2016 BB Recruiting

[Tucson_Miner]

We all know we need a power forward for next season (at least one) however I do not see us recruiting any on any of the recruiting websites. Does anyone know of any we are recruiting?

Willms at best will be what Vint is today. I actually don't think he will be as good. Kelvin Jones will be good but will only be a freshman which presents its own problems. Romine and Thomas are years from being contributors.

Next season is not looking any better ... yet.

 

[MineroFanatico]

We all know we need a power forward for next season (at least one) however I do not see us recruiting any on any of the recruiting websites. Does anyone know of any we are recruiting?

Willms at best will be what Vint is today. I actually don't think he will be as good. Kelvin Jones will be good but will only be a freshman which presents its own problems. Romine and Thomas are years from being contributors.

Next season is not looking any better ... yet.

We are recruiting Kavell Bigby-Williams, McSwig's British teammate. He is 6-10, 220 pounds and plays the PF position. Hopeful Josh can sway him out way.

 

[Tucson_Miner]

Thanks Fanati! Who do you think won't be back? My wish list for not returning are Flaggert and Touchet but realistically and since the coaches love the 2 I just listed (absolutely no idea why) I think maybe Romine, Thomas, or both won't be. Thoughts?

 

[mikesarabia]

Thanks Fanati! Who do you think won't be back? My wish list for not returning are Flaggert and Touchet but realistically and since the coaches love the 2 I just listed (absolutely no idea why) I think maybe Romine, Thomas, or both won't be. Thoughts?

For me, it would be Romine.

 

[miner1liner]

We are recruiting Kavell Bigby-Williams, McSwig's British teammate. He is 6-10, 220 pounds and plays the PF position. Hopeful Josh can sway him out way.

Hope Josh, sways himself to stay first. He must be a bit dismayed at this year's turn of events having witnessed it first hand.

 

[MineroFanatico]

Hope Josh, sways himself to stay first. He must be a bit dismayed at this year's turn of events having witnessed it first hand.

True. Or he sees it as an opportunity to make an immediate impact. I hope so anyway.

 

[MineroFanatico]

Thanks Fanati! Who do you think won't be back? My wish list for not returning are Flaggert and Touchet but realistically and since the coaches love the 2 I just listed (absolutely no idea why) I think maybe Romine, Thomas, or both won't be. Thoughts?

I hesitate to make a statement as to who I would want to leave but I have two players in mind. Touchet is not one of them. Individually he has done what I hoped this team as a whole would do...and that's improve as the season progresses.

 

[PURPLEFIRE]

How can someone want touchet to leave??? He is only a freshman he is going to be a really good point guard ! I've said it before I like the way he runs the team he is a very smart player!

 

[PURPLEFIRE]

My question now is if they get mcswiggans teammate will he have to sit out a year too???

 

[PURPLEFIRE]

And does anyone know anything more about this kelvin jones guy keep getting mixed reviews! Some say he is awful some say he is the best center we have right now....

 

[kickballpro]

My question now is if they get mcswiggans teammate will he have to sit out a year too???

I don't think so. He originally signed with Montana State and the NCAA ruled him ineligible. So he went the JUCO route.

 

[miner661]

Dominic Artis could leave right now and I wouldn't be upset. He certainly hasn't been what we all thought he would be...our savior at PG. He's a turnover machine, plays an erratic fast break, and is not all that great of a shooter. I think there are a few others, like Romine and possibly Thomas, who are just not DI caliber players. Of the two, I'd rather see Thomas return. I don't know... I'm just so disheartened by this year's version of Miners basketball.

 

[nattybry]

The fact that we're having this conversation is the main reason i think Tim Floyd has not been successful. Too much turnover, recruits not coming or gaining eligibility and no consistency to develop players to grow in the system!

 

[Voice of the Mosquito]

I would be rather careful in judging Thomas, Touchet and any freshman for that matter. Few players make the jump form HS to D1 starters successfully. It is silly to judge them with so little playing time. If anything this year's team has shown fans is you can't build a winner with only transfers and JC players. Hate to discard an uncertain future player for a uncertain present one.

 

[develman]

Dominic Artis could leave right now and I wouldn't be upset. He certainly hasn't been what we all thought he would be...our savior at PG. He's a turnover machine, plays an erratic fast break, and is not all that great of a shooter. I think there are a few others, like Romine and possibly Thomas, who are just not DI caliber players. Of the two, I'd rather see Thomas return. I don't know... I'm just so disheartened by this year's version of Miners basketball.

