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If your team could only recruit locally, what would your starting five look like?

HailToPitt725

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May 16, 2016
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Let’s say your school was restricted to only recruiting locally and regionally. What would your starting five look like heading into next season?

For Pitt, this would mean signing players only from Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania. Noted is the school they attend and where they’re originally from.

PG Ethan Morton (Purdue; Butler, PA)
SG Robby Carmody (Notre Dame; Mars, PA)
SF Maceo Austin (Duquesne; Pittsburgh, PA)
PF William Jeffress (Pitt; Erie, PA)
C Oscar Tshiebwe (WVU; Hermitage, PA)

Pitt’s lineup wouldn’t be too bad. The biggest weakness would be at SF where Austin is playing out of position (normally a SG). A few unknowns with two true freshmen but a high ceiling IMO. Just for giggles, we’ll also say the head coach is Beaver Falls native and Pitt alum Sean Miller.

What would your team look like? How would they fare record-wise? What say you?
 
Marcus Tsohonis - Portland, OR (Washington)
Aaron Delaney - Portland, OR (Vermont)
Isaac Bronton - Portland, OR (Washington State)
Zach Reichle - Wilsonville, OR (Oregon State)
Kamaka Hepa - Portland, OR (Texas)

This team would not be good
 
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I counted Hepa as Portland even though he grew up in Alaska. He played high school at Jefferson in Portland
Oregon looks like they’d have a solid lineup. Lots of talent up in the Pacific Northwest.
 
I'll go with a four-guard lineup.

Caleb Mills- Asheville, NC (Houston)
Davion Mintz- Huntersville, NC (Kentucky)
Aaron Wiggins- High Point, NC (Maryland)
Wendell Moore- Concord, NC (Duke)
Jay Huff- Durham, NC (Virginia)

Cam Hayes (Greensboro / NC State) could be a special talent in a year or two.
 
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I’ll do this for within a 5 hour drive of Florida State, since that about as much as you’d wanna do round trip in a day to see your kid play. (For those not familiar with Florida, the rules out Miami/Lauderdale kids like Vernon Carey).

I’m also not gonna pick a kid like Anthony Edwards or Isaac Okaro who, while within that 5 hour driving range, already chose schools that are closer over choosing us. No reason to believe he would pick us in this hypothetical scenario.

For this past year I’d say:

PG - Trent Forrest (Chipley, FL; FSU)
SG - M.J. Walker (Atlanta, GA; FSU)
SF - Devin Vassell (Suwanee, GA; FSU)
PF - Precious Achuiwa (Montverde, FL; Memphis)
C - Armando Bacot (IMG Academy, Bradenton, FL; UNC).

We would bring guys like Josh Green, Reggie Perry, and Jeremiah Robinson Earl off the bench.

For next year, let’s go with:

PG - Cade Cunningham (Montverde Academy; Okie State)
SG - M.J. Walker (Atlanta, GA; FSU)
SF - Scottie Barnes (Montverde; FSU)
PF - CJ Walker (Orlando; Oregon)
C - Balsa Koprivika (Montverde; FSU)

I almost went with Walker Kessler at Center, but Balsa already having a year in our system gave him the edge, especially with Covid making practices unknown.

I’m gonna say we would be pretty tough to beat.
 
I’ll do this for within a 5 hour drive of Florida State, since that about as much as you’d wanna do round trip in a day to see your kid play. (For those not familiar with Florida, the rules out Miami/Lauderdale kids like Vernon Carey).

I’m also not gonna pick a kid like Anthony Edwards or Isaac Okaro who, while within that 5 hour driving range, already chose schools that are closer over choosing us. No reason to believe he would pick us in this hypothetical scenario.

For this past year I’d say:

PG - Trent Forrest (Chipley, FL; FSU)
SG - M.J. Walker (Atlanta, GA; FSU)
SF - Devin Vassell (Suwanee, GA; FSU)
PF - Precious Achuiwa (Montverde, FL; Memphis)
C - Armando Bacot (IMG Academy, Bradenton, FL; UNC).

