West Coast Bias: Why a top recruit chose Nevada over big-name schools
One of the programs that offered Devearl Ramsey a scholarship is an ACC school that has made the NCAA tournament 12 of the last 13 years. Another is a Big 12 power that has produced eight first-round draft picks in the past decade. A third is a Pac-12 team whose campus is less than an hour from his home.
Pittsburgh, Texas and USC were among the dozen or so high-major programs who have shown interest in Ramsey, but the speedy point guard spurned them all in favor of a lesser-known school that last reached the NCAA tournament eight years ago.
2. Arizona: Four new starters, yet plenty of talent, depth and experience once again.
4. Cal: This is the most talented roster Cal has fielded since the days of Jason Kidd.
6. San Diego State: Familiar formula: An elite defense and just enough offense.
8. BYU: With Tyler Haws gone, maybe triple-double machine Kyle Collinsworth gets his due.
10. Oregon State: A program that overachieved last year gets an influx of talented freshmen.
Ramsey, Rivals.com’s No. 106 prospect in the class of 2016, announced Monday that he has committed to Nevada, a massive recruiting coup for new Wolfpack coach Eric Musselman and his staff. Musselman enticed Ramsey by making him a top priority for the past six months and offering him the chance to compete for a starting job right away in a pick-and-roll-heavy system similar to what most NBA teams run.
“Throughout this whole process, he was really focused on going with a coach who really believed in him and really wanted him,” said Tyrone Nichols, Ramsey’s coach at Sierra Canyon High School in Chatsworth, Calif. “He didn’t want to just be another name on the roster. Nevada did a great job recruiting him all summer long and developing the relationship with him where he really believed what they were saying. He felt like they were genuine.”
Selecting Nevada was a mature choice by Ramsey because it required foresight the average 17-year-old lacks.
The allure of playing for a name-brand program is appealing to any prospect, however, Ramsey recognized that many of the major-conference coaches pursuing him either wanted him to come off the bench for his first year or two or would only honor their scholarship offer if point guards they wanted more opted to go elsewhere. At Nevada, it was different. Ramsey projects as a key piece in Musselman’s rebuilding plan and will have the chance to play four years under a former NBA head coach who recently played a big role in developing Danny Green, Jeremy Lin and Gerald Green in the D-League.
“For guards, finding a lane you can run in for four years is more important than playing for a name school if you’re thinking long-term about your career,” Nichols said.
“We’ve seen a lot of guards like [Matthew] Dellavedova or Damian Lillard go to schools that maybe don’t have the limelight, start for four straight years and distinguish themselves to the point that they become NBA prospects. Eric was able to outline how something like that could happen for Devearl at Nevada.”
What made it easier for Ramsey to commit to Nevada so early in his senior year is that Musselman has already landed a bevy of other prospects capable of helping lift the Wolfpack into the Mountain West’s upper echelon.
In the spring, Musselman nabbed high-scoring ex-Missouri State guard Marcus Marshall and promising ex-Southern Illinois forward Jordan Caroline, both of whom project as potential starters when they become eligible for the 2016-17 season. Musselman also signed former Arizona State commit Lindsey Drew in May and outdueled a slew of high-major programs last month to nab Class of 2016 forward Kenneth Wooten and heralded junior-college forward Arlando Cook.
Remarkably, Musselman accomplished all this without the luxury of offering any of those programs a tour of the programs facilities. His team has been relegated to a makeshift locker room while its new one is being constructed.
Nevada is likely to finish below .500 for the fourth straight season this year, but things may improve as soon as Musselman’s second season once the influx of talent arrives. The Wolfpack also are one of the leading contenders to land four-star shooting guard Eron Gordon, the younger brother of wing Eric Gordon of the New Orleans Pelicans.
Whether Gordon comes to Nevada or not, the commitment of Ramsey makes Musselman’s first true recruiting class an undeniable success. The 5-foot-11 Ramsey is best known for pushing the ball in transition, creating for himself and others off the dribble and using his quick hands and feet to make himself a menace defensively.
