Recruiting breakdown

[Ron_44]

Ron’s 2008 UH men’s basketball recruit breakdown

Hey all, it's been a year since I posted... just wrote a little analysis and breakdown of the recruiting class while we wait for the much anticipated upcoming season during this sluggish time of year. Feel free to add your thoughts.

Breakdown of Incoming Recruits:

Roderick Flemmings:
- One of the most anticipated recruits in UH history brings in a multitude of merit, success, and talent. Mostly know for his well-rounded statistical value, Flemmings brings in some much needed athleticism and scoring productivity to the Rainbow line-up. Garnering the second-best ranking as a wing forward at the NBA Players Association Top 100 Camp in Richmond, Va., he led all campers in scoring at that elite event. He took a trip to UConn and nearly committed to Kentucky before Nash enticed him to Manoa.
- Prediction = Flemmings will have definite success and will be the primary scoring option on a Hawaii team that is completely bare of scoring production. 1st team All-American Juco is no slouch. Just to give you an idea of how difficult it is to make 1st team in Juco…Lojeski barely made 3rd team while Little Matt and Gueye only made all-region in Junior College. I predict Flemmings will be an All-Wac performer his first season.

Petras Balocka:
- A top ten Juco Rebounder, whom received interest from Rutgers and Iowa. According to Nash, Balocka plays with strength and speed. The kid has great outside shot and has proven his ability to rebound on a fairly mediocre Juco team.
- Prediction = Balocka will be a leading candidate to challenge Ji Xiang for the vacated big man position. Bill Amis will need a big man to help him rebound and contest shots down low and hopefully Balocka will fit the bill. My major concern is that Balocka could not adjust to D-1 his first time around and received minimal playing time at Eastern Tennessee as a freshman. I predict that Balocka will produce P.J. Owsley-like numbers his first year at UH. Also, he has a very similar built to P.J. Owsley. Conversely, I hope he’ll be somewhere between a Mindagus and a Haim Shimonovich as far as his game is concerned.

Brandon Adams:
- Placed Sensley-like numbers at a Cali Juco. Led his team to back to back conference championships. Drew interest from Clemson and visited Nevada. Choose UH over St. Mary’s. A very good pick-up for Nash in the late signing period. Good athleticism with a great vertical. However, we’ll have to wait and see as Adams will redshirt next season.
- Prediction = Adams is another PF converted to SF for Nash. I am really hesitant to be content with these type of players. However, through his athleticism I see flashes of greatness as a rainbow. However, I predict he will not reach his full potential until his senior year…similar to Julian.

Adam Jespersen:
- Average 24ppg and 10rpg as a HS senior according to the advertiser. Drew interest from Notre Dame, Iowa, Minnesota. Also, played on the Junior national team and is considered on of the best players in the region.
- Prediction: Yet another PF converted SF. Jespersen is in a position that will be crowded next year. However, I see Adam working his way off the end of the bench and producing well off the bench when mid-season comes along. The kid always wanted to be a Rainbow Warrior since watching English and Martin growing up. If he is anywhere near as productive as his Canadian predecessors we will have to keep this Ontario pipeline open for future recruits. Maybe he can practice with Paul Campbell and get him going in the off-season whom is also from Ontario.

Lasha Parghalava:
-Decommitted from South Florida and joined Balocka in Hawaii. All-conference honorable mention his freshman year. Played on his national team. Nash likes his competitiveness and toughness.
- Prediction = With the loss of four good shooters, Hawaii needed a three-point shooter to come in and produce right away. In Juco last season, there were times where Lasha went 0 for 6, 1 for 8, and 1 for 12 from the three point line. He is a very streaky shooter according to his stats and has a horrendous free-throw average. He will need to work on consistency and develop other means of scoring in make it in D-1. I predict he will not see much playing time his first season. However, he can still develop as a player as he plays on his national team.

Leroy Lutu Jr.
- Great pick up as a walk on. Turned down scholarships to Montana, Portland State and UC Davis.
- Predictions = Will be a crowd favorite.

[BigWave96744]

Mahalo Ron_44.
Never too early to get the fans excited about Nash Season II

[Mr.EDGE808]

Mahalo Ron_44.
Never too early to get the fans excited about Nash Season II

+1 on that note....the recruiting work by the coaching staff will be the turning point in the NASH era....I'm anxious to see ALL of these guys play.

[uhwarriors]

Ron_44,

Even though I'm getting pumped up for the football season, you got me thinking about basketball too. Nash did a pretty good job of recruiting this year and I hope it's a sign of things to come this year.

[managerr]

Basketball is a sport where one awesome player can take you to the NCAA tourney--so I hope that's the case with us....either way I expect us to take a giant step forward this season...

[Mr.EDGE808]

Basketball is a sport where one awesome player can take you to the NCAA tourney--so I hope that's the case with us....either way I expect us to take a giant step forward this season...

Like what Stephon Curry did with Davidson? And to think, there were thisclosetobeating KANSAS!

