Eric Katenda to visit Wake Forest this weekend.
by RAJohnston on Mar 23, 2011 12:28 PM EDT
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Eric Katenda, a 4* power forward from Bel Aire, Kansas (originally Cameroon) is visiting Wake Forest this weekend. Katenda is the 21st best PF in the country in the Class of 2011. He measures in a 6'8, 210 lbs and is down to Wake Forest, Notre Dame, Iowa, and Georgia Tech. Most things that I have seen indicate that he is really down to Wake Forest and Notre Dame. I believe that we have an outstanding chance at landing Katenda, and it would really help us out next year, especially if we do not get Lekan Ajayi.
From what I have heard, Travis McKie will be "hosting" Eric, and Coach Battle, the primary recruiter, will be heading up most of the operations. ND losing last weekend was pretty big, and the staff is very keen on getting Eric to sign ASAP.
I will update anything else I get, or bump this thread after his visit.
EDIT (2:13PM): It has not been confirmed that McKie will be hosting Katenda. It will more likely be a different Wake Forest player.
Click through for ESPN.coms evaluation of Katenda.
Strengths:
Katenda is a long and athletic hybrid forward who has a very high ceiling. He runs the floor very well, moves well laterally, is extremely bouncy, and plays high above the rim. He has a good skill base facing the basket as he is very smooth handling the ball in the open floor or facing up and attacking his man in the quarter court. He has a soft touch in the mid-range area and can even step out and knock down the occasional three-pointer. His mobility is a major weapon defensively and he is already a good shot blocker and high volume rebounder.
Weaknesses:
While Katenda is very skilled for a player his size, he gets a little too enamored with the perimeter at times. He is much more comfortable facing the basket then playing with his back to it and would do well to capitalize on his athleticism more consistently in the post instead of settling for so many long jumpers. He isn't a big fan of contact inside the paint on either end of the floor and needs to develop the killer instinct to be great.
Bottom Line:
Katenda is an undeniable talent with great size, length, athleticism, and skills for a player his size. He needs to become a little more physically assertive and concentrate on impacting the game more in the paint instead of constantly trying to prove his worth on the perimeter.
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Looks good...
Question: Why not let Battle run the show… seems like he does most of the dirty work anyway?
The size will help, but on ESPN he is listed as week and afraid of contact…. this is the ACC not the Big Least. Can he take the beating? All season long?
Should be interesting! Hope he signs…
jfizzle86... Go DEACS!!
From what I've heard...
Battle was offered the job when Prosser died, but his wife was battling cancer, so he declined.
I don’t know if he was up for the job against Bzdelik.
I confirm that Coach Battle was offered the job before Dino Gaudio.
Also, this is not to be rude to anybody on the coaching staff, but they are all responsible for this year, not just Jeff Bzdelik.
Wake Forest '12
Mother So Dear
their responsibility is not equal to the head coach's
simply saying they’re all responsible for this year totally obscures the head coach’s role & obfuscates his accountability. There’s a reason one coach is called the head and the others are called assistants. They help him. Maybe if we got enough help he would be a decent head coach.
Port Arthur, TX
by Screamin' Demons on Mar 24, 2011 10:57 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
This would be MASSIVE.
I really really hope he comes here. It would make me feel so much better about a lot of things, and on that note, please Lord let us never lose Coach Battle. He seems absolutely amazing.
Apparently it's not McKie that will be hosting.
I heard incorrectly on that one. Trying to figure out who will be at this moment.
Wake Forest '12
Mother So Dear
Interesting Link
For all those who think that how many stars a recruit has next to his name dictates how good he will/might be.
by DC Cardinal on Mar 24, 2011 10:01 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs
ummmm, okay. Interesting link.
For all those who think that Derrick Williams should be a lodestar of some sort for that debate?
