Continued.....
Q: When looking at the 2021 recruiting class, Seton Hall has locked in on some other DMV-area guys in addition to Ryan Conway, Jakai Robinson and Jordan Hawkins. Conway mentioned that he was going to be recruiting the two of them to join him at Seton Hall. Can you profile their games and what to expect from them?
A: Getting all three is not going to be easy. Hawkins in particular is a guy that I really like. He can really shoot the ball from deep. He’s an explosive, bouncy athlete. He’s not yet the most consistent guy and may be a little shaky as a ball handler and maybe needs to get a little bit stronger, but you look at where he is now compared to where he was a year ago and start thinking about the natural progression of where he could be in another year or two and he’s a guy you get excited about. He’s a potential first option offensive kind of guy for a high-level program, so dedicating resources to him early is a pretty good call. Tony Skinn obviously is plugged into the DMV area and has some relationships there with the high school and summer programs, so you have a good foot in the door there. The thing is, it’s so early for Hawkins.
Q: That’s the thing, I think in terms of expectations for those guys committing, it’s obviously Conway first, then Robinson then Hawkins as he seems more wide-open in the recruiting process.
A: I don’t think Jakai Robinson or Hawkins are anywhere near making a decision right now. If you just look at nationally in general, there aren’t nearly as many guys from the junior class committed as there were a year ago. If there are 10 kids from the Rivals Top 150 committed right now for 2021, at this point last year for 2020, there were probably 35 or 40 commitments. It’s a considerable difference and a lot of that has to do with visits that they can take.
Jakai Robinson is more of a power wing. He’s stronger than Hawkins and I like the idea of him playing as a small ball four.
Q: That is interesting that you say that because when I watched him, I got a little bit of a Desi Rodriguez vibe from his game, that lefty, bullish, power player type.
A: I can definitely see that. He’s an in your face kind of guy as a player in that he seeks contact and doesn’t mind getting a little grimy and doing the dirty work. His game isn’t pretty if you get what I am saying. He doesn’t have a bunch of pretty dribble combinations or anything like that, that is not his game. He’s going to catch it on the wing and he’s going to take two hard dribbles and get to the rim and try and finish over or through you. He rebounds and competes physically with guys bigger than him. He’s a different style of player that would fit in the Big East. In comparing him to a current or recent Big East player, he reminds me of Alpha Diallo. I can see Jakai being that type of guy.
In terms of any leans, I know Seton Hall is in there, but I don’t know about him leaning anywhere just yet or being close to a decision. I was texting with his high school coach the other day and anything with a decision did not seem to be coming soon.
Q: When you see guys at their talent level, that is sort of the expectation, as it makes sense for them to make sure they look at all the options available to them to help them develop and reach their aspirations. I think the hope is with having Skinn connected to them and potentially Conway committing to the Hall, that he stays in their ears and it will lead to at least one of them joining him.
A: It certainly wouldn’t hurt to get one guy and he could help out with the other guys. They are all pretty tight and keep tabs with each other. Whenever you see one of your boys commits somewhere it certainly raises an eyebrow or at least gets you to think a little bit more about potentially going there, especially if he is a guy who you know will share the ball.
Q: While I have you it would be good to get your perspective on Seton Hall’s incoming freshmen, Jahari Long, who you mentioned earlier, and Dimingus Stevens. The fan base may have been a bit disappointed with their commitments early on because of the bigger names the team was involved with at the time like Earl Timberlake and Posh Alexander, but it seems like they both fit well with the program’s identity.
A: I like Jahari because he is versatile - he can play the one and two. He is a tough player and he’s a little bit of a throwback guy because he is not an electric athlete. He’s not unathletic, but kind of controls the pace, he bodies guys, he’s just steady. He can make plays for others. I think he will be a good defender because he can defend multiple positions. I would not be surprised if he eventually transitions to more of a two who is a secondary ballhandler just because while he’s not enormous height wise, he’s a bigger stronger cat who I think can slide off the ball a bit and help you get more playmakers on the floor because he can defend bigger guys.
Q: I would assume that Willard really likes Long because of the versatility and options he can provide. Obviously, Willard’s calling card has been on the defensive side and if you don’t put in the effort on defense you are not likely to see many minutes. With someone like Long playing off the ball, it provides Willard the ability to maintain a high-level defense that won’t get picked apart despite playing a smaller stature guard like Aiken or Conway.
