by Colin Rajala
Trove correspondent
Trove: Who are your top players in the class of 2019? Has it deviated much from last year?
Jay Gomes: I think the Class of 2019 in New Jersey is extremely strong. The top 4 guys are McDonald’s All-American worthy. I don’t know if they will get there but they are that good.
I have Scottie Lewis, Bryan Antoine, Precious Achiuwa and Khalil Whitney as my top 4 and after that a lot of good players are still left. For number five I’d go with Paul Mulcahy, who is going to Rutgers and is kind of an old fashioned point guard who makes everyone better. He’s a winner.
Then I have Khalif Battle who is going to Butler and who is as good an athlete as there is. Then you have a kid who has played himself into a high major this spring and summer Zach Freemantle from Bergen Catholic. Following him is Al-Amir Dawes, who is another guy who had a great summer. After them is Josh Pierre-Louis, the point guard from Roselle Catholic and Lester Quinones from St. Benedict’s rounding out the top 10.
These rankings were pre-summer, so they may change a little bit based on what we’ve seen in July.
Trove: Last year you had Scottie Lewis at 1 and Bryan Antoine at 2 as well – have you seen any separation between the two or are they still neck and neck?
Gomes: It is still very very close. They are both really good and have great motors. It really depends on what you like. I just think Scottie is a little more of a world class athlete and he’s a very underrated passer. He doesn’t shoot it as well as Bryan, but I would give Scottie the slight nod.
You can argue Precious too as some of the national guys have him above Bryan and Scottie now. When the new rankings come out Khalil Whitney is going to be very high as well. You could make an argument on his play this summer that he is the number 1 now. Any coach would be happy with any of the four because it is very tight.
Trove: Looking at the list of the top players in the senior class, it is an impressive list from top to bottom. Do you think all of them can be high major contributors?
Gomes: It really is a strong year. Any of those guys are high major players and that is a good year when you have 10+ guys going to high major schools.
Trove: How do you view the 2020 class? Last summer it was led by Noah Farrakhan and Jabri Abdur-Rahim followed by a bunch of bigs.
Gomes: It is pretty much the same, with Jabri up top. Noah went out of state, so he is no longer in the state rankings. Then you have the bigs which is interesting because you could go a few different ways with them.
I am still going to go with Elijah Hutchins-Everett at two, Lance Ware at three and Cliff Omoruyi at four.
Cliff might have the most upside of the group. He is bigger and more athletic, so he is a guy who continues to get better and if he puts it all together could have big time potential.
Trove: Interesting to see the difference between the two classes with 2019 being more guard and wing oriented and 2020 being more bigs. What do you think that says about the overall talent in the state year in and year out?
Gomes: Year in and year out players in New Jersey are some of the best in the nation. We have some outstanding scholastic programs here. Obviously not all of the kids are born and bred in New Jersey. Some come from other states and other parts of the world, but they want to come here because they know they will get coached well, get good exposure and play against the best competition. It is an attractive place for high school players who want to play in college.
Trove: Jumping back to the Class of 2019, Lester Quinones has been recruited hard by Seton Hall. It seems like his stock has really risen this summer – what are your thoughts on his game?
Gomes: He had a big game in a big spot in front of a lot of coaches recently and that’s what he can do.
(Quinones scored 37 points versus Team Rio at the Under Armour Association Finals in Las Vegas; video here:
)
He can really shoot the ball and he can score at all three levels - he can shoot from long range, he can shoot from mid-range and he can take it to the hoop and score off the dribble. He is a little bit of a streaky shooter, but when he gets going he is tough to stop. He has got potential as high major scorer and he has good size so that is why a lot of coaches are intrigued. He is probably one of the top scorers in the country.
Trove: How do you think his scoring will translate to the Division 1 level?
Gomes: I think it will translate well because he has range and a quick release. He also has the ability to pull up off the dribble and score, he is not just a catch and shoot guy. Obviously, it won’t be as easy for him to score in college as high school because defenses will be geared to stop him and figure out his tendencies a bit, but he will score.
