I'm pretty confident that we're also no longer interested in Drew Peterson, Valentine unfollowed him.

He's getting high major looks, but we also would have an inside scoop on him as he played for the Illinois Wolves, so he may not have been the fit we were looking for.

Cooper Kaifes update:

Offense: His shooting is as advertised. He has plenty of range and only needs a sliver of light to pull the trigger. The team they played put their best defender on him, and played him tight the entire time. Cooper hit some tough 3s. He's definitely not a PG. He handled the ball well, and took over the point from time to time, but I don't think he'll play that next year. That said, he was really tough taking the ball to the basket. If there was a lane, he was driving. I was a little surprised with how strong he looked. Overall he passed well. He had good vision, and generally knew where his teammates were. There was a really good pass on a fast break where he dropped a pass right in his teammates arms for a layup. There were one or two passes into the post that turned into a turnover, but that was partly on the overmatch down low.

Defense: This was tough to judge. The team they played had a big guy that is a 5* and top 20 prospect according to 247, so they dumped it to him a lot. From what I saw, I don't think Cooper will be a shutdown defender, but I saw things that I liked. When they doubled the post, it was typically Cooper who helped down low. I think he'll fit well in our defensive scheme. The biggest thing that stood out was his hands. He forced a couple turnovers by poking the ball loose. Overall he was pretty aggressive, trying to jump passing lanes. The defense skills probably need the most work, but from what I saw there is a decently high ceiling for him.

Other skills: He was a pretty even player emotionally. Never got too high, but never showed frustration when the other team stopped him from getting a pass. My favorite thing was he didn't force anything. If it wasn't there, he passed it off. He was very smart player, and was aware of the situation. At the end of the 1st half he seemed to be the only player on either team to know the clock was winding down, and was able to cause a turnover and chuck up a half court shot. He was definitely the leader of the team, often communicating an inbound play or offensive set when the coach called it in. Finally, he hustled throughout the game, and did little things like stay up on after a made basket to either force the ball into someone else's hand or force a turnover. The effort was 100% for the entire time.

Miscellaneous: Drew Valentine was at the game. I was able to briefly talk to him before the game. Nice to see him on the road. By complete chance, I also sat in front of Cooper's dad. He was a real nice guy who started talking to me when he saw I was wearing Loyola stuff. He also thanked me for coming to see Cooper play when he was leaving, which was really nice. I also picked up a little recruiting intel. After Cooper's dad talked to Drew, he told me that Drew was also in the area to "check out a player on Oak Park" After some research it seems like we might be looking at Ochai Agbaji. They follow each other on twitter. Agbaji has had a breakout season, and I doubt we get him. I know some high majors have started to look at him, but it's someone to keep an eye on.

The worst of the news was Cooper had a minor injury midway through the 3rd quarter. He missed about 5 minutes before coming back in. He played until the game was out of reach, but you could tell he was not 100%. Hopefully he recovers, and is back to normal quickly.

I will try getting to another game or two, and will report if anything I've said was a one game fluke, or if I missed something. Hope I answered any questions you've had.

Thanks for the report.....sounds a little like Ben Richardson with more O and Less D.......I had a question,,can he create his own shot? Sounds like a solid team player.....

Thanks for posting! Sounds like a nice player and a cool experience for you.

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MBB Scholarship Chart

Awesome report Tank!!! Super thorough; getting a high level shooter is huge; I feel like really haven’t had a pure shooter as a freshmen since Devon Turk(Ben was close).

Good news as well after missing some time Bujdoso is back on the court for sunrise and impressing national scouts

La Lu and big man Franklin Agunanne took a beating against the number one team in the country but Our next big man had a couple highlights:



Lot of talent coming in. Agunanne is gonna add such a physical presence to our post defense. As well as athleticism from the 5 spot (Its a ways off but we’ll have the ability to go big against teams with him, Krutwig, and 6’7 Uguak

He was definitely more of a shooter off a pass. A couple of times he was able to drive the ball and get a layup or lane shot, but I don't think I saw him create his own three point shot.

Ramblers have offered Easley. Would be a HUGE add to an already stellar class.
EDIT: With a little research most indications point to him going to Umass. But we'll see.

Tank with the scoop! Ramblers offer Ochai Agbaji. We're clearly going for wings with the last scholarship.

looking at next years roster...does anyone find it interesting that we are saving last spot for a 6'6 wing?

I definitely think this is interesting given our roster glut of wings (Townes, Skokna, Satterwhite, Williamson, and Kaifes); however, Easley is a great prospect. I don't know much about the Kansas kid, but I guess if you believe in either of them, then I understand the offers.

Easley though definitely has more of an inside game than just a typical 2/3. He's probably more Ingram who can adapt to the post than Satterwhite who's either a 2 guard or quite frankly being misused.

I am really surprised that we're not even looking at a stopgap JUCO point guard.