Sam Thompson, '11

[hoyaboya]

Lists Hoyas as one of his top 7 in article from Kansas Scout site, along with Oregon State, Ohio State, Florida, Kansas, Illinois and Marquette. Hoyas have not yet offered.

Jumping jack 6'6" forward from Chicago Whitney Young. More potential than production at this point, but reminds me of Andre Iguodala at the same stage. Close ties to Obamas (which is why Oregon State is in the picture), may be the link to Georgetown being on his list - Scout article mentioned Georgetown is new to his recruiting picture.

[RDF]

HB, after seeing this kid on YouTube, would love to have him on the Hoyas. Know he's coming off an injury--but what an athlete and Georgetown would really help his game and he'd bring sick athleticism to offense but especially the defensive end of the court. Talked with a guy at Bucketsweeklyblog and gave a new top 5:

Sam Thompson(2011 top recruit) just told me his list is Ohio State, Florida, Oregon State, Kansas and Georgetown in no order.

Hoyas should push hard for this kid.

[idhoya]

Obviously, the Chicagoland area is loaded for 2011 and I'd like to get at least one of those cats.

[damnhoya]

Some older interviews (if you just want to get a sense of the kid). This just serves to prove how much kids' lists change from month-to-month, week-to-week.





Some videos of him:

[prhoya]

From the video, looks like a Wes Johnson type of player, but I might be off considering the comparison of a HS senior to a college junior.

[jerseyhoya34]

I thought of Wes Johnson too. The 2011 class may be the best in 5-10 years (nationally).

[RDF]

Latest update from Rivals---has Hoyas in top 5--same schools he provided to blog I posted info from above and he wants to visit all 5 schools and make decision in November.

Put me down as wanting this kid in a Hoya Uniform BADLY! He played the point position for his AAU team last night against Quincy Miller and Deuce Bello's D-One Sports team which Mac Irvin beat by 20+ points, distributed to his highly regarded teammates--Mychael Henry, Mike Shaw, Wayne Blackshear, etc....and then guarded Miller on other end and locked him up--frustrated him and Miller is one of--if not the toughest covers in country at 6'10 and inside/out.

Thompson is EXACTLY what Georgetown should target--versatile athletic, and has NBA future.

[RDF]

Continues to have a great tournament in Houston and had "Play of the Tournament so far" where he split two defenders and threw down on entire city of Houston!!! LOL

[hoyaboya]

From Jerry Meyer Friday night:

"Sam Thompson (2011 Mac Irvin Fire)- At 6-foot-7, Thompson spent most of the game playing point guard for the Fire, and he did an excellent job at the position. The opposition spent most of the game in a zone, and I'm not ready to label this versatile perimeter player as a point guard, but his play certainly was impressive. Thompson delivered the ball with timing, executed the difficult pass and played with overall composure.

As for his recruitment, Thompson is working with five schools- Florida (offer), Ohio State (offer), Oregon State (offer), Kansas and Georgetown. These last two schools just got involved with Thompson, and he plans to attend Kansas and Florida's elite camps.

He would like to visit all five schools in the fall and then sign in November."

[idhoya]

The question, hypothetically, now is do you wait on all these dudes who wanna sign later rather than sooner or do you take a cat this summer, if he's ready? For example, Hoyas really like Thomspson, but love Branden Dawson. Both guys like GU equally, but Dawson aint poppin till spring; Thompson will pop this fall. If Thompson calls III and says "coach I'm ready to be a Hoya". All things being equal in their recrutiment, do you take him or put him on hold for Dawson?

[hoyaboya]

May 17, 2010 11:16:59 GMT -5 idhoya said:

The question, hypothetically, now is do you wait on all these dudes who wanna sign later rather than sooner or do you take a cat this summer, if he's ready? For example, Hoyas really like Thomspson, but love Branden Dawson. Both guys like GU equally, but Dawson aint poppin till spring; Thompson will pop this fall. If Thompson calls III and says "coach I'm ready to be a Hoya". All things being equal in their recrutiment, do you take him or put him on hold for Dawson?

Thompson's too good to wait on anybody else. In that specific scenario, you take Thompson.

[idhoya]

We do, but does III? We really don't know where everyone stands on the Hoyas big board. We have an idea, but not for sure.

[HoyasAreHungry]

i think we've been somewhat burned with the wait and see approach on some other guys....i agree every situation is a bit different but as boya said I would take Thompson right away.

[mfrekko]

A Larry Bird in hand is worth two in the Reggie Bush.

Sorry, that was terrible.

IMO, this is not a difficult decision. You take a player of Thompson's quality in your scenario.

The more difficult question will be if we take players like a Katenda in the fall or wait for Thompson/Dawson if they want to hold off until spring.

[idhoya]

I was just using those players as an example. You can insert any kids into the scenerio. Fwiw, I agree.

[RDF]

If III turns down Sam Thompson if he wanted to commit-he's lost.

I'm sorry but in all honesty--this kid might end up the best player in this class by time it's all said and done--he's versatile, athletic, defends (he locked up Quincy Miller, Ky Madden, and Michael Carter Williams this past weekend-and that is a Combo F, a SG, and a PG)--he ran point for his team--distributed the ball well, and is the best athlete in this class.

If you turn that type of talent down-you are setting up to fail.

[hoyalove4ever]

I really doubt III would turn down a player like this if everything else (academics, personality, etc.) is a fit.

[hoyaboya]

May 17, 2010 16:13:53 GMT -5 hoyalove4ever said:

I really doubt III would turn down a player like this if everything else (academics, personality, etc.) is a fit.

Academics will not be a problem, Thompson is an excellent student.

Personality should be a great fit also.

[tonyparker]

According to a new Scout article, we are still in it.

Final five are Florida, Ohio State, Oregon State, Kansas, and Georgetown. Sounds like we are (by a large margin) the newest school to the party and have a lot of ground to make up to be his choice, but he plans on taking five officials and we should get one of them. Also notes he plans on signing in the fall.

scouthoops.scout.com/2/972938.html

[SFHoya99]

Tony,

I don't actually worry about being late to the party. I think that's because it seems like Georgetown has a really differentiated recruiting pitch.

He don't seem to do the hype thing. We seem to be pretty realistic. We seem to pitch the school, DC, and academics a lot relative to other schools. Thompson's personality -- though everyone knows he can yell -- is not like a lot of other coaching personalities, although it might be like Craig Robinson's.

The result is that some kids just feel a perfect fit and seem to pop pretty quick -- Markel, Nate, Hollis, Monroe. Extended battles have not been our bag, and I think part of it is that our pitch is different -- and so when kids are really drawn to it, they know.

Just a theory.