[Ron_44]

Thanks for the comments guys. Also, mahalo to Sportsbow and his links.

I am excited for football too...BigWave does a good job on the player infos.

Anyway back to basketball:

I was going start a new thread on returning players, but what the heck, I'll keep this thread going.

Among the returning players, I think Bill Amis will be a major factor this year. I know many people aren't expecting much out of him. However, going from a bench player in HS and JUCO all the way to a starter in Division One tells us something. I believe that he is a late bloomer and still has room to improve even further. The thing that jumps out is that he had better statistical numbers at UH than he did at JUCO. Plus, he has only played the power foward position for two years. He's still constantly getting better. Look out for Amis this year if he adds some strength to his game. I have no doubt that he'll up his game similar to what Michael Robinson did when Alika, AC, Kroger, and Easy-E graduated.

Nitoto and Thompson are both under-experienced and somewhat unproven. I believe that they will both be the key to our team's success this season. I'm thinking that Nash will place more emphasis on his fast paced game he was talking about. That makes it quite necessary that one of the two point guards to emerge and play with consistency. Hopefully, both players have been working on their outside shooting. I like Thompson because of his court awareness, however, Nitoto has the quickness to be a great player in an up-tempo game.

Mayen and Campbell might be lost in the shuffle this year. Mayen is another PF converted to SF (I guess Nash is a believer in the Bobby Nash/Sensley formula). That makes it a total of three, including the incoming recruits. I'm not sure what to expect from either of these two players.

Shooting guard will be a complete mystery. We have Conrad, Parghalava, and Lutu Jr. Hopefully, Flemmings will be versatile enough to play the 2 spot, unless someone else emerges.

[senorhayabusa]

THanks for the insight ROn.

Just a quick question: how do you know so much about the Hawaii program and the recruits?

[fulingyu]

I agree that Amis is going to be a huge part of any success we have this year. He was really the only consistent inside player we had.

i'm excited to see what unfolds this year for our men's bball team.

-Fu

[uhwarrior23]

I'm also very excited about this team. I think they can win the WAC and make it to the dance!

[pinoysolja]

ron-44....nice write on the incoming players...anyways, did you see any of the players personally or just read about them on the net and/or papers?...i sure hope flemmings is the real deal and that he blends in well with the team...we only can get better...btw, any news/rumors on the recruting front?...did any og the staff attend any of the h.s. tourneys in ca. and vegas?

[BBfanfrom71]

Here's a different take on some of the players upon which comment has been made based on what I have seen in open gym workouts:

Petras Balocka will probably be a starter on day 1 and will be a significantly more effective player than P.J. Owsley. He is a very strong and powerful player with surprising quickness (he's much quicker than Owsley) and good ball skills for a big man. Petras has the body of an underdeveloped weight lifter: big, thick legs with huge calf muscles, thick, broad shoulders and a big chest, that would be a barrel chest if he worked on being a weightlifter. Problem is that as would befit a 6'7" weightlifter, he has very short arms, which effectively makes him a 6'5" post player. Still, his quickness, power, strong hands and ball handling skills allow him to be a reasonably effective back-to-the-basket player on offense who can score in a variety of ways using a variety of quick post moves that no other current player on the UH squad can match. Balocka is also a decent medium range shooter who cannot be ignored facing the basket. This is not to say that Balocka will be consistent "go to" guy in the post. Because of his lack of length (effective height), his offensive prowess can be limited by a good, tall (true 6'8" of better) post defender. But opposing defenses will have to play him hard. I can easily see him averaging 10-12 points a game and 6-7 rebounds. The biggest problems Balocka may face may be on defense, where certain teams with two tall, reasonably effective post players could pose a match-up problem for him. Once again, his strength and foot quickness will probably make Petras the most effective player on the team at denying the opposition good post position. For instance, I think he could have done a better job defending Boise State's Reggie Larry than anyone the 'Bpws had last year, including P.J. Owsley (too slow) or even Stephen Verwers (also too slow). But once someone does get inside on Balocka, his short arms and lack of great leaping ability make him totally ineffective. A shot blocker he is not.

Ji Xiang will not be in competition with Balocka for a starting job. Ji is easily the biggest guy on the team - really looks like a true 6'10" and could be pushing 260 lbs. But despite being okay quick for a guy his size, and despite having decent ball skills and a decent shot from 20' in, Ji just does not have the game that befits a man his physical tools and skills. His game right now is early Julian Sensley - loves to "float" around outside looking for outside jumpers and an occasional surprise dribble drive to the basket, but has little or no skill or stomach for a good hard post-up with his back to the basket ending in a little jump hook or turn-around jumper off glass - but Julian Sensley he is not and probably never will be. It is fortunate that Xiang is still a freshman, because his inside game right now is non-existent and no matter how much he wishes for it, he is never going to be a wing forward. If he has the dedication to change his game to fit his dimensions, it will be 1-2 years before Ji Xiang contributes much of anything.

