sorry, pushed the wrong button -- Chicago Hoops

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Subject: sorry, pushed the wrong button

Author:
markdl

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Date Posted: 11:04:04 08/30/03 Sat
In reply to: markdl 's message, "Re: DePaul 2005" on 09:20:59 08/30/03 Sat

Some kid named Sean Williams apparently. He's a guy that never played a varsity game before, but is 6'9", young and apparently can play. Oklahoma, Texas, and Texas Tech have allegedly offered. Arizona is supposedly willing to offer if he goes to Prep school for a year.
I only used the words supposedly and allegedly because this is what I read on the net. One thing I have learned over the years, this summer especially, is don't believe everything you read. I don't care whose site it's on or what newspaper it's in. There are things published everywhere that I know for a fact are not true. When you try to tell someone they are misinformed, they look at you like you are nuts, because everyone says such and such, so you must be lying or have some kind of axe to grind.
This misinformation gets out there for a variety of reasons:
1. We all make mistakes. I just made one by pushing the wrong button. Mistakes happen all the time and are no big deal when you admit you made one and take steps to get the correct info out there.
2. Kids and adults don't really understand the recruiting process and think they have an offer when they don't.
3. People don't listen(players, parents, and reporters) and hear what they want to hear.
4. People intentionally give bad info because they actually think it helps their recruitment. Many media people accept what they are told as fact because they are very trusting. Many internet people are not seasoned reporters and don't realize that people lie all the time for a variety of reasons.
This Sean Williams must really be something if all of these schools have really offered. What's funny about this is that many "experts" probably don't have him in their top 100. The real "experts" college coaches and anyone who actually follows Public Enemy's advice to "Don't Believe the Hype" seem to always recognize real talent.
People always say that they base their rankings on how you project as a college player. What that usually means is you're too white, too short, too slow, can't jump, too skinny, too fat, etc. It's easier to base rankings on numbers. The "gurus" only have so much time to watch a huge number of players so I understand that and accept it. It always tickles me when I hear people describing kids as mid-majors based on these numbers. By the end of their senior year they have usually converted all the "experts" with half a brain.
In the past I've had to listen to people who said this about,Larry Bird, Hersey Hawkins, Ced Banks, the Bailey brothers, Michael Wright, Marcus White, and Elliot Poole. Now I hear the same stuff about Ollie Bailey, Brandon Lee, Trent Meacham, Gordon Watt, Eric Vierneisel, Zach Pancratz, Steve Holdren and I could go on.

Now I'm no hoops genuis, but the few players I get to see I see alot of. I would make the same mistakes if I tried to see hundreds, hell thousands of kids and tried to rank them. It takes time to get to see if a guy can play. You don't know a players heart and mind by seeing them a few times. I also have had the advantage of knowing what schools are really recruiting whom especially in this 2004 class. Most college coaches are great at knowing who can play. If all the schools that are recruiting Meacham and Ollie are after them, I have a hard time understanding how many still consider them mid-major prospects. By the numbers maybe, but not where it counts, on the court.

This is probably my last, long, drawn out rant for the summer. Time to go to work. See you all next time and by then, we will see if history once again repeats itself.

Peace

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