Daquan Bracey 16 PG verbal to Louisiana Tech

[Deleted]

Visited Miami last weekend

[jwp91]

hmmmmm

[Deleted]

[blueandgray]

Staff is very much interested in Bracey and the interest seems mutual. I think the HOYAS are in good position here.

[Hoyas4Ever]

Jan 17, 2015 11:32:51 GMT -5 @yaboynyp said:

Jan 17, 2015 9:13:47 GMT -5 DoctorHoya said:

When's his commitment date?

Daquan Bracey has a commitment date picked: Sept. 9, 2015

It means very little though

Let me preface this my statement by saying I am huge fan of this kid and think that Bracey would do great things in the Hoyas Blue & Gray uniform but I think he has possibly been given horrible advice but he is far from the only prospect out there to be given bad advice. Bracey for example, considered to be a huge Hoya lean (but no one really knows for certain) and by all reports the staff is still pursuing, set a commitment date for Sept. 9, 2015 back in January. While his reason's and intentions (Mother's BDay I believe) for setting a date 9 months out is honorable, it really doesn't work in the business of high major college basketball recruiting. If he is really leaning towards committing to the Hoyas but is not 100% then he has every right to take his time to make the right decision for himself and his family. But if he already knows where he is going to commit, has known for a while (which setting a date 9 months out may imply) and is really just waiting for his mothers BDay is irresponsible and dangerous to his future and the coaches recruiting him. Let's say Bracey sits tight to his commitment date and wants to join the Hoyas family and then Mosely commits to us tomorrow and Curtis Jones commits Sept. 3 on his visit or DeAndre Hunter visits unofficially and pops in our favor or all 3 commit before Bracey's commitment date. That could leave this kid without a seat at the table because we will be out out of scholarships unless the staff absolutely knows that Copeland or Peak are definitely leaving early. That would put tremendous pressure on which ever sophomore is leaving early knowing that the decision is made before the season has started and could lead to pressure and playing out of character causing poor play and destroying team chemistry. Maybe Mosely commits tomorrow and that speeds up the process for Bracey and he commits shortly after making my earlier point moot. Otherwise Bracey is playing a dangerous game.

I truly respect prospects like Copeland, Govan, Campbell, White, Kaleb Johnson, and future Hoya Tyler Foster who all made their decision while on a visit or shortly after visiting. The sad part of this process is that when a prospect comes on a visit like a Tyler Foster, gets an offer while on the visit and then commits a few days later, you here a lot of people start questioning whats wrong with the kid when he does it the right way. But if a kid holds out to the 25th hour but knows pretty much from Day 1 where they are going to go, no one says a thing about whats wrong with the kid. Maybe the kids aren't to blame and its the parents and coaches who get caught up in the hype. In some cases, I'm sure it is but that just makes it this whole process even sadder. Once a prospect knows what they want to do, they need to make their decision.  

Nowadays a lot of prospects are confused. They truly believe that recruiting process is all about them and don't realize that their decision or non decision effects peoples jobs. Don't get me wrong, I understand that for most high school recruits, this is the most important decision and probably their first major decision of their lives and it should be handled with care. But these kids (I purposely call them kids because their method of how a lot of them make these decisions is extremely immature and naive) are making decisions that effect careers and families. I know coaches are extremely well paid and being fired is par of the course for most coaches but this recruiting process has lost its way. These kids that know where they are going to go and purposely put off their decisions, holding coaches from several schools hostage spending man hours continuing to recruit them when that time could be better applied to other recruits, future classes or current team members. I will give Bracey more credit then other kids because his reason is better then other kids who cut their future schools logo on their head and go on National TV, or have 20 people  giving speeches on why this kid is the best thing since the discovery of fire before the prospect sits at table full of hats and begins to play 3 card molly making a spectacle of themselves. I know some of you may think that last part of the description with hats may describes LJ Peak but his circumstances were different in the fact, it wasn't on National TV and he didn't wait until the early or late signing period to make his decision and most importantly YES he picked Georgetown!    

For those of you who made it to the end of this diatribe, I apologize if you found all this pointless. If you agree or disagree I welcome hearing your thoughts. Not trying to hijack Bracey's thread but it was his recruitment which sparked these thoughts.



      

[HometownHoya]

Very thoughtful post. In the end though it boils down to the fact that these are 15-18 year old kids, like you mentioned. Even the most well intended don't have the best world view yet.

[blueandgray]

I think a few assumptions may have been made that are off base here....and more importantly, there are a few scenarios that are not accounted for. a lot of overthinking starting to happen on this thread. In the end, the HOYAS like Bracey a lot....let's wait a month and see what happens before questioning recruiting advise.

