2018 SF/PF Pete Nance of Revere

[Blue & Gold]

In 2010 we slept on Larry Nance Jr. (and Darius Carter ) and offered Cleveland-area products Tree & Nick Harney.  

 

Tree turned out to be one of my all-time favorite Zips, but whiffing on both Nance Jr. & Carter still makes me break out in a cold sweat.

 

Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me.

 

Let's not make the same mistake twice.  Sound good?  Great!

 

Then I'm starting a thread for 2018 SF/PF Pete Nance.  We can't let Pete climb the fence & get out of our backyard.  If Pete is anything like his brother, he'd be proud to wear Akron on his chest, as Larry Jr. used to post pics to twitter of him wearing Zips gear even while he played for Wyoming.

 

It's amazing to me how articulate Pete is.  He interviews like he's a 35-year old man!  Obviously highly intelligent.  Lends credibility to the fact people say he's got the proverbial "high basketball I.Q."

Edited December 29, 2016 by Blue & Gold

[Hilltopper]

I'm pretty sure he is on our radar. We potentially have four scholarships available after next year (Noah, Antino, Aaron, Craig).

[skip-zip]

This is probably both a comment and a question, considering that I don't follow our basketball recruiting as closely as some of you.

 

I know the older Nance's situation, and why he went to Wyoming.  But regardless, I see above that we're referencing 2 players from the area who LEFT THE STATE to play college basketball.  So, why are there some people on this site that continue to call it Akron's Failure that these guys didn't stay local?  I believe there's about a dozen D-1 basketball colleges in Ohio?  If these guys were highly recruited, and left the state anyway, didn't everyone fail to lure them in?  Why are some people placing the blame on Akron?  

[LZIp]

5 hours ago, Hilltopper said:

I'm pretty sure he is on our radar. We potentially have four scholarships available after next year (Noah, Antino, Aaron, Craig).

Good to hear!

5 hours ago, skip-zip said:

This is probably both a comment and a question, considering that I don't follow our basketball recruiting as closely as some of you.

 

I know the older Nance's situation, and why he went to Wyoming.  But regardless, I see above that we're referencing 2 players from the area who LEFT THE STATE to play college basketball.  So, why are there some people on this site that continue to call it Akron's Failure that these guys didn't stay local?  I believe there's about a dozen D-1 basketball colleges in Ohio?  If these guys were highly recruited, and left the state anyway, didn't everyone fail to lure them in?  Why are some people placing the blame on Akron?  

1- Our program should be at a point that we can get top area prospects over other mid-majors. If the football program is already being held to that standard (and rightfully so), the basketball program sure as hell should be as well, especially when we've missed on program changing players.  2- As has been repeated ad nauseam on here, Nance was never offered. There is fault in not trying or "missing" on evaluation. What the other mid majors do is irrelevant to Akron. We are supposed to be better. Nance and McCollum were not highly recruited.

[skip-zip]

43 minutes ago, LZIp said:

There is fault in not trying or "missing" on evaluation.  What the other mid majors do is irrelevant to Akron. We are supposed to be better.

 

Not just mid majors.  And not just Akron.  Mid-major, high majors, everyone.  So if everyone was seeing a low probability at the time that this kid would develop into the player he became, how could you have expected that Akron should have somehow had the magic crystal ball that should have seen it any differently?

[LZIp]

1 hour ago, skip-zip said:

 

Not just mid majors.  And not just Akron.  Mid-major, high majors, everyone.  So if everyone was seeing a low probability at the time that this kid would develop into the player he became, how could you have expected that Akron should have somehow had the magic crystal ball that should have seen it any differently?

Lehigh and Wyoming saw the potential. We are supposed to be better. We should be seeing the potential of the players in our own backyard. CJ McCollum just sign a 106 million dollar contract. We took CJ Oldham instead. I'm not trying to be overly critical because even though it stings, whats done is done. I would just like us to accept the mistake(s) and try to learn from it, not make excuses.

 

I was thinking of starting the thread on Pete a few weeks ago actually. It is encouraging to hear that the coaching staff is showing interest. He has a handful of D-1 offers currently, but none from a program the quality of Akron's.

Edited December 29, 2016 by LZIp

[Hilltopper]

..........

[skip-zip]

Ok, I get it.  Akron and another 350-some other D-I programs didn't see it.  So, we'd be admitting what exactly?  That we saw the same thing that everyone else was seeing at the time?

 

I knew a Junior College kid in the 80s from this area who couldn't get off the bench in high school.  After an average freshman year, he became a JC All-American and earned a scholarship for his last two years at DePaul.  He was then a 1st round NBA draft pick and had a long career.   Nobody had a crystal ball when this kid was 17 years old.  The entire nation missed on this kid.  I don't recall anyone, including the area D-I schools in this area making excuses, or being asked to accept any blame.  It happens.   

