Cal
Northwestern
Princeton
St. Mary's
WSU
Xavier
Yale

WSU is an interesting contender. Does Mahaney have a long relationship with Kyle Smith?

FWIW, that list is incredibly weighted towards the bottom of the alphabet!

Big C said:

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FWIW, that list is incredibly weighted towards the bottom of the alphabet!

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With one exception!

I see some trends (aside from the alphabet):

5 schools with fair to good recent basketball records, 2 with poor recent records
5 smaller private schools, 2 larger public schools
5 schools far from home, 2 local schools
5 schools near a shore, 2 well inland
5 secular schools, 2 Catholic
4 top academic schools, 3 not so much

Considering just those factors I come up with Yale

stu said:

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I see some trends (aside from the alphabet):

5 schools with fair to good recent basketball records, 2 with poor recent records
5 smaller private schools, 2 larger public schools
5 schools far from home, 2 local schools
5 schools near a shore, 2 well inland
5 secular schools, 2 Catholic
4 top academic schools, 3 not so much

Considering just those factors I come up with Yale

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I guess another category might be 3 schools in the P6, 4 not

but my conclusion from your analysis, is it's tough to draw any conclusion!

stu said:

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I see some trends (aside from the alphabet):

5 schools with fair to good recent basketball records, 2 with poor recent records
5 smaller private schools, 2 larger public schools
5 schools far from home, 2 local schools
5 schools near a shore, 2 well inland
5 secular schools, 2 Catholic
4 top academic schools, 3 not so much

Considering just those factors I come up with Yale

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This is good information and I think I can see where you come up with Yale. You mentioned top academic schools. I assume you meant Cal, Yale, Princeton, and Northwestern. I'd add a few more considerations:

Schools with the best basketball history in last decade or longer: Xavier and St Marys.
School with fairly new coach and already making progress: WSU
Schools playing in major conferences: Cal, WSU, Northwestern, Xavier
Schools with the best chance to play a lot as a freshman: Cal, Northwestern, Princeton, Yale. (I am basing this only on the team's record last season,or the level of competition, not on rosters.)

His list has such a variety of choices, that it is hard to know what he is thinking, or who is or isn't interested in him. If his focus is basketball, then does he want to play right away, would he rather go to a good team in a major conference and take his chances there? I would wonder why there are only two historically good programs interested in him or he interested in them?

As far as academics go, it might be a little more difficult to take tough courses and play basketball at the same time at Cal, than some of the other academic schools, because we may still have a higher failure rate than those schools. Playing close to home may be a factor.

Based on all your and my considerations, I'd say Cal should have a pretty good shot at landing him. My worry is that if the team struggles through much of this season, the movement to fire Fox could gain traction, and Mahaney and other recruits may decide not to sign with Cal, due to the uncertainty going forward. If Fox is fired, it is likely that Cal will lose touch with some of the recruits we are wooing, including Mahaney. Even if Cal does lose a lot of games this season, it is important that Fox and the team look like they are making progress, and the future appear bright.

Us being on this list (above) would seem to give us a much better chance than if the list was:

Cal
St. Mary's
Gonzaga
Arizona
UCLA
Stanford
Oregon

I've said it before....I'll say it again...If Fox can't land Mahaney who is friendly with Robertson and who lives in Moraga, he is toast ( butter & jam optional..

helltopay1 said:

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I've said it before....I'll say it again...If Fox can't land Mahaney who is friendly with Robertson and who lives in Moraga, he is toast ( butter & jam optional..

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Theo ain't close to the program anymore. But yah, we need to land him.

KoreAmBear said:

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helltopay1 said:

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I've said it before....I'll say it again...If Fox can't land Mahaney who is friendly with Robertson and who lives in Moraga, he is toast ( butter & jam optional..

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Theo ain't close to the program anymore. But yah, we need to land him.

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Does he mean Marsalis Roberson (new frosh in the fall)? I think Mahaney is close to some of our incoming recruits?

yes....Roberson...

Big C said:

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Us being on this list (above) would seem to give us a much better chance than if the list was:

Cal
St. Mary's
Gonzaga
Arizona
UCLA
Stanford
Oregon

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Yes, our competition does not seem very strong. I guess that shows where we are these days.

It is interesting that he dropped Stanford, which I think I remember was his mom's school and offered. However, Stanford has Isabel Silva coming in at PG this year from Prolific Prep, so he doesn't see the opportunity.

