Ragin' Cajuns pick up basketball pledge

[Parrott]

Recruiting is heating up for Cajuns.

http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pb...advertiser.com

[spearchucker]

_ Recruiting is heating up for Cajuns.

http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pb...advertiser.com _

I believe the Florida connection would be with assistant Nate Dixon; he is a good recruiter

[Parrott]

I hear what you're saying Brad, but this might end up being a big steal for the Cajuns. Reese has some good bloodlines and should put up bigger numbers with more playing time this season.

The quality big men are usually looking elsewhere at this point in recruiting, though sometimes a recruit picks the Sun Belt for more immediate playing time. Most of the big guys that end up in the Sun Belt are raw/projects, undersized or transfers with issues. You don't need a 7-0, 6-10 guy to win in this league. (Although it helps.) You need a solid point guard, some versatile, athletic swingmen and a 6-6 to 6-8 inside presence to win. Just look at North Texas, Western Kentucky and South Alabama in recent years.


igeaux.mobi

[CajunCanaille]

I just hope basketball gets back on track. I miss the days of actually winning.

[Parrott]

I spoke with Jeffery tonight. Look for a story in print and online soon.


igeaux.mobi

[CajunCanaille]

Josh....are you going to be coming out with a basketball preview sometime soon? I would love to hear more on your season outlook and more about any new guys we brought in. Only new guy I know of is the guy from the prep school. Don't even know his name. Thanks.

[Parrott]

Yes I will do one, but not anytime soon. We're going to get past the Sun Belt media days the next two weeks first. By that time, the team will have gone through some practices and start to develop a team identity. (Although I will provide coverage while balancing football, too.)


igeaux.mobi

[NewsCopy]

Cajuns pick up pledge from defensive gem Jeffery Reese

The rest of the story

[CajunRed]

_ ANy body can get players to sign, the question is can they get it done on a D1 level when the "BIG LIGHTS" are on.... JUCO is like open run, no real structure.... We dont need any more guards for a while, we need a dominant big man... Lets sign another 6 10 southall type player, its easy to sign the 6 5 guard/forward, those guys or all over the place, a really good recruiter will go get the game changer.... We got a team full of guard forwards... _

I knew Brad would be negative... just didn't know how much and how fast.

[zephyr]

_ ANy body can get players to sign, the question is can they get it done on a D1 level when the "BIG LIGHTS" are on.... JUCO is like open run, no real structure.... We dont need any more guards for a while, we need a dominant big man... Lets sign another 6 10 southall type player, its easy to sign the 6 5 guard/forward, those guys or all over the place, a really good recruiter will go get the game changer.... We got a team full of guard forwards... _

Brad, you should know better than most that getting a "dominant" big man is extremely difficult for a mid-major program to do in this day and age. Not to mention that the college game has, in large part, become a transition oriented game and there are a lot of teams out there that structure their team around the good SG and SF's out there. You see a lot more recruiting of the traditional PF's out there to turn them into 5's so there is more of an inside out game. The Greg Oden's are few and far between today and most centers now have to be able to run the court and even have a good range on their jumper to get the big looks. I have no problem with the way they are recruiting as long as we bring in guys who will improve in their time here, are team players and the coaches know how to assemble a gameplan that takes advantage of the given talents of the team.

[Just1More]

_ Brad, you should know better than most that getting a "dominant" big man is extremely difficult for a mid-major program to do in this day and age. Not to mention that the college game has, in large part, become a transition oriented game and there are a lot of teams out there that structure their team around the good SG and SF's out there. You see a lot more recruiting of the traditional PF's out there to turn them into 5's so there is more of an inside out game. The Greg Oden's are few and far between today and most centers now have to be able to run the court and even have a good range on their jumper to get the big looks. I have no problem with the way they are recruiting as long as we bring in guys who will improve in their time here, are team players and the coaches know how to assemble a gameplan that takes advantage of the given talents of the team. _

Not to pile on top of Brad... he knows more about basketball than 20 of me... but you are right. UL didn't "recruit" M Southall. We "found" him. Even the top programs are in search of the elusive "dominate" big man. Few big men (6-10 plus) that are accessible to UL are actually capable of contributing more than a solid 6-8 guy that we can find. Our biggest need... IMO... is the floor general PG. There are a lot of highly capable basketball athletes accessible to UL that are wingmen, shooting forward, slash and crash types.

I feel we are missing the player-coach ball handling machine guard that controls the game and team... mentally. He has basketball brains to go along with his basketball skills. That kid knows how to stop and pop when he's open, draw that special game changing foul, dribble penetrate and kick it out to an open team-mate. The single most impressive thing about WKU over the years, to me, has been their ability to find and floor a kid that essentially becomes the attitude of the team. I am tired of hearing about some kid's HS stats and his accolades, without hearing that we targeted the young man to be the practice team attitude and run the team on the contest floor. To me, too many coaches, just like in football these days... overlook the thinking kid at the helm and opt for someone with a cannon and a great 40. We, right now, at UL, need a floor general PG with a lion's heart and high basketball IQ. JMO

[HOUCajun]

_ Not to pile on top of Brad... he knows more about basketball than 20 of me... but you are right. UL didn't "recruit" M Southall. We "found" him. Even the top programs are in search of the elusive "dominate" big man.

Not only that, but we were pretty bad when he played as a Senior. D Mitchell was also on that team. That team should have been better.