Maybe someone will convince him he should go pro.

 

[unihorn]

Dominic Artis could leave right now and I wouldn't be upset. He certainly hasn't been what we all thought he would be...our savior at PG. He's a turnover machine, plays an erratic fast break, and is not all that great of a shooter. I think there are a few others, like Romine and possibly Thomas, who are just not DI caliber players. Of the two, I'd rather see Thomas return. I don't know... I'm just so disheartened by this year's version of Miners basketball.

Losing Artis would make this team worse.

 

[Tucson_Miner]

Iowa State has built a power program solely off of 1-2 year transfers. I really think the whole team needs to be redone. Moore, Harris, Artis, Winn, Jones, McSwiggan (only because everyone here thinks he is amazing I've never seen him play) and K Jones (I've seen him play and he is really good) should be kept. Touchet, Flaggert, Thomas, and Romine should be on the chopping block.

As far as Touchet is concerned I think he is steady on offense but he gets beat off the dribble every single time on defense then he yells at the post player(s) for not helping. Bad attitude IMO when he was the one who got beat defensively. Just my 2 pesos on him.

 

[MineroFanatico]

Iowa State has built a power program solely off of 1-2 year transfers. I really think the whole team needs to be redone. Moore, Harris, Artis, Winn, Jones, McSwiggan (only because everyone here thinks he is amazing I've never seen him play) and K Jones (I've seen him play and he is really good) should be kept. Touchet, Flaggert, Thomas, and Romine should be on the chopping block.

As far as Touchet is concerned I think he is steady on offense but he gets beat off the dribble every single time on defense then he yells at the post player(s) for not helping. Bad attitude IMO when he was the one who got beat defensively. Just my 2 pesos on him.

Well...partially. Georges Niang, Naz Long, Matt Thomas, Monte Morris, the nucleus of the team, and all starters when healthy, have been around since freshman year. However, like you said, they do plug in well with transfers like McKay, and in the recent past Babb, Dejean-Jones, Hogue, etc.

 

[EPsports27]

Floyd's handling of the Hamilton situation has really hurt our recruiting. Then on top of that Floyd likes to waste time and money on these players that have the odds stacked up against them of not qualifying. It is really no surprise why we are a middle tier CUSA program right now. Another year with Floyd just means another year of being an average CUSA program with no chance of making the NCAA Tourney. Floyd has created a mess and the sooner we can bring in a new to coach to start cleaning up this mess, the sooner we can start making NCAA Tourneys again.

 

[Tucson_Miner]

Well...partially. Georges Niang, Naz Long, Matt Thomas, Monte Morris, the nucleus of the team, and all starters when healthy, have been around since freshman year. However, like you said, they do plug in well with transfers like McKay, and in the recent past Babb, Dejean-Jones, Hogue, etc.

Things will probably change now that Hoiberg is gone.

 

[MineroFanatico]

Things will probably change now that Hoiberg is gone.

You may be right. Even ISU had some years of relative obscurity before the Mayor showed back up in Ames.

 

[unihorn]

Floyd's handling of the Hamilton situation has really hurt our recruiting. Then on top of that Floyd likes to waste time and money on these players that have the odds stacked up against them of not qualifying. It is really no surprise why we are a middle tier CUSA program right now. Another year with Floyd just means another year of being an average CUSA program with no chance of making the NCAA Tourney. Floyd has created a mess and the sooner we can bring in a new to coach to start cleaning up this mess, the sooner we can start making NCAA Tourneys again.

You mean Floyd holding Hamilton to his word/commitment?

 

[unihorn]

Floyd's handling of the Hamilton situation has really hurt our recruiting. Then on top of that Floyd likes to waste time and money on these players that have the odds stacked up against them of not qualifying. It is really no surprise why we are a middle tier CUSA program right now. Another year with Floyd just means another year of being an average CUSA program with no chance of making the NCAA Tourney. Floyd has created a mess and the sooner we can bring in a new to coach to start cleaning up this mess, the sooner we can start making NCAA Tourneys again.

I take issue with citing Hamilton as one of Floyd's failures.

First of all, he should get a little credit for landing a big fish.

