2014 Recruiting Class Review

[atlantasooner]

Been doing these for Football for years, here goes for basketball.
Will make changes as more info becomes available.

2013-2014 Mens Basketball Recruiting Recap
To recap, OU signed 3 players last year
Frank Booker 6-4 SG
Jordan Woodard 6-0 PG
Keshaun Hamilton 6-10 C (already transferring??)
And will graduate two seniors in
Cam Clark
Tyler Neal
This leaves OU with a total of 4 spots since OU is 2 under the 13 limit. OU suffered a recruiting setback when JUCO PF Edson Avila did not make grades and did not enroll, and Keshaun Hamilton decided to leave.

So OU’s needs were primarily Center/PF and then Big Wing/Small Forward.

PG Recruiting.
OU had one major recruit at this position in Lourawls Nairn. Nairn is a top 50 player in the country and very talented PG. OU did a great job recruiting Nairn, but Michigan State entered the recruiting game late after losing out on their top PG prospect and swept up Nairn. Hard for OU right now to go head to head with Izzo and Michigan State
Recruiting Need Grade: INC
Recruiting Quality Grade: INC

SG Recruiting
OU did not recruit a SG prospect in this class. SG will definitely be a priority next year.

Big Wing/SF Recruiting
Dante Buford 6-7, 205 Florida
OU had several targets at SF/Big Wing. OU lost out on Houston area prospect Joe Burton to OSU, but managed to land SF/PF Dante Buford from Florida. Buford is ranked in the top100 by Espn and in the top 150 by Rivals. He’s an above the rim athlete who is adjusting from PF to SF. He’s already got an excellent perimeter jump shoot and can drive to the bucket for points, but needs to work on his overall ball handling skills. Here’s a four minute montage of his action at SF/PF.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8jTjLiddmo#t=243
Buford is a big upgrade in terms of athletic talent for the squad. With OU losing Cam Clark and Tyler Neal this was a huge addition to the roster.


Recruiting Quality Grade: A
Recruiting Need Grade: A

PF/C
Khadeem Latin 6-10, 200 Houston
Jamuni McNeace 6-11, 210 Allen, TX
This might be the class that puts OU over the top in terms of signing impact HS bigs. To date, Kruger has relied upon Div 1 transfers (Osby, M’Baye, and Spangler) and JUCOS (Arent, Bennett, Hamilton) to fill his interior roster slots. Now, most of the truly college ready Bigs are one and done and signing with Kentucky, Duke, Kansas, Michigan State, etc. So Kruger needed to identify and sign players with length/athleticism with serious upsides, think players like Epke Udoh from Baylor. And that’s exactly what Kruger signed. Khadeem Lattin is the star of the class with an upside somewhere outside the NBA lottery. Lattin has unreal length and athleticism at 6-10, 205. Lattin was ranked as high as top 30 nationally as a junior before going overseas to basketball academy to work on his skills. However, at NBA prospects summer camp Lattin returned to his elite prospect level. He has small forward athleticism in a power forward frame. A number of scouts have compared him to former Sooner great, Harvey Grant. He has a nice mid range jumper and is an above the rim athlete. OU beat Georgetown, Memphis and Arizona for Lattin.
Lattin highlights from the NBA Elite Summer Camp
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GnYKvP1mUo[/ame]

The other interior prospect is Jamuni McNease. Jamuni is the ultimate sleeper due to the fact that he grew 8 inches his first two years of HS. McNeace exploded on the summer camp schedule with his wingspan and athleticism. He’s 6-11, 210 with a 7-2 wingspan, and probably projects closer to the rim than Lattin. McNeace’s game is probably less advanced than Lattin's at this stage. Here’s a great quote from from a summer camp review “2014 6-11 Jamuni McNeace*Allen, TX/Allen. Flat out one of the most athletic posts in the Class of 2014 anywhere in the country. McNeace could be a pro if he continues to work hard.” OU got McNeace before a bunch of major programs were going to make offers. When he chose OU, NcNeace had offers from Utah and Purdue. Here’s a quick video of McNeace dunking with his teammate. The windmill Dominique Wilkins like dunk is my favorite.

http://instagram.com/p/f2iyCoi5f9/

Recruiting Quality Grade: A (Lattin is right on the border of being top 60 in the nation, and McNeace could explode in the rankings after his senior year. And realistically these are the highest rated Bigs OU can sign right now)
Recruiting Need Grade: A (OU now has developmental HS bigs in the program. The depth behind Spangler and Bennett for 2014 and beyond is now significantly improved. Kruger did a great job developing Osby and M’Baye, and Lattin/McNeace have more “raw” materials.)

Overall Class Grade
Recruiting Needs Grade: A (OU got two huge interior pieces and a SF/Big Wing. And in addition seriously raised the athletic talent level of the squad. This signing class could put on a dunk contest al LNC.)
Recruiting Quality Grade: A (two top 150 level prospects, and NcNeace is going to end up on some lists after his senior year. )

Where does OU go next?
OU has 2 ships available for the spring if the right prospects became available. It’s hard to project that right now. Ideally OU would save the ships for 2015/2016 to space out recruiting.

Updated roster for 2014-2015
PG: Woodard, Hornbeak
SG/Wing: Booker, Cousins, Hornbeak
Wing/SF: Hield, Buford
PF/Center: Bennett, Spangler, Lattin, McNeace

 

[BCSooners]

Love this, much appreciated.

 

[Keller Sooner]

Well done atlantasooner. Thank you.

 

[boutaroust]

Thanks AS.

Good Stuff!

 

[SoonerinNC]

Do you think Nairn didn't sign with the Sooners because of our number of guards OU has.

 

[Kewllane]

I think our young guards could have a little to do with Nairn not coming, but I think it has much more to do with it being Michigan State vs. Oklahoma. We still have a little ways to go before we can get kids to sign with us instead of that high of a basketball power. I think we're definitely headed in the right direction though.

 

[OUHoops]

Good stuff. Thanks ATL.

 

[AdaSooner]

Outstanding review, atlantasooner! :clap :clap Much appreciated!!!

Do you think Nairn didn't sign with the Sooners because of our number of guards OU has.

Yes, I think that's possible. OU already had a PG who would still be around until Nairn's senior year. I'm sure he's familiar with Jordan's game. In other words, Jordan Woodard is likely one of the reasons Nairn decided to go in another direction.

On the flip side, I have little doubt that our young guards have been instrumental in recruiting bigs this year. Who wouldn't want to play with the guards on our roster right now? Khadeem Lattin said that in his interview on the Insider board. He said they are "really good," and he appreciates their toughness and how they play. One has to believe that Buford and McNeace have similar feelings.