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2025 Recruiting

Reading these scouting write ups, it's now extremely obvious how guys that can't play a lick of basketball like Timberlake are able to get inflated ratings. A lot of these scouts don't look at things like ability to CONSISTENTLY shoot, CONSISTENTLY handle, and are overly enamored with athleticism. A guy can jump out the gym, but if he can't make jumpers against guys that are significantly less talented than him, he isn't going to be able to do it at the next level, barring a ton of work. If a guy needs a ton of work to be able to shoot a shot, that's not a ready made talent. Too many of these guys come into college without the ability to shoot a 15 foot jumper, and despite their athleticism aren't overly good at finishing at the rim. Then again, when these high end AAU tournaments happen, no one really challenges at the rim, so guys aren't used to dealing with that when they get to the collegiate level.

This is why I'm happy that L is a bit old school in his evaluations, he looks for guys that have specific skill sets that you build on, outside of "He jumps high and runs fast". Get BASKETBALL PLAYERS. There's a difference between a basketball player and an athlete. A basketball player can be athletic, but they still know how to make good basketball plays, they have a feel for the game. A lot of these hyper athletic guys don't have a feel for the game like that and it shows.
 
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Canedude08 said:
Reading these scouting write ups, it's now extremely obvious how guys that can't play a lick of basketball like Timberlake are able to get inflated ratings. A lot of these scouts don't look at things like ability to CONSISTENTLY shoot, CONSISTENTLY handle, and are overly enamored with athleticism. A guy can jump out the gym, but if he can't make jumpers against guys that are significantly less talented than him, he isn't going to be able to do it at the next level, barring a ton of work. If a guy needs a ton of work to be able to shoot a shot, that's not a ready made talent. Too many of these guys come into college without the ability to shoot a 15 foot jumper, and despite their athleticism aren't overly good at finishing at the rim. Then again, when these high end AAU tournaments happen, no one really challenges at the rim, so guys aren't used to dealing with that when they get to the collegiate level.

This is why I'm happy that L is a bit old school in his evaluations, he looks for guys that have specific skill sets that you build on, outside of "He jumps high and runs fast". Get BASKETBALL PLAYERS. There's a difference between a basketball player and an athlete. A basketball player can be athletic, but they still know how to make good basketball plays, they have a feel for the game. A lot of these hyper athletic guys don't have a feel for the game like that and it shows.
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Unfortunately we have a hyper athletic guy on this roster who isn't good at making basketball plays and has a poor feel for the game - Anthony Walker.
 
Gables Canes said:
Mostly agreed, however we've had plenty of out of state kids who got the program to its peak back in 2013 and 2016. However, recently we seem to "reach" on guys like Miller and Sam instead of looking at similar or better players that are close to home.
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L has more faith in being able to land guys like Sam, who developed nicely in his tenure, than trying to chase after these local guys that historically have ignored Miami. It's amazing how many of our fans act like FSU and UF are hitting the state for all their talent, THEY AREN'T. Go look at FSU's roster. They've recruited like gangbusters for years under Ham, they have 3 kids from the state on their entire roster, out of 16 guys. I'm quite sure out of that three, at least 1 or 2 are walkons. UF isn't much better , they have 2 out of 15 guys on their roster from the state. There's a reason why the major programs in the state try to recruit nationally.

Miami has done well recruiting the east coast for kids, those kids have not only shown the ability to come down here and thrive, they are also very receptive to the sales pitch. Davon Reed, Bruce Brown, Lonnie Walker, Quan Newton, Isaiah Wong are all from the eastern seaboard. L likes to supplement with international guys, and he's had some decent guys come through from overseas. Manu Lecomte(If only he stayed, had a great career at Baylor), Ivan Cruz-Uceda(Good role player), Dejan Vasiljevic, Sam Waardenberg. Not a bad haul of guys from overseas.

