Ohio Basketball Recruiting Topic
Topic: 2018 6’5” SF Torey James (Hickory High School, NC) - Ohio Commit
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Megatron
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Posted: 5/11/2018 8:23 PM
According to Verbal Commits and Twitter Ohio has received a verbal commit from high school senior Torey James out of Hickory, North Carolina.

DI offers listed as VMI, Kenneswaw State, and USC Upstate with a slew of DII(?) offers.

http://www.verbalcommits.com/players/torey-james

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dc8aI1yX4AU10QL.jpg
Last Edited: 5/11/2018 8:37:23 PM by Megatron
bobcatsquared
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Posted: 5/11/2018 8:41 PM
This roster is starting to take shape with this new addition.
Kevin Finnegan
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Posted: 5/11/2018 9:07 PM
bobcatsquared wrote:expand_more
This roster is starting to take shape with this new addition.
His twitter account says he averaged 21 ppg in his senior year and was MVP of the ACC All-Star Game.
Taiwan BC
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Posted: 5/11/2018 11:33 PM
http://www.statesville.com/news/basketball-acc-barnstormi... .
Pretty cool that the college players get to travel around and play too...
Ted Thompson
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Posted: 5/12/2018 12:03 AM

 

Jeff McKinney
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Posted: 5/12/2018 12:15 AM
finnOhio wrote:expand_more
This roster is starting to take shape with this new addition.
His twitter account says he averaged 21 ppg in his senior year and was MVP of the ACC All-Star Game.

Can't you see the sarcasm, finn?
Doc Bobcat
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Posted: 5/12/2018 9:18 AM
Can shoot the 3...good find.
FearLeon
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Posted: 5/12/2018 9:41 AM
Last Edited: 5/12/2018 9:42:34 AM by FearLeon
FearLeon
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Posted: 5/12/2018 9:43 AM
Megatron wrote:expand_more
According to Verbal Commits and Twitter Ohio has received a verbal commit from high school senior Torey James out of Hickory, North Carolina.

DI offers listed as VMI, Kenneswaw State, and USC Upstate with a slew of DII(?) offers.

http://www.verbalcommits.com/players/torey-james

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dc8aI1yX4AU10QL.jpg
How many D2 offers did this kid have? It also wasn't too long ago that Kennesaw State and USC Upstate were D2. Glad we could beat the D2 schools out. Cool.
Last Edited: 5/12/2018 9:52:23 AM by FearLeon
greencat
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Posted: 5/12/2018 10:53 AM
FearLeon wrote:expand_more
According to Verbal Commits and Twitter Ohio has received a verbal commit from high school senior Torey James out of Hickory, North Carolina.

DI offers listed as VMI, Kenneswaw State, and USC Upstate with a slew of DII(?) offers.

http://www.verbalcommits.com/players/torey-james

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dc8aI1yX4AU10QL.jpg
How many D2 offers did this kid have? It also wasn't too long ago that Kennesaw State and USC Upstate were D2. Glad we could beat the D2 schools out. Cool.
While USC Upstate did go 7-25 (2-12) last season, not every player on every D-2 team is a joke. One of best college players in the state of TN the last few years was a guy who turned down some mid-major offers out of h.s. to attend D-2 Carson-Newman. (Charles Clark)

CN claims his 54 point game was the most points that have ever been scored in a triple-double in NCAA history on any level. He also had a 36 point half and a 54 game double-digit scoring streak.

That does give some hope that James can at the very least be a solid MAC level contributor. He may have been prolific in D-2 ball like Clark.

(Kennesaw was 10-20 and VMI was 9-21 to be in full disclosure mode)
Last Edited: 5/12/2018 10:57:31 AM by greencat
allen
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Posted: 5/12/2018 11:06 AM
FearLeon wrote:expand_more
According to Verbal Commits and Twitter Ohio has received a verbal commit from high school senior Torey James out of Hickory, North Carolina.

