OTH recruit articles latest being LaDarien

[Chuck]

I attached all of JP Butler's articles on Bonnies new recruts. This is the best coverage I have ever seen from the OTH in covering Bonnies recruits. I'm very thankful to JP. The latest is from yesterday about LaDarien.

LaDarien Griffin has a connection to Bonas, which probably helped with Bonnies signing him. His high school coach is Jim Martin a brother to Allegany-Limestone girls basketball coach Frank Martin. His coach said following about LaDarien who is described as being an extremely athletic 6'7" player with a 7-foot wingspan. “I think they’re getting a kid with huge upside with all that length and athleticism,” the Stallions coach said of Bona. “I don’t think he’s even touched the surface of where he could actually go. He’s going to be that kid, by the second or third year, that I think it’s like, ‘Gosh, where did this kid come from?’” Martin said. “And then he blossoms into being that player that I think he has the chance to be great, and everybody’s going to say, ‘How did St. Bonaventure get this kid?’

www.oleantimesherald.com/sports/article_e3a03ea4-ff7b-11e4-8296-bb1c308e4bf3.html

The Bonnies 3 high school recruits teams all had an extremely successful season.

-- LaDarien's team had a record of 31-1 and won Florida's 3A championship.
-- Nelson's team was the top ranked team in Canada, had an undefeated season with a record of 37-0 and won Canada's 4A championship. How about this for being impressive, Nelson scored 36 points in the championship game.
-- Derrick's team made it to the quarterfinals of Pennsylvania's 4A tournament. They lost by one to Roman Catholic the eventual champion of the tournament. In the finals Roman Catholic won in a blowout by 17 points.

www.oleantimesherald.com/sports/article_13a0413e-f339-11e4-bb6b-1b6e71cb2bc9.html
www.oleantimesherald.com/sports/article_787dc8be-fd7b-11e4-95c2-afcf7a5419a6.html
piaa.org/assets/web/documents/2015_AAAAB_BB_Brax.pdf

Following are links to Courtney Stockard and Matt Mobley articles.

www.oleantimesherald.com/sports/article_079c0648-f47e-11e4-893c-bf3a6ee25a99.html
www.oleantimesherald.com/sports/article_190e12fc-fe67-11e4-a136-93c75d5c13be.html

[kcSBU03]

Sounds a lot like Dion to me in terms of how he will develop.

[old timer]

Who has to qualify? Woods or Griffin?

[bjif]

Woods.

[bona1971]

We desperately need him since we are definitely short on big men.

[5and23]

Agree there's a Dion Wright vibe to this kid.

A really solid article, too. (One thing I wish sportswriters would do is to help readers understand the level of competition a high schooler plays. Griffin, for example, helped Providence, his school, win Florida's 3A state title. Cool. But I have no idea what that means without some elaboration. Is 3A big schools? Tiny schools? Schools named for New England capital cities? Every state structures these things differently, so unless you are an expert on Florida high school athletics it's hard to know what to make of it.)

Anyway, all the best to Mr. Griffin.

[bjif]

Maybe this will help. In Florida the interscholastic rankings are as follows; 7A Highest level, 6A,5A, 4A, 3A, AA, A.It is based more on enrollment size. Just because he played in 3A does not mean that schedule was inferior as these schools tend to play a robust schedule.

[Pinnum]

MaxPreps.com uses computer rankings based on all reported games. They rank in the state (all divisions combined) and nationally. It gives a good indication of the level a team plays at.

Providence (Jacksonville, FL) was ranked 6th in Florida and 118th Nationally.

For some comparisons...

Christ The King (Perennial NY Power) was 3rd in NY and 95th Nationally.

Pennsbury was 8th in PA and 282 Nationally.

Olean was 116th in New York and 4,432 Nationally.

[Chuck]

Jonathan Hall played in Florida's 6A and Michael Lee played in 3A. Both were high quality players for the Bonnies and I would actually call them stars for the Bonnies. LaDarien's Providence team must have been a really good team. During LaDarien's junior year and with Grayson Allen (who signs with Duke) Providence's has a 28-5 record and loses in Florida's 3A state semifinals. This year without Grayson Providence has a 31-1 record and wins Florida's 3A title. There are not many high school teams that can lose a player the caliber of Grayson Allen and then become better.

gobonnies.sbu.edu/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/hall_jonathan00.html
gobonnies.sbu.edu/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/lee_michael00.html
www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=209693395&DB_OEM_ID=4200

[Chuck]

May 22, 2015 8:12:29 GMT -5 kcSBU03 said:

Sounds a lot like Dion to me in terms of how he will develop.

For me LaDarien sounds like a Demetrius Conger or a Denzel Gregg. Conger and Denzel were extremely athletic like LaDarien and as freshmen both needed to improve their ball skills and shot. Conger greatly improved both while Denzel continues to work on these skills.

Conger and Denzel might have LaDarien's athleticism, but they do not have LaDarien's 7 foot wing span. I do not think the Bonnies ever had a small forward with a 7 foot wing span. I'm looking forward to seeing the LaDarien descrribed by his coach "never had a player block as many jump shots as Griffin did last season, all on account of that length" or “he’s an ESPN highlight type with his ups and how he finishes,” Martin said.

[ddsmugs]

What was Rocky Lewellen's wing span?

[Chuck]

May 22, 2015 20:30:30 GMT -5 ddsmugs said:

What was Rocky Lewellen's wing span?

Vory Billups is the only Bonnie forward I could think of that could have a 7 foot wing span. Problem is Vory never played a game with the Bonnies. His Bonnie career ended before it even started, because of Marfan Syndrome. I remember hearing stories of Vory dominating pickup games with other Bonnie players. Here is an interesting fact, Vory is cousins with former NBA star Chauncey Billups. Attached is link to story about Vory's Bonnie career being ended because of Marfan Syndrome. Following is from article.

Perhaps the most well known Marfan's case locally-- which fortunately had a successful conclusion --was that of Vory Billups.

In 1984, the 6'8" Billups was one of the area's most highly recruited basketball stars while at Bennett High School.

He accepted a scholarship to play for St. Bonaventure University, but never stepped on a college court after his physical raised concerns that-due Marfan's -- the stress on his heart could kill him.

Marfan's ended his hoops career. However, decision not to let him play may have saved his life.



www.wgrz.com/news/article/212752/37/Search-For-Answers-In-Buffalo-Area-High-Schoolers-Death

[Cat]

I believe we honored his scholarship

[vodorr]

I guess I am in a negative mood...
But is anyone else thinking that Schmidt's inability to manage minutes will cause some of these highly touted players to leave?
Two just left, and they were not recruited to add nothing to the team.
These young men sound great on several different levels, but freshmen (Jaylen aside) do not play large roles on Schmidt's teams.

[bartmitchell]

May 23, 2015 21:07:36 GMT -5 vodorr said:

I guess I am in a negative mood...
But is anyone else thinking that Schmidt's inability to manage minutes will cause some of these highly touted players to leave?
Two just left, and they were not recruited to add nothing to the team.
These young men sound great on several different levels, but freshmen (Jaylen aside) do not play large roles on Schmidt's teams.

Can't respond to your question; don't know what you mean by "...Schmidt's inability to manage minutes.."

I honestly have no idea what "Two just left , and they were not recruited to add nothing to the team." means, but I don't think I need to understand that in order to address your question.

Could you clarify please. Thanks.