Trove: In terms of his recruitment to date, has there been any inclination to stick closer to home or may he look to leave the Northeast?
Gomes: I think its wide open. He is a New York/New Jersey kid so there is always the pull of staying close to home and Seton Hall has had it going pretty well as of late. Obviously with the blue bloods it is hard to turn down some of the big gigs when they come after you. It will be interesting to see where he ends up.
Trove: Moving to other recruits on Seton Hall’s radar, Al-Amir Dawes and Tyson Etienne - can you compare the two of them? Obviously, both are point guards but how do you see their games currently?
Gomes: The stock is rising on both of them. Both are very good point guards, but they are different players. Al-Amir is probably better with the ball and can break you down a little bit and get past you. One thing I like about him is that he is very confident and has some swagger to him.
I think Tyson is a little stronger, a little steadier and maybe a little bit better of a shooter. Both players are very good and would be good fits for Seton Hall. If the Seton Hall staff could land either of them they would be happy.
Trove: From your perspective, who is the better fit for Seton Hall and Kevin Willard’s system?
Gomes: That’s a tough question. I think when Willard is playing an up tempo system I like Al-Amir Dawes better and if he wants to play a half-court game and slow it down a bit I like Tyson Etienne better. It really depends on what kind of system Kevin wants to run in the future.
Trove: How do you view the recruiting jobs done by Kevin Willard and Steve Pikiell to date?
Gomes: Kevin has been there longer and has the program at a very high level now. It is easier for him to sell the program now to perspective recruits when you can point to the three consecutive NCAA tournament appearances. Obviously, Steve came in during a rebuild and he’s still in that mode. I thought he took a step forward last year and there is still a lot of optimism around the program and him, which bodes well for where they are headed. I think they do things a little differently and right now they aren’t going head to head on too many guys.
I think the local guys and the city guys right now are slightly more apt to listen to Seton Hall’s pitch because of the recent success they’ve had, while Pikiell is casting a wider net. Part of that is probably because they are in the Big 10 and play the schools out west and have the Big 10 Network and can point to more of a national feel, which is what they probably sell.
The differences are certainly there. Seton Hall is a basketball school and Rutgers has the major football program. There are different feels for the campuses and different things they will sell, but they are the two preeminent basketball programs in the state, so they are often going to be recruiting the same kids.
Trove: How do you view their recruiting strategies to date and who is more in tune with the strategy that they’ve employed? Kevin targeting higher rated players trying to make a splash or Steve with the more focused and reserved approach targeting players that might be more attainable?
Gomes: I think one of the first things that Steve mentioned when he got hired was he knew that right now it is going to be hard for him to get the top 50 players in the country. His thing was going after good players, good kids who are going to work hard and then coach them up with the idea that with skill improvement over four years the program will be better.
A lot of kids that are not top 50 kids, that fall in the 150-200 range become better than all those other players. Recruiting rankings aren’t science. Some kids work harder, some kids get better for a variety of reasons. Some kids get to college and they’ve been ranked so high their whole life and they forget how hard you have to work to get there. Other kids have a chip on their shoulder and are in the gym every day. Just because one coach is getting a top 50 kid and the other is getting the 150 kid, doesn’t mean that the 50 kid is going to have a better college career.
Other thing is, and it doesn’t happen with Seton Hall or Rutgers that much, but if you get a top 50 kid, you’re probably not getting him for four years. Isaiah Whitehead left and Corey Sanders didn’t last four years either, so you have to factor all that in when you look at recruiting classes and recruiting success. if your class is ranked high, it doesn’t mean the player will be there as long or be as good.
There are the Paul Georges, Kawhi Leonards, CJ McCollums of the world who weren’t ranked high in high school and now they are some of the best players in the NBA. There are many kids ranked in the top 10 in the country out of high school who never make it to the NBA. It is a long journey.
