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Post by Big D on Apr 17, 2014 20:00:09 GMT -5
Joe Thomasson 6-4, 180lb Stats: 18 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists.
Joe Thomasson is the jewel of this class. He is a JUCO All-American and chose WSU over several BCS offers. As a player, he reminds me of a more athletic (and healthy) John David Gardner. He has great floor vision. He is a good outside shooter but he is a special player when he attacks the rim--he knows how to finish inside or find an open teammate. He is a very unselfish player but he has the ability to take over a game if needed.
Grant Evans 6-3, 170lb Stats: 26 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists
Grant Evans would be the jewel of this class if we didn't sign Joe Thomasson. He is an Indiana All Star and Wright State started recruiting this kid 4 years ago before he played a game in high school. He is one of the best pure shooters we have ever signed, but he is more than just a shooter. Over the course of his high school career he has developed into a great all around player. The player he reminds me most of is Vaughn Duggins. He isn't as physical as Vaughn, but he is a much better shooter than Vaughn ever was.
Grant Benzinger 6-3, 180lb Stats: 16 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists
I have listened to many Raider fans discuss Grant Benzinger. Some compare him to Troy Tabler, who also attended the same high school as Grant. I have heard other fans compare him to Grant Evans. I think Benzinger falls in the middle of that comparison. Grant is a great 3 point shooter. He is probably the best 3 point shooter in the state of Ohio this year and is pretty darn close to being as good as Evans. Having these 2 guys on our roster with JT Yoho makes me giddie thinking about the possibilities. The biggest differences between Evans and Benzinger is style of play. Evans is more athletic and can do more things with the ball in his hand. Benzinger is probably the more cerebral of the 2. He plays very well to his strengths and limits his weaknesses by playing smart. He is more athletic than Troy Tabler was, but he is not as athletic as Evans is.
Justin Mitchell 6-4, 175lbs Stats: 20 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals
Justin Mitchell tends to be the forgotten guard in this class with all of the fanfare our other guards receive. Justin is a good all around player. He is the best defender in this class. When he fills out he might end up being a better defender than Kendall Griffin. He is a like a junkyard dog as a defender and he has quick hands. Offensively, he is a streaky outside shooter and does more of his scoring taking it inside. He is a good scorer, rebounder, and he has good court vision. The 2 biggest things he is going to have to work on is filling out his frame and learning our system. His high school team did not run a structured system anything close to what we run, so Mitchell is going to have to make that adjustment. He is a very smart kid, so I do not think that will be a problem for him.
Roderick Davis 6-8, 215lb Stats: 12 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 blocks
If Mitchell is the forgotten guard in this class, Rodderick Davis is the forgotten forward in this class. Fans ask me all of the time about him and why there isn't more about him on the recruiting board. The problem is that Florida does not cover high school basketball like Ohio and Indiana does, so there were very few articles to post about him. Davis is a solid addition to this team. He is a taller, more athletic version of Cole Darling coming out of high school. He is a legit 6-8 and weighs in at 215lbs. Cole was 185lbs at the same time his senior year. Davis could play PF or SF at WSU. He has enough legit size that I think he can fill out and be a good PF in the HL. He is athletic enough and shoots well enough from outside to play SF too. He played on a high school team that often scored in the 30s and 40s, so do not worry too much about his scoring average. He played for a defense first coach, so he should fit right in with Donlon.
Parker Ernsthausen 6-9, 205lb Stats: 13 points and 8 rebounds
I said in another thread that Parker reminds me a lot of AJ Pacher at this stage of his career. AJ went from a 6-3 high school sophomore to 6-9 senior and only got to play one year under the basket before he arrived at Wright State. We blew a huge opportunity to red-shirt him to fully develop him as a player. We were forced to. We just didn't have any depth inside we he arrived at Wright State. We have the chance to do it right this time around with Parker. He went from being a 6-4 SF last year to 6-9 this year. He is raw and skinny, but he has athletic ability, intelligence, and a great work ethic. The plans are to red-shirt him and even after that I don't think he will contribute much the following year, but he has the potential to be a good 2-3 year player for us after that if he works his rear off. I really like this kid.
