Girard may be the best known recruit ever who was not ranked in the top 100 (he's not even in the top 150). I'm trying to think of a comparison but coming up with nothing. I thought about Tamir Goodman, but he was actually ranked in the top 50 (though that ranking was totally undeserved).
Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?
I am coming up empty as well.
It seems to me that Girard was tabbed as a knockdown shooter at a small-town school and people thought he may blow up a la Luke Kennard. Unfortunately, as soon as Girard was turned loose against top-tier competition, he struggled mightily and totally blew up his buzz/ranking. At least that's my perception of how the situation unfolded.
That said, he may turn out to be a nice piece. I fully expect him to have a 4-year career at Syracuse as a hard-nosed, pesky guard, culminating in a major role as a senior and/or junior. Albeit, with no likely NBA future.
Good luck to him and Syracuse.
- Chillin
Not sure if folks had noticed, but many of the so-called experts have flipped their picks in the past few days on Isaiah Stewart from Duke and Kentucky to Michigan State. Among the flippers is one of the Devils Den pickers, Chad Lykins.
Stewart took his official to Syracuse over the weekend. Folks there are convinced his dad wants him to stay close to home (Stewart is from Rochester, NY) so they think he will pick them. He's already taken officials to Washington and Kentucky and everyone says he is going to take one to Duke. With so many folks saying he is now a Mich State lean, it would seem they are going to get the 5th (the NCAA only allows 5) visit.
-Jason "until the kid has taken his visit, we don't know nothing" Evans
Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?
To be clear, there have been a ton of lightly recruited players who turned out to be absolute studs in college and the pros. There are examples of this nearly every season. I mean, Steph Curry was the #256 recruit in the country according to 247. His career went fairly well
I was talking about guys who had generated a lot of buzz and attention and headlines in their recruiting who were just not that highly ranked or thought of as a recruit. It happens sometimes with the sons of celebrities and former players** but Girard is none of that. I just think it is interesting. I mean, when was the last time Duke even offered a kid ranked this low other than a last minute, late recruit who was filling some emergency gap?
** - Snoop Dog's son is a good example of this. He attracted a lot of attention considering he was the #222 recruit in football, though top 250 in football is a much bigger deal than top 100 in basketball because there are so many players who play in football.
-Jason "Jimmer is in China and is beloved there. He averages like 37ppg and was league MVP or something like that" Evans
Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?
Tamir Goodman - that's a name I haven't heard in a long time. A long time.
Looks like he's living his best life though: https://twitter.com/TamirGoodman/sta...96465492381696
Olek Czyz was the consensus No. 66 player in the h.s. class of 2008, ranked ahead of Miles Plumlee, at 81.
He left Duke for Nevada. The Reno one, not the Las Vegas one. He was first team All-WAC in 2012, after averaging 13.8 ppg and 6.5 rpg.
So, I'm not sure the Girard comparisons hold.
What was most unusual about Tamir -- and attracted a ton on notice -- is that he refused to play during the Sabbath, sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. All the same, Gary Williams offered him a scholarship at Maryland. The Gary had second thoughts and rescinded the offer. He ended playing a year plus at Towson, and I can't remember what happened next.
Although, judging from his picture with his wife, some things turned out well.
Sage Grouse
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'When I got on the bus for my first road game at Duke, I saw that every player was carrying textbooks or laptops. I coached in the SEC for 25 years, and I had never seen that before, not even once.' - David Cutcliffe to Duke alumni in Washington, DC, June 2013
I only know this because I looked at his Wiki earlier but things did not turn out well at Towson:
"Goodman continued at Towson for his sophomore campaign until December 2001, when Goodman filed a complaint that the newly hired coach allegedly assaulted him. Goodman then fulfilled a dream of his by moving to Israel and signing a 3-year contract with Maccabi Tel Aviv on July 22, 2002."
Fortunately all looks well now.
Olek Czyz also living his best life: https://twitter.com/olekczyz/status/1045900897916612608
Nope. Players can now take 15 (!!) official visits as of August 15 following the recommendation of the basketball committee. Although those 15 have to spread out between prior to the end of junior year (5), senior year (5) and after graduation (5), so not sure when Stewart's official visits have been.
I was fiercely rooting for Tamir Goodman to just destroy for Towson and show Maryland they were horrible for not letting "the Jewish Jordan" play on their team. Sadly, it appears his recruiting ranking was the product of hype, not skill. Tamir averaged 6 points, 4 assists, and 2.5 rebounds per game as a freshman at Towson.
Let's be clear -- the competition at Towson was not exactly top tier D1 kinda stuff. Putting up those numbers tells me he would not have been anything close to a rotation player at Maryland.
As others have noted, he played professionally in Israel, but never with much success. He could not get playing time in the first or second division of Israeli basketball. He played a couple seasons for a third division team but never averaged better than 2 points per game.
--Jason "we have totally sidetracked from my original question... can anyone name a lightly regarded recruiting prospect who generated the kind of attention Joe Girard has?" Evans
Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?
Sage Grouse
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'When I got on the bus for my first road game at Duke, I saw that every player was carrying textbooks or laptops. I coached in the SEC for 25 years, and I had never seen that before, not even once.' - David Cutcliffe to Duke alumni in Washington, DC, June 2013
I'm stretching here, but there have been some lower ranked guys that we have gone after late in the cycle who have gotten some attention. I'm not sure what you would consider Carrick Felix's ranking to be since we were recruiting him from a Juco but there was briefly a ton of buzz about him.
Mac McClung (not in top 100 RSCI, not in ESPN100, not in Rivals top 150, #245 on 247Sports) has generated more attention than Joe Girard.
See:
Recent article on The Undefeated: https://theundefeated.com/features/g...mic-and-white/
BallIsLife senior mixtape:
SLAM highlight video from this summer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3euWbXOHd8E
Last edited by El_Diablo; 10-15-2018 at 06:30 PM.
I don't know how McClung wasn't top 100. That dude can ball.