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Donovan Williams decommitting

Wow. But Fred is trying to build a B1G power and you dont do that by taking question marks when you are getting attention from potential lottery picks. Good luck to Donovan.
 
Good luck to him. For his sake, I hope he makes the staff regret their decision. For the team's sake, I hope we do not.
 
He wants to play right away, that's not going to happen here next year. Fred doesn't play more than an 8-man rotation, and we add Banton and Allen at the wing position along with Burke, Thor, and Green coming back. I'm guessing Fred wants to use the remaining scholarships to add a couple more sit-out transfers.
 
In basketball, if you're an impact player, you'll show it in practice regardless of any preconceived roster plans. You can expect a guy to be a backup and/or not play much year one but if they show up ready to ball, they're getting in the game. Play well and you'll get all the minutes you can handle.
 
He wants to play right away, that's not going to happen here next year. Fred doesn't play more than an 8-man rotation, and we add Banton and Allen at the wing position along with Burke, Thor, and Green coming back. I'm guessing Fred wants to use the remaining scholarships to add a couple more sit-out transfers.
I don't get the impression from what I've read that he is a guy who would be very successful as a true freshman in the B1G. That might explain why NU hasn't "acted like he's a high priority".
 
I don't get the impression from what I've read that he is a guy who would be very successful as a true freshman in the B1G. That might explain why NU hasn't "acted like he's a high priority".

Agree, he's a decent prospect but one that definitely could use a redshirt year to work on his game. He dominates in high school mostly because he's bigger and stronger than most guards he goes against in high school. That wouldn't be the case in the Big Ten. He's not a great shooter either (32% from 3, only 36% total FG), which is not a great fit for Fred's system.
 
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From Washut's article. He was not happy about them recruiting Teddy Allen. He wanted to come in and play right away and frankly I don't think that was gonna happen. We have a team full of guards and are adding Banton and Shamiel to the rotation next year plus Teddy, Jervay, Burke, and Thor.I get the feeling we won't even hold on to all of those guys.Prior to last weekend I thought for sure Burke would be a grad transfer but now I'm not so sure. With the free agency in college basketball being what it is and Hoiberg liking transfers as much as he does our roster is always going to be changing.
 
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I hate hearing this. Sure I want to see Hoiberg succeed, but I like the idea of the GREAT in-state talent staying home and playing for the university. I would rather win with Williams for four years rather than a rotation of 2 or 3 lesser talented guys coming in and out of the program.
 
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Is he really a legit 6’5”? I saw him a few weeks ago and I sincerely wouldn’t have thought he was that tall. Anyway, this was clearly his choice and a result of Allen, so what can you do? I wish him the absolute best of luck.
 
I hate hearing this. Sure I want to see Hoiberg succeed, but I like the idea of the GREAT in-state talent staying home and playing for the university. I would rather win with Williams for four years rather than a rotation of 2 or 3 lesser talented guys coming in and out of the program.
I have not seen him play so I'm only going by what I've heard on Omaha talk radio and read in various articles. I'm not sure he is what one should call "great" in state talent. He might be a great defender and maybe a great rebounder for a guard his size, but it sounds like he's got some definite holes in his game on the offensive end. Without seeing him in person it's tough to gauge. He would probably be a solid bench player but man when you have to take that extra step and a half out from the high school 3 point line AND then shoot over the extra length and athleticism of big time college players, your shooting percentage never goes up. He's already very marginal in that regard. Fred jettisoned ALL of the guys off the roster like that when he got to Lincoln. Obviously with Thor he recognized a kid who he was sure he could work with and loved the basketball IQ he has.
 
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Is he really a legit 6’5”? I saw him a few weeks ago and I sincerely wouldn’t have thought he was that tall. Anyway, this was clearly his choice and a result of Allen, so what can you do? I wish him the absolute best of luck.

You can pretty much subtract 2 inches off most basketball heights. If they list a guy at 6'0" you're lucky if he shows up at 5'10". It's just something that is done to get guys recruited and then coaches keep it up for psychological and entertainment purposes.

As for Donovan Williams, he will get a cold reality check wherever he shows up. He is not the guy he thinks he is playing high school basketball in Lincoln.
 
Agree, he's a decent prospect but one that definitely could use a redshirt year to work on his game. He dominates in high school mostly because he's bigger and stronger than most guards he goes against in high school. That wouldn't be the case in the Big Ten. He's not a great shooter either (32% from 3, only 36% total FG), which is not a great fit for Fred's system.

