Basketball Cam Spencer to Rutgers

RUsojo

Heisman
Dec 17, 2010
30,102
29,499
113
Very happy with this. Spencer jumped first. Would’ve been nice to get Hammond too, but whatever, I get it. Still need to find another piece (or two).
Some of the posters here said Hammond was on campus earlier today. I don’t know for sure but seems like he chose not to jump rather than Spencer jumping first.

Either way, interesting pick up. Gives you a shooter who can hit open looks which we need. Hopefully cliff sucks everybody in and this kid can take advantage of the D collapsing a lot.

I wonder if pike expects him to get bench minutes or top 5 minutes.
 

Rokodesh

Heisman
Aug 30, 2007
16,374
13,885
73
Some of the posters here said Hammond was on campus earlier today. I don’t know for sure but seems like he chose not to jump rather than Spencer jumping first.

Either way, interesting pick up. Gives you a shooter who can hit open looks which we need. Hopefully cliff sucks everybody in and this kid can take advantage of the D collapsing a lot.

I wonder if pike expects him to get bench minutes or top 5 minutes.
He's taking Geo's spot. He'll get plenty of minutes
 

Knights 1212

All-American
Sep 9, 2003
27,563
8,528
113
I hope by some chance that Hammond comes also but that is probably a longshot now. Hopefully Caleb will be back which would be a big plus as well. I also still hope we can get Ryan Young. That would be huge.
 

MadRU

Heisman
Jul 26, 2001
38,936
19,837
98
 

RUbot

All-Conference
Feb 2, 2002
1,353
1,452
113
He sure comes from an athletic family:

Cams brother Pat was a four-time All-American lacrosse player at Loyola, winning the Tewaaraton Award as the nation’s top player as a senior in 2019 when he also set the NCAA’s all-time record for assists… Pat played basketball at Northwestern as a graduate transfer in 2019-20, leading the Wildcats with 3.9 assists while finishing second on the team with 10.4 points per game.

Good article below about his bro... Cam quoted as well:

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-b...rs-country-chose-play-basketball-northwestern
 
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sct1111

All-American
Nov 30, 2014
6,152
8,475
113
Perfect pick and roll guy with Cliff with that nice mid range jumper. He's gonna fill in for Geo very well.
 

PSAL_Hoops

Heisman
Feb 18, 2008
14,439
13,792
78
Without seeing either of them play but looking at both sets of stats, Spencer was my preference for our roster over Hammond provided Caleb decides to come back. Paul is a good PG but he can be shaky with ball handling and does much better with a second competent handler on the floor. If Caleb’s out there too, we’re fine and did not need to land a ball handling guard. Miller is a competent ball handler and can provide short stints of relief. Plus Simpson could end up contributing too.

The things Hammond excels in seemed like bigger wild cards to me in terms of carrying over to high major competition (it’s unknown whether he’ll be able to finish consistently at the rim when he penetrates against better players). We filled a big need in landing a sharp shooter. Great news for us.
 

ejgonz

All-Conference
Feb 2, 2003
3,169
2,448
112
Without seeing either of them play but looking at both sets of stats, Spencer was my preference for our roster over Hammond provided Caleb decides to come back. Paul is a good PG but he can be shaky with ball handling and does much better with a second competent handler on the floor. If Caleb’s out there too, we’re fine and did not need to land a ball handling guard. Miller is a competent ball handler and can provide short stints of relief. Plus Simpson could end up contributing too.

The things Hammond excels in seemed like bigger wild cards to me in terms of carrying over to high major competition (it’s unknown whether he’ll be able to finish consistently at the rim when he penetrates against better players). We filled a big need in landing a sharp shooter. Great news for us.
Agree, if Caleb returns we have a solid starting 5. We need depth, I think a young combo forward and back up big would round this team our nicely.
 

RU MAN

Heisman
Oct 29, 2001
23,743
10,446
113
This kid can play. And it appears he has really good BB IQ. Can dribble drive and shoots extremely well from the outside including 3 point land. I really like this pickup. Nice Pike.
 
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A

anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy

Guest
Honestly would've been the perfect player on this years team to play 10-15 minutes a night off the bench and stretch the defense and allow cliff to do more work in the post without them being able to double down.

