'22 CA SG RJ Smith (Signed to COLORADO)

[BuffsNYC]

Full disclosure - haven't watched one second of his clips. Don't know anything about him that isn't in this thread except for the little nuggets Adam has dropped on @BuffStampede .

That said, I'm not wowed by this pickup, but I'm fine with one of these every other year or so. I love that everyone is giving Tad the benefit of the doubt, but let's not pretend he's perfect here. Over the last five years, some of his "under the radar" recruits have been his worst - Doumbek, Nikolic, Guzo, Akyazili, etc.. Take a flier occasionally, not every year. With all of that, he's a guard in a state that produces talent and there's the COVID thing, so I'm willing to give a long leash on this one.

I think we all recognize that there have been a few whiffs. I'm still wondering if those misses had any real effect on wins and losses. Have we ever not had a scholarship available for a prized recruit? Has Tad ever played a guy just because he gave him a scholarship? Has he kept a non-contributor on scholarship for 4 years (Strating, perhaps, but Tad loved what he got from him in practice and he walked on his first season). It's not like we're vouching for Tad's recruitment of under-the-radar guys, we just see that the upside (Eli, George) isn't outweighed by the downside (the guys you mention plus others) because those scholarships are never used for more than 2 years.

 

[absinthe]

I'm going to give Tad a leash here, a Socal Guard who wasn't the #1 option on his team last year but still put up some numbers. Let's see how he does as a senior and as a lead option.

 

[Da Lama]

I’m kind of intrigued in what you have seen in watching clips from RJ’s past. Think you said previously had watched a lot of it, so would be interesting from my very lazy 30 sec a$$ reel I’ve seen. Many thx in advance.

I'll throw my hat in the ring. He seems to have decent range, but his release is low and a bit slow. Now, here's the thing that worries me - I don't see any sort of explosivity. Not on the dribble, not at the glass, not on defense. Hell, maybe I'm missing something. To me, the optics look like a knee jerk reaction by the staff after missing out on three other dudes at the position. I trust Tad in the end, but I still say we should be beyond moves like this given where our program is at the moment.

 

[Goose]

XT, Eli, George King, hell even Sabatino Chen and Alex Strating that are high character, lowly rated and find a role as an upper classman. (which is great to have for a program)

If he is not better than all but GK on your list, this is a wasted scholarship.

Edit - apologies to Sab on this as well. I almost included him.

 

[leftybuff]

I give Tad the BOTD. He has earned it. If he thinks the kid is a player, he's a player as far as I am concerned.

 

[Medford M.]

The issue with this is a lot of seniors make decisions going into their season. The timing of this was no coincidence either; we didn't land Jasen Green and Chancellor White the week prior to him committing elsewhere, and Chandler Jackson not listing us in his top 10. It felt like we put out a Commitable offer immediately after all of that and he jumped on that. Also, Avery Brown is still very much a possibility. Brown, Hurlburt, and Smith would be the 3rd best recruiting class in Tad's tenure. Also with what happened with Mason Faulkner I'm wondering if Tad doesn't feel it's worth putting trust into the transfer portal. Overall, as nik said wait and see with Smith but I have no issues with how the process played out.

This doesn't really help my opinion of this recruit. Green and White weren't guys we should have pressed hard for either. This kid is a level below those two.

 

[Da Lama]

This doesn't really help my opinion of this recruit. Green and White weren't guys we should have pressed hard for either. This kid is a level below those two.

Feels like a Dorrell recruit TBH.

 

[Da Lama]

Feels like a Dorrell recruit TBH.

You know what? Fvck it. This guy is gonna be my guy. I’m behind this dude 100% from here on out. #RJCrew

 

[Buffsbball]

This doesn't really help my opinion of this recruit. Green and White weren't guys we should have pressed hard for either. This kid is a level below those two.

Who do you think we should have landed? Recruiting is a two way street, we can want guys all we want. Jasen Green is a 150-200 range. Same level as Jabari, Lucas Siewart, Spencer, Tyler Bey, Evan Battey, Nique, Kin, Askia. Most of our best players in the last decade. Basically what you want is each recruit to be a top 50 player?

 

[BuffLuke80]

Who do you think we should have landed? Recruiting is a two way street, we can want guys all we want. Jasen Green is a 150-200 range. Same level as Jabari, Lucas Siewart, Spencer, Tyler Bey, Evan Battey, Nique, Kin, Askia. Most of our best players in the last decade. Basically what you want is each recruit to be a top 50 player?

That's a pipe dream, unless you're a blue blood. People can say what they want about Tad, the dude has made us relevant. I think you could go down the program's history, and that hasn't been the case very often.

 

[jumped ship]

Feels like a Dorrell recruit TBH.

dont bring that bad juju in here

 

[Buffnik]

I think it's fair that our recruiting expectations have become top 150 rated prospects with about an equal number of occasional gets either in the top 50 or in the lower-rated categories.

