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re: Alabama basketball recruiting
Posted on 3/22/12 at 6:14 pm to Al Bundy Bulldog
Posted on 3/22/12 at 6:14 pm to Al Bundy Bulldog
Are you thinking of Devonta Pollard because I was talking about DeVon Walker?
1
Posted on 3/22/12 at 6:50 pm to Bryant91092
quote:
There’s a pretty good utility wingman still available and judging by the interest he’s receiving, there are a host of programs that will be excited to see if he signs his name on the dotted line this spring.
DeVon Walker (Winter Haven, Fla./Winter Haven) is prepping for the Florida vs. The Nation senior all-star game. Once that’s done, he’s got to see about the process of finalizing his decision.
“I’ve narrowed down my list,” Walker said. “I have maybe two more visits and I’ll decide where I’m going.”
Florida State, Florida, Alabama, Connecticut and Kansas State put forth offers. The Crimson Tide and Central Florida received official visits. Walker was once committed to the Knights but is no longer considering the program.
“Right now it’s between Alabama and Florida State,” Walker said.
He may attempt an official visit to UConn or even a return trip, maybe an official visit, to see the Seminoles.
“This time around I’m taking things slower,” Walker said. “I’m taking it all in and not making a quick decision. It’s a big decision to make.”
The lure with Walker is that he’s a multi-position type of player. He’s the kind of guy who morphs into whatever role a team needs. Because of his size and versatility, he’s been told he can come in and carve out a niche.
“There’s not really a set position for me,” Walker said. “Guys want me to come in and be a 1, 2 or 3 and I’m versatile enough to do it.”
By Dave Telep on ESPN
Posted on 3/23/12 at 1:27 pm to BuccWildBammer
quote:
Evan Smotrycz early interest from Providence, BC, Clemson, Colorado, USC, Butler,Baylor, Bama, Xavier, Oregon, Temple, Bonaventure, UMass,GW
He was a sophomore at Michigan this year. Pretty good player who played a lot. No idea why he's transferring but it'd be great to someone make a serious run at him.
Posted on 3/24/12 at 1:40 am to Bryant91092
Cothron article, a few days old. Talks about this current season, nothing on future possibilities.
Can't imagine Grant wanting him at this point, but who knows.
LINK
Can't imagine Grant wanting him at this point, but who knows.
LINK
Posted on 3/24/12 at 9:29 am to bona fide
That is a pretty glowing article, but I'm not sure we want to go down that road. If he really has had his come to Jesus moment, you'd be getting a really talented post player who is exactly the kind of guy this team needs. If he is just going to slip back into his old ways, you'll be getting a more problematic version of Tony Mitchell. A lot of it depends on what his JUCO coach says about him.
Posted on 3/24/12 at 10:31 am to Robot Santa
When you get suspended that long from your juco team, you're a pretty bad frick up.
Posted on 3/24/12 at 10:43 am to Bryant91092
The only problem is that is he even a post player. In highschool he would stay on the outside. Anyway I would love to have him on our team LOL.
Posted on 3/24/12 at 10:51 am to Bryant91092
quote:
When you get suspended that long from your juco team, you're a pretty bad frick up.
People can change. Most people grow up at one point or another. Some just take a lot longer than others. Honestly...it's kind of surprising that he didn't just say frick it and drop out.
Posted on 3/25/12 at 8:00 pm to Robot Santa
quote:
Devonta’s mother, Mrs. Jessie Pollard, said official visits are scheduled for Alabama on the weekend of April 6th and Georgetown around April 16th.
Posted on 3/26/12 at 11:31 am to Bryant91092
quote:
Shannon Hale, PF – A chiseled 6-foot-9, Hale showed up at the Carolina Challenge on Saturday. The early Alabama commit credited the coaches at Arden (N.C.) Christ school to his added weight and strength to his frame. He used that body to fight for boards and played the top performer of the day – Hicks – well. Hale likes to face up for mid-range jump shots, but he showed a hook and touch inside. He scored nine, eight and nine in three games.
This is from Scout
Posted on 3/26/12 at 11:32 am to Bryant91092
quote:
A chiseled 6-foot-9
Now he needs to hit a late growth spurt and get up to 6'10".
Posted on 3/26/12 at 11:48 am to Bryant91092
From ESPN:
quote:
Pollard talks recruiting, McDonald's game
By Greg Ostendorf
Last year, Alabama basketball coach Anthony Grant put together a top-five recruiting class, giving the Crimson Tide some national recognition. However, the class didn’t consist of a single McDonald’s All-American.
In fact, the last McDonald’s All-American to sign with Alabama was JaMychal Green, who just finished his senior year with the Tide.
Coach Grant is looking to change that trend this year with Devonta Pollard. At this point, Alabama has no signees or commitments for the 2012 class, but Pollard, a top-50 recruit and McDonald's All-American, lists the Tide among his favorites.
The Mississippi native has narrowed his list to five but he’s putting recruiting on hold this week to focus on Wednesday’s all-star game in Chicago.
“I’m very excited,” Pollard said. “I’m very honored to be able to go and play with those guys. There’s a lot of kids out there wishing they could be playing in this game, so it’s neat to be chosen to be one of those kids to play in it. It’s an honor.”
