UTEP Mens Basketball Recruiting

[SisyphusMiner]

I think what you're saying makes a lot of sense.

Basically there's going to be an element of luck on whether you get the right group, although arguably that was a factor under the old scheme.  It's just possible that Xs and Os and high IQ players start being a bigger factor than ever at this level. 

And I think we might have won conference or come really damn close with BW. NIT for sure, maybe NCAA.  BW played for Tech the way Golding would have wanted him to play.  All out all the time.  No taking plays off.

[Chanson]

I really like the "Cook" analogy. In the past it was using same ingredients to get better, while today's game is completely different ingredients each year & hope to make something good.
You're right. We wait until mid season to see how good the meal is that the chef prepared. What's tough is the process has changed too quickly, but the part that is comforting is everyone else is going through the same thing. I. Actually for change, but not at the expense of kids being kicked to the curb with no education. The portal will extend the value of a player, but also kill the dream for others. Education is secondary in this scenario & that sickens me.
Anyway, back to the Miners. What I like about Golding is he is blue color & is used to fighting his way through limitations by means of playing & recruiting to defensive fundamentals while allowing creativity on the offensive side.

[Minermojo]

Honestly, in my opinion which is worth nothing in this inflation, I don't think things will change much. Sure, he maybe brought in players that were of the same level but one big problem is that this NEW players don't know his system like the ones that left. So it's back to square one with them. The newbies still need to learn his system and while some of the players aren't as proficient we may be headed on a downward spiral or if best be in the same level as this past year.

[kyyote]

You are right on most of your post, especially the part about your opinion.   Seriously though, you may be right about knowing his system, but you may also be wrong in that all of the players had been used to Terry's system, and were having to change to something new.  In that case these players have a cleaner slate to start learning Golding's system.  These will be his players chosen for his system and that should give him an advantage over last year's team built for Terry's Bryson Williams' ball.  But you may be right.  We may be less of a team than we began with last year.  Golding set a high bar with Terry's leftovers.  But not even close to high enough.  We didn't win our conference tournament or go to the dance.  Any year we don't hasn't been good enough.

[Austintacious]

I've said before how the football team at the high school I teach at was the runnerup at the 4A State Final game.  That got a lot of attention from schools.  In the past weeks, over 30 coaches from the P5 conferences and mid and small schools have visited including one of UTEP's assistants.  They talk to the players and evaluate how they hold up to questions, etc.  I imagine it's a similar process for Golding and his assistant coaches as they fill up UTEP's roster.  This helps them determine whether they want to make an offer to prospective players.  Is it any different trying to get players through the portal? 

Quite a few players from LBJ HS in Austin have gotten offers from the mid and small schools.  The larger power schools will probably wait until later.  The players hold off on commitments to schools as they think about what's best for them.  Last year, one of my student/players showed me pictures of him in propective schools football uniforms but waited until signing day to indicate their choice when they sign the letter. 

Comments?

[Chanson]

Verbal Commits has reported 2☆ 6'7" Calvin Solomon has committed to UTEP. I couldn't find any vids with his time at Stephen F. Austin, but I did see some of his High School vids. This kid has a motor. True sports fans know exactly what means. This guy is a big defensive guy as well.
He has 2yrs of eligibility & he is for sure not a starter.
He doesn't have that touch to be an offensive power, but that motor will get him lots of defensive playing time.
Role players are important & I think he will be a better version of Agnew.

Fellas, I have to admit that I am OK with his recruiting this year. He is bringing in speedy, strong athletes. If that doesn't say "we are defense first," I don't know what is?

[SisyphusMiner]

turnovers on the defensive end turn into layups on the offensive end, and those are pretty high percentage.

I hope you're right.  I really have no idea what to expect from these guys.

[kyyote]

Just a couple of points.  He has been at SFA since 2019.  Abilene Christian plays them in the WAC so Golding knows this kid pretty well.  What I noticed is that he looks to be exactly what I have been looking for.  He doesn't shoot 3-pointers, he shot 23 in three years and 13 were last year while he shoots over 50% from the field.  That tells me he is playing and shooting shots that are close enough to be hard to miss.  I expect to see a lot more stuffs and a lot less bombs away.

Chanson, you say he definitely is not a starter.  I think that may not be true.  I think he may very well end up starting.  He averaged just about 10 points and 5 rebounds a game as a starter in the WAC.  They play pretty good basketball and he did pretty well against that level-our level- of competition.  I think he may take Sibley's starting spot.  He averaged twice as many points and an extra rebound more than Sibley last season.