Our fans need to understand that this isn't football and the "State of Miami" isn't relevant for basketball. Why? Because the kids down here have proven for the better part of 3 decades that if they have a choice to leave the state, they will and they will spurn the local school in a heartbeat. A lot of high end kids down here don't see Miami basketball as big time, no matter how much L wins. Keep in mind, L has consistently beaten K, but that didn't stop Vern Carey Jr. from acting like Miami was some mealy mouthed midmajor when L made a concerted effort to get him to stay home. That's the battle. Even when Miami is winning big, consistently in the Top 25, elite local kids are waiting for the Duke, UNC offer and couldn't care less about Miami.

Haith poured a ton of time and effort into getting local kids to stay home and it turned out to be an extremely mixed bag. He had most of his major recruiting successes up in the Carolinas, and L was able to take a lot of those guys and make stars of them(looking at Reggie Johnson, Julian Gamble). Ham, even when he got the program rolling recruited the east coast well. The only guy that actually landed local guys was Clark, and he only landed mediocre guys, and was known as a lazy recruiter.

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Gables Canes said:
Unfortunately we have a hyper athletic guy on this roster who isn't good at making basketball plays and has a poor feel for the game - Anthony Walker.
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Exactly. Compare him to a guy like Joseph, who isn't nearly as athletic but has a better feel for the game. I look at a guy like Sam, who isn't overly athletic, but even when he was a bit raw, had a better feel for the game. Sometimes, being able to jump out of the gym doesn't mean much if you can't grasp what basketball is. Quan Jones is one of the most athletic guys I've ever seen up close, dude wasn't a basketball player. He was an athletic guy pretending to play basketball. Yet, Jack McClinton, who wouldn't stand out in regards to athletic ability understood the nuances of the game and was a true gym rat. Jack was a basketball player, period. Those little things that make scoring easier, Jack understood, Quan never picked up on it despite having all the things Jack lacked.
 
Gables Canes said:
Mostly agreed, however we've had plenty of out of state kids who got the program to its peak back in 2013 and 2016. However, recently we seem to "reach" on guys like Miller and Sam instead of looking at similar or better players that are close to home.
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I think Coach L will live and die by the transfer portal, seems more comfortable with older players :
 
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Canedude08 said:
Reading these scouting write ups, it's now extremely obvious how guys that can't play a lick of basketball like Timberlake are able to get inflated ratings. A lot of these scouts don't look at things like ability to CONSISTENTLY shoot, CONSISTENTLY handle, and are overly enamored with athleticism. A guy can jump out the gym, but if he can't make jumpers against guys that are significantly less talented than him, he isn't going to be able to do it at the next level, barring a ton of work. If a guy needs a ton of work to be able to shoot a shot, that's not a ready made talent. Too many of these guys come into college without the ability to shoot a 15 foot jumper, and despite their athleticism aren't overly good at finishing at the rim. Then again, when these high end AAU tournaments happen, no one really challenges at the rim, so guys aren't used to dealing with that when they get to the collegiate level.

This is why I'm happy that L is a bit old school in his evaluations, he looks for guys that have specific skill sets that you build on, outside of "He jumps high and runs fast". Get BASKETBALL PLAYERS. There's a difference between a basketball player and an athlete. A basketball player can be athletic, but they still know how to make good basketball plays, they have a feel for the game. A lot of these hyper athletic guys don't have a feel for the game like that and it shows.
Click to expand...
absolutely correct: also the competition levels at these AAU are all over the place : there are more 30 + points blow outs, then there are close games. Most of these games the physical disparity between teams is ridiculous :
 
Da_Lucky_One said:
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Any other year this kid would be the best freshmen in the state. However, Florida's 2025 class is absolutely loaded. 3-4 of the top kids in this class reside in South Florida. The Boozer brothers, Dwayne Wembley Jr. (his dad played at UM back in the day) and Shon Abaev are all local prospects that Miami should already be recruiting. I hope Larranaga is able to get his staff on them. Would love to see Caputo's replacement be someone who can effectively recruit in state.
 
