RJ Cole

RUby RED

All-Conference
Aug 9, 2010
1,857
2,683
0
14th leading scorer (22.7 ppg) in the nation right now as a freshman at Howard. Played at St. Anthony's; wondering if we were ever in on his recruitment. His team isn't great, but seems we could've obviously used his scoring punch. Just curious why his recruitment didn't seem to be bigger. Size? Grades? Simply overlooked?

Any insight would be appreciated.
 

Jtg=04131996

All-Conference
Aug 2, 2010
8,165
4,878
81
Definitely not academics, as he had multiple Ivy League offers.

He’s listed anywhere from 5’11 to 6’1 so let’s say 6’0. You have to be really good to be a high major player at that size, and it just looks like he wasn’t based on the offers he received (all low majors). He came on late (went from 10 ppg as a junior to 22 ppg as a senior), but still only managed 0.8 assists per game.
 
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higgins3

All-Conference
Dec 15, 2012
7,319
2,434
113
It is great to see a local kid do well. I remember his name, and wondering if he had a chance at coming here.

Although he is scoring a lot, his team is almost last in a pretty low level conference. They are getting blown out most nights, which means Cole is probably going against the bench a lot. It is not easy to predict what would happen at a higher level, and if he wasn't the highlight of the show. His usage is probably so high in their offense, and he owns the show.

Relating what he is doing to our program on the Banks, look at Peter Kiss.
He was on a pretty bad team, and was able to run a lot of the offense. The keys to his success will be getting better shots, and increasing his efficiency while lowering his usage on the Banks.

When the keys are handed over, and the team is slumping, you see different results from if the situation was the opposite.

I think Kiss has a solid role on next years team.
 

Knights 1212

All-American
Sep 9, 2003
27,554
8,489
113
Cole committed very early & stuck with it. It was reported that he claimed that Howard had a very good Business Department and he wanted to stick with the school that believed in him so early. I think it says a lot about the kid.I saw him play several times for St. Anthony and he was a very good scorer.
 
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TDIrish27

All-Conference
Aug 2, 2001
4,438
2,666
0
He was the best player on one of the least talented teams I've seen St Anthony's have in the last 10 years.

Howard is a terrific school and he's a great fit there.
 

Russ Wood

Heisman
Oct 12, 2011
94,313
45,143
0
14th leading scorer (22.7 ppg) in the nation right now as a freshman at Howard. Played at St. Anthony's; wondering if we were ever in on his recruitment. His team isn't great, but seems we could've obviously used his scoring punch. Just curious why his recruitment didn't seem to be bigger. Size? Grades? Simply overlooked?

Any insight would be appreciated.
I like Cole. Saw him early this season. Did not play like a freshman. Had 17 points and six assists in a loss. Said he picked Howard for the education, its history and how they use their guards.