It will be sad if we lose out to any of the above schools really, except maybe St. Mary's due to it being super local and his relationship with Bennett.

what is his relationship with Bennett?????

helltopay1 said:

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yes....Roberson...

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Ah right.

Do not discount Xavier.....The Big East is a great, tough BB league. A Power 5 quality league that isn't. The level of competition from top thru tenth best is as good as there is in any league.

helltopay1 said:

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what is his relationship with Bennett?????

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I know that 2 of Bennett's sons play with Mahaney at Campolindo High....

bearmanpg said:

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helltopay1 said:

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what is his relationship with Bennett?????

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I know that 2 of Bennett's sons play with Mahaney at Campolindo High....

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"St. Mary's is real cool" said Mahaney. "Coach Randy Bennett and coach Justin Joyner have been my coaches around me since I was a baby so definitely a special relationship there, it's close to home too, same town as my high school."

Most quotes from recruits about a school are complementary

This quote is special

calumnus said:

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bearmanpg said:

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helltopay1 said:

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what is his relationship with Bennett?????

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I know that 2 of Bennett's sons play with Mahaney at Campolindo High....

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"St. Mary's is real cool" said Mahaney. "Coach Randy Bennett and coach Justin Joyner have been my coaches around me since I was a baby so definitely a special relationship there, it's close to home too, same town as my high school."

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calumnus said:

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bearmanpg said:

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helltopay1 said:

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what is his relationship with Bennett?????

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I know that 2 of Bennett's sons play with Mahaney at Campolindo High....

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"St. Mary's is real cool" said Mahaney. "Coach Randy Bennett and coach Justin Joyner have been my coaches around me since I was a baby so definitely a special relationship there, it's close to home too, same town as my high school."

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Ordinarily, I wouldn't take this as good news. However, Mahaney seems to have academics as a priority, maybe not just basketball, and Cal is way ahead of St.Marys in that department.

calumnus said:

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SFCityBear said:

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calumnus said:

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bearmanpg said:

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helltopay1 said:

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what is his relationship with Bennett?????

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I know that 2 of Bennett's sons play with Mahaney at Campolindo High....

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"St. Mary's is real cool" said Mahaney. "Coach Randy Bennett and coach Justin Joyner have been my coaches around me since I was a baby so definitely a special relationship there, it's close to home too, same town as my high school."

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Ordinarily, I wouldn't take this as good news. However, Mahaney seems to have academics as a priority, maybe not just basketball, and Cal is way ahead of St.Marys in that department.

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We will see. He eliminated Stanford. He still has some other lesser academic schools on his list.

He has said his goal is the NBA. Academics may be something his mom cares about and is something he will use to put him in a good basketball situation. He clearly wants a situation where the PG spot will be open. Hence, Stanford was eliminated but Cal is still on the list.

As a PG trying to impress NBA scouts, he is going to want to be surrounded by players he can pass to and who will then score. I think this season is critical and Cal needs to demonstrate that we have promising young players for him to play with.

I think Fox will gladly let him be the floor general and run the show, so that is a selling point. Fox does not have a structured offense, he will put the ball in Mahaney's hands, much like he did with Bradley and others in the past. And Mahaney likes Fox and the staff so that is a check too. Again, I think our biggest hurdle is showing enough potential this season that he is not turned off.

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I hope you are right. Are you saying that Yale and Princeton are lesser academic schools?

SFCityBear said:

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calumnus said:

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SFCityBear said:

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calumnus said:

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bearmanpg said:

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helltopay1 said:

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what is his relationship with Bennett?????

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I know that 2 of Bennett's sons play with Mahaney at Campolindo High....

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"St. Mary's is real cool" said Mahaney. "Coach Randy Bennett and coach Justin Joyner have been my coaches around me since I was a baby so definitely a special relationship there, it's close to home too, same town as my high school."

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Ordinarily, I wouldn't take this as good news. However, Mahaney seems to have academics as a priority, maybe not just basketball, and Cal is way ahead of St.Marys in that department.

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We will see. He eliminated Stanford. He still has some other lesser academic schools on his list.

He has said his goal is the NBA. Academics may be something his mom cares about and is something he will use to put him in a good basketball situation. He clearly wants a situation where the PG spot will be open. Hence, Stanford was eliminated but Cal is still on the list.

As a PG trying to impress NBA scouts, he is going to want to be surrounded by players he can pass to and who will then score. I think this season is critical and Cal needs to demonstrate that we have promising young players for him to play with.