Depending on match-ups, Paul Campbell could get some minutes. He has gotten a little bigger and stronger in the off-season, but is nowhere near as big and strong as he needs to be, given his very limited offensive skill set. Still, he is very aggressive and quick on both backboards and passes the ball surprisingly well. Problem is he can't shoot a lick, and on defense, he can not and does not deny opposing post players good low post position. As a result, the opposition can ignore Campbell when UH is on offense, as long as they block him off the boards, and if the opposition has a decent post player, they can go at Campbell on offense because while Paul has decent shot blocking capability coming from off the ball, he is poor at defending his own man and fouls way too often. Still, agains teams who have a lot of height, including two tall post players and good post offense which can take advantage of Balocka's "shortness", Campbell might be the necessary choice.

Adhar Mayen definitely will not get "lost in the shuffle" this year. If he does not start, he will play significant minutes. Mayen has not gained much weight - don't think he ever will - but he has worked pretty hard in the off-season, and it really shows in increased speed, quickness and jumping ability. He still is not the explosive, high-flying player you might think he is just by looking at him, but at least now Adhar has enough quickness and jumping ability that his long length, good all-around ball skills and versatile shot-making ability make him a real match-up problem. Mayen really is too tall for most guards to handle and now is too quick (especially with the ball) for big forwards. His defense is much improved as well, if still not particularly good. In short, Adhar now looks like a very satisfactory wing forward. Unfortunately, "you know who" is gonna have that position locked down. Neverthless, it will be good to have a good back-up for Roderick Flemings, and who knows? Adhar's not bulky enough to be an every day 4 man, but against some teams he might be a good choice to play there. Against other teams, he might be a good fit at 2 guard. Bottom line, Mayen is one of the most versatile players on the team and is definitely one of the top 6 or 7. So he will play.

[BBfanfrom71]

Here's a different take on some of the players upon which comment has been made based on what I have seen in open gym workouts (Continued):

Bill Amis will be a starter. He's not a particularly gifted athlete. Nor is he an instinctive, high basketball IQ player who can just step on the court and make things happen. But Amis is a hard worker with a great attitude, who has made himself significantly bigger and stronger in the off-season and continues to do what is necessary to get himself physically ready to go to war in the low post. Combine the results of his hard work with his natural shooting ability, add a little team structure, and you have a solid starter - maybe not a great, dominating, "go-to" player, but the kind of complimentary, blue collar, role-player that all good teams must have.

Adam Jesperson will be a nice, young player to have around, but he will have to figure out what he can do with his game to be a contributor at the Division I level before he will get significant minutes. Right now, he's a "tweener" - not quick enough and skilled enough to play on the wing and not big and strong enough to play in the low post. He does have a nice looking shot with range and decent, if undeveloped, ball-handling skills, and he has shown a willingness to get down and bang in the post, although without much skill or success. In short, Adam is a nice looking high school player who is not quite ready for Division I. The one thing Jesperson does seem to have in spades is attitude. The coaches say he is significantly bigger and stronger now than when he came here on his recruiting visit last fall, which means he has taken to heart what the coaches told him without anybody looking over his shoulder. And in the open gym runs, he has gotten abused by players, who are way, way beyond him in terms of physical development and experience, but has always come back battling. I personally think Jesperson needs to turn himself into a monster, strongman the way Jack Miller did when he was a "Rainbow" way back when. He has all the skills and physical tools that Jack Miller had when he came to Hawaii as a skinny 6'7" would-be 2 guard, which is to say, probably not enough quickness and pure athleticism to ever be a top-flight wingman, but which is also to say, a good solid frame on which to build a slightly short, but bruising, blacksmith strong power forward. And being 210-215 lb. right now gives Jesperson a big head start on Miller who might have been 180-185 when he started his career.

Kareem Nitoto will also play - how much to be determined by how fast Hiram Thompson can get back the game had two years ago and improve upon it. No doubt, Kareem is physically ready and mentally set on taking the reins of next year's squad. Unfortunately, his skill set (shooting, ball-handling, passing), although improved, is still not where it needs to be for him to be a top notch lead guard. Of more concern (at least to me), Nitoto still does not show much sense of team offense and control, that is, he shows no natural ability to start or create team movement on offense which creates scoring opportunities for various teammates, but rather always seems to resort to park-rat style one-on-one stuff which leaves everyone else on his team standing and watching. Almost assuredly, Hiram will be ahead of Kareem in this one very important aspect of point guard play. The big questions about Hiram will concern his own individual offensive (scoring) and defensive skills, which were not particularly good when he left here two years ago.

I'm not commenting on any of the new guys because I haven't seen them. Like all of you, I certainly am anxious to do just that. I'm also not commenting on possible returning "walk-ons" because from what I understand, walk-on status for any of those players is not set in stone.

[uhwarriors]

BBfanfrom71, thanks for your very detailed and knowledgeable post. Do you think any of the players will be redshirted this year? Or are we too thin this year because of the lost scholarship due to the APR to consider redshirting anyone?

[Waryor]

wow, bbfan. are you a coach or something? what a great and insightful write up!