Zachary Brown Class of 2014 is a Shocker!

[tropicalshox]

Another teammate of Zach is Terrance Ferguson, who is getting rave reviews. He is a 2016 6-5 wing who should be the next big thing out of Dallas. The team is 6-7 in the EYBL, losing this morning to Meanstreets. If you are not familiar with AAU ball, this is the highest level of competition.

[forevershockerfan]

Zach appears to be playing on the same team as the #2 player in the class of 2014, PG Emmanuel Mudiay. Zach is second to Mudiay in scoring on the team, tied for first in rebounding, third in assists, and first in steals.

http://www.d1circuit.com/page/show/791800-texas-pro

When I see a player that is solid in so many catagories, I think of Warren Armstrong. He did a lot of everything and played solid Defense. WA may not have been the best shooter we have had here, but he scored points, made assists, rebounded, and helped us win. Z. Brown is a playa and I am happy to get his verbal so early before the others get a chance to get him. Watch and see if his shooting also improves because it will. This is a very suu--weet verbal.

[Ricardo del Rio]

Are you comparing Zach to Doug Gottlieb? It sounds like you are and I think that you're making a big mistake. Zach's free throw percentage that is on Max Prep is 74%. You stated that he couldn't shoot by comparing him to Gottlieb. Gottlieb's free throw percentage was under 50% (44%) Gottlieb could pass but the remainder of his game was suspect. I think that Zach will become a good shooter (maybe not great but good).

No monster, just the opposite.

[Rlh04d]

From ESPN RUMORS: WHY BROWN CHOSE WICHITA STATE " On Monday, Wichita State landed a commitment from 2014 SF Zach Brown (Houston, Texas/South Kent School) despite heavy interest from a number of other big programs. Why'd the Texas native choose the Shockers?

South Kent coach Kelvin Jefferson tells The Wichita Eagle that Brown's impressive performance with the Texas Pro AAU team over the past month attracted attention from schools such as Kansas, Kansas State, Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Providence and Creighton, but at the end of the day the swingman's heart remained with Wichita State.

"He talked with his family and said, 'That's great, but I know where I want to go. There's going to be a need for me,'" Jefferson told the newspaper. "Wichita State recruited him from Day One. He felt a sense of loyalty."

The Shockers' impressive run to the Final Four and near upset of eventual champion Louisville also played a factor, per Jefferson, impressing Brown with their level of telling and their style of play. In Brown, Gregg Marshall is getting a player in 2014 best known for his athleticism and defense, but also someone who can reportedly knock down the mid-range shot and get to the basket off the dribble. But most importantly, he's getting someone who's eager to be a part of the good things happening at Wichita State, and that's huge."

I love it. That sounds like a guy that was loyal to us being the first suitors, and fell in love with us during the Final Four run. I would think it'd be tough to sway him away when he sees what we can do, sees how he can fit in, and already has the personal connection with us. Great to have someone with his ability already committed (verbally), and even better to have someone of his ability committed early and able to recruit for us throughout the process.

I would say people should probably calm down on the top 100 stuff for the moment. While I love that Future150 has him at #85 as a 4*, that's just one site, and one of the smaller recruiting services. He's currently unranked on Scout, an unranked 3* on Rivals, and an unranked 3* on ESPN. Doesn't mean he won't be up to that level, but for honesty sake you should probably go off of an average of the recruiting services. It's also very early, though, and there is tons of time for him to fly up the recruiting services, especially with that list of suitors he had.

I'm loving what I'm hearing so far, though. A tall 2/3 with strong defense, great ability to get to the basket, and strong in numerous facets of the game ... sounds like a Shocker to me.

http://scouthoops.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p=8&c=1&nid=6957632
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recruiting/player-Zach-Brown-134303;_ylt=AqgjrneiJRZyyB0oqQWS0MrXO5B4
http://espn.go.com/college-sports/basketball/recruiting/player/_/id/178994/zach-brown
http://future150.com/hs/basketball-p...-brown-sg-2013

[Ricardo del Rio]

I love this recruit, but I want Makinde London too.

[wu_shizzle]

I would say people should probably calm down on the top 100 stuff for the moment. While I love that Future150 has him at #85 as a 4*, that's just one site, and one of the smaller recruiting services. He's currently unranked on Scout, an unranked 3* on Rivals, and an unranked 3* on ESPN. Doesn't mean he won't be up to that level, but for honesty sake you should probably go off of an average of the recruiting services. It's also very early, though, and there is tons of time for him to fly up the recruiting services, especially with that list of suitors he had.

