Eric McKnight is a 6-foot-9 forward who is leaving Florida Gulf Coast (Dunk City) and is eligible immediately because he graduated.
McKnight considered turning pro, but said he has decided playing his senior season in college is the best course. He said he is also considering Bowling Green State (where former WSU assistant Chris Jans is coaching) and Tennessee.
McKnight averaged 6.7 points and 5.1 rebounds as a junior. He started 21 games after serving a 12-game suspension for a violation of team rules.
Keep checking the site everyday and something interesting is always being posted about another recruit. Get my season ticket renewal out, I'm ready. Who's going to be in uniform? Who's going to start? Who's coming off the bench first?
There is more speculation than complaining on this site and that alone excites me!
I proudly chose to be a Falcon and a Falcon I will remain until the end.
I understand the criticism of Gomez...he hasn't shown much of anything in two seasons of college ball. I don't get the heat on Mayleben since no one has seen him play. I know..he didn't get off the bench last year. Have we forgotten who's bench that was? We've spent the last 3 years or so discussing Orr's lack of judgement and ability as a coach. Doesn't it make more sense to see of Mayleben can play before we dub him James Erger v2.0
It's not the fall that hurts...it's when you hit the ground.
My biggest concern is Holmes and foul trouble. McKnight would solve that. Gomez can make a jump shot. I'm interested to see if his body language and court awareness can improve with new staff.
My judgment is twofold .... Mayleben is among the lowest recruits ESPN has rated in the 10+ yrs I've followed recruiting. Secondly, yes he couldn't get off the bench for a coach who handpicked him to be there on a team that clearly needed help in the post. We can all look back with hindsight at Orr's (lack of) judgment but why is he "allowed" to red shirt players when it would have taken an unforeseen development and complete paradigm shift to get his contract renewed? Now Coach Jans is saddled with (two) more players who have four years of eligibility that will (likely) never contribute to his program and that falls on the management of the athletic department to allow that nonsense to happen. That's not to say having sophomores is far better than having red shirt freshmen but it allows Coach Jans to turnover the roster that much quicker.
One of the things I've appreciated about Coach Jans so far is the lack of coachspeak. He has come out on numerous occasions and said "we need better players" and that's on not only the previous staff but the previous administration for allowing it to continue
My judgment is twofold .... Mayleben is among the lowest recruits ESPN has rated in the 10+ yrs I've followed recruiting. Secondly, yes he couldn't get off the bench for a coach who handpicked him to be there on a team that clearly needed help in the post. We can all look back with hindsight at Orr's (lack of) judgment but why is he "allowed" to red shirt players when it would have taken an unforeseen development and complete paradigm shift to get his contract renewed? Now Coach Jans is saddled with (two) more players who have four years of eligibility that will (likely) never contribute to his program and that falls on the management of the athletic department to allow that nonsense to happen. That's not to say having sophomores is far better than having red shirt freshmen but it allows Coach Jans to turnover the roster that much quicker.
One of the things I've appreciated about Coach Jans so far is the lack of coachspeak. He has come out on numerous occasions and said "we need better players" and that's on not only the previous staff but the previous administration for allowing it to continue
He didn't even average 10pts a game in HS when he was likely the biggest guy on the court in most of his games. Then he was a healthy redshirt on a team that played 6 people. The first raises questions and the second even more. At 6-9 230 he doesn't have to score to make an impact in the MAC but I hope that there is more to his game than meets the eye.
The nightmare that was BGSU men's hoops in 2013-14 was the same nightmare magnified from 2011-12 and 12-13. Talented players sat on the bench as freshmen and sophomores suddenly played as juniors and seniors and the all prayer team played over the talented team. So, with that in mind, it's hard to tell how bad our non-playing players really are, since we never saw them play. Geeze, even Shaun Joplin got maybe 20 seconds and, he wasn't a stellar HS player, but we never got to judge that. I think Zach got a couple of touches, had a couple of turnovers, and maybe put up about 5 shots in his brief time on the court, and I never saw Mayleben touch the ball or get on the court.
The players I have seen, except for Holmes and Orr are probably not going to see much playing time in the next season if any of the transfers have their say. We already know that Gomez can't hit the broad side of a barn from, well just about anywhere outside the lane, and the bad Parker, forced to play point guard, makes poor decisions. BUT!!! That was 'last year' and I'm sure Coach Jans has addressed the glaring deficiencies in the current team's game. Now it's up to them to work on getting better over the off season and come back in the fall as a better player. You know the rap on Holmes may be that if he has so many blocks it's because he's out of position (Orr's presser remark once). Yeah, but in a team going nowhere, it's exciting to see.
Anyway, I am happy on the positive comments on this forum for a change. Those 4 new guys may be the ones starting by January and we still may not see the likes of Denny or Mayleben, but let's at least see the team play in November and December before we write anybody off.
That's just it...his game hasn't met your eye because you haven't seen him play. And as for ESPN F**k that...ESPN doesn't know s**t about kids that aren't rated in the top couple of hundred. I doubt anyone at ESPN has seen him play either.
It's not the fall that hurts...it's when you hit the ground.
Flipper wrote:That's just it...his game hasn't met your eye because you haven't seen him play. And as for ESPN F**k that...ESPN doesn't know s**t about kids that aren't rated in the top couple of hundred. I doubt anyone at ESPN has seen him play either.
So it's a good sign that he couldn't average ten points a game in high school and couldn't get playing time on a team with 7 players? You are arguing just to argue.
Flipper wrote:I can't make it any simpler than this.... if you are judging a player that you've never seen play, you are talking out of your ass.
I can't make it any simpler than this......there is ample evidence without seeing a player to judge him. It may be an incomplete judgement but there are certainly indicators to success. I've never seen the tuba player for BG's band play basketball. I don't think he is very good at basketball.
I have seen hundreds of people have success in college playing basketball. There are plenty of indicators of future success at the college level. Size is just one of them. He could be great and I hope he is.
Whether he's a good basketball player or not, the coach will decide. Hopefully, if he decides he's been saddled with someone that totally lacks talent, he'll "encourage" him to transfer to a different school. Cold? Yep. But as noted already, he shouldn't be on the roster, and certainly shouldn't be a redshirt freshman.
After what BG has been through in the Orr years, I'm taking the approach that however Coach wants to "adjust" his roster is just fine by me. If that means finding creative ways to clear space to bring in talent -- then so be it. The program got totally screwed over by the last guy, so I'm giving this one free reign to fix things (within the rules, of course).
Flipper wrote:I can't make it any simpler than this.... if you are judging a player that you've never seen play, you are talking out of your ass.
I can't make it any simpler than this......there is ample evidence without seeing a player to judge him. It may be an incomplete judgement but there are certainly indicators to success. I've never seen the tuba player for BG's band play basketball. I don't think he is very good at basketball.
I have seen hundreds of people have success in college playing basketball. There are plenty of indicators of future success at the college level. Size is just one of them. He could be great and I hope he is.
Oh for the love of God...does the Tuba payer have a D1 scholarship for basketball? Did he have multiple offers to play D1 basketball form peer Universities? Is it going to kill you to STFU, wait 5 five months and give the kid a chance before you tell him he sucks?
It's not the fall that hurts...it's when you hit the ground.
