per Corey Albertson. I am not advocating signing him, just posting info. Could never understand what Thad saw in him. I think he was just trying to curry favor with his H.S. coach, Sonny Johnson.
You hit the nail on the head with that recruiting job. Him and AJ Harris were favors to in-state coaches that year. I made my position well known after seeing him at Flyin' to the Hoop to friends at Ohio State, but they were delusional thinking Thad could do no wrong. Little do they know what I know, along with his lack of in-state recruiting, I've nailed that program on the head. Tbh, Ohio State is probably the 6th ranked program in the state based on talent (I say this with us having a healthy Campbell and not getting hosed by the refs in Cleveland).
I bet he ends up at Toledo due to connections to that school and needing connections at "power" schools. UT is turning into Garfield Heights West and I think Kowalczyk will be on a hot seat within one year. Personally, I would never recruit Garfield Heights, the kids there are talented athletically, but terrible basketball players.
Everyone has their own opinion, however judging high school kids from Garfield calling them all horrible basketball players is ignorant. You are telling me you wouldn't take kids from a public school who made deep playoff runs each year? If they were terrible basketball players, how did they make those runs? I would take one of their kids right now on our team and would put him up there with any shooters in the entire state. (Shawn Christian). they are positive influences at their schools who are held to a higher standard. Why do they continually get D1 offers, because they are bad players? I'm sure Trey Lewis was bad in your opinion too? Maybe David Bell isn't OSU material and in your opinion is just another bad basketball player from Garfield but don't think every kid out of that school that goes D1 is a favor to a coach.
When I say terrible basketball players, I mean as in shot selection, discipline with handling the ball, passing to open teammates. Watch fundamental basketball and you'll never think that when watching Garfield Heights. That's a team that plays to get their own stats and then some. They make the runs because they have the athleticism depth that teams in NE Ohio can rarely match up with. That said, when they get to Columbus or to regionals they get beat by teams with better talent and discipline in regards to handling the ball.
Sonny Johnson is a coach who has a lot of connections in NE Ohio who play a who's who schedule and can give you a lot in terms of evals. I would try to be in his good graces, but he has oversold kids to those schools.
As to why they get offers, if an average coach had the athletes that were coming through the doors at Garfield, they would try to develop them as projects. Heck it's been mentioned on this board countless times that they play like Sonny Johnson who was a loose trigger with his shot. Not surprising when you watch his teams. Like I said, I get around the state and watch enough ball and know what to expect from certain schools. Based on all the kids that went D-1 out of Garfield the last few years, none of them are at their original schools that they signed with. So with that, that is why I hold fire on what these kids can or cannot do. Especially with the kid Toledo signed out of there this year, who is a complete ballhog, turnover machine, and doesn't pass to open teammates worth a lick. So yes I may be a little too critical here, but like I said I see a lot of ball and talk to a lot of coaches and I'm telling you what I've seen and tends to hold water pretty darn good.
And if you wonder why I give a crap about what I see, my job requires me to do so. No I do not coach, but that said I better know who's going to get good in a hurry or start sucking as a program. Because when I know they got talent coming, you better believe I'm going to buy up their tickets in a hurry or dropping them like a bad habit. For example, I dropped Ohio State when I saw that recruiting class they brought in that was thought to be the savior class by folks in Columbus. Clearly I did not and was why I pulled back $40,000 from that school when I saw those guys coming in and threw it at Maryland and Northwestern where I actually get a return versus giving 25k (trust me I have the data to back up how much we would have lost) to Ohio State. Along those lines, I didn't think Mizzou was going to get immediate help from Hughes and Jackson along with Toledo getting the kids they're getting.
Last Edited: 4/9/2017 9:40:18 AM by Buckeye to Bobcat