Onward to Class of 2019!

[freewillie07]

Kopp is a Cat!

Well, that was a quick wrap up of the big 2018 class. At this point last year, NU had exactly zero commits.

This should give Collins a leg up in his 2019 recruiting. Right now NU has just made five offers, as far as I can tell, all to Top 100-type players.

Lead guard: Zach Harvey
Wing: Malik Hall
Big: Nobal Days, Isaiah Stewart, Francis Okoro

NU has three scholarships open, after losing Ash, Law and Pardon to graduation.

Getting a big man to replace Pardon (and Benson the year after) is clearly the priority. Getting Ryan Young helped alleviate the urgency somewhat, and Collins doesn't need to reach in 2019 as a result.

Would probably be nice to get another lead guard/combo guard to supplement Lathon, since Ash will have departed and Brown will be a senior. And then a best-available wing who can shoot and slash and guard multiple positions.

There doesn't appear to be a tremendous amount of interest among the five players currently offered, but maybe a little extra attention and showing them how the 2018 class turned out will change that.

Exciting times!

 

[CoralSpringsCat]

Collins and staff not resting on their laurels. Back on the trail yesterday...looks like Nobal Days will be an early priority for 2019.

 

[TheC]

Collins and staff not resting on their laurels. Back on the trail yesterday...looks like Nobel Days will be an early priority for 2019.

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As much as being a college basketball coach looks like fun, the recruiting aspect must be absolutely exhausting. It never really stops.

 

[freewillie07]

As much as being a college basketball coach looks like fun, the recruiting aspect must be absolutely exhausting. It never really stops.

I bet it's a little less exhausting when you're winning the way Collins is on the trail.

 

[NJCat]

I bet it's a little less exhausting when you're winning the way Collins is on the trail.

Not to mention using a private jet rather than flying commercial.....

 

[freewillie07]

Collins and staff not resting on their laurels. Back on the trail yesterday...looks like Nobel Days will be an early priority for 2019.

View embedded media

Nobal Days seems to be the guy the staff is pursuing most aggressively for 2019. Would be quite the coup if Collins could pull the state's top recruit away from Wisconsin and Marquette.

 

[scru]

Nobal Days seems to be the guy the staff is pursuing most aggressively for 2019. Would be quite the coup if Collins could pull the state's top recruit away from Wisconsin and Marquette.

Do you see him as an instant difference maker at the 5 spot taking Pardon's spot and battling Benson and Young for playing time as a true frosh? That would certainly seem to make up a B1G championship contending core to develop together along with Lathon, Kopp, and Nance. Would be great to also land a really athletic wing in the 2019 class to bring along with these guys. Obviously you've got AG and AJ in the near term, but I'm thinking the two seasons of 2020-22 when the 2018 class are JRs and SRs.

At any rate, really laying a foundation for continued success with a lot of talent on board. So exciting! Hopefully the chemistry and magic is there in the years to come as it was in 2016/17.

 

[Max_Power]

Do you see him as an instant difference maker at the 5 spot taking Pardon's spot and battling Benson and Young for playing time as a true frosh? That would certainly seem to make up a B1G championship contending core to develop together along with Lathon, Kopp, and Nance. Would be great to also land a really athletic wing in the 2019 class to bring along with these guys. Obviously you've got AG and AJ in the near term, but I'm thinking the two seasons of 2020-22 when the 2018 class are JRs and SRs.

At any rate, really laying a foundation for continued success with a lot of talent on board. So exciting! Hopefully the chemistry and magic is there in the years to come as it was in 2016/17.

Nobal Days is similar physically to Pardon but would come to NU with much more offensive potential. I don't see him replacing Benson as a starter but no one saw Pardon coming until injuries required that he play as freshman.

 

[Max_Power]

Kopp is a Cat!

Well, that was a quick wrap up of the big 2018 class. At this point last year, NU had exactly zero commits.

This should give Collins a leg up in his 2019 recruiting. Right now NU has just made five offers, as far as I can tell, all to Top 100-type players.

Lead guard: Zach Harvey
Wing: Malik Hall
Big: Nobal Days, Isaiah Stewart, Francis Okoro

NU has three scholarships open, after losing Ash, Law and Pardon to graduation.

Getting a big man to replace Pardon (and Benson the year after) is clearly the priority. Getting Ryan Young helped alleviate the urgency somewhat, and Collins doesn't need to reach in 2019 as a result.

Would probably be nice to get another lead guard/combo guard to supplement Lathon, since Ash will have departed and Brown will be a senior. And then a best-available wing who can shoot and slash and guard multiple positions.

