There are probably better comps, but Vavers shooting reminded me of Moses Wood (dub). A bit different overall as players with Wood seeming more athletic with longer levers and able to take the 4. Still, similar freshman minutes and shooting stats. Vavers averaged under 18 minutes per game and shot a respectable 37% from 3. Even though his 2FG% is low (43%), he still had an eFG% over 50%. Need more than shooting, but you can never have enough of it.
Good points on comparison to Smith's recruiting. Vavers is a good compliment to LeJuan Watts and Isaiah Watts. All 3 (plus Wynott/Wilson) hopefully are rotation guys this year which means Riley still has some work to do. It's "only" May.
Except for Smith's 1st year, , maybe even second year, but probably not Smith's second year, Riley's recruiting hasn't been as good as Smith's recruits.
Smith recruited 3.5 stars, 4 stars, 4.5 stars, and his recruits were USUALLY starters at the lower levels, or 6th men off bench, that played a lot of minutes, score a lot more then only 7 points at the lower levels(HS, JC, community colleges, D2, Whitworth, Big Sky, MAAC, Big West, WAC, C-USA, AAC, etc, lower then PAC 12 levels.
Only Price about equal to Smith's early 1st, maybe even 2nd year recruits, and only Okafor better then Smith's 1st season, maybe even 2nd year recruits, and almost, about equal to 3rd year Smith's recruits, and not as good as Smith's BEST recruits.
As far as Vaver's, there are 2 possibilities, either he did ok, good scoring only about 7 points in 18 minutes because he was buried behind a team full of STUDS ahead, in front of him, OR OR, he WAS NOT GOOD ENOUGH TO GET MORE THEN 18 MINUTES, only put up 7 ppg, 2.7 rebounds..
And while 7 ppg is ok in 18 minutes at the, a LOWER LEVEL place, league, lower then PAC 12, WCC, MWC, etc, It's still not high enough, good enough, etc.
(Yes there are players that are lower scorers, get less minutes, etc, but getting them is a exception, and usually they are specialty player(Exceptional, Excellent defense, great rebounder(7 to 10 to 13+), great 3 point shooter(50% not 37%, even tho 37% good), 10 assist per game, 7 steals per game, Rim Protector, 7 blocks a game, ,etc, and usually they are 7 footers, TALL, BIG, etc)
Do most PAC 12, MWC, WCC, Midmajor, Power Conference, etc, coaches get a HS kid that scores 7 ppg, 2.7 rebounds in 18 minutes on a GSL, 2A, 3A, 4A, 5A team?
NO, they instead get the HS kid that averaging 25+ points, or 7 to 10 to 13 rebounds per game, scores 60 points in a game, gets 23 rebounds in a game, etc.
Do they grab the kid at a community college that score 7 in 18 minutes? NO they get the player that Score 14 to 16 to 18+, or get 6 to 8 to 10 rebounds in a game instead of only getting 1,2,3 rebounds.
Do they get a 7 ppg, 2.7 rebounds in a game in 18 minutes from D2, Whitworth, Big Sky, WAC, Big West, MAAC, etc, or do they get a 13 to 15 to 17+ ppg, 8 to 10 to 12 rebounds per game player, transfer?
In GENERAL, USUALLY, kids, players, transfers, etc, at the LOWER LEVEL places, leagues, conferences, etc, or at least lower then PAC 12, WCC, MWC, etc, that only score 3 to 5 to 7 to 9 ppg, or only get 1,2,3 rebounds per game, or have LOW, BAD STATS, etc, and have low minutes, that are bench players, etc, USUALLY DO NOT DO WELL OR AS WELL OR HAVE GREAT DIFFICULTY MAKING THE TRANSITION, PLAYING WELL AT THE HIGHER LEVELS, AND ARE USUALLY END OF BENCH, PREFERRED WALK ON PLAYERS AT THE HIGHER LEVELS.
Did Smith get a 7 ppg, 2.7 rebounds per game in 18 minutes off the bench from University of Idaho, or did he instead get Isaac Jones that was scoring a LOT OF POINTS, GOOD STATS as a STARTER at the LOWER LEVEL, at least lower then WCC, MWC, PAC 12, etc, level University of Idaho?
Also getting a player that has GREAT STATS, whether scoring, rebounds, etc, at the lower levels is the NORM, not the exception.
Vavers is worthy of a PREFERRED WALK ON, OR if have a leftover scholly, and can afford to give it to a player like Vavers, then that ok, as need roleplayer, bench players, scout team players, scrubs players, etc, at even the higher levels.
Vavers is a D2, Whitworth, Big Sky level player that probably would get a lot of minutes, score a lot at the lower levels eventually.
If he does do well at WSU, it would probably be like Lodwick, in his redshirt Junior, Senior, 5th year senior, 6th year senior year,if he were to even stay that long, and not transfer portal down to a lower level because of lack of minutes, LACK of GOOD STATS, etc.
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