I think Fox will gladly let him be the floor general and run the show, so that is a selling point. Fox does not have a structured offense, he will put the ball in Mahaney's hands, much like he did with Bradley and others in the past. And Mahaney likes Fox and the staff so that is a check too. Again, I think our biggest hurdle is showing enough potential this season that he is not turned off.

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I hope you are right. Are you saying that Yale and Princeton are lesser academic schools?

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I was referring to WSU and Xavier.

He lives in Lafayette the last I saw.

calumnus said:

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He has said his goal is the NBA ... As a PG trying to impress NBA scouts, he is going to want to be surrounded by players he can pass to and who will then score ... I think Fox will gladly let him be the floor general and run the show, so that is a selling point.

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I don't know about that. Mahaney's list of offers doesn't make it look like he's comparable to Jason Kidd. Cal doesn't seem to have a lot of scorers to pass to. My eye test doesn't make it look like Todd Bozeman is comparable to Mark Fox.

stu said:

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calumnus said:

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He has said his goal is the NBA ... As a PG trying to impress NBA scouts, he is going to want to be surrounded by players he can pass to and who will then score ... I think Fox will gladly let him be the floor general and run the show, so that is a selling point.

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I don't know about that. Mahaney's list of offers doesn't make it look like he's comparable to Jason Kidd. Cal doesn't seem to have a lot of scorers to pass to. My eye test doesn't make it look like Todd Bozeman is comparable to Mark Fox.

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I'm not sure I understand your disagreement. Agree he is not Jason Kidd, but he is a PG who aspires to play in the NBA. Agree that Cal does not have a lot of scorers to pass to.

The only way Fox and Bozeman are similar is they do not run a structured offense. Bozeman gave his PGs more freedom to score and create early in the shot clock. Fox wants to burn clock and then get the ball in the hands of his best player with little time on the clock. If Fox deems that Mahaney having the ball in his hands to shoot, drive or pass is our best play, he is going to do that, repeatedly. We saw that with Bradley. I think that is a selling point. The key is Mahaney believing that if given the baton as conductor, that the rest of the orchestra he will work with over 4 years has enough talent to produce beautiful music and make him look good as a conductor.

If Mahaney is good enough for the NBA then I think they will find him wherever he goes. If he wants great coaching to maximize his development or wants NCAA Tournament exposure then I think he could do better than the current Cal program.

While I'm not a big fan of Mark Fox I rate him far above 1990s Todd Bozeman. I think it made sense for Bozeman, without a lot of coaching competence, to turn the offense over to Kidd, one of the all-time great point guards. I don't believe Fox would do that with any point guard, especially a freshman who has yet to show he's as good as Matt Bradley.

stu said:

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If Mahaney is good enough for the NBA then I think they will find him wherever he goes. If he wants great coaching to maximize his development or wants NCAA Tournament exposure then I think he could do better than the current Cal program.

While I'm not a big fan of Mark Fox I rate him far above 1990s Todd Bozeman. I think it made sense for Bozeman, without a lot of coaching competence, to turn the offense over to Kidd, one of the all-time great point guards. I don't believe Fox would do that with any point guard, especially a freshman who has yet to show he's as good as Matt Bradley.

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Yes, Fox does seem to favor seniority, all else being close. If Mahaney came to Cal he would have Brown ahead of him with 1 or 2 years of eligibility.

The issue for Mahaney is he is not a sure thing for the NBA by any stretch. He needs his college play to get into their radar. For some reason he isn't even on 247 at all.

I don't think backup point guard on a team which scores in the 50s would convince the NBA. But a Cal degree could open other doors.

stu said:

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WSU is an interesting contender. Does Mahaney have a long relationship with Kyle Smith?

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Smith was recruiting him at USF, but more importantly, one of Smith's assistants at WSU is Mahaney's former AAU coach.

How did Mahaney play in the Simply Basketball All Area Code tournament over the weekend?

calumnus said:

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Cal
Northwestern
Princeton
St. Mary's
WSU
Xavier
Yale

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Mahaney and parents doing their official visit today and attending the Nevada opener tonight. Joel Brown is one of the team's host. Interesting stat is that to have a guaranteed NBA contract you need to be drafted in the first 35 picks (per an assistant coach at Cal) and the WCC has had just 8 picks in its history (all from the Zags) that met that target. Pac12 has had over 50. Maybe a helpful point if the young man has post college pro aspirations

How many top-35 NBA draft picks has Cal had in the last 4 seasons under Jones and Fox? Except for Bradley we might not have had a top-35 player in the conference.