Top 100 forward to the Friars

[TheHall]

Someone just reported that ESPN has upgraded Bentil to a 4 star and changed his grade to 80.

Someone needs to call them about Whitehead too, he's a top 10 player, a McD's AA.

And you base that on...???

It's a prediction since McD's AA haven't been named yet right. I'm going on the record saying he will be one, are you going on the record saying he won't be a McD AA this year...if you're not willing to say that then outside of obviously hating what's the point of your question?

[GumbyDamnit!]

Someone needs to call them about Whitehead too, he's a top 10 player, a McD's AA.

Gumby: And you base that on...???

Hall: It's a prediction since McD's AA haven't been named yet right. I'm going on the record saying he will be one, are you going on the record saying he won't be a McD AA this year...if you're not willing to say that then outside of obviously hating what's the point of your question?

"Obviously hating?" Yeah, ok...sure. What are we, 12 years old? Why would I make a prediction on him playing in the game? If he is a Top 20 player I would assume that he would be there as they grab 24 or so kids to play in it. I asked the question because I thought that maybe you had some information on the McD's AA rosters that the rest of us did not. And I can't tell you how many times I have read fans of a program, that just landed a recruit, say things like: "Well he's not in the Top 100 (or 50 or 25 or 10) but he's blowing up and he will be when the next rankings come out." It's usually a statement based on some insecurity and/or hopeful conjecture, not based on pertinent new information from a credible source. His talent isn't going to change just b/c he is #20 instead of #10 in the rankings. It doesn't make it any less a really good get. Since you're in to predicting, can you tell me which current Top 20 recruits you would expect Whitehead to leap frog to become a Top 10 player?

I am happy that SHU is having a good year with recruits; I want all BE teams to do well. We all need you guys to lift your program back up to be a tourney team. It helps us all in terms of conference pedigree and with NCAA credits. I get that you guys are excited as it's been some time since you all have gotten players of this caliber. But I would caution you to temper your expectations of Whitehead and Delgado a bit until they have played a game in the SHU uniform. Other guys that have recently been in that 20 range include: Josh Smith (now of Gtwn), Wally Judge, Dominic Cheek. All Ok players but not program changers. In other words it's never a sure thing, and it may take a couple years before these guys can figure things out. This is a tough league. Every team is bringing in talent and some bring in a couple Top 50 players every year, not just once. You might get a program changer or you might get a so-so player; there are no guarantees. If you take that as me being a "hater" than I guess I am guilty as charged.

[TheHall]

Someone needs to call them about Whitehead too, he's a top 10 player, a McD's AA.

Gumby: And you base that on...???

Hall: It's a prediction since McD's AA haven't been named yet right. I'm going on the record saying he will be one, are you going on the record saying he won't be a McD AA this year...if you're not willing to say that then outside of obviously hating what's the point of your question?

"Obviously hating?" Yeah, ok...sure. What are we, 12 years old? Why would I make a prediction on him playing in the game? If he is a Top 20 player I would assume that he would be there as they grab 24 or so kids to play in it. I asked the question because I thought that maybe you had some information on the McD's AA rosters that the rest of us did not. And I can't tell you how many times I have read fans of a program, that just landed a recruit, say things like: "Well he's not in the Top 100 (or 50 or 25 or 10) but he's blowing up and he will be when the next rankings come out." It's usually a statement based on some insecurity and/or hopeful conjecture, not based on pertinent new information from a credible source. His talent isn't going to change just b/c he is #20 instead of #10 in the rankings. It doesn't make it any less a really good get. Since you're in to predicting, can you tell me which current Top 20 recruits you would expect Whitehead to leap frog to become a Top 10 player?

I am happy that SHU is having a good year with recruits; I want all BE teams to do well. We all need you guys to lift your program back up to be a tourney team. It helps us all in terms of conference pedigree and with NCAA credits. I get that you guys are excited as it's been some time since you all have gotten players of this caliber. But I would caution you to temper your expectations of Whitehead and Delgado a bit until they have played a game in the SHU uniform. Other guys that have recently been in that 20 range include: Josh Smith (now of Gtwn), Wally Judge, Dominic Cheek. All Ok players but not program changers. In other words it's never a sure thing, and it may take a couple years before these guys can figure things out. This is a tough league. Every team is bringing in talent and some bring in a couple Top 50 players every year, not just once. You might get a program changer or you might get a so-so player; there are no guarantees. If you take that as me being a "hater" than I guess I am guilty as charged.

Hating was a bad choice of words...my bad. I should have said "doubting." If we can move past that, the reason I went overboard & said "obviously hating" is because in the post I was quoting it was mentioned that the day Bentil commits to prov ESPN decided to move him up to a 4*. Did you ask that poster what was that based on? Or did you question ESPN having him still outside of the top 100, or the fact that Bentil was even as a 3* recruit in the first place. No to all, which seemed selective to me. SHU fans have played the back for nearly 10 years now, but we're not in the "let it slide" mode anymore. Sooo I questioned your doubt & not my confidence in IW that's all. And for the record I was only talking about recruiting rank because this is the recruiting board, not how players will develop in college. That's a totally different subject.

