The 2011 Recruits Thread

[Quickzips]

Take Westerville South PG Traevon Jackson off the list. Jackson committed to the Wisconsin Badgers over the weekend.

[Z.I.P.]

Has anyone seen Darius Carter of Firestone HS? JJHuddle is talking about him, as if he's the top ranked Power Forward in the state for 2011. Is the position that weak, or is he being overlooked?

--edit-- Now I see it says "No particular order". I saw him listed at top of list.

[ZachTheZip]

So if I see this right, we still have two spots open. Akron graduates Bardo, McKnight, McNeese, and Roberts. Already in is Blake Justice and a greyshirting Nick Harney. Chauncey Gilliam will begin playing in 2011, but his scholarship counts for 2010. Unclear if Storm Sanders will be greyshirting or if he's a 2010 walk-on.

Likely the two final spots will be filled by a SG and either a PF or C. Jakarr Sampson is the big catch that we should be focusing on (his ESPN rating went up from 92 to 97 after the King James Classic).

[Buckzip]

So if I see this right, we still have two spots open. Akron graduates Bardo, McKnight, McNeese, and Roberts. Already in is Blake Justice and a greyshirting Nick Harney. Chauncey Gilliam will begin playing in 2011, but his scholarship counts for 2010. Unclear if Storm Sanders will be greyshirting or if he's a 2010 walk-on.

Likely the two final spots will be filled by a SG and either a PF or C. Jakarr Sampson is the big catch that we should be focusing on (his ESPN rating went up from 92 to 97 after the King James Classic).

That should be changed to the King Jacka$$ classic

[Quickzips]

So if I see this right, we still have two spots open. Akron graduates Bardo, McKnight, McNeese, and Roberts. Already in is Blake Justice and a greyshirting Nick Harney. Chauncey Gilliam will begin playing in 2011, but his scholarship counts for 2010. Unclear if Storm Sanders will be greyshirting or if he's a 2010 walk-on.

Likely the two final spots will be filled by a SG and either a PF or C. Jakarr Sampson is the big catch that we should be focusing on (his ESPN rating went up from 92 to 97 after the King James Classic).

By my calculations you are indeed correct. Of course, as we saw this year, nothing is ever for certain in number of scholarships open. Still have not heard anything heads or tails on Storm Sanders.

As far as what we should be focusing on with the remaining spots we REALLY need another PG (if Ennis isn't coming in and the rumors on Storm are false, then our only PG on the roster next year would be Abreu) and another C to start grooming behind Zeke would be nice. Of course if you can land a stud like Sampson you take him regardless of position, but I don't realistically think we are in the running for Sampson at all at this point. I know people will point to Zeke and say, "highly touted guy, came to Akron anyways," but Zeke is the exception, not the rule. Everything you read on Sampson points to him being more interested in the bigger programs.

[ZachTheZip]

Warsaw senior-to-be Nic Moore said he has new offers from Akron, Illinois State, UNC-Asheville and Western Illinois, but he added that IPFW is "at the top of the list of mid- majors" among his offers.

http://www.indystar.com/article/20100730/S...awing-attention

Rivals Profile

[Quickzips]

Added Moore to the list. Looks like KD is going hard after another point following the Ennis de-commit. PG is the biggest hole on the Zips 2011-12 roster with only Abreu on the roster at this point who has any capability of playing the position. Zips must find another PG out of this class who can step in right away and at least play backup minutes. Moore could fit the bill, although my preference would be Stevie Taylor (or getting Ennis to re-think things).

[Quickzips]

Also added Timmy Knipp from Elliott County in Kentucky. Reminds me a little of a Josh Egner athletically with better scoring ability. Averaged over 30 points per game last season. Found another youtube video on him after I posted that gives you a little better taste of his game.

!

Edit: Have to say, the more I watch of this Knipp kid the more I like. He seems like he can do just about everything. Three point shooting, dribble drives, passing, finishing at the rim. Not to mention his shot blocking. Watching his highlight video I can't help but think of the defensive possibilities of having him, Egner and Zeke on the floor at the same time. I don't think an opponent would be able to get a shot off inside.

[ZachTheZip]

Got two more with offers:

PF Aaron White

PF Kirby Wright

[zippyman23]

Stevie Taylor verbals to Ohio University.

http://scouthoops.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p...07323%26fhn%3d1

[Dave in Green]

Also added Timmy Knipp from Elliott County in Kentucky. Reminds me a little of a Josh Egner athletically with better scoring ability. Averaged over 30 points per game last season. Found another youtube video on him after I posted that gives you a little better taste of his game.

!

Edit: Have to say, the more I watch of this Knipp kid the more I like. He seems like he can do just about everything. Three point shooting, dribble drives, passing, finishing at the rim. Not to mention his shot blocking. Watching his highlight video I can't help but think of the defensive possibilities of having him, Egner and Zeke on the floor at the same time. I don't think an opponent would be able to get a shot off inside.

