Dudley do you remember the 7 foot kid from Balk Knob that went to the hill? He never was able to catch up.
He never played much.
Let’s all hope that Conner can develop and beef up to where he can make an impact where ever he goes. There are systems where bigs don’t have to run much.
Man it would be great to have another big man in the 18 class right behind Gafford.
Jason Jennings, transferred after freshmen year to ASU, and was drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers in 2002
We have a mega talented 6’ 10 guy coming in the class after Gafford. Having a 7’3 spot shooter playing limited minutes would be a luxury for us. Maybe not so good for him. Then again we may only have Reggie Perry for a year or two. Maybe by then Connor would be ready to play the back end of Perry’s college career for him.
He’s not a good fit for us. It’s best that both sides look in a different direction and not waste each other’s time
I understand what you are saying, and agree for the most part. But it will be very frustrating for our fan base if he becomes “a good fit” at Virginia, Vanderbilt, Ole Miss, Alabama, or if someone like Mark Few at Gonzaga snaps him up at the last minute (that one is pure speculation on my part).
I agree. But with how well we are recruiting right now, we can’t waste a scholarship…
I have a different viewpoint. I watched his video and I don’t see that he is that slow. It makes little difference if it takes him a second or two longer than our fast guards to go from one end of the court to the other. We seldom shoot that quickly and with our defense it takes longer than that for the other team just to get the ball across mid-court.
And, so what if other big men are heaver and stronger. It is not like he is going to be fighting. The refs do not allow fighting and hitting. And when rebounding it help if you can just grab the ball without having to time your jumps.
Furthermore, his is a good shooter and with his height very hard to guard because he sees over the other players and they cannot block his shots unless they time their jumps perfectly.
It makes a lot of difference if he can’t close out on the perimeter in transition defense like we would need him to do. We have better prospects and legit targets in the '18 class than him…
When is a good time to waste a scholarship? When you are recruiting poorly?
When better players aren’t interested…
I just find it interesting that we could be “wasting a scholarship” on someone that is getting interest from Kansas, Baylor, UCLA, Iowa & Virginia. I understand why someone would say that, but the real “elephant in the room” does not appear to be Connor (even though most folks can’t stop marveling when he IS in the room… or on the court) :D.
BTW, Lee Wilson, Darnell Robinson, Dwight Stewart, Big O, Andrew Lang, Mario Credit, etc. didn’t scorch the hardwood getting up and down the floor. But somehow they “fit the system” quite well. Connor gets so many defensive rebounds now that he starts the break with the outlet, then if the break slows, he is the trailer for the top of the key 3, which is rarely if ever contested at the HS level and will be hard to defend at the College level, unless you deny the pass… or pull your post defender out above the FT line.
Will be shocked if any of the schools you mentioned actually offers. He may prove me wrong, but I don’t see him making much of a difference at the next level. To slow and to weak.
Well, I am gonna disagree with most of you. I predict Andérson is gonna go after Connor. And I will tell you why I say this, in time. But for now, you just gotta stay tuned. À tip to remember. Coach Andérson will be !looking for role players.
I’d be willing to invoke the Bear Bryant strategy even if we do kind of need the scholly. Never let a shunned in state kid come back and haunt you. We’ve seen enough of that over the years. Honestly though, how much PT is the 13th guy on your roster going to play? I think we can afford to give CV that scholly. Can you imagine what this guy might be 3 or 4 years from now? Do you really want to play against him twice a year?
Guys, if you haven’t seen Connor play full games against a team full of D1 prospects, you just don’t have a complete perspective on this topic.
He just hasn’t been able to keep up due to mobility. These offers or interest you’ve seen were mostly before last spring and summer when teams can say, “if you develop to this level, we have a spot for you”. Now, since last summer, you’ve seen some of those schools go quiet on him. Right now, he’s the 204th ranked player in his class. That doesn’t line up with some of the schools mentioned in this thread, right?
Again, big spring and summer coming up for him. I’d love to see a large improvement in his ability to move and not get pushed around constantly, but I’m just not convinced he’ll get there.
Razor/Dudley question. I understand what y’all are saying, but I also understand the statement made above that in 3/4 years, he maybe the player we hope to see. It seems y’all are hinting he won’t ever get there. Is that what the beliefs (schools listed in the thread) are?
which has to be AAU, which is a totally guard dominated game. Bigs almost have to fight their own guards to get the ball. I get that you can judge D, physicality and some skill like running the court, but AAu is not much better than high school for evaluation of bigs. I will admit that I am not impressed with Connor and his physical moves, esp things like step throughs which he will have to get to get his shot off against big guys in D1. Moses struggles with that, not enough base strength and Moses is light years quicker than Connor. Could CV be near to an epiphany and be a 5 star again in 3/4 year? doubtful, but anything is possible. Not a lot of improvement over time from what I can tell and I just cannot project him to anything but a very situational player with limits. His development kinda reminds me of Chris Bennett long ago who was the best there is, the best there was and ever will be about the 9th grade and just flattened out for basketball superiority. Real skill and REALLY nice guy who devoted himself to basketball when that was tough to do, but by the time college came around he was caught and passed by more athletic kids. I don’t know how anyone could get Connor better balance and footwork given his kinetics. Wish they could and he could be a force for the Hogs, just dont see it.
This.
I like the kid, love his family and hope he ends up at Arkansas.
But if he does it will be because he has improved in several areas.
Obviously he has strengths and weaknesses and I think he has improved since last summer.
But I am anxious to see how that translates to the AAU level, which is a far better indication of how he will do at the next level than high school basketball is here in Arkansas.
I think Razor and I probably covered it in the last two posts, but just to be clear on my end.
I’m not saying he won’t get there. I’m saying he is not there yet.
These Arkansas coaches are going to have to make a decision down the line about him - just as many of the others are.
He is blessed with potential, but just how does he fit in what they are trying to do.