Michael Karena 6-9, 240lb Stats: 4 points and 2 rebounds
Karena is not the JUCO post player most of our fans wanted to see us sigh this spring. I have been asked more about JUCO recruit Keith Thomas than any other recruit in recent memory. Fans shouldn't be disappointed that we signed Karena though. The young man can play. He was limited most of this season due to an early season ankle injury. He should have been held out a few weeks to heal up, but he chose to gut it out and play with the injury most of the season. For no other reason, I like this young man. I like his toughness. I watched him play live in the JUCO tournament this year. He is an active post player. He has good feet and soft hands. He plays physical and he plays smart. He is the type of guy we needed for next year that can step in and contribute right away.
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Post by mrose on Apr 17, 2014 20:44:33 GMT -5
Great synopsis, Big D! Thanks for the informative post and all the time and effort you put into the board.
This class sounds like it's one of the better incoming recruiting classes we've put together in a quite a while.
I have two questions.
1) How would you rank this class during the Brownell/BD era?
2) Reading other boards I was under the impression Keith Thomas was going to make a visit to WSU this weekend (next?) is that still the case?
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Post by Big D on Apr 17, 2014 20:56:06 GMT -5
I have two questions. 1) How would you rank this class during the Brownell/BD era? 2) Reading other boards I was under the impression Keith Thomas was going to make a visit to WSU this weekend (next?) is that still the case? 1. On paper, I think this is the best class Donlon or Brownell has signed due to the size of this class. Brownell's first class included Vaughn Duggins and Todd Brown (Biancardi's signed him and Brownell kept him from opting out of his LOI). They are both all time greats at Wright State. Only time will tell if any of these recruits will have careers like that, but I really like this class. 2. I do not know if we are still recruiting Keith Thomas or not. I am not privy to who is leaving the program so I do not know if we have a scholarship open for him. |
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Post by wolf41 on Apr 18, 2014 8:59:05 GMT -5
Thank you for the excellent report BigD. That is a report that I think we will all want to refer to from time to time.
On paper the team we'll see next season may be one of the best in all our years of basketball at WSU. I would say it is the best, but will withhold that comment until we see if there are some potential sure fire all time HoFers, such as Edwards, Wood, Duggins, etc. But in terms of apparent talent and balance I think it is probably our best ever. The potential for this team is obvious, but we'll have to take a wait and see attitude. But I'm very optimistic.
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Post by Dr J on Apr 18, 2014 16:09:40 GMT -5
Big D, thanks that was well done and should be helpful for people. Now that it is official can these players have a thread on the general area instead of recruit area?
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Post by Big D on Apr 18, 2014 18:06:22 GMT -5
Big D, thanks that was well done and should be helpful for people. Now that it is official can these players have a thread on the general area instead of recruit area? You can start any thread you want on this board as long as it's about WSU or the HL. |
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Post by keithfromxenia on Apr 18, 2014 18:19:13 GMT -5
Well, dang, big d, reading your description of our incoming is almost enough to change my mind. Generally speaking, I view our recruits as just what most of them are, mid major freshmen recruits. More decorative than functional. I cannot find stats on the wsu website, but I would bet if you go back five or so years, most of our freshmen give us 2-4 ppg. Reggie gave us 8 ppg as a freshman but he is the exception, not the rule. Again, no stats in front of me, but I would bet we lost 75-80 percent of our points and rebounds with our graduating seniors. So either our returning players have to crank it up big time or these freshmen have to contribute quickly. I think Joe t will be an immediate force and look forward to seeing him play. As far as departures, Kendall' s health is a factor. I hope none of our freshmen from last year leave. Losing recruits year after year makes it very tough to build a program. Any word on whether any of these guys will be on campus during the summer??
