During my snow day, I looked up the 4 recruits coming in next year. Some of these videos may be posted in this thread, but I wanted to consolidate it to one post.
Jevon Thomas: PG
I have no idea how this guy went under the radar. He committed to St. John's, then Dayton, then to us thanks to the dreamy Chet Frasier. He has one of the widest skill sets I've seen in a PG. Amazing vision, great ability to get separation and create his own shot, can hit the 3, and can drive and draw contact. Oh, and at 5'11" he can dunk it. This is easily the player I am most excited for in this next class.
Marcus Foster: SG
He's listed anywhere from 6'2" to 6'4". Haven't seen too many clips out his outside range, most of his highlights are drives to the basket. There was some concern about his ability to go left. In the first video I've posted, he makes a nice move to lay it in with his left hand at the 40 second mark, but besides that he takes way more complicated shots by favoring his right hand even when coming in from the right. He'll definitely have to work on that before he can be a major contributor. It looks like he can dunk with ease (see end of 2nd video). Most likely he'll get a handful of minutes at the 2 next year. Obviously not as many as Tay has gotten this year because nothing makes me think he can fill in at PG even at a limited role. He has great court awareness, but it shows up more on the defensive side of the ball that the offensive, which I'm totally fine with.
Westicles: SF
At 6'7" and a whopping 190 pounds, I imagine he'll have to put on at least 20 pounds before he's a real contributor. For a lazy comparison, this looks like you took Shane's body/athleticism and gave him Rodney's freshman/sophomore year skillset. Lots of offensive rebounding, and getting to the right place at the right time. Likes to get inside. He has long ways to go on the defensive side of the ball, but luckily that's the most teachable thing when making the jump from HS to college. If we keep the offense that we ran this year, I imagine he'll be asked to do what Shane's been doing. Unless he develops an outside range, I don't see him as anything more than a role player, especially considering Thomas and Foster will likely overshadow him during their 4 years here. Also, he wears #30! Just like Beasley!
Neville Fincher: PF/C
Listed at 6'9". Pretty limited highlights on this guy. He makes some really athletic dunks and they are fun to watch. So it's hard to not like that. Saw a couple clips where he dribbles past his guy to the basket, and I'm not sure we've had a big be able to do that in a long time. Seems to have good body control, much like Jamar Samuels (he also wears #32!). I also doubt this guy's defense, and rightly or wrongly, I think it's harder to correct a center's defense than a guards.
(lots of clips of guys blowing by him at the beginning, offensive highlights start at 2:37)
So, sys & MIR, feel free to PI me or critique me nicely, whichever suits you best today. I'm sure you'll object to parts of these reviews.
