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Regular basketball signing period begins tomorrow

axingfools1

axingfools1

MI Miner Maniac
Nov 6, 2011
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and goes through May 17th.

Somebody mentioned that Touchet (who is on a Presidential scholarship) will not be on an athletic scholarship. I will assume that this does not count against the 13 available for 17'-18'. So here's a summary of what we have right now/signed and a few of the question marks.

Touchet RS Jr. (academic)
Harris Sr.
Flaggert RS Sr.
Thomas Jr.
Willms Sr. grad 6th year prop

Barrett So.
Osborne So.
Williams So.
Smith Fr.
Jones So. prop

Gilyard Fr.
McGee Fr.

Question marks are:
Wade Fr. prop -- eligibility/leg injury
St. Pierre Fr. verbal
Brewer Fr. verbal

I'm gonna guess that Wade qualifies and St. Pierre signs. McGee will redshirt and also possibly St. Pierre.

If neither of the two verbals sign then there will be one more suprise. If both sign then Wade is a no go.

And yes I know it's all speculation but that's the fun of it for me. Any other ideas or new info?
 
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axingfools1 said:
and goes through May 17th.

Somebody mentioned that Touchet (who is on a Presidential scholarship) will not be on an athletic scholarship. I will assume that this does not count against the 13 available for 17'-18'. So here's a summary of what we have right now/signed and a few of the question marks.

Touchet RS Jr. (academic)
Harris Sr.
Flaggert RS Sr.
Thomas Jr.
Willms Sr. grad 6th year prop

Barrett So.
Osborne So.
Williams So.
Smith Fr.
Jones So. prop

Gilyard Fr.
McGee Fr.

Question marks are:
Wade Fr. (prop 48 eligibility/leg injury)
St. Pierre Fr. verbal
Brewer Fr. verbal

I'm gonna guess that Wade qualifies and St. Pierre signs. McGee will redshirt and also possibly St. Pierre.

If neither of the two verbals sign then there will be one more suprise. If both sign then Wade is a no go.

And yes I know it's all speculation but that's the fun of it for me. Any other ideas or new info?
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Likewise for myself with regard to speculating axingfools1. It's not like we hear anything out of the local media or UTEP; but that is an entirely different subject.

So, my two cents on how I think this could turn out: I do think St. Pierre will sign; I've heard he is a solid commit. I haven't heard anything on Brewer, although he was referred to as a UTEP commit up to the end of his season. If my numbers are right, if Brewer does sign, then we would be one over if everyone else is eligible. Keep in mind, redshirts do still receive rides. Therefore, it could turn out that one or more of the guys may not qualify. There have been unconfirmed rumors that Tirus Smith may have grade issues. Other rumors have Deon Barrett looking to transfer. All of this is speculation.

On a side note, I did want to mention that one guy who is highly thought of by the staff, and who has some really impressive high school highlights is Trey Wade. I had forgotten that he did get injured while sitting out. He is one guy who I am really hoping makes it on the team next year. He looks like a guy with a super high ceiling; and has all the tools to be an impact player down the road.
 
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Apparently, only St. Pierre will sign late. This makes sense numbers wise, and is a good indication that all of the new guys will qualify; assuming Touchet is on academic ride only. I think it also indicates the staff is ok with our current wing players. Hopefully, there will be no drama going into next season. I do think the overall talent has improved tremendously in terms of depth. We will need to see which guys can contribute quickly, and that starts at the PG position.
 
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Also it was confirmed that Wade is on track and that the class is "complete". St. Pierre comes in at 6'10" 280lbs!! Maybe a tad overweight coming off surgery. Hopefully he can be Ced 2.0 or better. I still think he will redshirt with McGee.
 
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Tentatively we have Thomas, Smith, Williams plus maybe Brewer at forward. We have Osborne and Flaggert at either 2 or 3 and a bunch at 1 and/or 2. It'll be intriguing to see who fits where.
The only sure bets ( IMO) as starters are Omega, Thomas and Willms. That's good news to have so many viable options. Can go big or small.
 
Brewer is out. Floyd said the class is finished for this year...

I think Williams will play small forward but he really needs to work on his outside game. If Floyd wants to go big then he can. This team will be deep if Smith is D1 ready from the start, however PG play will make or break this team this year. Let's hope that Touchet, Barrett, McGee or Gilyard are up to the task. Unless McGee is the next Fili Rivera, he needs to redshirt IMO.
 
axingfools1 said:
Brewer is out. Floyd said the class is finished for this year...

