Is sticks gonna come out his shell this year and produce?

[Fetz86]

is he gonna come out and produce

no

[peoriaspitfire]

Another 30lbs of muscle would be nice, but I don't think weight is an issue here at all. I??™ve seen plenty of sticks, shorties and fatties dominate??¦a little attitude, mental toughness and confidence can solve a lot of issues.

Do it AT.

[real fan]

Some extra weight and added muscle would not hurt but everything I hear points to AT not working hard enough and not being aggressive in practice, hopefully he will realize the opportunities he has in front of him and start playing like he is capable of as he has the talent.

[Disturbed]

Sometimes coaches recruit players based on their upside, and I believe this is one of those times. You can't teach a kid to be 6' 10", and when one comes along you may take a chance on him. Nothing I've seen leads me to believe that AT will ever be a factor at BU, and I honestly hope I'm wrong. But you can't hit a home run with every recruit, and quite frankly some recruits turn out to be not very good basketball players. I'm OK with that, but you can't let it happen very often. I'm surprised he's still here.

[BradleyBrave]

Sometimes coaches recruit players based on their upside, and I believe this is one of those times. You can't teach a kid to be 6' 10", and when one comes along you may take a chance on him. Nothing I've seen leads me to believe that AT will ever be a factor at BU, and I honestly hope I'm wrong. But you can't hit a home run with every recruit, and quite frankly some recruits turn out to be not very good basketball players. I'm OK with that, but you can't let it happen very often. I'm surprised he's still here.

Les wasn't the only one who held AT in a high regard. He was a 3-star recruit that was rated among the top big man prospects in Texas his senior year, and had offers from Old Dominion, SMU, and Texas A&M. He also drew interest from Baylor, Georgia, and Texas.

With all of that interest and so many coaches seeing his potential, it makes it all the more frustrating that this kid doesn't seem to have the desire to get better and produce in a program that's sorely in need of difference-making post players. But, he's still here, so hopefully that means that he's going to make it worth the wait this season.

[SFP]

Heart! You either have it or you do not. What I would do to be able to just play ball and workout everyday (plus the fringe benefits of college)! I just hope that AT does not wake up one day down the road and regrets the blown opportunity. A man's character is shown during adversity so I guess with all the competition coming in the next 2 years we'll see AT's character.

[houstontxbrave]

There were two big men in the BU past who I suspect many would have issues with and likely would have given up on after a year of service.

Bayo
Jeff Rabey

I really hope the light goes on for Thompson and if he can get even to where those two were by the time they left BU, it will be worth the wait.

Effort and confidence. I really hope out he gives and gets both when we go to Brazil.

[BradleyBrave]

There were two big men in the BU past who I suspect many would have issues with and likely would have given up on after a year of service.

Bayo
Jeff Rabey

I really hope the light goes on for Thompson and if he can get even to where those two were by the time they left BU, it will be worth the wait.

Effort and confidence. I really hope out he gives and gets both when we go to Brazil.

Bayo - Eh, not so sure about that. I think people were willing to be patient with him because they saw the work ethic. He clearly got better and stronger from his redshirt year to his sophmore (freshman playing) year, and we had other big men at the time that could fill the void while he developed. I can't speak for everyone, but I thought Bayo developed the way you hope a redshirt big man will develop.

Rabey - Definitely agree 100%. The light didn't go on for him until the 2nd half of his senior year. His drop step dunk on ISU in the MVC semis is one I will remember for a long time.

If we're on the Bayo standard with AT, we're behind quite a bit. If we're on the Rabey standard, AT should be contributing a lot starting around games 15-20. But, since AT is a 5 year kid instead of a JUCO, that means we'd have 2 more solid years of production. I'll take that.

[Lakeview Brave]

AT was a 3 star recruit with much higher expectations than Bayo or Raybey. If he turns out as good as Raybey was for 2 years that would be great. If he ends up as good as Bayo we would be amazing and I would expect us to win the Valley no question. At this point Ill be happy if he turns out as good as Aba.

[real fan]

The one good thing AT has going for him is he should get plenty of minutes on the floor when BU plays in Brazil, he could go a long way in proving he deserves more game time if he has a good showing on this trip. I still believe he has the skill but he needs to be more agressive and give it his best effort.

[it's boogie time]

Any word if AT has put on some of the weight that he lost during the season?