Samajae Haynes-Jones guard - SIGNED NLI - Officially a SHOCKER

[Aargh]

If SHJ seems to argue with Coach Eck I would take the bet and give odds that IF he confronts HCGM that it will not end well for the young man.

That might turn out to be SHJ doing his best job of looking like a Canadian referee. And Willis doing his best job to try and hold Marshall back.

[ShockTalk]

Thanks, ST -- Appreciate the compliment. I'm not saying that SHJ is perfect by any means, just that as between juco statistics -- which have all sorts of variability built in because of things like style of play, surrounding talent, and who knows what else (Wuzee's answer hints at some of the type of variables I'm referring to) -- and the evaluation of a coaching staff known to be skilled at recruiting, I'll put more weight on the staff's talent judgment. Especially in a situation when they don't have an abundance of scholarships to throw around and are willing to sign someone early rather than waiting until the spring.

It's also not unheard of for a juco player to redshirt waiting for greater opportunity to open up. Not around here, historically, but SHJ's Hutch predecessor Kadeem Allen did exactly that, and after a player of the year type season, no less. So it wouldn't be a total shock to see something like that happen in this case, especially with a guy coming back home where he's always wanted to be and presumably in no hurry to move on.

My "So original" comment was more about anyone using it, tried of reading it, and you happened to be the one that put me over the edge with it. Sorry.

That said, thanks for the rest of your post. No one on this board, at this point and time, has reason to be questioning the staff's judgment or skills at recruiting. This was not the intent of my first post. My intent was to get something like @Wuzee:'s reply.

[ShockTalk]

I appreciate the main point of this. It is silly not to discuss potential strengths and weaknesses of incoming recruits because "coach knows best."

In terms of the point about JUCOs not panning out, HCGM has had great success with fall signees (or people we were on deep early whenever they committed): Ragland, Hannah etc. It's usually been some of the spring signees who have had been used to fill late gaps that have been less successful.

To be more clear, I was not talking about JUCO players not panning out. I was being a smartass referencing any recruited player that didn't pan out for Marshall and staff.

My question still stands, however. Has Marshall ever signed a JUCO PG, maybe any position, where there does NOT appear to be a glaring need to fill an immediate hole?

[shockmonster]

To be more clear, I was not talking about JUCO players not panning out. I was being a smartass referencing any recruited player that didn't pan out for Marshall and staff.

My question still stands, however. Has Marshall ever signed a JUCO PG, maybe any position, where there does NOT appear to be a glaring need to fill an immediate hole?

No

[Aargh]

We're going to have at least one more recruit who will prove to "not work out" this year. I'm thinking there might be 2 who "didn't work out" this year if there is a decent big JuCo available in the spring.

Some of the "didn't work out" players may have "worked out" if a player considered a better option was not found.

There's "didn't work out" and there's "got recruited over". We hate to talk about recruiting over current players, but we really like winning games. So does Marshall. It's going to happen.

[RoyalShock]

To be more clear, I was not talking about JUCO players not panning out. I was being a smartass referencing any recruited player that didn't pan out for Marshall and staff.

My question still stands, however. Has Marshall ever signed a JUCO PG, maybe any position, where there does NOT appear to be a glaring need to fill an immediate hole?

In the any position context, I would submit Tevin Glass.

[ShockTalk]

In the any position context, I would submit Tevin Glass.

Works for me, but he was a late signee and the last signee of that class. May have been best available for a position they wanted additional help and had questions about depth.

Neither is the case for SHJ. Committed early and plays positions that are loaded next year (as far as we know). The RS idea makes some sense. Learn the system, practice with the team, and be no less than the #3 guard on the chart the following year. Allows Marshall to go after a couple of freshman guards in our large class for '18 without them having the pressure that Taylor was forced into and/or allows one of them to RS.

[shockmonster]

Works for me, but he was a late signee and the last signee of that class. May have been best available for a position they wanted additional help and had questions about depth.

Neither is the case for SHJ. Committed early and plays positions that are loaded next year (as far as we know). The RS idea makes some sense. Learn the system, practice with the team, and be no less than the #3 guard on the chart the following year. Allows Marshall to go after a couple of freshman guards in our large class for '18 without them having the pressure that Taylor was forced into and/or allows one of them to RS.

