It looks like we are planning on keeping a scholly in our pocket at this point. And while Key and Banks will end up elsewhere (and we all really hoped to add one of them), we might have gotten exactly what we wanted and needed in both Brown and Willis.
Willis - It became clear early on that we wanted a point guard to replace Mitchell's spot on the roster. And while we had several good ones really interested all along the way (Edwards and Bone), Willis apparently rose to the top of our board quickly after his AAU stent at the PG spot. Not only that, he has since surpassed the others in ranking on several services, helping validate what our coaches saw in him (not that that really matters.) Known before this Summer as very good shooter and scorer, he proved to have the skills to project as a tall PG at the next level by running a team with several of Arkansas's top flight AAU players. So what we got was another great shooter with point guard experience and skill to throw into our perimeter mix. While he may be Baldwin's eventual replacement, he wouldn't have to be thanks to his length and excellent shooting touch, were we to snag a super speedster like Garland in 2018. Either way, Willis seems like a perfect fit into our 'fill the court with shooters' trend. A versatile guard whose role could change through his career.
Brown - I've heard several folks indicate that Brown shot to the very top of our staff's wishlist late in the process, even higher than Banks and Key. Not sure if that's true...but I've heard that from several folks. And beating out Texas for him was apparently a huge deal within the program. He'll give the roster something it doesn't have, an athletic true four man big and athletic enough to guard a five, but quick enough to switch all over the perimeter, as well. He'll be a bigger and more skilled version of Siakam. Thanks to his defensive versatility, you could pair him with any of Kornet, Sehic, and Baptiste and have things covered on both ends of the court. He'll also provide lots of highlight blocks and dunks as a bonus.
Most importantly, we found two highly thought of, academically minded, high character additions to our program who saw Vandy as their number one option and grabbed their spots quickly. We really wanted them and they really wanted us. All in all, we seem to have found two perfect matches in Brown and Willis, two guys who will give us plenty to cheer about.
Willis - It became clear early on that we wanted a point guard to replace Mitchell's spot on the roster. And while we had several good ones really interested all along the way (Edwards and Bone), Willis apparently rose to the top of our board quickly after his AAU stent at the PG spot. Not only that, he has since surpassed the others in ranking on several services, helping validate what our coaches saw in him (not that that really matters.) Known before this Summer as very good shooter and scorer, he proved to have the skills to project as a tall PG at the next level by running a team with several of Arkansas's top flight AAU players. So what we got was another great shooter with point guard experience and skill to throw into our perimeter mix. While he may be Baldwin's eventual replacement, he wouldn't have to be thanks to his length and excellent shooting touch, were we to snag a super speedster like Garland in 2018. Either way, Willis seems like a perfect fit into our 'fill the court with shooters' trend. A versatile guard whose role could change through his career.
Brown - I've heard several folks indicate that Brown shot to the very top of our staff's wishlist late in the process, even higher than Banks and Key. Not sure if that's true...but I've heard that from several folks. And beating out Texas for him was apparently a huge deal within the program. He'll give the roster something it doesn't have, an athletic true four man big and athletic enough to guard a five, but quick enough to switch all over the perimeter, as well. He'll be a bigger and more skilled version of Siakam. Thanks to his defensive versatility, you could pair him with any of Kornet, Sehic, and Baptiste and have things covered on both ends of the court. He'll also provide lots of highlight blocks and dunks as a bonus.
Most importantly, we found two highly thought of, academically minded, high character additions to our program who saw Vandy as their number one option and grabbed their spots quickly. We really wanted them and they really wanted us. All in all, we seem to have found two perfect matches in Brown and Willis, two guys who will give us plenty to cheer about.
