Very Good Players coming through the High School/AAU Pipeline.

I hardly follow AAU basketball.  However, if one is a recruiting wonk like me, it is inevitable to click into links on AAU tourneys and the like.  Generally it is the big media talking heads elevating their favorite high school / prep school hunk…promoting the kids in their hallowed top 100/150 listings. 

Akoy agau

Kyrie Thomas

Thurman








This year I have paid more attention.  Following the major media on the many kids on Creighton’s 2015 recruits list…and now mainly due to interest in Kyrie Thomas, plus the Justin Patton commit to CU.  I generally give a side glance to the Iowa and Minnesota teams, and occasionally the KCMO, St Louis, and Illinois teams.  Justin’s commit has helped me (and many others) to focus in on the Nebraska contingent of AAU teams. 


 


Omaha, Lincoln, and a few towns in the hinterlands have been very productive.  Nebraska High School Hoops, Nebraska Basketball Development, Omaha Elite, and the Omaha Sports Academy are to be commended, as well as the several others I am not familiar with. The OSA teams, the Omaha Elite, and the Nebraska Bison teams have captured much acclaim this year.  Winning does that.  But more surprising is the fact that there seems a minor explosión of talent occurring in the (former) Beef State. Akoy last year, now Thurman and Thomas, Patton and another handful in 2015, with mentions of a few in 2016 and 2017.  Granted we are not talking 20-25 kids, only 4-5 here, 2-3 there, but a string of them from 2013 to 2017, including several that I am unaware of.  Definitely enough talent for universities to take notice of. 


  

                                                  Arop-17                               Chandler-17


Quite the shock for those accustomed to overlooking local kids.  The Patton offer and commit upset quite a few folks, as no one expected the Jays to take a local – given that we are all over the country chasing 4 and 5 star kids.  Very surprising that only 1 or 2 Jays diehards had even heard of Justin, let alone had seen his early play.  Given that Justin has grown tremendously and blossomed as a player over this last season, it is easy to see why no one outside of Omaha would have known about him either – until these last few March-July AAU events.  He has justifiably received much complimentary notice and comments after AAU tourneys in St Louis and Las Vegas.

CU routinely had Omaha kids (Bellevue West, Central), as well as the Iowa contingent, on the roster during the DA regime.  Some have duly noted that Creighton has to protect its’ home turf – snatch up any home grown,  high level talent that develops.  I would agree with such sentiment.  Perhaps we have not seen the last “surprise” offer and commit out of the state for the Jays.  Nebraska HS talent indeed looks promising for the forseeable future.



 

A summer Re-post of a recruiting article from the annuls of Bluenotes.  “Horseshoes & Hand Grenades”.

Yes, Martha – We have come a long ways and have become better than we once were. We still compete with determination, dedication, and grit…and we now win more of the battles.  And as of last season´s ascension to the Big East – little David has now joined them (Goliaths).

Go Big Blue.

Re-Post: 03 October 2008

Horseshoes & Hand Grenades

“Holy Toledo, Batman.” “Martha, put on your dancin’ shoes.” “I’m coming Elizabeth, this is the big one.”

Three trite and cliched statements to describe awe, joy, and shock…but they don’t come close to giving the appropriate measure of significance to the recruiting event of 03 October, 2008. Possibly the coup of the 2009 basketball recruiting year.

With that opening stanza, I had proceeded to write a piece on the MVC’s David conquering 3 PAC-10 Goliaths. I went on to extoll the remarkable ascent-rise of Creighton’s recruiting over the last several years.

Anon, much to my chagrin – Goliath (in the guise of UCLA) won the recruiting battle for WC Center Anthony Stover. It was a good battle and CU learned a great deal from the process, but as I stated over at the Cafe – I’m not a fan of consolation prizes. The story still deserves to be told:

a.k.a. (Close only counts in…) Horseshoes & Hand Grenades

Little David (Missouri Valley mainstay, Creighton University) today NEARLY defeated not one, but three mighty PAC-10 Conference powerhouses in the current round of the college basketball recruiting wars. The prize was one of the last top 100 players available on the West Coast, 6-10 SoCal center Anthony Stover. Anthony is rated as high as the #11 Center nationally (Scout.com) in the 2009 class.

Creighton became a player in the Stover recruitment in the spring of this year, and surprisingly to many, survived several cuts. In the process the early leader Oregon St and other contenders fell away, leaving Arizona, ASU, UCLA, and incredibly – Creighton, as Anthonys’ Final Four schools.

Most of the experts and the West Coast fan bases gave short shrift to or outright ignored the Bluejay coaching staffs’ efforts. Many of the national analysts proclaimed ASU, Arizona, and UCLA, respectively, as the rotating favorites for claiming Stovers’ services. Alas, ultimately the pundits were proved correct by UCLA. The prognosticators assumed the Jays would fall out of the battle, unable to sustain the fight against the West Coast juggernauts. However, armed only with a slingshot and “stones” the size of bowling balls, little David (CU) displayed amazing tenacity, hung in there, and stayed the course. Creighton, at 1/5th the size of these public school behemoths, NEARLY outdueled, outwitted, and outlasted the marquis PAC-10 schools head-on, in what would have been described as the recruiting “upset of the year“.

Coach Dana Altman and his staff put forth an excellent strategy of maintaining a commendatory stance & comments towards the competition, while diligently emphasizing Creighton’s unique academic, environmental, and athletic advantages, as one of America’s top small, private universities. Tactically, the Jays challenged the seeming overwhelming advantages of the larger schools with targeted statistical reporting countering the imprecise, erroneous, and often misleading information coming from the PAC-10 contingent. When the smoke cleared, Goliath had won the close battle, and although whupped this time, little David limped away contemplating what went wrong and how to improve upon his gameplan.

And while this episode’s ending is par for the course, the fact that CU was able to mount such an ambitious campaign and able to legitimately compete against Top 10 competition is intriguing.

Sometimes smaller is better. Creighton has developed a very efficient California recruiting pipeline to its’ Omaha campus. Counting their 2009 haul (top California player PG Andrew Bock of Rialto) the Bluejays have shuttled 7 top West Coast players to the Midwest over the last 6 years. CU’s recruiting efforts have evolved over the years, from the mad scramble nationally (as an independent University) for leftover, late bloomer, and developmental “diamond in-the-rough” players, into the efficient, orchestrated, and well-oiled machine in use today. This is one of the benefits of a highly capable, stable, and well entrenched coaching staff. Even with the tremendous odds against them, the Bluejays didn’t back down, nor did they quit. They fought it out with the Big Boys despite the odds. Yes, in the end Creighton lost this battle, but there will be other battles in the ongoing recruiting wars.

The cadre of Creighton assistant coaches are experts in player assessment and evaluations, and rarely stray from the prototypical Creighton player (smart, academically sound – well skilled – high basketball IQ). They recruit to the academic & athletic requirements of CU’s system and today the Jays routinely sign highly talented 4-Star recruits. As a result, over the past decade, we have continually seen Creighton listed in the various college basketball rankings for sustained excellence and achievement. If the Jays last 3 recruiting classes are any indication, they are just getting warmed up. The Bluejays are among the shortlist of Fast Rising schools to keep an eye on over the next few seasons. Kudos to Coach Altman and his top flight coaching staff at Creighton, on the great battle waged in the Stover recruitment. It was a grueling loss, but the silver lining here is the knowledge that the Bluejays can compete at this level. Along the way there will be victories as well as defeats, but from all appearances, Creighton is here to stay. Welcome to the recruiting A-List.

Way to go, little David.