Predict our next verbal commit.

[bronxhoya87]

Who will it be gentlemen?

[mississippihoya]

Riley?

I'm curious what the more knowledgeable posters think.

[HoyasAreHungry]

yes any more word on Riley? He was at the ville game last I heard....has anymore information popped up about him more recently?

[hoyaboy1]

I'll go with Spurlock. Reports on Riley haven't been very positive lately, and it seems like he might not be quite as high on us as he was.

[IDenj]

riley seems to be looking at other options. perhaps we have put him on the backburner due to his alleged lack of development. also, there seems to be more focus put on slasher/wing players in the 09 class. would love to see taylor thrown into the mix- guess that depends on which year braswell enters the program.

[idhoya]

Riley just mentioned in a rivals.com article from two days ago his top 5 are GU, Mich St., Mich, OSU and NC State. That doesn't sound like he's cooled. My guess would be either him or Spurlock.

[royski]

Spurlock? Haven't seen his name nearly as much around here, could one of the resident gurus provide some info, or perhaps direct me to where such info could be found? (for free)

[idhoya]

A couple of rivals pieces have been done on him. One was done at Boo Williams over the weekend and he listed GU as his leader; having an offer and a closesness to III. 6'7 220 SF. Slasher type with deadly midrange and 3-point game. Top 25 ranked on rivals. Montrose Christian kid.

[mississippihoya]

Riley mentioned GU first didn't he? A sign? Wishful thinking? The off season is so boring.

[IDenj]

id,
based on all reports from the last 8 months riley hasn t played up to his potential. seems other schools that were high on him ( mich st, duke ) have backed off him, as there are better centres on his aau squad. watch for his stock to drop when rankings are released at the end of the month. not to say we aren t after him, but would be surprised if we took him over spurlock at this moment. spurlock did say on the weekend he has a great relationship with III and the hoyas lead for his services.

[TBird41]

I wouldn't necessarily write in Spurlock for that second schollie. Don't forget about Kyle Rowley, a seven footer (that's right lic! A seven footer ), who was at the L'Ville game and is considered the best player (or maybe highest upside player) in Illinois.

[balla]

I'm not going to get into commitment predictions, because it is nonsensical. But people should never overvalue what these recruiting sites report in these interviews. Particularly when it pertains to Gtown.

It is funny that the schools talking about they have cooled on Riley, never had a chance(dook) LOL.

Riley is just fine. The truth is the kid never gets the ball on the block on his HS team or AAU team. They have a bunch of other wide-bodied bigmen that get all of the post touches. Riley operates at the high post and basically is a passing outlet. Every game looks like the team is trying to showcase the other bigs. The kid has to be frustrated with this. Heck I'm frustrated with it. Regardless, this is the recruiting evaluation time. So there is no kind of hurry for any commitments right now. Nobody even knows what next years roster will look like, so go after a commitment right now would be counter productive...

I already explained the Spurlock situation in the BOO thread, so I won't bother going into a repeat.

[jgalt]

Apr 16, 2008 15:06:27 GMT -5 balla said:

I'm not going to get into commitment predictions, because it is nonsensical. But people should never overvalue what these recruiting sites report in these interviews. Particularly when it pertains to Gtown.

It is funny that the schools talking about they have cooled on Riley, never had a chance(dook) LOL.

Additionally, if we assume others have backed off him (thats a big IF) then we can look at something JTjr said in one of those old SI articles. He talked about how when he was recruiting coaches would gravitate towards certain kids or back off based on what other coaches were doing. So IF other schools have backed off then maybe it is a ploy to get other schools to back off, a bad ploy non the less. This of course rests on a big IF.

[idhoya]

enj,

the other cats on his squad are PF's, not C's. I was just quoting what he said in the rivals piece. Plus, you mentioned he was looking at other options. His quotes say diferently. Now, the schools may be looking elsewhere, but apparently he is not. As good as he is defensively, I can't see III not taking him to anchor the D. Won't be needed to score much with the weapons GU will have at their disposal.

[hoyas2006]

i hope john riek

[jgalt]

Apr 16, 2008 18:21:16 GMT -5 hoyas2006 said:

i hope john riek

in nba draft

[IDenj]

just passing along what people who have been watching him all season have said about riley. i have no other knowledge about him. here are some thoughts from those on the rivals recruiting page who have seen him, giving their opinion. take it for what it is, second hand info...


"However, at some point you want to see a kid inprove. Go read the Michigan State and Michugan boards, read post from people who have watched him play. I really don't think UofM or MSU are recruiting this kid anymore, he is not a high-major at this point."

"Nothing has happened. That's the problem. No development. Looked promising last summer.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



"No desire. He plays. He has some fun, but he doesn't care. And it's spooking people (and for good reason)."


"Of The Family's big men, here is how they produced:

1 Derrick Nix
2 Donnovan Kirk
3 James Still
4 DeShonte Riley

Riley's upside is still very intriguing but you have to have some fire to get the passion to burn first. Think that is lacking. Nix, however, has some fire. At least he did this weekend. HUGE kid that moves well, good hands and can push people around. Would love to see him and Daniel Orton of Athletes First go at it."

Justin Young
National Basketball Recruiting Analyst
Rivals.com

[balla]

enj, I know you mean well but Justin Young and Jerry Meyer certainly are not on the Gtown staff(and they don't know squat about producing bigs). So Gtown fans should have a little faith that the best program in the country for bigmen development, knows what it is doing... Whether it ends up being Dash Riley or another center.

Right now Riley is a project(like most young centers). He is far from a finished product. Thats where Gtown comes in.

Let the dook, UM,and MSU talking heads say what they want. When Riley goes elsewhere, they can just say that they did not want him anyway.

[jerseyhoya34]

I wouldn't trust Young/Meyer for evals of players outside GA and TN. As soon as a recruiting site establishes more focus in CA and MD/VA/DC, you'd see a pretty good sea change in quality of information and analysis of players because the best national players are most frequently in or near these places.

[lichoya68]

any ah seven footers interested just curious