Sometimes I wonder if you all actually watch these guys or take journalists evaluations of players as gospel, so here are videos of all of our signees and KJ Walton.
Terrence Phillips - if you aren't excited about this kid then idk what to tell you except to learn something about basketball. He is going to be a special player and possibly set assist records here as well. (He will have 4 years to do what Pressey did in 3). I also remember seeing that his coach he is a much better shooter than he is given credit for. When you are the PG on one of the most talented teams in the country, it isn't really your job to get buckets and that is the situation he was in at Oak Hill. Honestly, I think he can be just as next year as Sham was last year, he just won't have to play as much
KJ Walton - idk about Walton. He is very athletic and talks about wanting to play defense which is always nice to hear. He is strong with ball but I wouldn't expect him to score much next year. If he can give some rest to Namon and Teki for 3-4 minutes at a time and guard the other teams best scorer, then he fills an important role next year
Cullen Van Leer - dude can flat out shoot the basketball. It won't take long for people to start changing their tunes towards CVL. expect him to make a couple 3s a game as a freshman (we sure could have used that last year). I would like to see him have a little quicker release and that is something that he can work on when he gets here. It also might just come naturally when he is taking hundreds of shots every day. And for those worried about him getting his own shot, he will likely never be asked to create his own shot especially not as a freshman. He will stretch the defense and open up lanes for Clark and Teki to get to the hoop
Kevin Puryear - he will also surprise some people I think. He is naturally the kind of player the J3 wanted to be. He will likely not be as good as J3 but he is an undersized face up 4. That is what J3 thought he was before transferring. I would also argue that Puryear has a better shot than J3 right now. Definitely a step down from but I still think he will contribute next year. 6-7 ppg and 4-5 boards is not unreasonable, especially if he is backing up Gant.
Russell Woods - I just love how he tries to dunk everything. If it were my decision he would be the starting center the day he steps on campus. Brings some much needed toughness
Can't find videos of Payne but I liked what I saw from the clips in his commitment story. Looks like he'll knock down the open shot but hopefully won't ever force anything.
Overall, probably not a star in the class but you honestly don't want or need a team full of stars. There are only so many shots to be had and this team will go as far as Clark, Wright, Teki, and Gant will take it. All of these guys fill a needed role and we are starting to see a team take shape. I will be shocked if we are not competitive in most games next year. It looks like a team that can win 15-18 games and only lose 1 player. And if we do drop some players to make room for freshman with a higher ceiling then that's even better. If Anderson is still here in 3 years then we will be competing for the SEC title when Teki and crew are seniors.
PG - Phillips JR (3-star 148 nationally)
SG - Namon Wright SR (4-star 80ish nationally)
SF - Teki SR (4-star 30ish nationally)
PF - Gant SR (4-star I think ended up around 50 in the rankings)
C - Tyler Cook SO (4-star 80 nationally with a chance to move up IMO, watch the kids highlight tape. Very athletic for a big and will add an inch or 2 before even making it to campus)
6 - KJ Walton JR. Possibly best defender on the team and by that time should be able to get to the bucket and finish with consistency.
7 - Isabel SR. If he is still here then he will be Phillips backup. A scoring option off the bench that can create his own shot. And if he can make those shots consistently then he may even be the starter.
8 - Allen SR. if he is still here then he will have a similar role to Walton except he will be giving Gant a breather.
9 - Puryear JR. See above, but he will be more refined and have an upperclassmens body
10 - Vanleer JR. Same as Puryear. Hopefully shooting about 50% from three on his career
11,12,13 - whoever we get to replace Clark, Woods, and Payne. Hopefully Porter and Tilmon are on this list
Now we may not get Cook and will have someone that we recruited probably from the same class. But it seems likely he ends up in the Black and Gold
There is also the possibility that Porter will take a spot from one of those guys but we'll cross that bridge when and if we are fortunate enough to get there.
So if some of the more pessimistic posters will sit back and look at the big picture, we didn't need any difference makers in this class. We have them currently on the roster as you saw flashes from Wright Teki and Gant all season. My favorite thing about seeing flashes of greatness in freshman is thinking about them being consistently great when they are juniors and seniors. That is where we will see the true coaching ability of Anderson. Nothin he did last year was prove anyone's opinion of him one way or the other. He needed to get through the season and keep the team intact, which he did for the most part
Of course it would be nice to pull in top 50 players every year but that is an unreasonable expectation. Anderson is trying to build a program that can have long term success. I just hope he is given the needed amount of time to build such a program.
