and why it still needs to get better. I post long as it is, and this one is going to be a novella, so I'm breaking it up into two posts within the same thread. A lot of this has been said already, but I wanted to put it all in one place and go a bit deeper on several of the positives and concerns that either recently or consistently bubble up with MA and his recruiting.
First, I want to point out and acknowledge that going back to the early spring when Ted Kapita committed, MA has swung and missed on several 4-star bigs ... so including Kapita (who never made it here), MA missed on 5 bigs when you add in Cameron McGriff, Eric Curry, Tyler Cook, and DeAndre Hunter ... and he's probably not going to get De'Ron Davis, either.
Factoring those in, I still think the last 12 months have been far and away MA's best in recruiting at Arkansas, and though there are still shortcomings to overcome (as stated in my opening paragraphs and to be addressed again later on), there's a lot of good right now that must be noted. This post is not just about the good, though, because more needs to be done, and tweaks and improvements need to be made. I'm going to get to a lot of it here ...
* The one big that didn't get away... in spite of all the big misses, MA did land the biggest of all, Daniel Gafford (Top 40 4-star, Class of 2017) who committed in late summer. He is already rated above the 2015 and 2016 bigs that we whiffed on, and he's a true difference-maker at both ends in the post -- something we have not had since Corliss Williamson. That's right, as good as BP was, he was not the interior presence that Gafford is -- not on the boards, not defensively, and not flushing everything home that comes off the rim. Corliss was never a great defender or rebounder, but he was a space-eater and moved guys around in the paint at both ends, so he truly affected games at both ends. The 6-foot-10 Gafford will affect games at both ends too, but in his own way with athleticism, intensity, and taking on contact while playing above or through it. If he stays on his current development path, he's going to be around only a couple of years in college, or may end up a 1-and-done.
If you go back in time and look at Nolan's best teams, and MA's best team here last year, there has been a difference-making big (Big O, Corliss, and BP). Gafford is the next in line, and though we're 2 years away from gaining his services, Moses Kingsley (Top 50 4-star in his own right) will finally get his chance to emerge from the shadows of Bobby Portis and make his mark on this program for the next 2 years before passing the torch to Gafford. Now, MK is not as good offensively as the former Hog bigs talked about here, but his per-minutes production (especially rebounding and blocks) has been good, so he's got an opportunity to be a solid post player.
* Jimmy Whitt (Top 65 4-star, Class of 2015) signed last November in the early period, and he's the first high-caliber guard that MA has inked at Arkansas. It's the first domino in what should be a return to a guard/perimeter-dominated system that dictates the tempo while complementing one elite big and a few other serviceable bigs. Jimmy has a similar offensive mentality to BJ Young, and while his first step is not as explosive, his ball skills, mid-range game, and BBall IQ are much better. This is the first in a line of alpha guards that MA is assembling to lead us over the next 4 years. So much was made of missing out on in-state star KeVaughn Allen, but Jimmy is an equitable talent and he wanted to be here. Great get at guard for a system that is best when it has alpha play-makers in the backcourt.
* Senior-transfer-1-and-dones ... Before you either laugh or become infuriated with my inclusion of Willy Kouassi (former 4-star but actual 3-star talent, Class of 2015) on the positive list, it's note-worthy that during an avalanche of player departures for a variety of reasons beginning in April, MA took advantage of the senior-transfer-1-and-done rule and brought in an athletic, 6-10 player for a position group (interior players) that is dangerously thin. We needed an immediate answer without suffering a 4-year handcuff, and Kouassi was a respectable if not desired response. Maybe this will help MA identify these potential situations sooner, and thus maybe he will identify more-preferred senior-transfer-1-and-dones in the future. Anyway, it was another positive step, albeit a small one, in finding a solution through recruiting this past year.
* Swingman / SF debacle ... When I look at what has happened with departures -- and what has NOT happened in recruiting -- regarding the swingman/SF position, it's the biggest area of concern. Losing Michael Qualls was huge, but losing Nick Babb (who I think could play all 3 perimeter positions) only made it worse, and though Alandise Harris and Jacorey Williams played that hybrid SF/PF role in the 4 spot and not as much the 3, losing them along with Qualls and Babb left us with ONLY 6-3 or shorter guards and bigs who can't really play out on the floor for the 2015-16 season. Grabbing Doobie Jenkins (3-star, Class of 2015) was an obvious stop-gap reach for a plan C or D type prospect, and it's a 4-year commitment, but at 6-6 we needed the perimeter length and the depth for practice and playing our style in games. The addition of Dustin Thomas (3-star, becomes eligible with the Class of 2016 if he sticks) does not bother me as much as it does others. As much as I want top-shelf talent, I know that you have to have versatile role players, too, and this kid is that. He actually brings better ball skills to the 3 spot than Qualls or Jacorey did, and at 6-7 he's got good athleticism. He didn't do much at Colorado, but if all he does here is produce as much as Jacorey did, minus the poor decisions and poor shot-selection on the floor, then he could be a nice complement to a team that will be loaded at guard by the time he becomes eligible. Missing on Cameron McGriff really hurt this position group, because he has a MQ-type ceiling, IMO. A lot of what happened at this position group is not MA's fault, but his responses through recruiting in 2015 and 2016 are not what they needed to be, either.
