Are we overlooking Anthony Clemmons?

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SwirlinLingerie

Well-Known Member
I fully admit that I don't spend a lot of time breaking down film on incoming recruits. I read a bit about them, but that's about it.

So perhaps someone with more knowledge of the incoming recruits could tell me why there seems to be a consensus that Gesell will start over Clemmons next year.

Won't Clemmons be the only true point guard on the roster next year? I like Marble's development and he can play a solid point, but it seems like he could be even more dangerous as a shooting guard playing alongside a true point.

And from what I've read about Clemmons, he seems like a player who will quickly transcend his high school rating. He's played on state championship teams and successful AAU teams. He hasn't gotten the attention as some of his high scoring teammates, but he sounds like the guy who makes these teams go. He sounds like a winner - a leader. A gritty, hard nosed defender who can handle the ball, play great defense, and won't be intimidated by Big Ten competition. He sounds like the perfect point guard to run this team.

From the descriptions I've read, Clemmons reminds me of Eric Harris, the point guard for Minnesota's Final Four team (since vacated). Harris was surrounded by great players, but he did everything besides score a ton of points. He and Bobby Jackson made that team go. And speaking of Bobby Jackson, couldn't Gesell eventually become a poor man's Bobby J, as a scoring/ball handing combo guard to run alongside the gritty floor leader Clemmons?

Maybe Clemmons won't be ready to contribute next season, but will Gesell's game translate any better into Big Ten play as a freshman?
 
Yeah, I agree, Lon/ger/a. Marble doesn't seem to have what's necessary to be a point guard. He dribbles and shoots too much. Ogelsby can't dribble out of trouble.

Iowa is going to be hurting for a point guard next year.
 
HomerChampless said:
Yeah, I agree, Lon/ger/a. Marble doesn't seem to have what's necessary to be a point guard. He dribbles and shoots too much. Ogelsby can't dribble out of trouble.

Iowa is going to be hurting for a point guard next year.
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Iowa is not going to be hurting at point guard next year. Though they are freshmen both are quality points and I might even expect an upgrade at that position next year. Shooting guard is where we might be hurting next year with Gatens gone.
 
Just from the nature of his high school competition, Clemmons probably is better prepared to withstand the rigors of a 18-game Big Ten season than Gesell. Let's face it, playing in the second largest class in Nebraska is not a ringing endorsement of the competition.

The fact that White faced teams with Division I talent on them most nights helped him tremendously this year. Because White face more talented teams night in & night out in Ohio, he was better prepared to play as a freshman than Cougill, May & McCabe. It still looks like the opposing talent overwhelms May & McCabe at times.
 
HS basketball players play more games in AAU then they do in HS games. Gessel played against a lot of tough competition in AAU.
 
DunderMifflinHk said:
HS basketball players play more games in AAU then they do in HS games. Gessel played against a lot of tough competition in AAU.
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excellent point! Michigan high school ball is better than Nebraska or Iowa, but college coaches do most of their evaluations during AAU ball, Gessel and Marble will share the point, and hopefully Clemmons will push for playing time and give the Hawks a lot of depth at that position.
 
ColumbusHawk said:
Just from the nature of his high school competition, Clemmons probably is better prepared to withstand the rigors of a 18-game Big Ten season than Gesell. Let's face it, playing in the second largest class in Nebraska is not a ringing endorsement of the competition.

The fact that White faced teams with Division I talent on them most nights helped him tremendously this year. Because White face more talented teams night in & night out in Ohio, he was better prepared to play as a freshman than Cougill, May & McCabe. It still looks like the opposing talent overwhelms May & McCabe at times.
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Gesell played on one of the top AAU teams in the country as a combo point guard and shooting guard. The only reason he was not a full time point guard was the Marcus Paige (one of the top 2-3 PG in the country) was also on this team. I believe that team finished 3rd at the AAU Nationals in Orlando. So he has played enough top talent to be ready for the big ten. Most scouting services have Gesell as one of the top 10-15 point guards in the country.

His high school team also played 4 games in a large tournament in Arizona over the holidays so I think dismissing his competition by the class he plays in Nebraska is a little short sighted.
 
I think we are overlooking both Ingram and Clemmons in this years class as most of the focus has been on Woodbury, Gesell, and Meyer. But these are 2 guards that have a shot at making a big impact next year as there will be minutes available next season at either guard position.
 
I don't dismiss the competition Gesell has played against. But how much of a player's rating from these services is based on how many points he put up as a 16 year old in high profile summer AAU tournaments?

