eye on him. Watch some video on him, he would be perfect for our system.

[video=youtube;XkVaEgOIPek]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=XkVaEgOIPek[/video]

FYI - He was classified as 2013 in that video but will do a year of prep and be in class of 2014. I don't know where he will prep at but by the time he is done there will be stiff competition for him. We are definitely in the mix as of now.

 

[clone4life82]

FYI - He was classified as 2013 in that video but will do a year of prep and be in class of 2014. I don't know where he will prep at but by the time he is done there will be stiff competition for him. We are definitely in the mix as of now.

Yes Please

 

[PabloDiablo]

Don't forget Miroslav Jaksic '14. I am high on him. Duke is keeping their eye on him. Watch some video on him, he would be perfect for our system.

[video=youtube;XkVaEgOIPek]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=XkVaEgOIPek[/video]

A seven footer with a step back 3 and a Nowiski-esque fade away jumper? Um... YES!!!