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BREAKING: Cats land Jordan Lathon

Fantastic! Welcome to NU! Da Cats continue their upward trajectory!
 
Anyone have video on him? There isn't much out there on YouTube.
 
Fabulous player! How much higher endorsement does a player need than Chris Collins putting all his marbles on you? he's played with/against and coached the best. But this is a whole new level of player we never used to get at NU. The program is in good hands after B-Mac graduates.
 
Fabulous player! How much higher endorsement does a player need than Chris Collins putting all his marbles on you? he's played with/against and coached the best. But this is a whole new level of player we never used to get at NU. The program is in good hands after B-Mac graduates.
So serious question here. Can Ayo play the two or is he also only a PG/lead guard? It would be amazing to have the two of them by BMac/Lindsey combo. I also hate losing anyone to the Illini and I know they're one of his favorites too.
 
So serious question here. Can Ayo play the two or is he also only a PG/lead guard? It would be amazing to have the two of them by BMac/Lindsey combo. I also hate losing anyone to the Illini and I know they're one of his favorites too.

I suspect NU went all-in on Lathon knowing that Ayo is a long shot. But having Ayo visit probably helped force a decision by Jordan.
 
So, along with Lathon, would the starting five be filled out by the Jordanaires?

(Sorry, couldn't help it. Was channeling Johnny Kerr and Elvis)
 
So, obviously JL enjoyed his visit, but THT was with him. Any word on that? Did the two of them build a strong rapport? Because I'm greedy.

All that said, Jordan Lathon is an awesome addition. Welcome to NU!
 
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So serious question here. Can Ayo play the two or is he also only a PG/lead guard? It would be amazing to have the two of them by BMac/Lindsey combo. I also hate losing anyone to the Illini and I know they're one of his favorites too.

don't surprised if CCC doesn't recruit AYO anymore. just don't think Ayo and Lathon play together with their styles.
 
don't surprised if CCC doesn't recruit AYO anymore. just don't think Ayo and Lathon play together with their styles.

I would be good with that development. This staff identifies and develops talent tremendously. I am really excited for the next few years.
 
So who among us questioning whether Collins would ever get a recruit will come forward now?

It's definitely exciting and a HUGE relief that we are not taking a flyer on someone. This guy is a top 100/200 type guy. Well done, Coach Chris.

Also pretty excited about the new assistant. Losing Pat is tough but I think we might have done even better than I expected with his replacement. Coach Chris is not intimidated by taking on guys who are future HC material. Here's hoping it's an NU coaching tree that he's building with us.
 
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For the Lathon family....my work brought me to Grandview where I consulted the local government two years ago. Grandview stood out to me from some of the other KC suburbs I worked with. It is a warm and welcoming community. It just made a positive impression. The people there are so nice. Similar to the area in which I was raised on the South Side of Chicago.

We now live in Evanston and my kids grew up here. I think your son is going to be right at home in Evanston and at Northwestern. Separate from the basketball I think he's going to have a great experience, and there's no question that he'll get a great education.
 
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So serious question here. Can Ayo play the two or is he also only a PG/lead guard? It would be amazing to have the two of them by BMac/Lindsey combo. I also hate losing anyone to the Illini and I know they're one of his favorites too.
Illinois might have been one of his favorites, but he was a backup plan for Illinois. He is a really good player and will probably kick Illinois' ass, but Illinois has three young point guards on the roster right now ranked as high or higher and are all in on Ayo.

Lucas is the sophomore starter. Mark Smith is POY in Illinois and Trent Frazier is top 100 from Florida. Both are freshmen. Most years Illinois would be thrilled to get Lathon, but this year he was behind Ayo and, if Illinois doesn't get Ayo, they still have three young point guards of similar pedigree.
 
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So serious question here. Can Ayo play the two or is he also only a PG/lead guard? It would be amazing to have the two of them by BMac/Lindsey combo. I also hate losing anyone to the Illini and I know they're one of his favorites too.
Illinois might have been one of his favorites, but he was a backup plan for Illinois. He is a really good player and will probably kick Illinois' ass, but Illinois has three young point guards on the roster right now ranked as high or higher and are all in on Ayo.

Lucas is the sophomore starter. Mark Smith is POY in Illinois and Trent Frazier is top 100 from Florida. Both are freshmen. Most years Illinois would be thrilled to get Lathon, but this year he was behind Ayo and, if Illinois doesn't get Ayo, they still have three young point guards of similar pedigree.
Ah good ol combes with the Illini radar. Wasnt quite so active last year on our board huh? Glad to see you back.
 
Here are his own words, from his twitter acct:

DDMShaoUQAAuqpS.jpg


 
Very pleased to welcome Jordan to the University of Northwestern.
 
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So who among us questioning whether Collins would ever get a recruit will come forward now?

I think Ayo goes to the cornfields. The real head-to-head win would be getting THT.

Despite all the hand-wringing by some, never was worried.

Collins took some swings at some fairly large fish for the 2018 class and missed - that happens.

