How about Randle?

[UFG8rGuy3283]

Originally Posted by jshaas

I guess by the lack of comments on randle and more about UNC doesn't bode well for us getting him. Lost out on Joel dakari and Jabari. 0-3. Just need to land Randle. !!

Are you referring to Joel James from the 2012 class? I'm guessing so.

Joel Berry is still very much in the mix for 2014. He's one kid I really hope we get. He's just solid.

I think the whole thing with Julius right now from reading his blog and Twitter and whatnot is he is having a little bit of a frustrating time right now with the broken foot he sustained and not being able to play. He blogged that he's worried he may not be selected for the McDonald's game because of the injury.

Found a couple of links below that are interesting. In the video he talks about fan support and environment being a big factor. He also says if he could take one player with him to school it would probably be a PG, like Andrew Harrison, which I found odd considering what I've heard and read about UK not being a real player for him. He mentions BD briefly. The other thing he emphasizes is that he wants to win it all next year and play in a place where he can improve.

I'm not saying he's a lock to UF by any means, but I feel as if he is playing it very close to the vest right now. He's a smart kid, much like Parker and I know that Walker is recruiting him hard for us. He talks about wanting to win it all and play with a great PG and improve....all 3 = UF. Here's hoping anyway!

http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/dave...ery-recruiting

http://zagsblog.com/articles/julius-...cdonalds-game/

[bullish]

Randle a 10% chance. Billy I hope has others he doesn't want us to know about, until they pull the trigger because we could use a good wing or big. The longer top recruits wait, they are doing this for what they feel is getting the best offer. Handlers come into play, coaches, mentors, parents, friends, AAU coaches, runners for agents. With all these contacts in play, 10% might be a little high. LOL

As for exposure, we might not be the top, but we are close. Randle come on down to Hog Town. Play with one of the most talented teams of 13/14 season.

[gatordd]

Originally Posted by UFG8rGuy3283

Are you referring to Joel James from the 2012 class? I'm guessing so.

Joel Berry is still very much in the mix for 2014. He's one kid I really hope we get. He's just solid.

I think the whole thing with Julius right now from reading his blog and Twitter and whatnot is he is having a little bit of a frustrating time right now with the broken foot he sustained and not being able to play. He blogged that he's worried he may not be selected for the McDonald's game because of the injury.

Found a couple of links below that are interesting. In the video he talks about fan support and environment being a big factor. He also says if he could take one player with him to school it would probably be a PG, like Andrew Harrison, which I found odd considering what I've heard and read about UK not being a real player for him. He mentions BD briefly. The other thing he emphasizes is that he wants to win it all next year and play in a place where he can improve.

I'm not saying he's a lock to UF by any means, but I feel as if he is playing it very close to the vest right now. He's a smart kid, much like Parker and I know that Walker is recruiting him hard for us. He talks about wanting to win it all and play with a great PG and improve....all 3 = UF. Here's hoping anyway!

http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/dave...ery-recruiting

http://zagsblog.com/articles/julius-...cdonalds-game/

I believe he was referring Joel Embiid, 7' that played at the Rock this season. Committed to Kansas.

Still a lot of time to go but I don't see us adding to the class.

[mikechap93]

I was at city of palms last night for the mount verde vs lone peak championship game. As time ran out kasey hill had a reverse dunk and got an and 1. He started gator chomping and so did Dakari Johnson (no confirmation on Johnson chomping, but that's what I heard) not that it would mean anything but as a gator fan I got butterflies lol

[UFG8rGuy3283]

Originally Posted by bullish

Randle a 10% chance. Billy I hope has others he doesn't want us to know about, until they pull the trigger because we could use a good wing or big. The longer top recruits wait, they are doing this for what they feel is getting the best offer. Handlers come into play, coaches, mentors, parents, friends, AAU coaches, runners for agents. With all these contacts in play, 10% might be a little high. LOL

As for exposure, we might not be the top, but we are close. Randle come on down to Hog Town. Play with one of the most talented teams of 13/14 season.

