Just me as a fan on the outside looking in, I don’t get a good vibe about Hardy, seemed like he just gave the typical “had a good time, coaches are good guys” type of answers. Usually when they do that they aren’t too interested anymore. Also, the fact he went from no visits to now he’s visiting UNLV and Memphis. My guess is he got on campus, he got a chance to look at the depth chart and see how good the other guards are, and like Zhaire Smith his interest cooled really quickly when he seen it’s a big possibility he wouldn’t even make the rotation next year. That’s one of the problems of having a lot of guys returning, however that’s a great problem to have.
Just from the Barrett quotes seems like he had a great time and really really likes Arkansas. Honestly, although I think Hardy is a probably a better player at this point. I think a kid like Barrett that’s kinda under the radar and not as nationally known may be better for a situation like we are in. He knows he’s likely to have to wait his turn, and his comfortable with that and really works on his game and stays instead of transferring after one year if things don’t work out his way. That’s what happened with Whitt and Babb, both of them were highly recruited and wasn’t willing to wait their turn.
That said, when they visit and don’t commit and another kid does and says he’s shutting it down and will announce a decision soon it makes it seem as if there is one spot and the first one in gets it and at this point that seems like Shakwon.
You just explained here why I got a bad vibe. And while the Dad’s compliments were nice, they just seemed more of “good School, good coaches, but we’ll look other places” type of comments to me. Like I said that’s just how I felt, could be completely wrong. But, if I didn’t know anything about either player and just read their comments after the visit I would feel we had a much better chance of landing Barrett. For example look at the difference in Barrett’s visit comments than Hardy’s. Barrett spoke about it feeling like a family to him, him and his mom felt like they have been here before, and mentioned how the staff made him feel like he was already apart of the team. Those comments are more personal, than “Coach Anderson is a great guy” or “They have a winning pedigree”.
Fair points. Just judging by the circumstances it seems like Shakwon is the guy who will be a Hog. Interesting prospect. Kinda unknown bc of being from Canada yet has played at a prestigious prep school.
There was a time that we made lots of hay with toolsy guys who for whatever reason were somewhat unknown or projects/projections.
Yea, unless something goes sideways (which does happen often) looks like Barrett will be the guy. Only has 2 offers right now, and Tulane being the other. Also, he visited Michigan a couple weeks ago, but they haven’t extended an offer yet.
And I don’t mind staff taking a chance on a kid like Barrett, barring some unexpected circumstances, our rotation is pretty much set for next year anyways. Getting a kid with some upside and knows he’s going to have to develop for a couple of years is probably a better option than bringing a more highly rated kid in and then he transfers after 1 year if he doesn’t make the rotation. Also, like you mentioned he’s unknown because he’s from Canada most of these international kids are unranked. You look at Southwest Christian, they are stacked and won a title in the league they play in that features nationally ranked teams with ranked players and none of their players are ranked because most of their guys are not originally from the US. You get your ranking mostly from playing on the Adidas, Under Armor, and Nike EYBL circuits, you don’t play on those good luck getting a ranking.
I don’t know. Hardy is likely going to be a rotation player next year at any decent Power 5 school. He would be here.
With Barrett, I don’t know if he will or not. Honestly, I didn’t really like his highlights. He also only averaged 3.3 ppg at Findlay. He played for an Under Armour team. He’s been seen plenty. He just hasn’t produced much. No ultimate judgement from me, but he’s definitely more of a question mark than Hardy.
Maybe we are reaching a little bc Glasper is apparently looking to transfer. It seems like we reach with our late signees each year, good news is, we won’t be saying that the next couple years!
I said in another thread it was possible Hardy could make the rotation next year. It’s always a possibility, I never count anybody out, especially a 4-star guy that’s athletic. But if I was making predictions of the rotation next year, it’s hard for me to see him in it, especially if Macon returns. I mean who among the guards is he going to beat out? Macon and Barford are going to play 25+ minutes easy. Beard is going to play around 20+ MPG. CJ Jones and Khalil Garland are likely to play at least 15+ MPG. I could see him having a similar role like Bailey did among the forwards next year, but as far as a consistent playing every game being apart of the rotation, it’s going to be tough, CMA is only going to play 9-10 guys consistently. You have 6 seniors who all played last year, plus Bailey, Jones, Garland and Gafford. I think that’s the top 10 guys right there barring a top grad transfer coming in. Also, any idea on what Barrett averaged at Tech Academy?
I will be willing to bet that there will be a late signee each year. The college recruiting situation is very fluid. Also I kind of like having one scholarship open, in case a can’t miss prospect wants to transfer or suddenly becomes available.
I didn’t say Barrett was the better player. I said it looks like he’s the one that will end up here. I also didn’t say he would come in and be an impact player. I said there was a time we made hay with similarly recruited players.