2011 SG Bernard Thompson down to 4 including VCU1

[wavevcu]

i must say its not an impressive list of final 4 schools but never the less we are in the mix with this young man.

Unsigned 2011 SG Bernard Thompson is down to VCU, Chattanooga, Florida Gulf Coast, and Tenn State. Tennessee's new staff has been on him too. - from twitter post. rivals says he has offers from us, east carolina, ga. state, murray state and wright state.

Thompson is a 6-3 shooting guard from GA. he has long arms and can create his own shot and has deep range. plays with a lot of confidence. he exploded onto the recruiting scene this winter.

sounds like a little smaller version of jeremy lamb ! I will take it ! Will keep you posted !

 

[rammad90]

Unless he can compete for a starting job next year we should pass. We need a tall outside shooter or a pure pg & a scoring PF.

 

[VCUFTW]

I dont know much about this kid, but from a fan point of view, its hard to get hype about battling tennessee st, chattanooga, and florida gulf coast for a recruit.

 

[districtballer]

I dont know much about this kid, but from a fan point of view, its hard to get hype about battling tennessee st, chattanooga, and florida gulf coast for a recruit.

Good thing we don't recruit based on hype level.

The kid can PLAY. I think Smart's recruits from last year have shown that when he's had a full recruiting cycle he's brought in solid players. You're gonna have to trust his recruiting acumen. Thompson is from a very under-recruited part of Georgia. Tennessee's staff is starting to sniff around. You all saw what happened with Preston Knowles who ended up starting at Louisville and was a 'nobody' when we were offering. rammad90 is right though, we do have some other needs that we want to address. That's all I'll say about that since we're still recruiting this guy and there is no point talking about it in a public forum for everybody in the world to read.

 

[NDMRAM]

I dont know much about this kid, but from a fan point of view, its hard to get hype about battling tennessee st, chattanooga, and florida gulf coast for a recruit.

Good thing we don't recruit based on hype level.

The kid can PLAY. I think Smart's recruits from last year have shown that when he's had a full recruiting cycle he's brought in solid players. You're gonna have to trust his recruiting acumen. Thompson is from a very under-recruited part of Georgia. Tennessee's staff is starting to sniff around. You all saw what happened with Preston Knowles who ended up starting at Louisville and was a 'nobody' when we were offering. rammad90 is right though, we do have some other needs that we want to address. That's all I'll say about that since we're still recruiting this guy and there is no point talking about it in a public forum for everybody in the world to read.

If I recall correctly, Treveon Graham was a "no star" non-entity on the web when we recruited him (still is maybe) but he just exploded this year and I am more excited about what he might accomplish than any recruit in recent memory. Graham is a good kid, a smart kid, and he has a spectacular game. He may turn out to be a bust, but in his case and in Thompson's case (if we go hard for him) I am willing to take the risk that the staff knows what they are doing.

 

[districtballer]

Graham can be a 1,500+ point scorer at VCU. He's as good a scorer as we've recruited here. He flat out can put the ball in the basket. He is going to be one of our primary scoring options in the future. This guy was getting serious interest from both Boston College and Clemson prior to committing to us. You should know that Shaka or a member of the coaching staff were at EVERY single game he played last summer on the AAU circuit. EVERY.SINGLE.ONE. From Indianapolis, to Florida, to New York, you name it, they were there watching him. That should go to show how high our staff is on him.

He's going to be a freshman and he's not going to take the CAA by storm. Neither have any of this year's freshmen, but I'm sure we can all agree they can play and have bright futures. Tre is no different. He's going to be an exciting part of this team for years to come.

 

[SPI-DA1]

Don't know much about this kid but Eric was not recruited by the big boys either and look at him now. Larry was in the same boat and look at him now. I trust that this staff knows what is needed for the upcoming season. Right now he is just a prospect. Nothing wrong with checking people out.

 

[RamJamFan]

I am very impressed with the job this staff has done with recruiting, so I'm not going to even comment on what they may see that I only guess based on e-sites. I will speculate that most of the recruiting bang we might get out of this year's Final 4 run probably won't be felt until 2012?