Agree with your assessment. In the highlight film Knipp looks a lot like a skinnier Egner having to do it all without a Henniger-type teammate to carry the scoring load. One caution: He plays in one of the weaker areas of Kentucky HS basketball, and most of those great, dominating moves are coming against smaller, weaker competitors. He's good, but he is not playing regularly against the level of HS players that Dakotah Euton did in Kentucky.

Louisville Courier-Journal Link

[Quickzips]

Stevie Taylor verbals to Ohio University.

http://scouthoops.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p...07323%26fhn%3d1

Definitly a puzzling and troubling move all in one. Puzzling in the fact that with D.J. Cooper entrenched as the starting PG, a talented kid like Taylor has pretty well relegated himself to bench duty for at least his first two years of college ball. Cooper and Taylor are very much the same kind of player, and I can't imagine having enough room to play each of them major minutes. Troubling in the fact that for the next six years Ohio should be VERY good at PG. Barring someone else landing a couple of real studs, OU will easily have the best PG combonation in the conference come 2011-12. You need more than just good PG's to win in the MAC, but having them does go a long way.

[Quickzips]

Updated to include White, Wright and the verbal committment of Taylor to OU.

Taylor to OU takes away one of my top choices to fill the gapping hole in our PG depth chart. Zips still have two available scholarships at this point. Still a lot of talent on the Zips radar including Sampson (unlikely), Abell, Crider, Ennis, Fant, Grady, Lewis, Moore, Thomas and Trice. Zips definitley need to land a quality PG from this class though. Ennis, Lewis, Moore and Trice are all still on the board. Any one of them would look great in Blue and Gold.

[Quickzips]

Added Jarrell McKinney from Cooley High School in Detroit.

[Dave in Green]

Jarrell McKinney, 6-4, 201, Detroit Cooley (Detroit, Mich.). Big-time sleeper needs to add weight, but has great athleticism and swagger; Western Michigan and Toledo have offered.

Note: The above quote is from ESPN RISE High School Football.

And one recent article lists him at 220 pounds.

[zippyman23]

Travis Trice verballed to Michigan State yesterday.

http://insider.espn.go.com/ncb/recruiting/...cruitId%3d96499

[Quickzips]

The PG's are dropping like flies right now. Can't really blame a kid for picking Michigan State, with Izzo's recent track record he's practically guaranteed a chance at a final four some time during his career.

[Dave in Green]

There's a shortage of quality pure PGs in the NBA, so no surprise that the same situation exists in college. We all need to be honest with ourselves that it would take a true miracle for the Zips to land a PG with enough obvious big-time potential to be selected by coaches like Izzo at schools like MSU.

It's just not realistic to think that UA is in the running for proven, highly skilled HS PGs who are being recruited by college teams that regularly show up in the top 25 and are often in the running for the national championship. It's even less realistic to think UA should reject an otherwise qualified PG due to lack of height.

I just hope that KD is able to land the best available PG regardless of height after the perennial basketball powers are done skimming the cream, and that the Zips end up with a late bloomer who shows better in college than he did in HS.

[zippyman23]

Trey Lewis verbals to Penn State.

http://twitter.com/Ohiohshoops/status/20436233056

[ZachTheZip]

Will there be any guards left?

Maybe we just have to hope Ennis sticks by Akron while we stay with him through his renewed recruiting.

[Zipmeister]

Will there be any guards left?

Maybe we just have to hope Ennis sticks by Akron while we stay with him through his renewed recruiting.

You're just a tad confused here Zach. Telling Akron to stick it is different than sticking by Akron.

[zippyman23]

Nic Moore verbals to Illinois State.

http://blogs.suntimes.com/hoopsreport/2010...berts-burn.html

[Quickzips]

PG's are flying off the board. At this rate the KD better hope that Dylan Ennis swings back around. Nyles Evans is also still available. Outside of that the Zips PG board is looking pretty thin.

[Quickzips]

Updated to include the recent transfer of Brian Walsh from Xavier. Zips are now down to one unaccounted for scholarship for next season by my calculations. KD definitly needs to find a PG to fill that last position. We can't go into 2011-12 with Alex Abreu as our only PG on the roster.

[Quickzips]

Added video of 2011 Zips commit Nick Harney. Watching it gives you a pretty good sense of his game. Likes to get out in transition and knows how to finish around the rim. His athleticism has not been understated in any way. Seems to be pretty active getting his hands in passing lanes, initiating steals and making nice outlet passes to set up the fast break. Shows the makings of a decent little jumpshot, but not sure how reliable it is. It is always tough to get a good read on a prospect just from a highlight video, but Nick's video at least provides some insight into his play.