We would bring guys like Josh Green, Reggie Perry, and Jeremiah Robinson Earl off the bench.

For next year, let’s go with:

PG - Cade Cunningham (Montverde Academy; Okie State)
SG - M.J. Walker (Atlanta, GA; FSU)
SF - Scottie Barnes (Montverde; FSU)
PF - CJ Walker (Orlando; Oregon)
C - Balsa Koprivika (Montverde; FSU)

I almost went with Walker Kessler at Center, but Balsa already having a year in our system gave him the edge, especially with Covid making practices unknown.

I’m gonna say we would be pretty tough to beat.

Cunningham is from Arlington, TX
 
A pretty large portion of KU’s roster is actually local.

Agbaji and Grant-Foster are from KC. Braun is from a small KS town and played his last year or two of HS in the KC metro.

Lightfoot was playing in AZ when he joined the roster, but he grew up in KC.

Dajuan Harris is from Columbia, and Thompson is from Tulsa.

Agbaji, Grant-Foster, Thompson and Braun will all be candidates to start this year.
 
I'd love this....NO one else could come to Indiana? :D But hell, just here in So.Indiana IU could put together a pretty nice team..Starting with Lander and Trey Kaufman.
 
Let’s say your school was restricted to only recruiting locally and regionally. What would your starting five look like heading into next season?

For Pitt, this would mean signing players only from Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania. Noted is the school they attend and where they’re originally from.

PG Ethan Morton (Purdue; Butler, PA)
SG Robby Carmody (Notre Dame; Mars, PA)
SF Maceo Austin (Duquesne; Pittsburgh, PA)
PF William Jeffress (Pitt; Erie, PA)
C Oscar Tshiebwe (WVU; Hermitage, PA)

Pitt’s lineup wouldn’t be too bad. The biggest weakness would be at SF where Austin is playing out of position (normally a SG). A few unknowns with two true freshmen but a high ceiling IMO. Just for giggles, we’ll also say the head coach is Beaver Falls native and Pitt alum Sean Miller.

What would your team look like? How would they fare record-wise? What say you?
I don’t know but you’d probably have a lot more UGA fans on this board, haha
 
Texas would win the NC every year if we could keep local talent home (and we had a real coach).

Houston and DFW are prolly top 10 talent hotspots, and central Texas has a couple top 50 types every year.
 
Texas would win the NC every year if we could keep local talent home (and we had a real coach).

Houston and DFW are prolly top 10 talent hotspots, and central Texas has a couple top 50 types every year.

But what about Baylor, TCU, Houston, etc.? Those teams would keep local talent too. It wouldn’t just all go to Texas.
 
so does this mean we get ALL the local players and don't have to fight Northwestern and Loyola for them?
 
so does this mean we get ALL the local players and don't have to fight Northwestern and Loyola for them?

That’s definitely not how I took it. I didn’t include guys like Isaac Okaro, Ant Edwards, or Omar Payne who played high school ball close to FSU, FSU recruited, but they decided to go another school that was also nearby.
 
I know Richie Farmer, Deron Feldhaus and John Pelphrey did ok against Duke with exception of "The Shot" that nixed it. Bunch of mountain boys from Eastern KY.

More heart than talent.
 
That’s definitely not how I took it. I didn’t include guys like Isaac Okaro, Ant Edwards, or Omar Payne who played high school ball close to FSU, FSU recruited, but they decided to go another school that was also nearby.


So who are you including then? Just guys from your area who already are going to FSU??
 
So who are you including then? Just guys from your area who already are going to FSU??

No. I did last year and next years lineup already in this thread. A guy like CJ Walker who’s at Oregon, or Armando Bacot who went to UNC, or Cade Cunningham. Those are all guys who would have been forced to stay home.

The amount of talent within a 4.5 hour drive of Tallahassee is bountiful. Jacksonville, Atlanta, Orlando, Tampa, (plus the IMGs and Montverdes).
 
