I think JUCO players can be extremely helpful, Montel James, Aundre Jackson, Earl Peterson. I like that they tend to be more polished than a freshman so they can help fill an immediate hole while a younger player develops.
With that said, I love seeing players develop and grow. I enjoyed watching Turk play last year because as he was making 2s and taking charges, I remembered seeing him as a freshman who only shot threes and wasn’t great defensively. Many of us mentioned how we enjoyed seeing Milton grow off the court as he dev eloped his game. You just don’t get that as much with the JUCO guys. Currently, Ben Richardson is my favorite player on the team. Part of that is I saw him slowly get playing time, and become a top defender. It’s similar to seeing Donte make the 3rd team all Valley. While I enjoyed seeing Jackson win 6th man, I was happier for Donte because I saw him put in hard work for 2 years to get there.
I guess what I’m getting at is I like JUCOs since they can be helpful and play a huge role, fill a need, and play right away, but there is something magical about seeing an 18-year old grow over 4 years. I think if you balance both, it helps build a program, and can help sustain success. Porter is doing a good job with this balance game. For this class, I’m excited to see some big guys over 4 years for the first time in a while. At the same time, I hope we do add an impact JUCO to help even out some of the classes with the scholarship available.
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