We need a dynamic guard to create on next years team, so hope we can still land one. Cam is a good complementary player
 

dpwhite

All-American
Jan 21, 2003
3,003
7,297
103
Some of the posters here said Hammond was on campus earlier today. I don’t know for sure but seems like he chose not to jump rather than Spencer jumping first.

Either way, interesting pick up. Gives you a shooter who can hit open looks which we need. Hopefully cliff sucks everybody in and this kid can take advantage of the D collapsing a lot.

I wonder if pike expects him to get bench minutes or top 5 minutes.

Or judging by his instagram story... he got to campus, heard Cam committed and left to go to his grandmother's birthday dinner at home.
 
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NewJerseyHawk

Heisman
Jan 11, 2007
24,880
39,949
113
The fact that everyone is reporting Cam committing means hard no on Hammond tells me one thing... Pike wants and expects Simpson to play a significant role on this team as a freshman.

You are correct or if fans followed the targets of the staff, it was clear they wanted another Combo guard, who could play off the ball, be a 3 point shooting threat, which plays well when you have Mulcahy, Cliff.

The easiest or closest target to RU was Princeton guard Ethan Wright.....he has a similar game to Cam Spencer, but Wright only has 1 year left, vs Spencer having 2.

Next on the order of visits was Cam Spencer, who arrived Monday and committed Tuesday night. Hammond is more on the ball combo guard, more slasher who can shoot. But not the shooter than Wright or Spencer have in the way we have the roster set up.

There's definitely a clear path for Simpson to play off the bench and anywhere from 10 to 24 minutes, depending on how well he adjusts. With Spencer, Simpson can mesh with him for 2 years and become the leaf guard.

It also sets up the staff to fully target Dylan Harper in 2024 as the Spencer SG replacement. Simpson with some development and play this year on the ball, would be a game ready junior in 2 seasons, who should progress to perfectly compliment Dylan and his game.

My expectation next is a multi year transfer at the 4/5 who can be a starter after Cliff departs after the 2022-23 season and can split time with Reiber at the 4/5.

If you get the multi-year transfer this spring, it allows the staff to find a frosh 2023 big man (Gus Yalden, Papa Kante or whomever else steps up on the circuit). That 2023 big won't be asked to step in immediately to play, but if you land a Gus type of big, you have Mulcahy and Spencer as 5th year seniors, who can make plays and shots, to compliment the bigs.

Everything has a path or multiple paths on building a competitive roster that can allow RU to match up against the different styles of play we see in the B1G.
 
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PSAL_Hoops

Heisman
Feb 18, 2008
14,439
13,792
78
The fact that everyone is reporting Cam committing means hard no on Hammond tells me one thing... Pike wants and expects Simpson to play a significant role on this team as a freshman.
This. And if things are trending in the right direction with Caleb, Pike doesn’t feel there’s risk in this approach. If necessary, Caleb would bring up the ball.

I’m also not sure we’d be targeting defensive unknowns if Pike didn’t expect Caleb to be on the floor most of the time - though we do have 3-4 spots.
 

dpwhite

All-American
Jan 21, 2003
3,003
7,297
103
The fact that everyone is reporting Cam committing means hard no on Hammond tells me one thing... Pike wants and expects Simpson to play a significant role on this team as a freshman.

People finding stuff like this surprising always surprises me... if you target these guys and expect them to do well, why wouldn't you leave room for them to play? Pikiell trusts his guys.
 

PSAL_Hoops

Heisman
Feb 18, 2008
14,439
13,792
78
People finding stuff like this surprising always surprises me... if you target these guys and expect them to do well, why wouldn't you leave room for them to play? Pikiell trusts his guys.
Yes. If Caleb does return, we’ll have 4 ball handling guards on the roster (2 veteran starters) plus one of the articles said Spencer played some situational point at Loyola. He’s probably not “that bad”. That wasn’t a priority. We needed a shooter and landed one.
 

Scarlet83

Heisman
Feb 4, 2004
9,535
10,674
103
Honestly would've been the perfect player on this years team to play 10-15 minutes a night off the bench and stretch the defense and allow cliff to do more work in the post without them being able to double down.