In the state championship game, Pollard finished with 28 points, 10 rebounds and 10 blocks to help lead Kemper County High School to victory. He’s hoping for another memorable performance against some of the nation’s best players this week.
“I just want to go out there, have fun, and when I leave, I want everybody to know who I am.”
Before leaving on Saturday, Pollard did make some decisions involving his recruitment. First, he eliminated Kentucky from his list, leaving Alabama, Georgetown, Mississippi State, Missouri and Texas as his five finalists.
He also set up tentative visits to both Alabama and Georgetown for next month. He plans to take his official visit to UA on April 5-6, and is scheduled to make the trip up to Georgetown on April 15-16.
“I’m not going to do anything different on those visits,” Pollard said. “I’m going to go there, check out the campus, check out the coaching staff, see what they’re talking about and see if that’s the best place for me to go.”
Pollard has already taken official visits to Missouri and Texas, and still may take one to the home state Bulldogs in Starkville, before making a decision.
Mississippi State took a hit with Pollard’s recruitment when Rick Stansbury announced he was stepping down after 14 seasons as head coach.
“Ever since I was young, basically they were the first school that started recruiting me,” Pollard said. “They started since I was in the ninth grade. Just to grow that relationship with Coach Stansbury, he was a nice guy that I know. He had a nice family.
“The relationship we had wasn’t just a regular relationship. We talked more than about basketball. We talked about life, our families and how each other was doing. For him to be gone, that hurt pretty bad.”
Even with Stansbury’s departure, Pollard hasn’t eliminated Mississippi State from the process. He wants to wait and see who they hire to be the next coach first.
As for a decision, Pollard said he wants to wait, take all of his visits and talk it over with his mother, but he’d like to make it by the end of April.
Posted on 3/26/12 at 9:59 pm to Robot Santa
Hale did a video interview with Evan Daniels and basically said his post scoring is his go to stuff and the strength of his game so he's going to use the AAU season to work on his outside shooting. With a body like his, if he could be a decent shooter from outside, he'd be a force.
Posted on 3/26/12 at 10:15 pm to Bryant91092
He just needs to work on his midrange game. The midrange jumper is deadly if used right.
Posted on 3/26/12 at 10:20 pm to Tide or Die87
Yeah a nice face up jumper would be great. When JaMychal was on, he was very effective with that shot.
Posted on 3/26/12 at 10:21 pm to Bryant91092
I doubt that he is 6'9 but if he is we got a good one with his athletic ability and skills.
Posted on 3/27/12 at 9:46 am to Tide or Die87
Heard an interesting rumor regarding Mitchell's suspension this past season.
FWIW:
I'm hearing from someone fairly close to the situation that supposedly Mitchell challenged Coach Grant's offensive philosophy of slowing it down and milking the clock. He allegedly did this early and often and for a while CAG gave him the benefit of the doubt. When Mitchell got some of the younger players to starting challenging CAG's authority the s### hit the fan and Mitchell and others were suspended. Supposedly it has gotten to the point where it may be affecting our recruitment of a 2013 instate 5 star forward. Rumor is that the big recruit out of Greensboro, AL is a lifelong Bama fan but will sign with Kentucky if offered due to "concerns" about Alabama's offense.
Assuming this is true, CAG may need to consider rethinking his offensive philosophy or hiring an assistant coach to revamp the offense. He has a right as head coach to suspend players for challenging him but it is concerning that our offensive woes are potentially affecting our recruiting.
FWIW:
I'm hearing from someone fairly close to the situation that supposedly Mitchell challenged Coach Grant's offensive philosophy of slowing it down and milking the clock. He allegedly did this early and often and for a while CAG gave him the benefit of the doubt. When Mitchell got some of the younger players to starting challenging CAG's authority the s### hit the fan and Mitchell and others were suspended. Supposedly it has gotten to the point where it may be affecting our recruitment of a 2013 instate 5 star forward. Rumor is that the big recruit out of Greensboro, AL is a lifelong Bama fan but will sign with Kentucky if offered due to "concerns" about Alabama's offense.
Assuming this is true, CAG may need to consider rethinking his offensive philosophy or hiring an assistant coach to revamp the offense. He has a right as head coach to suspend players for challenging him but it is concerning that our offensive woes are potentially affecting our recruiting.
Posted on 3/27/12 at 10:59 am to Govt Tide
Must be talking about Taylor. I had given Grant the benefit of the doubt about the offense his first two years but not this past season. We had 4 guys who could bring the ball up the floor and 2 of them were experienced. There was no excuse for constantly slowing things down and playing stall ball.
Posted on 3/27/12 at 11:10 am to Robot Santa
Don't get me wrong I like everything CAG has done with the program up to this point. The decisions he made this year made it clear who was in charge and that will pay off in the long run. I think the number #1 goal this season was to keep moving forward and most importantly get the NCAA tourney (making it in) monkey off our back. Now that that has been accomplished I think he will become less conservative offensively and allow players the freedom to take shots earlier in the shot clock. Just a hunch.
Posted on 3/27/12 at 11:20 am to Govt Tide
That's my hunch too, but with that said "Kid, we'll win with you and we'll win without you."
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