Matt Gramling to Army

[wufan]

Can he shoot it out to 35 foot? If so, let's call him Jason Perez II!

[Good News]

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/high_school/high_school_boys_basketball/article/Third-time-charms-Brahmas-1039437.php

Even if he seems like a lock to join his brother at Army, I'll beef up our databank anyway since I was at the game.

He scored 23 to advance his team last Friday, and last night they beat a team that - at least early in the season - was ranked in the top 5 of 5A in the state and is sending two kids D1 next year.

I saw much more of Gramling's game this time - very solid. Once again he hit two huge 3s when they needed them in each half, penetrated at will, played every minute, and iced the game at the line. He has a fully developed jumper and good form. He will turn into an excellent shooter and scorer, as he's quick enough and has the handle to find gaps.

However, the main thing that jumped out was his defense and how it affected (or didn't affect) his overall game. His team was inferior in almost every aspect - height, weight, experience. It became clear at the very beginning that the game plan was for him to shadow the other teams top guard, Tre Demps.

Demps is the son of a former NBA player, a Rivals 3-star, and turned down offers from Colorado and Minnesota to go to Northwestern next year. He's 6'2", 190 and solidly built; that, combined with him being a year older, meant it was the perfect comparison to evaluate Gramling.

Gramling, in my opinion, won the game by making Demps a non-factor. With very few exceptions, he forced the game away from Demps by staying in front of him in man D with no switching.

Once again, it will be interesting to see how he develops. I'm pretty sure that Shocker fans would like the way this kid runs things. The closest style comparison I can think of in the last 10 years is Bryan Mullins with a little more creativity, or Clevin with 3-4 inches and 30 pounds. I would say he's a Guffrovich/Cundiff type because he's a good shooter off the bounce and makes a lot of good decisions, but he's significantly more athletic than either of them were and has (or will have) a better handle than I remember them having. In other words, very economical game but capable of spicing it up if he needs to.

If his next playoff game is close to me I'll try to make it, otherwise I'll make sure I catch few of the district games that I have connections to next year.

Thanks again for all of your time and effort Trop - it's good to know when the Shocks are looking at kids down here.

[BleedsGold]

Gramling helps MAcArthur to 5A regional semifinals.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/high_school/high_school_boys_basketball/article/Third-time-charms-Brahmas-1039437.php

[ShockTalk]

Gramling helps MAcArthur to 5A regional semifinals.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/h...as-1039437.php

Good read and nice pics of Gramling.

[SubGod22]

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/h...as-1039437.php

Even if he seems like a lock to join his brother at Army, I'll beef up our databank anyway since I was at the game.

He scored 23 to advance his team last Friday, and last night they beat a team that - at least early in the season - was ranked in the top 5 of 5A in the state and is sending two kids D1 next year.

I saw much more of Gramling's game this time - very solid. Once again he hit two huge 3s when they needed them in each half, penetrated at will, played every minute, and iced the game at the line. He has a fully developed jumper and good form. He will turn into an excellent shooter and scorer, as he's quick enough and has the handle to find gaps.

However, the main thing that jumped out was his defense and how it affected (or didn't affect) his overall game. His team was inferior in almost every aspect - height, weight, experience. It became clear at the very beginning that the game plan was for him to shadow the other teams top guard, Tre Demps.

Demps is the son of a former NBA player, a Rivals 3-star, and turned down offers from Colorado and Minnesota to go to Northwestern next year. He's 6'2", 190 and solidly built; that, combined with him being a year older, meant it was the perfect comparison to evaluate Gramling.

Gramling, in my opinion, won the game by making Demps a non-factor. With very few exceptions, he forced the game away from Demps by staying in front of him in man D with no switching.

Once again, it will be interesting to see how he develops. I'm pretty sure that Shocker fans would like the way this kid runs things. The closest style comparison I can think of in the last 10 years is Bryan Mullins with a little more creativity, or Clevin with 3-4 inches and 30 pounds. I would say he's a Guffrovich/Cundiff type because he's a good shooter off the bounce and makes a lot of good decisions, but he's significantly more athletic than either of them were and has (or will have) a better handle than I remember them having. In other words, very economical game but capable of spicing it up if he needs to.

If his next playoff game is close to me I'll try to make it, otherwise I'll make sure I catch few of the district games that I have connections to next year.

Thanks again for all of your time and effort Trop - it's good to know when the Shocks are looking at kids down here.

If what you say is true I'd love to have him. Was talking to a friend this weekend on how I would love to have a Bryan Mullins type. A smart, steady player who can be counted on to create and make things happen.

[Good News]

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/h...as-1039437.php

Even if he seems like a lock to join his brother at Army, I'll beef up our databank anyway since I was at the game.

He scored 23 to advance his team last Friday, and last night they beat a team that - at least early in the season - was ranked in the top 5 of 5A in the state and is sending two kids D1 next year.