Port Arthur, TX
by Screamin' Demons on Mar 24, 2011 10:37 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Williams, et al
He’s not the only poster child for that. Tim Duncan was a NR recruit, if you recall. Quite a few Wake stars of the past have been NR recruits. I actually do agree that the professional raters are correct more often than not, but there are no sure things. All I was doing was simply stirring the pot.
by DC Cardinal on Mar 24, 2011 11:25 AM EDT up reply actions
ACC Sports Journal has a good response
from an article published this week entitled “Red Flags Surround Bzdelik”:
Wellman recently defended Bzdelik, saying he didn’t care about the number of stars, which wasn’t exactly what the client wanted to hear. He also brought up Tim Duncan as an example of a player who flew under the radar but led Wake to success, which was ridiculous, since Duncan’s scenario (unknown high school swimmer from Virgin Islands signs with Wake over Delaware State and becomes NBA legend) may never be played out again. In the current basketball world, a body and talent like his no longer goes unknown.
Port Arthur, TX
by Screamin' Demons on Mar 24, 2011 11:44 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
just so you know
don’t read too much into me citing that piece to respond to you, i’m not being snarky, it just happens to directly address what you said re duncan. The likelihood of a hurricane destroying a pool so he changes his mind about what sport a future NBA HOF’er decides to play in college then serendipitously signs with Wake is literally zero, and well, the article pretty much says it all
Port Arthur, TX
by Screamin' Demons on Mar 24, 2011 11:46 AM EDT up reply actions
Agreed
That was a once in a lifetime occurrence. I’m Class of 86 myself. Our star players back in those days were all pretty much unknowns. Who ever expected Anthony Teachey to do anything? I’m not denying there was some known talent back then, too. Kenny Green comes to mind, along with Mark Cline. On the other end of that spectrum is Todd May (greatest recruit never to play a game at Wake) and Mike Scott. Scott had the talent to play in the ACC, but got homesick so they say. I personally believe he couldn’t deal with Bob Staak. We’ll be back someday, hopefully before I’m in a rest home. Sure wish Wellman had tried harder for someone else. Bring back Gene Hooks…..
by DC Cardinal on Mar 24, 2011 12:02 PM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
I sat next to Gene Hooks at the ACC Tournament
He would have done nearly the exact same thing as RW did in my opinion. Dr. Hooks made it clear that Dino had to go, and that a better culture was needed.
Wake Forest '12
Mother So Dear
responding
the name “Gene Hooks Field at Wake Forest Baseball Park” makes me think of the similarly long-ish “Anaheim California Angels of Los Angeles, Anaheim, California”
by Grand Tanyon Sturtze on Mar 24, 2011 6:02 PM EDT up reply actions
It’s not really fair to say that. Look at Emeka Okafor. Rated 99th by RCSI, yet was able to step into UConn almost right away and contribute. Is it rare? Sure but to speak in an absolute and say the possibility of it happening is ‘literally zero’ is unfair.
I mean, Williams is another example. I’m not going to get in another pissing match but to act like these recruiting services are never wrong is just false.
+1 not responding
dude you start fights with everyone/nobody who disagrees with you wants to engage with you. just look at how people viewed you on the last thread you had 3 people say this to you last time (DaDeacs, me, GTS), & i quote DaDeacs
Do you just look to pick fights? You argue about the stupidest things
Just pointing out that he’s not the only one who thinks you’re talking in an echo chamber. no responses necessary
Port Arthur, TX
by Screamin' Demons on Mar 25, 2011 1:08 AM EDT up reply actions
I agree...
They are all right… stick to analyzing plays that are fairly basic, and wasting your own time. I’ve wanted to say that for a long time, and man it feels great. I don’t mind 99% of the guys on here because they have educated opinions and lead to an enrichment of my knowledge as well. You on the other hand find abstract references that loosely make your points and trash other people’s ideals. You figure out all the in-bounds plays and discover the pick-and-roll mystery for us. That is apparently your talent.
jfizzle86... Go DEACS!!
by jfizzle86 on Mar 25, 2011 2:06 AM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
If you said things that were not factuall incorrect, I would not have to respond with counterexamples that clearly disprove your points.
You want to talk bad about Bzdelik? Go ahead because there is plenty of reason to do that. However, you can’t say baseless statements that are not true or make no sense without getting called out.
Please find
Where anyone, on any thread, has said that recruiting services are never wrong.
NO ONE HAS SAID THIS. The point is, they wouldn’t be in business if they weren’t right a majority of the time – right? I mean, how else would they make money if they were wrong most times.