So far, I have Givance as the starting point guard, Hardy maybe as the SG, and I think Solomon is the starting PF.  I think my question is will Onyema or Hamilton play the post because I don't know how mobile Hamilton will be.  And there is dos Anjos..  I could see Sibley moving to SF.  I think we will get a  treat shortly to solve this.  So, the guards and the PF are solid. 

Points. 
Solomon 10 ppg (6 rpg)
Givance 5 to 10 ppg  He is all about distribution.  Led his conference in assists to turnover ratio
Hardy 15 ppg

We averaged 69 ppg and JB, SB, KK produced 50 ppg.  Looking at Givance as the starter and generously attributing 10 ppg to him and let's give Solomon and Hardy both an extra 5 ppg that's only 45 points.  That means we have to find 25 to 30 points.  Our starters produced around 50 ppg combined and 20 from the bench.  Boum and Bienemy produced about 35 points a game combined.  Givance and Hardy are probably going to produce ten points a game less.  Our front line averaged about 17 ppg and so that will need to get up to about 30 ppg to make up for the loss of points from the 35 ppg JB and SB produced.  So, with Solomon at around 10 we need the center and the sf both to also get 10 each.  That is just the starters.  So I am holding out for a 10 ppg starting sf and a 10 ppg starting center.  Or someone is going to have to make a big step up from what they have been doing.

 

[Chanson]

Chanson, you say he definitely is not a starter.  I think that may not be true.  I think he may very well end up starting.  He averaged just about 10 points and 5 rebounds a game as a starter in the WAC.  They play pretty good basketball and he did pretty well against that level-our level- of competition.  I think he may take Sibley's starting spot.  He averaged twice as many points and an extra rebound more than Sibley last season.

So far, I have Givance as the starting point guard, Hardy maybe as the SG, and I think Solomon is the starting PF.  I think my question is will Onyema or Hamilton play the post because I don't know how mobile Hamilton will be.  And there is dos Anjos..  I could see Sibley moving to SF.  I think we will get a  treat shortly to solve this.  So, the guards and the PF are solid. 

Points. 
Solomon 10 ppg (rpg)
Givance 5 to 10 ppg  He is all about distribution.  Led his conference in assists to turnover ratio

All great points & I hope you are right, but i still think Sibley is the more talented player. Solomon may start if they need a long line up, but I don't see him starting over Sibley. I also don't see him starting over some of our SGs. I see him taking 6th man of the year. He has Agnew type talent except he is taller & a bit better on scoring.

[kyyote]

It will be interesting to see how it plays out.  I think that Givance is a tell.  He is all about distribution but doesn't score.  So, who is he going to feed?  We need 65 points from his players.  Let's just say we look for a balance.  Thirty-35 from inside the arc and the same from beyond it.  Hardy is good for 15 and maybe twenty.  We need another guard to get another 15 or so.  Zachery and McKinney aren't probably going to do that, so I don't know if it is coming from beyond the arc.  No.  I look at this team and it is built strong up front.  Kalu C/F, Hamilton C, Onyema PF, dos Anjos PF, Sibley PF, Solomon PF, and Frazier Sf.  The freshman, Sumlin will get a chance to learn from Givance.  And we have two spot left, I believe.  As I said, I am hoping for a couple more nice surprises.

A little further digging and I found that for the past few years ACU was in the top 50 including 23 and last year number 2 in free throw attempts.  Last season UTEP ranked 197th.  You don't go to the line by bombing away from beyond the arc.  You power it inside and force the opponent to foul you.  The part about Free Throws is they're free!  And they foul out starters!

I think we pound the ball inside.

[kyyote]

I don't know if we realized just how bad our rebounding was last year.  Out of 350 we were 309. That is flat out ridiculous!  We basically allowed teams to keep putting the ball back up until they got the basket or we got a lucky bounce.  And we either made our shot or we gave up trying on that possession.  Yet, we won.  We won because we out worked the other team and had some pretty good 3-point shooters.  I think we can count on the players we have to either play with the same intensity, out working other teams, or they will be watching others play.  I also believe we are about to see a very different team playing a very different style of ball.  Remember the old Haskins could beat you with his players or he could beat you with your players?  Golding won with Terry's players-and did a better job of it minus the biggest star.  So he has shown the second part.  He can beat you with your players.  Now we find out how he does with his own players. 
I have watched dos Anjos and he does have a sweet shot.  I noticed that he likes to step beyond the arc to shoot the long ball.  Chanson says that Solomon doesn't have the skills and I may even agree.  But, we need rebounds and muscle inside.  Slam dunks.  Put backs and fouls drawn!  I think Solomon is better at that.  I could see dos Anjos maybe pushing Sibley and the two splitting time at the sf spot.  I also think there may be some fluidity with players taking positions determined by situations.  But I will readily admit that I am just trying to figure it out.  I saw today that we are down to one scholarship left.  So, much of the mystery is over.  I was just thinking that the players have got an open audition for every spot on the team, right?  Everybody has been in their own situations until now.  It's on like Donkey Kong, now.  Show us what you've got.