Speculation isn't a good thing sometimes, but if this is indeed what happens, I wouldn't be surprised if this wasn't already discussed/decided at the time he was recruited. I don't remember the players name, but there was a very good City League player from Southeast, then at Hutch, that the Shockers recruited. They wanted him to redshirt, and he didn't want to. He went to Ohio, and then wasn't happy, transferred to WSU as a walk-on in the middle of the year, and then was unhappy some more. I think his opportunity passed him by. He ended up at Friends. He should have redshirted, and I wouldn't be surprised if he was brought up. This is all speculation so I'm a bit ashamed, but it may be spot on.

[WstateU]

Works for me, but he was a late signee and the last signee of that class. May have been best available for a position they wanted additional help and had questions about depth.

Neither is the case for SHJ. Committed early and plays positions that are loaded next year (as far as we know). The RS idea makes some sense. Learn the system, practice with the team, and be no less than the #3 guard on the chart the following year. Allows Marshall to go after a couple of freshman guards in our large class for '18 without them having the pressure that Taylor was forced into and/or allows one of them to RS.

Speculation isn't a good thing sometimes, but if this is indeed what happens, I wouldn't be surprised if this wasn't already discussed/decided at the time he was recruited. I don't remember the players name, but there was a very good City League player from Southeast, then at Hutch, that the Shockers recruited. They wanted him to redshirt, and he didn't want to. He went to Ohio, and then wasn't happy, transferred to WSU as a walk-on in the middle of the year, and then was unhappy some more. I think his opportunity passed him by. He ended up at Friends. He should have redshirted, and I wouldn't be surprised if he was brought up. This is all speculation so I'm a bit ashamed, but it may be spot on.

I'll take Joe Mitchel for $1000...

http://www.goshockers.com/news/2011/9/20/205275156.aspx

[Rocky Mountain Shock]

We're a little short at guard with Peyton Allen leaving. SHJ will fill those shoes nicely I think.

We need to sign a crap ton of forwards and centers from the 2018 class.

[ShockTalk]

Speculation isn't a good thing sometimes, but if this is indeed what happens, I wouldn't be surprised if this wasn't already discussed/decided at the time he was recruited. I don't remember the players name, but there was a very good City League player from Southeast, then at Hutch, that the Shockers recruited. They wanted him to redshirt, and he didn't want to. He went to Ohio, and then wasn't happy, transferred to WSU as a walk-on in the middle of the year, and then was unhappy some more. I think his opportunity passed him by. He ended up at Friends. He should have redshirted, and I wouldn't be surprised if he was brought up. This is all speculation so I'm a bit ashamed, but it may be spot on.

Much discussion on this board has varying amounts of speculation. Nothing to be ashamed about. I don't care much for the threads on who might be leaving, but I view this thread only in positives. I see a talented guard who has only 2 years to play at WSU coming in to a situation where there may be 4 also talented guards who already know the system. For me, hard to imagine he'll move past the 2 who will be sophomores, much less the 2 seniors. Maybe I'm off on how I view it. If so, please tell me why. We are not privy to the inner working nor should we be. My guess is that there is a "master plan" to this. I'm just spitballin' what that may be.

[ShockTalk]

We're a little short at guard with Peyton Allen leaving. SHJ will fill those shoes nicely I think.

We need to sign a crap ton of forwards and centers from the 2018 class.

Usually, that 5th/6th guard is a raw freshman. They are there for depth and learning the system for their next 3 years in the program.

Peyton came in with 1 year D-I experience and would have been a RS sophomore competing against a RS junior, a Juco junior who would have less experience with the system as he, a RS freshman, and a true freshman. On paper, it looked like he would be in the mix for good playing time.

SHJ's situation is a little different. He's coming as a junior, no D-I experience, and not familiar with the system. His competition is 2 seniors and 2 sophomores, one who's a starter and the other receives a lot of playing given who's ahead him.

[pinstripers]

yeah, that

[shoxilla]

He's from East - Good enough for me!

[WheatShock]

Try this on for size. This is all wild speculation but possible.

In 2018/19 we will have at most (depending on transfers) 4 returning big men, AM, Duff, Hamilton, & Barney. I include Barney because he did have a couple of low D1 offers and the possibility exists that he could become a role player by then. Mixed in with that group will be 3 or 4 freshmen & jucos. We may need McDuffie to play a lot of the 4 which will open up time at 3.

Samajae redshirts his first year and has 18/19 & 19/20. Landry, Austin or both spend time at the 3 spot with CJ.

So you end up with something like the following depth chart.

PG SHJ, AR
SG AR, LS
SF LS, CJK
PF MM, BB
C AM, EH

Sprinkle in the Freshmen/jucos wherever you want.