Big Ten Hoops Recruiting: Point Guard Drama in 2016 Class
By Eric Gibson@BSD_Eric on Sep 10, 2015, 9:00a 7
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Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports
A prized Big Ten point guard recruit had one of the crazier recruitments in recent memory yesterday and has subsequently altered the conference's point guard picture in the 2016 class.
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Part of the joy of landing a top-50 point guard is the knowingness that no matter what happens in the rest of the recruiting class, Penn State will have a guy who can compete with the best in the Big Ten. For once, we might not have to be utterly terrified of the D'Angelo Russells and Melo Trimbles. So it's been more interesting this commitment season to follow along with the rest of Big Ten hoops recruiting. Mostly because Penn State isn't sitting alone in the corner of the bar anymore.
A lot of Big Ten programs are in need of a point guard this cycle. Typically coaches want to bring in a lead guard every 2-3 years. Maryland needs one to replace Melo Trimble, who could be in the NBA this time next year. Michigan's Derrick Walton Jr. will be a junior, so John Beilein is in the market. Indiana needs to replace Yogi Ferrell. MSU needs one to come up behind Tum Tum Nairn. Illinois just needs one immediately. Iowa has to replace Mike Gesell. So this is a key point guard cycle for most of the Big Ten.
I don't need to ramble on about the continued trend of the ball screen offense in college hoops. This is simply the next crop of lead guards that will be dominating the Big Ten in 2-4 years. Following the drama surrounding what color jersey they will be wearing in college has been fascinating. The table below is what we knew as of yesterday morning, before one of the Big Ten's most important dominoes in Xavier Simpson was about to commit. Shoutout to 247Sports.com for the player data in the linked profiles.
Team Priority Target Schools In Consideration Other Targets Notes
Penn State Tony Carr
6-4 200 Maryland, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Temple, Georgetown, Pitt, Florida State Carr committed to Penn State (08/03/15) Chose PSU over Maryland and Temple. Continues Team Final and Roman Catholic pipeline from Phildelphia to PSU.
Maryland Anthony Cowan
6-0 194 Penn State, Illinois, Georgetown, Xavier, Florida State Cowan committed to Maryland (01/26/15) Local native chose Maryland early in January and has only gotten better since.
Purdue Carsen Edwards
6-0 175 Vanderbilt, SMU, Baylor, Kansas State Edwards committed to Purdue (08/11/15) Purdue previously had CJ Walker's verbal committment before he backed out and pledged to Florida State. Edwards is a Texas native.
Northwestern Isiah Brown
6-1 175 Washington, St. Mary's, Utah State Brown committed to Northwestern (05/31/15) Northwestern tried to get involved with better ranked PGs. Collins decided to go with Brown early after seeing him in April AAU.
Iowa Jordan Bohannon
6-0 175 DePaul, Northern Iowa, Drake, Bohannon committed to Iowa (08/28/15) Younger brother of former Wisconsin guard Jason Bohannon. Iowa native.
Indiana Josh Newkirk
6-1 185 Possible transfer destinations unknown Newkirk transferred to Indiana (08/23/15) Crean will continue to recruit lead guards, including Curtis Jones and Bruce Brown. Newkirk comes from Pitt, averaged 5.9 PPG, 2.7 APG in 20.8 MPG as Soph. Three-star recruit and ranked #120 in 2013 247Composite.
Michigan State Cassius Winston
6-2 194 Michigan, Pitt, Stanford None Michigan native in high profile Izzo-Beilein in-state battle. Doubts started to surround a Michigan official visit after recent postponement of Ann Arbor trip.
Michigan Cassius Winston
6-2 194 Michigan State, Pitt, Stanford None See above. Also read below to find out yesterday's Simpson saga. Keep in mind John Beilein is out of any more scholarships with three verbal commits, so it seems Winston or bust.
Illinois Xavier Simpson
5-11 165 Wisconsin, Iowa State, Miami FL Charlie Moore /
Te'Jon Lucas Illinois has had a terrible offseason. Groce cast a huge net with many PG offers in this class, but that seems to be backfiring. Read below for full Simpson saga.
Wisconsin Xavier Simpson
5-11 165 Illinois, Iowa State, Miami FL JaQuori McLaughlin /
Frankie Hughes Amazing Wisconsin can even recruit anybody with 11 underclassmen scholarships and an uncertain future for Bo Ryan. Read below for full Simpson saga.
Minnesota Shamorie Ponds
5-11 160 St. John's, Providence, Creighton Frankie Hughes Pitino quietly has a chance at a top-25 class if he can land Ponds from under Chris Mullins' nose in NYC.
As you can tell from the table, five Big Ten programs still need to fill their point guard need. Six, if you want to count Indiana. Two of them had been going head-to-head recently for Simpson out of Lima, Ohio. However, he committed to a third Big Ten program yesterday that was secretly recruiting him the whole time. Here's how all of that went down in this storify I threw together from Twitter.
