Christian Academy

[Good News]

How anybody who has ever played basketball could read that (including the preceding quote about his players going to Koch to play pickup) and think that he was offering an opinion on the quality of the program rather than just commenting on the fact that the city's best players like to play in the best atmosphere available to them is completely beyond me.

Unless I'm completely wrong and the statement "McAdams Park is good pickup" means that they have a basketball program that is struggling.

We're a perennial top 50 in attendance, top 30(?) in expenditures, and top 10 (?) in wins over the last 5 years. I think it's time to shelve the inferiority complexes.

[wufan]

I think most were hoping to hear that some of his players wanted to be Shockers. Instead we read that we were good for pick-up basketball. It was the anticipation of a positive comment which made the neutral comment seem dismissive. Certainly not his intent.

[Ricardo del Rio]

http://blogs.kansas.com/shockwaves/2...ll-recruiting/
Here is where it was quoted.

Thanks. Now I understand the context.

[tropicalshox]

I watched some highlights of Olasini in his home town of London. Iowa just played there on their oversea trip and apparently decided on London because of Olasini. He looked good and they are expecting a good season from him.

[moshock]

Sometimes it cracks me up to see people get butt hurt over Sunrise kids not ending up at WSU...did you ever consider that 3G may have recruited/signed a better player than the Sunrise players - would you rather have FVV or Heild ? Raphael Akpejiori or Carl Hall ? With all due respect - the kid at Miami hasn't proven anything. Just because they are listed on our recruiting site and they sign somewhere else (even a bcs school) doesn't necessarily mean that we "missed" - and that includes a lot of the post players that are listed right now. JMO, but I think 3G and staff pretty much get who they really want.

[ShockTalk]

What he means is that the pickup games during the summer are very good.

He is not making a judgement about the quality of the program.

Why someone would think that Kyle Linstead would make a derogatory remark about WSU is beyond me.

How anybody who has ever played basketball could read that (including the preceding quote about his players going to Koch to play pickup) and think that he was offering an opinion on the quality of the program rather than just commenting on the fact that the city's best players like to play in the best atmosphere available to them is completely beyond me.

Unless I'm completely wrong and the statement "McAdams Park is good pickup" means that they have a basketball program that is struggling.

We're a perennial top 50 in attendance, top 30(?) in expenditures, and top 10 (?) in wins over the last 5 years. I think it's time to shelve the inferiority complexes.

Wow. A few need to check their meter. I even gave a clue by saying Linstead and HCGM had a good relationship.

I think most were hoping to hear that some of his players wanted to be Shockers. Instead we read that we were good for pick-up basketball. It was the anticipation of a positive comment which made the neutral comment seem dismissive. Certainly not his intent.

This.

I had said several years ago that I believed that Linstead is not going to go out of his way steer his players to WSU because he would not want their program to look like a funnel to the local university. There would be a couple of good reasons for that. At the time, WSU was still turning the program back around from MT's last year and HCGM's first year. Linstead wanted their program to be nationally recognized so that he could draw the best talent possible. That is not to say he would try to talk a player out of going to WSU if he wanted to.

All that given, I was put off with the idea the poster made that if WSU made another NCAA run, we might draw enough attention to get some of their players. Since that "misunderstood" quote came out, a lot has change with the fortunes of Shocker basketball. IMO, WSU's fortunes have been better than most (if not all) the BCS schools Sunrise's players have gone to. And yes, I understand those players were being recruited by schools prior to coming to Sunrise.

Yet, after those several years of success, has WSU even gotten a nibble? Maybe that's due more to HCGM and what he's looking for in a player. Nevertheless, WSU is no longer an unknown quantity and enough time has past that no one would think it unusual if a Sunrise player choose WSU or at least strongly considered the Shockers. With the top notch attendance, solid expenditures for a quality program, all those wins, and a F4 it just seemed a little odd there appears to be very little interest. Maybe that's not true and Trop can set me straight on that.

That is why I sincerely asked the last 2 questions. Those questions had more to do with possibly WSU's lack of interest than any thing about Linstead. How many of those other players (not Hield or Katenda) would have WSU been really interested in? Is there any indication that WSU's good fortunes over the last 3 years have improved Sunrise player interest in us?

