Can anyone help me understand how the Bulls re-loaded so quickly after all they lost? Is Oats that good? Did Hurley already have these JC transfers in the pipeline before he skipped west?
Blake Hamilton and Willie Conner were D1 transfers that sat out last year (much like Simmons and Kaminski for us). Skeete and Bearden were returning starters and Massingburg, Perkins and Smart are freshman. Unlike us there was no adjustment period because Oats was Hurley's top assistant and recruiter. The system is the same. They also didn't have every recruit bail on them like so many programs when they lose their coach.
Hey everybody, I'm a writer for Bull Run. The above is actually incorrect. This entire team is pretty much built by Oats.
So here's the rundown of recruiting.
Hurley left, and Nate Navigato de-committed, I'm actually very happy he did. Same goes for transfer Torian Grahman and JUCO recruit Maurice O'Field. The only recruit we kept was Nick Perkins, who was primarily an Oats guy to begin with.
Hamilton and Conner are two JUCO guys. We did not have them until Oats went recruiting after Hurley left. They were steals from their respective JUCO league and are a huge reason that we pretty much reloaded this year after some early season struggles.
So the Freshmen. CJ Massinburg is a very under-recruited combo guard from Dallas who can run the point and at the 2. He has been great this season as a Freshman and will be a threat in the MAC for years to come. Perkins is a 6'9" forward who can shoot the 3 ball well and beat you up in the post. Nikola Rakicevic is a freshman from the Serbian U-19 (or 17 team I think?) team. He may not play either though because he went back to Serbia earlier this week for his mother's funeral. Finally, Ikenna Smart. He's the feel good story. Smart is getting good minutes this year despite it being only the third year of him playing basketball ever. He was originally a Soccer player in Nigeria. He was one of Hurley's projects.
Raheem Johnson is sitting out the year with a foot injury and like you said Bearden is suspended. Wigginton has been a rebounding machine. Do not underestimate Skeete's point guard ability. Bearden was out for the Delaware game on injury and Skeete generated 12 assists that night. I actually prefer him at the point but Lamonte is still the clear first choice.
So in essence, we have 4 guys who were in the rotation last year, and only 3 that have played in it. Oats has done a tremendous job recruiting and deserves a look at COTY.
I also have a quick note on Hamilton, this is legitimately a guy who can play the 1-4 spots. He's one to watch.
Feel free to ask more questions on the team
Last Edited: 2/12/2016 12:45:43 PM by RJohnson4748