Conor Clifford
- Thread starter 7ICoug
- Start date
If Poeltl returns he would earn serious bench time. If he decides to return Clifford may cancel his visit I believe that Clifford is a hedge by Utah depending on what Poeltl decides to do..If van Villet commits to the cougs ,he may lose out here too. I would certainly take Van Vilet over clifford if given the choice.
I would love to hear the reasoning behind wanting a seldom used bench player from europe over the California JC player of the year. What do we need more a big post presence or 6-10 guy who shoots nothing but 3's and only at a 29% clip. Thomas Akyazill a point guard of the same team is being recruited by Utah, Colorado and St Johns. He is 2 years younger and ranked much higher, lets go for him instead. We lost Jordan Railey we need to replace that size in the paint. Van Vliet would be 20 years old by the time he hit campus if he was that good he would already be playing D-1 ball. Sabonis from GU was 18 all year just turned 19.
Interesting comments. I guess that i think that he has a much higher ceiling than Clifford. Clifford may be able to play at a high level of D 1 ball. That is still to be determined.. He really does not have a jump shot or an effective hook shot at this point and he is or will be entering his third year of college. He is an old fashion pivot who was very effective in juco ball with his back to the basket.. He is not a defensive presence and rebounds well only in his immediate area. He runs the court fairly well but is a plodder who tries very hard. He recently broke 7 minutes in the mile so he is trying to work on his deficits as best as possible. I guarantee you that he is not the third coming of Sabonis and/or Baynes.That is not to say that the cougs could not use him. Van Vliet has all the tools and only needs to add strength.All one has to do is to watch videos of the guy in action to see that he has a very high upside.It is simple to see if one knows what to look for.IT will be interesting to see how it plays out whee ever they both go to school. I would ay that Cliiford will most probably end up at Utah unless he realizes that he will not play much if their big men decide to return.
I think that Clifford is the preferred choice by Kent because he can contribute before Van Vliet. Van Vliet may have a better long term upside, but Kent needs wins now. If Clifford helps turn the program around to making the NIT, in two years when he leaves, Kent will be able to use the open scholarship for a player better than Clifford and perhaps with more upside than Van Vliet.
You may be right about Clifford helping ..I really think that he is going to Utah. It seems like he really liked USC but mom wanted him closer to home.Now he has another PAC 12 offer and it closer to home and a quality program.. If he had liked Pullman he would have verballed in my opinion.However, i think that you guys are selling van Vliet short and his upside is far better than you think. Utah had already offered him prior to offering Clifford so he was probably their first choice. But they probably feel more confident of landing Clifford. i do not want to sell Clifford short but i really would have liked to see him against better competition to see how his success at the juco level will translate to success against D 1 competition. Like wise for Van Vliet but he seems to have a lot more athleticism and skill sets to really succeed. I bet Kent wishes that he could pick and choose. however it now appears ,to me,that Clifford is all but gone.
I make my living coaching basketball and have spent over 20 years putting players through basketball workouts! His workout video is very generic and not overly impressive at all. The other videos that I've seen are highlight reels, so guess what he doesn't miss a shot! Yet in the reel world he shots 29% from 3 point land and 32% overall. His highlight video looks to be against JR high kids not the top JC kids in California that Clifford was playing against and shooting at 63%. I'm really sorry but I don't see VanVliet as a very good option, he was basically passed up last year and is an after thought for this year. If we sign him, I will spend the rest of the summer hoping I have to eat crow next year..
Clifford makes a faster impact but Van Vilet seems like a better fit for Kent's system with the bigger upside.
Again, I hope we don't end up with both going to other programs because we don't have much depth upfront and may end up scrambling for another Cheatum-type unless there's a player that hasn't surfaced as a possible get.
Again, I hope we don't end up with both going to other programs because we don't have much depth upfront and may end up scrambling for another Cheatum-type unless there's a player that hasn't surfaced as a possible get.
If the cougs do not sign either of them it will not be a good thing.The cougs need another big so their roster look like a PAC 12 roster and Kent will have better players to build a team with. I would be happy if one of these guys would sign with the cougs.
Utah is going to just use Clifford as a backup Center as far as I can tell. He replaces a outgoing JUCO. But no doubt about it that Larry knows the 4 and 5 spots and he is after the same 2 guys as is Ernie.
However, we are talking apples and oranges. One is a big center that can lean on players like Gonzaga has in Karn and the other is a stretch 3/4 player that just happens to be tall and plays some defense.
One is a Juco and ready to go and the other would be a prep.
No doubt Ernie has some other folks in reserve that most don't even know about.
Conor is in my opinion a must get for the program and we offer immediate PT which is 100% what he wants. Utah offers him only a backup role on a nice team as they have a class center.
However, we are talking apples and oranges. One is a big center that can lean on players like Gonzaga has in Karn and the other is a stretch 3/4 player that just happens to be tall and plays some defense.
One is a Juco and ready to go and the other would be a prep.
No doubt Ernie has some other folks in reserve that most don't even know about.
Conor is in my opinion a must get for the program and we offer immediate PT which is 100% what he wants. Utah offers him only a backup role on a nice team as they have a class center.
The number of quality big men now available can probably be counted on one hand.A guy like Clifford was not hotly pursued by the better teams like Utah in the early going. They missed out on their top targets and now have moved to their third tier of recruits.. One would hope that he will be able to really see how Utah will use or not use him. At WSU,he would play anywhere from 15-20 minutes with a chance at starting. At Utah,he will be lucky to log 10 minutes regularly as a bench warmer in the best case scenario He should use common sense and count noses.However,players seemingly do not take these factors into consideration.It is not that he is not a quality option but he has a better chance of playing with a team trying to remake their roster rather than a team looking to add a just in case option. Utah is not only recruiting for their roster but to keep other teams from drastically improving their lot.I truly believe that WSU with an additional one or two bigs will be able to beat the Utahs of the basketball world next year on their home court.The team will be much improved.
For some young men, there are other important factors in addition to just playing time. Perhaps Clifford is considering a major that University of Utah excels in, or maybe he prefers a larger community (SLC) over Pullman. Maybe he's bonded with the coaching staff there and recognizes Krystowiak as an excellent coach of big men. Who knows? I would hope he chooses Kent and WSU and perhaps he will....but what goes through a recruit's mind is often different than what goes through ours.
Glad Cougar
Glad Cougar
Immediate over potential probably makes the most sense. There is a lot of production to replace and to continue the build Clifford makes an impact much quicker. We also have no idea whether Izundu becomes a solid starter so the more depth at the 5 the better.
Again though, my fear is blanking on both and what those backup plans can provide.
Again though, my fear is blanking on both and what those backup plans can provide.
It makes all the sense for him to pick WSU. Hopefully that's what ends up happening when he makes his choice.
Exactly, one hopes that he uses common sense in making his selection. Kent knows how to use a player with his abilities. I am sure that the Utah coach has a made a good pitch but all he has to do is look at the returnees and count noses.
Similar threads
