I think he shot the ball poorly this summer in AAU play, which is why a lot of people are saying he can’t shoot.
Jasper Johnson
- Thread starter ThrowBackCat9
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I wonder if the quality of shots Johnson was taking in that venue had an impact? Or maybe there were better athletes putting pressure on him defensively, making him rush his shot, etc.? I didn't watch, so I couldn't offer even a guess.
But the shot looks good, wouldn't you say? Freshmen as a group will still be the worst 3pt. shooters in college basketball every year, but again I think they're getting better.
Yeah I know, but his numbers in other leagues were fine. AAU is a terrible indicator honestly. No structure, bad shots, lots of individual play. They said the same thing about Dilly too.
Only one photo has his family.. I like it.
You know Dad wants him at UK.
Got to think Mom wants him to stay home (UK is just 15 minutes down the road).
But he has been going to high school away from home, so that might not be a factor.
One would think that he's not going to disappoint the hometown fans, but who knows. Recruiting is a strange world.
Ray Allen's dad wanted him to go to Kentucky. Most of Allen's circle agreed. Instead, he chose the school on the frigid northeast corner of the United States. Allen, a South Carolina kid, chose to play in the frigid tundra of Storrs when Pitino offered him a system that was perfect for his game, a school closer to his family, and a school that his family preferred. Weird stuff.
I shared his interview on here about going to UK until he was on a recruiting visit, at Pitino's restaurant, WHILE Pitino was there but wouldn't even come say a word to him. Was too busy with non basketball "friends" while Ray was there on a recruiting visit with Mashburn. Pitino's "I'm the only person who matters" attitude is why we didn't land Ray Allen. That's when he started leaning anywhere but UK. Not that weird that the coach recruiting you to come to the school your on a visit to completely ignoring you while in the same building as you while you're on your visit.
That’s a good call, I guess he wants to be a pro and so do they so he will be traveling and living somewhere else pretty soon if that works out.
From what I understand, Pitino was letting Mashburn take Ray Allen out to eat that night. Pitino had already met with him and was meeting with him again the next day. He had told Mashburn to tell Ray about the UK experience.
I think Ray Allen overplayed that moment when Pitino "only" waved at Mashburn and Allen. Clearly he was giving Mashburn and Allen space to privately discuss the UK experience. This is the same thing Derek Anderson did for T-Mac when DA took T-Mac to dinner. Pitino used this strategy for plenty of guys. Meet with the player for day one. Let your player host (Mashburn, DA) take the recruit to dinner on day two. Close up with a final meeting in the last hours of the visit.
I know it fits the salty anti-Pitino crowd that thinks Pitino would have intentionally blown off Allen, but that's not reality.
Allen even recently said that UK "rolled out the red carpet" for him on his official visit to Lexington. So how can UK both "roll out the red carpet" and diss him simultaneously?
It's much more likely UK simply didn't prioritize Allen at that point. He was not a top 40 recruit, and Sheppard was about to commit. Pitino was only taking one of them. Had Pitino known Allen would have become the Ray Allen we knew him as at UConn, Pitino would have laid down in traffic for the kid.
Allen felt spurned, but he had his chance.
We only took 2 freshmen that year (and a transfer in Pope) and were full on scholarships. The other freshman was Epps, so it's hard to say in hindsight if we might have taken BOTH Sheppard and Allen but not Epps. Or maybe Pitino really liked Epps as a PG and only was going to take 1 SG.
If memory serves, Pitino wanted Charles O’Bannon to finish the class, but he was a UCLA lock. His brother Ed was there and we already had Sophomore to be Rodrick Rhodes at SF. Pitino even spoke at OBannon’s Senior basketball banquet trying to pull a last minute coup, but failed. By that time all the Class of ‘93 recruits had made their decisions. Just trying to go by memory, but I think it was after O’Bannon announced that Pope transferred in. It’s been a while, but that’s how I remember it.
I always thought it was strange that Pitino wanted only one, but that was according to both Sheppard and Allen. The 1994 team had Ford, Sheppard, Brassow, Harrison, Delk, and Rhodes.
Maybe Pitino thought his depth level was already solid? I'm not sure. It's too bad that Pitino didn't prioritize both of them. After all, Sheppard played point guard during his first two seasons at UK. There was room for Allen.
But Pitino ignored him and his family on his visit and that turned him off big time.
