BU signs a new player- 6'7" Taylor Brown- Dunwoody, GA

[BradleyBrave]

How many different ways can we say "sleeper" w/ this guy? Only time will tell but he may be one of our top players in a year or 2 if he is as good as his father thinks he is. We all say bigger players and then get worries when we get one.

I'd be worried about any kid not signed to an LOI who isn't going to be around until the beginning of school, regardless of his size. At 6'7" 190 with his pedigree and eligibility, he's definitely worth a flyer.

Question for those with time to look this up - When does a players 'committment' begin if he doesn't sign the LOI? Does it start when classes start, when practices start, or at another time? Just curious.

[georgethedog]

the instant he enrolls at a 4-year institution

Or, when he has his first beer at a Frat party...

[basketball nut]

I'd be worried about any kid not signed to an LOI who isn't going to be around until the beginning of school, regardless of his size. At 6'7" 190 with his pedigree and eligibility, he's definitely worth a flyer.

Question for those with time to look this up - When does a players 'committment' begin if he doesn't sign the LOI? Does it start when classes start, when practices start, or at another time? Just curious.

Worried? What for? The most that can happen is that he doesn't show up at the begining of the school year, but that doesn't sound like it will happen and if it does what have we lost? Did we use a scholarship that someone else was going to use? It doesn't sound like it. Am I concerned that he hadn't had any mid-high offers out of HS? Not at all as it sounds like he may be a late bloomer. If he is willing to put in the work then he will do OK at BU and we become the overall winners.

[BradleyBrave]

Worried? What for? The most that can happen is that he doesn't show up at the begining of the school year, but that doesn't sound like it will happen and if it does what have we lost?

If he doesn't show up and we don't fill the last scholarship, we start the year with 11 scholarship players. That's only one more than a program (Indiana) that's about to have the hammer laid down on it. I'm sorry, but with him not being bound by an LOI, it's a legitimate concern.

[Da Coach]

You could carry such concerns to the extreme. Any one of the current scholarship players might not return for the fall semester. There are currently 2 guys, Andrew Warren and David Collins, who aren't on campus and won't be back until the start of the fall semester. What if they don't return? (No worry, they will).
Rest assured! I just talked to someone today who told me Taylor is excited to be coming to Bradley and can't wait to get here.

[SFP]

WOW what a bunch of nervous nellies! We have no control over what these guys do so why the great concern. Chances are that TB will play limited minutes anyway this year even with RA gone. Where we do need the bodies though is for practice. I have good feeling about TB and remeber his dad did say that he has family up in Chicago,

[yourbradleybraves!]

Hey guys this is way late in the thread, but I just wanted to let everyone know a little bit about the high school he is coming from. Recently Dunwoody has become a powerhouse in the state of Georgia (which is a very good basketball state) They have won the 3A championship in 2005 and 2006, both years Taylor was there, and have been to the final four in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2008. So, he comes from a very good program that has a very good coach right now.
I have no idea how good he is, but in my experience winners come from winning programs, and vice versa.

[bradleybasketballfan]

So we can only worrry/talk about things we can control? Heck, then there wouldn't be any posts on the message board.

I understand where BBrave is coming from. It's not solid till he is on campus. I liked taking the athletic 6-7 guy with the last ride but I don't expect a lot. As I said earlier, if he can play 15 or so minutes as an upper classmen then I would be elated.

I also wouldn't turn to a parent to tell me how good his kid is (at least objectively).

[BradleyBrave]

You could carry such concerns to the extreme. Any one of the current scholarship players might not return for the fall semester. There are currently 2 guys, Andrew Warren and David Collins, who aren't on campus and won't be back until the start of the fall semester. What if they don't return? (No worry, they will).
Rest assured! I just talked to someone today who told me Taylor is excited to be coming to Bradley and can't wait to get here.

Not trying to split hairs DC, but comparing Collins and Warren to Taylor Brown is an apples and oranges comparison. For either Collins or Warren to leave, they'd have to transfer and sit out a year or transfer to a lower level. Yes, they wouldn't be here, but the incentive for them to leave is much, much less due to the fact that they have to sit out or downgrade tremendously. Brown, on the other hand, can decide to leave at any point this summer for greener pastures without penalty, which makes potential for him to leave greater. If he was bound by an LOI, I would have little worry. Since he isn't, and won't be here for a month, I worry a bit that someone else from the BCS will vulture in on a guy we like. It certainly wouldn't be the first time.

[Stryker]

I wouldn't worry about it If the coaching staff thinks he will be here that is good enough for me.

[Lakeview Brave]

I wouldn't worry about it If the coaching staff thinks he will be here that is good enough for me.

Our current and last coaches thought Anthony Grundy, Lee Biddlecum, Deron Williams, Jeremy Fears would be thier to, thats off the top of my head. I do think he will be here but it is a heighted concern with the depture of RA. We cant go into the season with 11 schlorship players.

[SFP]

This is just getting boring. Speculation is one thing but continous harping that he could bolt is just to obvious to have an inteligent conversation around.

I agree with everything else you wrote though. If he can play 3-5 min per game this year would be more then we can ask. I'm sure JL took a good look at him.

So we can only worrry/talk about things we can control? Heck, then there wouldn't be any posts on the message board.

I understand where BBrave is coming from. It's not solid till he is on campus. I liked taking the athletic 6-7 guy with the last ride but I don't expect a lot. As I said earlier, if he can play 15 or so minutes as an upper classmen then I would be elated.

I also wouldn't turn to a parent to tell me how good his kid is (at least objectively).

[patrick_o'brian]

Our current and last coaches thought Anthony Grundy, Lee Biddlecum, Deron Williams, Jeremy Fears would be thier to, thats off the top of my head. I do think he will be here but it is a heighted concern with the depture of RA. We cant go into the season with 11 schlorship players.

Maybe I wasn't paying attention at that point in time, but when was Deron Williams supposed to be coming here?

[Braves4Life]

From what I have read about this kid's family I would expect him to honor his word. The whole family seems to be well-spoken and "success-driven", as witnessed by the mom's successful fashion career and current business (and all of the positive accolades she has received about her character and business), his sister's sports career at Maryland, and his father's relatively successful US and overseas pro career.

The fact that his father would take the time to spend a year of his life "schooling" his kid (much like an apprentice) leads me to believe that this kid may just be more talented than any of us are giving him credit for (except possibly Les and staff).

It would not surprise me to see this kid grow into his body and become a major force on The Hilltop by his junior year (when he will be the age of the normal senior). Here's to hoping for the best

[Da Coach]

I am sure it's a typo-- he meant DeAaron Williams.

And we will all admit there will be occasional recruits, sometimes key recruits, who drop out, leave, or never come. I'll bet every D1 program has some of these. But what can you do? I tend to worry too much about a lot of things, but I there isn't anything we can do about things like this. I am sure you would not be in favor of signing another kid as insurance against any of our recruits not coming, unless he is really someone who can help us, and from what I hear, we are done recruiting for 2008.