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Post by Big D on Apr 18, 2014 19:23:54 GMT -5
Well, dang, big d, reading your description of our incoming is almost enough to change my mind. Generally speaking, I view our recruits as just what most of them are, mid major freshmen recruits. More decorative than functional. I cannot find stats on the wsu website, but I would bet if you go back five or so years, most of our freshmen give us 2-4 ppg. Reggie gave us 8 ppg as a freshman but he is the exception, not the rule. Again, no stats in front of me, but I would bet we lost 75-80 percent of our points and rebounds with our graduating seniors. So either our returning players have to crank it up big time or these freshmen have to contribute quickly. I think Joe t will be an immediate force and look forward to seeing him play. As far as departures, Kendall' s health is a factor. I hope none of our freshmen from last year leave. Losing recruits year after year makes it very tough to build a program. Any word on whether any of these guys will be on campus during the summer?? Keith, we have had our fair share of players contributing early in their careers since Donlon/Brownell came to WSU 8 years ago. We have 2 JUCOs coming in next year. We have had good luck with them contributing right away. Cory Cooperwood averaged 9.3 points, Miles Dixon averaged 8.5 points, and Jerran Young averaged 8.8 points in their first season with the Raiders. We have also had good luck with many freshmen who contributed right away. Todd Brown averaged 8.6 points, Vaughn Duggins averaged 9.0 points, Troy Tabler averaged 5.0 points, Cole Darling averaged 4.3 points, Reggie Arceneaux averaged 8.5 points, and JT Yoho averaged 6.5 points in their first year with the Raiders. I am excited about next year. I like what we have returning and I like what we have added. I see a team that will go 10 deep every night that has better size and much better shooters than we have had in quite some time. |
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Post by Raider Fanatic on Apr 18, 2014 20:24:13 GMT -5
Any word on whether any of these guys will be on campus during the summer?? I think they will all be on campus this summer at some point in time. |
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Post by BasketBallJones on Apr 20, 2014 10:32:59 GMT -5
With the addition of Evans and Benzinger to the roster along with Yoho, the Raiders may have the best 3 point shooting team they've ever had. Reggie and Kendall are decent shooters as well. It remains to be seen how much PT these two new players will earn as the season progresses.
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Post by Raider Grad on Apr 20, 2014 11:36:49 GMT -5
I know people are speculating that we are done recruiting since Keith Thomas isn't listing us anymore. I have doubts that is true. We might just be out of the Keith Thomas sweepstakes because he has a ton of new BCS schools interested in him and he dropped us from consideration. I don't think we are done yet for next year. The reason being is that if we were done, why hasn't Wright State issued a press releases yet. Parker Ernsthausen and Michael Karena have both signed their LOIs. Big D has posted pictures of them signing their paperwork on Raider Nation's facebook page. If the roster is set now, why haven't they issued a press release on the 2 signings and the departure of Daniel Meyer?
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Post by WrightStateFan on Apr 21, 2014 8:39:53 GMT -5
I know people are speculating that we are done recruiting since Keith Thomas isn't listing us anymore. I have doubts that is true. We might just be out of the Keith Thomas sweepstakes because he has a ton of new BCS schools interested in him and he dropped us from consideration. I don't think we are done yet for next year. The reason being is that if we were done, why hasn't Wright State issued a press releases yet. Parker Ernsthausen and Michael Karena have both signed their LOIs. Big D has posted pictures of them signing their paperwork on Raider Nation's facebook page. If the roster is set now, why haven't they issued a press release on the 2 signings and the departure of Daniel Meyer? Good point. Hopefully we still have a shot to add another post player for next year. Now that Meyer left, we are basically in the same position we were last year concerning depth in the post. Sledge and Karena at center replaces Pacher and Sledge at center last season. Yoho, Stephen Davis, and Roderick Davis at PF replaces Darling, Yoho, and Stephen Davis last season. It would be nice to bring in one more legit inside player with bulk. |
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Post by Hoops Junkie on Apr 25, 2014 18:44:05 GMT -5
I know people are speculating that we are done recruiting since Keith Thomas isn't listing us anymore. I have doubts that is true. We might just be out of the Keith Thomas sweepstakes because he has a ton of new BCS schools interested in him and he dropped us from consideration. I don't think we are done yet for next year. The reason being is that if we were done, why hasn't Wright State issued a press releases yet. Parker Ernsthausen and Michael Karena have both signed their LOIs. Big D has posted pictures of them signing their paperwork on Raider Nation's facebook page. If the roster is set now, why haven't they issued a press release on the 2 signings and the departure of Daniel Meyer? It is pretty odd that Wright State still hasn't issued a press release on our 2 signings. |
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Post by Raider Alumni on May 6, 2014 19:30:58 GMT -5
It is pretty odd that Wright State still hasn't issued a press release on our 2 signings. Still waiting for an announcement. What is the holdup. |
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Post by wsutommygun on May 6, 2014 19:56:10 GMT -5
You may know that graduation was Saturday. Not sure when Summer Semester starts or if it breaks down into parts like the quarter system used to do ( where some guys didn't show up until a 2nd session ). FWIW, when Benzinger was a freshman, Moeller had a qb named Joseph Benzinger ( he played for the freshmen, or at least I saw Todd waiting for the Moeller frosh to play Fenwick that day )...anyway, looks like Joseph Grant Benzinger is listed in the WSU Directory as is, a Parker Ernsthausen and a Justin Mitchell. ( None of the other 4 yet ).
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