I’ll do this for within a 5 hour drive of Florida State, since that about as much as you’d wanna do round trip in a day to see your kid play. (For those not familiar with Florida, the rules out Miami/Lauderdale kids like Vernon Carey).

I’m also not gonna pick a kid like Anthony Edwards or Isaac Okaro who, while within that 5 hour driving range, already chose schools that are closer over choosing us. No reason to believe he would pick us in this hypothetical scenario.

For this past year I’d say:

PG - Trent Forrest (Chipley, FL; FSU)
SG - M.J. Walker (Atlanta, GA; FSU)
SF - Devin Vassell (Suwanee, GA; FSU)
PF - Precious Achuiwa (Montverde, FL; Memphis)
C - Armando Bacot (IMG Academy, Bradenton, FL; UNC).

We would bring guys like Josh Green, Reggie Perry, and Jeremiah Robinson Earl off the bench.

For next year, let’s go with:

PG - Cade Cunningham (Montverde Academy; Okie State)
SG - M.J. Walker (Atlanta, GA; FSU)
SF - Scottie Barnes (Montverde; FSU)
PF - CJ Walker (Orlando; Oregon)
C - Balsa Koprivika (Montverde; FSU)

I almost went with Walker Kessler at Center, but Balsa already having a year in our system gave him the edge, especially with Covid making practices unknown.

I’m gonna say we would be pretty tough to beat.

@WeAreDePaul ^^^^
 
He was meaning local kids, so you could add 5* Xavier Foster and 4* DJ Carton to that list.

Iowa would be just fine if it had only Iowa kids.
Foster would be the 5th. don't much care about Carton as he is not originally from Iowa.

that 4* PG 6'4 Greene that plays for UNI would be a better option. SO stats
19.7 ppg, 3 rpg, 3 apg, 41.6% from the field, 39.1% from 3 and 91.1% from the FTL.
 
So, I created an excel file last fall where I tried to find the top 5-10 players from each state. Some states I couldn't quite fill. But, going through these lists, I'd say here's how the rosters from 2020 might turn out, by state:

New York's starting five is absolutely stacked (I actually listed 6 players for them). Per-capita wise, I really like Georgia, Minnesota, and Maryland.

Michigan:
Cassius Winston, Michigan State
Devon Daniels, NC State
Justin Turner, Bowling Green
Isaiah Livers, Michigan
Xavier Tillman, Michigan State

South Carolina:
Cartier Diarra, Kansas State
Devontae Shuler, Ole Miss
De'Riante Jenkins, VCU
Aaaron Nesmith, Vanderbilt
Tevin Mack, Clemson

New Jersey:
Breein Tyree, Ole Miss
Myles Powell, Seton Hall
Ron Harper Jr, Rutgers
Naji Marshall, Xavier
Cyril Langevine, Rhode Island

Florida:
Trent Forrest, Florida State
Grant Riller, Charleston
Paul Reed, DePaul
John Mooney, Notre Dame
Vernon Carey, Duke

Arizona:
Nico Mannion, Arizona
Markus Howard, Marquette
Jake Toolson, BYU
Saben Lee, Vanderbilt
Timmy Allen, Utah

Massachusetts:
Marcus Zegarowski, Creighton
Kellan Grady, Davidson
Jermaine Samuels, Villanova
LJ Figueroa, St.John's
AJ Brodeur, Penn

Minnesota:
Tre Jones, Duke
McKinley Wright, Colorado
Nate Reuvers, Wisconsin
Zeke Nnaji, Arizona
Daniel Oturu, Minnesota

Louisiana:
Javonte Smart, LSU
Jared Butler, Baylor
Skylar Mays, LSU
Josh Anderson, Western Kentucky
Mark Vital Baylor

Texas:
Tyrese Maxey, Kentucky
Mason Jones, Arkansas
Jahmi'us Ramsey, Texas Tech
Jalen Harris, Nevada
Cameron McGriff, Oklahoma State