I saw much more of Gramling's game this time - very solid. Once again he hit two huge 3s when they needed them in each half, penetrated at will, played every minute, and iced the game at the line. He has a fully developed jumper and good form. He will turn into an excellent shooter and scorer, as he's quick enough and has the handle to find gaps.

However, the main thing that jumped out was his defense and how it affected (or didn't affect) his overall game. His team was inferior in almost every aspect - height, weight, experience. It became clear at the very beginning that the game plan was for him to shadow the other teams top guard, Tre Demps.

Demps is the son of a former NBA player, a Rivals 3-star, and turned down offers from Colorado and Minnesota to go to Northwestern next year. He's 6'2", 190 and solidly built; that, combined with him being a year older, meant it was the perfect comparison to evaluate Gramling.

Gramling, in my opinion, won the game by making Demps a non-factor. With very few exceptions, he forced the game away from Demps by staying in front of him in man D with no switching.

Once again, it will be interesting to see how he develops. I'm pretty sure that Shocker fans would like the way this kid runs things. The closest style comparison I can think of in the last 10 years is Bryan Mullins with a little more creativity, or Clevin with 3-4 inches and 30 pounds. I would say he's a Guffrovich/Cundiff type because he's a good shooter off the bounce and makes a lot of good decisions, but he's significantly more athletic than either of them were and has (or will have) a better handle than I remember them having. In other words, very economical game but capable of spicing it up if he needs to.

If his next playoff game is close to me I'll try to make it, otherwise I'll make sure I catch few of the district games that I have connections to next year.

Thanks again for all of your time and effort Trop - it's good to know when the Shocks are looking at kids down here.

If what you say is true I'd love to have him. Was talking to a friend this weekend on how I would love to have a Bryan Mullins type. A smart, steady player who can be counted on to create and make things happen.

I loved the way Mullins ran the point, so I didn't throw that name out there lightly.

It will be very interesting to see how Gramling bulks up, grows, and develops his game over the summer, because he seems to have a great foundation.

I suppose the other reason I like him so much is that he's well-coached and has basketball IQ - people that are very familiar with San Antonio basketball know that his high school coach is a coaches son and was a very good point guard.

[tropicalshox]

Soft verbal to Army.

[tropicalshox]

Army is still #1 for him but just the favorite. Shockers are not involved. Offers from the likes of Air Force, The Citadel, UT-Arlington, Monmouth.

http://texashoops.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1261658

10/10 Update- solid commitment to Army.

[Good News]

Went to his game last night - gonna be a solid D1 player. Ridiculous handle, easily better than anyone on the Shocks right now except maybe Rags, and I'm using a big maybe there. Great passer and penetrator, has bulked up and gotten significantly more physical - layed it on at least 2 PFs trying to take it to the rack. In 3 years this guy is a Mullins clone.


Best of luck to him at Army.

[ripemupshocks]

Ridiculous handle, easily better than anyone on the Shocks right now except maybe Rags,

Really? A high school Jr., at best three star combo guard, is a better ball handler than Williams, Cotton, Murry, Kyles, Wessel, Armstead, Mitchell, Baker, and MAYBE even our starting point guard Ragland? I',m sorry Good News, but no, he is not. I've seen all of our guards play numerous times in games or in practice/pick-up games (Armstead, Mitchell, and Baker), against far better competition than Gramling faces. I have also watched several Texas D1 Ambassadors videos on youtube. Admittedly the videos were not good in terms of following ball movement. And Gramling did not handle the ball much in those videos. But I certainly saw enough to be able to say; Gramling is NOT a better ball handler than any of our current guards! He's not a bad player, and I respect your opinion, but he is not better than anyone we have now.

[Good News]

Really? A high school Jr., at best three star combo guard, is a better ball handler than Williams, Cotton, Murry, Kyles, Wessel, Armstead, Mitchell, Baker, and MAYBE even our starting point guard Ragland? I',m sorry Good News, but no, he is not. I've seen all of our guards play numerous times in games or in practice/pick-up games (Armstead, Mitchell, and Baker), against far better competition than Gramling faces. I have also watched several Texas D1 Ambassadors videos on youtube. Admittedly the videos were not good in terms of following ball movement. And Gramling did not handle the ball much in those videos. But I certainly saw enough to be able to say; Gramling is NOT a better ball handler than any of our current guards! He's not a bad player, and I respect your opinion, but he is not better than anyone we have now.

Rip,

Normally I wouldn’t validate your response with a response, but I’ve been reading SN for years and have never seen you pick a fight and you seem like a reasonable guy. With all due respect, I’m not sure that if you truly respected my opinion you would dispute and contradict my two-sided, firsthand observation and opinion with your one-sided opinion.

First of all, Gramling is a senior. Secondly, I just assumed that everyone agreed that the “star” rankings are highly subjective and don’t reflect much (although I’d be curious how many of the Shockers that you listed were even 3 stars). Especially in the case of a kid like Gramling who commits early and follows his brother to Army, thereby taking himself out of the recruiting circus. Exhibit A on that dynamic is Fred Van Vleet.