And are these services very good at measuring a player's ability to run his team, distribute the ball correctly, and play great defense? I have no idea. In my opinion, Clemmons sounds like a guy who would have a great +/- rating.
 
I think the key is that we will finally have depth at the PG spot with Gessell and Clemmons. PG is the most critical spot on the roster IMO and we have been pretty poor at that position the past few years due to transfers, injuries, etc.

We had no insurance against a Cartwright injury this year and we paid the price. Marble certainly did a nice job filling in, but he is not a long term solution at the PG spot. Gessell and Clemmons are true PG's with Gessell being more of a scorer and Clemmons more of a lockdown defensive guy.
 
FCAS said:
If AAU is like the PTL, why would college coaches rely upon it so heavily for player evaluation? This seems a little inconsistent to me.
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Because during the AAU season coaches have nothing to do but watch players. During the HS season the coaches are also in season.
 
i believe that the frosh pgs will combine for 35+ mins a game. 1 for 20 min and 1 for 15 min. i give gesell the edge because i have seen him play and he is a legit pg (he isnt a combo). clemmons could easily start. the guy i am not sure of is ingram as i have yet to see video of him where he looks like even and adequate shooter. all i see is driving to the hoop for layups. and at his height and he doesnt look to have the greatest hops i am not sure he will be very solid offensively especially for a wing. hopefully he can develop a shot but i think the #2 spot is ogelsby's to lose because of the fact he is our only legit shooter. this is also why i wouldnt mind fran going and finding another wing that can shoot. marble shows flashes but isnt very consistent as a shooter and may we know what he is. after that we dont have anymore true wings. gesell could play some wing but he would struggle as a wing and thrive as a pg so to me that is counter productive. white is inconsistent as a shooter so far and he is such a good power forward and would be such a detriment as a defender on the wing that we need to keep him at the 4.
 
so that means Paige is over rated because he plays against weak competition in Iowa, or maybe he is good because he committed to Roy Toy of UNC, vs Gesell because he chose Iowa and Iowa certainly can't get good talent, and only gets mediocre talent
sometime people are weird in their thinking.
also to think that White is unable to play this position or that position based on his freshmen season also amazes me., not all players are superstuds coming out of HS, some take 4 years to develope into stars or into solid starters that turn into 1st or 2nd team players, nothing wrong with that.
as i have stated before Marble's dad did not develope a consistent outside 3 pt shot. til he was a JR.
neither White nor Marble HAD to shoot the 3 this season, because of Gatens being the main shooter. next season Marble, White and Oglesby will be called upon to shoot more, but none of the 3 will have to carry the load by themselves, there appears to be 6 solid outside shooters in Gesell, Marble, Oglesby, White, McCabe and Meyer. Gesell and Meyer will be freshmen and will struggle as most freshmen do, i have not seen videos on Clemmons to make a reasonable assessment of his ability to shoot the 3. but the thought of having 6-7 solid 3 point shooters on the team, vs 1-2 and a couple rookies.
so rather than discount a players ability to improve, lets sit back and watch the develope under Fran
 
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I won't make any predictions and will leave that for the coaches. Bottom line is we don't know how certain players will adapt to the college game. We can speculate all we want but until these recruits come to campus and practice we won't know how much playing time they may/may not log.
 
ColumbusHawk said:
AAU ball is like the PTL, defense is non-existent. Also its Ge-sell.
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That's not very accurate, actually. AAU definitely has much better defensive play than a high school team does. On AAU teams, you have guys who play basketball as their first sport (in most cases) whereas a high school team doesn't have that. AAU is much more competitive than most high school basketball leagues.
 
He is likely being "over looked" in some part because he committed to one of the directional Michigan schools first. It will just be nice to have another guy who can get the ball down the court so that Iowa doesn't have to use Stubbs much longer.
 
ColumbusHawk said:
Just from the nature of his high school competition, Clemmons probably is better prepared to withstand the rigors of a 18-game Big Ten season than Gesell. Let's face it, playing in the second largest class in Nebraska is not a ringing endorsement of the competition.

The fact that White faced teams with Division I talent on them most nights helped him tremendously this year. Because White face more talented teams night in & night out in Ohio, he was better prepared to play as a freshman than Cougill, May & McCabe. It still looks like the opposing talent overwhelms May & McCabe at times.
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so by by your thinking, Paige way overrated as he played in Iowa, where they have no competition,
either that or you are saying Paige is asgood as advertised because he chose UNC, and Gesell can't be that good because he chose Iowa, you really need to be carefull how you choose to put down a kid on his opposition.
 
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