There doesn't appear to be a tremendous amount of interest among the five players currently offered, but maybe a little extra attention and showing them how the 2018 class turned out will change that.

Exciting times!

I think there is interest from and strong competition for Days given interviews he's given and the fact he's visited NU unofficially on one or more occasions. NU is also very close to home.

 

[VirginiaWildcat]

I bet it's a little less exhausting when you're winning the way Collins is on the trail.

And having assistants do some of the work helps.

 

[freewillie07]

Nobal Days is similar physically to Pardon but would come to NU with much more offensive potential. I don't see him replacing Benson as a starter but no one saw Pardon coming until injuries required that he play as freshman.

Agree. From what I've seen of Days, he'd probably come in and instantly leapfrog Young as the first Big off the bench. I imagine Benson will be a force in his own right as a senior and don't think his starting spot would be threatened. But like you said, all it takes is one injury and Big depth is instantly stretched thin...

 

[Max_Power]

Agree. From what I've seen of Days, he'd probably come in and instantly leapfrog Young as the first Big off the bench. I imagine Benson will be a force in his own right as a senior and don't think his starting spot would be threatened. But like you said, all it takes is one injury and Big depth is instantly stretched thin...

I see Young has having the potential to be a better all around version of Skelly. He looks like a better shooter and he's got him by a couple of inches. Not quite the power game Skelly has but brings the same type of activity to the game. That said, I think Young has the potential to eat up minutes at the big guy spot (I think that Collins primarily plays a lead guard, 2 guard, two small forwards and a big guy provided that one of the 2 small forwards can defend a 4 like Sanjay did).

 

[pawildcat]

As much as being a college basketball coach looks like fun, the recruiting aspect must be absolutely exhausting. It never really stops.

I suppose it looks like fun if heart failure is your thing.

 

[DaCat]

I see Young has having the potential to be a better all around version of Skelly. He looks like a better shooter and he's got him by a couple of inches. Not quite the power game Skelly has but brings the same type of activity to the game. That said, I think Young has the potential to eat up minutes at the big guy spot (I think that Collins primarily plays a lead guard, 2 guard, two small forwards and a big guy provided that one of the 2 small forwards can defend a 4 like Sanjay did).

I also like Young's upside and he may be what they call the sleeper of this class. Don't sleep on Young, he may be an Ethan Happy type of player.

Collins has gone on record that he prefers a system with a lead guard, three wings, and a big. Depending on match ups and game situations, it could be permutations of the classic definition of forwards and guards. With versatile long guys like Rap, Falzon, Kopp, Young, Nance etc. we could see a lot if different combinations since guys like Rap and Kopp got good handles. We could go pretty big at times next year with, say a lineup of Lathon, Rap, Nance, Falzon, Pardon. Or smaller with Lathon, Brown, Ash etc. But the modern game has evolved beyond guards, forwards, and centers.

 

[freewillie07]

I also like Young's upside and he may be what they call the sleeper of this class. Don't sleep on Young, he may be an Ethan Happy type of player.

Maybe. I agree with an earlier post that he's like Skelly with a bit more size and a better jump shot coming in. He certainly has the frame to develop into a more traditional "big" who can bang in the Big Ten.

That being said, the "bigs" that NU has offered thus far in the 2019 class appear to be instant difference makers. Nobal Days, for instance, reminds me a lot of Dererk Pardon in this clip, with perhaps even better passing ability:



And, while I realize this is just practice footage, he's got handles and a good jump shot. Durant-esque.



Remember, this is a recruit who has already taken an unofficial visit to NU. So it'll be a long battle with other top destinations, but, with Collins now turning to the 2019 class, who knows?

 

[freewillie07]

Isaiah Stewart just got an offer from Illinois. Not sure where we are with him but he and Nobal Days are both just a short drive along Lake Michigan from NU.

I'm not optimistic about the two Kansas offers, Hall and Harvey.

 

[IGNORE2]

All the pay for play news will change the landscape. I look for to this next recruiting season. There have to be a lot of nervous nellies, programs going into hot water, coaching changes...and this could really disrupt the normal course of things...

 

[freewillie07]

Good luck getting any of these top 2019 recruits given the way this season is going.

 

[willycat]

I see Young has having the potential to be a better all around version of Skelly. He looks like a better shooter and he's got him by a couple of inches. Not quite the power game Skelly has but brings the same type of activity to the game. That said, I think Young has the potential to eat up minutes at the big guy spot (I think that Collins primarily plays a lead guard, 2 guard, two small forwards and a big guy provided that one of the 2 small forwards can defend a 4 like Sanjay did).

He better be a lot better then Skelly.