VCU going big with the last scholarship...

[districtballer]

I obviously won't go too in-depth on who VCU is recruiting since other programs' coaches have tabs on this board. I'll keep it to guys that have been published out on the net as receiving significant VCU interest.

6'9, 238 pound Keith Coleman out of Philadelphia has an offer from VCU and should visit in the near future. “Texas, Miami, VCU, Nebraska, Siena, Drexel, Marshall, Kentucky, etc.,” is his list as of now. He's a physical specimen who is a ferocious dunker. Expect high-majors to come in this fall with the 2011 thin on bigs. VCU is actively involved with Coleman right now.

6'9 Texas big Daniel Green has an offer from VCU and visited on an unofficial here last week. His list of offers includes UNCW, UTEP, Tulsa, Wichita State, and Creighton among others. He is also one of our targets. UNCW and Buzz Peterson are making a big push for him right now.

In addition to Green we are recruiting a couple of other players from the midwest and a couple from the deep south (we should have a visit this weekend from one of them) that haven't been publicized online. We are looking at the JUCO ranks as well as the 2011 class is not very strong on bigs. We have a chance to grab a stud from there (read: better than Toby). Considering Toby should start from Day 1, this would be a nice get as would any of the above players.

With a good young nucleus of bigs in Haley, Reddic, and Houston, any one of these guys would really put us in a BCS level of size and depth (with a pretty good skill level from the get-go) as far as the front court goes.

 

[vcu_dan]

any sort of news we should be getting excited about in the near future...?

 

[districtballer]

any sort of news we should be getting excited about in the near future...?

We'll hopefully have a commitment by this time next month. Of course that can change at any moment. We'll have a couple of visits the next couple of weekends.

 

[mwalvlior]

any sort of news we should be getting excited about in the near future...?

We'll hopefully have a commitment by this time next month. Of course that can change at any moment. We'll have a couple of visits the next couple of weekends.

any worry that with a full year left we could lose one or more of the four we would have verbals from? i ask because for all intensive purposes we would then be out of the recruiting market and if someone did go elsewhere we would be "behind"

 

[districtballer]

any sort of news we should be getting excited about in the near future...?

We'll hopefully have a commitment by this time next month. Of course that can change at any moment. We'll have a couple of visits the next couple of weekends.

any worry that with a full year left we could lose one or more of the four we would have verbals from? i ask because for all intensive purposes we would then be out of the recruiting market and if someone did go elsewhere we would be "behind"

Recruiting never stops and you always plan for the worst. As for being behind, we are far ahead of most of our CAA counterparts when it comes to recruiting and that's with a decommitment already in Kasey Wilson. In the event that somebody does go back on their word, there are always contingency plans in place. You hear about guards being recruited even now despite the fact that we don't have any scholarships for guards available right now. Recruiting is something that never truly stops.

 

[ramathon74]

What is the latest on the recruitment of the Pittman kid?

 

[districtballer]

What is the latest on the recruitment of the Pittman kid?

At this point he's not a target from what I understand.

 

[vcu_dan]

Recruiting never stops and you always plan for the worst. As for being behind, we are far ahead of most of our CAA counterparts when it comes to recruiting and that's with a decommitment already in Kasey Wilson. In the event that somebody does go back on their word, there are always contingency plans in place. You hear about guards being recruited even now despite the fact that we don't have any scholarships for guards available right now. Recruiting is something that never truly stops.

and Shaka has got to get his verbals from the 2012 and 2013 guys comin in lol

 

[RamJamFan]

We'll hopefully have a commitment by this time next month. Of course that can change at any moment. We'll have a couple of visits the next couple of weekends.

I'm excited about the quality of the bigs you mentioned--going big seems logical at this point. Does this mean Finey-Smith and Larkin are likely secondary focus or leaning elsewhere?

 

[buckwheat]

pretty sure finney-smith was never even in the picture. gotta believe he's BCS bound.

 

[districtballer]

We'll hopefully have a commitment by this time next month. Of course that can change at any moment. We'll have a couple of visits the next couple of weekends.

I'm excited about the quality of the bigs you mentioned--going big seems logical at this point. Does this mean Finey-Smith and Larkin are likely secondary focus or leaning elsewhere?

VCU stopped recruiting Larkin a while ago as well as Finney-Smith (although it was more because we knew we didn't have much of a shot after he blew up). Buckwheat, word is that it's a done deal for Finney-Smith to become a Hokie and has been that way for some time. Coach John Richardson is the tipping factor in Virginia Tech's favor. Word from around the Blacksburg area is that Richardson's job may be on the line if he doesn't get Finney-Smith. In effect he was hired to nab Dorian and while he won't be fired right away should they not get him, he will be expected to get a top 50 kid from the tidewater area in the next couple of seasons if he doesn't. While this seems unfair, he did also use his relationship with Finney-Smith to leverage himself into getting the Tech assistant position. I think DFS actually would have gone to ODU if Richardson was still an assistant there. He has an extremely close relationship with the Finney family. I guess it's good news for us and the rest of the CAA that Seth Greenberg hired him away.

 

[BradRamFan]

any worry that with a full year left we could lose one or more of the four we would have verbals from? i ask because for all intensive purposes we would then be out of the recruiting market and if someone did go elsewhere we would be "behind"

Not a full year....more like 3 1/2 months until early signing period for 2011 recruits. If one of them balks at signing in Nov then I'd be pretty sure he wouldn't be available in the spring. But let's hope all these guys realize they have a great opportunity to showcase their skills and get on the national stage if they all come to VCU.

 

[ShoeSh1ne]

I'm cool with anyone Texas is after. They know how to recruit studs.

 

[xjohnx]

I'm cool with anyone Texas is after. They know how to recruit studs.

Texas should be ok with anyone VCU is after. We know how to recruit studs.

 

[RAMification]

DB is right on the money - that last scholarship will almost certainly be used on a big man be it a prep player or a JUCO. This makes sense as it will help balance out the class and you can never have enough quality bigs. All of the players he mentioned and the few he knows about but can't mention at this juncture are excellent prospects that would be very nice additions to the Ram family.

One point DB made that I can not underscore enough is that recruiting NEVER stops with respect to successful programs. You must always have solid contingency plans especially given the transient nature of our society. Very few things are guaranteed these days so preparedness is a must.