Justin Anderson

[DUKIE V(A)]

I recently took in a Montrose Christian HS basketball game featuring a future Dukie (Hairston) and two potential Dukies (Ross and Anderson). I came away impressed by all three and hope Ross and Anderson will end up at Duke with Hairston. Here are some highlights of Anderson which I assume were taken on the AAU circuit this past summer (after his freshman year). He is currently a sophomore and is a 2012 recruit.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/recruiting/tracker/player?recruitId=67259&season=2012

[Greg_Newton]

Justin Anderson = Corey Maggette Pt. II. The dude is an absolute monster, I really hope Josh gets in his ear this year!

[MChambers]

Justin Anderson = Corey Maggette Pt. II. The dude is an absolute monster, I really hope Josh gets in his ear this year!

I understand what you're saying, but the Maggette analogy has both good and bad connotations.

[UrinalCake]

So Justin Anderson verballed to Maryland, but with the change in coaching is there any chance he'd consider Duke? We'll be pretty set at the wing with Dawkins, Gbinije, Murphy, and possibly Daniels, but Anderson still seems like a player to consider.

[jimsumner]

So Justin Anderson verballed to Maryland, but with the change in coaching is there any chance he'd consider Duke? We'll be pretty set at the wing with Dawkins, Gbinije, Murphy, and possibly Daniels, but Anderson still seems like a player to consider.

Duke didn't seriously recruit Anderson the first time around so I doubt the interest would be there the second time around.

[BluePanda]

So Justin Anderson verballed to Maryland, but with the change in coaching is there any chance he'd consider Duke? We'll be pretty set at the wing with Dawkins, Gbinije, Murphy, and possibly Daniels, but Anderson still seems like a player to consider.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it was my impression that Justin has always liked Duke. We just never offered him. If that's true, I doubt we will change that now with the depth you listed.

[uh_no]

So Justin Anderson verballed to Maryland, but with the change in coaching is there any chance he'd consider Duke? We'll be pretty set at the wing with Dawkins, Gbinije, Murphy, and possibly Daniels, but Anderson still seems like a player to consider.

Unless K pulls a calipari and starts giving players the boot to free up scholarships, I can't see him coming. He's not the top notch kind of player (imo) for whom you'd have to scramble to ensure he has a scholly when you're already loaded at the position.

[Jderf]

Unless K pulls a calipari and starts giving players the boot to free up scholarships, I can't see him coming.

You could have just said, "I can't see him coming."

[yancem]

You could have just said, "I can't see him coming."

Well based on Duke's current scholarship situation and the current offers that are on the table, there would have to be a fairly large exodus of players in order for there to be room for Anderson. This would mean several early entries, transfers or for K to channel his inner Calipari and send some scholarship players packing. So I don't see what was wrong with his statement.

Edit: Unless you are talking about the "not a top notch player" part (which I just caught in re-reading the post) then you have a good point and I apologize for this post. I kind of thought the dig on Calipari was funny however.

[rotogod00]

Anderson verbally committed to Virginia. Tony Bennett has put together a nice little class for 2012 in Anderson, Nolte, and Tobey.

[roywhite]

Anderson verbally committed to Virginia. Tony Bennett has put together a nice little class for 2012 in Anderson, Nolte, and Tobey.

yeah, here's a link

Change in plans (http://dc.sbnation.com/maryland-terrapins/2011/5/26/2191239/justin-anderson-virginia-basketball-maryland)


Maryland basketball has reportedly received a crushing blow on the recruiting trail. Justin Anderson, an athletic junior swingman for Montrose Christian that is among one of the top recruits in the Class of 2012, has decided to back out of his commitment to the Terps and will attend Virginia instead, according to NBC4's Dan Hellie.



Nice score for UVa

**Edit to add: If bad news comes in 3's, perhaps the Terps are looking at a pair of lacrosse losses to Duke in Final Four competition Friday and Saturday.

[yancem]

Wow that is a big loss for MD and huge pick up for UVA. I think that Bennett is going to really raise the bar for UVA.

[darjum]

Wow that is a big loss for MD and huge pick up for UVA. I think that Bennett is going to really raise the bar for UVA.

Agreed, a really great get for UVA. Bennett appears to be a really good coach and at some point UVA will be very competitive in the ACC and a place that will be very hard to get road wins.

