West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[IUPbigINDIANS]

They had 937 for iup game. Call the Fire Marshall! Lol
with this kind of research, he could be a reporter asking questions at the covid19 daily press briefing! Lol

update: Macomb field house has capacity of 3500.

McComb is big when you're inside ... one of those old school gyms with really big bleachers on both sides.

I played there in high school and at the time it just seemed massive.

[Columbuseer]

[Scrub]

That's a real good program. Good for Shiff.

[Columbuseer]

[Scrub]

What do we know about the Elijah Watson kid who apparently signed with WLU this week?

[boatcapt]

What do we know about the Elijah Watson kid who apparently signed with WLU this week?

Elija Watson, 6'7", 195, SF/PF, TF South HS Lansing IL. Held offers from Wayne State, Indiana University NW and Augusta University.

From his highlights he appears to be a bit different than the typical WLU recruit. He can shoot from the outside but he seems to be more of a slasher type. He appears to have a pretty good handle.

[Layton]

https://hilltoppersports.com/news/20...-standout.aspx

I like the pickup, going to be an athletic lengthy 5 for us.

[Columbuseer]

Love the strong academics and character. Great fit for wlu. Watching his highlights he has the skills to play position less basketball.
Very athletic, high motor. See a blend of Will and Patrick in his offensive style. In a couple of years that could be dangerous at 6-7. On defense I see human eraser potential.
Played in a very high end league at 6-A level.

[boatcapt]

Got him penciled in for 15 to 20 mins per game next year. Probably not in the starting five but clearly on the second five team. He will hold his own offensively during his first year, but were he really is going to earn his bones is on the defensive end...quick twitch high flyer who will grab many rebounds and block more than a few shots...active defender who is going to be trouble for most bigs in the MEC.

As with most WLU recruits, there is what they already are (polished shooters who can handle the ball and play the game a 100 mph) and then what they can become. I look at Watson and imagine what he will be in 2 years which could be really scarry! That's if he can keep his AAU coach and Twitter "experts" from convincing him that he has D1 stardom and an NBA contract in his future.

[Columbuseer]

https://www.chicagotribune.com/subur...62a-story.html


For Elijah to make all tourney team in Chicago heights classic is a big deal. Some of the teams had at least 4 legit d1 players with 2 being high major d1. IMHO much higher level of competition than typical oh or pa team.

[Scrub]

I buy what you guys are saying about Watson, and the article you linked, Columbus, certainly makes it seem like he was in good company in his very difficult league. However, help me understand, then, why he only had a few small-time offers listed on VC? Is this a sign that VC didn't have him covered very well? That he was talking to a lot of schools but only got serious with one or two? I'm not sure. As an example, two days after Alessandro and/or Shifflett declared they were leaving WLU, there was a feeding frenzy for their services. The Jelani Simmons kid that IUP is courting is being crushed with offers--or so it appears on VC. Why are two bottom-feeding schools in the Northern Sun conference the only other offers Watson had? I'm not suggesting that he's a bad recruit. Signs point to him being an excellent recruit. I'm just trying to figure out how he got under so many radars (or maybe it's just that he was on a lot of radars but only a few publicly).

[Columbuseer]

I buy what you guys are saying about Watson, and the article you linked, Columbus, certainly makes it seem like he was in good company in his very difficult league. However, help me understand, then, why he only had a few small-time offers listed on VC? Is this a sign that VC didn't have him covered very well? That he was talking to a lot of schools but only got serious with one or two? I'm not sure. As an example, two days after Alessandro and/or Shifflett declared they were leaving WLU, there was a feeding frenzy for their services. The Jelani Simmons kid that IUP is courting is being crushed with offers--or so it appears on VC. Why are two bottom-feeding schools in the Northern Sun conference the only other offers Watson had? I'm not suggesting that he's a bad recruit. Signs point to him being an excellent recruit. I'm just trying to figure out how he got under so many radars (or maybe it's just that he was on a lot of radars but only a few publicly).

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I buy what you guys are saying about Watson, and the article you linked, Columbus, certainly makes it seem like he was in good company in his very difficult league. However, help me understand, then, why he only had a few small-time offers listed on VC? Is this a sign that VC didn't have him covered very well? That he was talking to a lot of schools but only got serious with one or two? I'm not sure. As an example, two days after Alessandro and/or Shifflett declared they were leaving WLU, there was a feeding frenzy for their services. The Jelani Simmons kid that IUP is courting is being crushed with offers--or so it appears on VC. Why are two bottom-feeding schools in the Northern Sun conference the only other offers Watson had? I'm not suggesting that he's a bad recruit. Signs point to him being an excellent recruit. I'm just trying to figure out how he got under so many radars (or maybe it's just that he was on a lot of radars but only a few publicly).

The offers we actually find out about ... are just the tip of the iceberg. Not all kids go on a 'look at me' bonanza on Twitter. You never see a peep about a "Mercyhurst offer" ... yet, they sure are pretty good every year.

Jelani Simmons better take one of those offers pretty soon. Most of them are probably already expired. Joe has two other offers out there right now (at least) that I am aware of ... only one of them is public. Fact is once the last spot is full (at IUP) ... the offer is gone. Jelani had a D1 Bryant offer early. Two days later they signed 3 guards. Poof. Kiss that one goodbye. I think he's holding out for the big (or, bigger) one ... but, it may never come.

Coaches move on quickly. If you offer a kid and he takes a month to decide ... they aren't going to wait for you.

In Jelani's case, he has (perhaps had) IUP, Lincoln Memorial and U-Indy among the elite D2 offers ... and hasn't picked any of them. Those three are on a short list of the top programs in D2 -- all perennial powers, all offer full rides and all have beautiful facilities. At this point it's obvious he doesn't want to play D2.

Some years these kids strike gold by holding out as long as possible. Some years, because of it, they end up at Clarion or UMES. Once the 'salary cap' is full ... it's full. No luxury tax in college basketball.

[Layton]

https://ledenews.com/west-liberty-me...-richer-again/

[boatcapt]

https://ledenews.com/west-liberty-me...-richer-again/

That's a STRONG recruting class even though it's only three players. Question is, who do you redshirt? Heck, maybe NONE redshirt! That's a deep f'ing bench. When you are bring in an All-State performer that is a Top-10 single season AND career 3-point shooter in Ohio history as a WALK-ON...well...you get the idea. Not a legit "garbage time" player on WLU's roster. Can you imagine practice this coming year? Practice is going to be harder than almost every game WLU plays this coming year!