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Username Post: Justice Ajogbor        (Topic#23302)
84grad 
Junior
Posts: 277

Age: 64
Reg: 11-09-17
09-15-19 04:50 PM - Post#287658    

Committed for 2020. Listed at 6’9” 230. Shows some nice offers and saw an article that Kentucky was looking at him last year.

https://www.aseaofblue.com/college-basketball/20 18...

Much needed big man after Chis’ graduation.

 
mrjames 
Professor
Posts: 6062

Loc: Montclair, NJ
Reg: 11-21-04
Re: Justice Ajogbor
09-15-19 09:34 PM - Post#287661    
    In response to 84grad

Huge, huge get.

Not exactly sure what Harvard will get out of the two bigs in the 2019 class, but rolling into 2020-21 with Djuricic and Forbes as the only two known quantities was not an option. Harvard tends to play small fours, so they don’t need a bevy of bodies in the post, but they do need true fives in order to get away with playing smaller fours. To some extent, that’s why I was bullish on Harvard taking Trey Jemison last year.

Still think they could use one more true post in this class, but the pressure is off now. They’ve stacked three good classes with some real top-end talent on top of each other to keep the 19-20 to 20-21 transition from being as rough as the 14-15 to 15-16 one.

 
HARVARDDADGRAD 
Postdoc
Posts: 2685

Loc: New Jersey
Reg: 01-21-14
Justice Ajogbor
09-16-19 11:22 AM - Post#287671    
    In response to mrjames

Exciting, but uncertain recruit.

About a year ago he was top 50, even 39th ranked in class of 2020 and top ten big. Kentucky recruiting had him as 6-10 center with 7-2 wingspan. More recently he's 6'9" and although 247 has him at #60 aggregated rankings have him ranked 171st and 24th Center. Videos only show him scoring around the rim. Seems like Zena/Chris mold, including physical build.

With Forbes and freshmen this is likely more than enough for Ivy league, but not sure of upside.

Ranked well above Matt Zona, next best Ivy recruit at this size that's still uncommitted.


Edited by HARVARDDADGRAD on 09-16-19 11:24 AM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

 
mrjames 
Professor
Posts: 6062

Loc: Montclair, NJ
Reg: 11-21-04
Re: Justice Ajogbor
09-17-19 02:34 PM - Post#287690    
    In response to HARVARDDADGRAD

The biggest reason for the drop has been injuries more than anything. He's missed time with a stress fracture in his foot and a knee injury. The early rankings are usually all based on how a kid projects - so a freshman that's 6'9 with a 7'2 wingspan and athleticism to match is going to be rated very highly.

When he has played, he's been an imposing figure defensively in the paint, but the offensive skills haven't been all that strong. Maybe that's the injuries or the need for more development on that end. At any rate, it seems to have a lot to do with why the rankings have slipped, as analysts expect initial "projectability" to be followed up, at some point, with production.

I'm less concerned about the offense and far more concerned about the injury history. Though, maybe that's just due to how injuries really chewed up the 2016 class...

 
rbg 
Postdoc
Posts: 3044

Reg: 10-20-14
09-19-19 08:44 AM - Post#287749    
    In response to mrjames

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/ne ws/...

- This development was fascinating to me on a number of levels -- mostly because it's what I've long believed all borderline top-100 prospects who double as very smart young people should at least consider. I honestly don't understand why more don't. I seriously don't get why this doesn't happen more often. -

- Which brings me back to Ajogbor.

He's a very good prospect -- but far from a guarantee to someday play in the NBA based on nothing more than where he's ranked in his high school class. So given that reality, what's smarter, in the best interests of his future, than accepting an opportunity to attend an Ivy League institution? If he develops into a legitimate NBA prospect there, he'll get drafted out of Harvard the same way Curry got drafted out of Davidson, Lillard got drafted out of Weber State and Leonard got drafted out of San Diego State. In this era of scouting, if you're good enough, the NBA will find you anywhere. So he loses nothing, in that regard, by enrolling at Harvard and playing for coach Tommy Amaker. And if the more likely scenario comes to pass, i.e., if it turns out Ajogbor simply is not good enough to make the NBA, he'll still spend four years in college as one of the most talented players, if not the most talented player, in his league -- which sounds fun. More importantly, though, he'll leave college with -- follow me here -- A DEGREE FROM AN IVY LEAGUE INSTITUTION! And if you're not going to be a professional basketball player who makes millions of dollars, there's probably nothing you can take into your post-basketball life that's more valuable than A DEGREE FROM AN IVY LEAGUE INSTITUTION! -

No matter what happens, you exit college a big winner. -

 
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