Recruiting Updates

[GoUNCA]

The recruitment sticky is from last year, so maybe this could be the new one.

Found this reference from the Daily Press out of Virginia. Ted Wang is a 6'11" exchange student from china. It says he has a lot of interest, but it singles us out as having "high" interest. He attends the Hampton Roads Academy.

http://www.dailypress.com/sports/dp-spt_prepnotes_0108jan08,0,7350493.story

[kingaling42]

We do have a high interest in him from my understanding.. Eddie likes these big kids... Don't know much about him specifically though..

[UNCA Alum]

How many scholarships do we have available? Next year we'll have:

Sr - Sean Smith (1)*
Jr - John Williams, Eric Stubbs, Donovan Jones (3)
So - Dickey, Primm, Jackson, Stepheson, Hobbs (5)
Fr - Turner, dude from Greenville (2)


If J-Ride sticks around for another year, I have to think he'll be awarded a scholarship. Especially after starting this year.

That leaves us with only one scholarship left if nobody transfers.

[GoUNCA]

I know absolutely nothing about the type of competition he is going against, but it looks like Jaron Lane is a scorer. If he can catch the ball during a back door cut...now that would be nirvana.

-DH Conley took out #7 Washington today. Commit Jaron Lane had a game high 26.

http://www.wdnweb.com/articles/2009/01/24/sports/sports01.txt

-Thursday, Jaron forced overtime against South Central and had a game high 29.

http://www.reflector.com/sports/high-schools/south-central-sweeps-rivals-389960.html

Uncommitted Ted Wang put in a double-double against a higher ranked St. Annes-Belfield. 14 pts, 10 rebs.

http://www.dailypress.com/sports/dp-spt_preproundup_0118jan18,0,7735746.story

[kingaling42]

Bulldogs received verbal committment over the weekend to add to the great Homecoming weekend we had..

Oak Hill Academy's Austin Alecxih, 6'5", 190 lbs, long wing span..

December, 2008: Alecxih knows his job and does it very well. He makes open shots. He has good size, range beyond the arc and a quick trigger. His shot preparation is excellent. He legs are flexed and hands are ready on the catch. Alecxih sprints the wing in transition and understands how to get open in the half court by reading guard penetration and moving to the open area or coming off screens. Alecxih competes and plays hard in addition to helping on the glass on both ends. He is a specialist and will be a great asset vs. zone defense.

Austin had offers from Bucknell, Siena & Rutgers. He was also interested in Quinnipiac. Others interested in Austin included Seton Hall, St. John’s, St. Francis (PA), LaSalle, Towson, and Davidson.

With Jaron & now Austin coming in- now we can concentrate on some bigs with 2 scholarships to give....

[kingaling42]

From what I hear- we have our 3 commitments signed now...

Jaron Lane- 6'4" 180lbs SF/SG - DH Conley HS.. North Carolina Basketball Coaches Association (NCBCA) selected Jaron on the 2009 All State Teams- 1st team selection

Austin Alecxih- 6'5" 190lbs SG - Oak Hill Academy

D.J. Cunningham- 6'10" 240 lbs Center- Waterford High School, Ohio.... Cunningham wrapped up a great careeer with the Wildcats as District Player of the Year, and First Team All Ohio in Division IV. He averaged 22 points and 17 rebounds a game in his final season. He had looks from many Ohio Valley schools & backed out of a verbal offer from Wright State.. Haven't seen him yet but his numbers are impressive & I hear good things..

Time will tell, but I'm glad we are reserving the other scholarship to either be used in next year's recruiting efforts or if something good falls in our laps over the summer..

[GoUNCA]

From what I hear- we have our 3 commitments signed now...

Jaron Lane- 6'4" 180lbs SF/SG - DH Conley HS.. North Carolina Basketball Coaches Association (NCBCA) selected Jaron on the 2009 All State Teams- 1st team selection

Austin Alecxih- 6'5" 190lbs SG - Oak Hill Academy

D.J. Cunningham- 6'10" 240 lbs Center- Waterford High School, Ohio.... Cunningham wrapped up a great careeer with the Wildcats as District Player of the Year, and First Team All Ohio in Division IV. He averaged 22 points and 17 rebounds a game in his final season. He had looks from many Ohio Valley schools & backed out of a verbal offer from Wright State.. Haven't seen him yet but his numbers are impressive & I hear good things..