The fact is that players rated wit higher stars usually do better – and banking on a strategy of trying to find the ones that are going to be superstars in the NR, 2* arena is tough. You have to get some 4* and higher talent if you want to succeed. AGAIN, I AM NOT SAYING THE 4* MEANS THAT PLAYER WILL BE GOOD – it is basing it off the odds. You have a better chance to get a superstar from a 4* than a 2* – not saying it can’t happen or that it isn’t possible to land a 4* player who stinks and land a 2* who is a NBA-calibur player.
And don’t give me Derrick Williams either, he was a 3* recruit, but he also had scholarship offers from big time schools – and was going to USC before the whole Tim Floyd fiasco – many people thought he was going to be good, not just one coach/team.
by DaDeacs on Mar 25, 2011 9:00 AM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
The point about Williams
Was that no one expected him to be this good coming out of HS. As I mentioned previously, I think that the professional raters get it right more than not, but they make mistakes just like everyone else. Some of my old classmates say bring back Odom. Not too sure about that, but at least he turned the program around from the Staak days. We could use another one like him, maybe.
To reinforce the point I believe that DC was making, here are a few facts about DW...(thanks to a friend for these)
- He was at the bottom of the 4 star rankings; rated in the group that was 100 to 150 overall.
- He was the #32 Power Forward in the Class of 2009.
- Among those rated ahead of Derrick Williams: Ari Stewart, Travis Wear, David Wear, Andre Dawkins, Devin Booker, Dexter Strickland, Lorenzo Brown, Mfon Udofia, Milton Jennings, Mason Plumlee, Ryan Kelly, Durand Scott, and more than 100 other guys.
Wake Forest '12
Mother So Dear
by RAJohnston on Mar 25, 2011 2:15 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
he still was still rated a 2** and had the attention of major programs
simply citing his relative ranking and ignoring that he was a 4**** AND the attention he was getting from national programs is totally obfuscating everything about the importance of ratings, and the errors in what you are saying are glaring (in ways that DaDeacs has already pointed out). Like the ACC Sports Journal said in its scathing review of Jeff Bzdelik,
Five recruits are committed for the next two years, and the list of other offers for those recruits was underwhelming: Tulsa, Wichita State, UNC-Wilmington, Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan, Marshall. Yikes. Winning doesn’t come recruiting “sleepers.” Wake fans are extremely sensitive to this, because they lived through it with Dave Odom. Odom rarely even approached top talent & instead aimed lower, and got a slew of mediocre talent and an almost constant transfer list. No surprise that Odom’s greatest success came with his highest-ranked recruits, such as Rodney Rogers and Randolph Childress.
Ratings matter, and they don’t exclusively matter, what matters most is to recruit players that are 1) highly rated and/or 2) Seriously sought after by other MAJOR programs. Looking at his ranking relative to other forwards and ignoring that he was 1) a 4**** AND 2) That national programs were going after him is blatantly incorrect
by Grand Tanyon Sturtze on Mar 25, 2011 3:13 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
subject line correction: Williams was rated a 4**** and had the attn of major programs
Bzdelik recruits NR & 2**, and trying to say that because of (Williams) a 4**** recruit’s positional ranking relative to others while ignoring ignoring his 4****-status and that he was being sought after by major national programs, ratings don’t prove that highly rated players usually do much better, is just a bad argument
by Grand Tanyon Sturtze on Mar 25, 2011 3:16 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
RAJ, you cannot be more wrong
RA/You: 4-star recruit Derrick Williams was underrated because he was rated behind several other 4-stars.
Everyone else: Dude. He was a 4-star. And like GTS & DaDeacs have said, he was also sought after by major programs.
Who is right? Not you/everyone else. The fact is that Williams was rated a 4-star recruit AND sought after by other comparatively major programs.
What does Bzdelik do? Not get 4-star recruits AND not get recruits sought after by comparatively major programs.
Simply because Williams was rated 1E after 1A, 1B, 1C, etc. other 4-star power forwards does not prove that he was a sleeper or underrated. He was a rated 4-star and big programs wanted him. Unlike most of our recruits, which are 3-star and below, and sought after by the likes of East Carolina. It sucks & the Williams example you try to flesh out is a flatliner, it doesn’t work RAJ
Port Arthur, TX
by Screamin' Demons on Mar 28, 2011 3:36 AM EDT up reply actions
Selective Reporting
Here are Wake Forest’s past four and five star prospects’ and elite players’ list of schools that recruited them (in order as presented on scout.com). I’ve only included high-ranking or recently-productive prospects pursued by mid-majors.