Still plenty of time.


Illinois might have been one of his favorites, but he was a backup plan for Illinois. He is a really good player and will probably kick Illinois' ass, but Illinois has three young point guards on the roster right now ranked as high or higher and are all in on Ayo.

Lucas is the sophomore starter. Mark Smith is POY in Illinois and Trent Frazier is top 100 from Florida. Both are freshmen. Most years Illinois would be thrilled to get Lathon, but this year he was behind Ayo and, if Illinois doesn't get Ayo, they still have three young point guards of similar pedigree.

Law apparently wasn't a priority for UI either and look how that turned out.
 
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Illinois might have been one of his favorites, but he was a backup plan for Illinois. He is a really good player and will probably kick Illinois' ass, but Illinois has three young point guards on the roster right now ranked as high or higher and are all in on Ayo.

Lucas is the sophomore starter. Mark Smith is POY in Illinois and Trent Frazier is top 100 from Florida. Both are freshmen. Most years Illinois would be thrilled to get Lathon, but this year he was behind Ayo and, if Illinois doesn't get Ayo, they still have three young point guards of similar pedigree.


He had an offer from Illinois. By definition, that makes him NOT A BACKUP PLAN. Do you want to try and tell me that his offer was conditional on Ayo not committing? BS. That's a ridiculous argument. Because he chose the Cats over Illinois, you console yourself by believing he wasn't a priority. At this stage of the recruiting process, you don't give offers to your backups.

Illinois may very well land Ayo, but that doesn't mean that any other offers out there were backups. Coaches identify players they would like on their roster for a position and give them an offer. There may be multiple offers for that position. Once a recruit commits, the other offers for that same position are typically voided, as was the case with NU and Ayo.

In other words, take your smug, condescending, backhanded compliment regarding Lathon's commitment to NU and shove it... and I mean like really hard... up where the sun don't shine. Get it done on the court and on the field (not to mention in the classroom) and then come back here with your "better than you" attitude. Until then, enjoy your school's current situation as "Illinois' Big Ten Doormat".
 
He had an offer from Illinois. By definition, that makes him NOT A BACKUP PLAN. Do you want to try and tell me that his offer was conditional on Ayo not committing? BS. That's a ridiculous argument. Because he chose the Cats over Illinois, you console yourself by believing he wasn't a priority. At this stage of the recruiting process, you don't give offers to your backups.

Illinois may very well land Ayo, but that doesn't mean that any other offers out there were backups. Coaches identify players they would like on their roster for a position and give them an offer. There may be multiple offers for that position. Once a recruit commits, the other offers for that same position are typically voided, as was the case with NU and Ayo.

In other words, take your smug, condescending, backhanded compliment regarding Lathon's commitment to NU and shove it... and I mean like really hard... up where the sun don't shine. Get it done on the court and on the field (not to mention in the classroom) and then come back here with your "better than you" attitude. Until then, enjoy your school's current situation as "Illinois' Big Ten Doormat".


Lets not forget that Cormac Ryan was the #1 - over both Lathon and Ayo. but they all had offers. it was really a case of who pulled the trigger first. I imagine if Ryan commited to NU that both Lathon and Ayo would have been told sorry - that posistion is full
 
C. Ryan made mention that Stanford viewed him as a PG. Was their sentiment that NU
saw him as "combo" guy? My thinking would be that Lathon/Ayo would still have been "in play"
even with a Ryan commit, but as that ship has sailed you move on and gladly take the kids
who want to be in Evanston and not worry about the others!
 
Lets not forget that Cormac Ryan was the #1 - over both Lathon and Ayo. but they all had offers. it was really a case of who pulled the trigger first. I imagine if Ryan commited to NU that both Lathon and Ayo would have been told sorry - that posistion is full

This all indicates how highly Collins thinks of Lathon.
 
Lathon seems to be have been a bit of a late-bloomer and what really excites me is that he's a good defender.

CC's teams are built and D and if they can get all 5 starters on the floor being good defenders, then watch out.
 
Lathon seems like the perfect fit for Collins' team for both offense and defense. Having him in the back court with Anthony Gaines is going to be fun to watch.
 
CC's teams are built and D and if they can get all 5 starters on the floor being good defenders, then watch out.

While the past teams had to excel on D to be competitive, it was because they were scoring-challenged. Watch for the NU offense to be much better when NU can put 5 guys on the floor, all of whom can potentially score in double figures. This season will be fun!
 
Lathon seems to be have been a bit of a late-bloomer and what really excites me is that he's a good defender.

CC's teams are built and D and if they can get all 5 starters on the floor being good defenders, then watch out.
Its true that Lathon was a bit of a late bloomer. However, I don't think Kansas City players generally gain notice until they hit the AAU circuit. The KC and KCK public league teams are virtually non-existant. And with a couple of exception, the Catholic/Private schools are more football oriented. Of course, there are exceptions.
.I am guessing that if Lathon had played across the state in one of the St. Louis programs he would have been noticed much earlier.
 
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