THE HORNETS' NEST -- Season 59 pre-season
Overall, I'm pleased with how this recruiting season went, although I would have liked to sign a fourth player and avoid grabbing a walk-on. I tweaked my recruiting approach slightly and wound up with probably my most efficient recruiting season ever. Just over 87 percent of my budget was spent directly on the guys I signed (includes money spent on FSS scouts of the states they were from).
The jewel of this year's class is Wisconsin native
Anthony Rummel whom the Hornets only got a commitment from after a spirited battle with Wisconsin, Superior (100 miles/C prestige vs. 700 miles/C+). Much will be expected of Rummel simply due to the expenditure it took to secure his letter of intent, but with eight high-potential categories (including at least 4 high-high's) and no low's, Rummel certainly has the skill set to live up to expectations. With a 3.4 GPA and an 80 WE, he should grow in a hurry. He's also a high-potential FT shooter, which is good since he laid bricks (58.8%) in high school. Although listed as a PF, I foresee Rummel seeing significant time at SF in his college career.
We lost a scrappy shooting guard in Trapp to graduation, so we recruited
Alexander Peterson to try and fill the void. Peterson should finish as a 590s player, possibly hitting the low 600s if his 28 WE grows quickly his freshman year, when he'll likely see 13-15 mpg. Peterson should grow into a 60/60 Ath/Spd SG with a 55+ Def. by graduation. Both his BH and Per are high-high potential, so he should be able to provide a bit more outside pop than Trapp did, addressing a secondary team need for more outside shooting.
Last, we have
Donald Brown a PG also sought after locally by Ferrum. After the unexpected success of Carrick, who will be a junior this season, the Hornets dip back into the well for what appears to be a similar-type player. Brown, on paper, should be an upgrade over Carrick in the sense that his speed will be at least low-80s by the time he graduates and he'll carry better Def, BH and Pass numbers through his career. He'll only get to about a 560 overall, but his low categories are in periphery attributes that don't worry me.
One last bonus from this class is the fact that all ran motion/press sets in high school, so all three should come in C-/C- or better on IQ's. That will help, particularly in the non-conference part of the year, to get all the kids more playing time.
I would have liked to grab one pure post-type player to round out the class, but that want was easily set aside to free up battle cash for Rummel. I probably could have signed someone functional late-cycle with my remaining cash, but when Averett passed on eventual Washington and Lee signee John Barrett, I threw what I had left at him hoping that, combined with two early eval visits, it might be enough for a steal of a player with several high-potential categories. It wasn't.