Rivals150 big man enjoys Tulsa visit

[Bill Lowery_1]

2018 Rivals150 prospect Russell Barlow was on the Tulsa campus February 26 to watch the Hurricane defeat East Carolina. The 6-foot-8 big man is currently ranked No. 107 nationally, and he came away impressed with TU.

https://tulsa.rivals.com/news/rivals150-big-man-enjoys-tulsa-visit

 

[Air_Raid918]

I was trying to find out some of the prospects we are looking at, and he was one who stood out. If you're interested, on Rivals, click the top left tab, scroll down and hit Recruiting, then click Recruit Search Database. Select basketball, class of 2018, school (Tulsa), undecided, and only with offers. You can select all those options on a filtered search and see all the players we have offered thus far...at least those with Rivals profiles. I believe there were around 21 in the class of 2018 with offers from TU.

 

[Gold*]

That's not really that accurate much of the time. The Alley is really the way to follow recruiting. But thanks for the reminder on how Rivals works?

 

[Air_Raid918]

Nice sales pitch

 

[Gmoney4WW]

More like accurate sales pitch.

 

[Gold*]

Not a sales pitch. I'm just a fan and contrary to assertions of some, I don't own the place or have an interest in the business.

Just stating facts. The Rivals system has never been that accurate for basketball, particularly with TU players. We sign guys who aren't in their system often. If you want to follow a recruiting service site, I think 247 is a little better. Scout blows chunks. The best TU recruiting info is on the Alley. It's not even close.

 

[Bill Lowery_1]

I was trying to find out some of the prospects we are looking at, and he was one who stood out. If you're interested, on Rivals, click the top left tab, scroll down and hit Recruiting, then click Recruit Search Database. Select basketball, class of 2018, school (Tulsa), undecided, and only with offers. You can select all those options on a filtered search and see all the players we have offered thus far...at least those with Rivals profiles. I believe there were around 21 in the class of 2018 with offers from TU.

As Gold stated, we have a thread in the Alley that has all the offers we've made to prospects in the 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 classes. It's accurate and updated with visit dates, etc. Also, there are discussions about the recruits by many of our posters who have seen some of them play. This type of information is what makes the premium content worth the subscription.

https://tulsa.forums.rivals.com/threads/tu-basketball-offers-class-of-2017-2018-and-2019.11433/

 

[Bill Lowery_1]

Also, the Rivals database is missing over 100 recruits we've looked at (recruited) in the 2018 class and 12 prospects we've offered and they don't even show us as being interested in them.

In the 2019 class they are missing 32 players we're looking at, including 3 we've offered.

In the 2020 class, they show no prospects. We're looking at 10 and have offered 2.

 

[Gold*]

I don't think Rivals is a bad product. But it's really built around power conference football rankings and they have kind of blown off everything else since Yahoo bought them. They do a good job on articles and getting people access. And some of the school sites are very strong.

10-15 years ago, it was a lot broader in what it covered. Now I don't think the rankings mean much in basketball outside of the top 150. And don't get me started on their JUCO rankings. We have been burned several times.

 

[astonmartin708_rivals]

I don't think Rivals is a bad product. But it's really built around power conference football rankings and they have kind of blown off everything else since Yahoo bought them. They do a good job on articles and getting people access. And some of the school sites are very strong.

10-15 years ago, it was a lot broader in what it covered. Now I don't think the rankings mean much in basketball outside of the top 150. And don't get me started on their JUCO rankings. We have been burned several times.

Agree completely. At least it's not scout though.

 

[Bill Lowery_1]

I think 247 Sports sucks due to crap like this on 2018 PG Keyshawn Embery

Tulsa Cool
Visit:-Offer:Yes Roster Outlook:5 On Roster, 1 Commit

• SR PG
• -

• JR PG
• C. Henderson6-4173

• SO PG
• T. Bucktrot6-5350
• R. Frederick6-4330
• C. Scott6-4205

• FR PG
• L. Korita6-5207

• 2017 HS PG
• D. Jackson6-2175

 

[I.I.]

Bill...What happened to All-Star Sports (Bob Gibbons) and Hoop Scoop (Clark Francis) ? Those used to be the go-to publications......

 

[Bill Lowery_1]

Bill...What happened to All-Star Sports (Bob Gibbons) and Hoop Scoop (Clark Francis) ? Those used to be the go-to publications......

I think they've just not kept up with the digital age, etc. Bob Gibbons was one of the best. Held camps, great evaluator and well respected.

Clark Francis was a fraud who peddled a ton of BS. He got into financial trouble.

Sports Illustrated did a story some years ago exposing him for what he is. He was known for getting into shouting matches and fist fights at events and degrading other recruiting publications.

I saw this written about them and think it describes them and why they're not the gurus anymore.

• Francis. In our experience he's hit and miss. As an example, he confirms,
  on Friday, that Taliek Brown had committed to UConn. Well, big whoop. He
  announced on Thursday.
  
  
• Gibbons. A reasonably knowledgeable guy, he's still adapting to the
  internet. In the old world he was the best.
  

 

[Original TULSAFAN]

Gibbons was the best!
I subscribed back in the day to both HoopScoop and Bob's Reports.
I also used to get a crap load of info from Westlaw (before the internet as we know it now). You could gather local stories by a general search of --- Tulsa Basketball Recruit High School. I would get dozens of articles from around the country. So easy.

 

[Air_Raid918]

I agree. The alley is the place to go for TU recruiting. I had just recently used the database to see some of the players we've offered, and Barlow stood out. That's all. I'm aware the Rivals database doesn't list each player we've offered, but it did list Barlow, and he just visited. So there is some accuracy to it. In the future, I'll refrain from mentioning ways to look at TU recruiting on Rivals.

 

[astonmartin708_rivals]

I agree. The alley is the place to go for TU recruiting. I had just recently used the database to see some of the players we've offered, and Barlow stood out. That's all. I'm aware the Rivals database doesn't list each player we've offered, but it did list Barlow, and he just visited. So there is some accuracy to it. In the future, I'll refrain from mentioning ways to look at TU recruiting on Rivals.

Just to mention, Verbal Commits does a pretty good job. Plus they link the players' twitter accounts which I like.

 

[Gmoney4WW]

I agree. The alley is the place to go for TU recruiting. I had just recently used the database to see some of the players we've offered, and Barlow stood out. That's all. I'm aware the Rivals database doesn't list each player we've offered, but it did list Barlow, and he just visited. So there is some accuracy to it. In the future, I'll refrain from mentioning ways to look at TU recruiting on Rivals.

Was just a little amusing. Most people figure out recruit searches in the first couple of weeks to first couple of months they get a rivals id. Gold was just having a little fun at your expense while he & others were letting you know that Hurricane Alley is the spot to really follow Hurricane recruiting.