Reggie Johnson update

[districtballer]

Some of you may have recalled 4-star, #16 C Reggie Johnson who were heavily recruiting last year and who picked Miami over us because he thought that Coach Grant wasn't going to be around too long (and he was completely right). You may recall that he called Coach Grant in tears over his decision since he felt such a bond to Coach Grant and VCU. He was one of those Michael Bradley-type stars that we are so close to getting but for some reason can't close the deal. Well I thought I'd give you all an update.

The kid joined Frank Haith at Miami in the ACC. If you didn't hear anything about him, it's because he didn't play. He signed his LOI only to find that he was going to be redshirted for the year. In Haith's defense, the kid was overweight (almost 340 pounds contrary to the reported 300). He spent last season really trying to get into shape for the coming season. He has since lost about 40 pounds and weighs in at a robust 296 pounds. He's 6'9 with a 7'2 wingspan. It would have been nice to see him in a Ram uniform where he would have gotten playing time from the get go, and it will be even more interesting to see how Frank Haith uses him this year, if at all.

 

[MarcusNation]

Whose team are you on here DB? ha

 

[districtballer]

Whose team are you on here DB? ha

Ours. I just thought a lot of people would want to know how Reggie is faring with his decision to join a low-tier ACC school over us. Kinda like the Mandeldove situation at UConn. Hopefully Michael Bradley sees these instances and realizes that he won't have to redshirt here to put on muscle or hone his skills. Or sit on the bench and get recruited over every year by 4 and 5 star recruits like Mandeldove and Reggie have. Bradley would be a star here from the get-go in a program that has shown it can send players to the NBA, still plays (and beats) the best, and gets to play meaningful postseason games.

 

[Mercury]

Well Reggies decision was more based on the coaches than the actual school. He knew Grant wouldnt be here long so he didn't want to go through the whole who will my next coach be thoughts every offseason

 

[districtballer]

Well Reggies decision was more based on the coaches than the actual school. He knew Grant wouldnt be here long so he didn't want to go through the whole who will my next coach be thoughts every offseason

Absolutely correct. It's a tradeoff though. He's got Frank Haith (who is probably pretty safe to be his coach for awhile), but will he get to play? Sure AG left last year, but he would have started last year and we probably would have beat UCLA with him in the frontcourt his freshman year. He'd be playing alongside an NBA first round prospect in this his second year and we'd have a frontcourt that would dominate in the CAA. I understand the whole 'you sign with a coach' deal and it is pretty true from a player's standpoint. That said, looking at Reggie situation now, was it really worth it?

 

[Mercury]

Well Reggies decision was more based on the coaches than the actual school. He knew Grant wouldnt be here long so he didn't want to go through the whole who will my next coach be thoughts every offseason

Absolutely correct. It's a tradeoff though. He's got Frank Haith (who is probably pretty safe to be his coach for awhile), but will he get to play? Sure AG left last year, but he would have started last year and we probably would have beat UCLA with him in the frontcourt his freshman year. He'd be playing alongside an NBA first round prospect in this his second year and we'd have a frontcourt that would dominate in the CAA. I understand the whole 'you sign with a coach' deal and it is pretty true from a player's standpoint. That said, looking at Reggie situation now, was it really worth it?

He brought his lack of PT on himself showing up 40 pounds over weight and probably being very out of shape. He probably wouldn't have gotten much burn at VCU showing up like that. If he comes to Miami in shape and at a good weight who knows how much he plays last year(Im not sure on heir big man situation)

 

[vcu_dan]

Some of you may have recalled 4-star, #16 C Reggie Johnson who were heavily recruiting last year and who picked Miami over us because he thought that Coach Grant wasn't going to be around too long (and he was completely right). You may recall that he called Coach Grant in tears over his decision since he felt such a bond to Coach Grant and VCU. He was one of those Michael Bradley-type stars that we are so close to getting but for some reason can't close the deal. Well I thought I'd give you all an update.

The kid joined Frank Haith at Miami in the ACC. If you didn't hear anything about him, it's because he didn't play. He signed his LOI only to find that he was going to be redshirted for the year. In Haith's defense, the kid was overweight (almost 340 pounds contrary to the reported 300). He spent last season really trying to get into shape for the coming season. He has since lost about 40 pounds and weighs in at a robust 296 pounds. He's 6'9 with a 7'2 wingspan. It would have been nice to see him in a Ram uniform where he would have gotten playing time from the get go, and it will be even more interesting to see how Frank Haith uses him this year, if at all.

man I was getting so excited because I thought you were going to say he was transferring or something

 

[MarcusNation]

Whose team are you on here DB? ha

Ours. I just thought a lot of people would want to know how Reggie is faring with his decision to join a low-tier ACC school over us. Kinda like the Mandeldove situation at UConn. Hopefully Michael Bradley sees these instances and realizes that he won't have to redshirt here to put on muscle or hone his skills. Or sit on the bench and get recruited over every year by 4 and 5 star recruits like Mandeldove and Reggie have. Bradley would be a star here from the get-go in a program that has shown it can send players to the NBA, still plays (and beats) the best, and gets to play meaningful postseason games.

just ribbin' ya.

 

[VCU Finance 2008]

Some of you may have recalled 4-star, #16 C Reggie Johnson who were heavily recruiting last year and who picked Miami over us because he thought that Coach Grant wasn't going to be around too long (and he was completely right). You may recall that he called Coach Grant in tears over his decision since he felt such a bond to Coach Grant and VCU. He was one of those Michael Bradley-type stars that we are so close to getting but for some reason can't close the deal. Well I thought I'd give you all an update.

The kid joined Frank Haith at Miami in the ACC. If you didn't hear anything about him, it's because he didn't play. He signed his LOI only to find that he was going to be redshirted for the year. In Haith's defense, the kid was overweight (almost 340 pounds contrary to the reported 300). He spent last season really trying to get into shape for the coming season. He has since lost about 40 pounds and weighs in at a robust 296 pounds. He's 6'9 with a 7'2 wingspan. It would have been nice to see him in a Ram uniform where he would have gotten playing time from the get go, and it will be even more interesting to see how Frank Haith uses him this year, if at all.

man I was getting so excited because I thought you were going to say he was transferring or something

Yeah, I read that whole thing waiting to hear that he was transferring. In general this could be a good lesson to recruits, but in this particular situation it seems like he brought this on himself. This still could end up being the best thing for him. If he would have come here and played right away he might not have been motivated to get in shape.

 

[Mistachill]

I'm not sure that Johnson "let" himself get out of shape, more like a Charles Barkley/Oliver Miller type of situation. I think he played at a certain weight in high school and discovered he couldn't play effectively at that weight at the next level.

Speaking of red-shirting, last season Mandeldove played exactly the maximum number of games in order to request a red-shirt. Wonder if they' actually did it. When you considered he prepped one year after high school to get out of his LOI, may red-shirt one season, this guy invested a lot just to say he plays for UConn.