August 9, 2012

Too Many Question Marks ...What are your thoughts?


It seems Gonzaga coaches have put almost all their eggs into the Jordan Mathews and Darin Johnson baskets.  As little as three weeks ago it appeared that we were rated highly on these two promising recruits’ lists.  Now, within the past few days, it seems that we shouldn’t be as confident as we recently were.  Although both recruits still report that they are planning official visits to campus, the jubilation that we were right in the mix is beginning to fade.

As Darin Johnson expressed, he is visiting SDSU over the Labor Day weekend, although his favorite at this time is Oregon.  What is interesting with Darin is that depending upon which website or tweet you are reading, his top schools vary.  However, we are still in his top 12 and he speaks very highly of his relationship with our coaches, so let’s hope these other visits do not provide him with the same level of comfort he feels with us.  He did take an unofficial to GU at the end of June.  Was that enough to secure his commitment once he takes other official visits?  Darin has moved into Scout 100 at 83.

As for Jordan Mathews, he now lists Cal as his forerunner for his recruitment.  Jordan really blew up during the evaluation period receiving offers from many schools.  At this point, he plans to take an official visit to GU this fall.  Rivals has Jordan ranked at 97.  A top 100 recruit will really help our cause and Jordan would be an excellent addition to learn behind Kevin and Gary.




It doesn’t appear either priority is in any rush to commit during this early period.  I was hoping that we would have one or the other locked up this month, but now that dream seems to be vanishing with each passing day.

The other long shot is Goodluck Okonoboh.  It appears that the remainder of our eggs has landed in his basket.  Let us not forget that a PF for the 2013 class is also a priority and he has the skills and explosive play to really support our team, especially once Harris leaves.  Although he is from New Jersey, and most of the Big East schools have offered for him, a glimmer of hope still exists.  There has not been any word on whether he will visit GU.  Goodluck has moved into Scout 100 at 97.

What will it take to turn the heads of these top priority recruits once we get them on campus?  What do you think our chances are of getting one or the other?  Should our coaches continue to pursue these two exclusively (Darin Johnson and Jordan Mathews), or should they be turning more of a focus to some of the other prospects that were of initial interest to us?  What will it mean for the 13/14 season if we only have Stockton as a back-up guard?  Where will Dranginis fit in if we don’t get any top guard recruits?  What are our chances with Goodluck?

I hope we receive some promising news soon.  This anxiety is going to kill me.

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