Navigation: Jump to content areas:


Pro Quality. Fan Perspective.
Login-facebook
Around SBN: NFL Goes Hollywood With Awards Ceremony

The recruiting services probably missed the boat on last year's class

In all fairness, it's hard to be a recruiting evaluator. WIthout the inside information that the division 1 coaches have, you're supposed to evaluate raw high school talent and assign them a value. Stars, usually, but ESPN gives them a little "grade" number and fun things like that. So it's unfair to expect perfection from them on every recruit. It's also hard to evaluate tens of thousands of kids, so the under the radar type players that Tony loves to go after remain, for the most part, under the radar.

Still, I think we've seen surprising results from this year's freshman class. Going in, here's how the three big recruiting services ranked our class:

Player ESPN Scout.com Rivals.com
Klay Thompson 95 4 stars 4 stars
Mike Harthun 91 3 stars 3 stars
James Watson 40 3 stars 3 stars
Nick Witherill 76 2 stars 3 stars
DeAngelo Casto 40 2 stars 3 stars
Marcus Capers 40 2 stars 3 stars

Klay Thompson was a no-brainer. You have the NBA pedigree, the magnifying glass that is prep sports in California, and most importantly, when you watch Klay you just know he's going to be good. It's no longer a shock that he may lead the team in scoring this year. The only thing the recruiting guys might change in retrospect is upping him to a five-star player. Which would be a fair evaluation, in my opinion.

The rest of the class, well, this is where there was considerable disagreement. ESPN gave three of our recruits a "40", also known as "we didn't evaluate these guys". Surprisingly, the worldwide leader evaluated one of our less highly-touted recruits, Nick WItherill, and liked what they saw. 76.  They didn't get a good look at Capers, Watson or Casto.

Rivals.com took a more conservative approach, and probably ends up looking the most accurate because of it. Everyone got 3 stars except for Klay. Scout made an interesting decision to give 3 stars to the one guy out of this class who may actually redshirt, James Watson. 2 stars for Witherill, Casto and Capers.

If you had to rank the recruiting class 1-6 in terms of actual value to the team so far, this is how it would look:

Thompson
Casto
Capers
Harthun
Witherill
Watson

Mike Harthun was highly rated in large part because he got some of the spotlight from the Kyle Singler sweepstakes (they were on the same high school team). He was also, as our FSN guys pointed out last night, the MVP of a state championship game that featured Singler and Kevin freaking Love. That's pretty good. He may yet live up to that 91, but it has been a relative surprise how little he's done this year considering the recruiting hype. Part of that is just the adjustment to college, and part of it is the suspension that set him back 3 games. But don't write him off yet - he's still incredibly talented.

Now, how everyone missed out on Casto is beyond me. I said before the Zag game that I had the chance to see Adam Morrison, Josh Heytvelt and Sean Mallon live in high school. All three turned out great. But here's the thing: Casto looked better in high school than all of them. Maybe not a pure scorer like Morrison, but Casto's play screamed high-major recruit. He looked like a men among boys in the strongest league of Washington basketball (4A). I have him ranked second in value to us so far, because of the importance of the position he plays, and the good minutes he's been logging so far. Casto rules.

The big surprise of the class is Marcus Capers. ACC schools are going to kick themselves when they look at the roster and see that a kid from Florida is backing up Taylor Rochestie, and looking pretty good doing it. He's already a fixture of this year's rotation. Not bad for a 2-star, not really evaluated player. Then again, not a lot of people traveled to Beloit, WI to watch Kyle Weaver play either.

Witherill is about what we expected, although I had been higher on him than a lot of people were coming in. It's surprising, but not shocking, that he had his redshirt burned. I am worried that he could've benefited from the extra year - but Tony knows more than I do. Still, you have to wonder why we burned it when he doesn't seem to be in the "fourth guard" competition that Lodwick and Harthun are in right now. Nevertheless, I like Nick. He's a heady, skilled guard who should benefit us in a couple years, if not right now.

James Watson may have been a little overvalued, but I think those ratings were based on potential. Watson has loads of it, but is too raw to play right away. He'll benefit from the redshirt (unless of course Tony burns it, which seems entirely possitble), but it's a bit of surprise he isn't battling with Casto for a rotation spot. That says more about how good DeAngelo has turned out than it does about Watson. James will turn out fine, and heaven knows we'll need him with Baynes on the way out next fall.

Comment 10 comments  |  0 recs  | 

Do you like this story?

