2018 Recruiting

StudentPilot wrote:I met-up with one of Souley's friends from Oakland and USF volunteering in Puerto Rico, and he told me that as good as Souley is, he saw there were even better guys who would play ahead of him, so he transferred to UTEP.

I guess there was some drop-off in Boum's performance and production as the season progressed, but it doesn't bode well for USF's opponents if their returning and new point guards are better than Boule and UP's guards.

Out - Souley Boum, Chase Foster
In - Charles Minlend, Trevante Anderson

Yeah I don't know, seems to me that USF will have a very similar backcourt as last year. They were obviously more than good enough, but I don't see any game-changing additions to their roster. Minlend redshirted last year and had a similar impact to Boum in his freshman year two years ago. Don't know much about Anderson besides the fact he had offers from Montana and Portland State before picking USF.

I looked at the Men's Basketball roster for 2018-19. I did not see Ty Glover's name. Does anyone know the reason?

PilotFan66 wrote:I looked at the Men's Basketball roster for 2018-19.  I did not see Ty Glover's name.  Does anyone know the reason?

When Ty signed with UP it was known he'd have to attend summer school at his JC in order to meet certain NCAA "core" requirements. Unfortunately for Ty and the Pilots, he did not meet those requirements, and he will not be attending UP now or in the future.

Ty was going to be the most athletic player on the court this coming year and contend for a starting spot, but instead the Pilots will go with just 12 scholarship players.

On the bright side, he will likely attend college on a scholarship at another level, play basketball, and graduate. The college he chooses might be a D2 or NAIA school, but it should still mean he'll one day be a college graduate with a very good shot at playing in Europe.

Too bad about Glover... both for him and for UP. I suppose that knocks our #40 recruiting class ranking down a few spots.

If we have an extra scholarship, even if its just for this one year, the school should award it to Brian Smith or whichever of the other walk-ons has the greatest financial need.

NoPoNeighbor wrote:If we have an extra scholarship, even if its just for this one year, the school should award it to Brian Smith or whichever of the other walk-ons has the greatest financial need.

You make an excellent point, NPN, and it has apparently been discussed at length amongst the staff.

Problem is, athletic scholarships are for a full year and cannot be broken into semesters, and with the new, more liberal transfer rules now in effect, the staff would really like to have a scholarship available just in case there is a mid-year transfer they'd like to snag....or even an Aussie or New Zealander graduating from high school in December.

DoubleDipper wrote:On the bright side, Ty will likely attend college on a scholarship at another level, play basketball, and graduate. The college he chooses might be a D2 or NAIA school, but it should still mean he'll one day be a college graduate with a very good shot at playing in Europe.

Good for Ty Glover, he is now officially a D2 Alaska-Fairbanks Nanook, and could turn out to be one of the best D2 players in the country...

Clearing out my DVR today, I ran across a January 6th game in which former Pilot Theo Akwuba scored 16 points and grabbed 15 rebounds against Arkansas St.

Theo was averaging 9 boards and 10 points a game, but I believe he is now injured.



Looks to me like Theo has been following Geezer's weight room regimen.

Those hands!!!

Or did he steal this high-flyer's basketball?

Hate to think about the number of former UP players over the last five years who look back at their time under Terry Porter with regret. For fans it's just frustration and disappointment. For players who thought being with Terry could be a stepping stone to a career, or at the very least, a challenging but fulfilling college career, it must be really hard.

StudentPilot wrote:There was a concert last night where I met a couple of BIG guys, one from New Zealand and one from Nigeria.

The big guy (7-2/265) from New Zealand, Callum McRae, is already known on PN, but I had to ask the man from Nigeria, Victor Ohia Obioha, some questions to learn more about him. I also asked him to write his name so I could get it right.

And now, 4 years later, both are in the portal as grad-transfers.

At 7-1/295 Callum McRae could be the kind of player UP needs in the middle where Chika lacks the height and width to clog the lane on defense and grab rebounds.

This past season with Cal Riverside McRae averaged 11 points and 8 rebounds.

StudentPilot wrote:At 7-1/295 Callum McRae could be the kind of player UP needs in the middle where Chika lacks the height and width to clog the lane on defense and grab rebounds.

This past season with Cal Riverside McRae averaged 11 points and 8 rebounds.

Your concert buddy, McRae, has signed with Sacramento St.

The staff is actively looking for one or two big men to join the Pilots this summer, and they knew of McRae, but expecting to find someone better, they did not reach out to him.

StudentPilot, did you see where your friend, Fardaws Aimaq, from Vancouver, BC, and probably the top big man in the portal...the stud power forward that Porter passed on four or five years ago...could end up at Gonzaga?

The transfer from Mercer and now grad-transfer from Utah Valley, is looking to turn pro, but is keeping his options open by narrowing his choices to GU, UW, Texas Tech, Texas, and Iowa.

Aimaq, at 6’11, 245 pounds, averaged 18.9 points, 13.6 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per game last season.

up7587 wrote:Theo Akwuba is entering the NBA draft while maintaining his final year of eligibility.  I guess there is no downside to that?  Other than it leaves a question mark in the school's recruiting needs.  Is he NBA material?

https://twitter.com/takwuba1/status/1509647384233619469/photo/1

He's now put his name in the transfer portal so if that fails, maybe we can bring him back for one more year.

https://twitter.com/VerbalCommits/status/1516146785789648907

DoubleDipper wrote:StudentPilot, did you see where your friend, Fardaws Aimaq, from Vancouver, BC, and probably the top big man in the portal...the stud power forward that Porter passed on four or five years ago...could end up at Gonzaga?

The transfer from Mercer and now grad-transfer from Utah Valley, is looking to turn pro, but is keeping his options open by narrowing his choices to GU, UW, Texas Tech, Texas, and Iowa.

Aimaq has chosen Texas Tech...and really, who can blame him.  

The Red Raiders are very good...a preseason Top-30 by some, and the town of Lubbock loves their Tech sports!