[Deleted]

Aug 10, 2015 2:12:07 GMT -5 Hoyas4Ever said:

Jan 17, 2015 11:32:51 GMT -5 @yaboynyp said:

Daquan Bracey has a commitment date picked: Sept. 9, 2015

It means very little though

Let me preface this my statement by saying I am huge fan of this kid and think that Bracey would do great things in the Hoyas Blue & Gray uniform but I think he has possibly been given horrible advice but he is far from the only prospect out there to be given bad advice. Bracey for example, considered to be a huge Hoya lean (but no one really knows for certain) and by all reports the staff is still pursuing, set a commitment date for Sept. 9, 2015 back in January. While his reason's and intentions (Mother's BDay I believe) for setting a date 9 months out is honorable, it really doesn't work in the business of high major college basketball recruiting. If he is really leaning towards committing to the Hoyas but is not 100% then he has every right to take his time to make the right decision for himself and his family. But if he already knows where he is going to commit, has known for a while (which setting a date 9 months out may imply) and is really just waiting for his mothers BDay is irresponsible and dangerous to his future and the coaches recruiting him. Let's say Bracey sits tight to his commitment date and wants to join the Hoyas family and then Mosely commits to us tomorrow and Curtis Jones commits Sept. 3 on his visit or DeAndre Hunter visits unofficially and pops in our favor or all 3 commit before Bracey's commitment date. That could leave this kid without a seat at the table because we will be out out of scholarships unless the staff absolutely knows that Copeland or Peak are definitely leaving early. That would put tremendous pressure on which ever sophomore is leaving early knowing that the decision is made before the season has started and could lead to pressure and playing out of character causing poor play and destroying team chemistry. Maybe Mosely commits tomorrow and that speeds up the process for Bracey and he commits shortly after making my earlier point moot. Otherwise Bracey is playing a dangerous game.

I truly respect prospects like Copeland, Govan, Campbell, White, Kaleb Johnson, and future Hoya Tyler Foster who all made their decision while on a visit or shortly after visiting. The sad part of this process is that when a prospect comes on a visit like a Tyler Foster, gets an offer while on the visit and then commits a few days later, you here a lot of people start questioning whats wrong with the kid when he does it the right way. But if a kid holds out to the 25th hour but knows pretty much from Day 1 where they are going to go, no one says a thing about whats wrong with the kid. Maybe the kids aren't to blame and its the parents and coaches who get caught up in the hype. In some cases, I'm sure it is but that just makes it this whole process even sadder. Once a prospect knows what they want to do, they need to make their decision.  

Nowadays a lot of prospects are confused. They truly believe that recruiting process is all about them and don't realize that their decision or non decision effects peoples jobs. Don't get me wrong, I understand that for most high school recruits, this is the most important decision and probably their first major decision of their lives and it should be handled with care. But these kids (I purposely call them kids because their method of how a lot of them make these decisions is extremely immature and naive) are making decisions that effect careers and families. I know coaches are extremely well paid and being fired is par of the course for most coaches but this recruiting process has lost its way. These kids that know where they are going to go and purposely put off their decisions, holding coaches from several schools hostage spending man hours continuing to recruit them when that time could be better applied to other recruits, future classes or current team members. I will give Bracey more credit then other kids because his reason is better then other kids who cut their future schools logo on their head and go on National TV, or have 20 people  giving speeches on why this kid is the best thing since the discovery of fire before the prospect sits at table full of hats and begins to play 3 card molly making a spectacle of themselves. I know some of you may think that last part of the description with hats may describes LJ Peak but his circumstances were different in the fact, it wasn't on National TV and he didn't wait until the early or late signing period to make his decision and most importantly YES he picked Georgetown!    

For those of you who made it to the end of this diatribe, I apologize if you found all this pointless. If you agree or disagree I welcome hearing your thoughts. Not trying to hijack Bracey's thread but it was his recruitment which sparked these thoughts.



      

Meh... I think your thinking way to deeply about this, It's not that serious. The people around him are very good people and no matter where he ends up he will be fine. He's a good kid and he will be successful no matter where he ends up because of his support system not in spite of it...

It's not about what we think is best for him or best for Gtown, it's his life, his decision. He can handle it in any manor he wants. Honestly like a lot of your posts but think this one is way off base, just let the process play out.

[prhoya]

That's the way the recruiting cookie crumbles. It should be about what is best for the kid from his perspective, not ours. The only way a recruiting staff can protect itself against disappointment is by casting a wide net, not put their eggs in one basket, etc...

[hoyazeke]

I don't think Da Da has anything to worry about. I am not in the know, but I believe that Da Da has a soft commitment already. The 9th is just a confirmation date. IMHO...Like it was stated a few pages back, GTown has not recruited any true PGs. The staff seems to be focusing on combos...I believe that we will have 4 maybe 5 schollies opening up after next season. If that is the case we can easily take 1 pg, 2 combos/wings, and 1 big and be fine with the schollie situation.........

[DFW HOYA]

Aug 10, 2015 12:07:17 GMT -5 hoyazeke said:

I believe that we will have 4 maybe 5 schollies opening up after next season.

