You are VERY mistaken with respect to MSU slow playing Eastern, if anything its the other way around. They are pushing for a commitment HARD, and the Eastern camp isn’t budging, period.
Much like rankings, I don’t think offers alone are a very good indicator of talent. I prefer live evaluation and film assessment. I haven’t seen Brooks play live, but based on his highlights, he just isn’t very impressive in my opinion. Not bad, perhaps good enough for a third guard on offense, but certainly not a Nojel Eastern level talent in any way. I admit I may be biased having seen Nojel play live several times, but there is pretty big gap in my opinion, in basically every facet of the game other than shooting.
Not as likely as a I think…that’s funny. It will come out in due course. There are very few people that have any clue as to Nojel Eastern’s recruitment, and that is by his mother’s design. To be more specific, Nojel Eastern’s high school coach has no idea what is going on with that recruitment.
I’m sorry you think that any information which contrasts to yours is “funny.” What I posted is information, not mere speculation, and it includes, in part, specific information which comes from his mother, as well as from those with very good MSU sources. You are, of course, free to disagree. I do find it somewhat ironic though that you have been preaching here for awhile how giving late offers is killing us in recruiting, and yet on Eastern, you think that the school he listed as his “dream school” (MSU), one which offered him a year earlier than we did and has his buddy in tow as a DT on the football team, would lose him to us despite pushing hard for a commitment. Must be the old Beilein charisma.
One other note–whether you think that offers are a good indicator of talent, it was you, above, who said that no college coach would take Brooks over Eastern. Obviously, there were several who offered Brooks but not Eastern, and several who also offered Brooks with Eastern still on their recruiting boards, so that seems inaccurate. And again, those offers came out of the blue for somebody playing in the shadows. Me, I’d like to see highlights and/or game film from July, which convinced guys like Wright, Matta and Beilein to offer, before making even a preliminary judgment.
Information that is made public, is very much different from information that is private, and more realistic. That’s about all I can say about it.
Also, I’ve never said that late offers are a per se bad thing, you are either mistaken or simply incorrect. I do think that late offers to guys that are clearly not impact players are probably not a good idea though.
If you utilize offers as a primary indicator of talent, I can respect that, I just don’t agree. I trust my own eyes more than any coach or ranking service.
Can this thread be split so that the people who want to discuss Jamal Cain can do so and the people who want to argue the merits of their inside sources can do that?
Also MHoops - I’d like to apologize to you about the “funny” comment. Didn’t quite come out the way I intended it. You are what I consider to be reasonable, and by funny I’m basically trying to convey that Eastern was very, very realistic. Trust me
Wolverheel - I understand your stance here, but c’mon man, you are very much a know it all at times as well. I get it that you don’t care for my posting (and the feeling is mutual), but don’t throw stones while living in a glass house.
Yes, and after being messaged by Dylan a month ago I found it very easy to simply stop devolving every thread into an argument with no winner. I guess some find that more difficult than others.
C’mon man, what do you want me to say lol. I’ve tried avoiding the question cause I don’t want to offend you. Yes, I know a lot of things, but I can’t say them publicly, and you know that. Have to respect the family privacy.
It’s not just information which is made public, Matt. A friend of mine (NOT, repeat NOT, fwiw, one of the people I know at rivals for which I have, from time to time, written articles) has spoken directly to Nojel’s mom, and has done so in the context of seeking recruiting information, and has also spoken to very good MSU sources. Evidently, there is a disconnect between what he heard and what you have heard. That doesn’t speak badly of anyone–recruiting is fluid, people change their minds or alter their positions at different times, and people interpret things differently…
One last time on the offer list issue–I too prefer to use my eyes. In THIS case though, there isn’t enough evidence out there that my eyes can see to make a reasonable judgment as to how Brooks played this summer. And the fact that no one seems to be able to explain to me how an unknown guy playing in the shadows got early offers of this magnitude suggests to me that he played much better this summer than the last year/early spring highlights that you and I have seen.
Yes, the timing of the information received may explain the different takes on Eastern. I do agree with you that offers mean something, no doubt about it. Last thing on Eastern for me (Wolverheel is right, this thread is about Cain), my info is not secondhand.
In any event, I haven’t seen Brooks live, so my opinion should be taken with a grain of salt. But his highlights in conjunction with his lack of height are concerns for me. Additionally, he may have been great in July, but the comp level was poor.
So back to Cain–I know you can’t reveal where he’s leaning, but I’m curious to know whether you can reveal whether he might wait until spring to decide. Because to me (someone who thinks that Bowen and Jackson are incredible long shots, though not a zero percent chance), the addition of Bamba into the mix, however likely or unlikely he might be, means that Cain is more likely a Michigan take in the spring than in the fall.
Timeline remains the same, appears to be late September or early October at this point. The next week or so should be revealing, as September 9th is the first day for home/school visits, and I will say that JB is scheduled to have a visit with Jamal. I will reiterate, Bowen and Jackson are incredible long shots, regardless of the narrative that some here would like to paint.
Matt, curious do you think at this point Cain is as big of a priority to JB and staff as the other targets? Obviously we know everyone who has offers but since Livers has committed Cain feels like the one previous non 5-star target we are still after.