I think Williams will play small forward but he really needs to work on his outside game. If Floyd wants to go big then he can. This team will be deep if Smith is D1 ready from the start, however PG play will make or break this team this year. Let's hope that Touchet, Barrett, McGee or Gilyard are up to the task. Unless McGee is the next Fili Rivera, he needs to redshirt IMO.
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In your post yesterday you listed Brewer as a question mark. Today you say he's out. When did Floyd say the class was finished?
 
miner1liner said:
Did he say, "6'-9" 290 lbs?
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Yeah he was, UTEP hadn't received the LOI when he talked to the media, but that 290 might be dead weight since he was injured and hasn't worked out in god knows how long.

I would guess St. Pierre is a redshirt candidate barring any more Willms injuries. He needs a year with Chisan Jones (UTEP strength coach) in the weight room.
 
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One thing that caught my attention was that Floyd clearly stated that Touchet is on academic AND athletic scholarship; and this makes sense in that he is a D1 level contributor on the team. Again, this means that we are one over our 13 scholarship allotment at this time. My feeling is that the staff is set to go with the two freshman guys at the point next year. They have consistently mentioned other programs who have been successful recently with freshman point guards.
 
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Lil_Train said:
One thing that caught my attention was that Floyd clearly stated that Touchet is on academic AND athletic scholarship; and this makes sense in that he is a D1 level contributor on the team. Again, this means that we are one over our 13 scholarship allotment at this time. My feeling is that the staff is set to go with the two freshman guys at the point next year. They have consistently mentioned other programs who have been successful recently with freshman point guards.
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I definitely took note of Floyd mentioning that in the presser. Wonder what that means for Barrett.
 
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Roy_Bigwood_05 said:
Yeah he was, UTEP hadn't received the LOI when he talked to the media, but that 290 might be dead weight since he was injured and hasn't worked out in god knows how long.

I would guess St. Pierre is a redshirt candidate barring any more Willms injuries. He needs a year with Chisan Jones (UTEP strength coach) in the weight room.
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I get a kick out of the constant variances in the reported sizes of recruits. Floyd said 6'-9" 290 lbs and Rush says 6'-10" 280 lbs. Recently there was a huge discrepancy on Smith...180 lbs one report and 230 on another. One thing is certain and that is the recruits are a lot bigger when they are first announced, but come November; St Pierre will suddenly be reduced to 6'-8" 222 lbs and Smith will be 6'-6" 205 lbs. The opponents are always much bigger.
 
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Indeed FanatiCoog. I think we have our 13 for next year. I really like the thinking behind the summer Costa Rica trip for this team as well; with all the new guys to start blending in together with the returnees. Again, we know that PG is the big key, so the sooner our young freshmen get acclimated the better. They will be facing some big time challenges as there are tons of outstanding guards at the Mid-major level; and growing pains are to be expected. Early in the season, we may get to see a nice under six foot dual between our freshmen PGs and this kid at NMSU. Should be fun:

 
What WILL happen is Touchet will be our starting PG. If anyone takes the role from him, it won't be until around conference time.
Magee is the next Omega. He won't red shirt. No one will. He will get minutes as soon as the season starts.
 
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With things finalized here is how I see things. We will probably go 10/11 Deep

PG- Evan Gilyard/Trey Touchet
SG- Omega Harris/Trey Wade/Isaiah Osborne
SF- Roderick Williams/Tirus Smith/Jake Flaggert
PF- Paul Thomas/Tirus Smith
C- Matt Willms/Kelvin Jones
The other two will redshirt I think.
 
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nattybry said:
With things finalized here is how I see things. We will probably go 10/11 Deep

PG- Evan Gilyard/Trey Touchet
SG- Omega Harris/Trey Wade/Isaiah Osborne
SF- Roderick Williams/Tirus Smith/Jake Flaggert
PF- Paul Thomas/Tirus Smith
C- Matt Willms/Kelvin Jones
The other two will redshirt I think.
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Titus Smith...I love "small" forwards that are 6-7 230lbs
 
UTEPfan1966 said:
What WILL happen is Touchet will be our starting PG. If anyone takes the role from him, it won't be until around conference time.
Magee is the next Omega. He won't red shirt. No one will. He will get minutes as soon as the season starts.
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I agree that Magee will likely not redshirt; as he is only one of two PGs on the team. He is also a much different type of player than Omega. He is a guy who is steady with the ball, and will look to get his teammates open looks. He is nowhere near the athlete that Omega is, and much smaller. After getting the chance to see him a few times, I would compare his game to an Eddie Rivera; not saying that he is as good yet by any means. What is similar, is that he is super quick, and has a really nice midrange game even at his size. His pull up jumper reminds me of Rivera, who had knack of being able to get his shot off against bigger guys.
 