Trove correspondent
Trove: Who are your top players in the class of 2019? Has it deviated much from last year?
Jay Gomes: I think the Class of 2019 in New Jersey is extremely strong. The top 4 guys are McDonald’s All-American worthy. I don’t know if they will get there but they are that good.
I have Scottie Lewis, Bryan Antoine, Precious Achiuwa and Khalil Whitney as my top 4 and after that a lot of good players are still left. For number five I’d go with Paul Mulcahy, who is going to Rutgers and is kind of an old fashioned point guard who makes everyone better. He’s a winner.
Then I have Khalif Battle who is going to Butler and who is as good an athlete as there is. Then you have a kid who has played himself into a high major this spring and summer Zach Freemantle from Bergen Catholic. Following him is Al-Amir Dawes, who is another guy who had a great summer. After them is Josh Pierre-Louis, the point guard from Roselle Catholic and Lester Quinones from St. Benedict’s rounding out the top 10.
These rankings were pre-summer, so they may change a little bit based on what we’ve seen in July.
Trove: Last year you had Scottie Lewis at 1 and Bryan Antoine at 2 as well – have you seen any separation between the two or are they still neck and neck?
Gomes: It is still very very close. They are both really good and have great motors. It really depends on what you like. I just think Scottie is a little more of a world class athlete and he’s a very underrated passer. He doesn’t shoot it as well as Bryan, but I would give Scottie the slight nod.
You can argue Precious too as some of the national guys have him above Bryan and Scottie now. When the new rankings come out Khalil Whitney is going to be very high as well. You could make an argument on his play this summer that he is the number 1 now. Any coach would be happy with any of the four because it is very tight.
Trove: Looking at the list of the top players in the senior class, it is an impressive list from top to bottom. Do you think all of them can be high major contributors?
Gomes: It really is a strong year. Any of those guys are high major players and that is a good year when you have 10+ guys going to high major schools.
Trove: How do you view the 2020 class? Last summer it was led by Noah Farrakhan and Jabri Abdur-Rahim followed by a bunch of bigs.
Gomes: It is pretty much the same, with Jabri up top. Noah went out of state, so he is no longer in the state rankings. Then you have the bigs which is interesting because you could go a few different ways with them.
I am still going to go with Elijah Hutchins-Everett at two, Lance Ware at three and Cliff Omoruyi at four.
Cliff might have the most upside of the group. He is bigger and more athletic, so he is a guy who continues to get better and if he puts it all together could have big time potential.
Trove: Interesting to see the difference between the two classes with 2019 being more guard and wing oriented and 2020 being more bigs. What do you think that says about the overall talent in the state year in and year out?
Gomes: Year in and year out players in New Jersey are some of the best in the nation. We have some outstanding scholastic programs here. Obviously not all of the kids are born and bred in New Jersey. Some come from other states and other parts of the world, but they want to come here because they know they will get coached well, get good exposure and play against the best competition. It is an attractive place for high school players who want to play in college.
Trove: Jumping back to the Class of 2019, Lester Quinones has been recruited hard by Seton Hall. It seems like his stock has really risen this summer – what are your thoughts on his game?
Gomes: He had a big game in a big spot in front of a lot of coaches recently and that’s what he can do.
(Quinones scored 37 points versus Team Rio at the Under Armour Association Finals in Las Vegas; video here:
)
He can really shoot the ball and he can score at all three levels - he can shoot from long range, he can shoot from mid-range and he can take it to the hoop and score off the dribble. He is a little bit of a streaky shooter, but when he gets going he is tough to stop. He has got potential as high major scorer and he has good size so that is why a lot of coaches are intrigued. He is probably one of the top scorers in the country.
Trove: How do you think his scoring will translate to the Division 1 level?
Gomes: I think it will translate well because he has range and a quick release. He also has the ability to pull up off the dribble and score, he is not just a catch and shoot guy. Obviously, it won’t be as easy for him to score in college as high school because defenses will be geared to stop him and figure out his tendencies a bit, but he will score.