Putting aside rampant speculation, that is far too much turnover for a team with two seniors and one open scholarship in play.

[Ranch Dressing]

This is a highly risky signing, IMHO, if it comes to pass. Not sure how Da Da plays D D in an increasingly 3-point oriented game. He will need to be a special athlete to cover up the size disadvantage.

[prhoya]

Aug 10, 2015 12:53:57 GMT -5 Ranch Dressing said:

This is a highly risky signing, IMHO, if it comes to pass. Not sure how Da Da plays D D in an increasingly 3-point oriented game. He will need to be a special athlete to cover up the size disadvantage.

Lol! Ranch, you are our resident Height Czar. Ranch, out of curiosity, in your opinion what is the minimum height the GU staff should look for in a guard?

[hoyasaxa2003]

Aug 10, 2015 12:53:57 GMT -5 Ranch Dressing said:

This is a highly risky signing, IMHO, if it comes to pass. Not sure how Da Da plays D D in an increasingly 3-point oriented game. He will need to be a special athlete to cover up the size disadvantage.

This is not Bracey specific at all, but I'm seriously getting concerned about our lack of guys who can shoot at high percentages. We have DSR, Copeland, and Campbell, but otherwise we don't really have anybody who can shoot the three point shot that well. I do think there's a good chance Peak and White could improve, and Derrickson might shoot well too, but our lack of three point shooting has hurt.

Granted, I don't want to be too dependent on threes (because then you can get very streaky depending on how well you're shooting - this happened in the Freeman/Wright/Clark years), but having virtually few guys who can shoot them is also a big problem.

[ColumbiaHeightsHoya]

We had plenty of 3 point shooting this past year in Campbell, DSR & Jabril. Jabril definitely developed over his time at Gtown. You compare this to the recruiting of shooters in Domingo & Cameron that didn't pan out and I feel like the current group is good. Keep in mind those freshman have to get used to another distance and WHite/Peak should get better. Derrickson will be good. Johnson can develop. Shooting is not a concern. Last year once Josh got in foul trouble, we had no inside game to speak of. I hope that is where improvement occurs.

[SFHoya99]

White shot 38% from 3 last year in more attempts than Copeland. His release isn't quick, and he's probably not going to be a go-to three point shooter, but calling him a poor shooter isn't true. We bring in two bigs this year with excellent shooting as well.

I think it's valid to worry about replacing DSR's shooting in particular. But we may have one of our better 3pt shooting squads this year, especially if Peak has improved.

[hoyasaxa2003]

Aug 10, 2015 14:44:51 GMT -5 SFHoya99 said:

White shot 38% from 3 last year in more attempts than Copeland. His release isn't quick, and he's probably not going to be a go-to three point shooter, but calling him a poor shooter isn't true. We bring in two bigs this year with excellent shooting as well.

I think it's valid to worry about replacing DSR's shooting in particular. But we may have one of our better 3pt shooting squads this year, especially if Peak has improved.

White's three point shooting was misleading though because in conference play he only shot 27.3%. That means he did much better out of conference. It's a small sample size, so it's tough to say, but he did struggle for about half the season. By contrast, Campbell shot threes better in conference play (41.9% in conference).

I am not worried about shooting per se, but the fact is much of our dependable shooting has been DSR and DSR only, and we have absolutely nobody in the pipeline who would naturally fill his shoes. I think that could occur with the rising sophomores' improvement and the freshman, but especially for the latter, we won't know until they play. DSR is also the only really dependable FT shooter too, though I am hoping some of the new freshman will bring high FT percentages, too.

I do think Derrickson and Govan will perform well, but after hearing about great shooters like Domingo and Cameron, I'm a little hesitant to be too hopeful until they actually perform.

[Ranch Dressing]

Aug 10, 2015 14:10:05 GMT -5 prhoya said:

Aug 10, 2015 12:53:57 GMT -5 Ranch Dressing said:

This is a highly risky signing, IMHO, if it comes to pass. Not sure how Da Da plays D D in an increasingly 3-point oriented game. He will need to be a special athlete to cover up the size disadvantage.

Lol! Ranch, you are our resident Height Czar. Ranch, out of curiosity, in your opinion what is the minimum height the GU staff should look for in a guard?

I'm not sure there should be a blanket minimum height requirement. There are a few examples of 5'9" PGs who led successful college teams. But at 5'9", I would hope the staff sees high major+ quicks, speed, hops, dribbling, vision, passing, and finishing ability to merit a scholarship.

We know Da Da will struggle to guard shooters and to get his own shot off in tight coverage. I believe Chris Wright was listed at 6'1" and he struggled in those areas.

Who has been a sub 6' PG for us? Kenny Brunner? Joey Brown? David Edwards?

Who has been our tallest PGs? Fred Brown? Bobby Winston?

[IDenj]

Junkyard.

[Ranch Dressing]

JYD could run the break and possessed PG skills, but he never ran the point with AI.