Comments

Display:

casto

Casto has definitely been a pleasant surprise in our recruiting class in my opinion. He has shown steady improvement throughout the season so far, and am very excited to see where he will be at the end of the season. I have high hopes for him and hope that he becomes an eventual starter during this season.

by crimson coug on Dec 14, 2008 6:29 PM PST reply actions  

I have been watching Harthun

I think he is still adjusting to not being the guy. His first few times out he appeared lost. Last game I thought he did a better job at getting in the flow. He was running around more like I thought he should if he’s going to play the 2 in our offense.
I agree with a prior post that our starting 5 should be Roch, Klay, Harmeling, Casto and Baynes. That goes to show how good Klay and Casto are. They are playing at level to keep a Sr. in Forrest and a Jr. in Koprivica on the bench a good amount of the time. Although I did love Forrest’s energy last night. He must have watched the Zags tape in their effort to beat the defense down the floor.
I agree about the Witherall call, but I have to think it had more to do with Harthun’s issues at the start of the season more than anything.
I think we have our 9 (Capers, Harthun, Forrest and Kop (if he isn’t starting)). Enquist will give us a few good minutes when Baynes gets into foul trouble, which hasn’t happened yet. I just wish Lodwick would elevate his game. That’s my biggest disappointment. To create program consistency year in and year out you have to have current guys develop to a pt where they contribute. Our experienced returners for next yr should have been Kop and Lodwick and well Boehke. I feel like we are back to the yr when Weaver and Low were freshman. Our Seniors are a bit better (well Baynes a lot better than any big guy we had) and Casto and Thompson are ahead of where Weaver, Low, Cowgill, and Harmeling were at, but I hate the fact that we may be in for a down year next year.

by ptowncoug3012 on Dec 14, 2008 10:30 PM PST reply actions  

Forrest brings that every night

There were times against Gonzaga when he looked like the only guy on the floor who HADN’T quit.

by Jeff Nusser on Dec 15, 2008 9:17 AM PST up reply actions  

good points

I think, but am not sure, that recruiting services take into account things like grades. Remember that we weren’t even sure Casto would qualify to play this year! ESPN may have given him a pass on evaluation because they weren’t sure he’d qualify anywhere, and Rivals may have just dinged him for it. But I don’t know for sure.

7 in a row, baby!

by johnnycougar on Dec 15, 2008 8:05 AM PST reply actions  

re: scouting services

They look at both regular season and AAU games as well as the number of offers the kids get in their evaluations. So if you saw Casto on a bad night at Ferris, then at a tourny in AAU which is less structured on both O and D, and then because of grade issues he’s not getting any college looks… you end up with 2 stars. Just goes to show how little you can trust the ratings on these guys.

by TiltingRight on Dec 15, 2008 10:40 AM PST up reply actions  

The services are pretty good with the top guys

Certainly better than football. But once you get past the first 100 or so, it’s just so tough to figure out. Either they haven’t seen the kid, or aren’t paying attention to him. And so much of what a guy actually turns into has to do with where they go, and what kind of coaching they get when they get there.

Plus, let’s call the “star” system what it really is, which is a combination of two things:

1) Perceived ability based on scouting by guys who aren’t coaches; and
2) Who’s recruiting them.

If UCLA or North Carolina is recruiting the guy, then he must be awesome, right?

by Jeff Nusser on Dec 15, 2008 11:28 AM PST up reply actions  

What I would grade them knowing what I know now:

Using ESPN’s style:

Klay Thompson 96
DeAngelo Casto 89
Marcus Capers 84
Mike Harthun 77
Nick Witherill 74
James Watson 70

Of couse, we will know alot more about Harthun, Witherill, and Watson once we see them get some time next year.

by peaty411s on Dec 15, 2008 12:52 PM PST reply actions  

Comments For This Post Are Closed


User Tools

Welcome to CougCenter, a website dedicated to WSU football, basketball and other athletics.

Community Guidelines

FanPosts

Community blog posts and discussion.

Recommended FanPosts

King_small
2007 Recruiting Class: A Look Back
Cougar_01t_small
Wrapped Up In Recruiting

Recent FanPosts

Donttakethebait_sd_021011_small
2013 class's first recruit?
Cougar_01t_small
Leach & ESPN
Small
Questions for Washington State Commits Khalil Pettway, Alex Jackson, and Gabriel Marks
17351_652492462983_27214870_38132779_139527_n_small
Quick Analysis on Why We Are Still Going After Linemen
Small
TTU is no WSU
Kill_emcees_small
Scholarship Players on the Roster
897267_o_small
WSU Football: Mike Leach Hire Still Feels Great, but How Does a Team Become a Program?
Small
Weather Report for Pullman

+ New FanPost All FanPosts >

FanShots

Quick hits of video, photos, quotes, chats, links and lists that you find around the web.

Recent FanShots

Committment for next year?
Khalil Pettiway and Alex Jackson Talk about WSU
Best reason to pick a school EVER.
Gabriel Marks... is confident
Taylor Taliulu Switches Back to WSU
Conner Johnson - Preferred walk-on
Shaq Thompson Flips From Cal, Commits To Washington
Gleason's story to be told on Superbowl Sunday during the pregame show
Cougs Land Jeremiah Allison
Robert Barber Senior Season Highlights

+ New FanShot All FanShots >

Go Cougs


Attractive, intelligent managing editors

Jeff_mug_h2_small Jeff Nusser

62817_716885768283_27206155_40333453_7664553_n_small Grady Clapp

Arizona_small Craig Powers

Brianheadshot_small Brian Floyd

Attractive, intelligent editors

Florida_small Kyle Rancourt

Header_small Mark Sandritter