Aaron Bowen 2010

[bronxhoya87]

I like this Bowen guy. He is not going to be relied on too heavily until perhaps his 2nd year. If he is 6'6 perhaps he could contribute right away by being a defensive stopper ala Bobby Winston. The key is having legit high level D1 players. He is legit unlike some of the kids we have taken at the end of the shot clock the last few years.

[HoyaSinceBirth]

Spring recruiting isn't hail mary's it's pretty standard now. There's a reason why there are two signing periods. We're not scrambling.

[cnyhoya]

If I'm not mistaken, didn't one of those Hail Marys have 24 solid minutes for us today?

[SFHoya99]

I'm certainly no guru, but in terms of guru "cred" or rankings, these guys are in two different groups in recent years:

Borderline Top 100/Just out of the Top 100/Late Bloomers
Vee Sanford
Aaron Bowen
Ashanti Cook

Complete Unknowns
Sead Dizdarevic
Omar Wattad
Nikita Mescheriakov
Jerelle Benimon

There's also the Elite Player Waiting to see who has PT, but we haven't gotten one of those.

Moses may be in the first group -- but he also could be in a different group -- coming out of nowhere and immediate hype.

[chep3]

Look at the other teams recruiting these guys. Jerrelle was definitely a hail mary, and one that looks to be a solid, if not spectacular, completion. Vee was sought after by Billy Gillespie's UK, and they apparently would have taken him had he been willing to prep for a year. Bowen committed to Marquette, who is by no means a bad judge of talent when it comes to guards. And Moses is being recruit by Tennessee, UK, UMCP, and IU among others. Now granted, had we gotten Roscoe or Kendrick, we're not getting Bowen. But, that doesn't make him a hail mary, just a hot route.

[MCIGuy]

Mar 10, 2010 11:44:50 GMT -5 hoyaboya said:

Love the wingspan and athleticism of this kid...will fit right in with Clark, Hollis and Vee from a body type standpoint. Wonder if that will mean more zone defense in the future, we've seen what having length on the perimeter can do for Syracuse this season.

@#%&* zone defenses! That's the girly way of Syracuse. If the Hoyas have long athletic players on the perimeter they should instead press for once. For once! Is III ever going to do this?

[HometownHoya]

Mar 10, 2010 19:31:55 GMT -5 prhoya said:

I, for one, do not know who, other than Roscoe (which was pretty obvious), were our primary targets. Was it Thorton or Hairston or Jones or Kelly? JT3 and staff keep it pretty close to their chests. And, after the Roscoe 100% guarantee fiasco, I'm relying on the so-called gurus with a bucket of salt.

I'll agree that Vee and JB were Hail Marys; Aaron and Moses, not so sure. In fact, it's early compared to Vee's and JB's commitments.

JT3 should have a plan instead of having to scramble at the last minute. Maybe JT3 needs to reevaluate his recruiting staff and strategy to cover more ground. It seems as if some recruiting staff members focused on one or two players who ended up going somewhere else and missed the boat on other recruits.

How do you know that JTIII doesn't have a plan? How do we know that he doesn't have a board in his office with every top recruit, a second option, a third, a fourth, and maybe a fifth!? I'm not going to lie but JTIII seems to have a great plan: get all the best DC players (one of the best bball hotbeds in the nation) and then pick and choose what he wants from ANYWHERE in the nation.

Obviously he won't ALWAYS get his first choice because every recruit is different and has different wants and needs and we aren't UNC who just tells every recruit that they will be Micheal Jordan and we aren't Duke who just lies to every recruit and we aren't Calipari (don't want to associate him w/ a team b/c he will be out at Kentucky after 3-5 years) who just pays off every recruit.

Every coaching staff in the nation hires assistant coaches/recruiting coaches that have certain "connections" especially if they can for a top ranked recruit. If sometimes it doesn't pay of then there is nothing you can do about it...kind of like transfers, you just have to suck it up and play.

[hoyaboya]

Mar 10, 2010 22:00:03 GMT -5 MCIGuy said:

Mar 10, 2010 11:44:50 GMT -5 hoyaboya said:

Love the wingspan and athleticism of this kid...will fit right in with Clark, Hollis and Vee from a body type standpoint. Wonder if that will mean more zone defense in the future, we've seen what having length on the perimeter can do for Syracuse this season.

@#%&* zone defenses! That's the girly way of Syracuse. If the Hoyas have long athletic players on the perimeter they should instead press for once. For once! Is III ever going to do this?

