Cajuns land new hoops commitment

[Turbine]

Can we just recruit a scoring machine? Let's Hope he is the next Elfrid Peyton.

Forgive me, that is not how I remember Elfrid.

[CajunEXPRESS]

Recruiting or playing?

EP under recruited because coaches were all too lazy to know what grade he was in. That kid fell into our laps as his dad looked for the right opportunity.

EP was never a scoring machine. He made others Better scorers. He made the opposition weaker everywhere.

[CajunRed]

I am a great fan of what Bryce did this year to help carry this team. But remember...a lot of what he was able to do is because of all the attention Shawn attracted. Bryce without Shawn won't be as strong...and this new guy without Shawn to pull attention away will not be as strong as Bryce was this year.

Jmo

[Turbine]

I am a great fan of what Bryce did this year to help carry this team. But remember...a lot of what he was able to do is because of all the attention Shawn attracted. Bryce without Shawn won't be as strong...and this new guy without Shawn to pull attention away will not be as strong as Bryce was this year.

Jmo

Valid.

[VObserver]

I am a great fan of what Bryce did this year to help carry this team. But remember...a lot of what he was able to do is because of all the attention Shawn attracted. Bryce without Shawn won't be as strong...and this new guy without Shawn to pull attention away will not be as strong as Bryce was this year.

Jmo

We are not replacing Shawn. We would love to, but we just aren't. What we are doing is recruiting a guy that we believe can keep our front court the best in our conference. I believe that this guy can do that. I think we can get 10 and 5 from Miller, and Washington will give us 15 and 8. That is solid. Plus both are very good passers and smart players.

Washington is going to draw a lot of attention from opposing teams next year. I believe Miller can capitalize on that. He ain't chopped liver. You don't get to be the MVP in the Kentucky State Tournament [in Kentucky's highest classification] if you can't play.

[CajunRed]

We are not replacing Shawn. We would love to, but we just aren't. What we are doing is recruiting a guy that we believe can keep our front court the best in our conference. I believe that this guy can do that. I think we can get 10 and 5 from Miller, and Washington will give us 15 and 8. That is solid. Plus both are very good passers and smart players.

Washington is going to draw a lot of attention from opposing teams next year. I believe Miller can capitalize on that.

I did not say we were replacing Shawn. What I said was in both instances, neither player will be as effective without Shawn here to draw attention as Bryce was this year playing next to Shawn. In my opinion, had Bryce been playing this year next to Plaisance instead of Shawn, he would not have had as good a year. And, at the same time, we cannot assume that the new guy can do what Bryce did this year since Shawn will not be on the court with him.

[VObserver]

I did not say we were replacing Shawn. What I said was in both instances, neither player will be as effective without Shawn here to draw attention as Bryce was this year playing next to Shawn. In my opinion, had Bryce been playing this year next to Plaisance instead of Shawn, he would not have had as good a year. And, at the same time, we cannot assume that the new guy can do what Bryce did this year since Shawn will not be on the court with him.

I think you are underestimating Bryce. I could be wrong, but I don't think so. I think Washington's numbers were lower this year than they could have been, and for the same reason you think they were higher; the presence of Shawn Long. I don't think he will be as efficient next year, but I do think his point production will go up by at least 5 PPG. He is currently 109/179 from the field this year. Shawn is at 225/426. I anticipate that Washington will take at least 120 more shots next year, and will be somewhere around 170/300. I also expect him to get to the line more often.

If Miller can give us 85/160 from the field, we will be solid inside.

[Just1More]

We are not replacing Shawn. We would love to, but we just aren't. What we are doing is recruiting a guy that we believe can keep our front court the best in our conference. I believe that this guy can do that. I think we can get 10 and 5 from Miller, and Washington will give us 15 and 8. That is solid. Plus both are very good passers and smart players.

Washington is going to draw a lot of attention from opposing teams next year. I believe Miller can capitalize on that. He ain't chopped liver. You don't get to be the MVP in the Kentucky State Tournament [in Kentucky's highest classification] if you can't play.

Very good perspective on this recruit. It's good to hear what you're saying - I value your opinion on our recruits and players. Every year, especially in basketball and football, we all haggle over the recruiting capability or inability of our coaches (above and beyond our institutional ability to help attract better talent). For basketball, aren't the majority of our past basketball programs greatest players (in their entire career with us) all pretty much "prospects" as recruits? Since Pascal, how many of our recruits were super highly touted high school talent that we beat out other good to great basketball programs for?

I'm not challenging the ability or inability of Marlin to recruit good talent. But have we ever been in a state of recruiting that the recruits were "automatic greats"? I think when Butch Pierre was recruiting for us was about the last time that people outside of our own circles were talking about our recruits. Am I remembering correctly?

[RaginDave]

I am expecting big things out of Bryce next year. This year allot of his minutes were taken by Shawn and even Devonte, but that won't be the case next year. I really like Wright, Washington, Stove, Bartley IV and possibly Davis/Miller as the other forward.

PG Wright SR
G Stove JR
G Bartley IV JR
F Washington JR
F Davis/Miller FR

That starting 5 will have a lot of experience, with Washington, Stove and Wright logging tons of minutes for the Cajuns over the past 2-3 years and as Jay Walker already stated about Bartley, you don't play 67 games in 2 years at BYU as a Freshman and Sophomore unless you are pretty darn good. I know that his numbers do not jump out at you in college, but remember in Prep school this kid averaged 19.7 points, 6.7 assists, 8.5 rebounds, 3.3 steals and 1 block per game for a team that went 52-13. He also averaged 14.2 points and 6.2 rebounds at Christian Life and we have him for 2 years.

His production at UL will be better than his production at BYU, specifically because he will be playing most of his games vs lesser competition. I think we will see 8-10 points per game and 3-5 rebounds per game as well as a few assists. I think he is going to be one of our more solid starters. He is a big strong Guard at 6-3 200 lbs. I am excited to see him on the court for the Cajuns. With this lineup we may be a little small, but should be very fast and you will have at least 4 guys on the court that can handle the ball.

Washington surprises the heck out of me with his ball handling skills. Wright/Bartley and Stove can all handle the ball extremely well.

[Just1More]

I think you are underestimating Bryce. I could be wrong, but I don't think so.

I think Red has a point in that Shawn absorbed a great deal of attention in the paint. That said, I was extremely impressed with Washington's work near the basket... completely independent of Shawn. I think Shawn's departure places more pressure on our outside scoring game to not be as irratic and inconsistent as it has been (especially this year).