Darraja Parnell '16 sg 6-2 (committed to Central Arkansas)

[wufan]

After reading your posts I have a couple of questions:

Are you a coach or talent evaluator?

Do entire teams REALLY change shoe contracts due to the possible preference of a single high level recruit?

Who are the 5 or 6 people in Perry's inner circle?

[wu_shizzle]

91' I appreciate your comments and insight, but you're coming across (in multiple threads) as a fan of Wichita HS players more than Wichita State basketball.

Don't be surprised if you get push-back in a Wichita State basketball forum.

[SubGod22]

There's no doubt at all that 3G has brought in more and better talent than Turgeon ever dreamed of. He's landed recruits that Turgeon never even would have attempted to talk to. Turgeon essentially lucked his way into the job at aTm because he had a friend there. He was also lucky to have a pretty full pool of talent and was at what had been a top school in a talent rich state in one of the best conferences in the country.

3G is a better recruiter and I believe a better coach than Turgeon ever will be. And I think 3G is going to get better. We're much better off with 3G at the helm. I appreciate what Turgeon did, but as soon as he left and we landed the big fish, I was thrilled for the upgrade. I knew the talent level would increase and it has. I had no idea he'd be able to bring in the talent and depth that he has as quickly as he has and I will never count him out against anyone.

[ripemupshocks]

Not at all true. As was stated earlier, Parnell scored 29 points in his HS freshman debut. No puberty advantage there. Those familiar with the HS basketball scene in Wichita have known about Darraja for about a year now. Saw him play in showcase in the spring and showed some great stuff. Did good things against unsigned seniors. May be recruited as a combo guard, even if he continues to grow. Shows flashes as a passer and while he makes some flashy plays off the dribble, he needs to tighten up his handles a little bit.

In my opinion, this thread is kind of a waste of time. Will probably be a high-level, high-major prospect in my opinion.

If this thread is such a waste of time, why did you bother to post in it? Is it your "opinion", WSU fans have no right to discuss a "high-level, high-major prospect"?

I have no idea. WAY too early, and I don't like ranking recruits in that fashion anyway (can't compare most players; apples and oranges). I just think that, given his age, not knowing anything about WSU interest, and his talent level being as it is (in my opinion), mentioning him as a potential WSU recruit may be both premature and a bit misguided. Talking about him as a talented young D-I prospect in the area is fine. If he starts to receive legitimate interest from WSU (and it seems reciprocated), then maybe this is warranted. I also don't think anyone is sure how good he may be and how much exposure he will eventually get.

As far as Perry is concerned, it is naive to think WSU was really ever in contention. Marshall never thought so. There are a number of signs that point to this, but those have consistently been ignored by Shocker fans. I am sure this is a comment I will be reamed for; but it is important for fans to face this as a reality.

"Given his age". Many kids his age are already being recruited. Is that bad? Or is it only bad when it's WSU? Just because you don't know anything about WSU's interest, doesn't mean nobody else does. So your "opinion", that mentioning him as a potential WSU recruit maybe premature, makes your "opinion" both pompous and arrogant. And there's that "level" thing for the second time already. Us Shocker fans are so misguided. By the way, the first five posts in this thread only talked about him as a "talented D-1 prospect in the area". It wasn't until your first post that anyone tried to insinuate anything other than that. That makes you good at nothing more than stirring the shat. And everybody listen up. New rule on ShockerNet. Only after a potential recruit "receives legitimate interest from WSU", and said lagitimate interest "seems reciprocated", then and only then, is it "warranted" to discuss said potential recruit. And last, you don't think anyone is sure how good he may be? You must mean anyone but you, since you've already made it clear you think he's to good for WSU.

I won't comment on PE since I don't know anything about PE. And besides, I don't care about chikenhawks. I am however curious how you know what HCGM thinks?

I don't think refusing to ascribe some arbitrary numerical ranking to Parnell means I am "refusing to speculate on how good he is." I said I think he's a high-major talent. To say something about a player that young is pretty bold and makes clear what I think of his talent level. To try to say he is the #20-something or #70-something prospect in his class when he's 14 or 15 years old and I haven't seen a whole lot of top-shelf players in his class would be the illogical move here.

