Carlton Linguard commits

[SCKSCat]

Verbal Commits have him rated as a 4*. Is this a good rating?

[SCKSCat]

We are going to be VERY TALL!

New guys:

Bradford - 7'0"
Linguard - 6'11"
Ezeagu - 6'10"
Lewis - 6'9"

We can call them "The Stair Steps".

Murphy 6-9
AGordon 6-9ish
Levi 6-8

Tall guards.

And all of these players can move. No stand and stupor guys.

[KsJoey]

Good pickup, it was the only guy that makes sense at this point. I think he fits better than Donovan would and 3 years to play.

[learnin]

I wouldn't dismiss this as meh. KU was interested at one point, and he had a ton of interest from some pretty good schools. I figure if we sign enough bigs, the law of averages says that one of them may end up pretty good - unless they all get foot injuries.

This is my take. If we have 3 or 4, one might come through in a big way

[wild@nite]

He has good athleticism and rebounded well for a beanpole. To me, that bodes well for what he might be capable of if we can get him to 220lbs. Guys, 6'11" and 200 lbs is ridiculous. To compare,
James Love was 6'11" and 240! Heck a shorter X Sneed measured at 6'5" and 215 this year for gosh sakes. This kid needs a RS in my opinion. He will get broken playing in the paint at 6'11"/200 in P5 bball. He needs at least 15 more lbs, but 20-25 would be better.

[katlander]

He considers himself a stretch 4 and sees shooting it as a big part of his offensive game. This concerns me. We have had too many bigs who would rather play on the outside than on the inside. He does a lot of things well.......for a big man, not for a guard. Hopefully he is willing to play the role we need, but I saw where he said that we are going to use him as a 4 instead of a 5. Hopefully another emerges at the 5 spot so that he can be used as a power forward/stretch 4.

That is the thing I like most about Bradford, that dude wants to be a center in the old fashioned sense of the word. I just hope he has what it takes to be that at the P5 level. If so, Bradford and Linguard could be a force in the paint in the coming years. Twin towers. I also think Ezeagu will be fine at the 5 but his highlight reel also showed him bringing the ball up and shooting threes. Our 5s may end up being Stockard, Bradford, Ezeagu & Lewis, and our 4s Murphy, A. Gordon & Linguard. That could work.

There is also talk about red shirting Linguard so he can get stronger. With his major it makes sense. I am anxious to see him play but the year of physical growth and physical maturity may really help. He stated that he wanted to put on 20# by the start of next season. It may be better to try to put on 15 or 20 pounds in a slower and more natural manner over 18 months, rather than 6.

[Hypeman]

Seems like a good pickup to me. Got 4 new bigs. One of them has to work out.

[IStillLikeHarv]

I watched him in a complete game against MCC, a good JUCO team. He has a lot of skills, but he needs to get stronger for sure. Lots of blocks and even more times affecting shot attempts without an actual block. He moves pretty well, and he is reasonably athletic. He had some nice offense in the second half including a sky hook and a nice midrange jumper. Lots of garbage baskets of course. He appears to have good hands, but he needs to get stronger.

His coach (700 wins) sees him with NBA potential down the road, but also suggested he might redshirt to get stronger. He wants to graduate in engineering, so the extra year could make sense academically as well. It would also help to declutter the number of big men for this season as well as down the road. I think he is going to be a nice pick-up.

[pulitzerdave]

The D.Williams, Linguard debate will be interesting over the next 3 years. I have a feeling we're going to be pleased with the outcome. At one time Linguard was a 4-star, just like Williams. I don't know why he dropped to a 3-star but I suspect it's because of the fickle nature of ratings. This I do know. More D-1 programs showed an interest in Linguard than in Williams. And we got him!

[Puffdad]

I am thrilled that we got a big instead of another guard. I think now we will have some good competition up and down the lineup. Might have to check out some practices again early in the year!!