In the wake of the November basketball signing period, the nation’s traditional ‘haves’ apparently have restocked in their usual manner, while several lately down-and-out ACC teams made significant moves back up the talent ladder.
Clemson, meanwhile, signed a generally under-the-radar five-man class highlighted by one ESPN top 100 player – No. 90 Jaron Blossomgame – and another, Adonis Filer, who is ranked in the top 125 by Rivals.
In a recent podcast interview with the ACC Sports Journal’s Jim Young, ESPN recruiting analyst Dave Telep presented a compelling argument why Brad Brownell’s recruiting efforts can’t be judged by normal ranking methods.
Why?
He groups Brownell with coaches like Butler’s Brad Stevens and Michigan’s Jon Beilein, whose classes nearly always add up to more than the sum of their individual parts.
Here’s some of what Telep had to say:
On Brownell’s ability to recruiting for his system: “Guys like Brad Brownell are…architects of programs. They know what they like…so what they see in a player, they’re recruiting that player for a purpose. They’re low-transfer situations – you rarely see guys leave those schools. That means they’re doing a great job of evaluating.”
On Brownell’s coaching style: “Having watched Brad Brownell coach his teams at UNC-Wilmington, and then at Wright State and knowing what he’s about, this is a throw-back college basketball coach. He knows what he’s doing, and I have great trust in him as an evaluator and as a coach. So when he gets a guy like (Adonis Filer), my first reaction is that we must be missing something in the evaluation of the kid.”
On Jaron Blossomgale: “He took a kid Jaron Blossomgame this year which just totally fit the M.O. of kids that program architects bring in. He’s guy who’s slightly below the radar with a great ceiling. Now when you take a guy with a great ceiling, there’s always the danger that he’s more prospect than player. But when you have a history of identifying the markers with these kids, you roll the dice with that.”
On Clemson’s recruiting niche: “Brad Brownell’s a guy who’s never going to be in the hunt for top 10 or top 15 kids. But he’s going to pick away those 50-100 guys and turn them into real players. The challenge for Clemson is to accumulate enough of those 50-100 guys to move up in the ACC. You can’t do it without talent. If he’s having to do that with 101’s to 250-kids, it’s going to be struggle long-term. But the more Blossomgames he gets, the more dangerous he’ll be.”
Over the next few seasons, Brownell will match the 10 players from his first two recruiting classes against teams comprised of many of the nation’s elite prospects.
ESPN rates Arizona’s 2012 class as the nation’s best, with Kentucky second. Grabbing the No. 3 spot is NC State, which signed three of the ESPN’s top 100, including two from the top-25.
The Wolfpack is among six ACC schools ranked in ESPN’s top 25. North Carolina holds the No. 5 spot, followed by No. 15 Wake Forest, No. 17 Maryland, No. 19 Virginia and No. 22 Georgia Tech.
So far, 19 players from the ESPN top 100 have signed with ACC schools, led by No. 12 Rasheed Sulaimon, a 6-3 guard who is currently Duke’s only signee from the list.
NC State signed No. 16 Rodney Purvis, a 6-4 guard; No. 23 T.J. Warren, a 6-7 forward; and No. 69 Tyler Lewis, a 5-11 guard.
North Carolina signed four top-100 players, as the Tar Heels raided South Carolina for No. 25 Brice Johnson, a 6-9 forward; and also signed No. 21 Marcus Paige, a 6-1 guard; No. 57 Joel Jones, a 6-10 center; and No. 65 J.P. Tokoto, a 6-6 forward.
Wake Forest picked up No. 75 Arnaud Moto, a 6-6 wing, and No. 81 Cody Miller-McIntyre, a 6-2 guard.
Maryland signed No. 39 Shaquille Cleare, a 6-9 center, and No. 53 Jake Layman, a 6-8 forward.
Georgia Tech picked up No. 21 Robert Carter, a 6-8 forward, as well as No. 59 Marcus Hunt, a 6-6 wing.
Virginia signed No. 61 Austin Anderson, a 6-5 wing; No. 71 Evan Nolte, a 6-7 forward; and No. 77 Mike Tobey, a 6-11 center.
Virginia Tech signed No. 99 Montrezl Harrell, a 6-7 forward; while Clemson signed No. 90 Blossomgame, a 6-7 forward.
Clemson falls to North Carolina
Baseball. Tigers lose game, win…
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
Comments » 2
YabbaDaboDooDoo writes:
You don't win the ACC with "system" guys. You need talent. Purnell was a "system" recruiter and he couldn't win an NCAA tournament game. I see Purnell as a better coach than Brownell. Oliver Purnell wouldn't lose at home to lesser non-conference in-state opponents. He would've beaten Hawaii by 20. The key to recruiting is you MUST keep your best in-state talent. Clemson lost top 100 players Bruce Ellington and RJ Slawson to South Carolina. Then they lost Damien Leonard to South Carolina the following year. And Brice Johnson is going to UNC next season. You're not going to win with the 3-star leftovers from SC and GA. You need to get top 100 talent outside of the Booker family.
ClemsonHooper writes:
The problem is though that Clemson never has and never will be able to draw the talent that Duke and UNC and other big name schools can get. Clemson has to get the best players they can but they will still fall short because most kids want to play for the "Dukes" across the country. Purnell could have won with the "system" recruits but he rotated them in and out of the game too much so they never got in a flow. I think that is why the full court press broke down as often as it did. Leave the guys in longer and settle in and then you will win some games. Ironically that is what Purnell did at Radford and what Bradley (who was with Purnell at Clemson) did as the head coach at Radford and look what happens. Bradley is the winningest head coach in the history of Radford and the Big South Conference. That is pretty solid evidence of making a program work with "system" guys.
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