It's also fair to be more excited at higher ranked guys and more cautious with the lower ranked guys - all while we avoid anointing anyone or dogging on anyone. They're recruits, which means it's all potential since none of them have done anything yet on this level.

 

[Medford M.]

Who do you think we should have landed? Recruiting is a two way street, we can want guys all we want. Jasen Green is a 150-200 range. Same level as Jabari, Lucas Siewart, Spencer, Tyler Bey, Evan Battey, Nique, Kin, Askia. Most of our best players in the last decade. Basically what you want is each recruit to be a top 50 player?

I expect us to have better offers out there than we did this year. Tad typically doesn't cast a super wide net on his offers, but this years offers were largely underwhelming.

 

[WWCD]

I think it's fair that our recruiting expectations have become top 150 rated prospects with about an equal number of occasional gets either in the top 50 or in the lower-rated categories.

It's also fair to be more excited at higher ranked guys and more cautious with the lower ranked guys - all while we avoid anointing anyone or dogging on anyone. They're recruits, which means it's all potential since none of them have done anything yet on this level.

I'm fine taking project players, and it is possible RJ is an extremely underrated recruit. I recall George King being the lowest rated recruit in the class with Dustin Thomas, Jaron Hopkins and Fletcher, and he turned out to be the best of the bunch. I also agree with the sentiment that maybe it's time to set our sights higher, though that also rings hollow seeing as we haven't made the Sweet-16 in decades. I think once we string together tournament runs with this class then we can really start to make some headway in recruiting.

 

[Buffsbball]

I expect us to have better offers out there than we did this year. Tad typically doesn't cast a super wide net on his offers, but this years offers were largely underwhelming.

Avery Brown, Joe Hurlburt, Zach Keller, Dyson Daniels, Grady Dick, Joseph Hunter and Jasen Green don't do it for you? That's 7 in the top 175, 5 in top 100, and 2 in top 40. Remember we only had 3 spots this year. Dyson signed a G league contract for ton of money. Joseph Hunter (top 100 kid) committed to local program Fresno State, Jasen Green committed to local program Creighton, and Grady Dick (top 40 player) committed to KU and is from Wichita.

 

[Luke]

You know what? Fvck it. This guy is gonna be my guy. I’m behind this dude 100% from here on out. #RJCrew

I love this Da Lama! I'm with you! All-in on RJ!

Heck w/ top-150 recruits! I want all top-50 players! But I recognize that the top 50 players-in a given year-may not be the top 50 Freshman from 4 years earlier. Until we are a 5 star destination (like UCLA/USC; which we may never be), Tad finds guys rated 300+ that turn out to be top- 50 seniors. He arguably has elite program to identify & develop talent, to where guys who are even 11th, 12th or 13th off bench know they can earn upperclassman minutes & may develop into overseas pros.

Watching his tapes, I think RJ: works well w/ other skilled guards, 6'0 Spivey Word & he may both average close to 20 pts this year; is strong to the hoop-including euro-steps & straight-line drives-which Tad needs from Eli/Nique/Javon role of big guard that can defend some 3s in 3-guard line-ups; may not be overly explosive, but good lateral movement for D; unselfish & smart passer; steals/blocks; confident making 3's in big games; & seems to have chip on shoulder to outwork everyone else!

 

[AztecBuff]

@WasianCU - He's now "Signed to Colorado".

OFFICIAL welcome and congrats to him!

 

[boulder77]

Welcome aboard, RJ.

 

[dyemeduke]

For what it's worth, Frank Burlison thinks very highly of this kid - even has him in the top 100 for national recruits. Burlison may have a west coast bias, but he's been around for a long time.

There's way too little video on this kid for anyone to make any solid conclusions. From what little I can see, sure, nothing crazy impressive, but I'm hopeful that RJ dvelops into a solid contributor.

 

[SewallBeach]

 

[Buffsbball]

Damien is 21-2 this year. Maxpreps has them as the 7th best team in Cali. They don't keep stats on Maxpreps but from the articles I find it seems like RJ is the teams leading scorer pretty much every game. He was the MVP in the St. John Bosco Tournament. Seems to be having a very good year. Backing up the whole underrecruited due to being behind guys story. Optimistic and the positive is we've built our program enough we can bring him along slowly.

Damien High School (La Verne, CA) Varsity Basketball

See the Damien Spartans's basketball schedule, roster, rankings, standings and more on MaxPreps.com

www.maxpreps.com

RJ Smith leads Damien to 12th consecutive basketball victory

RJ Smith was the tournament MVP after he scored 22 points for Damien in a victory over host St. John Bosco.

www.latimes.com

High school roundup: Damien basketball routs Rancho Cucamonga; Etiwanda up next

Highlights from Tuesday’s games: Damien has four players score in double figures in a rout of Rancho Cucamonga; Flintridge Prep’s girls basketball team remained unbeaten in the Prep Lea…

www.whittierdailynews.com

 

[4BienemyTDs]

Damien is 21-2 this year. Maxpreps has them as the 7th best team in Cali. They don't keep stats on Maxpreps but from the articles I find it seems like RJ is the teams leading scorer pretty much every game. He was the MVP in the St. John Bosco Tournament. Seems to be having a very good year. Backing up the whole underrecruited due to being behind guys story. Optimistic and the positive is we've built our program enough we can bring him along slowly.