A: He also has a mature presence about him. The sum of everything with him is just something that I like. I like his mental makeup and his toughness. He’s going a long way from home, the Houston to Seton Hall pipeline is not a traditional one, but it tells you he really looked into things to find the proper fit for him. I think he’s had some pretty good mentors in his life, his mom is a strong influence and his old summer coach is an influence. I don’t know, there’s just something about him that suggests to me that he is going to be a leader when it’s all said and done.
With Dimingus, I have a category of guys that I call ‘feels like leather’ guys. Those are guys that the only thing they need to decide if it’s a good shot or not is something that feels like leather in their hands. He is going to let it fly.
He’s an interesting guy because when he was younger, we really thought he was going to be a big time player. That is not to say that he is not a good player, he is a good player. It’s just that he needs strength, he needs to get a little more polish on his shot selection because he can be a low percentage player right now - lots of volume but not a lot of makes to get to where he is. Getting stronger and learning the game and accepting a role will be really key for him. He’s plenty athletic, he’s got decent size, it’s just a matter of settling down and letting things come a little more naturally to him than forcing the issue like he does at times.
Q: You hope with someone like him that when he gets to college that it clicks that he has other play makers around him and he can play off of that. When you can get a guy that was a top 50 player at one point, you hope that his development and learning trajectory was just off or slowed towards the latter half of high school and he can figure things out again in college.
A: Like a lot of these guys, his path may not be from point A to point B. He may hit M and N before he gets to B, but if he gets it figured out the talent base is certainly there.
Q: It certainly doesn’t hurt that a guy like him with lots of upside isn’t the star of your recruiting class and has a chance to learn and develop instead of being pushed into the spotlight.
A: They have a pretty good sweet spot of getting these guys who are on the back end or just out of the national rankings and turning them into really good players and getting pretty good success out of them. Khadeen Carrington, Myles Powell, those types of guys, overachieving or outplaying their rankings has to do with opportunity and fit. They could have gone somewhere else and didn’t play as much early or accept a role and they may not have gotten to where they are now. That’s the big key to all of this, they have a track record and they know what they are doing so this is going to be nothing new to them in terms of helping this guy along.
To be continued in part 3 Thursday
https://setonhall.rivals.com/news/more-bossi
Q: When looking at the 2021 recruiting class, Seton Hall has locked in on some other DMV-area guys in addition to Ryan Conway, Jakai Robinson and Jordan Hawkins. Conway mentioned that he was going to be recruiting the two of them to join him at Seton Hall. Can you profile their games and what to expect from them?
A: Getting all three is not going to be easy. Hawkins in particular is a guy that I really like. He can really shoot the ball from deep. He’s an explosive, bouncy athlete. He’s not yet the most consistent guy and may be a little shaky as a ball handler and maybe needs to get a little bit stronger, but you look at where he is now compared to where he was a year ago and start thinking about the natural progression of where he could be in another year or two and he’s a guy you get excited about. He’s a potential first option offensive kind of guy for a high-level program, so dedicating resources to him early is a pretty good call. Tony Skinn obviously is plugged into the DMV area and has some relationships there with the high school and summer programs, so you have a good foot in the door there. The thing is, it’s so early for Hawkins.
Q: That’s the thing, I think in terms of expectations for those guys committing, it’s obviously Conway first, then Robinson then Hawkins as he seems more wide-open in the recruiting process.
A: I don’t think Jakai Robinson or Hawkins are anywhere near making a decision right now. If you just look at nationally in general, there aren’t nearly as many guys from the junior class committed as there were a year ago. If there are 10 kids from the Rivals Top 150 committed right now for 2021, at this point last year for 2020, there were probably 35 or 40 commitments. It’s a considerable difference and a lot of that has to do with visits that they can take.
Jakai Robinson is more of a power wing. He’s stronger than Hawkins and I like the idea of him playing as a small ball four.
Q: That is interesting that you say that because when I watched him, I got a little bit of a Desi Rodriguez vibe from his game, that lefty, bullish, power player type.
A: I can definitely see that. He’s an in your face kind of guy as a player in that he seeks contact and doesn’t mind getting a little grimy and doing the dirty work. His game isn’t pretty if you get what I am saying. He doesn’t have a bunch of pretty dribble combinations or anything like that, that is not his game. He’s going to catch it on the wing and he’s going to take two hard dribbles and get to the rim and try and finish over or through you. He rebounds and competes physically with guys bigger than him. He’s a different style of player that would fit in the Big East. In comparing him to a current or recent Big East player, he reminds me of Alpha Diallo. I can see Jakai being that type of guy.
