Quick Thursday BBall (Updated 4:50pm)

General NCS Basketball28

* First, don’t overlook this recent entry on Larry Davis’s signing or this one on Anthony McClain (with links to other recruiting articles).

* Speaking of recruiting…have any of our readers ever heard of a power forward named Tirell Baines? He is supposedly 6-7, 235 pounds with a 44-inch vertical jump and is reportedly being recruited by State, Wake Forest, and East Carolina. We can’t find him in either Scout or Rivals databases.

* News on Vinny Del Negro. (Link)

* Looks like the Wolfpack is suddenly competing with the Pitt Panthers for a large chunk of our 2007 class? (Link)

Could Chris Wright, Julian Vaughn and Michael Beasley play college basketball together? One might think that Kansas St would have a shot at such a class, however, Chris Dokish on his Panther Rants blog reports that Pitt’s nes Director of Basketball Operations David Cox is Already Paying Dividends for the Panthers and suddenly has Pittsburgh on the minds of several of DC’s finest ballers. Of course, Georgetown is in very good with Wright and Beasley is a current verbal commitment of Kansas St, but the Panthers are making their push.

Although many Panther fans follow the recruiting of local top prospects such as Herb Pope and DeJuan Blair, Jamie Dixon has brought more options to the table as the Panthers have widely broadened their recruiting base this offseason. Dokish also talks with Pittsburgh JOTS founder JO Stright on Pope and Blair to see where they are at in the middle of the busiest recruiting month of the year. Blair has additional Big East interest from Rutgers and Pope has always listed Louisville and UConn, along with Pitt and Kansas St, among his favorites.

* The 2006-2007 NC State Basketball roster has been updated on GoPack.com. (Link)

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General NCS Basketball

28 Responses to Quick Thursday BBall (Updated 4:50pm)

  1. choppack1 07/13/2006 at 11:49 AM #

    Used that google tool and he’s what I can tell:
    Appears he originally committed to CoC, but may be a non-qualifier
    Played for “the Patterson School” – an immensely talented, possibly talented prep school.

  2. choppack1 07/13/2006 at 12:41 PM #

    Additional info – said to be a “Charles Barkley” type – read big frame, but very athletic, can play on inside in spite of 6-6 height.

  3. tractor57 07/13/2006 at 12:47 PM #

    First of all I do wish Davis well and I do think the current coaching group at State will do very well in the end. Bottom line, you can’t fault Davis as with the upheaval in the State program he might not fit in so well in the future.
    I have a lot of confidence in Lowe, et al in regards to recruiting, sideline coaching and player development. Maybe I’m a little on the polyanna side but I’m glad to see the Wolfpack fire once again.

  4. BoKnowsNCS71 07/13/2006 at 1:11 PM #

    Tirrel Baines — http://www.pattersonschool.org/athletics/prepbasketball/boyspages/tirrell.htm

  5. PBdafan 07/13/2006 at 1:25 PM #

    Rated as a two star recruit.

  6. tractor57 07/13/2006 at 1:33 PM #

    Somehow I think the hometown should be listed as Laurens not Lauren (their typing is as bad as mine – lol).

  7. vtpackfan 07/13/2006 at 1:57 PM #

    Bob Gibbons must live or work in Lenoir, he said something about being right next door to where Patterson plays their home games. He noted that this years squad had no less than 18 div. I recruits. Also added that Baines scored a double double against a top flight prep school from Danville Va. With so many stars around him, with some as post grads its easy to see how he could slip from a three star to two. Too much Cremins hype to read about why he’s still not going to College of Charleston, or if he planned to PG at Patterson all along.

  8. yannes 07/13/2006 at 2:46 PM #

    Baines is not academically qualified to play at CoC this year so he is re-opening his recruitment. I don’t know if we are recruiting him or if he is interested in us. I’d be surprised if we offered him because of the questionable academics.

  9. packbackr04 07/13/2006 at 2:48 PM #

    would this be a possibility for this year or is this guy class of 07

  10. packbackr04 07/13/2006 at 2:49 PM #

    we sure could use some help on the glass this year, and if his game is reminiscent of “the round mound of rebound” he would be a big huge pick up

  11. yannes 07/13/2006 at 2:58 PM #

    packbackr:
    He is listed as an ’06, but he would be an ’07 guy because he is an academic non-qualifier for ’06.

    Here is his scout page:
    http://scout.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p=8&c=1&nid=2177215

    We have far better prospects at his position for the ’07 class, IMO.

  12. redfred2 07/13/2006 at 3:37 PM #

    Unranked and rated as a 2 star at 6’7″, 235 LBS., PLUS A 44″ VERTICAL. Is that for real? Thats David Thompson-like leaping ability but at 3″ taller. Not ranked nationally and listed at 2 stars there is something way off there.

