Recruiting 2024 Offers

Half-baked Mcbride said:
Did you hear the one about the Polish basketball player??








yea, he ain't comin here

viva le off season!
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He was never really in the picture. Unless he goes to Yale he will likely select a West Coast school. I thought we had a decent shot at A. J. Swinton, a VT decommit from Bishop O'Connell, but he decided in favor of Florida State. He was ranked #138 nationally. There are 70 commitments out of the top 150 on 247Sports, and another half a dozen as 100% lean. That indicates that 50% or so of the top 150 are gone. That's par for the course this time of the year. What might be more telling is the substantial number of official visits scheduled for the remaining top 150 prospects. Of interest in the state is that 4 of the top 5 prospects in Virginia(247Sports) are at Paul VI Catholic in Fairfax. Locally Redd Thompson, a 6' PG at John Marshall is the #187 ranked player nationally. When he broke out earlier this year Virginia hosted him for an unofficial visit. My guess is that he does not end-up there.

Recruiting is something that has to be done 24/7/365. It's the life blood of any program. There is no taking time off with respect to the recruiting function for any reason. Hopefully our staff has had an opportunity to catch their breath and will turn-up the gas soon. Things have certainly been quiet but that may well be Ryan's way. For all we know with the possibility of 4/5 scholarships available he may be gravitating more towards the portal which of course would mean he would save several scholarships until the end. I would hope we go at least 50/50. Should be interesting.
 
Interesting. When WW left VCU for LSU it seemed everytime we went after a recruit, LSU was right there in the mix. Now with MR moving to PSU, we are seeing something similar with those we recruit and PSU (at least in this case and some previous non-vcu portal players)
 
BradRamFan said:
Interesting. When WW left VCU for LSU it seemed everytime we went after a recruit, LSU was right there in the mix. Now with MR moving to PSU, we are seeing something similar with those we recruit and PSU (at least in this case and some previous non-vcu portal players)
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To me, we are not seeing anything like the post Frank era, mainly because we simply haven't been offering anyone. The Punch visit is a fantastic sign, even if the competition is brutal
 
BradRamFan said:
Interesting. When WW left VCU for LSU it seemed everytime we went after a recruit, LSU was right there in the mix. Now with MR moving to PSU, we are seeing something similar with those we recruit and PSU (at least in this case and some previous non-vcu portal players)
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Will Wade and Mike Rhoades were from the same coaching tree so I would expect both coaches to be going after the same recruits to a certain degree. Regarding Ryan Odom and Mike Rhoades, they don't have hardly anything in common prior to Odom coming to VCU and Odom seems to recruit a completely different type/style of player. Of course they are going to occasionally cross paths, but not nearly as often as two coaches from the same coaching tree like Rhoades and Wade.
 
While it's been pretty quiet on the recruiting front I am hoping VCU will secure an official visit from Malick Diallo. Malick has expressed a strong interest in visiting the Rams and would be a very significant recruit. He is a 6'10" Center from Wasatch Academy in Utah and is a top 150 recruit. VCU offered him on July 8 and he has indicated he would like to visit. Although he is in Utah at this juncture he hails from Mali(Africa) so geographic location should not be an issue. In fact, he may even want to spend time on the East Coast. We certainly need another young big and he would certainly be a big-time addition.
 
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BradRamFan said:
Interesting. When WW left VCU for LSU it seemed everytime we went after a recruit, LSU was right there in the mix. Now with MR moving to PSU, we are seeing something similar with those we recruit and PSU (at least in this case and some previous non-vcu portal players)
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Brad - I think the rationale for this in large part is that a coach will generally scout and recruit players for a couple of years. Therefore when a coach moves on to another school he generally continues to recruit many of the prospects he has a relationship with. The school he left has familiarity with many of the prospects they had been recruiting and therefore continues to recruit a number of them as opposed to starting over. I think that's why we often see that overlap.
 
There has been a lot of activity in the top 150 2024 basketball recruiting circles of late. Right now 247sports lists 84 prospects as firmly committed, 8 100% lean, for a total of 92 of the top 150 basically off the board. There is also a substantial number that have taken multiple visits, have set visits etc. Also when you factor in the top prospects on the West Coast that likely will not come East it's getting down to slim pickings at least in terms of the top 150. It would be nice to get a visit from Malick Diallo and/or David Punch who are both top 150 recruits. Punch has VCU in his top 7 but has set-up 6 officials with VCU not being one of them as of yet. He just finished his NC State visit. He sports quite an impressive list as he supposedly has a 45" vertical. He is currently ranked #97 nationally. I think a better chance at securing a top 150 visit would be Malick Diallo who is currently ranked #147. As stated previously Malick is a 6'10" Center and seems to have a real interest in VCU. Since he hails from Mali it would seem we would hit him hard given our international recruiting experience. He would be a great get. There are plenty of excellent prospects out there but in terms of the top 150 types they are coming off the board fast.

It will be interesting to see what RO's recruiting strategy is this year. Maybe they are looking more at 2025 for preps and are thinking more in terms of hitting the portal again this year. Hopefully this question will be asked of him soon. While he can't discuss the specifics of recruiting he can certainly discuss strategy.
 
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