Rayvonte Rice is #1 draft pick

[DUBulldog]

hmmm...so Rayvonte already has a "Legend"...?


and I am reluctant to believe anything from those Iowa summer leagues where everyone hits for 20/10...
I have many times seen the kids in those Iowa summer leagues put up 30 pts and shoot 10-15 from 3-pt range...
I even have seen comments about this phenomenon of little known players averaging well over 20 ppg there..

http://primetimeleague.com/6-15ptlstats.htm

Even completely no-name kids regularly put up astounding numbers!!

Just one more example - this past week over in the PTL..guys who barely even get on the court or play D-I minutes like Matt Morrison (UNI), Tyler Lange, Kyle Schlaak, Dallas Hodges - hit for 20 or so in this league!!
A kid who's never even played a game of college ball, Nathan Buss was 6-12 from 3-pt!! it's 'cause nobody guards anyone in these leagues...

Rayvonte was 8-22 ...

Yep, I'm pretty sure the writer is aware of all that.....that's probably why he said this:

That brings us to Trey's Cap City debut which, in fairness, should be taken with a grain of salt. What happens in summer league games rarely portends to what you'll see once the season starts - this is primarily chuck-and-duck stuff, with defense and structure out the window.

That said, you'll still catch glimpses of a player's raw goods. A deft passer, Rice appeared to have soft hands to complement his prodigious strength,

I don't think his summer league performance was the reason for the article. It was because of the buzz he's creating among his teammates who play and workout with him every day.

[tornado]

that being said, I still think RR will be a good player for Drake and give solid minutes even his first year

[AZ BU Fan]

Sometimes a good player (RR) might not be a good fit for the style of play BU leans toward. In other cases, some talented HS players' personalities or character may not fit the culture of BU or of the Peoria community...

Hopefully RR will end up being a contributor to DU and the Valley..

Time will tell if BU ends up with a player as good, or better, than RR with their open scholly.

This is what BU coaches should be judged on, not whether they recruited RR, but who they are able to sign..

Keep our fingers crossed BU is able to use their open scholly for another tall frontcourt rebounder/defensive stopper, or, a shooter who can create his own jump shot at the college level.

In the meantime, lets rejoice in BU signing WL and AD, to go along with DS in the future.

[tornado]

Maybe the other teams in the league are watching video and "catching up" with Rayvonte...
as he really didn't have such a good night this past week in the Capital City League...
in a league where even the absolutely unknown players are scoring 20 all the time...RR was just 3-13 and had just 6 pts.
one look at the stats is all you need to know how much defense is being played...
Rayvonte's team lost 115-114, and Scott Christopherson had 38 points..(an Iowa State junior guard who averages 7 ppg for the Cyclones)

http://www.cyclonefanatic.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/6-23-CCL-Stats.doc

[DUBulldog]

Maybe the other teams in the league are watching video and "catching up" with Rayvonte...

Looks like Rayvonte watched some video and "caught up" with the other guys....

http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2010/07/09/rayvonte-rice-puts-on-a-show/

Proves nothing, but if it was post-worthy when he had an off game, I guess it's post-worthy when he has a good game. He absolutely dominated Iowa State's top incoming freshman, Melvin Ejim, in that game.

[tornado]

do you have the box score...how many were outside shots, how many were from the FT line..?
Sounds like he had a good game...

[DUBulldog]

do you have the box score...how many were outside shots, how many were from the FT line..?
Sounds like he had a good game...

I don't have the boxscore....they had it in the paper, but it isn't on-line anywhere. It didn't list how many shots attempted, but I know that he made eight 3-pointers, many of them from NBA range (he was a good 6-7 feet behind the line). Only had maybe 3-4 free throws, and he led his team with 6 assists in that game, so it's not like he shot every time he touched the ball. The guy who was "guarding" him was talking trash from the first seconds of the game, and Rayvonte just used and abused him every which way. Here's a quote from a poster on Drakenation....

I was at the games on Wednesday. It's the first time I've been to the summer league games, but it's not the first time I've been around pickup games (which is really what these are).

I'm here to tell you, Rayvonte Rice is the truth. There is nothing that guy cannot do offensively. He scored from everywhere on the floor. Dunks, alley-oops, tip dunks, drives, 3's, DEEEEP 3's, step back 3's, pull up jumpers...you name it. He got in, around, and over Ejim anytime he wanted.

It's tough to gauge a player's defensive abilities in a setting like this, but he's definitely quick enough to be a difference maker on the defensive end, but as we all know, defense is as much about intelligence and effort as it is ability. I'm not saying one way or another about those attributes of his, I'm just saying that it's tough for me to measure that watching 40 minutes of pickup ball.

And let me just say something about his physique. When he walked in, I joked about whether he was wearing some sort of body armor. The dude is built like he's wearing a batman suit.

[tornado]

...Rayvonte ...absolutely dominated Iowa State's top incoming freshman, Melvin Ejim..

...Rayvonte just used and abused him (Melvin Ejim) every which way. .....

I'm here to tell you, Rayvonte Rice is the truth. There is nothing that guy cannot do offensively. He scored from everywhere on the floor. Dunks, alley-oops, tip dunks, drives, 3's, DEEEEP 3's, step back 3's, pull up jumpers...you name it. He got in, around, and over Ejim anytime he wanted.