[Franzez]

Wow that is a big loss for MD and huge pick up for UVA. I think that Bennett is going to really raise the bar for UVA.

I think he'll be out of there at the end of this upcoming season. He's a good recruiter but hes always been too stubborn to adjust his system similar to a Paul Hewitt. His success at Washington State taking over for his dad overrated his coaching abilities, as he is still a young coach too stubborn to make changes for the better of the team.

[gumbomoop]

I think he'll be out of there at the end of this upcoming season. He's a good recruiter but hes always been too stubborn to adjust his system similar to a Paul Hewitt. His success at Washington State taking over for his dad overrated his coaching abilities, as he is still a young coach too stubborn to make changes for the better of the team.

I'm genuinely surprised - shocked, even - at your prediction here. I have no clue as to how stubborn he is, but my impression is that UVa fans are thus far very happy with him. I sure hope your comparison to Hewitt is off.

I'd put UVa as preseason #5 in ACC [behind UNC/Duke, FSU, Miami), and into the NCAAT next spring. I assume you'd agree that if this [my] prediction comes true, that Bennett will be there for awhile.

I do think UVa fans now have high expectations for the upcoming season, so it is probably true that Bennett needs to coach his guys to a good season. But they'd have to flop pretty badly for the fanatics to be calling for Bennett's firing as quickly as you suggest.

[UrinalCake]

Yeah, I think Bennett's done a great job with what he has. Now that he's bringing some better talent in, I think they'll be a team to watch out for. Where do you draw the line between being "stubborn" and simply having a system? Is K stubborn for always playing motion offense and man-to-man defense?

[yancem]

If I remember correctly there was quite a bit of angst directed to K in his first couple of years because he refused to run a zone defense even though he didn't have the personnel to play man to man. It took him a couple of seasons to bring in guys that could run his system and for him to start racking up the wins. Now he is considered one of the most flexible coaches around. He regularly adapts his offensive approach to match his personnel. Now he does stick fervently to the man to man defense but I think that is because he feels that it is superior to a zone even if the personnel isn't ideal. He also changes the style of man to man depending on personnel.

The counter to running your system until you get your style of players is what Sendek did at State. He is a Pitino guy but didn't have the horses to run that system so he changes the system to match his player but then struggled to recruit the horses to run a faster pace system. If you want to recruit athletes and run a high octane offense, you have to be willing to struggle a little running your system to show recruits your vision.

[Kedsy]

I think he'll be out of there at the end of this upcoming season. He's a good recruiter but hes always been too stubborn to adjust his system similar to a Paul Hewitt. His success at Washington State taking over for his dad overrated his coaching abilities, as he is still a young coach too stubborn to make changes for the better of the team.

I disagree with your assessment of Bennett, but even if you were right about that, absent a scandal there's no way they boot him this coming year. He's shown he can do more with less. And now that he's starting to recruit well, they're going to give him a legitimate shot to show what he can do. Also, they won't want to jeopardize the 2012 recruiting class.

[roywhite]

I disagree with your assessment of Bennett, but even if you were right about that, absent a scandal there's no way they boot him this coming year. He's shown he can do more with less. And now that he's starting to recruit well, they're going to give him a legitimate shot to show what he can do. Also, they won't want to jeopardize the 2012 recruiting class.

Agree. This seems like a significant recruit for Bennett.

I think the ACC's main problem relative to somewhat of a decline has been coaching and I believe the problem is now largely fixed. Bennett, Brownell, Donohue, Gottlieb, and Turgeon all seem like strong choices. (Brian Gregory at GaTech and Bezdelik---wait and see) Look for the old ACC to return to it's status of the top basketball conference in the country.

[sagegrouse]

I think he'll be out of there at the end of this upcoming season. He's a good recruiter but hes always been too stubborn to adjust his system similar to a Paul Hewitt. His success at Washington State taking over for his dad overrated his coaching abilities, as he is still a young coach too stubborn to make changes for the better of the team.

Sorry to be critical, but this statement, given the lack of support you offer, seems wrong on two counts:

(a) That Bennett is not a good basketball coach -- his teams in the ACC have outperformed the material on the court. This year he was 7-9 without Landesberg or Scott and beat VT twice.

(b) That there is any unhappiness with Bennett at Hooville -- I think the AD and the Prez like him a lot. Moreover, he has only been there two years.