    There has to be a catch. Maybe the ol’ chewing gum, walking test did him in.

  13. PBdafan 07/13/2006 at 4:03 PM #

    Speaking of 2 star recruits, just for the heck of it I decided to look back at Dave Tellep’s 2 star recruits from 2001. One of the first names I saw was some guy named Andrew Bogut. I wonder whatever happened to him.

  14. PBdafan 07/13/2006 at 4:05 PM #

    Sorry, I meant 2002, not 2001.

  15. PBdafan 07/13/2006 at 4:11 PM #

    Add Nate Robinson to the same list of unrated 2 star players from 2002.

  16. PBdafan 07/13/2006 at 4:13 PM #

    One final guy – Josh Boone

  17. packbackr04 07/13/2006 at 4:14 PM #

    yannes:
    i agree if we have to wait till 07 for a non qualifier in 06, we can and should do better.

  18. packbackr04 07/13/2006 at 4:15 PM #

    doesnt matter how many stars he has by his name, if he can play he can play

  19. redfred2 07/13/2006 at 4:33 PM #

    All I was saying back there is that something has to be missing somewhere because his size and athletic ability should have at least earned him some attention before now. If he can play the game, bring him on.

  20. choppack1 07/13/2006 at 4:54 PM #

    “All I was saying back there is that something has to be missing somewhere because his size and athletic ability should have at least earned him some attention before now. ”

    Fred – here’s what I’m guessing.

    First off – he had signed w/ CoC. As a result, this means that a lot of folks won’t look at him hard.

    Secondly – he’s undersized for a college PF. A lot of evaluators of talent may have figured that in when evaluating him.

    Thirdly – he plays for an excellent high school team. He did put up some #s. However, I imagine he got a lot of garbage points and points around the basket – so it’s probably hard to determine his skill level. They have other big men so, he there’s a good chance he’s going against an overmatched defender.

    Finally – there was his academic situation. It’s quite possible that this kid’s academic situation was such that rating him at this time was an excercise in futility.

    While one of the above factors can be probably be ignored – I imagine when you combined them, they added up to someone putting 2 stars by his name. If State and Wake continue to recruit him, you’ll learn more about him. I didn’t find much analysis of his overall game or skill level so who knows. A lot of times, if kids like this can end up getting their situation straightened out academically – they’ll end up w/ very productive careers.

  21. redfred2 07/13/2006 at 5:08 PM #

    Great evalution there Chop. Thanks. I looked at a link and couldn’t find out a thing about the kid, so I was basically shooting in the dark. It is encouraging and adds some credibility to know that Wake is expressing interest also.

  22. vtpackfan 07/13/2006 at 10:22 PM #

    Another Gibson?

  23. bTHEredterror 07/13/2006 at 10:25 PM #

    Thought the same about Wake’s interest, redfred. Starting to look like Sid wants to mine the state he’s in (to borrow from commercial) which should intensify our rivalry with Wake.
    I would prefer we stay away from academic underachievers. But nobody’s perfect and hopefully Sid thinks our support staff can keep him eligible. Intriguing body type, and the Leaping ability.
    In regards to Pitt, it seems like we are tied to the City of Steel in so many ways. Ex-caoch is from there, Cowher with the Steelers, Trevor Ferguson, we play Pitt in football a couple or three times the next couple of years. Maybe an intersectional rivalry brewing.

  24. redfred2 07/13/2006 at 11:07 PM #

    If Chris Wright is really the deal, he probably has no idea how hungry the fans are and how hard they will latch onto the first big impact player that Lowe can lasso in. Whoever that young man may be, he will be more than greatly appreciated by all Wolfpack fans for a long, long time and will be able to look back and remember that feeling for the rest of his life.

  25. yannes 07/14/2006 at 8:30 AM #

    “It is encouraging and adds some credibility to know that Wake is expressing interest also.”

    Huh? Because Prosser may or may not be going after this guy he becomes a more legitimate college player? We don’t even know if State or Wake Forest is actively recruiting him, this is all hear-say at this point. And so what if WF recruits him? The talent on his teams at WF has come from McD AA’s (Howard, Paul, Gray, Williams), not guys that come in under the radar.

    From an academic standpoint we will do better. From an athletic standpoint we can do better. I think that we’d recruit Smith from Mt. Zion before we’d go after Baines, so I’d be really surprised to see him on the roster next year.

    On the other point, I think that Pitt is going to be a factor in our recruiting and Georgetown definitely will if they have scholarship spaces opening up. We still have a pipeline set-up in the Pennsylvania and DC areas.

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