mrjames
Professor
Posts: 6062
Loc: Montclair, NJ
Reg: 11-21-04
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09-23-16 11:20 AM - Post#210779
Will announce his college selection this afternoon. Harvard is the heavy, heavy favorite here.
Aside from Wendell and Mo, Danilo would be the top player in the 2017 Ivy class. He put together really strong performances at both FIBA U17 Worlds and on the EYBL circuit this spring and summer.
He's a big wing/stretch four that can really shoot it (connected at over 40% from three at FIBA and EYBL). He's also an extremely good defender. He just reclassed from 2018, where he was the No. 2 Canadian prospect behind Simi Shittu, who is ranked around the Top 10 in that class.
In a year with some really strong classes (Penn, Princeton, Yale), Harvard might just vault back to the top if it can get this pick up.
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HARVARDDADGRAD
Postdoc
Posts: 2685
Loc: New Jersey
Reg: 01-21-14
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09-23-16 12:10 PM - Post#210783
In response to mrjames
Thanks for the heads up. Very exciting - and days after he visited Cambridge with Haskett and Carter! May enthusiasm be contagious among those three! (Bamba also)
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Tiger69
Postdoc
Posts: 2801
Reg: 11-23-04
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09-23-16 06:48 PM - Post#210804
In response to HARVARDDADGRAD
Could harvard lite be courting THREE prospects?
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HARVARDDADGRAD
Postdoc
Posts: 2685
Loc: New Jersey
Reg: 01-21-14
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09-23-16 08:46 PM - Post#210807
In response to Tiger69
Only Wendell knows the answer.
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HARVARDDADGRAD
Postdoc
Posts: 2685
Loc: New Jersey
Reg: 01-21-14
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09-26-16 10:33 AM - Post#210856
In response to HARVARDDADGRAD
With a 7 strong freshmen, it appears that Harvard is recruiting a 3 to 4 player class and looking to plug gaps. Haskett provides defensive and size at guard and Djuricic provides three point shooting and length. Presumably that means Amaker sees these as gaps either this year or next year.
Looking at what we know about ongoing recruiting and what Harvard will graduate this year, it appears Amaker's remaining focus is on a larger PF/C. Zena's graduation and the slow growth of Chris Egi would put the onus on this year's freshman class. There are good Ivy options in Lewis, Baker and Welsh, but to be competitive nationally it appears Amaker is aiming higher.
If not Wendell Carter (or Mohammed Bamba), I wonder if there are other options?
Anyone see any other areas that need improvement?
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mrjames
Professor
Posts: 6062
Loc: Montclair, NJ
Reg: 11-21-04
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09-26-16 05:40 PM - Post#210878
In response to HARVARDDADGRAD
There's a little skittishness around highly-ranked bigs that choose Harvard given that the four Top 150 and better ones that the Crimson has reeled in (Kenyatta, Mike Hall, Egi and Zena) haven't really produced output that is greater than less-highly-rated bigs like Kyle, STEVE, Jonah and Evan Cummins. It remains to be seen whether there is a trait of "highly rated big willing to choose an Ivy" is correlated with "will underachieve their rating."
I tend to believe that isn't the case, and I believe that between Lewis, Baker and Welsh, Harvard will pick up one very strong post presence to take Z's spot. I think it'll add another one to round out the 2017 class and be pretty darn deep in the post next season.
Right now, the biggest question for me is whether the better offensive lineups can play defense and whether the better defensive lineups can play offense. Harvard has had two strong-to-elite two-way teams (2011-12 and 2013-14), but otherwise has had to sacrifice one end for the sake of the other. True two-way players are tough to find and usually involve developing the weaker end over time, which could be the one thing that holds a young Harvard squad back.