Illinois:
Loren Jackson, Akron
Ayo Dosunmum, Illinois
Jordan Goodwin, Saint Louis
Chris Smith, UCLA
Cameron Krutwig, Loyola Chicago

New York:
Cole Anthony, North Carolina
Elijah Hughes, Syracuse
Jordan Nwora, Louisville
Precious Achiuwa, Memphis
Obi Toppin, Dayton
Isaiah Stewart, Washington
(6th man: Alpha Diallo, Providence)

California:
Remy Martin, Arizona State
Jordan Ford, Saint Mary's
Malik Fitts, Saint Mary's
Tyler Bey, Colorado
Onyeka Okongwu, USC

Ontario:
Andrew Nembhard, Florida
Marcus Carr, Minnesota
Devonte Bandoo, Baylor
AJ Lawson, South Carolina
Jermaine Haley, West Virginia

Pennsylvania:
Fatts Russell, Rhode Island
Collin Gillespie, Villanova
Samir Doughty, Auburn
Lamar Stevens, Penn State
Tre Mitchell, UMass

Georgia:
Kamar Baldwin, Butler
Devin Vassell, Florida State
Anthony Edwards, Georgia
Isaac Okoro, Auburn
Reggie Perry, Mississippi State

Ohio:
Carlik Jones, Radford
Zavier Simpson, Michigan
MaCio Teague, Baylor
Jarron Cumberland, Cincinnati
Kaleb Wesson, Ohio State

Indiana:
Eugene German, Northern Illinois
Paul Scruggs, Xavier
Desmond Bane, TCU
Trayce Jackson-Davis, Indiana
James Banks, Georgia Tech

North Carolina:
Devon Dotson, Kansas
Ty-Shon Alexander, Creighton
Nate Hinton, Houston
Patrick Williams, Florida State
Jayden Gardner, East Carolina

Virginia:
Jermaine Marrow, Hampton
Matt Coleman, Texas
Chris Clarke, Texas Tech
Keyonate Johnson, Florida
Aamir Sims, Clemson

Maryland:
Anthony Cowan, Maryland
Chris Lykes, Miami
Immanuel Quickley, Kentucky
Saddiq Bey, Villanova
Jalen Smith, Maryland

Washington:
Malachi Flynn, San Diego State
Daejon Davis, Stanford
CJ Elleby, Washington State
Corey Kispert, Gonzaga
Jaden McDaniels, Washington

Alabama:
Kira Lewis, Alabama
John Petty, Alabama
Trendon Watford, LSU
Garrison Brooks, UNC
Austin Wiley, Auburn

Tennessee:
Jalen Crutcher, Dayton
Tray Boyd III, East Tennessee State
Nathan Hoover, Wofford
John Fulkerson, Tennessee
Abdul Ado, Mississippi State

Kentucky:
Mason Faulkner, Western Carolina
Taveion Hollinsworth, Western Kentucky
David Johnson, Louisville
Dwayne Sutton, Louisville
Terry Taylor, Austin Peay

Wisconsin:
Tyrese Haliburton, Iowa State
Kobe King, Wisconsin
Terence Lewis, Iowa State
Sam Hauser, Virginia
Joey Hauser, Michigan State

Utah:
TJ Haws, BYU
Sam Merrill, Utah State
Brendan Bailey, Marquette
Yoeli Childs, BYU
Makol Mawien, Kansas State

Mississippi:
Nick Weathersppon, Mississippi State
Tyson Carter, Mississippi State
Jaylen Forbes, Alabama
DJ Stewart, Mississippi State
Robert Woodard, Mississppi State

France:
Joel Ayayi, Gonzaga
Yves Pons, Tennessee
Martins Igbanu, Tulsa
Killian Tillie, Gonzaga
Olivier Sarr, Wake Forest

Iowa:
AJ Green, Northern Iowa
DJ Carton, Ohio State
Connor McCaffery, Iowa
Joe Wieskamp, Iowa
Michael Jacobson, Iowa State

Kansas:
Jerrick Harding, Weber State
Mitch Ballock, Creighton
Malik Hall, Michigan State
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Villanova
Yor Anei, Oklahoma State

Missouri:
Xavier Sneed, Kansas State
Jacob Gilyard, Richmond
Courtney Ramey, Texas
Ochai Agbaji, Kansas
Jericole Hellems, NC State
 
Last edited:
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No. I did last year and next years lineup already in this thread. A guy like CJ Walker who’s at Oregon, or Armando Bacot who went to UNC, or Cade Cunningham. Those are all guys who would have been forced to stay home.