I see this staff's strength at targeting and developing recruiting relationships, and at this point in the process I'm going to guess specific needs our staff are targeting won't get realized until they can pursue the full recruiting cycle. Right now I'm thinking they may just pick-up someone they think is a really good player/fit regardless of position. Maybe I'm wrong, but again how much recruiting at this point is really happening that isn't mostly "leftovers" [and I don't mean that to slight any of the many good remaining players...as kids circumstances are all different. I'm speaking generally].

 

[Ramball]

For the recruits coming in, it’s validation. Katrina Graham, the mother of VCU’s top incoming freshman, 6-foot-5 forward Treveon Graham from Bowie, Md., says everyone questioned her son’s decision to attend VCU. Graham could have gone to Clemson University or Boston College, from the higher-profile Atlantic Coast Conference, or VCU rival Old Dominion. But he chose Smart and the Rams.
“Everywhere we went, they were there,” Katrina Graham says of last summer, when her son played in the neighborhood of 50 basketball games with his Amateur Athletic Union team. She means everywhere. Either Smart or Jones attended all of his games, even though NCAA rules prevented them from talking to him. The VCU coaches traveled to North Carolina, Florida, New York, Chicago — even Indianapolis.

“Everywhere we went this summer, they were there,” she says. “My son is quiet, low key or whatever. It didn’t take long for him to open up to them. With the other ones, he just didn’t feel that connection.”

Still, she heard from family and friends who questioned why her son opted to play at VCU, in the mid-major Colonial Athletic Association, instead of the powerhouse ACC where he could have gotten more exposure. Looking back, of course, the questions seem silly. “I put that on my Facebook,” she says. “Where are all y’all haters at now?”

http://www.styleweekly.com/ME2/Audience ... 5E856C8C66

 

[ViCtorioUs]

First of all, a rarity among rarities, a postive article about VCU in Style Magazine.

Secondly, this. In retrospect what a monumentally stupid statement.

“There was definitely a group of fans who were very critical of him, because they let me know about it,” Teague says, recalling one text message in particular instructing him to “fire Shaka Smart and his inept staff.”

 

[Mistachill]

Postby dillardiv on Tue Mar 08, 2011 12:09 am
I'm so frustrated. I know y'all will all tear me apart, and potentially revoke my membership, but here we go. I know this will never actually get read, but I feel better sending it.

"Mr. Teague,

I would like to express my frustration regarding the season of our men's basketball team. I feel like you and your staff made the incorrect decision by hiring Mr. Smart as our head coach. As a graduating senior, watching us throw away the best chance at an NCAA berth for the next several years is just heartbreaking. I know we gave ourselves a great chance at the NCAA tournament by getting to the final game in the CAA championship, but being forced to win 3 games in a row is not the way to do it. A big part of a successful mid-major team is winning when the spotlight is on us. Almost every game that we played on national television ended in a miserable loss. How can we be expect to be taken seriously by the media at large, alumni, and potential recruits? I hope you will seriously consider terminating Mr. Smart's contract at the end of next season, after we inevitably fall short of the NCAA Tournament.

A soon-to-be alumnus who will not donate to a losing team,
Dillard Watt"

First of all, a rarity among rarities, a postive article about VCU in Style Magazine.

Secondly, this. In retrospect what a monumentally stupid statement.

“There was definitely a group of fans who were very critical of him, because they let me know about it,” Teague says, recalling one text message in particular instructing him to “fire Shaka Smart and his inept staff.”

 

[Pavarotti]

Interesting side note, I believe Mr. Watt got to watch us beat Florida St in person, from his seats with the ur tick "pep" band.

 

[getSmart]

Great article.

I escpecially love the part where Katrina Graham stands up for Treveon's decision to attend VCU and then calls out all of the doubters. Really glad that the Graham's are joining the VCU family!

 

[VCUFTW]

Interesting side note, I believe Mr. Watt got to watch us beat Florida St in person, from his seats with the ur tick "pep" band.

lolololololololol

 

[rammed]

the Style Weekly article is one of the best articles I've read on VCU basketball in a very, very long time. kudos!