LA Wolverine1 you are right the key is closing. In the last couple of years UM had offers out on great players and they showed interest right down to the end, then went elsewhere. UM needs to get an early decision on one of the elite 2017 recruits and this may get others motivated.
Johns will be Blue. I think he’s a little overrated, but he’ll be a good fit.
http://bankhoops.com/answering-the-bell-at-brawl-for-the-ball/
Brandon Johns 6-8 Jr Spiece Indy Heat (East Lansing): Some around the program think Johns has the most potential on the Indy Heat roster, even when 6-10 senior Jaren Jackson is in the mix. Rare mix of size, skill and feel. Has the potential to be one of the great modern forwards in Michigan history, like LaVell Blanchard or Winfred Walton. That said, didn’t dominate just did his job along the deep Spiece frontcourt.
If he commits to Michigan, I wonder if it will be because MSU’s offer was non-commitable.
How is a non-commitable offer an offer? It sounds more like interest and the prospect of a future offer if things play out a certain way.
I think it was clear we have him as the #1 target and with that other guy we didn’t offer going elsewhere, it is even more obvious.
Johns down to #40 and I suspect it will continue to go down a bit over the next year.
http://www.espn.com/college-sports/basketball/recruiting/player/_/id/211971/brandon-johns
Johns down to 97 on Scout (per Dylan) and #38 per Rivals update today
I see why your down on him but I like him still. He’s a solid athlete. Looks to be a good shooter. Solid handle. Looks like he knows how to use his body. I’d take him in a heart beat still.
Not necessarily a talent issue, because at a legit 6’8 he certainly has a decent handle and a decent shot. Although embracing physicality is certainly not a strength of Johns. He simply lacks any sort of motor or aggression. He was a very timid player in EYBL. Honestly, rankings aside, if you just assessed the productivity in EYBL, you would think Livers is the far superior prospect in relation to Johns.
I think next summers AAU season will tell us a lot about where Brandon Johns is as a recruit. You have what two years before he even will step on a college campus as a freshman.
Exactly. Things are going to go 1 of 2 ways in my opinion. Either Johns will step up and be the man with the departure of Jackson, Tillman, and Roberts OR he will cease to get open looks because of that and struggle. Only time will tell
Thank you. I haven’t watched either in person; just basing my opinions on reports from others. This is a useful evaluation.
Any idea how Johns has done at USA Basketball events?
I don’t. All I know is that he’s been cut the past 2 years
Brad Davison was completely overwhelmed as a Junior in the EYBL and became America’s favorite recruit as a Senior. I haven’t watched Johns enough to know that he can make that jump but it’s possible. That year can make a world of difference (anyone know his birthday, just curious if he is young or old for his grade?).
I still don’t think Davison is a high major recruit but he played extremely well this spring and summer. College coaches have had to have seen something out of Johns to earn these offers and interest. It’ll be interesting to see how his recruitment plays out.
12/14/99 is DOB. Not young or old for grade. Next year in EYBL will tell it all
Respectfully, I think you may be overestimating the value of eybl play as an evaluating tool. Certainly, it is a factor to consider, and a reasonably important one at that, but there are all sorts of examples of guys playing much better or much worse in the eybl setting than they do at the high school level, or at the college level–just in terms of recent Michigan recruits, Carlton Brundidge and Kam Chatman showed much better in eybl than elsewhere, and MAAR showed much worse. The coaching is different, the style of play, especially on defense, is different, the amount of attention to fundamentals is different, the roster composition is often different, forcing kids into roles they might not play as well, etc. Again, this is NOT to say that eybl isn’t important–it is–just that it’s not a be all and end all. Watching a kid play high school ball, with kids and a system he plays with on a season long basis is very important as well.
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I agree with you that EYBL is only 1 factor of several, although an important one, as you concur. That said, high school ball is relevant, but to both sides of the fence. Generally speaking, EYBL is a much better indicator of a kid’s talent/skill (or lack of) when the kid is facing poor HS competition. Johns plays poor competition in Lansing, so EYBL is a much better metric in my opinion. We’ve seen this over and over, in particular at UM, where guys dominate against bums but simply can’t handle the speed and athleticism at the college level. I think HS performance means much more for a guy like Easley that plays ball in Indianapolis where he’s playing legit competition basically every game.
All that to say that while EYBL isn’t the factor, I think you’re failing to use full context in the case of Johns, who plays poor HS competition. EYBL is certainly much more indicative of talent/skill assessment in his case than anything he does in Lansing HS basketball in my opinion.
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