The claim that I am contesting is the claim made is the Bzdelik’s prospects sub-4* prospects are not being sought after comparatively high-major programs and that past prospects were not sought by mid-major programs. (A mid-major program is defined as a program outside of BCS Conferences.
Chris Paul 5*:
Wake Forest
Boston College
Charlotte
Clemson
Connecticut
North Carolina
South Carolina
Stanford
Ty Walker 5*:
Wake Forest
East Carolina
Florida
Kentucky
North Carolina
North Carolina State
UNC Wilmington
Virginia
Jeff Teague 4*
Wake Forest
Boston College
Dayton
Indiana
Purdue
Southern Illinois
Xavier
James Johnson 4*
Wake Forest
Baylor
Boston College
Bradley
Cincinnati
Gonzaga
Kansas
Tennessee
Virginia Tech
Washington State
Witchita State
Justin Gray 4*:
Wake Forest
Charlotte
Clemson
Florida State
Georgia Tech
Maryland
Jamie Skeen 4*:
Wake Forest
Charlotte
Clemson
Florida
North Carolina
North Carolina State
Virginia
Virginia Tech
Anthony Gurley 4*
Wake Forest
Boston College
George Washington
Georgia
Holy Cross
Massachusetts
Memphis
Miami
North Carolina State
Ohio State
Providence
Stanford
Villanova
Ishmael Smith 4*
Wake Forest
Charlotte
Clemson
East Carolina
South Carolina
Xavier
Travis McKie 4*
Wake Forest
Clemson
Florida
Georgia Tech
Maryland
North Carolina
Virginia
Virginia Commonwealth
Virginia Tech
J.T. Terrell 4*
Wake Forest
Charlotte
Kentucky
Miami
Virginia
Virginia Tech
Melvin Tabb 4*
Wake Forest
Baylor
Clemson
East Carolina
North Carolina State
South Carolina
Virginia
Virginia Tech
Ari Stewart 4*
Wake Forest
Alabama
Clemson
Connecticut
Georgia
Georgia Tech
Miami
Michigan State
Oregon
South Florida
Texas
UAB
Xavier
C.J. Harris 3*
Wake Forest
Charlotte
Clemson
Davidson
Michigan
Oklahoma
Tulane
UNC-Wilmington
Virginia
Virginia Tech
Kyle Visser 3*:
Wake Forest
Central Michigan
Georgia
Indiana
Marquette
Michigan State
Notre Dame
San Diego State
Western Michigan
Chas McFarland 3*:
Wake Forest
Ball State
Boston College
Marquette
Miami
Pittsburgh
Providence
Syracuse
USC
Utah
L.D. Williams 3*
Wake Forest
Florida
Maryland
Miami
North Carolina
Tennessee
Virginia Tech
Xavier
From this list, it is clear that elite WF prospects are often pursued by mid-majors (there are some notable exceptions, to be sure, but this list still stands by itself) and that WF’s recruiting patterns are similar to lower level ACC teams such as Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Miami, as opposed to the upper echelon that many posters feel is the case.
For a comparison, here are the players WF has recruited since Bzdelik arrived. Please note that Class of 2011 is technically a Gaudio class, though Bzdelik actually landed these recruits.
Chase Fischer 3*
Wake Forest
Marshall
Daniel Green 3*
Wake Forest
California
Clemson
Oklahoma
Texas
Tulsa
UNC-Wilmington
Virginia Commonwealth
Virginia Tech
Witchita State
Anthony Fields 2*
Wake Forest
Eastern Michigan
Penn State
Rice
Seton Hall
UTEP
Western Michigan
Aaron Rountree 2*
Wake Forest
Clemson
Colorado
Elon
Harvard
North Carolina State
South Carolina
UNC-Greensboro
UNC-Wilmington
Virginia
Virginia Tech
Codi Miller-McIntyre 2*
Wake Forest
Andre Washington 2*
Wake Forest
James Madison
Liberty
Richmond
UNC-Greensboro
West Virginia
Virginia Tech
Enough of the selective data. It’s bad journalism.
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