I'm on board with some pressing as well. Hopefully III will consider it with the added depth and, after this season, likely recognize the need to go beyond a core 5-6. The Freeman situation may have scared him straight on the depth issue.

[SFHoya99]

Why do people feel like Bowen is a scramble?

Why does no one seem to allow for the possibility for the plan to be to shoot for the stars for November, and if it doesn't work out, pick up a great, Top 100 level guy in the Spring? Seems to have worked -- at least for guards and wings.

[nychoya3]

Yeah, this is not a Wattad or Nikita "oh crap we need a warm body" type signing. Bowen is highly recruited and has been for a while. I'm very happy to take a guy like him at any stage of the year, but obviously even more so having missed out on some other wings.

Abraham - same story. Highly recruited, lots of big time offers - signing these two would be a huge coup to go along with what was already a very strong class.

Good job to JT3 and Kenya Hunter on this one.

[hoyaboya]

Mar 10, 2010 23:20:01 GMT -5 SFHoya99 said:

Why do people feel like Bowen is a scramble?

Why does no one seem to allow for the possibility for the plan to be to shoot for the stars for November, and if it doesn't work out, pick up a great, Top 100 level guy in the Spring? Seems to have worked -- at least for guards and wings.

I think the biggest reason people might think Bowen is a scramble is nobody saw this coming. There was practically no buzz about this kid with the Hoyas until last weekend. We heard about Roscoe Smith for several years, as a comparison, essentially for the same scholarship (class of 2010 wing).

Personally, I love the pickup and think he's a tremendous addition this late in the game. I am very excited to see Bowen in a Hoya uniform and he's much more exciting, to me, than recruits like Bennimon and Nikita (at the time they signed - no offense to Jerelle now).

[SFHoya99]

We knew about Markel because he was local, but Nate came on quickly without a lot of warning. Hollis kind of did as well. Actually, we tend to get about half our commits -- even highly rated ones -- with a week or less of warning.

[idhoya]

Just look at the high majors that were after Bowen. They all thrive on three-guard sets and having long, athletic wings that attack the cup and can hit the jumper. The Hoyas just plucked this kid and were fortunate when Quette changed regimes. Nothing about this kid says "reach" to me. He'll be a solid 4-year cat that may turn into steal for GU.

[RDF]

Bowen is getting bumped due to commiting and there is no reason to have a damn Duke commitment thread above one of the Hoyas on this site.

Welcome aboard Aaron!

[HoyaSinceBirth]

I agree RDF! I'm Bully for Bowen!

[jd369]

To all the complaints about his height, his coach says he has a 6'11 wingspan. There you go.

www2.journalnow.com/content/2010/mar/10/bowen-commits-to-hoyas/

Sounds like a poor man's Roscoe Smith... hopefully as underrated as Smith was overrated/overhyped.

[RDF]

Bowen averages 17 points and six rebounds for the Pharaohs, who play a national schedule. He can sign a binding national letter of intent during the signing period for basketball (April 14-May 19).

"He has a very smooth game," Pitts said. "Athletically, he's a freak. When they measured him (at Georgetown) he is 6-6 and his wingspan is 6-11. Standing flat-footed, his reach is 8-8. This kid is the perfect body type, and he is athletic.

"He can defend on the ball, he is so long he gets in the passing lanes…. He can shoot it and get to the basket, but he will have to improve his ball-handling at the next level."

That sold me--especially him being an "athletic freak". Seen his jumper--nice stroke--but his athleticism/size will give Hoyas a lockdown type of defender of wing players-which is welcome.

I don't worry about offense from III's recruits--this isn't the late Pops years or Error.

[Z]

RDF-havent seen film but based on press he sounds like a slightly taller jason clark with a little less handle - is this about right?

[RDF]

Mar 13, 2010 1:41:07 GMT -5 Z said:

RDF-havent seen film but based on press he sounds like a slightly taller jason clark with a little less handle - is this about right?

I watched him against Nate Lubick's team--and honestly didn't remember him--but also wasn't looking for him--but in the clips of Bowen--he's very similar to David Wingate's frame--which a few fans have mentioned on various Hoya sites.

Shows nice touch, good hoops IQ, and very athletic/tough defender. Has deep range/nice looking 3pt shot, and plays above the rim. Has potential to be the best defensive wing Hoyas have recruited under III with his athleticism/length/quickness.

[Highsmith]

I like what I read about this kid......sounds like a great pick up. This recruiting class is looking very solid!