[wadszip]

2 hours ago, skip-zip said:

Ok, I get it.  Akron and another 350-some other D-I programs didn't see it.  So, we'd be admitting what exactly?  That we saw the same thing that everyone else was seeing at the time?

 

I knew a Junior College kid in the 80s from this area who couldn't get off the bench in high school.  After an average freshman year, he became a JC All-American and earned a scholarship for his last two years at DePaul.  He was then a 1st round NBA draft pick and had a long career.   Nobody had a crystal ball when this kid was 17 years old.  The entire nation missed on this kid.  I don't recall anyone, including the area D-I schools in this area making excuses, or being asked to accept any blame.  It happens.   

Skip, come on. This has no relevance. What does Kevin Edwards have to do with Akron? First, Edwards is from Cleveland Heights/St. Joseph (yes, kind of local, but not as local as the guys mentioned above). Second, Akron was not even D1 when he was in high school. Third, while the "in-state" schools missed on him, it's not like he landed out in the middle of nowhere. DePaul was a powerhouse in the 80s that produced NBA talent almost every single year. ... Mark Aguirre, Tyrone Corbin, Edwards, Rod Strickland, etc.

 

In that, he is more like a Darius Carter. And I know Carter was mentioned, but it's hard to call him a miss. His situation was pretty similar to Edwards' in that he went JUCO then to an, at the time, power. DePaul in the 80s was pretty similar to Wichita State currently.

 

However, Nance and McCollum were flat out misses. Both guys, on record, said they wanted to come to Akron and neither got a shot. Yes, everybody else in Ohio missed on them too, but they are still misses. 

 

My take: I saw both those guys in high school, more so with McCollum, and while I thought both could play at Akron, I was hardly heartbroken at the time when Dambrot passed. So, I won't kill the staff for not offering either. In retrospect, you still have to consider both misses since they both wanted to come here.

Edited December 29, 2016 by wadszip

[kreed5120]

Hindsight is 20/20. Unlike in football where you have 20-25 scholarships a year to give out, in basketball you have maybe 2-3. In the case of McCollum we only had 1 scholarship available and it went to this kid by the name of Zeke Marshall. Every program in the country, Lehigh included, would have taken Zeke over McCollum coming out of high school if they had to choose between the two.

[skip-zip]

7 hours ago, wadszip said:

Akron was not even D1 when he was in high school.

 

Umm.  We've been D-I since 1980.  

[skip-zip]

8 hours ago, wadszip said:

Third, while the "in-state" schools missed on him, it's not like he landed out in the middle of nowhere. DePaul was a powerhouse in the 80s that produced NBA talent almost every single year.

 

Nobody "missed" on Edwards when he went to DePaul after his Sophomore year in JC.  Akron was actively pursuing him also.  

 

Thanks for bringing up DePaul's powerhouse standing in the 1980s, because I wanted to illustrate how much a player's ability and status can change just between the ages of 17 and 19.   

[LZIp]

4 hours ago, kreed5120 said:

Hindsight is 20/20. Unlike in football where you have 20-25 scholarships a year to give out, in basketball you have maybe 2-3. In the case of McCollum we only had 1 scholarship available and it went to this kid by the name of Zeke Marshall. Every program in the country, Lehigh included, would have taken Zeke over McCollum coming out of high school if they had to choose between the two.

CJ Oldham was also a member of that class, as I pointed out above. Everything I can find/remember points that he was on scholarship.

[kreed5120]

1 hour ago, LZIp said:

CJ Oldham was also a member of that class, as I pointed out above. Everything I can find/remember points that he was on scholarship.

 

Everything that I remember and everything these article states, is that we had only 1 scholarship available that recruiting cycle and we went with Zeke Marshall.

 

http://waitingfornextyear.com/2012/03/cantons-cj-mccollum-discusses-mac-scholarship-snubs/

 

http://www.ohio.com/news/top-stories/2103-nba-scouting-combine-glenoak-graduate-c-j-mccollum-hopes-to-be-a-lottery-pick-1.398905

 

 

[LZIp]

6 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

 

Everything that I remember and everything these article states, is that we had only 1 scholarship available that recruiting cycle and we went with Zeke Marshall.

 

http://waitingfornextyear.com/2012/03/cantons-cj-mccollum-discusses-mac-scholarship-snubs/

 

http://www.ohio.com/news/top-stories/2103-nba-scouting-combine-glenoak-graduate-c-j-mccollum-hopes-to-be-a-lottery-pick-1.398905

 

 

Interesting. Couldn't fault us for taking Zeke as he was the biggest recruit in program history and one of the best players as well. You may be right. Maybe CJ was already committed and they weren't going to revoke his offer for McCollum?  Who the hell knows at this point. How often do walk ons stick around for 3 years and get named team captain?

