A Sea Of Red

verbalcommits just updated their team profiles to delete the 2020 grads and include 2023 offers/commits. This inspired me to go ahead and start a discussion of the 2 players we have already offered for 23. Keep in mind these kids just completed their FR year of HS. Both are 6'5" and listed as shooting guards.

Bryce Cash
He goes to Charlotte Christian, where both Seth Curry and Blake Preston attended and plays summer ball for Team Curry. VC profile lists him at 6'3", but other sources say he has grown a couple of inches.
https://www.verbalcommits.com/players/bryce-cash
https://brycecash.com/




Curtis Blair III
Played for The Stewart School in Richmond, alongside 2021 7' 5 star Efton Reid, who we have also offered.
https://www.verbalcommits.com/players/curtis-blair-iii

The push for these 6' 3" to 6' 5" SGs after the the classes in front of '23 shows a great deal about the style of player Ritchie has focused on to fit his system. Of couse both of these kids are young enough to have plenty of growth left in them. I am a bit surprised we haven't had more focus on rim protectors. But who can argue with the results thus far?

Sly Fox wrote: ↑July 31st, 2020, 7:17 pm The push for these 6' 3" to 6' 5" SGs after the the classes in front of '23 shows a great deal about the style of player Ritchie has focused on to fit his system. Of couse both of these kids are young enough to have plenty of growth left in them. I am a bit surprised we haven't had more focus on rim protectors. But who can argue with the results thus far?

As things stand now, this will be a 5 man class, so there are certainly slots available to bring in some more size, but being 6'5" now at 15, either of both of these young men could easily end up at 6'7" or better, which would allow them to play pretty much any role for us except maybe PG.

You have to figure Richmond has the inside track where Blair is concerned. In addition to being in his home town, his father, who is now an NBA referee, played for the Spiders.

First day of contact with the class of rising juniors. I did my best to find who was reporting hearing from our staff today. Whil mosy will not rceeive offers. Think of this as a pool of talent that our staff is targeting as possibilities.

Thanks for the work on this, Sly. It will be interesting to see what our needs for this class end up being. A good bit will depend on how this year’s class turns out. We’ve got players for every position coming in, we’ll see who ends up as good as advertised.

Sly Fox wrote: ↑June 15th, 2021, 7:08 pm

First day of contact with the class of rising juniors. I did my best to find who was reporting hearing from our staff today. Whil mosy will not rceeive offers. Think of this as a pool of talent that our staff is targeting as possibilities.

Trying to figure this out Sly. Sounds like you researched this and posted it somewhere, but I don't see a link.

I posted fresh threads for each prospect with whom the staff made contact that day.

Sly Fox wrote: ↑March 5th, 2022, 9:50 am I posted fresh threads for each prospect with whom the staff made contact that day.

My bad. Didn't look at the date.

For those who have been longing for Ritchie to go after a "big man", here you are



How big?
6'8"
335 lbs

Interesting that he hails from the same home town as Myo Baxter-Bell. Something in the water?
https://www.aseaofred.com/new-liberty-b ... se-walker/

Looks like we landed a big:

Thats exciting. Combine that with the 6' 5 guard we signed last week and we are adding some serious length. I just hope this guy can move well for his size. That video of him making 80 something 3s was impressive.

The school in Branson, MO is just a couple of yearsold but has strong financial backing. They have a standard HS that competes nationally (currently Top 10) and two postgrad teams. Our guy plays for the one that is their national PG squad. They also have a regional PG team as well. It makes it tough to distinguish in box scores.

Prertty much everyone who is in their program signs D1. They claim to have over 40 kids on D1 rosters right now. They have their own gym which is relatively rare for these all-star teams. So most of our guy's games will be in Branson (aka Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge West).

People were pretty worried about the future talent of Liberty basketball after the Alabama loss. Gotta feel pretty good now. This 2023 class

Sly Fox wrote: ↑November 16th, 2022, 12:08 pm The school in Branson, MO is just a couple of yearsold but has strong financial backing. They have a standard HS that competes nationally (currently Top 10) and two postgrad teams. Our guy plays for the one that is their national PG squad. They also have a regional PG team as well. It makes it tough to distinguish in box scores.

Prertty much everyone who is in their program signs D1. They claim to have over 40 kids on D1 rosters right now. They have their own gym which is relatively rare for these all-star teams. So most of our guy's games will be in Branson (aka Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge West).

This is the first time I'm hearing about Branson having something like that although its been awhile since i lived in missouri. Its kind of suprising that so many elite players are willing to go to a rural school like that. I have to imagine Missouri state probably benefits the most considering its right down the road.

Every Division I college coach in the country now has it on its rotation of schools to visit. The only surprise to me was that it is in Branson. Real estate's not cheap in a tourist town.

Link Academy was birthed out of Kanakuk Kamps. My daughter was a gap year attendee after high school before enrolling at Liberty.

There is also a former LU coach on the Link staff.

And looks like he has a twin brother on the roster? or at least a brother.

Sly Fox wrote: ↑November 16th, 2022, 2:01 pm Every Division I college coach in the country now has it on its rotation of schools to visit. The only surprise to me was that it is in Branson. Real estate's not cheap in a tourist town.

Ozark. Watch it

Liberty_2023 wrote: ↑November 16th, 2022, 1:25 pm People were pretty worried about the future talent of Liberty basketball after the Alabama loss. Gotta feel pretty good now. This 2023 class

Everyone was excited about another skinny 7 footer that could shoot the 3 about a decade ago. He didn't graduate or even play much during his shortened LU career. I like that we have a big in this year's class but I will be adopting a wait and see attitude on this one. I hope he is everything and more but experience tells me not to get my hope too high.

I am more excited about the 2023 class so far!

ALAFlamesFan wrote: ↑November 17th, 2022, 5:08 am

Liberty_2023 wrote: ↑November 16th, 2022, 1:25 pm People were pretty worried about the future talent of Liberty basketball after the Alabama loss. Gotta feel pretty good now. This 2023 class

Everyone was excited about another skinny 7 footer that could shoot the 3 about a decade ago. He didn't graduate or even play much during his shortened LU career. I like that we have a big in this year's class but I will be adopting a wait and see attitude on this one. I hope he is everything and more but experience tells me not to get my hope too high.

I am more excited about the 2023 class so far!

240 and doesn’t look skinny...looks pretty comfortable moving around.

Thanks to openings in the transfer portal, Coach McKay has picked up a late commitment from a 6' 5" Wing from EKU's backyard.

Jaylen Davis - Richmond (KY) Madison Central HS

Yet another pickup from the Bluegrass State. This kid appears to be a late bloomer who was just the MVP of the Ohio-Kentucky All-Star Game. He put up nice numbers as a senior after not getting much of any attention prior to his senior season. He was a finalist for Mr. Basketball in Kentucky this year.

For those worried about our length as we move to C-USA I hope recent recruiting is starting to put those concerns to bed. Since the conference change was first announced there has been a notable increase in height among HS recruits.

Jaylen Davis (SG/SF)- 6'5"
Curtis Blair (SG/SF)- 6'6"
Kai Yu (PF)- 7'0"

Compare this to the 2022 class that all committed prior to the C-USA announcement.

Colin Porter (PG)- 5'10"
Ben Southerland (PF)- 6'7"
Zach Cleveland (PF)- 6'7"

Cleveland and Southerland are big boys but are a little undersized for what we will expect them to do compared to Blair and Davis. Hopefully 6'10" PFs are more of the norm moving forward.

Edit: I forgot to add Bryson Spell to the list who is a good size at 6' 9" and committed before the CUSA announcement but it remains to be seen what he can do.