Secondly, in this day of player's tweeting their de-commitments, I'm glad the "sit out a year if you transfer" rule is in effect. It would be complete chaos without it.

So what's your issue? That he should have granted Hamilton a release to look like a nice guy, and that more blue-chip recruits would have then come our way? I don't buy it.

 

[LaserCoog]

I take issue with citing Hamilton as one of Floyd's failures.

First of all, he should get a little credit for landing a big fish.

Secondly, in this day of player's tweeting their de-commitments, I'm glad the "sit out a year if you transfer" rule is in effect. It would be complete chaos without it.

So what's your issue? That he should have granted Hamilton a release to look like a nice guy, and that more blue-chip recruits would have then come our way? I don't buy it.

@unihorn, outsider here, but my casual observation is that you seem to consistently be one of Tim Floyd's biggest fans/defenders. I understand why there is widespread frustration and disappointment with the current state of the basketball program. And if I'm correct, this will be his sixth year at UTEP without a conference title, post-season conference tournament title, or NCAA appearance. Just curious, what is your personal observation/timetable for a change in program leadership/direction?

 

[unihorn]

@unihorn, outsider here, but my casual observation is that you seem to consistently be one of Tim Floyd's biggest fans/defenders. I understand why there is widespread frustration and disappointment with the current state of the basketball program. And if I'm correct, this will be his sixth year at UTEP without a conference title, post-season conference tournament title, or NCAA appearance. Just curious, what is your personal observation/timetable for a change in program leadership/direction?

I had high hopes for Floyd, but am frustrated with where we are. Some of the stuff that gets hung around Floyd's neck here goes too far, however. Examples include Hamilton, and a disinclination to put any responsibility on the players for not playing consistently hard.

Bottom line is on Miner Maniac's poll earlier this week, I voted with the relative majority:

He needs a CUSA title and/or Tournament bid next season, or fire him.

 

[artistarts28]

And does anyone know anything more about this kelvin jones guy keep getting mixed reviews! Some say he is awful some say he is the best center we have right now....

He could be the best center UTEP has but thats not saying much. This team has been a disaster, losing Lang, Hunter, and Washburn were bigger losses then we could have ever imagined

 

[PURPLEFIRE]

Agree or disagree not that it matters but... If we had hunter and Wilms I could see us winning the conference this year

 

[MinerManiac]

Agree or disagree not that it matters but... If we had hunter and Wilms I could see us winning the conference this year

Hunter would have obviously made a big difference. Unless he was much improved from last year, like Vint, I don't think that Willms would have made much of an impact.

 

[EPsports27]

You mean Floyd holding Hamilton to his word/commitment?

These situations happen all the time in college sports. B. Jones committed and signed with SDSU but backed out and SDSU let him go. Then Floyd picked him up. Hamilton just wanted was his grandma to see him play in LA. Just let him go. But no Floyd wanted to make big deal and it ended up hurting us worse than it did Hamilton.

 

[unihorn]

So as a coach, you'd just let players walk.

How exactly has it hurt us?

 

[kickballpro]

Thomas and Jones were heavily recruited. Lee Moore was once the number one rated JC guard in the country. Touchet was two time Gatorade player of the year. Romine had a bunch of schools after him. Artis was a big time talent, Morris originally signed with Kent State. If you look up and down the roster, it's is full of decorated athletes that just haven't transitioned well.

I am not convinced that 2 players who had zero offers are the savior next season.

If Floyd's plan is to dump guys and overhaul the roster by signing 2 or 3 in the late period, then I think he needs to go. That way of doing things hasn't worked for him yet. But I'll stick with him if he takes his two incoming freshman and the 11 returnees and coaches them up for next year. I don't feel that things are that dire looking forward. The remainder of the season should be used to develop the younger guys. More minutes for the freshman. I don't want to see us rebuild next year. I think Floyd deserves one more year to work with this current roster.

 

[MINER63]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Wait until next year. Then maybe we'll be good. Is anybody home?

 

[kickballpro]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Wait until next year. Then maybe we'll be good. Is anybody home?

I am the first non-troll that called for his job. After Watts, Washburn, and Howard, left I posted and called SportsTalk and said he should be out. 2 out of his first 3 classes were failures. I was the lone desenter for a while.

Now, I am so sick and tired of the excuses. I want to see what Floyd can do without the excuses. His scholarships are spread out well. He'll have the full compliment of scholarship athletes next season healthy and elgible. Next season is the first year in which the homers have no defense.