I'm not an expert by any means, but I've heard a bit better than 10% chance. Any specifics you can share or just a gut?

[tommyuf21]

Originally Posted by UFG8rGuy3283

I'm not an expert by any means, but I've heard a bit better than 10% chance. Any specifics you can share or just a gut?

I think the opposite. If runners have influence, then the fix has been in for a long time.

Now are these amateur's just playing the game to let everyone think they are still in it?

[bullish]

Common sense says if he were truly interested in Florida, he would be in Gainseville talking to the professors in his major, calling the coaches, not them calling him. His mother and/or dad would be in the picture to be acclimated to the hogtown surroundings. With an injury he would be telling the different Media outlets why he is strongly, "strongly" considering Florida, even texting his future and current teammates. Now a thinking person says, I don't see much of that. So 10% is probably a little high. I am not into being a close second, like Parker, Mich St had just as much if not more of a chance of getting him. It is all or none, because you can't play with a close second. Hearing a close second is appealing to fans, it makes them feel better about the loss. Not me, those are polite excuses. We have had an outstanding early signing period and the two transfers, and I know we are trying to use this as we should. I just hope the coaches have a better feeling than the fans. If not than they are wishing or going for all or nothing. We need great shooting wings or PF's, getting nothing would seem to be a lot of wasted time and money spent. I hope that we have secondary options other than wait till next year.

[UFG8rGuy3283]

Originally Posted by bullish

Common sense says if he were truly interested in Florida, he would be in Gainseville talking to the professors in his major, calling the coaches, not them calling him. His mother and/or dad would be in the picture to be acclimated to the hogtown surroundings. With an injury he would be telling the different Media outlets why he is strongly, "strongly" considering Florida, even texting his future and current teammates. Now a thinking person says, I don't see much of that. So 10% is probably a little high. I am not into being a close second, like Parker, Mich St had just as much if not more of a chance of getting him. It is all or none, because you can't play with a close second. Hearing a close second is appealing to fans, it makes them feel better about the loss. Not me, those are polite excuses. We have had an outstanding early signing period and the two transfers, and I know we are trying to use this as we should. I just hope the coaches have a better feeling than the fans. If not than they are wishing or going for all or nothing. We need great shooting wings or PF's, getting nothing would seem to be a lot of wasted time and money spent. I hope that we have secondary options other than wait till next year.

No offense, but I think you have an unrealistic view of how recruiting should be vs. how it really works. Randle has said he will not sign until the spring. He may sign with us or Kansas or Texas...who knows. But at this point, for almost every kid signing in the spring, coaches are chasing them and the recruits have all the leverage. To say it is a waste of time and money to "come in a close second" is absurd. If you have a chance to land an elite talent, you fight to the bitter end.

Whether we get Randle or not, to say we have a 10% chance based on the fact that he's not chasing UF seems very short sighted. I would think much less of Billy if he didn't continue to recruit Randle until hr was told we are out of it.

Even if we don't take another player this year, we have plenty of depth next year with Walker, Harris, WY and Finney Smith who can play some 4. Prather can also play some 4 if needed. I'm not sure why we would reach for a guy in this class instead of focusing on next yeat if we miss on Randle.

[bullish]

Possibly unrealistic, but we need wings and PF. Next year, if Harris is ready to go after his injury, we will have a little more depth, if Patrick stays, it would give a new order of options on the floor. I don't want to see a 3 guard offense with a skinny 6'3" SF. If Randle is a great option, I am all for it, if the coaches who should know and have a good feel if he is truly coming, keep on recruiting him. If there is any uneasy feeling that it might not happen, have a wing that can run and shoot ready to come aboard. I feel that the Gators need more height at the sf position. I see the guys coming in. With Rosario and Boyton leaving and possibly Patrick, we are now shy of depth at SF with 2g's as options instead of 6'6" or above that can shoot the 3 and run. Moving guys around a lot doesn't always work out as we are seeing with Boyton. Rosario is good when we have a talent surplus over competing teams. When we face teams with good talent we struggle to get the offense going. At this point in recruiting I would like to see us bring in a SF with some size. Randle we can dream and I hope Billy can pull this big rabbit out of the bag.