 

This shows an offer.

http://verbalcommits.com/players/c-j-oldham

[LZIp]

11 minutes ago, LZIp said:

Interesting. Couldn't fault us for taking Zeke as he was the biggest recruit in program history and one of the best players as well. You may be right. Maybe CJ was already committed and they weren't going to revoke his offer for McCollum?  Who the hell knows at this point. How often do walk ons stick around for 3 years and get named team captain?

 

This shows an offer.

http://verbalcommits.com/players/c-j-oldham

 @kreed5120 I found a few other things and do concede that I am mistaken.

[wadszip]

8 hours ago, kreed5120 said:

Hindsight is 20/20. Unlike in football where you have 20-25 scholarships a year to give out, in basketball you have maybe 2-3. In the case of McCollum we only had 1 scholarship available and it went to this kid by the name of Zeke Marshall. Every program in the country, Lehigh included, would have taken Zeke over McCollum coming out of high school if they had to choose between the two.

Keith Dambrot also went on record by saying he would never make the mistake of passing on a player like McCollum again just because they were over the limit. You've seen this in recent years where the Zips have been "over" the limit until things were sorted in the offseason. Before McCollum, Dambrot never brought in a kid unless there was 100 percent a scholarship open at that time.

[Blue & Gold]

 

[Buckzip]

Guys are missed in every sport and every year.

Look at all of the high draft picks that come from smaller schools in the NFL. The big boys missed them

Dak Prescott was a 4th round pick. He was behind Kessler. LOL.

 

Colleges miss on guys and the pros miss on guys. There are/were quite a few NBA all stars that were 2nd round picks.

There are quite a few college players that were high picks that weren't recruited by the big boys.

 

Do you think Khali Mack would have chosen Buffalo if all of the big boys  knew how good he would end up?

Would Rothlisberger have chosen Miami?

The list is endless.

 

Everyone develops at their own pace. Some are early, the 5* guys that can't get off the bench, and some are later, the 2* guys that become All Americans and future pros.

 

Not every NBA player comes from Kentucky, Duke, NC or Indiana.

Not every NFL player comes from Bama.

[Blue & Gold]

 

[Blue & Gold]

According to twitter, and a tweet I neither retweeted nor can find again, Pete was offered by Florida.

Edited February 15, 2017 by Blue & Gold

[LZIp]

On 2/15/2017 at 5:55 AM, Blue & Gold said:

According to twitter, and a tweet I neither retweeted nor can find again, Pete was offered by Florida.

That would appear to be correct per Verbal Commits. Do not see an Akron offer yet.

http://verbalcommits.com/players/pete-nance

[Blue & Gold]

We should be all over Pete like I'm sure we were all over Jayvon Graves. Riiiiiight? ?

 

It's one thing if we lose out on Pete to Florida.

 

But losing out on Jayvon to Buffalo? 

 

Let's go KD, show them recruiting chops & sign Pete.

[Hilltopper]

4 hours ago, Blue & Gold said:

We should be all over Pete like I'm sure we were all over Jayvon Graves. Riiiiiight? ?

 

It's one thing if we lose out on Pete to Florida.

 

But losing out on Jayvon to Buffalo? 

 

Let's go KD, show them recruiting chops & sign Pete.

You think we didn't offer Graves? It's up to the recruit to announce who offered, the schools can't say a word about who they offer.

[Blue & Gold]

I went to the GABCA (Greater Akron Basketball Coaches Association) All-Star Game tonight.  Before the senior all-stars played they had an underclassmen game (all juniors except for one very physically mature sophomore from Coventry named Jamond Hogg - at least the guy sitting next to me said he knew Jamond & that he was a sophomore. Idk.)

 

Anyway, Pete Nance is as thin as a rail.  But so was his brother at his same age.  Both kinda late bloomers.  But Pete's 6'9" and both athletic (coordinated) and extremely skilled, especially for his height.  He can handle & pass the ball & has a nice stroke from 3.  His shot is still inconsistent but his form is perfect & he's got perfect rotation on the ball.

 

So I say give him another 2 years and he's going to be an absolute beast, just like his brother.

 

(Btw, another junior that stood out to me was Hoban PG Collen Gurley.  Excellent feel for the game & 6'2".  Great looking player.  Idk if he's getting any D-1 interest or not.)

 

But anyway, cross your fingers for Pete. 

Edited March 23, 2017 by Blue & Gold