Trove: In terms of his recruitment to date, has there been any inclination to stick closer to home or may he look to leave the Northeast?
Gomes: I think its wide open. He is a New York/New Jersey kid so there is always the pull of staying close to home and Seton Hall has had it going pretty well as of late. Obviously with the blue bloods it is hard to turn down some of the big gigs when they come after you. It will be interesting to see where he ends up.
Trove: Moving to other recruits on Seton Hall’s radar, Al-Amir Dawes and Tyson Etienne - can you compare the two of them? Obviously, both are point guards but how do you see their games currently?
Gomes: The stock is rising on both of them. Both are very good point guards, but they are different players. Al-Amir is probably better with the ball and can break you down a little bit and get past you. One thing I like about him is that he is very confident and has some swagger to him.
I think Tyson is a little stronger, a little steadier and maybe a little bit better of a shooter. Both players are very good and would be good fits for Seton Hall. If the Seton Hall staff could land either of them they would be happy.
Trove: From your perspective, who is the better fit for Seton Hall and Kevin Willard’s system?
Gomes: That’s a tough question. I think when Willard is playing an up tempo system I like Al-Amir Dawes better and if he wants to play a half-court game and slow it down a bit I like Tyson Etienne better. It really depends on what kind of system Kevin wants to run in the future.
Trove: How do you view the recruiting jobs done by Kevin Willard and Steve Pikiell to date?
Gomes: Kevin has been there longer and has the program at a very high level now. It is easier for him to sell the program now to perspective recruits when you can point to the three consecutive NCAA tournament appearances. Obviously, Steve came in during a rebuild and he’s still in that mode. I thought he took a step forward last year and there is still a lot of optimism around the program and him, which bodes well for where they are headed. I think they do things a little differently and right now they aren’t going head to head on too many guys.
I think the local guys and the city guys right now are slightly more apt to listen to Seton Hall’s pitch because of the recent success they’ve had, while Pikiell is casting a wider net. Part of that is probably because they are in the Big 10 and play the schools out west and have the Big 10 Network and can point to more of a national feel, which is what they probably sell.
The differences are certainly there. Seton Hall is a basketball school and Rutgers has the major football program. There are different feels for the campuses and different things they will sell, but they are the two preeminent basketball programs in the state, so they are often going to be recruiting the same kids.
Trove: How do you view their recruiting strategies to date and who is more in tune with the strategy that they’ve employed? Kevin targeting higher rated players trying to make a splash or Steve with the more focused and reserved approach targeting players that might be more attainable?
Gomes: I think one of the first things that Steve mentioned when he got hired was he knew that right now it is going to be hard for him to get the top 50 players in the country. His thing was going after good players, good kids who are going to work hard and then coach them up with the idea that with skill improvement over four years the program will be better.
A lot of kids that are not top 50 kids, that fall in the 150-200 range become better than all those other players. Recruiting rankings aren’t science. Some kids work harder, some kids get better for a variety of reasons. Some kids get to college and they’ve been ranked so high their whole life and they forget how hard you have to work to get there. Other kids have a chip on their shoulder and are in the gym every day. Just because one coach is getting a top 50 kid and the other is getting the 150 kid, doesn’t mean that the 50 kid is going to have a better college career.
Other thing is, and it doesn’t happen with Seton Hall or Rutgers that much, but if you get a top 50 kid, you’re probably not getting him for four years. Isaiah Whitehead left and Corey Sanders didn’t last four years either, so you have to factor all that in when you look at recruiting classes and recruiting success. if your class is ranked high, it doesn’t mean the player will be there as long or be as good.
There are the Paul Georges, Kawhi Leonards, CJ McCollums of the world who weren’t ranked high in high school and now they are some of the best players in the NBA. There are many kids ranked in the top 10 in the country out of high school who never make it to the NBA. It is a long journey.
