For me, no doubt I’d take Locke in a heartbeat. He’s a 6’2" version of Ray Allen. Long arms too. Might not make the best for defensive matchups to have a small backcourt but I think we can easily work around it.
That said, I understand playing time being an issue and moving on to Nunez if he wants the spot. And I think Nunez will make a fine player. He’s going to be Klay Thompson 2.0 haha
By let it play out, I mean not offer Nunez yet and use the rest of the year to recruit a higher rated prospect or take a late add after the season ends. Not trying to pile on Nunez here, he absolutely may turn out to be a great player. I just think based on his current offer list there’s no rush to offer him this early.
This early? It’s almost fall signing day. If they didn’t offer him now, he would commit and sign to another school. If Beilein likes what he sees, the time to offer was now.
JB’s best under the radar recruiting adds were Levert and Spike who he signed in April and May. MAAR and Dawkins both committed in April as well I believe. I have no doubt he could get someone of similar caliber to Nunez then again if need be. As it stands now, Nunez’ only 2 offers of note besides Ivy League schools are Penn State and Texas A&M (who he hasn’t even visited officially). Would his recruitment blow up more between now and then? Possibly but personally I don’t see it.
On the other side, the 3-star recruits that have committed before their senior season of high school to us have been less flattering. Ricky Doyle comes to mind. The jury is still out on Ibi, Teske and Davis but Ibi and Teske underwhelmed in their chances last year and Im not overly optimistic (which is why it’s great that Castleton is trending well).
It’s possible to trust JB and also disagree with a specific decision he makes. I’m extremely happy with the state of our program and the last two classes, and this one would be great with or without Nunez.
The rationale here is that they really like Nunez, have evaluated him and want him to be part of the class and he has no intention of waiting until the late signing period. Seems fairly straightforward.
Morgan and Douglass were under the radar recruits who committed prior to their senior seasons. They turned out pretty well. Davis, who is certainly getting strong practice reviews would also qualify. In a sense, so too would Duncan Robinson who, although a transfer, was taken in lieu of waiting for the more highly coveted Coleman-Lands (now sitting out at DePaul).
As Dylan said, they have evaluated Nunez and really like him. They don’t want someone of supposedly “similar caliber,” they want him.
DJ Wilson another to put on the list of ‘3-stars who committed in October’.
Generally speaking, in October you are still taking kids you want. In April, you are waiting on high profile decisions (ala Jaylen Brown, Mo Bamba) or taking what you can find (Dawkins, MAAR, Spike, Caris).
Either situation can work out, but that is just sort of how the math works.
Yes, agreed it is clear that the staff wants him. I understand the rationale, I just disagree with it. Good point on Morgan and Douglass, they definitely had great careers, although whether I’m incorrect or not, I would like to think we are at a different place as a program now where we have better options when we sign recruits before their senior year concludes. And I think our other signings confirm that we are…Johns, Livers, Poole, Iggy, etc. Morgan and Douglass were both starting very early and came into their own sometimes out of necessity. They both started more games as freshmen than they did any other year in their careers, as the program rose and more talented players joined the team. Not every kid we land is going to be a top 100 kid, I get that, I’m just not as high on the player in this one instance.
Makes sense, I thought I recalled DJ being a 4-star fringe top 100 guy when he signed but I’m probably incorrect.
Rivals’ top analyst says he’s a top 5 shooter in his class. So I don’t know that you find guys like that anytime.
But ultimately, it’s about whether our staff really likes this guy, right?
We could have always not finished as the top choice for Locke, and still not offered Nunez.
It seems to me entirely possible we really like him as a player, period.
Now, if you want to argue we should have saved the spot for someone like Harlond Beverly, that’s a different argument.
I agree that I probably would not offer Nunez if it meant missing out on top 2019 kids with whom we have a strong relationship.
But at this point, it’s impossible to predict what our roster will look like one year from today, and who knows where we stand with the top 2019 kids we’re after.
You are also forgetting Tim Hardaway and Trey Burke. Both were 3-stars without great offers when they committed before their senior seasons.
Agree to all those points…we only see what we read and a few videos. We are not privy to the total evaluation…
This is what JB and the staff also evaluate as we know…
Is he a good teammate?
With good grades?
Is he a team first guy?
Hard worker…wants to get better?
Does he fit the culture?
Family commitment?
Is he coachable?
The intangibles make the difference that we never see!
Is it wrong that my question is how does Nunez compare to Ahrens?
Isn’t that sort of going to be where we will have won or lost with Nunez in this recruiting class?
Honestly, I think I like his film more than Ahrens.
I think that is a fair question and one that most ppl probably can’t answer. Nunez is such an unknown (except to the staff). I like the intrigue of him better than Ahrens and think he probably has more upside. Locke was a known shooting commodity. Ahrens not as much
That’s really good to hear. I was wondering where analysts like you came out on that comparison.
(also, I really should go look at Nunez’ film - I haven’t yet)
Locke was obviously a take for us, and I always wondered how he would end up comparing to James Blackmon. Seemed like a comp, although Blackmon is fairly defensive allergic.
The one problem with Locke is that we already had a lot of small guards - it’s one thing to pair him with a bigger PG, another to pair him with a 6 foot or less PG.
I see more of a Kam Williams, Jalen Coleman comp for Locke. The ceiling is just a bit higher when you have a guy who is 6-6 and can shoot over more people. Gives you more flexibility with how you deploy him, who he guards, etc.
For some reason I always thought Blackmon was like 6’2", but I see now I cheated him a few inches.