One More Juco Player Analysis

[tornado]

I reviewed the 2006 Sporting News Rankings of Top Junior College players and where they went to....
and HOW THEY PANNED OUT.

Here is the summary........based on the 2006 TSN Rankings
1) **Sonny Weems, Arkansas-Ft. Smith JC went to Arkansas- good year, 11pts, 5 rebs.
2) Mike White, Lee JC, went to Indiana- very limited playing time, 3ppg (This is NOT DJ White)
3) Joseph Taylor, LAJC went to Wyoming- ltd. playing time, started some games, 3ppg in MWC
4) Hernol Hall, Lon Morris JC went to Cincy, backed out then went to Duquesne, redshirt, DNP
5) **Stefhon Hannah, Chipola went to Mizzou- 30 min per game, leading scorer and assist guy
6) **Marcus Sikes, Mt. San Jacinto went to Cincy- got 30 min per game, 9.5ppg, 5rpg, team was 2-14 in Big East
7) Othello Hunter, Hillsbourough JC went to Ohio State- deep in playing rotation, 5ppg
8 ) Abdullahi Kuso, Tallahassee JC went to Gonzaga- minimal playing time, 4ppg
9) **Jerome Habel, San Bernadino Valley JC went to San Diego St.- played a lot, 4th leading scorer
10) Stanley Billings, Independence (KS) JC went to Central Fla.- barely played, 2ppg

and some others...
12) **James Davis, Schoolcraft went to Lamar- got to play a lot, 15ppg
20) **Takais Brown, Southeastern IL went to Georgia- played a lot, 10ppg - now dismissed
26) Jamaal Smith, Indian Hills went to New Mexico- did poorly, lost playing late in season
33) Lance Stemler SWIC went to Indiana- performance declined thru the season, shot under 30% from 3-pt
38 ) Sean Phaler, Fullerton, went to Charlotte-was at New Mexico before going to juco then Charlotte, but at Charlotte played less than 5mpg, scored 1ppg.
39) Ty Morrison, Redlands, went to Creighton...unable to play...left Creighton
41) **John Williamson, Cincinnati St. went to Cincinnati- 30 mpg, 2nd leading scorer, and 7rpg

ALL the rest of the Top 50 from 2006 DID go to D-I but the rest either went to an obscure place such as St. Francis (NY) or Texas-San Antonio, or if they went to a high er D-I they didn't pan out or had little playing time.

So in the end........of the Top 50 junior college players, only a handful, maybe 6-or-7 (noted by **) actually made much of a splash at all.

The end-conclusion is that is is NOT a safe bet that the top juco players will help the 4-year schools they go to...and certainly not in their first year.
In fact, such an occurrence is actually quite a rarity! (7/50)
If you look at the top 50 highschoolers nationally, almost ALL go on to decent college careers, so is it better to go for the top high schoolers?

[mexicobufan]

If your point is true then Bradley is in trouble next year?

[tornado]

actually I am hinting that over the past couple years that BU has done better with juco kids than most other schools.
The rarity of real success stories is surprising when you look at how much Will, Boogie, and Zach meant to us!

[DUBulldog]

I have been following recruiting for a lot of years...approx 25....and it's always baffled me as to how junior college rankings/awards were picked. There never seems to be a real good correlation between rankings and how good a player actually is. I've seen lots of 1st team juco All-Americans never amount to anything and lots of non-ranked jucos have solid D-1 careers.

I guess one reason for this is because there isn't nearly as much AAU/summer camp type exposure for juco players, so a lot of the recruiting "experts" and the people who vote on All-American teams haven't seen a large number of the juco prospects, which makes voting/ranking almost impossible.

[mexicobufan]

Maybe someone can explain this to me when it comes to Juco rankings. You take a kid like Wilson who was in the top ten in the Juco ranks in scoring and rebounding. Wilson played in the best Juco conference in the US and had high major attention coming out of high school but he gets no attention in the national rankings and truly had very few offers? You could almost say word for word the same thing about Austin? Austin had every major program in America after him coming out of High School and was a top 100 nation recruit. He has a very productive Jr college performance but yet gets no attention in the rankings and few offers? Are we building these guys up to better than they are because they are coming to Bradley or are these kids some how under the radar? I know that Pitino had looked at Wilson but no offers?

What do you think, are they as good as we think or are the built up because we want them to be that good?

[Garland 22]

Maybe someone can explain this to me when it comes to Juco rankings. You take a kid like Wilson who was in the top ten in the Juco ranks in scoring and rebounding. Wilson played in the best Juco conference in the US and had high major attention coming out of high school but he gets no attention in the national rankings and truly had very few offers? You could almost say word for word the same thing about Austin? Austin had every major program in America after him coming out of High School and was a top 100 nation recruit. He has a very productive Jr college performance but yet gets no attention in the rankings and few offers? Are we building these guys up to better than they are because they are coming to Bradley or are these kids some how under the radar? I know that Pitino had looked at Wilson but no offers?

What do you think, are they as good as we think or are the built up because we want them to be that good?

First off big men are rated higher in JUCO rankings. Secondly, the reason Austin and Wilson were not highly recruited is because there has been issues somewhere along the line with a coach. Those issues may or may not show up at BU, but I imagine they both ended up without offers because someone somewhere badmouthed them.

I personally believe the Cole-Scott and Austin are going to be real contributors. I have seen David Collins play and if he gives us 5 minutes a game it will be a plus. Wilson just can't shoot, and from what I hear made his way in the Juco ranks driving past guys and coaches don't think he will be as quick at the D1 level. He is long and lean, but really plays like a PF in a SF or SG body.

All in all this is a decent class, but a desperation class. There are no stars here, but a good group of tough kids. Have Bradley fans overatted them, sure, but what did you expect. We will see in November.

[Da Coach]

All in all this is a decent class, but a desperation class. There are no stars here, but a good group of tough kids. Have Bradley fans overatted them, sure, but what did you expect. We will see in November.

Fair enough, but last year there were no "stars" among the Bradley players, and they did pretty well. I think the talent coming in is an overall upgrade to what was here last year, and maybe the best talent of any of Jim Les' recruiting classes.
Wilson is not a good long-distance shooter, but somehow found a way to score 20+ ppg and average 11 rpg in the toughest juco league in the country. As I have said before, those numbers are far better that DeAaron Williams put up against opposition that wouldn't have even made the rosters of any Jayhawk conference teams. And Will Franklin, Tony Bennett, Boogie, and Zach all had great success for Bradley, and the kids coming next year are all rated as high as they were, and put up as good numbers. I think the talent will be there for a top 3 finish next year.

Go ahead and call me a Kool Aid drinker, I'm used to it. But remember who has been right about Bradley predictions the last several years!

[meth]

How many of those '06 juco Top 50 were from D-II junior colleges?

[tornado]

Good question, and I have the answer.

Only one.
That's right, only one of the top 50 junior college players in 2005-2006 was from a DII junior college, and it was the guy they ranked #41, John Williamson, who hailed from D-II Cincinnati State Technical and Community College, and who went to University of Cincinnati and had some pretty good success, although given 30 minutes per game, his numbers were about what Matt Salley had in just 20 minutes per game, and were less than Zach Andrews had in 22 minutes per game.

[squeaky]

Williamson, I have read, was placed at Cincinnati Tech CC by Bob Huggins, when he wasn't eligible to enroll at Cincy. So it appears that of the rare Div 2 jucos that are high caliber, many are placed at the D2 juco by the school they have already decided to transfer to like DeAaron Williams.