With 5 openings this season the La Grange coaches knew that they had some work to do in order to bring in a solid class for the future success of the program. Scouting the usually southeastern states the coaches do each year the La Grange scouts were somewhat disappointed in the level of talent, or lack there of.
With the higher amount of funds than usual head coach skinzfan36 decided to send scouts to many states in various regions of the country. In order to not miss out on the few good local recruits La Grange pounced early on in the first cycle. They went after 4 guys right away. This included a SR juco point guard from just 40 miles away but a DII school also showed up on him so we decided to cut ties with him early on. We were successful in getting on the considering list for the other 3 players as well. However, 2 of these players would have 3 schools showing up on them after the 1st cycle.
This situation worried the coaches some, but we did have a distance advantage over all the other teams involved in both situations (in addition to also having more open scholarships). So the coach decided they would move forward with both of these battles. A little while later a scout came back from a trip to New Mexico with a diamond in the rough that skinzfan36 knew he had to get.
When signings came around we were able to sign 2 of the players right away including the guard from New Mexico. La Grange was still involved in battles for their other 2 recruits while still having 3 schollies open. They eventually won 1 and then later on the other battle was finished as well.
With 4 players secure and FSS now cheaper skinzfan36 decided to scout a few more states to see if there were any decent leftover players. They were able to find a few they like and eventually settled on a small forward with good upside from North Carolina. Here is the individual recruit breakdown for this seasons class:
Edwin Crumpton PF Hattiesburg, MS - Crumpton was the first recruit La Grange locked up. He may be the most game ready of the freshman as he has good scoring potential from the get go. The coaches hope to provide him with a decent amount of PT early on so as to improve his WE and skills quicker. He should eventually develop as a solid all around player once his rebounding and defense improve.
Kurt Washington SG Ruidoso, NM - La Grange went way out west for this gem of a player. With only a 29 WE the coaches are hoping that Washington will be willing to accept a redshirt season this year. This will be crucial to his development. There really is not much of a need for him in the lineup this year. If he accepts the redshirt there is a high chance he will be a 4 yr starter. He offers high potential in several key categories and could eventually be a dominant scorer. There is no telling how high his potential is yet as the coaches could not get an exact measure of where his high level development skills will end up.
Toby Durham C Cochran, GA - Durham looks to be a solid PF/C prospect. From right in our backyard we went after him early, but PBAU and Wisconsin Oshkosh also end up on his list. PBAU seemed to back off and go after other targets right away but Oshkosh did not back down. It took until early this morning to win the battle for Durham. He will be a bit of a project but has high potential in all the key categories for a big man so should eventually develop into a force down low.
Ralph Farrington PF Panama City, FL - the 3rd and final "Ton" to join this class, Farrington is a JUCO with 2 years of eligibility remaining. We also had to battle for him, this time against conference mates PBAU and Shenandoah. This battle was alot tougher than the other as Shenandoah seemed very intent on getting Farrington for a long time. He was finally locked up shortly after the battle for Durham ended. Farrington will be a key cog in the La Grange lineup immediately. He is already fluent in the zone defense we run as that is what he played in junior college. He will provide solid minutes off the bench, primarily at the SF position due to his nice all around game.
Mark Poole SF Wilmington, NC - the final piece of this class was Mark Poole. The coaches are not sure where Poole will eventually fit in as his REB is pretty low for a small forward, but he may also not have the requisite BH and Pass skills to play SG. Eventually will probably see time at both as he will be a nice scorer and defender down the road.
Coach skinzfan36 said he was quite satisfied with this class of 5 and he really believes that in a few seasons they could lead La Grange to great success. Only time will tell.
8/6/2012 6:12 PM (edited)