“He was a pure scorer when he came to me as a freshman, but over the last two or three years, he has really developed his point guard skills,” Nichols said. “He could have had a great high school career as a scoring guard, but once you hit the college or professional stage, you’re looking for a pure point at his size, someone who can score if necessary but also will feed the other horses, runs the offense and is a coach on the floor. That’s really what he has become.”
THE BIGGEST SURPRISE AT USA BASKETBALL CAMP (AND THE TEAM IT IMPACTS MOST)
D’Shawn Schwartz’s emergence as the biggest surprise of this past weekend’s USA Basketball minicamp could turn out to be a blessing and a curse for the program that has expended the most energy recruiting him.
On one hand, Colorado should be elated that one of its top targets in the Class of 2017 looked like he belonged on the floor with many of the nation’s best high school basketball players. On the other hand, the Buffaloes should be concerned that an in-state product who had previously flown under the radar nationally may suddenly draw newfound interest from high-profile programs once word of his performance spreads.
Whereas all but three other 2016 or 2017 prospects at the camp appear in the Rivals top 50 in their respective class, Schwartz entered the weekend largely unknown outside of Colorado and the neighboring states. The 6-foot-6 small forward only received an invitation to participate at all because he lives minutes from USA Basketball headquarters in Colorado Springs and one of his trainers pushed for him to get a shot.
B.J. Johnson, USA Basketball’s assistant men’s national team director, urged Schwartz to play with a group of local college players who scrimmaged the boy’s U-16 team and women’s U-19 team prior to international tournaments earlier this summer. Schwartz opened enough eyes with his skill and versatility that USA Basketball officials requested he return this weekend.
“I knew D’Shawn was one of the best players in Colorado, but this level of competition is a totally different beast,” Johnson said. “When he scrimmaged against the guys this summer and looked really, really good, that’s when I knew for sure he could handle it.”
If competing against the nation’s premier high school prospects made Johnson anxious entering camp this past weekend, give him credit for not letting nerves prevent him from capitalizing on an opportunity to prove himself. He did everything from dunking in traffic, to burying long jumpers, to holding his own defending elite small forward Josh Jackson, earning praise from coaches and scouts and invitations to an upcoming prestigious All-American camp and to USA Basketball’s U-17 tryouts.
“Josh Jackson was there, Jayson Tatum was there, and he proved that he belongs with those guys,” said J.J. Grimble, Schwartz’s AAU coach with the Colorado Miners. “That’s competition that a kid from Colorado Springs doesn’t get to see very often. It was good to see him go against the best and hold his own.”
It’s too soon to assess how Schwartz’s performance this weekend will impact his recruitment, but it would not be a surprise to see him become a greater priority for Pac-12 programs besides Colorado. Prior to this weekend, Weber State, Colorado State and UNLV were Schwartz’s primary suitors besides the Buffs, but he does not intend to commit until this time next year and he will seriously consider any offers that appear between now and then.
“I don’t think it makes a difference when a school starts recruiting me as long as I can build a good relationship with them, but CU is definitely going to have a big advantage with me because of their coaching staff,” Schwartz said. “CU and I have a pretty good relationship going. They’ve been recruiting me since the summer of my eighth grade year, and it has been going really well.”
IS ARIZONA’S 2016 RECRUITING A LEGIT CONCERN?
Twelve members of the 2016 Rivals 150 have already committed to Pac-12 programs. Amazingly enough, not one of those prospects is headed to the school that has dominated West Coast recruiting for the past few seasons.
Arizona has been shut out thus far in its 2016 recruiting efforts, an unfamiliar feeling for a program that has landed 11 Rivals Top 25 prospects in its past five recruiting classes. The lack of early commitments is unusual enough that Sean Miller actually took the time to address the topic without provocation during the news conference that preceded his team’s first practice last Friday.
“Whether we have commitments now or not, the hay doesn’t enter the barn until April as far as who’s on your team,” Miller told reporters in Tucson. “Sometimes you may have a good early class but there are a few others you wanted to add but you don’t.
“This year a lot of things are going to happen for us later, not earlier.”
So is Miller, right? Is this issue overblown? To some extent, that may be the case.
First of all, Arizona signed four top 40 prospects this year and has four other potential rotation players who all could return for the 2016-17 season, meaning recruits may be rightfully concerned that the Wildcats simply don’t have a ton of immediate playing time available. Secondly, it’s not like Arizona doesn’t have any irons in the fire anymore.
