If we don't get Jones, the choice to not pursue this kid, who was open to alot of schools including Marquette, OSU, and KSU, will look like a huge mistake. His game is compared to Latavious Williams game.
If we don't get Jones, the choice to not pursue this kid, who was open to alot of schools including Marquette, OSU, and KSU, will look like a huge mistake. His game is compared to Latavious Williams game.
PG: Phil Pressey
SG: Mike Dixon
SG: Kim English
PF: Tony Mitchell
PF: Laurence Bowers
You got yourself a team there, Mr. Anderson.
He was open to a lot of schools at one point... but when it came to making his final decision there was not a lot of room for other teams to get involved.
And like I said... Anderson does not take chances on guys with questionable motivation.
What's funny to me is as a youth in Oklahoma I had the pleasure of going to basketball camps and recruiting and ran across guys like Bill Self, Tubby, Nolan, Mike Anderson, Gillispie, etc. And I hear guys at these other school sites say what a coach will and won't do. I can assure you that Coach Anderson is not above giving any kid a chance. Just because he gives a kid a chance doesn't mean he doesn't run a tight ship. None of us know Mitchell so it's hard to say anything about his character or academics if we don't know the situation. But if their are reports about those issues, alot of times where there is smoke there is fire.
Anderson will take chances on guys who may not be great students. He will take an occasional chance on a kid who's made other mistakes in his life (Stefhon Hannah, sticking behind Darryl Butterfield, working hard to keep Keon Lawrence in the fold, recruiting Keith Dewitt despite his own personal/academic issues).
But he won't take a guy who has motivation issues when it comes to the game of basketball.
If Mitchell has issues getting motivated in the classroom, or if he's had some trouble staying focused in other off the court arenas, Anderson will address that and work with him to become a better person. That's what he and his mom commented on most after his visit... it was clear that IF there are issues like that, he and his mom are committed to getting things straightened out and chose MU in part because they know Anderson is the guy to help him do that.
Um, do you realize the amount of students, not just basketball players who have classroom motivation issues? And motivation issues are a little easier to manage when you have tutors and can suspend a guy like JC did to Juan Patillo.
What exactly are you responding to with this? I see the bolded part... but it doesn't really match what you seem to be trying to say (which has nothing to do with any point I've made).
i'm not dm, but i think he's saying that a college coach has a fair amount of leverage in keeping an enrolled player academicly motivated and eligible once he's in college.
but that a college coach doesn't have many tools to use in helping a hs player become eligible.