As to your question I believe IW is the best SG in the country, not the 5th. In ESPN rankings they list the following:

D'Angelo Russell 6-4 180 lbs #11 Overall
Rashad Vaughn 6-6 200 lbs #17
Devin Booker 6-5 185 lbs #18
James Blackmon, Jr. 6-2 175 lbs #19
Isaiah Whitehead 6-4 195 #20

I base my confidence on a couple of things:

1) Lincoln & Tiny Morton have a track record of producing not just McD's AA, but NBA players.
2) BE recruits have historically been underrated (not all the time as your examples show, but most times). Just check how many Top 20 recruits the BE has had over the past 10 years...not many even though the BE has been the #1 conference.
3) I listed the players height & weight to show IW's biggest advantage over the other 4 SGs...he's a beast & 6-4, nearly 200lbs he plays bully ball, but he can still shoot.
4) HS scouts always have a bias to big men, but I think as the #1 SG you should be ranked in the top 10 overall. Right now ESPN doesn't have any SG in the top 10 & only 2 PGs.
5) I'm a BE fan so of course I have a BE bias...anymore need to be said.

[Noonzy]

Many kids really do blow later in their HS year. We sometimes forget that these recruits are kids and some mature sooner than later. Many under the radar kids mature and turn out to be great players.

[TheHall]

Watching more video of Bentil and of Abu, I'm not sure why pc fans wanted abu sooo much more than bentil. From everything I could see Bentil looks like a "power" forward who can hit the 15-17 ft jumper, like a Udonis Haslem maybe, while abu looks like a skilled tweener, like Drammond Green. If I had to guess I would say more NBA scouts would be more interested in Bentil than abu if only because he has a true position and the body already to play it at that level. I defer to fans who have been monitoring these guys longer than I have, but Bentil seems like a better fit with Chukwu & Lindsey in the front court, especially if he can hit that j to boot.

Here they are paying head up in a summer league AAU game in which Bentil scored a game high 18 points in his team's win.

[78 friar]

Apparently the major difference according to the "experts" is Abu is further along offensively than Bentil. While Abu may be an exaggerated 6-7, No one is questioning Bentil's 6-8. I think Mr The Hall said it correctly that with Chukwu and Lindsay up front in the 1 and 3 spots, Bentil may be the better "fit" as more of a true 4 man. Either way, we would have loved to have landed Abu, but to be able to "fall back" on a player of Bentil's ability is truly remarkable. The old saying that sometime's its better to be lucky than good certainly applies here as commitments to Georgetown and Miami played a big part in landing him. That said, the staff deserves credit for keeping Bentil interested while they spent countless hours on the Abu trail.

[EMT]

Apparently the major difference according to the "experts" is Abu is further along offensively than Bentil. While Abu may be an exaggerated 6-7, No one is questioning Bentil's 6-8. I think Mr The Hall said it correctly that with Chukwu and Lindsay up front in the 1 and 3 spots, Bentil may be the better "fit" as more of a true 4 man. Either way, we would have loved to have landed Abu, but to be able to "fall back" on a player of Bentil's ability is truly remarkable. The old saying that sometime's its better to be lucky than good certainly applies here as commitments to Georgetown and Miami played a big part in landing him. That said, the staff deserves credit for keeping Bentil interested while they spent countless hours on the Abu trail.

Georgetown agree. But word is leaking out that Jimmy L picked up a couple of other power forwards because Bentil was cooling on Miami.

[TheHall]

Tough news this season for Bentil & St. Andrews from DelawareOnline:

Delaware prep notes: St. Andrew's Saints play on, with or without Ben Bentil.

St. Andrew’s center Ben Bentil has been ruled to be a fifth-year senior by the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association. He is allowed to play against out-of-state teams and Delaware Independent School Conference teams, which allow fifth-year seniors to participate in athletics. But he is not allowed to play against other DIAA member schools.

Bentil has only had to sit out one of the Saints’ first seven games, a 52-45 loss to No. 4-ranked Archmere on Dec. 12. Barring any change in eligibility, he will not be allowed to play in five of St. Andrew’s final 12 games. The 6-foot-8 senior makes a huge difference in the Saints’ lineup, averaging 17.5 points per game. He had 25 points and 16 rebounds in a 66-45 loss to No. 1-ranked Sanford on Jan. 14, and 31 points in a 55-42 victory over Wilmington Friends on Saturday.

Myers said Bentil attended a school in Ghana from May to July before his freshman year. But without sufficient documentation to prove that claim, the DIAA has interpreted that to count as a full year. Myers said St. Andrew’s is working to prove Bentil attended school in Ghana for only three months, in hopes that the DIAA could reconsider its ruling before the season ends. St. Andrew’s is allowed to count games involving Bentil in its state-tournament points index, but without a new ruling Bentil will not be allowed to play in the state tournament.

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2014301210051