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Re: 2010 Recruiting Discussion Thread
My dad hooked me up today and took me on a little tour of the 'Melo center (he Installed the Elevator) and it is freaken amazing. I looked at the pictures of the Yum Center and the Facilities were pretty much on Par, but the Melo Center is for Basketball only and it has two courts with the coaches offices over looking them.
The coolest part was the little hall of Syracuse Basketball. They have a bunch of TVs that show the greatest Syracuse games running ( 2003 Nat'l Championship, 2005 Big East Semi, and the 6 OT game vs UCONN). It really is amazing, I was lucky enough to get a look at it before the Press did. I even talked with Gerry McNamara for a few minutes (which was the highlight of my week).My dog's butt smells like cookiesComment
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Re: 2010 Recruiting Discussion Thread
This winter the Indiana Basketball Development Center should open. It looks to be very nice from the artist renderings I have seen. It's also a basketball only facility obviously from the name. Inside will also be the Legacy Hall which will showcase Indiana's basketball history. It will give IU a top notch practice facility so, I don't know if I'd be handing the Carmelo Center the crown as the nicest facility in the NCAA just yet.
It also seems like more college basketball powers around the country are in the process of getting new basketball practice facilities in planning or even construction as well. It's all a part of that recruiting arms race.Comment
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Re: 2010 Recruiting Discussion Thread
I'll have to plug the K Center as one of the nicest in the country also. Recruits have been very impressed by it, specifically the underground tunnels that connect each facility. Austin Rivers and Kyrie Irving in particular have mentioned that.Comment
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Re: 2010 Recruiting Discussion Thread
According to Tobias Harris father, Syracuse is the front runner for him right now. One has to Imagine Syracuse has a huge advantage over the competition because his AAU team consists of 3 other Syracuse Commits.My dog's butt smells like cookiesComment
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Re: 2010 Recruiting Discussion Thread
Finch Center in Memphis is pretty nice and is used by visiting NBA teams. Also, it is basketball only.Comment
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Re: 2010 Recruiting Discussion Thread
Apparently he's scheduled to visit and Kentucky and WVU both this weekend. I'm not sure how he's going to pull that one off but I have a feeling that come Friday night someone is going to be disappointed, whether it be Coach Calipari or Coach Huggins. Also, looks like Andreian Payne, a 5* Center from Dayton, OH will be in Morgantown for a visit this weekend. Could be a HUGE recruiting weekend in Mo'Town!Comment
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Re: 2010 Recruiting Discussion Thread
Personally I think Harris ends up at SU. He liked his visit, He loved the new Basketball practice facility, and he is playing NBA 2k10 with other SU players. This recruiting class is already great, but if Syracuse gets either Harris, Brandon Knight, or Josh Selby, it would rival the 2003 class.My dog's butt smells like cookiesComment
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Re: 2010 Recruiting Discussion Thread
A cool article on Tobias Harris and his AAU team. After reading this, I really Like SU in getting Harris.
THE MISSING LINK: Top recruit Harris highlights elite team with SU recruits Waiters, Fair
Dion Waiters talks to Tobias Harris almost every day to make his sales pitch. He's after the missing link, he says. He's after something that will push the incoming class of 2010 straight to the top.
"We're just telling him how good we could be if we can get him," said Waiters, a star shooting guard from Life Center Academy in Philadelphia, who committed to play for Syracuse with the Class of 2010.
"Like that's all we need."
The sales pitches are getting easier by the game. Waiters, Harris and fellow Orange commit C.J. Fair are all part of the Unique All-Stars, a top-flight team in the elite Nike iS8 fall classic. The team is attempting to recruit another SU commit, center Fab Melo, for the playoffs, which begin Oct. 23 in New York.
The Unique All-Stars allow the current Orange commits to play with Harris, a coveted recruit who has narrowed his college selection to seven schools - including Syracuse. Coached by Harris' father, the team gives Harris a unique preview into a future with the Orange, something that he won't get with any of the other six Division I programs knocking at his door.
"We're all real cool and easy to get along with," Fair said of SU's current Class of 2010. "I talked to (Harris) the other day and to have him up here would just put us on the top."
For Waiters, the decision was easy. He committed to Syracuse before playing a minute of high school basketball. And as he watches his recruiting class grow around him, he knows adding Harris would make the trip he's waited more than four years for all the better.
"We need that one piece right there and we're going to be good," Waiters said.
Throughout the team's opening round play, the Unique All-Stars coasted to a 4-0 record, earning them a berth in the playoffs. And the prospects of taking home the crown may look even sweeter, as Harris and his father are in talks with Melo to join the team for their playoff roster.
After meeting Harris at a Top 100 NBA camp in Charlottesville, Va., Melo joined Waiters in his efforts to convince Harris to commit to Syracuse. Adam Ross, Melo's coach at the Sagemont (Fla.) School, said that Melo and Harris are in communication regularly.
Ross said Melo's appearance in the iS8 tournament next weekend is contingent upon him completing his schoolwork. But he admitted that having those four prospects on the court together is reason for anticipation.
"It would be tremendous," Ross said. "It would be a great preview of what Syracuse basketball is going to look like in a couple years. They would be loaded."
Led by Harris' playmaking ability off the ball, the Unique All-Stars are paced by his versatility as both an outside shooter and inside threat. Nicknamed the "point forward," Waiters said Harris has the ability to completely take over a game on his own.
In his own right, Waiters, the No. 29 recruit on Rivals.com, is able to hold court from the outside, bolstering his reputation as one of the nation's premiere outside shooters. With a knack for shot selection, Waiters and Harris present an inside-outside duo that proved too much for the Unique All-Stars' opening-round opponents.
If that's not enough, Fair complements Harris' inside-out game. Another 6-foot-7 dual-threat, Fair is able to kill the opposition with an established mid-range shot.
"The first couple games, it was alright, it was OK," Waiters said. "We came across one or two good teams, but we won every one by about 20. Tobias was killin.'"
Both Fair and Waiters said having this on-court camaraderie come the iS8 playoffs would have to play in to Harris' decision-making. Running the court with three of the nation's premiere players would undoubtedly influence Harris' eventual choice about where to commit. Though he's already taken his official to Syracuse, playing with Fair, Waiters and possibly Melo is a whole different pitch, which could help sway him toward the Orange.
Which puts all the more pressure on winning the tournament first, Waiters said. Before the Orange, there is the Unique All-Stars, charged with defending the hype in one of the country's elite tournaments next weekend.
"To most guys, we're going to seem intimidating," Waiters said. "But at the same token, people are going to want to beat us bad. So we just have to bring our A-game - like on the jersey it says, 'Don't bring your name, bring your game.'"My dog's butt smells like cookiesComment
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Re: 2010 Recruiting Discussion Thread
I wish Barnes and Irving would make up their minds already, but unfortunately it looks like we'll have to wait until November for Kyrie and until next year for Harrison.
I still think Irving comes here but Barnes has me worried big time.Comment
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Re: 2010 Recruiting Discussion Thread
Joe Jackson will be signing with Memphis once Yo Gotti gives him the Memphis chain.
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Re: 2010 Recruiting Discussion Thread
I know why you're worried about Harrison. Cause he might choose UNC. Just like I don't want him to choose dook. UNC doesn't need him, but I'd like to have him because I think he has a good head on his shoulders. I like athletes who don't put all of their eggs into a sports career. Someone well-rounded.-August 17, 1960Originally posted by VP Richard M. Nixon
Thanks, dookies!Comment
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