Time will tell, but I'm glad we are reserving the other scholarship to either be used in next year's recruiting efforts or if something good falls in our laps over the summer..

I imagine we'll hold onto the last scholly as well.

I hadn't heard anything about Cunningham. Looks like he was fairly regarded in Ohio. Wright State has a good program in the tough Horizon league. We've picked up several people from Ohio as of late. If he is really what he is listed then he looks to have a lot of size to work with. I'm glad we picked up a big man. If he really gets after it in the weight room he can probably challenge for time next year.

Overall, I like this class. We have a prolific scorer, a big body, and a guy that played (and played well) at a pedigree program. It always sucks to try to judge them coming in, but this is probably the class of the new arena and I look forward to seeing them.

[uncafan]

From what I hear- we have our 3 commitments signed now...

Jaron Lane- 6'4" 180lbs SF/SG - DH Conley HS.. North Carolina Basketball Coaches Association (NCBCA) selected Jaron on the 2009 All State Teams- 1st team selection

Austin Alecxih- 6'5" 190lbs SG - Oak Hill Academy

D.J. Cunningham- 6'10" 240 lbs Center- Waterford High School, Ohio.... Cunningham wrapped up a great careeer with the Wildcats as District Player of the Year, and First Team All Ohio in Division IV. He averaged 22 points and 17 rebounds a game in his final season. He had looks from many Ohio Valley schools & backed out of a verbal offer from Wright State.. Haven't seen him yet but his numbers are impressive & I hear good things..

Time will tell, but I'm glad we are reserving the other scholarship to either be used in next year's recruiting efforts or if something good falls in our laps over the summer..

I imagine we'll hold onto the last scholly as well.

I hadn't heard anything about Cunningham. Looks like he was fairly regarded in Ohio. Wright State has a good program in the tough Horizon league. We've picked up several people from Ohio as of late. If he is really what he is listed then he looks to have a lot of size to work with. I'm glad we picked up a big man. If he really gets after it in the weight room he can probably challenge for time next year.

Overall, I like this class. We have a prolific scorer, a big body, and a guy that played (and played well) at a pedigree program. It always sucks to try to judge them coming in, but this is probably the class of the new arena and I look forward to seeing them.

not really sure what ties we have in Ohio -- but guessing some of this may be due to recent games in Columbus, and more nationally televised games? Certainly Ohio is known more for guard play -- but, i'm not complaining..... The horizon league is definitely solid these days especially with Cleveland State making a little comeback -- wright state is solid in that conference, nothing great i guess, but certainly seems to be a good signing for us.

[GoUNCA]

It looks like our recruiting is setting up a lot of contacts in the prep school systems. I found this tidbit about Keith Hornsby.

Last season, Hornsby averaged 16 points per game for HRA. He was selected to the All-Tidewater Conference of Independent Schools first team and received all-state honorable mention. He also was an honor-roll student.

Bruce Hornsby said his son has a basketball scholarship offer from UNC Asheville. He added that Keith, who will be a junior in the fall, is receiving interest from East Tennessee State, Old Dominion, Air Force, Radford, La Salle and Albany.

http://www.dailypress.com/sports/highschool/dp-spt_recruitcolumn_0507jun07,0,1941181.column

So it seems Hornsby was at Hampton Roads Academy, but will be attending Oak Hill Academy in the fall. We have offered him really early. If all goes well, he would come in when Primm and Dickey are seniors.

Speculation: We were knocking around at HRA looking at the big Ted Wang. Seemingly we made no progress there, but I guess we liked the younger Hornsby. We have inroads at Oak Hill and maybe helped open the door for Hornsby to play there. It's funny how these connections come to be.

Also, it is cool that Hornsby's dad is Bruce Hornsby of "That's just the way it is" fame (it won him a grammy).