DI offers listed as VMI, Kenneswaw State, and USC Upstate with a slew of DII(?) offers.

http://www.verbalcommits.com/players/torey-james

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dc8aI1yX4AU10QL.jpg
How many D2 offers did this kid have? It also wasn't too long ago that Kennesaw State and USC Upstate were D2. Glad we could beat the D2 schools out. Cool.

He reminds me of Torrey Patton, he is not very athletic but he could score on the high school level. With ramped up conditioning, James may be able to be a difference maker. Maybe James will fit well into Saul Ball. If I were recruiting, I would say to myself that I need a better guard than Zach butler, we don’t know whether Preston can shoot and we don’t know whether James can hack it in the MAC, I think Cowart was a steal.
GraffZ06
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Posted: 5/12/2018 11:15 AM
In the Carter thread on the main bball forum I said I'd like to see either another big to backup Doug or another wing for Dartis insurance with the final roster spot.

We got the latter. I'm cool with that.
Bobcat1998
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Posted: 5/12/2018 11:31 AM
I know that Kirk was a late signee last year after he had committed to Drake (not quite the best mid-major program ever. This kid and Preston could be diamonds in the rough who really help us athletically.

On another note, can you believe what a mix we have next year? We have guys with a bunch of experience and we have more unknowns than I can remember (7).
Jeff McKinney
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Posted: 5/12/2018 1:08 PM
The other Div I offers that are known don't wow you, but his high school career was very good. Hickory is in a very competitive area for HS basketball. James was a solid leader on a team that made pretty deep runs in the NC state tournament. Plus, I read several reports from recruiting services and they were all high on James. Said he can play three positions...1, 2 and 3. Also that he's really good academically.

I hesitate to say this because I'm sure I'll be laughed at, but you have to look at what Div II schools offered. Lincoln Memorial offered...they were 32-2 last year. They won a national title a couple of years ago. I've seen them play a couple of times and half or more of their roster are really Div I players .

I hope this works out for James and Ohio. Could end up being a good one.
OhioCatFan
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Posted: 5/12/2018 3:42 PM
Jeff McKinney wrote:expand_more
. . .I hesitate to say this because I'm sure I'll be laughed at, but you have to look at what Div II schools offered. Lincoln Memorial offered...they were 32-2 last year. They won a national title a couple of years ago. I've seen them polay a couple of times and half or more of their roster are really Div I players . . .
Not laughed at Jeff, just playing straight man for my next Civl War reference.

A little history of Lincoln Memorial University from our good friends at the ever semi-accurate Wikipedia:

"In 1896, General Oliver O. Howard, a former Union officer who had helped establish Howard University (named for him), embarked on a lecture tour. Howard's agent, Cyrus Kehr, suggested Howard establish a university as a living memorial to President Abraham Lincoln. On June 18, 1896, Howard spoke at the Harrow School, an elementary school at Cumberland Gap founded a few years earlier by Reverend A. A. Myers. After the lecture, Myers asked Howard for assistance in establishing a college for the Cumberland Gap region. Howard related to Myers a conversation he had with Lincoln in 1863 in which the president expressed a desire to do something to help the people of East Tennessee, a majority of whom remained loyal to the Union during the Civil War in spite of the greater state's secession, and, remembering Kehr's suggestion, agreed to help Myers establish a university in Lincoln's honor."

Full article here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Memorial_University

Two years ago, when I was returning from the OHIO-Tennessee football game, we stopped briefly at LMU. They now have an osteopathic medical school on their campus as well as a law school. The school appeared to be growing and prospering. General Howard and old Abe would be proud!
Last Edited: 5/12/2018 3:42:46 PM by OhioCatFan
greencat
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Posted: 5/12/2018 6:45 PM
Jeff McKinney wrote:expand_more
The other Div I offers that are known don't wow you, but his high school career was very good. Hickory is in a very competitive area for HS basketball. James was a solid leader on a team that made pretty deep runs in the NC state tournament. Plus, I read several reports from recruiting services and they were all high on James. Said he can play three positions...1, 2 and 3. Also that he's really good academically.

I hesitate to say this because I'm sure I'll be laughed at, but you have to look at what Div II schools offered. Lincoln Memorial offered...they were 32-2 last year. They won a national title a couple of years ago. I've seen them play a couple of times and half or more of their roster are really Div I players .