By Eric Gibson@BSD_Eric on Sep 10, 2015, 9:00a 7
Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports
A prized Big Ten point guard recruit had one of the crazier recruitments in recent memory yesterday and has subsequently altered the conference's point guard picture in the 2016 class.
TweetShare on TwitterShareShare on FacebookPinPinterest7 Comments ⋆Rec Recommend this Post 1
Part of the joy of landing a top-50 point guard is the knowingness that no matter what happens in the rest of the recruiting class, Penn State will have a guy who can compete with the best in the Big Ten. For once, we might not have to be utterly terrified of the D'Angelo Russells and Melo Trimbles. So it's been more interesting this commitment season to follow along with the rest of Big Ten hoops recruiting. Mostly because Penn State isn't sitting alone in the corner of the bar anymore.
A lot of Big Ten programs are in need of a point guard this cycle. Typically coaches want to bring in a lead guard every 2-3 years. Maryland needs one to replace Melo Trimble, who could be in the NBA this time next year. Michigan's Derrick Walton Jr. will be a junior, so John Beilein is in the market. Indiana needs to replace Yogi Ferrell. MSU needs one to come up behind Tum Tum Nairn. Illinois just needs one immediately. Iowa has to replace Mike Gesell. So this is a key point guard cycle for most of the Big Ten.
I don't need to ramble on about the continued trend of the ball screen offense in college hoops. This is simply the next crop of lead guards that will be dominating the Big Ten in 2-4 years. Following the drama surrounding what color jersey they will be wearing in college has been fascinating. The table below is what we knew as of yesterday morning, before one of the Big Ten's most important dominoes in Xavier Simpson was about to commit. Shoutout to 247Sports.com for the player data in the linked profiles.
Team Priority Target Schools In Consideration Other Targets Notes
Penn State Tony Carr
6-4 200 Maryland, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Temple, Georgetown, Pitt, Florida State Carr committed to Penn State (08/03/15) Chose PSU over Maryland and Temple. Continues Team Final and Roman Catholic pipeline from Phildelphia to PSU.
Maryland Anthony Cowan
6-0 194 Penn State, Illinois, Georgetown, Xavier, Florida State Cowan committed to Maryland (01/26/15) Local native chose Maryland early in January and has only gotten better since.
Purdue Carsen Edwards
6-0 175 Vanderbilt, SMU, Baylor, Kansas State Edwards committed to Purdue (08/11/15) Purdue previously had CJ Walker's verbal committment before he backed out and pledged to Florida State. Edwards is a Texas native.
Northwestern Isiah Brown
6-1 175 Washington, St. Mary's, Utah State Brown committed to Northwestern (05/31/15) Northwestern tried to get involved with better ranked PGs. Collins decided to go with Brown early after seeing him in April AAU.
Iowa Jordan Bohannon
6-0 175 DePaul, Northern Iowa, Drake, Bohannon committed to Iowa (08/28/15) Younger brother of former Wisconsin guard Jason Bohannon. Iowa native.
Indiana Josh Newkirk
6-1 185 Possible transfer destinations unknown Newkirk transferred to Indiana (08/23/15) Crean will continue to recruit lead guards, including Curtis Jones and Bruce Brown. Newkirk comes from Pitt, averaged 5.9 PPG, 2.7 APG in 20.8 MPG as Soph. Three-star recruit and ranked #120 in 2013 247Composite.
Michigan State Cassius Winston
6-2 194 Michigan, Pitt, Stanford None Michigan native in high profile Izzo-Beilein in-state battle. Doubts started to surround a Michigan official visit after recent postponement of Ann Arbor trip.
Michigan Cassius Winston
6-2 194 Michigan State, Pitt, Stanford None See above. Also read below to find out yesterday's Simpson saga. Keep in mind John Beilein is out of any more scholarships with three verbal commits, so it seems Winston or bust.
Illinois Xavier Simpson
5-11 165 Wisconsin, Iowa State, Miami FL Charlie Moore /
Te'Jon Lucas Illinois has had a terrible offseason. Groce cast a huge net with many PG offers in this class, but that seems to be backfiring. Read below for full Simpson saga.
Wisconsin Xavier Simpson
5-11 165 Illinois, Iowa State, Miami FL JaQuori McLaughlin /
Frankie Hughes Amazing Wisconsin can even recruit anybody with 11 underclassmen scholarships and an uncertain future for Bo Ryan. Read below for full Simpson saga.
Minnesota Shamorie Ponds
5-11 160 St. John's, Providence, Creighton Frankie Hughes Pitino quietly has a chance at a top-25 class if he can land Ponds from under Chris Mullins' nose in NYC.
As you can tell from the table, five Big Ten programs still need to fill their point guard need. Six, if you want to count Indiana. Two of them had been going head-to-head recently for Simpson out of Lima, Ohio. However, he committed to a third Big Ten program yesterday that was secretly recruiting him the whole time. Here's how all of that went down in this storify I threw together from Twitter.