Terrence Phillips - if you aren't excited about this kid then idk what to tell you except to learn something about basketball. He is going to be a special player and possibly set assist records here as well. (He will have 4 years to do what Pressey did in 3). I also remember seeing that his coach he is a much better shooter than he is given credit for. When you are the PG on one of the most talented teams in the country, it isn't really your job to get buckets and that is the situation he was in at Oak Hill. Honestly, I think he can be just as next year as Sham was last year, he just won't have to play as much
KJ Walton - idk about Walton. He is very athletic and talks about wanting to play defense which is always nice to hear. He is strong with ball but I wouldn't expect him to score much next year. If he can give some rest to Namon and Teki for 3-4 minutes at a time and guard the other teams best scorer, then he fills an important role next year
Cullen Van Leer - dude can flat out shoot the basketball. It won't take long for people to start changing their tunes towards CVL. expect him to make a couple 3s a game as a freshman (we sure could have used that last year). I would like to see him have a little quicker release and that is something that he can work on when he gets here. It also might just come naturally when he is taking hundreds of shots every day. And for those worried about him getting his own shot, he will likely never be asked to create his own shot especially not as a freshman. He will stretch the defense and open up lanes for Clark and Teki to get to the hoop
Kevin Puryear - he will also surprise some people I think. He is naturally the kind of player the J3 wanted to be. He will likely not be as good as J3 but he is an undersized face up 4. That is what J3 thought he was before transferring. I would also argue that Puryear has a better shot than J3 right now. Definitely a step down from but I still think he will contribute next year. 6-7 ppg and 4-5 boards is not unreasonable, especially if he is backing up Gant.
Russell Woods - I just love how he tries to dunk everything. If it were my decision he would be the starting center the day he steps on campus. Brings some much needed toughness
Can't find videos of Payne but I liked what I saw from the clips in his commitment story. Looks like he'll knock down the open shot but hopefully won't ever force anything.
Overall, probably not a star in the class but you honestly don't want or need a team full of stars. There are only so many shots to be had and this team will go as far as Clark, Wright, Teki, and Gant will take it. All of these guys fill a needed role and we are starting to see a team take shape. I will be shocked if we are not competitive in most games next year. It looks like a team that can win 15-18 games and only lose 1 player. And if we do drop some players to make room for freshman with a higher ceiling then that's even better. If Anderson is still here in 3 years then we will be competing for the SEC title when Teki and crew are seniors.
PG - Phillips JR (3-star 148 nationally)
SG - Namon Wright SR (4-star 80ish nationally)
SF - Teki SR (4-star 30ish nationally)
PF - Gant SR (4-star I think ended up around 50 in the rankings)
C - Tyler Cook SO (4-star 80 nationally with a chance to move up IMO, watch the kids highlight tape. Very athletic for a big and will add an inch or 2 before even making it to campus)
6 - KJ Walton JR. Possibly best defender on the team and by that time should be able to get to the bucket and finish with consistency.
7 - Isabel SR. If he is still here then he will be Phillips backup. A scoring option off the bench that can create his own shot. And if he can make those shots consistently then he may even be the starter.
8 - Allen SR. if he is still here then he will have a similar role to Walton except he will be giving Gant a breather.
9 - Puryear JR. See above, but he will be more refined and have an upperclassmens body
10 - Vanleer JR. Same as Puryear. Hopefully shooting about 50% from three on his career
11,12,13 - whoever we get to replace Clark, Woods, and Payne. Hopefully Porter and Tilmon are on this list
Now we may not get Cook and will have someone that we recruited probably from the same class. But it seems likely he ends up in the Black and Gold
There is also the possibility that Porter will take a spot from one of those guys but we'll cross that bridge when and if we are fortunate enough to get there.
So if some of the more pessimistic posters will sit back and look at the big picture, we didn't need any difference makers in this class. We have them currently on the roster as you saw flashes from Wright Teki and Gant all season. My favorite thing about seeing flashes of greatness in freshman is thinking about them being consistently great when they are juniors and seniors. That is where we will see the true coaching ability of Anderson. Nothin he did last year was prove anyone's opinion of him one way or the other. He needed to get through the season and keep the team intact, which he did for the most part
Of course it would be nice to pull in top 50 players every year but that is an unreasonable expectation. Anderson is trying to build a program that can have long term success. I just hope he is given the needed amount of time to build such a program.
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