I'm hearing there are definitely 2 teams in the same locker room. HCBO kids and Pinkel's holdovers. As far as leadership goes, it's Beckner and that's it. Both sides respect him to the fullest. I'm told he's scared to death of another knee injury. He has torn acl syndrome but he's trying to be a leader and all his teammates respect the hell out of him. Lock is liked but he's not a leader and that was evident when he couldn't get others to come to Mizzou and lead the offense. Total opposite of Foster, who has half of Alabama wanting to come to Mizzou. HCBO and staff thought Lock was the guy but he just has the arm talent.
Staff feels extremely good about the kids they have brought in the past couple of years and are not expecting any recruits to decommit. Recruits and parents love the staff and environment and there will be a couple of surprises before signing day. There is no doubt or question in the staff's minds that they won't be retained after this season. Selling Foster on being possibly handed the keys from day 1, because they believe this kid is special.
A couple things on STL basketball recruiting. I'm putting McKinney to Mizzou at about 93% because he's definitely recruiting others. If I was Cuonzo I would only take McKinney, Hargroves/Leech and possibly Liddell. I know @coachpadg loves Liddell but I think he's a tweener. Not quick enough or the ballhandling and shooting to be a 3, and not physical or big enough to play the 4. Any more than those 3 it's issues and too much confusion. It's a lot of infighting going on in the St. Louis basketball community right now. I don't think it's wise for Cuonzo to recruit all local kids because playing time and transfers will be an issue. I personally like the 2020 kids better, less issues with parents and more skill. You have White and Fletcher from Vashon, Love and Bradford at CBC and Jordan Nesbitt out of Lutheran North. For the life of me I don't understand how Nesbitt isn't getting any pub because I think he's the best player in 2020 class.
On a personal note, my daughter is starting to get interest from some big programs. She's only a freshman but she put on a show this past weekend against Mac Irvin with the gym full of college coaches. Her AAU coach showed me his phone today at workouts and it was a bunch of schools hitting him up about her. So she's definitely on the radar now as she's been getting mail all summer, especially from Auburn. That was the first school to send her a generic camp invite, but for a 14 year old young lady it meant much more. Needless to say, Auburn is her favorite so far. Also, Chip Walther's daughter plays on the same AAU team as well. Sorry for the rambling....
Staff feels extremely good about the kids they have brought in the past couple of years and are not expecting any recruits to decommit. Recruits and parents love the staff and environment and there will be a couple of surprises before signing day. There is no doubt or question in the staff's minds that they won't be retained after this season. Selling Foster on being possibly handed the keys from day 1, because they believe this kid is special.
A couple things on STL basketball recruiting. I'm putting McKinney to Mizzou at about 93% because he's definitely recruiting others. If I was Cuonzo I would only take McKinney, Hargroves/Leech and possibly Liddell. I know @coachpadg loves Liddell but I think he's a tweener. Not quick enough or the ballhandling and shooting to be a 3, and not physical or big enough to play the 4. Any more than those 3 it's issues and too much confusion. It's a lot of infighting going on in the St. Louis basketball community right now. I don't think it's wise for Cuonzo to recruit all local kids because playing time and transfers will be an issue. I personally like the 2020 kids better, less issues with parents and more skill. You have White and Fletcher from Vashon, Love and Bradford at CBC and Jordan Nesbitt out of Lutheran North. For the life of me I don't understand how Nesbitt isn't getting any pub because I think he's the best player in 2020 class.
On a personal note, my daughter is starting to get interest from some big programs. She's only a freshman but she put on a show this past weekend against Mac Irvin with the gym full of college coaches. Her AAU coach showed me his phone today at workouts and it was a bunch of schools hitting him up about her. So she's definitely on the radar now as she's been getting mail all summer, especially from Auburn. That was the first school to send her a generic camp invite, but for a 14 year old young lady it meant much more. Needless to say, Auburn is her favorite so far. Also, Chip Walther's daughter plays on the same AAU team as well. Sorry for the rambling....
