Scout.com Updated 2011 Top 100

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RAMification

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Dave Telep has just released his updated top 100 list for 2011. VCU is listed with the #24 ranked prospect in the country -that being Dorian Finney-Smith from I.C. Norcom High in Portsmouth. Smith who is 6'7" 185lbs. is of course Ben Finney's brother and played on the same team as Darius.

Of interest, Adjehi Baru who played this past year in Richmond is the #71 ranked player in the class. He is listed at 6'9" 220lbs. and has offers/interest from Alabama, Charlotte, Maryland, VT and Xavier. I would put my money on bama from what I've been hearing.

Recruiting rankings are extemely fluid and the next update will come on-line after the summer AAU ball period comes to a conclusion.
 
I would be amazed if a top 50, or even 100 prospect would go to ODU and play in Blaine's slow offense. It would seems that most of the top players want an upbeat, high scoring offense to showcase their skills.
 
One thing I found interesting, if you do a search of three star prospects on scout.com, only 8 are from VA, 6 from Maryland, 9 from Florida and 20 from North Carolina. At first I thought bias was involved since Dave Telep is based in NC but when you check Rivals, the result are kinda similar: VA - 9, MD - 6, FL - 13, NC - 16.

Bottom line, focusing on NC and FL seems to make sense.
 
Chill,
I think you are right on the money. Both Florida and North Carolina are historically talent rich when it comes to prep basketball. I have been a part of VCU basketball since the 70's and although I am a season ticket holder and attend most games I have lived in Carolina for the last 20-years. I have followed the prep scene very closely and there is a marked difference between Carolina and most states in terms of prep talent. One reason - people are basketball crazy down here. When I went to see Eric Maynor play at the Dean Dome in the 5-A State Championship game there was in excess of 20,000 in attendance.

I can tell you right now VCU is both a very well known and much respected program down here in Carolina. It's no secret as to why we are recruiting so well down here. Both Reddic and McCarter could have gone to High-Major programs. We prevailed because of opportunity, a stellar recruiting job by the staff and reputation. Look for this trend to continue. We are locked in a recruiting battle for three(3) top notch PG's down here as well as Shane Larkin in Fla.
 
We're really focusing on one PG in North Carolina...but you are right we are looking at 2 others as well who we have as mid-major guys, and the staff is really focusing on the state and mining it. They have worked relationships basically so that we get our pick of talent from that state at the high mid-major level. The players that we recruit and pursue are only being lost to high-major schools.

While we are recruiting Larkin, he will bolt for the first good high-major offer he gets. We are recruiting him hard but he is not in the 5 guards we have in our realistic depth chart. If we get him it will be amazing though. Don't get your hopes too high though.
 
Good info DB. Your information is apparently a little more recent than mine as I thought we were still going after Wilson hard. While I agree he may flourish a bit more in a half-court set he is a very, very good player.

I also agree with you about Larkin. I think at the end of the day he will go as high as he can. If he were to go Elite-Mid I would say we have a shot!
 
districtballer said:
We're really focusing on one PG in North Carolina...but you are right we are looking at 2 others as well who we have as mid-major guys, and the staff is really focusing on the state and mining it. They have worked relationships basically so that we get our pick of talent from that state at the high mid-major level. The players that we recruit and pursue are only being lost to high-major schools.

While we are recruiting Larkin, he will bolt for the first good high-major offer he gets. We are recruiting him hard but he is not in the 5 guards we have in our realistic depth chart. If we get him it will be amazing though. Don't get your hopes too high though.
Click to expand...

http://scouthoops.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p= ... id=3575008

Is that the one guy?
 
We've backed off on Wilson for what the staff believes to be a better player and better suited for our system. That is not to take away from Wilson who is a solid point guard in his own right. If he ends up at ODU I believe he will help them. While our offer is still on the table, we are not aggressively pursuing him like we are a couple of other guards.

We are at the top of Larkin's list (as that is no hidden knowledge) right now, but he has made it clear he wants to play at the highest level possible. With the AAU season in July coming up, I highly doubt as a 4-star guy that he's not getting an offer from a bigger school in the next couple of months.

While our top 3 (Henry is included in that) are not especially touted, the staff has evaluated these guys as high-major talents. We want them to commit as soon as possible for obvious reasons. If we get one of them to complement Henry, that would be great, if we get both, we could be very scary going forward. All 3 will be a step above the CAA level as far as athleticism, speed, and their overall level of playing ability. That's not to say that they will all take the CAA by storm, even high-major recruits flop or don't pan out more often than not. The key is we're getting in with guys that the CAA does not usually get or go after. Or we're catching them before anyone else realizes what we already know to be true about how good they are.

As for naming names as to who our priorities are VCUSummer69, I won't do that for obvious reasons. He is one of the 5 guards we're looking at though.
 
North Carolina is a basketball state, having no teams there or in any neighboring states who can play football.
 
While we are recruiting Larkin, he will bolt for the first good high-major offer he gets. We are recruiting him hard but he is not in the 5 guards we have in our realistic depth chart. If we get him it will be amazing though. Don't get your hopes too high though.
Click to expand...

Too late for me--my hopes are up. Come on Larkin, pursue the three R's: Reading, 'ritting, and the Road-to-Richmond. VCU's the place to be. You will have fast, athletic talent with great hands in your front court and along side you on fast breaks. If you think you're gettin u-tube hits now, wait until folks see you in the VCU black-and-gold.
 
RamJamFan said:
While we are recruiting Larkin, he will bolt for the first good high-major offer he gets. We are recruiting him hard but he is not in the 5 guards we have in our realistic depth chart. If we get him it will be amazing though. Don't get your hopes too high though.
Click to expand...

Too late for me--my hopes are up. Come on Larkin, pursue the three R's: Reading, 'ritting, and the Road-to-Richmond. VCU's the place to be. You will have fast, athletic talent with great hands in your front court and along side you on fast breaks. If you think you're gettin u-tube hits now, wait until folks see you in the VCU black-and-gold.
Click to expand...

I feel like givin' out a BangWin! I am glad we are hard on him.
 
RAMification said:
Dave Telep has just released his updated top 100 list for 2011. VCU is listed with the #24 ranked prospect in the country -that being Dorian Finney-Smith from I.C. Norcom High in Portsmouth. Smith who is 6'7" 185lbs. is of course Ben Finney's brother and played on the same team as Darius.
Click to expand...

I'd love to see us land Dorian. I was EXTREMELY impressed with him when I saw him play in the state title game. Definitely the most talented player on that court (although keep an eye on Petersburg's point guard...kid's gonna be good).
 
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