* Daryl Macon (1st-team juco AA as a freshman and projected as high as the No. 2 juco recruit for the Class of 2016) committed in the summer, and then in the midst of missing on all the aforementioned bigs, Jaylen Barford (honorable mention AA as a freshman and projected as high as the No. 1 juco recruit for the Class of 2016) committed this week ... both are now expected to sign in the early period. Well, this duo may end up better than MA's Portis/Kingsley grab in 2013. I don't expect either to be as good as BP in terms of reaching AA or SEC POY status, but their importance to the kind of system we want to run can't be overstated because we've been starving for backcourt playmakers, consistent shooters, scorers, and facilitators for years. Whitt was a nice start, but to get back to the brand of Hawgball that consistently wins big, it starts in the backcourt with waves of guards who can ball and beat you in a variety of ways. When I watch Macon and Barford, I see what should be very complementary, compatible backcourt mates. Barford is big, strong, fearless, and he loves to get into the lane, into the teeth of a D, and either finish or dish, while Macon is a smooth operator who does not need to dominate the ball to get his -- in fact, he reminds me of Scotty Thurman in the kind of efficient scorer who lulls his man to sleep, then finds the soft areas in a defense for quick-and-effective catch-and-shoot opportunities. You mix these guys with Whitt, Manny, Hannahs, and Beard in 2016-17, and all of a sudden we're talking about one of the best backcourts in college basketball. Similar to KA, if we miss out on in-state and national star Malik Monk, folks will make a big deal out of it, but with or without him this unit is going to be very, very good. We did not miss on Jaylen Fisher -- who I personally preferred over everyone except for Gafford -- because the staff told me in August it would be either him or Barford to come in and run the show, so the plan was to pass on one of them if we could have gotten them both. Which, given that both are elite-level backcourt playmakers/leaders who we were asking to run the show at PG, it didn't make sense that both would want to land at the same school.anyway.
First, I want to point out and acknowledge that going back to the early spring when Ted Kapita committed, MA has swung and missed on several 4-star bigs ... so including Kapita (who never made it here), MA missed on 5 bigs when you add in Cameron McGriff, Eric Curry, Tyler Cook, and DeAndre Hunter ... and he's probably not going to get De'Ron Davis, either.
Factoring those in, I still think the last 12 months have been far and away MA's best in recruiting at Arkansas, and though there are still shortcomings to overcome (as stated in my opening paragraphs and to be addressed again later on), there's a lot of good right now that must be noted. This post is not just about the good, though, because more needs to be done, and tweaks and improvements need to be made. I'm going to get to a lot of it here ...
* The one big that didn't get away... in spite of all the big misses, MA did land the biggest of all, Daniel Gafford (Top 40 4-star, Class of 2017) who committed in late summer. He is already rated above the 2015 and 2016 bigs that we whiffed on, and he's a true difference-maker at both ends in the post -- something we have not had since Corliss Williamson. That's right, as good as BP was, he was not the interior presence that Gafford is -- not on the boards, not defensively, and not flushing everything home that comes off the rim. Corliss was never a great defender or rebounder, but he was a space-eater and moved guys around in the paint at both ends, so he truly affected games at both ends. The 6-foot-10 Gafford will affect games at both ends too, but in his own way with athleticism, intensity, and taking on contact while playing above or through it. If he stays on his current development path, he's going to be around only a couple of years in college, or may end up a 1-and-done.
If you go back in time and look at Nolan's best teams, and MA's best team here last year, there has been a difference-making big (Big O, Corliss, and BP). Gafford is the next in line, and though we're 2 years away from gaining his services, Moses Kingsley (Top 50 4-star in his own right) will finally get his chance to emerge from the shadows of Bobby Portis and make his mark on this program for the next 2 years before passing the torch to Gafford. Now, MK is not as good offensively as the former Hog bigs talked about here, but his per-minutes production (especially rebounding and blocks) has been good, so he's got an opportunity to be a solid post player.
