Frank and his dad were at the U right after flying back from Duke. Larry flew home just to have lunch with them and give them a tour of the facility.Originally Posted by UtahsMrSports
Frank's dad said the level of knowledge Larry has about Frank's game has impressed them and the facility blew them away.
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Or both of those schools are working desperately to try and close the gap of #1.
I'm not sure where you look but I've seen a fair amount of that in the last week or two with Utah having a noted presence watching Frank, Mitch Lightfoot and Jayce Johnson. I believe those three likely make up Utah's top priorities in this class, followed by the Canadian kid, the Finnish kid (coached by Hanno Mottola) and Big T's boy. (And by the way, I think I've seen this enough from recruiting sites to know that they are crafty at framing questions in a way to get the answer that they think will play best with their audience--I'm not at all worried about the comment about Duke and Stanford recruiting Frank the hardest).
I think part of it is that Utah is that Utah is after quality more than quantity right now. As of now there are only likely to be three spots open with the departures of Taylor, Loveridge, Tucker and likely Poeltl and the return of Parker Van Dyke. I'm sure they have some "plan B" types in mind in case they miss on those top priorities but it appears they are all in on that core group.
I don't expect Utah to land all of their top targets but I also don't expect them to whiff on all of them either. It will be interesting to see where Utah turns if they do start to see some of these guys commit elsewhere. For example, there's a highly rated guard in-state (McEwen) that isn't even mentioned right now because of all of the Frank Jackson love.
I did not know that, or if I did, I had completely forgotten, that is really cool.
Ha! I certainly hope so!
Good points. Yoeli Childs might be another guy in there as well. undersized, but might be an option.
This was my first thought/hope.
“To me there is no dishonor in being wrong and learning. There is dishonor in willful ignorance and there is dishonor in disrespect.” James Hatch, former Navy Seal and current Yale student.
I saw earlier that local (my local, not your local) kid Chuck O'bannon Jr. has been offered by Utah (2017). He's Charles O'Bannon's son, who's also one of his assistant coaches at Bishop Gorman. I kind of stopped paying attention to Gorman when Collins committed, but it looks like I've got a new rabbit to chase.
Chuck also has offers from Arizona, Oregon, and UCLA.
Last edited by Dwight Schr-Ute; 07-14-2015 at 03:16 PM.
If I were Frank Jackson I would not come to Utah for the same reason I would not come if i were Dave Rose. If I were going to spurn all my neighbors and true believers by decommitting from the only school that can teach me how to be a successful adult and put me on the right path in life, I would not hang around and go to the evil place up on the hill with all the losers. too much grief and insults to be endured. I would leave it all behind and get out of Dodge.
Scouring twitter for some news, I learned a couple of things about two of our "big 3" targets.
-Mitch Lightfoot has blown up. One report said that even Kentucky sent a group to scout him at a recent tournament. Kyle Good talked to him recently and we are in the running. http://www.sltrib.com/blogs/uofuspor...nning-for-2016
-Jayce Johnson has done well at recent tournaments. He hasn't blown up as much as lightfoot, but we will be in for a battle to get him. Illinois, Tennessee, and Penn State are his recent offers.
Another update on two of our targets............seems like lightfoot would be a real steal if we can get him.............
http://tucson.com/sports/blogs/pasco...RlcwRQ.twitter
It's funny to hear the pitches that coaches tell recruits. "You could be just like Christian Laettner." - ok, so arguably one of the greatest college basketball players ever.
“It only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress.”
Well, because he thought it was good sport. Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.
Exactly. Except when Bogut came out...then he was compared to Buck Williams!
“It only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress.”
Well, because he thought it was good sport. Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.
On his nbadraft.net profile, DeShawn Stevenson was listed as a comparable player to Michael jordan. Good times.
EDIT: Lol, apparently enough people had fun with this around the draft that the folks at the site had to put up a comment to defend it. LOL. Here is the link.
http://www.nbadraft.net/players/deshawn-stevenson
Last edited by UtahsMrSports; 07-24-2015 at 10:38 AM.