Also, you write, "too stubborn to adjust his system similar to a Paul Hewitt." What does that mean? It doesn't parse for me.

If Bennett's "out of there" at the end of the season, it may be because there is an unexpected opening at a very high profile program, and he gets recruited away.

sagegrouse

[roywhite]

To digress a bit, or maybe just to confirm that Justin Anderson is making a good decision, seems to me that the UVa job is a good one....really good, like potentially a top 10-15 national program.

Very nice facility
Great university to sell
Financial support from alums
Good recruiting territory (though plenty of competition)
Conference affiliation and pretty strong tradition
Pleasant place to live, for both players and coaches

Bennett may have found his heart in .... Charlottesville, VA.

[jimsumner]

Next season is a big season for the 'Hoos. Farrakhan was the only big loss from this year's team, Scott returns, Johnson will play, they had some nice frosh who should continue developing, some talent is coming in and they have enough vets like Zeglinski to give some seasoning.

And there seem to be some openings in the first division. So, the door is ajar.

[CDu]

Next season is a big season for the 'Hoos. Farrakhan was the only big loss from this year's team, Scott returns, Johnson will play, they had some nice frosh who should continue developing, some talent is coming in and they have enough vets like Zeglinski to give some seasoning.

And there seem to be some openings in the first division. So, the door is ajar.

They certainly aren't going to lack for athletic, big wing players. They'll have four guys (Harrell, Harris, Anderson, and Nolte in the 6'4"-6'7" range. Harrell and Harris have already shown they can play a little. The question will be whether Scott and Sene can provide enough inside and whether Evans and Zeglinski can do enough at PG. But the door to 3rd or 4th place is definitely open.

[Bob Green]

And there seem to be some openings in the first division. So, the door is ajar.

Duke and Carolina need some competition at the top. Maryland provided it for a while, but they have now fallen off. I've posted positive thoughts toward the Clemson Tigers on multiple occasions in the past and I feel the same toward Virginia so I would welcome the Wahoos to the first division with open arms.

[MChambers]

They certainly aren't going to lack for athletic, big wing players. They'll have four guys (Harrell, Harris, Anderson, and Nolte in the 6'4"-6'7" range. Harrell and Harris have already shown they can play a little. The question will be whether Scott and Sene can provide enough inside and whether Evans and Zeglinski can do enough at PG. But the door to 3rd or 4th place is definitely open.

Not quite, because Anderson's in the 2012 class, as far as I know.

[CDu]

Not quite, because Anderson's in the 2012 class, as far as I know.

Doh! Yup - so is Nolte. However, UVa still has two 4-star wing recruits coming in next year (Brogdon and Jesperson). So the crowd is still there. And if nobody departs, it'll be even more crowded in with six of those guys in 2012 (Harrell and Harris will only be juniors). And the PG and big man questions will be just as profound.

[Greg_Newton]

Wow, this is the best basketball news I've heard in a while. I was basically born and raised in Cameron Indoor but I went to UVA, so I obviously have some warm and fuzzy feelings towards their basketball program. Justin Anderson also happens to be one of my favorite prospects in a while - seems like a good kid, a lifelong Duke fan who is also an exhilarating athlete and tantalize physical specimen - so while we just didn't have room for him at Duke, I'm thrilled I'll actually be able to continue to root for him wholeheartedly.

I also think he's nowhere close to NBA-ready, so if he's smart, he should be around for a few years and grow into a fierce defender, finisher, and all-around physical presence. Great news.

(Oh, and in my biased opinion, I would think agree that ACC fans in general would much prefer UVA in the top tier to UMD. While our fans have a tendency to treat the actual sporting event taking place as secondary to the social affair it provides, they're generally a good-natured bunch who won't be raining down pennies and batteries on anyone anytime soon. Plus, Bennett's a class act.)

[Greg_Newton]

Next season is a big season for the 'Hoos. Farrakhan was the only big loss from this year's team, Scott returns, Johnson will play, they had some nice frosh who should continue developing, some talent is coming in and they have enough vets like Zeglinski to give some seasoning.

...and honestly, I'm not completely convinced Farrakhan won't be addition by subtraction. He had times when he could get hot and carry the team offensively for a while, but he was a volume shooter who tended to be turnover prone and a bit of a black hole. His loss will let other guys step up who will hopefully be more condusive to good bball flow in general.