In terms of any leans, I know Seton Hall is in there, but I don’t know about him leaning anywhere just yet or being close to a decision. I was texting with his high school coach the other day and anything with a decision did not seem to be coming soon.
Q: When you see guys at their talent level, that is sort of the expectation, as it makes sense for them to make sure they look at all the options available to them to help them develop and reach their aspirations. I think the hope is with having Skinn connected to them and potentially Conway committing to the Hall, that he stays in their ears and it will lead to at least one of them joining him.
A: It certainly wouldn’t hurt to get one guy and he could help out with the other guys. They are all pretty tight and keep tabs with each other. Whenever you see one of your boys commits somewhere it certainly raises an eyebrow or at least gets you to think a little bit more about potentially going there, especially if he is a guy who you know will share the ball.
Q: While I have you it would be good to get your perspective on Seton Hall’s incoming freshmen, Jahari Long, who you mentioned earlier, and Dimingus Stevens. The fan base may have been a bit disappointed with their commitments early on because of the bigger names the team was involved with at the time like Earl Timberlake and Posh Alexander, but it seems like they both fit well with the program’s identity.
A: I like Jahari because he is versatile - he can play the one and two. He is a tough player and he’s a little bit of a throwback guy because he is not an electric athlete. He’s not unathletic, but kind of controls the pace, he bodies guys, he’s just steady. He can make plays for others. I think he will be a good defender because he can defend multiple positions. I would not be surprised if he eventually transitions to more of a two who is a secondary ballhandler just because while he’s not enormous height wise, he’s a bigger stronger cat who I think can slide off the ball a bit and help you get more playmakers on the floor because he can defend bigger guys.
Q: I would assume that Willard really likes Long because of the versatility and options he can provide. Obviously, Willard’s calling card has been on the defensive side and if you don’t put in the effort on defense you are not likely to see many minutes. With someone like Long playing off the ball, it provides Willard the ability to maintain a high-level defense that won’t get picked apart despite playing a smaller stature guard like Aiken or Conway.
A: He also has a mature presence about him. The sum of everything with him is just something that I like. I like his mental makeup and his toughness. He’s going a long way from home, the Houston to Seton Hall pipeline is not a traditional one, but it tells you he really looked into things to find the proper fit for him. I think he’s had some pretty good mentors in his life, his mom is a strong influence and his old summer coach is an influence. I don’t know, there’s just something about him that suggests to me that he is going to be a leader when it’s all said and done.
With Dimingus, I have a category of guys that I call ‘feels like leather’ guys. Those are guys that the only thing they need to decide if it’s a good shot or not is something that feels like leather in their hands. He is going to let it fly.
He’s an interesting guy because when he was younger, we really thought he was going to be a big time player. That is not to say that he is not a good player, he is a good player. It’s just that he needs strength, he needs to get a little more polish on his shot selection because he can be a low percentage player right now - lots of volume but not a lot of makes to get to where he is. Getting stronger and learning the game and accepting a role will be really key for him. He’s plenty athletic, he’s got decent size, it’s just a matter of settling down and letting things come a little more naturally to him than forcing the issue like he does at times.
Q: You hope with someone like him that when he gets to college that it clicks that he has other play makers around him and he can play off of that. When you can get a guy that was a top 50 player at one point, you hope that his development and learning trajectory was just off or slowed towards the latter half of high school and he can figure things out again in college.
A: Like a lot of these guys, his path may not be from point A to point B. He may hit M and N before he gets to B, but if he gets it figured out the talent base is certainly there.
Q: It certainly doesn’t hurt that a guy like him with lots of upside isn’t the star of your recruiting class and has a chance to learn and develop instead of being pushed into the spotlight.
A: They have a pretty good sweet spot of getting these guys who are on the back end or just out of the national rankings and turning them into really good players and getting pretty good success out of them. Khadeen Carrington, Myles Powell, those types of guys, overachieving or outplaying their rankings has to do with opportunity and fit. They could have gone somewhere else and didn’t play as much early or accept a role and they may not have gotten to where they are now. That’s the big key to all of this, they have a track record and they know what they are doing so this is going to be nothing new to them in terms of helping this guy along.
To be continued in part 3 Thursday
https://setonhall.rivals.com/news/more-bossi