We need a dynamic guard to create on next years team, so hope we can still land one. Cam is a good complementary player
LOL! Kyk, did Pike’s kid punch you in the mouth on the playground in 5th grade? Maybe he kissed your gf?
 
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bac2therac

Hall of Famer
Jul 30, 2001
252,219
181,240
113
thats what I get for going to sleep early...missed out......well anyhow this get I like. Pike did it. He closed. He really closed with one of the higher rated guys left in the portal. That he has 2 years of eligibility is icing on the cake.
 

NewJerseyHawk

Heisman
Jan 11, 2007
24,880
39,949
113
Mulcahy
Spencer
Caleb (hopefully)
RHJ (10% chance he returns??)
Simpson
Miller
Mag
Hyatt
Oskar
Cliff
Reiber
Woolfork (redshirt like Myles Johnson in 2018)
Target 4/5 (Ryan Young, NW, would be ideal)

If you land any solid 4/5 to compliment Cliff off the bench and can play the 5 and let Reiber drift to a stretch 4 at times, you have more than enough options.

If Caleb returns, with Spencer, that should be a competitive roster that can win games. If somehow it parlayed into Caleb and RHJ both returning, you're likely looking at years 4 and 5 in a row making the NCAAs. Getting multi-year transfers is always ideal over 1 year rentals.
 
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needmorecowbell

Heisman
Oct 28, 2007
9,683
10,838
78
Mulcahy
Spencer
Caleb (hopefully)
RHJ (10% chance he returns??)
Simpson
Miller
Mag
Hyatt
Oskar
Cliff
Reiber
Woolfork (redshirt like Myles Johnson in 2018)
Target 4/5 (Ryan Young, NW, would be ideal)

If you land any solid 4/5 to compliment Cliff off the bench and can play the 5 and let Reiber drift to a stretch 4 at times, you have more than enough options.

If Caleb returns, with Spencer, that should be a competitive roster that can win games. If somehow it parlayed into Caleb and RHJ both returning, you're likely looking at years 4 and 5 in a row making the NCAAs. Getting multi-year transfers is always ideal over 1 year rentals.
I expect them to go after a back up big. It’s hard to find a player who has contributed to take a roll off the bench. This one is going to be tricky.
 
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Jtg=04131996

All-Conference
Aug 2, 2010
8,165
4,878
81
Mulcahy
Spencer
Caleb (hopefully)
RHJ (10% chance he returns??)
Simpson
Miller
Mag
Hyatt
Oskar
Cliff
Reiber
Woolfork (redshirt like Myles Johnson in 2018)
Target 4/5 (Ryan Young, NW, would be ideal)

If you land any solid 4/5 to compliment Cliff off the bench and can play the 5 and let Reiber drift to a stretch 4 at times, you have more than enough options.

If Caleb returns, with Spencer, that should be a competitive roster that can win games. If somehow it parlayed into Caleb and RHJ both returning, you're likely looking at years 4 and 5 in a row making the NCAAs. Getting multi-year transfers is always ideal over 1 year rentals.
We’ve been told by mods that there’s zero chance RHJ returns and that no solid 5 will come here to back up Cliff for less than 10 minutes a night.

I’m praying Caleb returns.
 
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PSAL_Hoops

Heisman
Feb 18, 2008
14,439
13,792
78
We’ve been told by mods that there’s zero chance RHJ returns and that no solid 5 will come here to back up Cliff for less than 10 minutes a night.

I’m praying Caleb returns.
Me too. Fans need to understand the difference between replacing a guard (I love Geo but I was never concerned about being able to bring in at least one guard to replace his offense) and BOTH Caleb and RHJ’s contributions up front (on both sides of the ball). The supply of plug and play types that could address this is really slim pickings.

I’m otherwise not worried about the 5. Dean will have another year in the weight room. I’m sure we’ll use one of our last schollies to pick up another Agee / Duke type as a contingency for injury but we can’t possibly see a drop off there from last season. Cliff and Dean will have an off-season to develop and Agee didn’t provide much.
 
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