i think you're relying on rankings a little too much. rankings of high school recruits are based on offense and pretty much offense alone. if defense were valued as it should be by 247, rivals, scout, and espn, you better believe that muhammad would be a top 40 recruit.
Almost no one in the media noticed Bates Diop's defense until mid february. Most still missed it.
I hope so because Kyle Young was ranked #80 and that would have put him as the 2nd best player in this class. For reference Daniel Giddens and Austin Grandstaff were both top 60 recruits. We are gonna need Muhammad to be really good right away if we are going to compete
i hope you're proven right. if i weren't an osu fan, though, i'd probably look at osu as a 5-12 or 6-11 upset special. of course, without knowing the match-up(s), it's impossible to say. let's hope our first game isn't against a physical team with a couple good 2/3s.
okay. and kaleb was #75. yes, grandstaff and giddens were both rated about 20 spots ahead of kaleb (though in different classes). do you think the recruiting rankings of those players accurately predicted grandstaff and giddens as better players than kaleb? tate was #58. has tate's career been comparable to grandstaff and giddens' careers so far?
absolutely agreed. i like kbd's defense so much that i consider it to be on par with his offense. he's an outstanding defender. he's why i'd rather have a 6'7" player with a 7'2" wingspan than a 7'0" player with a 7"2" wingspan. offensive players never see what's coming. it's partly why i have a (much) higher opinion of lenzelle than most osu fans do. lsjr was a great defender... in no small part due to the wingspan that greatly outstripped his height. i think he's the best 2-defender since matta's start. i think muhammad will eclipse him.
matta was also exceptional at player substitutions, especially at the end of the game and/or with players in foul trouble. he'd regularly sub in a player for offense only to sub him out for defense, or vice versa. ho1t seems to be a bit more rigid down the stretch.
Also not to keep bringing this up but Thad would have kept Braxton Beverly and not had Dakich which would have been a significant upgrade, if only that man's back surgery didn't go wrong...