I wonder if Prather could handle the sf position, Devon the freshman looks like he needs of development of his body but is talented. I feel the Gators could be strong at this position if we let the guys develop in practice, on their own working out for physical strength and playing in blow outs early enough to let them get the feel of the speed and physical style of the D-1 basketball. 2g's playing SF and SF's playing PF sometimes work, but like last night, it was poor. We can do better. If we think K-State was physical, wait to you see Missouri, we are going to be in some dog fights and we will get some blood drawn. Moving people around weekly to shore up the dike doesn't help. Here's hoping for a balanced team and I bet Billy agrees. I am saying lets be realistic when it comes to recruiting a balanced team.

[gatordd]

Originally Posted by bullish

Possibly unrealistic, but we need wings and PF. Next year, if Harris is ready to go after his injury, we will have a little more depth, if Patrick stays, it would give a new order of options on the floor. I don't want to see a 3 guard offense with a skinny 6'3" SF. If Randle is a great option, I am all for it, if the coaches who should know and have a good feel if he is truly coming, keep on recruiting him. If there is any uneasy feeling that it might not happen, have a wing that can run and shoot ready to come aboard. I feel that the Gators need more height at the sf position. I see the guys coming in. With Rosario and Boyton leaving and possibly Patrick, we are now shy of depth at SF with 2g's as options instead of 6'6" or above that can shoot the 3 and run. Moving guys around a lot doesn't always work out as we are seeing with Boyton. Rosario is good when we have a talent surplus over competing teams. When we face teams with good talent we struggle to get the offense going. At this point in recruiting I would like to see us bring in a SF with some size. Randle we can dream and I hope Billy can pull this big rabbit out of the bag.

I wonder if Prather could handle the sf position, Devon the freshman looks like he needs of development of his body but is talented. I feel the Gators could be strong at this position if we let the guys develop in practice, on their own working out for physical strength and playing in blow outs early enough to let them get the feel of the speed and physical style of the D-1 basketball. 2g's playing SF and SF's playing PF sometimes work, but like last night, it was poor. We can do better. If we think K-State was physical, wait to you see Missouri, we are going to be in some dog fights and we will get some blood drawn. Moving people around weekly to shore up the dike doesn't help. Here's hoping for a balanced team and I bet Billy agrees. I am saying lets be realistic when it comes to recruiting a balanced team.

Ridiculous post. We have DFS ready to step in at SF day one. Walker and Yeguete will be our PF. Young and Harris at C, assuming pat is back which is a large assumption. Prather and D.Walker backup DFS at SF. Guards a combo of Hill, Braxton, wilbekin, Frazier, and Graham. We are more than fine. Randle is a luxury not a "need" in terms of numbers. The talent is phenomenal though.

In terms of this year we had our starting SF go 1 and done. 3 yr starting PG graduate. Backup C quit the team. Top SF target appeared he wouldn't qualify. You can't plan for everything. Attrition happens at every program. Billy has done a great job.

[InstiGATOR1]

Randle is probably also watching to see if Young declares or not. I would say their is zero chance UF has Young and Randle next year. My two deep for next year is:

PG: Wilbekin, Hill
SG: Frazier, Graham
SF: Finney-Smith, Prather
PF: Yeguete, C. Walker
C: Harris

That looks pretty similar to what we have this year, a little thin among the bigs like this year unless Young returns or Randle comes to UF. Everyone in the above depth chart has shown they can play at this level except Graham and of course C. Walker. I guess one could argue that Frazier has not yet proven himself at this level too.