Pretty good company.
Sounds like Frank Jackson cancelled a trip to Arizona and will officially visit Duke later this month. Id be shocked if he leaves without committing,
Otherwise, the second weekend in september we will get a visit from jaquori mclaughlin from washington.
Hopefully, Hanno Mottola can work some Ute magic behind the scenes.Pretty good company.
Anyone know anything about Yoeli Childs situation. One of the state's top kids and just dropped his list to five and we're absent. We're we not interested?
I've heard we've cooled on him. Word is we expect to land some bigger and better fish.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
It presents such an interesting dilemma. He came to so many games last year, that I am 100% sure he would scrap that list and commit on the spot if we offered (he is a lot like Reyes, I think hes better, but hes still a small-ish 4). But as you said LA, we are after some bigger fish; Lightfoot, Johnson, the Finnish kid etc. If we miss on all of those kids (a distinct possibility), he would be nice to have as a plan B. Hopefully, he doesn't commit until its all sorted out.
Here is a good breakdown; I like the composite rankings. Late July-Early September has been very very kind to us these last few years, hoping to see it again!
http://utah.247sports.com/Season/201...etball/Targets
2011: Loveridge (this was huge; program changing huge)
2012: Delon Wright
2013: Chapman, Kuzma, Wright
2014: Mawien
2015: TBD
Loveridge was a game changer. This year feels like another big one. If we're unable to parlay a Sweet 16 year into an above average class I'd feel a little sick about it. This program has build some good momentum, but I hope we're not remotely near peaking yet.
"...narrowed list list to Utah, Arizona and UNC..." This isn't a moral victory post, but could you imagine 3 years ago being mentioned in the same sentence with those guys for top recruits? We of course need to land some of these guys for it to matter one lick, but it is nice to be respected among those types of programs again, even in twitter form.
Any updates on where Frank Jackson is leaning? I've heard he is going back for another visit to Duke... but that is probably just to tell them that he is going to BYU in person.
On your first point, I agree. Regarding my Childs post, it felt good to once again assume that he didn't make our list of priority interests, not the other way around. I wonder if football will ever get to this point with the highest rank instate kids."...narrowed list list to Utah, Arizona and UNC..." This isn't a moral victory post, but could you imagine 3 years ago being mentioned in the same sentence with those guys for top recruits? We of course need to land some of these guys for it to matter one lick, but it is nice to be respected among those types of programs again, even in twitter form.
Any updates on where Frank Jackson is leaning? I've heard he is going back for another visit to Duke... but that is probably just to tell them that he is going to BYU in person.
On your second point, it appears that Jackson's Duke visit is coming at the expense of his Arizona visit. Silver lining, at least he won't be playing against us in conference.
Talked to someone with connections locally in college basketball.
Utah's position in recruiting has done a 180 in the last 2 years.
Initially Krystko couldn't get kids to answer his calls. Now those same caliber kids are calling the U asking to be recruited.
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Mitch Lightfoot has scheduled his 3 official visits.
Kansas
Arizona
Utah.
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He would be a BIG get. Cant wait to hear more!
It is interesting that Arizona seems to be in on everyone that we are in on. Arizona already has a commitment from 2016 5 star PF TJ Leaf. Wonder how serious they are.
The New Basketball facility that is almost finished will give Utes a big boost in recruiting----it is really nice.
Coaches have said it is also one of the reasons Poeltl stuck around.
"Don't apologize; it's not your fault. It's my fault for overestimating your competence."
This is sad because it's the exclusive reason that Boylen couldn't get us into the Final Four. For him it comes too late. Sniff sniff.
One thing I have learned in a long life: that all our science, measured against reality, is primitive and childlike -- and yet it is the most precious thing we have.
--Albert Einstein
The fact that life evolved out of nearly nothing, some 10 billion years after the universe evolved out of literally nothing, is a fact so staggering that I would be mad to attempt words to do it justice.
--Richard Dawkins
Be kind to all, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle.
--Philo
Don't forget repairs to the practice floor.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
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