SMART

[Blurs]

For my two cents I'd welcome Smart back if he decided to sign a letter of intent here. He verbally agreed but never signed with us, only pushing back his commitment. It is also hard to blame him for backing off what was an early commitment. When he decommitted there were still many questions to be answered including Porter (the very man who recruited him)'s own job security. At that time the program had no athletic director and at was coming off a season in which 5 players transferred/left the program. Now we're at a much more stable and exciting place.

Smart is a 3-4 star recruit depending on who you ask and would be a huge help with 2 years of eligibility following Miltons graduation. If the program wants to grow it's going to start having to dance with better prospects who have more offers and unfortunately may be more fickle. We don't know Smarts situation or reasons for the decommitment. Retweeting Jeff White and acknowledging the team shows we're on the kids radar still however. Who knows what will happen, but i won't fault him for changing his mind. Heck it worked out for us with Milton Doyle! He committed to Florida International, then Kansas, before settling for home at Loyola, kids will end up where they need to be eventually.


And Brot, the good news is we already have two big men committed! 6-9 Maurice Kirby out of Coffeyville Community College (Montel and Earl's old JUCO) and 6'7'' Pernell Adgei! The Ramblers are gonna be growing this offseason!

[brot4britu]

Good Blurby !! Thanks for the info on our BIGS for next year !! Maybe just maybe NORTHERN IOWA will not be as good as they have been.

[swellafelon]

He is a 1st Team All-American:

http://www.njcaa.org/Teams/mbasketball/ ... ricans.pdf

Above shows him as a frosh, but on the Hill College website he's listed as a soph. Not sure which is right, but either way he's apparently eligible to play next year.

[ahunte1]

Anyone know what happened to Roosevelt Smart?

I saw the Western Kentucky offer pretty quickly after he decommitted from Loyola, but not a word since.

[swellafelon]

I predict Smart will reclassify as a 2016 recruit, spend a second year at Sunrise Christian as a post grad and.....sign with Wichita State. I had a hunch when Smart decommitted from Loyola in the fall that WSU was in the picture, and what's happened since (or more accurately, what HASN'T happened since) only reinforces my initial suspicions.

WSU didn't need Smart in the backcourt this year with VanVleet, Baker and Wessel all returning for their senior year. But they will need somebody to fill those shoes next year, and Smart fits the bill nicely. I speculate WSU last fall sold Smart on the idea of spending a second year at Sunrise and signing with the Shockers in 2016, when there will be playing time in the backcourt available for him.

This explains why Smart didn't sign in the spring and why there has been so little reported recruiting interest in this 3 star recruit. Other programs were somehow made aware of Smart's ultimate destination and backed off. Also, it doesn't appear that Smart is playing AAU ball this year. If he was trying to raise his profile and attract high-major offers, he would be playing AAU ball.

This is pure speculation on my part, and I am sure to get major grief from the Shocker message board, but I think my reasoning makes sense.

[swellafelon]

Here's a Tweet from Smart that seems to confirm my guess that he's coming back to Sunrise for a second year:

[brot4britu]

Gosh I hope Swella is wrong on his theory--His premise unfortunately is well thought out--

I have had NOTHING but respect for WSU over these many years--My posts would seem to back this up--BUT IF--a big IF-- what Swella posits come to pass or something close to it, my respect for all things Wichita St will die. I now have deep suspicions that Shockers and Marshall will become nothing more than Louisville , Fla St, old UNLV and the like.
Thank Heavens that LUC plays it straight up ---see Sully years. Its about winning --yes--But winning with HONOR !! To me there is little honor in the idea behind Swella's theory.

Great but sad post SWELLA !!

[ahunte1]

Good post, swella. If you're right, I hope the Rowdies will be ready to "welcome" him into Gentile.

One quibble is that I don't think you can play AAU after your senior year of high school, so that's one piece of evidence that doesn't support your otherwise compelling case.

It's still surprising though, that there are no reports, rumors, nothing about a top 150 player. Even if he were going to reclassify, you'd think that would be known by now. However, you're probably right that's what he is doing.

[brot4britu]

Based on what I am reading, it DOES appear that Smart was using his verbal to us without signing, as a ploy to see what BETTER offer he would get--WSU moves in , Smart bites and that is that . Fageddabout him !! Worthless--WSU is welcome to him IF the scenario pans out--If not. then anyone is welcome to him.


Keep digging Swella !!

[swellafelon]

One quibble is that I don't think you can play AAU after your senior year of high school, so that's one piece of evidence that doesn't support your otherwise compelling case.

You might be right, but I haven't researched the question. I may have assumed otherwise when Nate Navigato played AAU ball this spring to showcase himself after decommitting from Buffalo. But I guess that might have been before he graduated.

And Pernell Adgei has a mixtape that came out in August of last year, after he had graduated from high school, about his playing AAU ball that summer.

So....I guess I'm going to have to do the research after all.

tick... tick... tick.... tock.... tick.....

I'm back, and it didn't take long to find the answer:

19U/ 12th Grade: An athlete can be no older than 19 on August 31, 2015. Grade Exception: An athlete who is in the 12th grade as of Oct 1, 2014 and who is no older than 20 on August 31, 2015 is eligible to play in the 19U/12th grade division.

http://www.aauboysbasketball.org/News/V ... le-Changes

It would seem that Smart, unless he turns 21 before 8/31/15, would be eligible to play AAU ball this summer. So, this vital lynchpin of my argument remains valid. Boy, am I relieved!