OJ and Friends

[Deleted]

sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=katz_andy&id=2105328

"I'm totally open," Mayo said Friday afternoon at the Reebok ABCD Camp. "I'm going to school. Our plan is to go together, most definitely a package deal."

Here's the question - would you recruit these guys as a package deal knowing you've only got one of them for a year, and the other two probably two at best? I know a lot of people here are going to say "hell no" as they wouldn't be making at least a MINOR commitment to the University and for the most part I agree. But OJ's two friends appear to be pretty good players and there's no telling how interested in college they are. Maybe you get one or both of them for two, three maybe four years.

Also, I know its happened plenty of times in the past, but should these kids be allowed to dictate the terms of their recruitment saying "take me and my friends or else"? I haven't made up my mind on that one...

Discuss.

[CTHoya08]

I don't know the specifics of these guys, but aren't coaches often stuck with an inferior friend for four years, while the actual recruit leaves after one or two? Not saying this is the case here, but I imagine that's the biggest problem for coaches with this type of recruiting.

[idhoya]

I'd take Mayo and Bill Walker in a heartbeat. The exposure alone generates massive media coverage, revenue and solidifies the program as a major force on the scene. Mayo is ranked #1 and Walker is top 10. Yes.

[SFHoya99]

None of these guys are inferior. Bill Walker is overrated, but all are Top 40 recruits. And if that's Mayo's condition, why not? I see nothing wrong with it.

That said, about 95% of package deals fall apart.

[nychoya3]

I'll bet anyone here that Mayo doesn't play a day in college. He'll sign with an NBDL team after high school, prep, or just workout, while living off his million dollar shoe deal. Walker could very easily do the same.

No way we get involved with Mayo or Walker. Let Pitino or Calapari or Calhoun deal with these kids.

[hoyalove4ever]

How badly does it stink that a thread w/ the name "OJ" in the title has no mention of 1) Simpson or 2) Johnson?

[the_way]

I think package deals are low-class. Since when has a package-deal won a National Championship and let alone deep runs in the NCAA tournament. Package defined as signing a great player and his scrub of a player friend. I think we are above that. No player is worth doing a package deal. We are doing fine recruiting already, and we will do fine in the future. That shouldn't be our M.O., and knowing the type of person JTIII is so far, I doubt seriously we will be in the business of "package deals".

[Deleted]

But _way read the article. The point is his two buddies are anything BUT scrubs. They are both highly ranked players. If they can actually play damn good hoops - which, as we all know, is all you care about - why not take the deal? Get the one year wonder, then a couple stud players for a couple more years after that.

I'm not saying we should do that here - and I'd actually prefer we didn't because I agree III's recruiting is going well so far - but if you can get a blue-chipper for one year (who knows, maybe more!) and some top 15-50 recruits for a couple more after that, wouldn't you take it? Hypothetically speaking, of course.

[SFHoya99]

Even if Mayo & friends were considering us, I'm not sure anyone should jump at a package including Bill Walker. Reports (not rumors) have him very Eddie Griffin-esque.

[the_way]

buffalohoya said:

But _way read the article. The point is his two buddies are anything BUT scrubs. They are both highly ranked players. If they can actually play damn good hoops - which, as we all know, is all you care about - why not take the deal? Get the one year wonder, then a couple stud players for a couple more years after that.

I'm not saying we should do that here - and I'd actually prefer we didn't because I agree III's recruiting is going well so far - but if you can get a blue-chipper for one year (who knows, maybe more!) and some top 15-50 recruits for a couple more after that, wouldn't you take it? Hypothetically speaking, of course.

I don't know, I'm kind of ambivalent about that. On one hand you want to get your best recruits, on the other hand you have to maintain your integrity. I don't think we will be going the one and done route frequently during the tenure of JTIII. I think this will be a rare occurence, if it even happens. Having said that, that does not mean we will not be a perrenial power. People look at the Carmelo Anthony factor or the Fab 5 factor. Those are 2 rare occurences. The Fab 5 was that good, and they were all friends. 2 National Championship appearences. Webber stayed 2 years, Rose and Howard stayed 3. That is fine, but it wouldn't happen in this era of college basketball with that type of talent. Carmelo also had great players as a supporting cast on his team as well.

Plus, what type of kids are you bringing in. When you start talking about package deals, those aren't the players you want and those aren't the type of players you want on your team at Georgetown. I get leary when I hear guys talk loosely about doing package deals. Sanctions, scandals, and innuendo tend to pop up quite often when doing these package deals. That is not what G'town is about. Leave the package deals for the Memphis', Kansas', and Ohio State's of the world. We will do just fine and be a perreniel power and still keep our integrity.

[SFHoya99]

the_way, what is wrong with two kids wanting to play together in college? I agree that package deals that are heavily imbalanced are not a good thing to pick up (rare is the player worth two scholarships), but this is two top players and a Top 40 center.

[the_way]

sfhoya99 said:

the_way, what is wrong with two kids wanting to play together in college? I agree that package deals that are heavily imbalanced are not a good thing to pick up (rare is the player worth two scholarships), but this is two top players and a Top 40 center.

Did I say anything is wrong with this? No. What I'm saying is that we should not get desperate and start going the package deal route. That is not the way to go. You are going into dangerous territory when you start doing package deals. You lie down with dogs, you come up with fleas.

[JohnJacquesLayup]

We may not have recruited "package deals" per se but have taken guys from the same teams in the same HS class, like Bowman and Ashanti as well as Drew and Tony. One set worked out, the other . . . not so much.

[SFHoya99]

Uggh. The "Montrose" class - in retrospect, it isn't hard to see why the team struggled the last few years.

After two pretty good recruiting classes - ('99 had Courtland, Scruggs, Hunter, Wilson and Vic -- I think 3 of those were Top 100 and Scruggs was a top JC. '00 had Mike and Gerald) -- this is the run we went on:

'01 - Tony, Drew, DJ and Harvey. Three transfers, with only one contributing much at all. None ever saw their junior season. DJ wasn't much of a player until LAST year.

'02 - Brandon and Ashanti. Good players, but when you are the only keepers in three or four classes, good luck. Notable in that it was the first class in ages without a Top 100 ranked player (though Brandon may play like one).

'03 - Causey, Sead, Ray and Darian. Townes never made it, two transferred out before their were juniors and Sead has seen limited time. Causey was our last consensus Top 100, but obviously a bit overrated.

You simply cannot miss on every other class. Luckily, Esherick and staff were pretty good in grabbing "steals" as Brandon especially outperformed his ranking. Still, two classes with basically DJ and Sead to show for it, and one class that has been nice but not earth shattering.

Hopefully, this 2005 class will break that on-again, off-again trend.

[idhoya]

steals are good, if you got superstars at the top of the class. You can't rely on sleepers to carry your classes.