* Jimmy Whitt (Top 65 4-star, Class of 2015) signed last November in the early period, and he's the first high-caliber guard that MA has inked at Arkansas. It's the first domino in what should be a return to a guard/perimeter-dominated system that dictates the tempo while complementing one elite big and a few other serviceable bigs. Jimmy has a similar offensive mentality to BJ Young, and while his first step is not as explosive, his ball skills, mid-range game, and BBall IQ are much better. This is the first in a line of alpha guards that MA is assembling to lead us over the next 4 years. So much was made of missing out on in-state star KeVaughn Allen, but Jimmy is an equitable talent and he wanted to be here. Great get at guard for a system that is best when it has alpha play-makers in the backcourt.
* Senior-transfer-1-and-dones ... Before you either laugh or become infuriated with my inclusion of Willy Kouassi (former 4-star but actual 3-star talent, Class of 2015) on the positive list, it's note-worthy that during an avalanche of player departures for a variety of reasons beginning in April, MA took advantage of the senior-transfer-1-and-done rule and brought in an athletic, 6-10 player for a position group (interior players) that is dangerously thin. We needed an immediate answer without suffering a 4-year handcuff, and Kouassi was a respectable if not desired response. Maybe this will help MA identify these potential situations sooner, and thus maybe he will identify more-preferred senior-transfer-1-and-dones in the future. Anyway, it was another positive step, albeit a small one, in finding a solution through recruiting this past year.
* Swingman / SF debacle ... When I look at what has happened with departures -- and what has NOT happened in recruiting -- regarding the swingman/SF position, it's the biggest area of concern. Losing Michael Qualls was huge, but losing Nick Babb (who I think could play all 3 perimeter positions) only made it worse, and though Alandise Harris and Jacorey Williams played that hybrid SF/PF role in the 4 spot and not as much the 3, losing them along with Qualls and Babb left us with ONLY 6-3 or shorter guards and bigs who can't really play out on the floor for the 2015-16 season. Grabbing Doobie Jenkins (3-star, Class of 2015) was an obvious stop-gap reach for a plan C or D type prospect, and it's a 4-year commitment, but at 6-6 we needed the perimeter length and the depth for practice and playing our style in games. The addition of Dustin Thomas (3-star, becomes eligible with the Class of 2016 if he sticks) does not bother me as much as it does others. As much as I want top-shelf talent, I know that you have to have versatile role players, too, and this kid is that. He actually brings better ball skills to the 3 spot than Qualls or Jacorey did, and at 6-7 he's got good athleticism. He didn't do much at Colorado, but if all he does here is produce as much as Jacorey did, minus the poor decisions and poor shot-selection on the floor, then he could be a nice complement to a team that will be loaded at guard by the time he becomes eligible. Missing on Cameron McGriff really hurt this position group, because he has a MQ-type ceiling, IMO. A lot of what happened at this position group is not MA's fault, but his responses through recruiting in 2015 and 2016 are not what they needed to be, either.
* Daryl Macon (1st-team juco AA as a freshman and projected as high as the No. 2 juco recruit for the Class of 2016) committed in the summer, and then in the midst of missing on all the aforementioned bigs, Jaylen Barford (honorable mention AA as a freshman and projected as high as the No. 1 juco recruit for the Class of 2016) committed this week ... both are now expected to sign in the early period. Well, this duo may end up better than MA's Portis/Kingsley grab in 2013. I don't expect either to be as good as BP in terms of reaching AA or SEC POY status, but their importance to the kind of system we want to run can't be overstated because we've been starving for backcourt playmakers, consistent shooters, scorers, and facilitators for years. Whitt was a nice start, but to get back to the brand of Hawgball that consistently wins big, it starts in the backcourt with waves of guards who can ball and beat you in a variety of ways. When I watch Macon and Barford, I see what should be very complementary, compatible backcourt mates. Barford is big, strong, fearless, and he loves to get into the lane, into the teeth of a D, and either finish or dish, while Macon is a smooth operator who does not need to dominate the ball to get his -- in fact, he reminds me of Scotty Thurman in the kind of efficient scorer who lulls his man to sleep, then finds the soft areas in a defense for quick-and-effective catch-and-shoot opportunities. You mix these guys with Whitt, Manny, Hannahs, and Beard in 2016-17, and all of a sudden we're talking about one of the best backcourts in college basketball. Similar to KA, if we miss out on in-state and national star Malik Monk, folks will make a big deal out of it, but with or without him this unit is going to be very, very good. We did not miss on Jaylen Fisher -- who I personally preferred over everyone except for Gafford -- because the staff told me in August it would be either him or Barford to come in and run the show, so the plan was to pass on one of them if we could have gotten them both. Which, given that both are elite-level backcourt playmakers/leaders who we were asking to run the show at PG, it didn't make sense that both would want to land at the same school.anyway.
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