The last
First it was Texas and then Mizzou and finally Louisville,
Courtney Ramey from St. Louis the last uncommitted point guard in the Class of 2018 has visits
scheduled with these schools. Yesterday
Ramey had an in-home visit by representatives of Texas, today its Mizzou and
tomorrow Louisville. At one point the
offers for this talented athlete totaled 22 and have now been reduced to three according to reports. This Rivals 4-star prospect is listed as number 40 in the Class of 2018. Cuonzo
Martin has a relationship with Ramey’s dad prior to this last ditch effort by Mizzou however that might not aid the
recruiting process. As a member of
Mizzou Nation I’d love to have him commit however I’m a realist, it’s possible
he’ll choose one of the other two or maybe one not on the list.
His destination
His destination
Does the ultimate destination of a draft prospect enter the
decision to leave school after the freshman year?
That question might be rolling around in the mind of Jontay Porter from
this point up to the NBA Draft Combine.
The mock sites I regularly check are all over the map regarding the
prospects of Porter. All three agree he
will be a late first round pick, allow me to clarify what I’ve read. Hoopshype.com
has Porter listed as the #24 pick and he would go to the Wolves. NBADraft.net
says he’s headed to the Lakers at #24, finally Basketball Insiders.com indicates the Mavs will draft him at
#35.
Tailoring his roster
Tailoring his roster
I listened to a Mizzou podcast and formulated a conclusion of
the teams’ direction. Cuonzo Martin
appears to have little desire to add a big man to the roster. If we check out the current team composition (excluding
Jontay Porter) it’s a collection of two 6-foot 7 inch and three 6-foot 10-inch
men. The biggest of those bodies is
Jeremiah Tilmon at 6-foot 10 and 252 pounds who occupies the center
position.
The balance of the roster to date is comprised of guards
whether they are point, shooting or combo guards. With the Mark Smith commitment over the
weekend there remain two scholarships for 2018-19. One scholarship is reserved for a guard (Courtney
Ramey?) however I doubt if the remaining one is for a big man. The final scholarship could be awarded to a
graduate student, a great deal of the season witnessed three guards on the
floor at the same time.
“Isn’t that Special?”
“Isn’t that Special?”
Siena coach Jimmy Patsos resigned on Friday, there was a
series of problems reported to have occurred with the program. It didn’t help Siena was coming off an 8-24
record. I read over the weekend one of
the names mentioned to replace Patsos was Rick Pitino. Pitino might eventually be hired somewhere at
some time, currently he's an untouchable.
Hal Greer
Hal Greer
Unless you are a student of the game or an NBA old-time fan
the name Hal Greer might be unfamiliar to you.
On Monday the Sixers announced Greer died at age 81. He would arrive in the NBA at a time it
remained pretty much a minor league growing into major league status. The Syracuse (NY) Nats drafted Greer in 1958
from Marshall University, in 1963 the Nats re-located to Philadelphia and were
re-branded the Seventy Sixers.
The lithe guard would play the remainder of his career in The
City of Brotherly Love scoring over 21,000 points. He was elected to the NBA’s 50th
Anniversary Team and was a 10X NBA All Star, he was the first Sixer to have his
jersey number retired. Greer was a
double honoree, enshrined in both the Naismith and College Basketball Hall of
Fame. The Sixers paid tribute to his
legacy prior to Game Two of their series against the Heat, R.I.P. Hal Greer.
