Greg Monroe picks Georgetown

[Duke79UNLV77]

I've seen a couple of places that Williams is visiting campus this weekend, and I've also seen that we have an in-home visit with Monroe. Any word on how the visits have been going?

[ACCBBallFan]

I've seen a couple of places that Williams is visiting campus this weekend, and I've also seen that we have an in-home visit with Monroe. Any word on how the visits have been going?

Have not heard anything but was thinking it must have been a busy weekend for coach K hosting Elliot Williams on campus and having to fly over to Louisiana for the Monroe in home discussion.

[Patrick Yates]

Longtime readers are well aware of my thoughts re: the recruitment of Greg Monroe. I, like many national pundits, am of the opinion that Monroe will more than likely choose between LSU and Duke.

[this is subject to one MAJOR caveat. If, IF, a high major team were to win the NC and face massive, and currently unexpected, NBA defections, Monroe might be able to step into a good PT situation at a high profile school that would still retain enough talent/incoming recruits to be relevant nationally. Since Monroe is going to wait until the end of the year to decide, a la Patterson, this could very well be the case. But, that is unforseeable, so this post deals with the here and now]

Until now, I believed that Duke was behind LSU only because of the Home-state pressure, which could be large (especially if LSU wins/is diddled over by the BCS in football, cause then love for the state U would be monstrous), AND by the fact that there was a freaking plethora of PT/shots available on a depleted roster.

That may no longer be the case.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/recruiting/briefingroom

The above link is to ESPNs recruit tracker. This site only reports confirmed gossip, if you will, in that it only quotes the player, his parents/guardians, or his HS coach.

According to the site LSU has inked a 6-10 C from GA, who is top 50-75, and could soon ink a SF. The third player mentioned is J'Mison Morgan kid came on huge this summer, and he was justifyable impressed with the atmosphere at the LSU-VT game this past weekend. On a related note, you really have to applaud K's ability to recruit when he does not have a quality FB team/rocking FB stadium to use to impress recruits. He has to overcome this, not use it as an inducement like some other coaches can.

This could/does throw a monkey wrench into my reasoning. Suddenly, LSU might not be the wasteland/scene of easy PT pickings it once was. Admittedly, these additions might make LSU more competitive, but that would take 2-3 years, and GM might not be there long enough to reap the rewards of this upward trend. Also, the two best recruits, if they get all 3, would be post players, the very position where GM plays. Given the situation at LSU, the coach would have to force-feed the other 2 posts quality minutes to prepare for when GM leaves (probably 1 year). Duke could afford to play GM for 30+mps (indeed, we may HAVE to, if we get him), knowing that we would at least be decent even if he was one-and-done.

As others on the board have reported LSU has got to be feeling the heat. Even though they went to the FF (and got desroyed) 2 years ago (fluke), it is kind of a wasteland. The LSU coach would have to prepare GM's eventual replacements, cause with such a young team focusing entirely on GM, he as an individual might see success without the team realizing a significant boost (due more to their youth/skills than any Monroe shortcoming/selfishness, of which there is no whisper of).

As much as the LSU coach may want GM, he may be looking at a bird in the hand scenario. Far more than Duke, who will be at least OK even if GM never enrolls here, LSU is so bad that they cannot simply hold a slot for GM and not recruit any other posts. They are so bad that they cannot put all of their eggs into one basket, cause that basket may go elsewhere.

The upshot is, LSU may be getting a lot less attractive than Duke, or at least not having such an obvious superiority with regards to PT/SPG, what with our obvious need in the post.

Patrick Yates

[SilkyJ]

According to the site LSU has inked a 6-10 C from GA, who is top 50-75, and could soon ink a SF. The third player mentioned is J'Mison Morgan kid came on huge this summer, and he was justifyable impressed with the atmosphere at the LSU-VT game this past weekend. On a related note, you really have to applaud K's ability to recruit when he does not have a quality FB team/rocking FB stadium to use to impress recruits. He has to overcome this, not use it as an inducement like some other coaches can.

Two things: 1st off the site says they received a VERBAL commitment from Dennis Harris, the 6'10" C you referred to, so nothing has been "inked".

2nd, he isn't even listed on scout.com's top 100, so I dont think he's going to challenge a consensus top 5 recruit for much PT.