[Chanson]

The team we have will be a lot more physical. While we might be penalized more, defense & rebounding took an upgrade, while the scoring piece stepped down a notch.
The other thing I wanted to address is that I thought Onyema was a walk on which means we have 2 schollies available.
That was the case last year unless Golding GA e Onyema an athletic scholly. I'd like to see a scorer and/or a premier big man.

[Chanson]

So I've been looking at video's and the newbie that stands out Otis Frazier. The kid can ball. His hops allow him to block, dunk, & rebound with frequency. Kid has an OK shot as well. I'll have my eye on him.

[Chanson]

Man O' man is it dead out there. Golding looking for 1, possibly 2 more players. Only thing I can see so far is offer to 6'11" Canadian Arden Begaj. Kid is super skinny, but moves OK & has a great shot from beyond the arc. Other than that, he needs work. Willms & Ezeagu were more recent Canadian big men UTEP had picked up. Not sure if anyone knows, but Willms still lives in El Paso. I see him at all the games. Not sure if he is assisting with recruiting.
Also looking at where Golding recruits from is spread out. We have 2 international kids from Brazil & Canada(Toronto). Then kids from Georgia, TX, Wisconsin, Louisiana, Arizona, Ohio, Missouri, New York, & Maryland. Did I miss a state? I love how these coaches are all over the place.
Anyway, it looks like our team is set & Golding needs to get these kids in the gym working on strength, speed, & cohesion. I think we can now move on to football.

[kyyote]

So, if you were picking the players to start a team with would you pick players who had been starters at your level before or would you pick nonstarters?  Silly question, right.  So, it stands that if Golding is picking players that's what he would do, right?  Except that the starters at teams on our level either moved up or they stayed at their own schools.  So, the next choice is either a nonstarter from an equal or greater level school or a starter from a lower-level school.  That choice is one that the coaches face and gets figured out in practice.  But using this as a guide let's take another look at our new team.

Here are the players.

Sibley F Started here 23 0f 33 games.  5.3 4

Onyema F NS   2  1.7 /9minavg
Kalu C/F NS  1.5 2.2 /9minavg

Derick Hamilton F/C Juco 30 games, including 23 starts, as freshman 11.0
Sumlin G High School

Zachary G Juco 7.9  3.7
Hardy G SM Transfer  Starter 11  2.7
McKinney G NMSU TR NS/S 3.8  2.1 /12minavg
Givance G Evansville Trans/Starter   13.7
Frazier G/F GM Trans/NS  2.6  1.8 /8minavg
Solomon F SFA Trans/Starter  7.7 4.8
dos Anjos F Juco Starter  10.3   5.7

So, using the guide above we find the starters at our level and lo and behold there is Sibley, Hardy from Southern Miss, Givance, and Solomon.  Then there are the nonstarters at our level that want to be starters and lower level starters who want to start and move up.  Our level nonstaters are Kalu, Onyema, McKinney, and Frazier and lower level starters are Hamilton, dos Anjos and Sumlin.  Lower level starters and our level nonstarters are in direct competition for starting spots.
If starters are Givance and Hardy and we add Sibley and Solomon starters at our level we are left with a open spot for either a third forward/center, or perhaps a guard forward or a third guard.  Let's start with Onyema and Kalu.  They are nonstarters but they are our level.  We know what they were last season.  They have to be better than Jucos Hamilton and dos Anjos.  I don't know how this turns out but we are going to need points.  Kalu and Onyema haven shown an inability to produce offensively.  If we go with a third guard i don't see the big points scorer.  I see backups to give Givance and Hardy their breaks. 
As for the Canadian kid Chanson mentioned.  He is 6' 11' and likes to shoot the three.  Unless he is a reincarnation of Dirk fricken Nowitski or however you spell his name, I want him to get his skinny tall ass in the paint, and play like he thinks he's Shaq.  Make people fear his boney-assed elbows or suffer broken noses and cuts around their eyes.  And tell Hamilton he has permission to kick him in the nuts if he shoots a three point shot!