So let's see.

 

[utep2step]

He could be the best center UTEP has but thats not saying much. This team has been a disaster, losing Lang, Hunter, and Washburn were bigger losses then we could have ever imagined

I've been saying that for months. This should not be a rebuilding year because UTEP should have retained Chris Washburn Jr, Hunter, Speight, Hamilton and a couple others on this squad because this year was dubbed to be "the year". But they decommitted, transferred or got burned by stupid employees within the athletic department and pissed off momma and went pro. This year has the potential to be an utter failure and there is blame to be placed all around: Floyd, Stull and his sometimes lame brain staff, assistant coaches, current players not playing to their potential every game, even the gawd damned medical staff in El Paso and the ones is Los Angeles (not sure if fans know but many of the surgeries to players at UTEP are done in L.A., not El Paso; for getting Wilms hopes, and fans, up and rushing Wilms back on to the court.).

 

[Lil_Train]

For next season, it appears the staff is willing to roll the dice with the inside guys they already have on board (to include Kelvin Jones). Sure, we are linked to Bigby-Williams, but really, we haven't heard of any other JC big men that the staff is after at this point. Hopefully that staff is able to find an inside player late that can come in and contribute right away. If Willms is unable to make it back, and that is a real possibility; this only makes the situation more dire. Granted Willms has never been any where near a dominant player on offense or defense, but he could provide valuable depth behind a quality big man if healthy.

So, my question to the staff is why are we in this position? Last year, we all knew that we were losing Lang and Hunter (yes, the staff knew he was leaving). So, why didn't we try to go after some immediate help inside? Also, instead of red-shirting a large group of marginal D-1 guys, why didn't we try to go after a D1 transfer or two? Then the young, big men would have more time to mature, and the situation this year would have not been as difficult. You have to question the overall recruiting strategy by the staff.

Now, for next year, it looks like we are again in the same boat; and it doesn't look like the staff has prepared once again. Here's hoping we can pull a miracle late signing somehow, that Willms can make it back, that P. Thomas and B. Jones make an unbelievable jump next year, and that Kelvin Jones is indeed that diamond in the rough who can transition over to D1 ball after really just starting to play ball a few years ago. By my count, including K. Jones, we are already one ride over the limit for next year. If we add one or two more players late, it will be interesting to see which current guys won't be returning. Either way, the staff has their work cut out for them.

 

[kickballpro]

Just offered JaCardo Hawkins, a 6-8, 250 pound power forward from San Bernadino Valley College.

 

[MineroFanatico]

Just offered JaCardo Hawkins, a 6-8, 250 pound power forward from San Bernadino Valley College.

At Blinn he went 13pts, 9 boards, and 66% fg, and 50% from the stripe.

At San Bernadino he went for 14pts, 8.5 boards, 65% fg, and 65+% from the line.

He is steady scoring and rebounding in the paint with a sweltering 65% fg. Verbal commits says we are his only offer. Had a La Tech offer according to rivals, but must've been out of HS. Has worked to bring his ft average up drastically from last year. Biggg body. Something we need drastically.

 

[utep2step]

http://www.kbtx.com/sports/home/headlines/Blinn--291590691.html

Big body, smooth turnaround jump shot and appears strong in the post.

 

[utep2step]

At Blinn he went 13pts, 9 boards, and 66% fg, and 50% from the stripe.

At San Bernadino he went for 14pts, 8.5 boards, 65% fg, and 65+% from the line.

He is steady scoring and rebounding in the paint with a sweltering 65% fg. Verbal commits says we are his only offer. Had a La Tech offer according to rivals, but must've been out of HS. Has worked to bring his ft average up drastically from last year. Biggg body. Something we need drastically.

But 50 from the stripe?

Free throw shooting is becoming a dying art. Obviously Floyd doesn't stress it enough otherwise UTEP could have avoided some embarrassing losses this year.

 

[MineroFanatico]

But 50 from the stripe?

Free throw shooting is becoming a dying art. Obviously Floyd doesn't stress it enough otherwise UTEP could have avoided some embarrassing losses this year.

Curious. Did you read the whole thing? Went from 50% to 65+% in a year. With his numbers, I'll take 65% from the line.

Not only that, he is shooting 83% from the line in conference play this season. Obviously has the capacity to get better.