Before the season gets too far underway, I wanted to finish this Look Back series on Ed DeChellis’ recruiting. The 2008, 2009, and 2010 classes are still in or just beginning their careers so it’s impossible to evaluate them yet. I would just like to add in these recruits for the sake of completeness
2008 Class
- Billy Oliver – Fall 2007 – Chatham, NJ
Chris Babb- Spring 2008 – Arlington, TX- Cammeron Woodyard - Spring 2008 – Westminster, MD
Andrew Ott- Transfer from Villanova – Abington, PA
2009 Class
- Jermaine Marshall - Fall 2008 – Lewisberry, PA
- Sasa Borovnjak – Spring 2009 – Belgrade, Serbia
- Tim Frazier – Fall 2008 – Houston, TX
Bill Edwards– Spring 2009 – Middletown, OH
2010 Class
- Taran Buie – Fall 2009 – Albany, NY
- Tre Bowman - Spring 2010 – York, PA
- Jon Graham – Spring 2010 – Baltimore, MD
Comprehensive List (from 2004, 2005, and 06/07)
2004 Class
- Geary Claxton – Spring 2004 - West Haven, CT – A
- Travis Parker - Spring 2004 – Greenville, NC – B+
- Danny Morrissey - Fall 2003 – Cleveland, OH – C+
- Brandon Hassell – Spring 2004 – Farmersville, OH – D
- Mike Walker - Fall 2003 – Camp Hill, PA – C
2005 Class
- Jamelle Cornley - Fall 2004 – Columbus, OH – A-
- David ‘Mooch’ Jackson - Spring 2005 – Gaithersburg, MD – C
Maxwell Dubois- Spring 2005 – Fort Lauderdale, FL – FMilos Bogetic– Spring 2005 - Podgorica, Montenegro – F- Nikola Obradovic – Spring 2005 – Belgrade, Serbia – F
- Joonas Suotamo - Spring 2005 – Espoo, Finland – F
2006/2007 Class
- David ‘DJ’ Jackson - Fall 2005 – Farrell, PA – B-
- Andrew Jones - Fall 2005 – Philadelphia, PA – C
- Talor Battle – Fall 2006 – Albany, NY – A
- Jeff Brooks – Fall 2006 – Louisville, KY – C+
- Stanley Pringle - Spring 2007 – Virginia Beach, VA – B+
Schyler King– Spring 2007 – El Paso, TX – F
Ok, so why did I compile all of this? Because I wanted to check out some stats. Note: the 2011 signees are not included in this compilation.
- Of the 28 Ed DeChellis recruits, 16 of them were late-signees (57%). When 80% of recruiting classes sign during the fall period, PSU is picking up more than half of their commitments from a diluted pool. (That 80% is a complete guesstimate, but I think many people would probably agree with that figure). I can guarantee that this is not the norm in BCS conference recruiting.
- Of the 28 Ed DeChellis recruits, 6 of them transferred/graduated before their eligibility passed (21%). DeChellis was criticized heavily during the beginning of his regime for a mass exodus of players that were holdovers from the Dunn era. However, he really hasn’t lost that many players to transfer. In fact, only 3 of the 6 were actually contributors, but it’s unfortunate that they all left after last season.
- Of the 28 Ed DeChellis recruits, only 6 of them were from PA (21%). I don’t think PA can be considered a hotbed for basketball talent. It certainly isn’t as good as the football talent in this state. So I don’t think it’s really that big of a deal that the % is that small. However, I think this is more of an indication that this staff has not established any clear pipelines. Their recruits have come from all over the map.
- Of the 28 Ed DeChellis recruits, 7 (25%) of them came from the JuCo ranks or overseas. I did not include Sasa Borovnjak in this because he has played 2 years of American prep ball before coming here. Some of the JuCos (Pringle and Parker) have worked out surprisingly much better than most high school prospects.
- Of the 17 Ed DeChellis recruits that I (subjectively) evaluated, 3 of them were All-Big Ten performers (18%) , 3 of them were Big Ten quality starters (18%), 5 of them were considered BT bench players (29%), and 6 were wasted scholarships (35%). I don’t believe the staff has been whiffing on too many kids recently, but it’s been pretty frustrating with the lack of supporting players around the 3 stars that have been here – Claxton/Cornley/Battle.
- Of all 28 Ed DeChellis recruits, only 1 has ever cracked the RSCI top 100 (Jeff Brooks, #99 in 2007). That is probably the most alarming stat in this recruiting profile. I’m understanding when it comes to how hard it is to recruit elite prospects to this program. But at some point, you gotta realize trying to find diamonds in the rough can only take you so far. Especially when Mike Rice (Rutgers) and Steve Lavin (St. John’s) have already locked up 2 top 100 2011 kids in their first recruiting season. Gotta get the studs if you wanna compete. Trey Burke seems like he would’ve been the 2nd, but he de-committed and went to UM.
Would this staff’s best team win the Big Ten? The top 13 scholarship players I would choose would be – Talor Battle, Jamelle Cornley, Geary Claxton, Travis Parker, Stanley Pringle, David Jackson, Jeff Brooks, Chris Babb, Andrew Jones, Tim Frazier, Taran Buie, Danny Morrissey, and Andrew Ott. I honestly think this team probably could win the Big Ten if the chemistry was right. However, 7 of these guys were on the 2009-2010 squad that went 3-15 (and there are 6 from this year’s team). There’s not too much size, but Andrew Jones and Ott’s deficiencies would be covered behind the firepower of everyone else. However, the fact that Jones and Ott would make this team kind of demonstrates the lack of productive post players this staff has yet to bring into their program. Here’s to hoping that the 2011 giants – Alexis and Ackerman – will bring that post game that has been sorely lacking in Happy Valley this decade.
Overall, I think the staff has improved recruiting. They did sign 4 fall guys in this upcoming class, which is clearly a first for them for one class. They’ve cut down the dependency on JuCos and Foreigners, but that usually happens everywhere once a coach establishes a program and gains some balance among classes. However, the recruiting just isn’t up to par compared to the rest of the Big Ten, and that is the biggest downfall of this regime. You can’t expect to compete for Big Ten championships when you cannot land any top100 players – especially when 15-20 of those guys enter the league you’re playing in every year. If this regime comes to the end at any point in the future, I believe it is critical that the AD replaces him with someone who has the ability to bring studs to Happy Valley. Until then, it might just be rinse and repeat.