[tropicalshox]

There was serious mutual interest between WSU and Akpejiori. However WSU came in 2nd.

[WSUwatcher]

There was serious mutual interest between WSU and Akpejiori. However WSU came in 2nd.

Which once again highlights a key difference between Marshall and his predecessor. These days, when WSU finishes second for a recruit, either (a) the alternative / consolation prize turns out to be good enough that it doesn't matter, or (b) WSU's stockpile of talent is already good enough and deep enough that it ends up not really mattering. That wasn't the case before Marshall arrived: the "Plan B" players under the previous regime were in many cases pretty obviously Plan B.

[Downtown Shocker Brown]

We were in Heild's final 3 also.

[SubGod22]

I love FVV, but I won't say that I wouldn't have taken Hield over him. Buddy is a hell of a player in his own right and a hell of a good kid. Got to spend a little time around Buddy this summer when he came over to Moore, OK to watch the Kansas Blue Sox softball team my niece plays on. One of the girls goes to Sunrise and her older sister is a friend of Buddy and he knows the family well. Great kid and was a lot of fun. Even gave a couple of nice pep talks to the girls and kept them loose.

And none of that says anything negative about FVV for anyone who wants to twist any of this around. And we know the staff really wanted Buddy as well.

[ShockTalk]

We were in Heild's final 3 also.

I love FVV, but I won't say that I wouldn't have taken Hield over him. Buddy is a hell of a player in his own right and a hell of a good kid. Got to spend a little time around Buddy this summer when he came over to Moore, OK to watch the Kansas Blue Sox softball team my niece plays on. One of the girls goes to Sunrise and her older sister is a friend of Buddy and he knows the family well. Great kid and was a lot of fun. Even gave a couple of nice pep talks to the girls and kept them loose.

And none of that says anything negative about FVV for anyone who wants to twist any of this around. And we know the staff really wanted Buddy as well.

That's why I said other than Buddy (and Katenda). I liked him a lot as well. I almost like OU just because he's playing for them.

There was serious mutual interest between WSU and Akpejiori. However WSU came in 2nd.

I'd forgotten about him. In his senior season, he'll finally have a chance to play, maybe. Miami lost most of their big men, but Akpejiori's 300+ minutes over 3 seasons and playing fewer minutes his junior season than his freshman doesn't say much. Given what the Shockers have done over the last 3 seasons and who is on the roster now, coming in 2nd on him might not have been a bad thing.

[tropicalshox]

There is still one '14 Sunrise Christian player who might be considering the Shockers. Marvin Clark is pretty darn good but I think his recruitment has been hurt by an injury this summer. There hasn't been recent info although early on it was thought he was leaning to Oregon. The Shockers are another team usually mentioned.

[TheCrossover]

Sometimes it cracks me up to see people get butt hurt over Sunrise kids not ending up at WSU...did you ever consider that 3G may have recruited/signed a better player than the Sunrise players - would you rather have FVV or Heild ? Raphael Akpejiori or Carl Hall ? With all due respect - the kid at Miami hasn't proven anything. Just because they are listed on our recruiting site and they sign somewhere else (even a bcs school) doesn't necessarily mean that we "missed" - and that includes a lot of the post players that are listed right now. JMO, but I think 3G and staff pretty much get who they really want.

I wouldn't say that they get who they really want, but they get who they realistically can. Having seen all of the talent that has come out of sunrise over the past 4-5 years I know first hand that we haven't missed out on much. Yes there are a few guys that didn't end up here, but when Miami comes knockin on your door, and WSU hasn't done much at that point, you're gunna pick Miami. Same in the situation with Heild and OU. We're gunna have a better shot if we keep up the NCAA tourney runs, but the talent at Sunrise overall is better. Before it was mostly JUCO talent and the ocassional D-2 guy. Now its mostly D-2 and some D-1 prospects. Those numbers will trend toward D-1 as the new Prep team at Sunrise gets going. All in all I think we might actually land someone from Sunrise because there is more potential talent there then there was before.