[uncafan]

http://www.uncabulldogs.com/ViewArticle ... M_ID=19200


official article about the 3 commitments that King mentioned a while back...

[kingaling42]

Hornsby & BC have been friends for many years now... BC coached both Hornsby's sons at Oak Hill basketball camps, plus they're tight enough to get this lucky guy some backstage passes when he played at Biltmore Estate a few years back.. you're right- "That's just the way it is..."

Our media releases are SOOOOOOO out of real time... I'm thinking that in this day & age, can't we keep up a little better?? Especially with the options of UNCA marketing interns etc...Or do we only think that only some of the coaches at UNCA are to blame... Janet is clearly missing the big picture at many levels...

[GoUNCA]

http://www.uncabulldogs.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&ATCLID=3755825&DB_OEM_ID=19200


official article about the 3 commitments that King mentioned a while back...

"This may be the best recruiting class we have ever signed".....That is a pretty big statement. But, I know these releases are just that kind of thing.

Actually, there were two really good statements in there. One being that maybe Cunningham competes for time with the Eric Stubbs show and the other being a comparison between Alecxih and Augst (one of my all-time favorite players) when I was thinking he was going to be more like Sean Smith. I am not sure where Jaron fits in yet. He could come in and play the 2 off the bench or maybe we'll play a more three guard look at times with him as a hybrid wing. I guess it depends on the how the Bigs progress and how much time Cunningham can compete for.

Our media releases are SOOOOOOO out of real time... I'm thinking that in this day & age, can't we keep up a little better?? Especially with the options of UNCA marketing interns etc...Or do we only think that only some of the coaches at UNCA are to blame... Janet is clearly missing the big picture at many lev

Yeah, we shouldn't even have to pay that much to interns. Our technology/communications are way behind. Mass Comm anyone?

[UNCA Alum]

Almost every recruiting class is "the best one ever" according to Coach B.

He told me last year that the Class of 2008 was the best that he ever signed. And before that it was the Class of 2003. (KJ, Rush, Harrell, Brett, CJ Walker.) Which replaced the Class of 1999. (Andre Smith, Brandon Carter, Colin Shaw, Ben McGonagil, Allen Lovett?)

We'll see how it pans out. Any other info on the 6'10" 240lb guy? I know at least two things about him that I like.

[GoUNCA]

Any other info on the 6'10" 240lb guy? I know at least two things about him that I like.

Sounds like your twin, you should be giving us the inside scoop.

[UNCA Alum]

Here's the thread from the Wright State boards about Cunningham. Apparently he was going to be asked to redshirt at Wright State and the competition he faced in high school was less than stellar.

http://wrightstate.proboards.com/index. ... 630&page=1

[uncafan]

Here's the thread from the Wright State boards about Cunningham. Apparently he was going to be asked to redshirt at Wright State and the competition he faced in high school was less than stellar.

http://wrightstate.proboards.com/index. ... 630&page=1

Division 4 in ohio so he wasn't seeing any big schools--its intersting how the wright state fans were ALL about him until he verballed here, now they are saying he sucks

I think its a very good sign he was getting looked at by Kent State and some of the better MAC schools -- MAC basketball is way beyond what the Big South is right now so I think that's a decent indication the kid has a future. Eddie probably convinced him he'd see the floor earlier here (since we don't really have any returning -- impact big men) whereas he was apparently going to redshirt at WSU. Lets see how the kid comes in... but, if nothing else, he's got some range (if you read that thread he can clearly shoot from 15+ feet so, that's a plus)...and with his size i'm sure they can figure out a way to get him on the court this year. But i guess we'll see....

