Looking through the roster, PG seems to be a huge need, so I start looking at PG's and I see the team has already been heavily recruiting a 3 star junior PG from Niagra Falls, NY who is practically ready to commit to the team! If the book on the kid is right, he is a smooth shooter too! Excellent!
I also immediately start working on a 4 star SG from Toronto who is a lights out shooter. I'm probably overreaching with him, but we won't need many players next year, so why not reach a bit... word is that the SG doesn't care about playing at a big program so maybe we have a shot...
My old school immediately seals the deal on Dexter Grafs a 7'1 240 pound JC Center that I had been recruiting mainly because none of the shooters were interested in coming to play for me and we needed more help inside.
After a week of recruiting, Everett Huffman, the PG from Niagara Falls just told me his #1 priority is staying close to home! We are #1 on his list of schools, and I think we'll be able to get him to sign as an early committ. Buffalo is our biggest competition. This 3 star PG is only a junior right now and therefore isn't ranked, but he is a smooth shooter on tape. I'm thinking about going to the pre-season camps to watch him play.
Buffalo is being very aggressive and the kid is wavering. He is going to be a tough one to lock down. It's going to be a battle to get this PG.
The top 10 recruiting classes of 2010-11:
Cal: 2 5-star players and 2 4-star players.
Louisville: 2 5 stars and 1 3 star.
Michigan State: 2-5's and a 3.
Duke: 2 5's and a 3.
Kansas: 2 5's.
USC: 1 5 star, 1 4 star, and 2 3 star.
Santa Clara: 1 5 Star, 1 3 star, 1 2 star.
Temple: 1 5 star, 1 4 star, and 1 3 star.
UCLA: 1 5 star, 1 4 star, and 1 star.
Texas: 1 5 star, 1 4 star, and a 2 star.
Huffman isn't in the ABL which is a shame since I wanted to see how he played. It's also odd as he is the 213th ranked player and 78th among PG's. He also has skyrocketed up several team's boards now that he is a senior and there is now plenty of competition for his services
He and my other big target aren't participating in the ABL, so I skip it and jump right to the start of the season.
The good news is that Buffalo is down on his list but now we are too as several schools are battling it out for Everett Huffman.
After a few weeks of heavy recruiting during the offseason, Everett has told me he ix 99% sure that he is coming to Niagara!
Even more exciting, early in the recruiting process, Donte Snow, a 6'4 220 pound 4 star SG from Toronto is showing heavy interest in us despite being recruited by Michigan. However, they haven't offered him a scholarship yet and we have... still if we can get him to sign before they offer, we might just steal a great recruit.. He didn't participate in the ABL, but on tape he looks like he would be the best 3 point shooter that I've ever coached at least coming out of H.S.
I didn't plan on playing any more games today, but I think I have to get at least 1 game in with the new team..
I purposefully scheduled an easy one for our first game. We'll play against Chicago State, but at their place. They are ranked 62 in overall team talent while we are at 76. The strengths of our team are shooting (80) and rebounding (82.) Defense is also good at 76.