The amount of talent within a 4.5 hour drive of Tallahassee is bountiful. Jacksonville, Atlanta, Orlando, Tampa, (plus the IMGs and Montverdes).
So Iowa gets to count Omaha, Minneapolis, Chicago, St Louis and Kansas City? Good to know.
 
Feel free to help me fill-in the blanks on some of these...

Delaware: Myles Cale (Seton Hall), Eric Ayala (Maryland), Nah'shon Hyland (VCU)

Connecticut: Mustapha Heron (St.John's), Tyrique Jones (Xavier), Quincy McKnight (Seton Hall)

Colorado: D'Shawn Schwartz (Colorado), Colbey Ross (Pepperdine), Jonah Radebaugh (Northern Colorado)

Oklahoma: Kristina Doolittle & Brady Manek (Oklahoma), Kalib Boone and Lindy Waters (Oklahoma State)

I'm missing a few other states, but these are the ones I was closest to finalizing.
 
So, I created an excel file last fall where I tried to find the top 5-10 players from each state. Some states I couldn't quite fill. But, going through these lasts, I'd say here's how the rosters from 2020 might turn out by state:

New York's starting five is absolutely stacked. Per-capita wise, I really like Georgia, Minnesota, and Maryland.

Michigan:
Cassius Winston, Michigan State
Devon Daniels, NC State
Justin Turner, Bowling Green
Isaiah Livers, Michigan
Xavier Tillman, Michigan State

South Carolina:
Cartier Diarra, Kansas State
Devontae Shuler, Ole Miss
De'Riante Jenkins, VCU
Aaaron Nesmith, Vanderbilt
Tevin Mack, Clemson

New Jersey:
Breein Tyree, Ole Miss
Myles Powell, Seton Hall
Ron Harper Jr, Rutgers
Naji Marshall, Xavier
Cyril Langevine, Rhode Island

Florida:
Trent Forrest, Florida State
Grant Riller, Charleston
Paul Reed, DePaul
John Mooney, Notre Dame
Vernon Carey, Duke

Arizona:
Nico Mannion, Arizona
Markus Howard, Marquette
Jake Toolson, BYU
Saben Lee, Vanderbilt
Timmy Allen, Utah

Massachusetts:
Marcus Zegarowski, Creighton
Kellan Grady, Davidson
Jermaine Samuels, Villanova
LJ Figueroa, St.John's
AJ Brodeur, Penn

Minnesota:
Tre Jones, Duke
McKinley Wright, Colorado
Nate Reuvers, Wisconsin
Zeke Nnaji, Arizona
Daniel Oturu, Minnesota

Louisiana:
Javonte Smart, LSU
Jared Butler, Baylor
Skylar Mays, LSU
Josh Anderson, Western Kentucky
Mark Vital Baylor

Texas:
Tyrese Maxey, Kentucky
Mason Jones, Arkansas
Jahmi'us Ramsey, Texas Tech
Jalen Harris, Nevada
Cameron McGriff, Oklahoma State

Illinois:
Loren Jackson, Akron
Ayo Dosunmum, Illinois
Jordan Goodwin, Saint Louis
Chris Smith, UCLA
Cameron Krutwig, Loyola Chicago

New York:
Cole Anthony, North Carolina
Elijah Hughes, Syracuse
Jordan Nwora, Louisville
Obi Toppin, Dayton
Isaiah Stewart, Washington
(6th man: Alpha Diallo, Providence)

