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LePear Toles Commits to Akron


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We'd expressed interest in LePear and may have offered a scholarship, even though I know we didn't have any scholarships left to give out this year.  He's going to prep school.  Maybe a player to keep an eye on for next year's 2017 class?

 

http://www.cantonrep.com/sports/20160511/mckinleys-lepear-toles-to-go-prep-school-route/?Start=1

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  • 7 months later...
59 minutes ago, Hilltopper said:

We have a much bigger need for another big center. If we add another guy it probably won't be a guard.

Even if we get a big center, we'll be incredibly small next year.

 

If no big is available, hopefully we can find a Jeremiah Wood-type power forward that can rebound like a center.

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22 minutes ago, Captain Kangaroo said:

If no big is available, hopefully we can find a Jeremiah Wood-type power forward that can rebound like a center.

Maybe Hughes develops into this type of a power forward?

 

Edit - that would leave us without a center, JZ84 you dummy! :lol:

Edited by johnnyzip84
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I can't think of a time during the Dambrot era where we lost 2 starting post players at the same time.  This will be an interesting challenge to develop Hughes very quickly (who will now certainly need to be a 3 year starter), get Aaron ready to take on starter minutes, And turn Poke into a much bigger contributor during the course of this season and the 6 months between seasons.  

 

One suggestion:  I think we should have Poke hang out with our football OL's for a few months and go on one of those 10,000 calorie diets.  At the same time, maybe our OL's can learn something from him and increase their agility.   

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As noted above, we seem to think our primary need is for another big next year, but, here is perhaps a different perspective to consider...

 

Poke is almost a zero offensive threat.  he's a hustle guy, plain & simple; athletic but w/ not a single offensive move down low.

Big Mike is gonna be a good one but doesn't seem nearly as offensive-minded as Big Dog.

2017 PF Jayden Sayles looks to be a recruit with a lot of potential, but at this point doesn't look like he's going to be immediate help on the offensive end of the floor next year, as he's averaging a good-not-great 13 PPG. 

 

Bottom line: in losing Big Dog we're not going to be able to play inside-out next season.  We're not going to be able to count on one of our bigs demanding a double-team to kick it out to one of our unathletic 3-point specialist guards.  

 

So maybe we should be looking for another guard who can create his own shot?  Put LePear Toles out there with 'Tino & Ivey & we'd have a pretty athletic back court to compensate for what's going to be a less offensive-minded front court.

 

Here's an article about LePear in prep school.  The article states he currently has one scholarship offer... from Rice.  I still think he'd look good wearing the blue & gold.

 

(Btw, he stands 6-6, so it's not like he's a typical Akron undersized guard.)

Edited by Blue & Gold
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1 hour ago, Blue & Gold said:

Poke is almost a zero offensive threat.  he's a hustle guy, plain & simple; athletic but w/ not a single offensive move down low.

 

Lets just all at least get on the same page about this situation.  This was a guy with a ton of athletic ability who's played very little basketball.  Does he have a lot to learn?  Absolutely.  And we have to accept that.  But can he still help us immensely even without becoming a highly skilled basketball player?  Absolutely.  

 

I said this previously, but we've literally been begging for years to bring some guys in here like him.  Maybe with more work, he'll become that super-athletic presence in the pant that we've always wanted.  

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1 hour ago, odhgibo said:

Yeah, I saw that article around Christmas time.  Except for us and K.e.nt he's not getting recruited by MAC-level schools.

 

But none-the-less I'd still like to see him in blue & gold; I'm partial to the local products.  Plus I honestly do think he could contribute at this level & think he could even play some backup point.  With the upheaval of our roster it'd be nice to have a versatile G like that.

 

Btw, he's getting recruited by Anthony Stewart @ UT-Martin.

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  • 1 month later...

Oh yeah.  The guy who wasn't pleased with the level of his D-1 offers coming out of high school?  Looks like he got knocked down a few rungs to a little bit of reality over the last couple of years.  We'll see how that same situation shakes out with a couple of supposed former "stars" who landed on our roster.  Do they eat the humble pie and work even harder to prove themselves?  Or, do they become the spoiled children who will always believe they are too good to be here?

 

I'm more interested in seeing someone emerge because they worked their butt off to become something that nobody ever expected.  Who might the next one be?  Those are the stories that impress me.  

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37 minutes ago, skip-zip said:

 

I'm more interested in seeing someone emerge because they worked their butt off to become something that nobody ever expected.  Who might the next one be?  Those are the stories that impress me.  

The stories that impress me are stories about winning. Don't really care who is involved in doing it. You act like the "stars" didn't work their butt off to be rated as high as they were. Speculating that they think they are too good to be here is baseless. I highly doubt any of them would be here if they didn't want to be. If you want to root for the little guy, I know of a midget PG who plays at Duquesne. Come to think of it, we were his only offer. Yeah, he was sure happy to be here. Akron is an upgrade over 2, maybe even 3 of the programs we got players from. Lastly, calling players "busts" or whatever after their freshman season's is a very lazy assertion.

Edited by LZIp
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3 hours ago, LZIp said:

Speculating that they think they are too good to be here is baseless.

 

So is speculating that they don't.  You might want to read that again.  I cited possible outcomes on both ends of the spectrum.  

 

3 hours ago, LZIp said:

If you want to root for the little guy, I know of a midget PG who plays at Duquesne.

 

Not little in stature.  Little in talent.  

 

3 hours ago, LZIp said:

Lastly, calling players "busts" or whatever after their freshman season's is a very lazy assertion.

 

Thank you.  

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