[kingaling42]

All 3 of the freshmen have been on campus for over 3 weeks now.. Austin flew down (his dads a pilot) to be around the guys for camps & is still here last I heard, Jaron & DJ are taking summer classes & will be here for 4-6 more weeks.. pick up games are going on pretty much daily & from what I can tell, DJ should be playing some good minutes this year, he can run the court, catches the ball in traffic & has soft hands.. unless I'm completely delirious, he's going to be starting a few games into the year if he continues to improve, learn the offense, etc... Not that he's earth shattering, but unless Stubbs comes back a changed player- he'll be in no position to beat DJ out very long

I haven't heard about Sean Hobbs yet, I know we set him up to play pick up at Ohio State all summer, no word on whether he's actually shown up or not.. one of his HS teammates is a walk on this year (Nick Goff) so maybe he got him to run with the Buckeyes this summer.. time will tell.. I'm hearing that Matt Kittrell left UNCA even though he's stillon the roster so there's no other big men other than the red shirt freshmen/soph Jeremy Harn & I haven't seen him even practice so he's an unknown quantity to me..

I'm also seeing JP coming back as a monster right now- he's a very confident player right now.. hopefully he can keep that intensity & consistency up as the season & school year approaches... Sean Smith has been a totally different player the second half of last season when he re-committed to the team & stayed at UNCA- he seems very focused right now as well.. Too early for much else, but the guys are very excited about this year so that certainly doesn't hurt the cause!!

[kingaling42]

Why even bother reading into what Wright State's board has to say about a kid that didn't go there.. That's like Duke fans trying to figure out what kind of player Seth Curry is by visiting flamesfans.com... just my thoughts..

[UNCA Alum]

Well without knowing much about the kid, the thread was a pretty good spot to get a lot of pictures, game recaps, and other info about him. I would take everything that they said personally about him with a grain of salt, but I thought it was a pretty informative thread about Cunningham.

[uncafan]

http://www.uncabulldogs.com/ViewArticle ... M_ID=19200

[GoUNCA]

I'm glad to hear the news about DJ. He isn't going to have to be able to play even with Art or the big german to see playing time this year. At worst he'll pick up Jason's minutes. Wright State has a decent program within a good horizon league, so I don't doubt his prestige as a recruit. Although, he'll have to be pretty darn good to beat out Stubbs (I know; that sounds weird coming from me).

It is really great that freshmen can come in and take summer classes. One good decision by the NCAA. We can only hope Hobbs shows up somewhere.

I hope JP gets some swagger back. He lost some confidence after the non-conference season last year. It's a tough thing, that. A big predictor for JP will be to see how he deals with the money non-cons this year. Interesting to see Jaron share the lead in points on the East team with a guy who is going to Campbell. I'm kind of excited to see how much and where he plays.

[uncafan]

And on a side note on Lane:

http://twitter.com/JaronLane



Although I looks like he updated about every 2 weeks, haha...

[GoUNCA]

this has been a boring summer ready to go back home

Alright...Awesome start.

[UNCA Alum]

Sounds like he really loves it up there.

[kingaling42]

First- it's a quick twitter tweet, let's not blow it out of proportion just yet..

Secondly- it's Asheville during summer time, you guys have been around in the summer I'm guessing- it does suck!! Not much to do, no parties, 95% of the students aren't even around + you have some class work to do- you work bball camp for 2 weeks & play some pick up/work out.. It's not exactly earth shattering stuff.. Relax & give him time- these are statements I would expect to see on the Liberty board- oh my goodness an 18 year old is bored in summer school in Asheville- he's got to be transferring now right??

[UNCA Alum]

Sarcasm, King. Sarcasm.

[uncafan]

these are statements I would expect to see on the Liberty board- oh my goodness an 18 year old is bored in summer school in Asheville- he's got to be transferring now right??

made me laugh.... poor flames fans...

[GoUNCA]

First- it's a quick twitter tweet, let's not blow it out of proportion just yet..

I wasn't really trying to blow anything out of proportion either.

But if anyone sees him maybe they should advise him (and anyone else on twitter) that just because we, as a human race, have the ability to communicate quickly doesn't mean we should stop thinking before we communicate.

[UNCA Alum]

Class of 2010. We have an offer out to Georges MaNgoue out of Lewisville, NC. He also has offers from Elon and High Point.

http://scouthoops.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p= ... id=4020109

[kingaling42]

There are 5 offers out right now from our recruiting efforts this summer from what I'm aware of... We will have 2 scholarships to fill..