WSU never made a super strong play for Perry. This is a statement that many do not like but is true nonetheless. Marshall and staff did not show out in force at Kansas Pray n Play (Players) games. This is a fact. Kentucky, Kansas, Kansas State, Duke and others did show out with multiple coaches at a number of games that summer. That is also a fact. Don't you think that, if WSU had a chance, coaches would've been at every one of Perry's games (often in multiples)? I can assure you they would have. Heights changed shoe affiliation that summer as well (from Nike to Adidas), undoubtedly in part because he was going to select Kansas. WSU wasn't showing up at Heights open gyms after Evan graduated, and there's good reason why. Marshall certainly offered the option of coming to WSU, but never anticipated that Perry would take up that offer. The "finalists" for Perry's services (like most elite prospects) were quite likely schools whose fan bases he did not want to upset (yet) and/or whose coaches he had formed some kind of meaningful relationship with. As a high-school kid, would you want to eliminate WSU then run into Shocker fans everywhere you go (including Koch Arena) for a couple years? It's the nature of the beast. Players want to play with and against the best players they can.

I can assure you I am a Shocker fan and think the game at the mid-major level is a beautiful thing. I also believe that, in some cases, Wichita State has and will continue to sign players away from high-major schools. But there is a wall that WSU is not likely to break as long as the Shocks are in a mid-major conference. Even Gonzaga has not been able to bust through that recruiting wall for the most part. Perry lied beyond that wall, and I believe Parnell will be there as well.

Once again, I don't know about PE. But once again, you proclaim to know what HCGM thinks. "Mid-major level is a beautiful thing". Are you kidding? Once again, you're only good at stirring the shat.

Yes, I am a WSU graduate and a fan of the Shockers first. Fans can be realistic, too.

WSU did not show up in force (meaning multiple coaches at most games) during the summer for Perry, and his AAU and HS teams changed affiliation to Adidas many months before his announcement. Won't argue with you about it; that's just how it is. Whatever accounts you speak of, if they are not from the 5 or 6 people who sat in on Perry's inner-circle meetings, then they are unreliable (and untrue).

When I talk about a "wall," I mean in terms of offers, not talent. VanVleet is a great example of a talented, likely underevaluated player that became a Shocker and then received great accolades. I think he is exactly the type of player we should be recruiting. And, like I said, "Wichita State has and will continue to sign players away from high-major teams." Demetric had offers from Washington State and Iowa. Bowles, as you pointed out, had offers from Penn State and Texas Tech. But those guys aren't examples of what I'm talking about. Their offers are borderline mid/high level (mostly unsuccessful HMs, with some successful MMs). When a player has handfuls of offers from successful high-level schools, he doesn't choose a mid-major but for some extenuating circumstance. As for Gonzaga, who is definitely the gold standard for schools in mid-major conferences, they have gone to other countries to get players (namely Canada), grabbed underevaluated prospects, and gone after guys who fit their system. They have developed those players and had success. But they haven't busted through that wall, with the exception of Gary Bell. Plus, WSU is not currently at the level of Gonzaga, Xavier, etc. I hope that day comes, but it hasn't yet (and will take time).

As for those recruiting guys, they don't know what you think they know. They do it for a living with no qualifications (not former coaches; often didn't even play college ball). They certainly aren't qualified to evaluate talent (with the exception of Paul Biancardi and Reggie Rankin, both of whom have been college coaches). They also often feed unqualified, inaccurate info to fans who otherwise have no info whatsoever. I once had a Division I assistant tell me that he looked at who Rivals said they'd offered and 50% of those that claimed offers did not have one. Many of the players they were recruiting were not listed at all and some who claimed serious interest had only gotten a letter or two. So, if you choose to buy into these recruiting "experts," go ahead. But if I took a random basketball fan and had him watch basketball yearlong, it wouldn't make him a good evaluator. And that's exactly what most of these people are.