The Wildcats, Kansas, Maryland and Michigan State are each the leading contenders to land small forward Josh Jackson, a consensus top-three recruit nationally that Rivals ranks No. 1 overall. Arizona is also dueling Stanford to nab Rivals 150 power forward Mitch Lightfoot and North Carolina and Utah to pick up 6-foot-10 native of Finland Lauri Markkanen.
What’s concerning for Arizona is that it has some holes to fill in its 2016-17 rotation yet none of the above prospects are a lock to choose the Wildcats. Arizona must add a power forward to play alongside potential starting center Dusan Ristic because Ryan Anderson and Mark Tollefson both graduate after this season. The Wildcats could also use more depth at small forward and center.
Before highly touted 6-foot-9 forward T.J. Leaf decommitted earlier this offseason, it appeared Arizona at least had the first of those problems solved. Now, whether via the high school ranks or the graduate transfer market, the Wildcats must search for another way.
THE COUNTDOWN: TOUGHEST NON-LEAGUE SCHEDULES
5. Utah: One year after Utah reached the Sweet 16 and gave Duke its toughest test until the national title game, coach Larry Krystkowiak assembled a schedule that reflects the progress his program has made. The Utes could face as many as six NCAA tournament-caliber programs before Pac-12 play begins, most notably a Dec. 12 visit to Wichita State and a rematch with Duke at Madison Square Garden one week later. Home games against San Diego State and BYU will also be daunting, as will the final two rounds of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off.
4. Gonzaga: To make up for the WCC not being as strong as the nation’s most top conferences, Mark Few always tests his program early and often in the non-league portion of the schedule. This year, Gonzaga will participate in the sport’s most loaded holiday tournament, the Battle 4 Atlantis, where in-state rival Washington awaits in the opening round and potential games against Texas, UConn, Syracuse and Michigan loom on day two or three. The Zags will also host Arizona and UCLA in December, meet Tennessee in Seattle and visit SMU in mid-February.
3. UNLV: What’s the ideal schedule for a coach who’s probably one more disappointing year from being fired? Probably not the one UNLV’s Dave Rice put together. A Rebels team that has missed the NCAA tournament the past two years will be tested frequently beginning at the Maui Invitational, where they open with UCLA and could see Kansas, Indiana, Vanderbilt, St. John’s or Wake Forest in later rounds. Later in non-league play, UNLV also visits Wichita State and Arizona and hosts Oregon and Arizona State in Las Vegas.
2. UCLA: Long gone are the days of Ben Howland’s prudent, cautious scheduling approach at UCLA. Now the Bruins take on all comers anytime, anywhere even in a year when they’re not expected to appear in the Preseason Top 25. UCLA’s first litmus test will come at the Maui Invitational, where the Bruins open with UNLV and could see Kansas on day two and either Indiana or Vanderbilt on day three. Really, however, Maui is just a warmup for what awaits in December — a home game against Kentucky, a road trip to Gonzaga and a neutral-court clash with North Carolina.
1. Long Beach State: Every year, Dan Monson assembles the nation’s most masochistic non-conference schedule, one that pits his team against as many elite foes as possible in hopes of generating attention, enticing recruits and maybe paving the way for a monumental upset or two. This year’s slate isn’t quite as ridiculous as previous ones, but Long Beach State does visit Duke, Arizona, Oregon, UCLA and Oklahoma State in a year when the 49ers are replacing their entire starting five. They’ll also host San Diego State and BYU and participate in the Charleston Classic.
LAST CALL
For all the annual complaints about how supermarket shelves are overrun with mediocre pumpkin ales from the Fourth of July until Halloween, craft beer’s trendiest seasonal genre still produces a few winners. One of the tastiest is Punkuccino, a pumpkin coffee ale from Seattle’s Elysian Brewing Company. The combination of Stumptown coffee flavor and hints of pumpkin, cinnamon and nutmeg creates a dark Porter-like ale that smells fresh and appetizing and tastes even better. It’s the rare pumpkin beer that’s worth forking over $8.99 for a 22-ounce bomber. (GRADE: 9/10)
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