I'm loving what I'm hearing so far, though. A tall 2/3 with strong defense, great ability to get to the basket, and strong in numerous facets of the game ... sounds like a Shocker to me.

http://scouthoops.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p=8&c=1&nid=6957632
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recruiting/player-Zach-Brown-134303;_ylt=AqgjrneiJRZyyB0oqQWS0MrXO5B4
http://espn.go.com/college-sports/basketball/recruiting/player/_/id/178994/zach-brown
http://future150.com/hs/basketball-p...-brown-sg-2013

Scout and Rivals have no evaluation.

ESPN actually has an evaluation and gives ZB a 79, one point from 4 stars.

Future 150 has the most in depth evaluation and ranks ZB #85 in his class.

I'm going with the guys who have seen ZB play.

[CBB_Fan]

All of the scouting services are inaccurate past the absolute top guys. A certain Trey Burke was considered the 26th best PG in his class and was #142 in the country (#15 and #84 by ESPN). He may have been pretty decent. Meanwhile the guys around him have barely played, and certainly haven't been anywhere close to the best player in college basketball.

Below the Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parkers, I just like to evaluate what the recruit can do and what the program they go to emphasizes. Zach Brown is athletic, can play defense, and get to the rim. His ranking doesn't change that. And Wichita State likes athleticism, defense, and guys that can get to hole. Regardless of how much Rivals or ESPN likes him, what matters is what he can do for us and what we can do for him, and in that book he could end up being a five star recruit for us. I like his game and what he offers, and if his ranking has any impact on his playing I hope it makes him play with a chip on his shoulder, knowing that he has something to prove.

[WSUwatcher]

+1

Well said, CBB.

[Aargh]

Marshall and his staff have repeatedly demonstrated that they are better at evaluating talent than the recruiting services.

If FVV had been playing in a larger market than Rockford, IL, he would have been a top-50 player. Cleanthony Early is emerging as one of the top 10 - 20 players in the nation next year. Ron Baker is looking like a 3-year All-Valley player.

There isn't much recognition for defensive players, but Tekele Cotton may be one of the top 10 or so defensive perimeter players in the nation nexst year. ESPN, Scout, and Rivals will probably never recognize D as a skill because there's no stats to put on paper that make it easy to make calls on who's awesome.

It seems I'm starting to notice that players recruited by WSU are getting more attention from scouting services. Marshall seems to be getting the type of respect from scouting services that's normally reserved for BCS coaches.

[Rlh04d]

Marshall and his staff have repeatedly demonstrated that they are better at evaluating talent than the recruiting services.

I think there's a difference between evaluating talent and evaluating what creates a successful team.

Evaluating talent is looking at what sends someone to the NBA. The recruiting services will absolutely miss on players, and overrate players, but for the most part they're good at this.

But evaluating talent is far from the only thing that matters, and Marshall and his staff have repeatedly demonstrated that evaluating other factors than NBA talent is necessary to create a winning team.

I think we're getting to the point where Marshall can evaluate the players that will work perfectly within his system to win at a high level and have singular talent that is capable of moving up to the next level. A lot of that is a combination of recruiting the right players and having the recruiting strength to get them to listen.

[MadaboutWu]

Well said, Rlh.

[choida]

Kawai Leonard went to San Diego State...probably wasnt that high on the scouting services out of high school...but look where is now...starting and contributing on the San Antonio Spurs..and quite well I might add.

[shockmonster]

I think there's a difference between evaluating talent and evaluating what creates a successful team.

Evaluating talent is looking at what sends someone to the NBA. The recruiting services will absolutely miss on players, and overrate players, but for the most part they're good at this.

But evaluating talent is far from the only thing that matters, and Marshall and his staff have repeatedly demonstrated that evaluating other factors than NBA talent is necessary to create a winning team.

I think we're getting to the point where Marshall can evaluate the players that will work perfectly within his system to win at a high level and have singular talent that is capable of moving up to the next level. A lot of that is a combination of recruiting the right players and having the recruiting strength to get them to listen.

I do agree that Marshall is a good evaluator. His staff goes the extra mile to find players like Baker. I don't agree that the recruiting services are good at it. They miss a lot.

[wufan]

Kawai Leonard went to San Diego State...probably wasnt that high on the scouting services out of high school...but look where is now...starting and contributing on the San Antonio Spurs..and quite well I might add.

I believe he was highly thought of out of high school. California's Mr. Basketball and a top 50 recruit.

[Rlh04d]

*Edit: I'll move this to that "Talent vs System" thread.