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FanatiCoog said:
I know Floyd has a tendency to embellish a bit, but he said Tirus is now 6' 9" and 241 lbs. Did anyone else catch that during his presser?
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I did as well FanatiCoog. I've seen St. Pierre listed at 6'8" as well. I think when Cedrick was at UTEP, they listed him at 6'9". Recently, I saw him listed at 6'7" by the NFL. So, yes, we know often heights/weights are exaggerated. On Smith, during his on campus visit to UTEP, he took a bit of an offense on twitter at being listed at 180 lbs by one site. If I remember correctly, he said his weight was about 240 lbs. He's a pretty big kid, who can move well. I don't see as a SF though; he's a 4.
 
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Lil_Train said:
I did as well FanatiCoog. I've seen St. Pierre listed at 6'8" as well. I think when Cedrick was at UTEP, they listed him at 6'9". Recently, I saw him listed at 6'7" by the NFL. So, yes, we know often heights/weights are exaggerated. On Smith, during his on campus visit to UTEP, he took a bit of an offense on twitter at being listed at 180 lbs by one site. If I remember correctly, he said his weight was about 240 lbs. He's a pretty big kid, who can move well. I don't see as a SF though; he's a 4.
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I agree. Perhaps a stretch 4 due to his ability to hit the 3. For that reason, I could see him playing the SF when on the floor at the same time as PT.
 
FanatiCoog said:
I agree. Perhaps a stretch 4 due to his ability to hit the 3. For that reason, I could see him playing the SF when on the floor at the same time as PT.
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Exactly. On defense, he will be matched up against the other team's PF inside. Thomas would need to handle the SF on defense.
 
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There is height and then there is length. If you've seen the highlights of Smith, check out his arm length. Marlon Maxey was listed at 6'9" I believe but played center and was dominant against legit 7 footers. So was Caracter for that matter. Tirus might be only 6'9" but he plays much taller because of his length. He gets a ton of rebounds because of his arms and I bet he blocks a lot of shots too.
 
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Lil_Train said:
I agree that Magee will likely not redshirt; as he is only one of two PGs on the team. He is also a much different type of player than Omega. He is a guy who is steady with the ball, and will look to get his teammates open looks. He is nowhere near the athlete that Omega is, and much smaller. After getting the chance to see him a few times, I would compare his game to an Eddie Rivera; not saying that he is as good yet by any means. What is similar, is that he is super quick, and has a really nice midrange game even at his size. His pull up jumper reminds me of Rivera, who had knack of being able to get his shot off against bigger guys.
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I like the comparison to Eddie Rivera. I never have compiled a list of my favorite Miners before, but if I did, he'd be in my top 5.

He was so adept at driving to the bucket, putting the defender on his heels, then would either stop and pop or do that running tear drop. His mid range game was really good. Decent 3 point shooter as well. If Magee can be even 3/4 of what Rivera was, we'll be in good hands.
 
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Lil_Train said:
I did as well FanatiCoog. I've seen St. Pierre listed at 6'8" as well. I think when Cedrick was at UTEP, they listed him at 6'9". Recently, I saw him listed at 6'7" by the NFL. So, yes, we know often heights/weights are exaggerated. On Smith, during his on campus visit to UTEP, he took a bit of an offense on twitter at being listed at 180 lbs by one site. If I remember correctly, he said his weight was about 240 lbs. He's a pretty big kid, who can move well. I don't see as a SF though; he's a 4.
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He is a 4, but can play and will play the 3 sometimes as well.
 
No Kool aid yet, just hopefully optimistic based on the turn around last year and Matt Willms having a full off season. We all know though this upcoming season hinges on the PG Development of whoever is thrown in there. We are strong at 2 guard and Center and potentially ok at PF. If we get a surprise out of the 1 and 3 positions next year might be a good one. Trey Wade might be the surprise of em all and I think Roderick Jones could be an Omar Thomas type player.
 
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nattybry said:
No Kool aid yet, just hopefully optimistic based on the turn around last year and Matt Willms having a full off season. We all know though this upcoming season hinges on the PG Development of whoever is thrown in there. We are strong at 2 guard and Center and potentially ok at PF. If we get a surprise out of the 1 and 3 positions next year might be a good one. Trey Wade might be the surprise of em all and I think Roderick Jones could be an Omar Thomas type player.
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Having a healthy Willms is huge, not just in terms of his own contribution but also for the development of a player like Kelvin Jones. He basically had no one to go up against for the entire year he had to sit out. Overall, we should have a ton more flexibility in lineups, and having two potential All-league players is a nice luxury to have for once.
 
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