Now that I’ve been doing this for a decent chunk of time, probably a good time to give you guys an overview and perhaps better context in terms of how you approach reliability of sources and information.
Team Affiliated Site Sources/Information - their sources are generally going to be coaches/grad assistants, because by definition they are generally loyal to a certain team/program. They will generally have reliable information in terms of who the staff is most interested in as opposed to interest level from the prospect themselves. Prospects generally play it PC when answering a question from a team specific affiliate for obvious reasons. A team affiliate source will generally know when their is a silent commit or in the event that there is such strong interest from a prospect and team/staff to the extent that it is obvious. When a prospect is truly considering 3-4 different programs, a team affiliate source is probably not your best source because they only have information from a given coaching staff in most cases.
Independent Sources/Information (no team affiliation) - sources will generally be the kids themselves or AAU/HS coaches. They will generally have reliable information in terms of what schools the prospect is interested in and/or who leads at a particular time as opposed to who a particular team is prioritizing. Prospects are usually more forthcoming with these sources because they don’t feel a need to be PC so as not to offend a particular team and/or program/fanbase. An independent source is probably a better information resource when the kid is considering 3-4 schools because they feel no pressure to be PC for a given program/team.
Reading Between the Lines - if a kid is consistently giving interviews to a particular team affiliate (s) its probably a safe bet to say he’s strongly considering that school. A good example would be Jaylen Kelly Powell for UM football. The kid seemingly does an interview with a UM affiliate every week. I think we all know he’s probably heading to UM. On the other hand, if a kid is giving interviews to a team affiliate site and then ceases to in favor of another team affiliate source, its probably heading in the direction of the new team affiliate source.
More Than Anything - recruiting is fluid, kids and/or programs have different mindsets on different days depending on the situation. There is no source that is 100% solid, because things change quickly.
Another thing to consider, kids are about pleasing people. They will say what they feel you want to hear. Very rarely will they give a straight answer in regards to where they want to go or where they are headed.
Even, “who is recruiting you the hardest?” They’ll usually give four to five schools in order to please everyone involved. Sometimes they’ll answer in order to get other schools involved.
Like Matt said, recruiting is fluid. Like we did when we were 16-18, we and they change their minds everyday. To get a true gauge of where they are leaning to is generally difficult.
They are more inclined to please a team affiliate in my experience, but rarely will they say anything that can be perceived as negative about a given team to anyone. Kids are much more candid off record, at least with me.
Bamba says almost nothing to anyone. If someone affiliated with the program is optimistic, that’s a good sign even though it is certainly not like hearing from the recruit or the family/coaches. A few weeks ago, we were not on the radar. Now he’s made an official visit so there is reason to be hopeful. OTOH, I don’t put much stock in the 8 out 10 comment. Long way to go.
Is LandOf10 a new site? Not really familiar with it at all.
I found the paragraph before particularly odd:
Basketball recruiting is weird — really weird. It’s nothing like football recruiting, and if you’re not a Kentucky fan then you only religiously follow football recruiting. No scouting service has much information on players outside of the top 10. Even if fans were more interested, it’s hard for them to find information. When 4-star guard Eli Brooks committed to Michigan, there was no film available on him. Could you imagine a recruit committing to a football team without film? Yikes.
Doesn’t really come off as a hoops expert given that blurb as a lead in. Maybe he has a great source, and I think many people would say that the visit went well, but that doesn’t read like something that anyone in the program would say. Maybe a current commit or something like that.
I think we’re probably an S16/Elite 8 type squad with Bamba. Just don’t have enough upper tier talent at the guard position to be F4 in my opinion. If Bamba stays another year and Poole can transform his body and adjust to the college game, then we’re talkin.
Idk if it’s new but it’s a Big Ten site run by AJC.
I would agree that his source is likely a current commit. Brandon initially grew his popularity by sliding into DMs of football recruits and getting them to talk to him (jumped from MaizeNBrew to Rivals to this site within a year and a half I think). So most of his relationships are probably with players.
Wendell Carter is also visiting Harvard? Weird. But sounds like he’s a heavy Duke lean. I wonder how that knowledge affects Bamba. I mean, if he’s all about alumni network and academics…
I don’t think “Kentucky or Duke in a sample size of 4 people” equates to anywhere but UM like you say… the only article I saw that even talked about his visit here was the mlive one with the only info being his brother and it’s pretty clear he doesn’t talk to national media very often so I don’t read into this as positive or negative.
I clearly limited it to Rivals. I have no idea where Bamba is headed, but if 4 picks are for schools other than UM, then by definition it is in fact anywhere but UM.
“Anywhere but UM” implies a large variety of schools and Michigan being one of the only ones recruiting him to be left off the list. I mean if you can say “anywhere but _____” for like 15 schools and the rivals guys only picked 2 options then it’s not really “anywhere.”
That would be your interpretation of my statement, and a reasonable one. Point remains that Rivals (not me) does not see him choosing UM among his potential suitors.
Well, let me limit the language to your liking then. Of Bamba’s current suitors, Rivals (not me) is of the opinion that he will not be headed to Michigan.
Bamba doesn’t seem like he’s revealing much inside info. Given that, people are going to predict Duke or Kentucky for obvious reasons. This little blurb doesn’t impact my assessment of Michigan’s chances. Do I expect Bamba to come to Michigan? No. Do I think they have a decent shot? Yes.