I hope this works out for James and Ohio. Could end up being a good one.
LMU's top 3 players on that 32-2 team were all seniors, so they were probably hoping against hope to get the kid.

They held Charles Clark to 21 and 18 in the 2 games against him last season and that kid will probably get invited to the NBA summer league. I saw him hit NBA range 3-pointers... in high school!
Doc Bobcat
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Posted: 5/12/2018 6:52 PM
Hope he does ok...just to combat the “everyone Saul gets stinks” mantra on this forum.
BuddyLee
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Posted: 5/12/2018 7:42 PM
Sure wish I saw more D1 offers for our recruits. That worries me.
FearLeon
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Posted: 5/13/2018 9:33 AM
BuddyLee wrote:expand_more
Sure wish I saw more D1 offers for our recruits. That worries me.
Don't worry Buddy...we continue to beat out Longwood and some of the best D2 schools in the country for recruits. Better days are ahead.
bobcat28
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Posted: 5/13/2018 9:26 PM
I cant believe we were able to lure him away from Catawba and Lenoir-Rhyne!
greencat
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Posted: 5/14/2018 3:50 PM
bobcat28 wrote:expand_more
I cant believe we were able to lure him away from Catawba and Lenoir-Rhyne!
Charles Clark did hit seven 3's last season in his game vs Catawba.

Maybe that was who Ohio should have offered 4 years ago.
bigtillyoopsupsideurhead
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Posted: 5/14/2018 6:44 PM
BuddyLee wrote:expand_more
Sure wish I saw more D1 offers for our recruits. That worries me.
If it means anything Saul routinely won with under-the-radar players at NSDU also. His best player Taylor Braun didn't have any other D1 offers, just walk-on offers.

I'm not ready to bury any of these new guys yet until I can see them play.
BobcatSports
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Posted: 5/14/2018 9:28 PM
I agree Bigtilly I’m skeptical of ALL recruits until they actually show up, stay if they show up and then prove they can play at this level. That Said Saul got a huge mulligan with the departures of Dozier, AJ and Butler. Sure hope he made prudent use of this second chance. I see comments such as “diamond in the rough” regarding some of the new incoming. Saul sure needed to avoid the “rough” with his mulligan.
Bobcat1998
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Posted: 5/15/2018 7:21 AM
BobcatSports wrote:expand_more
I agree Bigtilly I’m skeptical of ALL recruits until they actually show up, stay if they show up and then prove they can play at this level. That Said Saul got a huge mulligan with the departures of Dozier, AJ and Butler. Sure hope he made prudent use of this second chance. I see comments such as “diamond in the rough” regarding some of the new incoming. Saul sure needed to avoid the “rough” with his mulligan.
What will be interesting is how the veterans mix with the 7 newcomers. If Dartis plays you have a 4-year starter then you have a 3-year starter in Block. You have two 4-year players in Doug and Gollon and then you have 1-year standouts in Carter and Kirk. That gives us a base of six guys who have competed and done a nice job.

The mysteries are so interesting. Cowart's stats were amazing yet he's not getting a ton of run in these comments. McMurray had a fantastic senior year against solid D-1 Ohio competition and I still remember a quote from when he signed that said he impressed the vets when he came down for his visit. Everyone seems high on Vander Plas and you have four guys in Preston, James, Springs and Murrell that are complete unknowns but who may turn out like Kirk (under the radar, few awesome offers).

This will be the most interesting year to me since I started following Bobcat Hoops in 1994. I'm both excited and scared. I do think we have added athleticism to at least compete with Buffalo.
OhioCatFan
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Posted: 5/15/2018 11:14 AM
Just a note, which may or may not be a good parallel, but Jim Snyder in his most successful years turned "under the radar" guys into elite performers. Late in his career, when he was able to recruit a few high profile recruits, he was generally less successful. I'm thinking of Larry Slappy and Ulice Payne, and a few others in those last few years. Many of these guys weren't comfortable with Gentleman Jim's coaching style and left for greener pastures.
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