As for Turgeon, I certainly don't think he is perfect, but he took this program to the Sweet 16. Matt Braeuer, Paul Miller, PJ Couisnard, etc. had excellent careers. Whatever recruiting philosophy he had, it worked (at least briefly). He now makes a ton of money coaching at a school with a rich basketball tradition. I'd say he must be pretty good at what he does. If you can do better, why hasn't someone hired you?

Based on all your big talk on recruiting, you must have been a college coach yourself. Where?

MT makes a ton of money? How much is a ton of money? When factoring cost of living, is HCGM's ton of money larger than MT's ton of money? And thankfully, MT is finally at a school with a rich basketball tradition. Well here's a "fact" for you. WSU's basketball tradition is older than that of UM. It's in all the history books. I'm surprised you missed it.

So let's see here. Claim to be a WSU fan. Claim to be a WSU graduate. But didn't join ShockerNet until June of this year. Repeated critical and disrespectful posts of WSU basketball and WSU fans. There's only one word to describe you:

TROLL

[Kung Wu]

6'2 or 3", SG.

I hope he's 6'2" because if he's only 3" he will need to hit some serious exponential growth spurts to have a chance at a career in basketball.

[Yellow Fever]

Coach Jans was at the Andover Central / Salina Central game Tuesday, probably just to see a random game as it has been established that this kid is too good for the shockers...

[SubGod22]

Trust me, if this kid is as good as advertised, we'll be all over him. I'm going to guess we're already on him but contact is limited with FR so only so much can be done. This kid may or may not end up being a top talent. He may or may not want to attend WSU. But none of that is going to keep 3G and company from keeping an eye on him and recruiting him if they feel he's a good fit for the program.

[Dan]

Apparently we shouldn't have had a thread on Perry Ellis either since we were never really an option even though we remained on the list all the way to the final 3. Going forward, we can only discuss mid-major prospects that are seriously considering attending WSU, pursuant to each recruit's "inner circle".

[SubGod22]

If we can only discuss mid-major prospects, lets delete the thread on Cleanthony Early.

[shocks02]

Darraja had 8 points tuesday night against Salina Central.

[shoxlax]

I have a feeling Shocker91 is very close to one of the players maybe even a relative

[forevershockerfan]

A friend of mine seen Darraja play the game he scored 29 versus Campus and was impressed with most everything about him. He said the young man does need to work on his accuracy on his outside shooting. Just last Season, we were saying the same of Mr. Wessel whom as already made nice strides in improving his shooting with much hard work.

Years ago, I really wanted Taj Gray to be a Shocker and I think he considered it but instead went and played for Steve Eck at an Oklahoma Juco and later landed at Oklahoma. In Taj's Senior Season, we made it to the Sweet 16 and Oklahoma and KU did not. My point is, there are lot's of solid players out there and I love it when we sign a talented Local or in State player that will play for us. Right now, we have Wessel and Baker and they will keep improving which makes us happy. Even so, we won't get them all, but we still get better and more solid Shocker players these days than many moons ago.

We did not sign Frankamp or Perry but we did sign Baker, Wessel, and Early who play similar positions. Among these players, who will be the better College players? Stay tuned but everybody signed where it made them happy. Coach Marshall does his homework and has surrounded himself with hard-working Assistants that are solid recruiters at both the High School and Juco level. Soon, for the first time ever in Shocker History, we will have won 20 games, 4 Seasons in a row. Now that is a far cry from chopped liver and the best is yet to come!!!

[tropicalshox]

If MaxPreps' stats are correct Parnell ended his freshman season with a 13.3 scoring average.

[shocks02]

Darraja scored 26 points against Campus last night in his sophomore debut. It will be interesting to see how Darraja develops and what caliber of schools start calling.

Also of note, Steve Forbes' son Chris is a senior at Andover Central. Scored 20 last night, 18 of them from three-point range.

[RoyalShock]

It seems this kid really likes to play against Campus.

After re-reading the first page of this topic, I wonder if a Final Four would change @Shocker91: 's opinion. (For the record, I think his opinion was and is a valid one. He's not a troll just because his perspective is different.)