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SomeGuy
Professor
Posts: 6391
Reg: 11-22-04
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09-27-16 09:08 AM - Post#210891
In response to mrjames
Going back a little further, would Harrison Schaen and Ben Nwachukwu fit in the category you are talking about? I wonder if by definition the top 150 bigs who go Ivy tend to be projects at the high major level, and whether it is harder for those projects to develop at the Ivy level. I agree that we're probably talking about too small a sample size to jump to such a conclusion.
Of course, "Ivy level" is starting to mean something different from what it did when Schaen and Big Ben were playing.
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mrjames
Professor
Posts: 6062
Loc: Montclair, NJ
Reg: 11-21-04
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Danilo Djuricic 09-27-16 09:37 AM - Post#210893
In response to SomeGuy
It's hard to say going back that far because the rankings were so different. Both rate pretty highly in my database (Top 20) so they probably would be considered Top 150 kids today. There are more relative flops that we can throw on the list too in Ryan Pettinella, Justin Reilly and Andrew Van Nest.
That being said, we are in a whole new world now. Of the Top 10 highest ranked recruits in my database, five will be freshmen this year (Harvard's Lewis, Baker, Towns and Aiken and Yale's Bruner). From what I hear, the bigs in that crew mostly look like the real deal. The other recruits in the Top 10 are Zena, Saunders, Siyani, Harrison Schaen and Kenyatta. Other than Schaen, those were all ultimately stars when healthy.
As I always say when talking about recruiting - you're never a lock to draw a winning card, but the 3-star and above deck has more aces than the unranked deck, so you'd rather be drawing from the former. At the same time, those that know think Danilo is the best recruit in this class right now (a class that includes a 4-star at ESPN), so even today the rankings can still miss things.
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section110
Masters Student
Posts: 847
Loc: south jersey
Reg: 11-22-04
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Re: Danilo Djuricic 09-27-16 01:42 PM - Post#210905
In response to mrjames
Who are "those that know" & where can we read them?
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iabhoops88
Sophomore
Posts: 107
Loc: Los Angeles
Reg: 01-26-13
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Re: Danilo Djuricic 09-27-16 08:19 PM - Post#210916
In response to section110
I don't know if these authors qualify as "those that know", but you can read about Danilo here:
http://www.todaysu.com/recruiting/cbb-recrui ting/c...
http://www.btpowerhouse.com/recruiting/2016/5/23/ 1...
SF Danilo Djuricic (2017/2018)
Danilo Djuricic is one of the top players in his class. The 6-7 forward is currently being recruited as a 2018 prospect but could reclassify to 2017 if the offers are right. According to NorthPoleHoops, Djuricic is the second rated Canadian player in 2018, behind one of the top rated players in the world in Simi Shittu.
Edited by iabhoops88 on 09-27-16 08:20 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.
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mrjames
Professor
Posts: 6062
Loc: Montclair, NJ
Reg: 11-21-04
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09-28-16 10:49 AM - Post#210923
In response to iabhoops88
If he had stayed in the 2018 class, he would have had a full list of high-major suitors. I don't say this lightly, but he was probably the most-coveted, non-Top 50 player in this incoming class. I mean, Barnes, Schweiger, Desrosiers, Haskett, Swain, Yess, Atkinson, Scott, Williams are all going to be key pieces, many possibly as freshmen, but Djuricic is the prize of the class for now.
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final479
Freshman
Posts: 49
Reg: 01-19-08
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09-28-16 02:30 PM - Post#210930
In response to mrjames
Looks like a great prospect. Recruiting videos are often of dubious value; however the highlights from the FIBA tournament really showcase his length, athleticism, versatility and shooting stroke against strong competition.
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H78
PhD Student
Posts: 1458
Loc: Los Angeles, CA
Reg: 01-06-11
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09-30-16 05:01 AM - Post#211017
In response to final479
Yep. At least this FIBA video Link shows a pretty complete game.
Long-range, mid-range, driving to the hoop, and defense. The kind of 3 that would achieve the goal of spreading the defense, with the additional threat of driving past a defender.
Nice get by Coach TA and his staff.
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