Damien High School (La Verne, CA) Varsity Basketball

See the Damien Spartans's basketball schedule, roster, rankings, standings and more on MaxPreps.com

www.maxpreps.com

RJ Smith leads Damien to 12th consecutive basketball victory

RJ Smith was the tournament MVP after he scored 22 points for Damien in a victory over host St. John Bosco.

www.latimes.com

High school roundup: Damien basketball routs Rancho Cucamonga; Etiwanda up next

Highlights from Tuesday’s games: Damien has four players score in double figures in a rout of Rancho Cucamonga; Flintridge Prep’s girls basketball team remained unbeaten in the Prep Lea…

www.whittierdailynews.com

This is great news and makes whatever Tad saw in him validated

 

[Da Lama]

Damien is 21-2 this year. Maxpreps has them as the 7th best team in Cali. They don't keep stats on Maxpreps but from the articles I find it seems like RJ is the teams leading scorer pretty much every game. He was the MVP in the St. John Bosco Tournament. Seems to be having a very good year. Backing up the whole underrecruited due to being behind guys story. Optimistic and the positive is we've built our program enough we can bring him along slowly.

Damien High School (La Verne, CA) Varsity Basketball

See the Damien Spartans's basketball schedule, roster, rankings, standings and more on MaxPreps.com

www.maxpreps.com

RJ Smith leads Damien to 12th consecutive basketball victory

RJ Smith was the tournament MVP after he scored 22 points for Damien in a victory over host St. John Bosco.

www.latimes.com

High school roundup: Damien basketball routs Rancho Cucamonga; Etiwanda up next

Highlights from Tuesday’s games: Damien has four players score in double figures in a rout of Rancho Cucamonga; Flintridge Prep’s girls basketball team remained unbeaten in the Prep Lea…

www.whittierdailynews.com

This is good news, but more importantly...WHAT FvCKING SCHOOL DOESN'T KEEP A BOX SCORE IN THIS DAY AND AGE??? Unbelieveably bad on the coaching staff's part.

 

[BuffinCali]

This is good news, but more importantly...WHAT FvCKING SCHOOL DOESN'T KEEP A BOX SCORE IN THIS DAY AND AGE??? Unbelieveably bad on the coaching staff's part.

They keep a box score, it's mandatory for a game to count, at least in California hs basketball. I believe that was referring to Max Preps not posting the box score.

RJ has not been under the radar, just under recruited. When he lit up Mater Dei last year, he was officially on the scene. Tad was early to the dance with RJ. May not be an elite college difference maker, but he is a nice piece to the puzzle.

 

[Luke]

Congrats @CUBuffsMBB's @rj_smith5 on nominee! And Congrats to all my favorite, under-appreciated '22 West-Coast/Best-Coast guys:
@Jojohunter14 @sniperstephens3 @Robert_money3 @_mbyrd21 @OziyahSellers @shymoney03 @ZachKeller19
Keep grinding! We see you here in Colorado & beyond!

 

[Luke]

Congrats @CUBuffsMBB's @rj_smith5 on nominee! And Congrats to all my favorite, under-appreciated '22 West-Coast/Best-Coast guys:
@Jojohunter14 @sniperstephens3 @Robert_money3 @_mbyrd21 @OziyahSellers @shymoney03 @ZachKeller19
Keep grinding! We see you here in Colorado & beyond!

 

[Buffnik]

Sounds like RJ is the type of player CU has had so much success with. Maybe a Cory Higgins type player. (For the women's hoops fans: hopefully we're recruiting his younger sister, Kennedy.)

Siblings Kennedy and R.J. Smith share many bonds, including a love of basketball

R.J. Smith is a senior standout on the Damien boys basketball team, and his sister Kennedy is a star sophomore on the Etiwanda girls basketball team

www.dailybulletin.com

R.J. averaged 8.9 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists and 1.5 steals as a freshman and was relied on more for scoring after senior Jarred Hyder went down with an injury.

Since then, he’s become a leader and improved his shooting. By the time he graduates, R.J., a 6-foot-4 point guard, will finish in the top five in Damien history for career points, rebounds, assists and steals. But statistics don’t tell the whole story, LeDuc said.

“He’s very unselfish,” LeDuc said. “He could score significantly more in a game, but he doesn’t because he puts the team goals first.

“One of his big stats is what he does defensively, being in the right place at the right time. He knows every position.”

 

[MarkW]

 

[MarkW]

 

[MtnBuff]

Smooth athlete.

First clip looked like they were playing in an empty gym. Were they not letting people in because of Covid or do the just not get anyone at the games?