California:
Remy Martin, Arizona State
Jordan Ford, Saint Mary's
Malik Fitts, Saint Mary's
Tyler Bey, Colorado
Onyeka Okongwu, USC

Ontario:
Andrew Nembhard, Florida
Marcus Carr, Minnesota
Devonte Bandoo, Baylor
AJ Lawson, South Carolina
Jermaine Haley, West Virginia

Pennsylvania:
Fatts Russell, Rhode Island
Collin Gillespie, Villanova
Samir Doughty, Auburn
Lamar Stevens, Penn State
Tre Mitchell, UMass

Georgia:
Kamar Baldwin, Butler
Devin Vassell, Florida State
Anthony Edwards, Georgia
Isaac Okoro, Auburn
Reggie Perry, Mississippi State

Ohio:
Carlik Jones, Radford
Zavier Simpson, Michigan
MaCio Teague, Baylor
Jarron Cumberland, Cincinnati
Kaleb Wesson, Ohio State

Indiana:
Eugene German, Northern Illinois
Paul Scruggs, Xavier
Desmond Bane, TCU
Trayce Jackson-Davis, Indiana
James Banks, Georgia Tech

North Carolina:
Devon Dotson, Kansas
Ty-Shon Alexander, Creighton
Nate Hinton, Houston
Patrick Williams, Florida State
Jayden Gardner, East Carolina

Virginia:
Jermaine Marrow, Hampton
Matt Coleman, Texas
Chris Clarke, Texas Tech
Keyonate Johnson, Florida
Aamir Sims, Clemson

Maryland:
Anthony Cowan, Maryland
Chris Lykes, Miami
Immanuel Quickley, Kentucky
Saddiq Bey, Villanova
Jalen Smith, Maryland

Washington:
Malachi Flynn, San Diego State
Daejon Davis, Stanford
CJ Elleby, Washington State
Corey Kispert, Gonzaga
Jaden McDaniels, Washington

Alabama:
Kira Lewis, Alabama
John Petty, Alabama
Trendon Watford, LSU
Garrison Brooks, UNC
Austin Wiley, Auburn

Tennessee:
Jalen Crutcher, Dayton
Tray Boyd III, East Tennessee State
Nathan Hoover, Wofford
John Fulkerson, Tennessee
Abdul Ado, Mississippi State

Kentucky:
Mason Faulkner, Western Carolina
Taveion Hollinsworth, Western Kentucky
David Johnson, Louisville
Dwayne Sutton, Louisville
Terry Taylor, Austin Peay

Wisconsin:
Tyrese Haliburton, Iowa State
Kobe King, Wisconsin
Terence Lewis, Iowa State
Sam Hauser, Virginia
Joey Hauser, Michigan State

Utah:
TJ Haws, BYU
Sam Merrill, Utah State
Brendan Bailey, Marquette
Yoeli Childs, BYU
Makol Mawien, Kansas State

Mississippi:
Nick Weathersppon, Mississippi State
Tyson Carter, Mississippi State
Jaylen Forbes, Alabama
DJ Stewart, Mississippi State
Robert Woodard, Mississppi State

France:
Joel Ayayi, Gonzaga
Yves Pons, Tennessee
Martins Igbanu, Tulsa
Killian Tillie, Gonzaga
Olivier Sarr, Wake Forest

Iowa:
AJ Green, Northern Iowa
DJ Carton, Ohio State
Connor McCaffery, Iowa
Joe Wieskamp, Iowa
Michael Jacobson, Iowa State

Kansas:
Jerrick Harding, Weber State
Mitch Ballock, Creighton
Malik Hall, Michigan State
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Villanova
Yor Anei, Oklahoma State

Missouri:
Xavier Sneed, Kansas State
Jacob Gilyard, Richmond
Courtney Ramey, Texas
Ochai Agbaji, Kansas
Jericole Hellems, NC State

replace Carton with Jordan
and Jacobson with Foster.
 
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