King of Allapattah said:
Any other year this kid would be the best freshmen in the state. However, Florida's 2025 class is absolutely loaded. 3-4 of the top kids in this class reside in South Florida. The Boozer brothers, Dwayne Wembley Jr. (his dad played at UM back in the day) and Shon Abaev are all local prospects that Miami should already be recruiting. I hope Larranaga is able to get his staff on them. Would love to see Caputo's replacement be someone who can effectively recruit in state.
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Dwayne Wembley! That's a name I haven't heard in a while. Hope we are on his kid asap.
 
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Canedude08 said:
Reading these scouting write ups, it's now extremely obvious how guys that can't play a lick of basketball like Timberlake are able to get inflated ratings.
Click to expand...
The "scouting" and other ratings surely are at times a puzzlement. Clearly Coach L & staff once thought Timberlake was a TimberTake. He's been sorrowful at Memphis and is now back in the portal...

...on the other hand, there are over 1000 reportedly now in the portal, and Timberlake is rated (by 247) currently as in the TOP-30 "available". Then you got Charlie Moore, some places good some places not. Very confusing, and I guess Coach L is about "average" in judging potential, but please correct me if Im wrong.
 
jkdood said:
The "scouting" and other ratings surely are at times a puzzlement. Clearly Coach L & staff once thought Timberlake was a TimberTake. He's been sorrowful at Memphis and is now back in the portal...

...on the other hand, there are over 1000 reportedly now in the portal, and Timberlake is rated (by 247) currently as in the TOP-30 "available". Then you got Charlie Moore, some places good some places not. Very confusing, and I guess Coach L is about "average" in judging potential, but please correct me if Im wrong.
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there are hardly any schollys being handed out to high school kids : its portal, lower Div, JUCO, Prep and then high school :
 
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For all intents and purposes, there are literally just a handful of HS prospects in the 2022 class who are still being actively recruited by college coaches. Every coach in America is looking at the transfer portal as we speak to fill their rosters for next season.
 
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Canedude08 said:
Reading these scouting write ups, it's now extremely obvious how guys that can't play a lick of basketball like Timberlake are able to get inflated ratings. A lot of these scouts don't look at things like ability to CONSISTENTLY shoot, CONSISTENTLY handle, and are overly enamored with athleticism. A guy can jump out the gym, but if he can't make jumpers against guys that are significantly less talented than him, he isn't going to be able to do it at the next level, barring a ton of work. If a guy needs a ton of work to be able to shoot a shot, that's not a ready made talent. Too many of these guys come into college without the ability to shoot a 15 foot jumper, and despite their athleticism aren't overly good at finishing at the rim. Then again, when these high end AAU tournaments happen, no one really challenges at the rim, so guys aren't used to dealing with that when they get to the collegiate level.

This is why I'm happy that L is a bit old school in his evaluations, he looks for guys that have specific skill sets that you build on, outside of "He jumps high and runs fast". Get BASKETBALL PLAYERS. There's a difference between a basketball player and an athlete. A basketball player can be athletic, but they still know how to make good basketball plays, they have a feel for the game. A lot of these hyper athletic guys don't have a feel for the game like that and it shows.
Click to expand...
Earl was no doubt ranked too highly but in watching his tape or seeing him most scouts, fans and myself included so the ability to be a lockdown defender, a very good playmaker, great rebounder for his size and the ability to get to the rim almost at will and in the open court. Once he got to college the effort and drive never increased to become that type of player. His game revolves around having effort and having a high basketball IQ. He clearly did not have those intangibles.
 
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mirasuegui said:
there are hardly any schollys being handed out to high school kids : its portal, lower Div, JUCO, Prep and then high school :
Click to expand...
I have heard this from a lot of local high school players and coaches too. In part because of the COVID-19 year, many college players get an extra year of eligibility and transfers can play immediately, so college coaches can take mature proven players over less mature unproven high school prospects. Now, a lot of local prospects are going to prep school after high school or are going lower D-1, D-2 and JUCO.
 
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