Mylik Wilson Update

[CajunEXPRESS]

I have very few concerns about a guy like Wilson translating to our program. I like the fact that the kid is a slasher and his game is best suited for the dribble drive. That can open up a lot of open shots for our shooters on the outside if nothing else. His size will be improved through workouts and the nutrition program but we see good basketball players excel even with a slimmer build all the time.

Mike, I know you have access to the coaches and I'd like for you to ask them a question. One thing I've been critical of coach Marlin for in the past is lack of recruiting, particularly when it comes to instate guys and guys that can provide good depth. Can you ask coach if he is actively recruiting Jalen Cook from Walker? I mentioned to you that I had seen him at the Sunkist and the kid was absolutely a stud. He's a junior and will be one of the top recruits in the state next year. He already is now. If the staff is recruiting him, do they have any impressions of what they feel about him? He is the type of scoring guard we could use. He is smaller (around 6 foot tall) than many big time college guards so he may not get big offers but I saw him drop 43 against Riverside and he probably had 30 in the first half.

You already know that coaches cannot make any public comments about potential recruits. Public includes interested fans. If the kid is on the radar, which he is, we’re actively recruiting him to the extent he’s willing to let us.

[CajunEXPRESS]

Not only did Rayville play tough competition in the south, they started the season in a tournament in Chicago in which they faced nationally ranked teams. They went 3 and 1 there with a loss in the finals. I too do wonder how effective he is at his perimeter game. He hit a couple in that video but of course that is a highlight film which does not tell you his percentage. When I look at his body, the length of his arms impress me. They are way beyond what you see on most 6'3' guys. That should help him defensively. Speaking of defense, that will lead to most of his dunks. Steals and runouts on misses will allow him to attack the basket. Express is right in that he will be challenged defensively by bigs if he takes his man off he dribble to get to the basket in the half court. Being able to pass to the open man and make free throws can still make him an effective half court player. As far as his weight is concerned, he is a little light but he does not have to play in a game for us until November. He still has time to get stronger and his body will fill out as he matures.

I know that I may seem to be knocking his potential. I’m really not, I’m confident he’s going to be a good player for us. As I’ve already commented we’ve been burned by guards getting to the basket for uncontested lay ups and occasional dunks.

[CajunStrong]

Yeah they have no chance at him. Better suited spending our time elsewhere.

If you had a guy on staff that could relate better to the young athlete that is coming out of HS today they would have a shot at Jalen Cook.

[zephyr]

Yeah they have no chance at him. Better suited spending our time elsewhere.

How do you know unless you recruit him?

[zephyr]

You already know that coaches cannot make any public comments about potential recruits. Public includes interested fans. If the kid is on the radar, which he is, we’re actively recruiting him to the extent he’s willing to let us.

I'm not expecting the coach to make public comments about him but I'm curious to know if we are recruiting him. There is nothing wrong with making a formal offer to him or inviting him for visits which is covered 24/7 by all the recruiting sites out there. The reason I asked is because when he played in our backyard for 3 days, I didn't see one cajun coach there. There is also a 6'5" SG on their team that is a sophomore who may have more upside than Cook due to his versatility and size. I would just think that if we are interested, we would take the 10 minute drive to go watch. This is what we want right? To recruit the best in state players first.

[cajuns80]

How do you know unless you recruit him?

Ok lets waste our time like we did with Brown last year. And get left with garbage players like Lafayette, Elijah McCoy, RJ Gladney.....need a competent big guy more than anything.

[CajunStrong]

How do you know unless you recruit him?

Exactly, great point.

[zephyr]

Ok lets waste our time like we did with Brown last year. And get left with garbage players like Lafayette, Elijah McCoy, RJ Gladney.....need a competent big guy more than anything.

LOL. There is so much wrong with this response and overall viewpoint that its hard to answer. First of all, we are in need of a big for this next year. Cook is part of the 2020 class. We have plenty of time to scout, establish relationships and bring him in for visits. So you are saying that because the kid is a 3 star player we should just assume we can't get him and move on?

I guess we should have done the same with Mylik Wilson who is the state's top player this year and we got him. We got Kobe Julien who was a 3 star player. We recruited Shawn Long in high school who was highly rated in the state. While we didn't get him to commit, we established the relationship with him that got him to transfer.

BTW, if we just don't bother to recruit any of the good players in our backyard, the only types of players we're going to get are similar to the ones you mentioned.

[CajunStrong]

Ok lets waste our time like we did with Brown last year. And get left with garbage players like Lafayette, Elijah McCoy, RJ Gladney.....need a competent big guy more than anything.

How did recruiting Brown waste time? So you can only recruit 1 top 100 guy and if it does not work, its wasting time? Just curious, do you know how the recruiting process works and how many kids each coach is actively recruiting each year?

[cajuns80]

How did recruiting Brown waste time? So you can only recruit 1 top 100 guy and if it does not work, its wasting time? Just curious, do you know how the recruiting process works and how many kids each coach is actively recruiting each year?

Well we obviously put all our eggs in that basket and our backup plan was Lafayette? LOL

[cajuns80]

LOL. There is so much wrong with this response and overall viewpoint that its hard to answer. First of all, we are in need of a big for this next year. Cook is part of the 2020 class. We have plenty of time to scout, establish relationships and bring him in for visits. So you are saying that because the kid is a 3 star player we should just assume we can't get him and move on?

I guess we should have done the same with Mylik Wilson who is the state's top player this year and we got him. We got Kobe Julien who was a 3 star player. We recruited Shawn Long in high school who was highly rated in the state. While we didn't get him to commit, we established the relationship with him that got him to transfer.

BTW, if we just don't bother to recruit any of the good players in our backyard, the only types of players we're going to get are similar to the ones you mentioned.

We don't have many scholarships to hand out in 2020. We don't have a single big on the roster that can play D1 basketball after Gant. We need to use those scholarships on bigs. Jalen Cook is most likely playing football anyway.

[zephyr]

Well we obviously put all our eggs in that basket and our backup plan was Lafayette? LOL

We didn't put all of our eggs in any basket. The coaches recruited Lafayette and its possible they missed on him. The problem is we have been unsuccessful in getting high quality bigs to commit out of high school. Our main success in getting them has been through the transfer route. It wasn't like if we didn't recruit other good players because we were shooting for Brown.