OU offers Denton, TX freshman, Jalen Wilson

AdaSooner

AdaSooner

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Jalen Wilson, a 6' 5" combo guard who was a freshman at Guyer High in Denton, TX last year said on his Twitter page (scroll down the page a ways) that he has an OU offer. A couple of web sites I was on have him listed as a SF. But, IMO he's a combo guard who can, and does, play the point for his high school team if need be.
r
https://twitter.com/jalen3523

http://www.hudl.com/athlete/6752639/jalen-wilson

This kid is good. I saw Guyer beat Flower Mound in the 6A state playoffs last season. Wilson was a key to the win. His coach put the ball in his hands when the game was on the line and he delivered. He's a unique talent for his age, as evidenced by an OU offer going into his sophomore season.

http://www.guyerwildcatbasketball.com/guyer-freshmen-playing-beyond-their-years/

By the way, as you can see by his Twitter page, he is an OU fan. I know this kid's mother and his entire family. Most of them still live in Ada, and they're all Sooner fans. If Jalen Wilson doesn't sign with OU three years from now, I'll eat a generous helping of crow...raw, with the feathers still on. :)
 
Wilson is very good. He has a ton of potential. The other kid OU offered from Guyer is Devion Harmon. He's really God right now. 6ft1 with handles, bounce, nice jumper, and toughness. I like this offer because OSUs staff is all over them and was going to offer.
 
Wow!!! What a future stud. If Isaiah had his 4' to 8' floater (like Mike Conley Memphis) he would have been a 1st round pick.

I am sure Jalen will get more athletic as he matures, but he is the complete package. With his arm length, he has to be good on D as well.
 
Larry, I'm glad you noticed Wilson's floaters and close in shots. Most guards don't develop that kind of touch around the basket until much later in their career, and some never do. He put up some nice numbers last year, finishing the season with a 15 ppg average, 7.8 rpg, 3.1 assists and 1 steal. Not bad for a freshman starting on a 30-3 team.
 
I remember we once did this with a guy named Kyle Hardrick. Our fan base was ecstatic because he was one of the top 30 players in America heading into his sophomore season...wonder how that turned out.
 
WaymanFan said:
I remember we once did this with a guy named Kyle Hardrick. Our fan base was ecstatic because he was one of the top 30 players in America heading into his sophomore season...wonder how that turned out.
Click to expand...

And doctors predicted he was going to continue growing to 7 feet tall.
 
hoopsaustin said:
Totally different comparing posts that need to grow vs guards
Click to expand...

True, plus I'm not against what Coach Kruger is doing. He knows his job. I only mentioned Hardrick because I'm not going to get too excited about any recruit or verbal who isn't half way through high school. So much can happen between now and the next three years. I remember when Billy Gillespie was at Kentucky and got a verbal from an 8th grader he offered. The guy was projected to be perhaps the best player in high school by the time he was a senior. By the time he actually was a senior, he wasn't on any radar and John Calipari would not honor that scholarship offer.
 
Re: OU offers Denton, TX freshman, Jalen Wil

WaymanFan said:
True, plus I'm not against what Coach Kruger is doing. He knows his job. I only mentioned Hardrick because I'm not going to get too excited about any recruit or verbal who isn't half way through high school. So much can happen between now and the next three years. I remember when Billy Gillespie was at Kentucky and got a verbal from an 8th grader he offered. The guy was projected to be perhaps the best player in high school by the time he was a senior. By the time he actually was a senior, he wasn't on any radar and John Calipari would not honor that scholarship offer.
Click to expand...

I agree that offering a recruit who will be a sophomore in high school this fall is a bit of a gamble. But, if the reverse of the examples you used turn out to be true, offering a recruit who has demonstrated the potential to be a star someday, could be the difference in signing that young man to a LOI when he's a senior.

There are just as many, if not more, stories about recruits who fulfill their potential. Life is full of risks. Christian James was the highest rated two guard in Texas his junior season. That changed when he broke his femur and had to sit out all but a couple of playoff games when he was a senior. When other coaches backed away, Kruger took a chance on him and stayed the course with an OU offer. To quote what you said earlier, we know how that turned out.

I like the strategy our coaches use to get in early on a recruit and extend an offer if they believe he fits OU's system as a player and as a person. IMO, Jalen Wilson fits that description and will prove to be worthy of what some may see as a gamble at this stage of his career.
 
Re: OU offers Denton, TX freshman, Jalen Wil

Recruiting has changed a lot in the past few years. I think the OU football team got into trouble a couple of years ago because they waited too long to make offers. Kids move on. I've seen a lot of commitments where a recruit said it was their first offer and they developed a bond with the coaching staff and players. It's a long-term relationship. We know there are risks of decommitments like with Payton Pritchard, but a team can always withdraw an offer, too, if the kid doesn't develop.

I like the Jalen Wilson offer. You know his family follows OU and it's an offer he wanted. He had a great freshman year on a really good HS team. Why not?
 
Re: OU offers Denton, TX freshman, Jalen Wil

usedtobe1 said:
Recruiting has changed a lot in the past few years. I think the OU football team got into trouble a couple of years ago because they waited too long to make offers. Kids move on. I've seen a lot of commitments where a recruit said it was their first offer and they developed a bond with the coaching staff and players. It's a long-term relationship. We know there are risks of decommitments like with Payton Pritchard, but a team can always withdraw an offer, too, if the kid doesn't develop.

I like the Jalen Wilson offer. You know his family follows OU and it's an offer he wanted. He had a great freshman year on a really good HS team. Why not?
Click to expand...

I agree.
Offering early has risks both ways, but this kid could be very special. Being the best player on a 6A DFW team as a Frosh is impressive by itself. His shooting touch, passing, feel for the game, and size are rare. On top of that if he and his family like OU, then the risk is minimum.
 
Harmon and Maxey are better than Wilson. All three are high major.
 
Offering a high school underclassmen is like having another team's pick for a draft three years down the road. It's an asset that starts fairly valueless (you could always rescind the offer at little risk other than to "your word"), and gets way more important the longer you go holding it. You have no idea if it's going to pay off huge (the team who traded it to you faceplants, like the Nets = a kid blows up and repays your investment in him), break even, or bust. But at this stage in the game, it's a hedgable risk that has a lot of upside. Go get your guys, Lon.
 
If the kid accepts, and doesn't "pan out", I doubt Lon would have any problems pulling his scholarship. Some of you probably don't think Lon would do that, but I think he would. Guarantee there is a verbal part of any offer Lon makes this early that includes the player continuing to improve.
 
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