The League is over and Melvin Ejim was named MVP of the Capital City League..and despite those testimonies about how much better Rayvonte Rice is than Ejim, I guess those who voted maybe saw it differently...

[DUBulldog]

The League is over and Melvin Ejim was named MVP of the Capital City League..and despite those testimonies about how much better Rayvonte Rice is than Ejim, I guess those who voted maybe saw it differently...

Yeah, they saw that Rice (like most of the Drake players) was there for less than half of his team's games, so it was pretty obvious that an Iowa State player would be the MVP. They picked the guy with the "best" stats. I don't think he was the best ISU player in the league, but I don't get a vote.

I didn't see any testimonies about how much better Rayvonte Rice is than Ejim. I only see some comments that in the one game when their teams played each other, Rice clearly got the better of Ejim. Anybody who was there would tell you the same thing. The MVP award in no way changes my mind that Rice clearly outplayed Ejim in the one game their teams played each other. But, neither I, nor anyone else that I've seen on the message boards has ever made a statement that paraphrases "Rice is a lot better than Ejim". Gotta love a strawman argument every now and then.

Yes, Ejim put up big stats, but I would be willing to bet that he took far more shots than any other player in the league....by far. Despite his 'MVP stats', Ejim's team finished 3-8. And Ejim's domination of the ball on the offensive end was a big reason for his team's poor record. I'm not saying he's not talented, but he's not going to step in and be a star in the Big 12. Maybe 2-3 years down the road.

[FarmerClone]

Yeah, they saw that Rice (like most of the Drake players) was there for less than half of his team's games, so it was pretty obvious that an Iowa State player would be the MVP. They picked the guy with the "best" stats. I don't think he was the best ISU player in the league, but I don't get a vote.

I didn't see any testimonies about how much better Rayvonte Rice is than Ejim. I only see some comments that in the one game when their teams played each other, Rice clearly got the better of Ejim. Anybody who was there would tell you the same thing. The MVP award in no way changes my mind that Rice clearly outplayed Ejim in the one game their teams played each other. But, neither I, nor anyone else that I've seen on the message boards has ever made a statement that paraphrases "Rice is a lot better than Ejim". Gotta love a strawman argument every now and then.

Yes, Ejim put up big stats, but I would be willing to bet that he took far more shots than any other player in the league....by far. Despite his 'MVP stats', Ejim's team finished 3-8. And Ejim's domination of the ball on the offensive end was a big reason for his team's poor record. I'm not saying he's not talented, but he's not going to step in and be a star in the Big 12. Maybe 2-3 years down the road.

Ejim did play very selfishly in this league IMO. He did not pass and get his teammates involved as much as he should have. With that said, he was the first player ever to lead the league in scoring, rebounding and steals so he fairly well dominated the league. Does not mean he will be a big time player in the Big 12, but he has a nice skill set from what I saw of him. Good build, better range and handle than I expected, attacks the glass hard and solid athleticism. He also has Ivy League academics and is a very well spoken young man.

[DUBulldog]

Ejim did play very selfishly in this league IMO. He did not pass and get his teammates involved as much as he should have. With that said, he was the first player ever to lead the league in scoring, rebounding and steals so he fairly well dominated the league. Does not mean he will be a big time player in the Big 12, but he has a nice skill set from what I saw of him. Good build, better range and handle than I expected, attacks the glass hard and solid athleticism. He also has Ivy League academics and is a very well spoken young man.

No arguments there. Ejim is a nice player, and seems like a good kid. My comments weren't really meant as any disrespect to him, but were a reply to a strawman argument being made by another poster.

The Cap City League was kind of strange this season, at least from a Drake fan perspective. It was much more Iowa State dominated than usual, and it's not because of any problem with Drake's players.....it's just that the Drake guys simply didn't play much. Only 1 of Drake's 13 scholarship players played in more than half of his team's games, and that guy played in only 6 out of 10.

In the last three sessions (3 games each) prior to the semi-finals and championship, not a single Drake scholarship player was there, and only 3 of the Drake guys made it for the semi-finals and championship. Drake players on average played in less than 1/3 of the possible games. I don't know if I should read anything into that or not.

[ned]

Recruiting is a total crap shoot and who knows. However, I really wish Bradley had signed the Rice kid. I really think Drake came to Illinois and got a steal there. Like all recruits, time will tell.

[BuB]

One of the keys for us to win tonight is controling Rayvonte Rice. He is off to a great start to his freshman season. He is their leading scorer and also averages just over 4 rebounds per game. He is 2nd in the MVC in steals. Shut him down!

[wily coyote]

RR = Nate Minnoy...a great HS player but won't be able to do the things he did in high school in a college setting where everyone is taller than he is...

Care to change your mind about RR. He's not only better then any Frosh we may have,but is better then anyone in a Brave uni except AW.

[Da Coach]

He has nice skills, but I did not see anything special tonight. I don't think this was one of his better games.
He was 3-9, 0-3 from three, with 8 rebounds and 5 turnovers in 35 min.