2018 Recruiting Notes

I know you and MattD and maybe others are pretty down on Johns, but he’s still a composite top-50 guy who Izzo is going pretty hard after. Doesn’t he also have a Purdue offer? Painter has had some pretty good bigs and big wings. And a guy with some size and athleticism who can shoot would seem to always have a role under JB. But I haven’t seen him a bunch live like you probably have.

Correction sorry not fewer minutes than this year but fewer than most project meaning a non starter and still a role player as best

It’s hard to play PG as a freshman, harder when you have a senior in front of you that JB is going to default to at every turn. Obviously a huge 2nd half of the season and offseason ahead for X, but too early to give up on him.

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No longer a top 50 composite player, 247 just hasn’t updated their composite rankings. Not going to reiterate my view on Johns because I assume most know what it is at this point. That said, his rankings are sliding from every site at every rankings update. I’m not a rankings guys at all, but when you see a universal increase or decline its probably a sign of something.

Could be. He’s 37 on 247, 42 Rivals, 44 on espn, 97 on scout. I don’t know that I’m a “rankings guy,” but it’s a data point. Sometimes the offer sheet is more telling. He’s got Izzo putting forward a fair amount of effort, although of course that’s a home town thing too. The other offers don’t fly off the page, but Purdue, Pitt, Iowa isn’t bad (to go along with UM and MSU). There’s a long way between top 30 where he was and a substantial step below our guard/wing prospects. Again, though, I haven’t seen him like you and others have.

For me its not about film, its about live evaluation. Brandon Johns had a lot of hype surrounding him after 9th grade…due in large part because he was a man amongst boys dominating poor competition in the Lansing area and 2nd and 3rd rate AAU clubs playing with Triple Threat. It was obvious to me the first time I saw him play EYBL this spring that he simply wasn’t a top 20 player, and being candid, not even close.

If you want to go the offer route, it is quite odd that a player with those rankings (declining as they may be) has the offer sheet that he does, while Jerome Hunter (70-125 type by current ranking) has a more impressive and extensive offer list.

I don’t go by either criteria exclusively, but when live evaluation, declining rankings, and non-matching offer/ranking correlation are in harmony…that’s pretty strong evidence that said player isn’t what everyone may have initially thought.

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Yeah, sometimes early developers don’t end up being as good as it seems when others catch up physically. I mean, who would’ve thought that Easley would’ve ended up at VCU a couple years ago.

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I’m not down on Johns as much as I am up on other targets. Johns just seems redundant with Livers while all of the guard targets add elements not currently on the roster. I see Johns a rotation guy who wouldn’t start until year 4 after Livers left vs guard targets who have pro potential.

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I see Johns and Livers through the same lens as you. I think Livers is a better shooter and a more fluid athlete. Neither are good rebounders.

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Who would you compare Hunter to from previous teams?

Yup, Johns is not going to create much offense for himself IMO and the team should use open slots on creators.

I view him him as Deshawn Sims like but with less ball handling ability. I think CJ Fair from Syracuse is a reasonable comparison

Johns does seem a lot like Livers. Livers seems to have a better handle, although Johns is a year younger. Doesn’t have to be a bad thing, especially if their both multi-tool guys, but could be redundant if they’re not. Depth with some size can be important. I guess I don’t come out that strong on either side at this point.

I’ll be honest and say that I’m fearful Johns picks UM by default because he doesn’t have better options.

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My take on Johns is we don’t need him with Livers already in the mix. That said, I will never ever complain about winning a head to head against Izzo (which happened with Livers also by the way)

How tall is Cormac Ryan?

Legit 6’3. Definitely not 6’5

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I really like his film, excellent pull up and crossover, but he is thin and slow footed so I’m trying to figure out how he isn’t redundant with J Poole?

Been saying for months that he’s JP with more bounce

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Can we wait a year and decide if we want 2 JP’s? lol

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