And yes, Gramling is a better ball handler than all of those guards you listed, except for Armstead and Baker. I haven’t seen Armstead and Baker play in person, so obviously it would be ridiculous for me to offer an opinion on an apples-oranges comparison like that. If I were willing to compare someone I’ve seen in person (Gramling) to someone I’ve only seen in YouTube video (Van Vleet or Baker), I would make a similarly ridiculous statement that the handle I saw in person was better than what I saw on video. But I can’t and won’t do that.

To put it in starker terms since you’re referencing competition levels – Gramling has a better handle than a PG he went head to head with last year (and shut down) in his district that is playing in the Big Ten. He has a better handle than a kid in his district that will be playing at Texas next year. And he has a better handle than another guard in his district that might very possibly end up in the Valley. And I have personally witnessed all of those.

I’m not saying he could start right now for us, that I’d trade Ragland for him, or that he would eat Demetric’s lunch. I’m saying that based on the 4 occasions in which I’ve seen him warm up, break the press singlehandedly, and slice up zones against a decent amount of competition going to the next level, he has a better handle than anybody on our squad except maybe Ragland. It’s not ridiculous to assume that a high school PG going to play D1 has better ball handling skills than current D1 2s and 3s. Or would you make the case that simply because he’s in HS, Van Vleet doesn’t have better ball handling skills than Demetric? I’d be willing to bet good money that he does.

And while I respect the fact that you take time to go to practices (something I would definitely do if I lived there) and evaluate our talent, I’ve played with and against many D1 players over the years, coached kids that ended up playing in college at some level, and seen too many high school games to count with guards that played at the next level. I’m pretty comfortable in stating that Gramling is exceptional in this particular part of the game within a D1 context.


At the end of the day, I love the kid’s game and think he’d fit in great in the Valley. I guess I just got completely carried away in thinking that I could post an opinion on an internet message board!


And lastly – something I should have thrown in the original comment – my opinion was not an implied slight to any of our current players’ abilities. Although I will admit that watching Demetric “My Dribble is 6 Inches Too High, But I’m Putting My Head Down and Going Anyway” Williams run the point does drive me bonkers at times…

[shocka khan]

So, good news, are you Mr. Gramling's daddy (or other family member)? What is your association with Mr. Gramling and why do you keep bringing him up?

I think you're the one being a little sensitive. If this guy was a better balhandler than our ENTIRE guard ensemble, then why isn'Texas and Texas A&M camped out on his porch. His HS team isn't talked about as being among the elite in Tx (I know, I live here), he isn't anywhere close to the top of the Texas top 100, and in addition, you insult our current players, who are not only older and stronger than Mr. Gramling by making such a foolish comparison. Not only that, why did he sign with Army?

The last time Army had a decent team was when Bobby Knight was their coach!

[SubGod22]

So, good news, are you Mr. Gramling's daddy (or other family member)? What is your association with Mr. Gramling and why do you keep bringing him up?

I think you're the one being a little sensitive. If this guy was a better balhandler than our ENTIRE guard ensemble, then why isn'Texas and Texas A&M camped out on his porch. His HS team isn't talked about as being among the elite in Tx (I know, I live here), he isn't anywhere close to the top of the Texas top 100, and in addition, you insult our current players, who are not only older and stronger than Mr. Gramling by making such a foolish comparison. Not only that, why did he sign with Army?

The last time Army had a decent team was when Bobby Knight was their coach!

Very shallow arguments

[pogo]

This reply should be read as a tribute to Andy Rooney and in my best imprersonation of him. You know I just don't understand why we keep bringing up these recruits that WSU has shown interest in but have committed to another institution of higher learning except in the case of Perry Ellis where he obviously wants to study maritime law or something like that since ku is known as a flagship or something along that line. I mean we keep dragging some names up from the list of those that are no longer on our radar with new and greater exploits by them and the point is what? I can see if they re open their recruitment or have a sister thats really hot and has appeared in some mens magazine but really whats the point. And if their sister is hot the only thing I would need to know is if there was a link to the pictorial or what issue they were in. My apologies to the memory of Mr. Andy Rooney.

[pogo]

This reply should be read as a tribute to Andy Rooney and in my best imprersonation of him. You know I just don't understand why we keep bringing up these recruits that WSU has shown interest in but have committed to another institution of higher learning except in the case of Perry Ellis where he obviously wants to study maritime law or something like that since ku is known as a flagship or something along that line. I mean we keep dragging some names up from the list of those that are no longer on our radar with new and greater exploits by them and the point is what? I can see if they re open their recruitment or have a sister thats really hot and has appeared in some mens magazine but really whats the point. And if their sister is hot the only thing I would need to know is if there was a link to the pictorial or what issue they were in. My apologies to the memory of Mr. Andy Rooney.