A source tells me that four-star 2020 point guard DJ Steward of Oak Park (Ill.) Fenwick is visiting NU today. This is a BIG-time kid.
Source: Big visitor on campus today
- Thread starter lou v
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I was hoping for this...maybe the top Illinois kid in '20 class and top 50 nationally....Scotties' high school...Malnati's dad coaches Fenwick (and is a pretty good coach)
Holy smokes. Kid is the real deal on film. Can you imagine him and Baldwin, Jr. in the same backcourt a few years from now? In purple? Collins could sit back and let those two fill out the rest of his Final Four roster.
GOUNUII
As an FYI...PBJ is no longer at Loyola. He’s a frosh at Hamilton HS in Milwaukee...class of 2021.
Correct. Will make it all the sweeter when he commits to the Cats down the road.
GOUNUII
Probably not. The ones and dones are generally top 3-5 recruits who are 5 stars. Maybe top 10 ranked (e.g. Jamal Crawford). He's ranked 32. Would be our highest recruit ever, but still not one and done material. It was really laughable to hear people talk about THT as a possible one and done. Not even close.
I watched the Warriors Wolves game the other night, and saw Melo Trimble come in at the end of the game. He got three minutes of action in a preseason game. The gulf between the scrubs playing at that time and the first and even second teams were glaringly wide.
Trimble was one of the best players in the B1G and we had trouble with him. He isn't likely going to make the TWolves and that should tell you how wide the gulf is between the NBA and college.
My youngest son is the same age and his
Travel BBall team has played against DJ multiple times since they were in 6th grade. DJ is a legit all around great player and athlete. He has been dunking in games since 6th grade.
Dunking in games since he was in 6th grade- big deal! When I was 16, I got a full court running start and with a smaller ball in a non-game situation, I dunked (a sloppy one). And here I am telling the story 20 years later like it was one of the highlights of my life. It should also be mentioned that that is the only time I was ever able to dunk a basketball on a regulation hoop.
The natural athleticism of some people just leaves me in awe. Dunking as a 12 year old. Incredible.
Collins is getting traction with kids NU has never been in the mix with before. Rebuilding a program is a long term process. Getting to kids early, in 7th - 9th grade, showing a program that is on the rise, and now having a new stadium to showcase. The 4 recruits this year are signs of progress. It should continue to build as these kids watch NU making some noise in the Big10 and NCAA.
Imagine that. So much for this idea that we can never recruit at an elite level (nevermind what Duke does in basketball and what Stanford does in football). Maybe someone will tell Fitz that you can actually aim higher.
On that note - I refer to the other thread I started on this being a one time opportunity at the Rosemont - closer to a lot of the kids in the CPL and Catholic Leagues and West and Southside. We're going to have a good product this year. Let's give away every seat that isn't sold, give away Purple NU Hoops TShirts for them to wear at the game and afterwards, and put youth basketball programs (YBA, Middle School, JV, Varsity, AAU) in them and make them purple for life!
What type of kid? What type of teammate is DJ? I’m assuming grades won’t be an issue? Exciting to hear about NU developing these relationships early on. Sky’s the limit for Collins & Co.
His grade school was very poor but he got into Fenwick, which is one of the better private HS in the area. I am sure they made some exceptions on test scores to admit him but he must have scored decently because they have not admitted many other good players in the recent past on the basis of test scores. From what I have seen, he looks like a pretty good kid. He has been a superstar since he started playing so there clearly is an ego there but I am sure he will mature and learn to be a very good teammate by the time he graduates from Fenwick. Malnati is an old school, disciplined coach and he will mold this kid into the type of player that will fit in at NU under Collins.
In my pre NU days many years ago, I spent a couple years at the University of Dayton. Played a lot of hoops with a guy named Dan Pugh. All of you would know him today as Dan Patrick. The man could flat out play. Unbelievable jump shooter with my hand in his face. We both thought we were pretty good. At the time, some 40+ years ago, I had no problem as a 6-2 guard playing above the rim. Believed I could score on anybody, from anywhere on the court. That was largely true at the HS and college IM levels of competition. Occasionally Dan and I would play pick up against a couple guys on our dorm floor named Jim Paxson and Johnny Davis. And of course their games were from a different universe. The awe factor as 2TheP mentions was huge. 12 Cylinder Ferraris vs 2 cylinder Yugos. And yes .... I am not ashamed that having been asked to play pick up by Jim and Johnny more than once is a highlight of my life. Closest thing I ever experienced in sport to that great line in Field of Dreams. " Hey Doc ... you were good."
GOUNUII
If I hear Fitz say "I'm just trying to aim low and be mediocre" one more time, I'm going to lose it.
Thanks. Not too bad of a commute to Fenwick.
Not to swim too deeply in the hyperbole, but if he can move solidly through four years of Fenwick he can do the same at NU.And Fenwick is a good place to get prepared academically for a school like NU.
Not to swim too deeply in the hyperbole, but if he can move solidly through four years of Fenwick he can do the same at NU.And Fenwick is a good place to get prepared academically for a school like NU.
Wait, open you ears and listen... Do you hear that sound? That's the sound of Adam Cushing coaching our OL to less than mediocrity and a bar lower than any you will ever find.
After reading your post, I suddenly have a desire to throw on The Youngbloods and protest World War 3.
"C'mon people, smile on your brother, everybody get together try to love one another once more...."
Agreed on one and dones. To be a one and done, you either have to exceptional athleticism for your position and a really high ceiling or be an extraordinary player like Ball (or both of course). Trimble was a good athlete and a below average 3-point shooter. He got hot against us but otherwise was was not consistent (below .33% his last two seasons). Yogi Farrell, on the other hand, looks like he has a pretty nice future in the NBA because he can shoot. They seemed like somewhat similar players in college.
You realize that it is far easier to recruit for a team of 14 players than a team of 100, correct?
You are the biggest Fitz apologist on this board and really make yourself to sound dumb in doing so. First they don't have 100 schlorship players on the roster and just think they only need about 35 to 40 good ones. Whereas in BB you need to have a minimum of 10 quality players on your 13 man schlorship roster. Do the math and maybe you will understand the difference.
I think his point is that when you need a rotation of 10 good players (let's be generous and say you at least need 8-9) out of 13 vs. 40 out of 85 the math favors football.
We heard for years when Carmody was our coach that football was easier than basketball. Now it's football is harder. It doesn't really matter. Fitz has been here how many years and how many B1G championships does he have to show for it? Barnett recruited talent that won 3 B1G titles. It doesn't really matter which is harder. It can be done in football, just as Collins is showing that it can be done in basketball, and anything talking about how hard it is just an excuse.
Who did we hear that from during the Carmody years? There have been a ton of posts on here stating that basketball recruiting is easier than football. If I recruit one stud in basketball, I can turn an OK team into a great team. Rarely the case in football, because there are more players, and more injuries.
There's a Mark IV now? What happened to the Mark II? I'm assuming it's a typo because Mark II was still going strong well after PM Club shut down.
Almost got into fisticuffs with Kevin ONeill at the Mark one night. Funny how someone on this board claimed I was his biggest supporter.
It might be, but I really hate to see colleges recruiting kids at the junior high level. Let them alone and just let them play ball.
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