[CY_devil]

LSU getting a commitment from a 6-10 prospect might sway GM towards Duke. I say might because it does not matter who LSU has on roster, GM (from what I've heard) can step in and play his minutes from the beginning.
Also, J'Mison Morgan has been rumored to be a KU lean for a while now and he is going to visit their campus this weekend after Bill Self's home pitch this week.

http://www2.kusports.com/news/2007/s...ens_basketball

In addition, GM has a number of schools on his list that will be making in home visits and I would not count any of them out at this point.

http://community.foxsports.com/blogs...nHome_Schedule

The top-ranked player in the Class of 2008, Greg Monroe, has tried to keep his final eight schools fairly secretive – but FOXSports.com has the list, along with in-home visit dates for each school. Here you go:

Duke – Sept. 9
Georgetown – Sept. 9
LSU – Sept. 11
USC – Sept. 16
Baylor – Sept. 18
UConn – Sept. 22
Kansas – Sept. 22
Texas – Sept. 25

CY

[watzone]

The three are Duke, Georgetown and LSU.

[ACCBBallFan]

The three are Duke, Georgetown and LSU.

By having those three in-homes first, Greg Monroe established them as his benchmark, and the other 5 are in contention for which 2 get a complimentary official visit, but I trust Mark Watzone is correct as usual King Friday.

[ACCBBallFan]

My daughter lives in Baton Rouge. So I asked her what the local word is, though local news is obviously concentrating on #2 rated Football team who destroyed VA TEch.

Apple does not fall far from tree in her initial reply. The rest is apparently from Google searches but I do not have the links.

I have not heard anything personally about Monroe, but he must be pretty good if they named a city after him. I will keep my eyes open for any word in the Advocate. There will be much more coverage as we get closer to bball season.
....
In its third decade of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, Gatorade joined with RISE Magazine to name junior power forward GREG MONROE of HELEN COX HIGH in Harvey as its 2006-07 Louisiana Boys’ Basketball Player of the Year.

Monroe averaged 19.4 points, 12.5 rebounds, 3.0 blocks and 2.0 assists per game for the Cougars (34-4), who lost to Washington Marion in the Class 4A postseason’s round of 16. The 6-foot-10, 225-pound Monroe was the Louisiana Sportswriters Association’s pick for the state’s Mr. Basketball and was the Class 4A Player of the Year. He is considered Metro New Orleans’ best basketball talent since Randy Livingston earned Gatorade National Player of the Year honors at Isidore Newman School in 1993.

Monroe has maintained a 3.75 GPA in the classroom. He is active in the First Emmanuel Baptist Church community in New Orleans and serves as a volunteer coach for junior varsity basketball players before practice.

“What makes the college scouts really drool is he’s 6-10 and he’s so versatile,” said Helen Cox head coach Tyron Mouzon. “He probably can play all five positions on the court. He’s that gifted with basketball skills. He can handle the ball like a guard, he can play in the post and he has an excellent mid-range game. He knows how to make players around him better.”

Monroe will begin his senior year of high school this fall and he is already attracting recruiting interest from Division I men’s basketball programs.

[jimsumner]

"Monroe will begin his senior year of high school this fall and he is already attracting recruiting interest from Division I men’s basketball programs."

Already? My goodness, these folks are on top of things.

[mapei]

Is he still regarded as likely a one-year player?

Man, the recruiting burden has gotten heavier in recent years. You spend a major part of your resources trying to get a Monroe, or Patterson, or McRoberts for that matter - and, even if you're lucky enough to land him, you have to do it all over again to replace him.

[Classof06]

I'm sorry if somebody already addressed this, I haven't been on the site as much lately. But does anyone have any idea how Eliott Williams' visit to campus went? Or how Monroe's in-home went? Any credible info would be appreciated.

[VaDukie]

I remember reading somewhere that the Williams campus visit went well; apparently he clicked with a lot of guys currently on the team. I haven't heard anything lately on Monroe though...

[OZZIE4DUKE]

I haven't been on the site as much lately.

And just whose fault is that? Please don't let it happen again.

[CenOhioDukeFan]

According to this LSU website, Greg Monroe, the #1 2008 recruit, is down to LSU and Duke!!!

[CenOhioDukeFan]

oops, Got excited there. Here's the site.

http://www.dandydon.com/

[Patrick Yates]

oops, Got excited there. Here's the site.

http://www.dandydon.com/

The site is obv. a fan site, and they are not linking to official comments. It just says someone at GM's HS said this. I see this as a "I heard this from a guy who heard from a guy who knows a guy" type of scenario.

A few weeks ago, GM was very insistent on setting up and taking all 5 offficial visits.

While I hope this to be true, it smells a little wonky.

Patrick Yates

[Devilsfan]

home site front page?

[Classof06]

After all that Patterson crap, I'll wait for an official announcement.

[watzone]

There is no source quoted nor a track record for accuracy. Monroe is still having schools in home as I type. It makes for fun reading, but it is just that. A source close to the school could be anyone from a custodian to a pimple faced freshman I do think Duke and LSU are at the top of his list though.

[Indoor66]

After all that Patterson crap, I'll wait for an official announcement.

I think you are right. The mental masterbation is not worth the time or effort.