[UFG8rGuy3283]

Originally Posted by InstiGATOR1

Randle is probably also watching to see if Young declares or not. I would say their is zero chance UF has Young and Randle next year. My two deep for next year is:

PG: Wilbekin, Hill
SG: Frazier, Graham
SF: Finney-Smith, Prather
PF: Yeguete, C. Walker
C: Harris

That looks pretty similar to what we have this year, a little thin among the bigs like this year unless Young returns or Randle comes to UF. Everyone in the above depth chart has shown they can play at this level except Graham and of course C. Walker. I guess one could argue that Frazier has not yet proven himself at this level too.

I would agree except that I believe Walker will see quite a bit of time at the 5 as well and DFS can play some 4 if we need him to. He is a better fit at the 3, but rebounds well enough and has the height to play the 4 against most college PFs.

I think we'll be just fine with that lineup.

[bullish]

Gatordd, I hope you are right, DFS can play at SF and be successful. Did he play PF or SF at Vir. Tech? Can he hit outside shots like Billy wants at SF. All that remains to be seen. If he is a pwr forward maybe Chris Walker can play SF. Either of these guys excelling at either position would be great. All for it. Randle I don't know about luxury, we play in a tough physical league and players get hurt. Go into the season thin, someone gets hurt or sick, then we have problems. Billy has done a great job, I am with you, but great athletes are always welcome!

[gatordd]

Originally Posted by bullish

Gatordd, I hope you are right, DFS can play at SF and be successful. Did he play PF or SF at Vir. Tech? Can he hit outside shots like Billy wants at SF. All that remains to be seen. If he is a pwr forward maybe Chris Walker can play SF. Either of these guys excelling at either position would be great. All for it. Randle I don't know about luxury, we play in a tough physical league and players get hurt. Go into the season thin, someone gets hurt or sick, then we have problems. Billy has done a great job, I am with you, but great athletes are always welcome!

DFS shot ~36% from 3 as a freshman. This was while playing PF. Walker is nowhere near polished enough to play the 3 in our system on a regular basis. I agree that I would love to add Randle, I'm just saying he isn't a necessity. Injuries are part of the game but you just have to hope things play out in our favor. If Pat leaves it puts us in a vulnerable position on the front line. A real possibility. Most likely in this scenario DFS will play more 4 than would be ideal. We shall see.

That said, DFS is the best all-around player on our roster as of today.

[tampajack1]

Randle as an 11th grader was better than anyone that was on our team last year or is on the team this year. He does not need to worry about who is coming back next year.

[GataBaitx3]

Originally Posted by tampajack1

Randle as an 11th grader was better than anyone that was on our team last year or is on the team this year. He does not need to worry about who is coming back next year.

Wow. That is a bold statement.

[gatordd]

Originally Posted by GataBaitx3

Wow. That is a bold statement.

I believe that Tampajack is 100% right. Randle has been the best player in HS since he was a JR. Yes, I'm including Wiggins and I know people will disagree but that's okay.

[UFnuts]

If Pat Young comes back, next year is going to go at least 10-deep and be nasty:

PG - Hill / Wilbekin
SG - MF2 / Graham
SF - DFS / Prather
PF - Walker / WY
C - Young / Harris

[don23lucia]

I think we have just as good of a shot with randle than everyone else that is in contention. We don't need Randle at all getting him would be a huge get for program without a doubt. It would be nice for young to stay and I think he will, he seems to really love being a college athlete. besides he hasn't really done much to raise his stock this year but who knows between now and the end of the year.

I think a lot of people are really undervaluing what DFS and Harris bring to the table next year.

Hill will have his bumps playing pg as a freshmen but he will be the best option at pg next year hands down. If we can get walker to just play D and rebound and be happy with ridiculous putback dunks then he will play himself into the 1st round of the draft like he wants and we should be talking about a repeat in 14 lol.

Randle I agree is a special player and could be the best player on the roster last year this year and the next. I would take randle over wiggins right now. There both unbelievable athletes but randle is more polished has better handle and is unstoppable when he does play inside. Randle in my opinion is closer to the next Lebron than wiggins like the scouts say. They are both as close as it gets to being guaranteed all stars.

We should start the year #1 in football and basketball next year.

[gatordd]

Randle a heavy TX lean at this point but long way to go