Will be the Ivy teams and their sophomore classes. There are certainly many being poached right now. Aletan at Yale is graduating and will not be back next season and will probably be playing elsewhere.
Good insight on Aletan. Big loss for Yale next year and even if we can keep Fox and Celiscar, we’ll have to replace a lot. Can’t fault a player for getting an Ivy degree and a big bag for NIL and I think the right approach in recruiting could spin this as a positive. Aletan has been a part of some big moments for Yale (block at the buzzer vs Auburn) but given his immense physical talents, I’m not sure he’s reached the expectations I placed on him when he was coming as the “"highest ranked Yale recruit ever”. Especially considering the bigs that have been a part of the program the last decade. A solid end to this year would certainly help his legacy.
I’m very interested in Fox. Potentially the best pure scorer in the Ivy League but doesn’t seem like Jones fully trusts him defensively? Does a P5 go after an Ivy player who’s averaging less than 20 minutes a game hard enough to convince him to leave? I certainly think he’s good enough.
fhe tip off on samson is the marketing his agency does on instagram
well if they keep the bigs committed i think they are fine. clearly they are pushing the postgrad route to get an older freshman occasionally
not easy to graduate yale in 3 and play a sport so kudos to samson
really like what they have coming in but you never know what sticks
also agree on fox. he has an elite skill and positional size
i read the article but disagree with it
while samson was offered by all the big texas schools i dont agree he was highest rated recruit ever though it is arbitrary bc in the age of the portal no one compiles exhaustive lists like the old hoop scoop etc
i would throw out edwin draughan from mayfair hs in cali who was top 100 by most lists then
he played with josh childress (stanford, hawks, etc) and that duo was one of the better ones of that time in the whole country bf the dawn of recruited hs superteams became widespread
jordan bruner was also arguably higher than that bf sitting out his junior year with his first of countless knee surgeries. and even after
In a recent Princeton players podcast, Stanton, Happy and Abdullahi all said that “everyone is coming back next season.”
Now I don’t know how true that will be, but it’s apparently the plan as of two weeks ago.
Not sure if Princeton has any guys that can project to go up a level physically like Aletan or even Fox which is probably a positive in today’s era.
I agree. That’s why I was inclined to believe them… but all it takes is one offer.
Davis had multiple power conference offers out of high school but his injuries might have derailed any lucrative NIL offers. I don’t think he’s leaving for a mid-six figure payday.
EDIT: I should say that Abdullahi is definitely a high major athlete… but too raw skill-wise right now.
further reflecting on yale…key in addition to holding recruits is obv finding a capable replacement at 4.
townsend is a rare breed. ogunyemi will be good esp if he expands his game to 3. his footwork touch and body are elite. landon lewis type
fox and celiscar are retention qs. isaacs brother has transferred 2x within power 4 for football
Even with Fox, Celiscar and Braithwaite (and Mullen) returning, lots of questions for Yale if Aletan is graduating along with Townsend, Simmons and Arlington. We haven’t seen enough of this year’s frosh to know how they’ll be able to step up, along with the new incoming group.
actually the incoming bigs are as solid as any group yale has ever recruited
you have 3 of them and they are highly complementary to one another.
pair them with ogunyemi and sullivan and you have to be encouraged at the potential anyway.
will be young though which is tough which is why i say potential
I’d guess Isaac bumps back up to the 4 which may hurt us in the non-con but is great in conference. Puts a lot of responsibility on whoever the 5 is for defense and rebounding though
1 Like