Those numbers suggest he has horrible shot selection. Compare them to the Japanese JUCO guy (sorry I can't remember his name right now) we have coming in. That guy can get his shot off from pretty much anywhere and he's hitting at a much higher clip. There will not be a lot of shots available at Nebraska for a guy like Donovan Williams. I'm guessing that is why he is moving on. Would have been a nice guy to have for doing the dirty work though.
 
Those numbers suggest he has horrible shot selection. Compare them to the Japanese JUCO guy (sorry I can't remember his name right now) we have coming in. That guy can get his shot off from pretty much anywhere and he's hitting at a much higher clip. There will not be a lot of shots available at Nebraska for a guy like Donovan Williams. I'm guessing that is why he is moving on. Would have been a nice guy to have for doing the dirty work though.
Williams was a perfect fit for Miles' iso game with a bunch of long athletic slashers that could play good defense. He's not a fit for Fred's pace and space system of playing fast dishing the rock all over the place and stepping back dropping in 3s. He will be better off somewhere else and we'll be better off with someone else.
 
I have zero knowledge of what system Omaha plays but I hope he ends up there.
 
He had every opportunity to sign in the early signing period and chose not to. He didn’t like the fact that the staff was still recruiting for the class Nd the tipping point was that they got the commitment from Teddy Allen. He basically wanted a guarantee of playing time and he wasn’t going to get that. I’m sorry if you felt that you weren’t a priority, but you were recruited by a different staff and are coming off of a major knee injury and this staff is still going to recruit the best available.
 
He had every opportunity to sign in the early signing period and chose not to. He didn’t like the fact that the staff was still recruiting for the class Nd the tipping point was that they got the commitment from Teddy Allen. He basically wanted a guarantee of playing time and he wasn’t going to get that. I’m sorry if you felt that you weren’t a priority, but you were recruited by a different staff and are coming off of a major knee injury and this staff is still going to recruit the best available.

He has the potential to be a good college player down the road, but he's not going to play much as a freshman for any major-conference college program. In high school he makes his living at the free throw lane/driving to the basket because he's bigger and stronger than everyone he plays against. In the Big Ten or Big 12, he will have to go against wings who are even bigger than him and more athletic, and will have 7-footers in the lane to protect the rim. He is not a good outside shooter and really needs to improve in that area in order to see significant minutes at the highest level.
 
Fred's out in LA tonight recruiting a couple of interesting names, Tibet Gorener and Wilhelm Breidenbach. Too bad Breidenbach is a '21 recruit, if we could get those guys all on the floor with Thor at the same time there's a decent chance Pavelka's head would explode. I don't watch much recruiting video but Gorener's shot looks smoooooooth.
 
He has the potential to be a good college player down the road, but he's not going to play much as a freshman for any major-conference college program. In high school he makes his living at the free throw lane/driving to the basket because he's bigger and stronger than everyone he plays against. In the Big Ten or Big 12, he will have to go against wings who are even bigger than him and more athletic, and will have 7-footers in the lane to protect the rim. He is not a good outside shooter and really needs to improve in that area in order to see significant minutes at the highest level.

Others disagree. Shaka Smart knows a thing or two about Big 12 basketball and he just offered him a scholarship. And there will be more offers. Wherever Donovan goes, his team will be able to schedule a game in Lincoln next year so he could play in front of his hometown fans.

Maybe he could even play against Teddy Allen next year. If Allen is still with the team by then.
 
The crazy thing is 95% of our previous NU BB commits for the previous 30 years could have decommitted and it would have had zero impact on our success or failure. We basically fill our roster with at or below replacement level players and we could randomly pick a set of BB players who meet a basic level for D1 and fall into our past 30 year reality.
 
Others disagree. Shaka Smart knows a thing or two about Big 12 basketball and he just offered him a scholarship. And there will be more offers. Wherever Donovan goes, his team will be able to schedule a game in Lincoln next year so he could play in front of his hometown fans.

Maybe he could even play against Teddy Allen next year. If Allen is still with the team by then.

Texas has 4 guards this year who average in double-figures and they are all underclassmen. If Donovan thinks he will come in and start at Texas next year, he's kidding himself. The reason Texas has no commits for 2020 is because their whole team is coming back.
 
Texas has 4 guards this year who average in double-figures and they are all underclassmen. If Donovan thinks he will come in and start at Texas next year, he's kidding himself. The reason Texas has no commits for 2020 is because their whole team is coming back.
Good to know. Are you implying that Donovan thinks he has to start next year wherever he goes?
 
Good to know. Are you implying that Donovan thinks he has to start next year wherever he goes?

I mean, that's basically what Williams said himself on one of the radio interviews he did after the news broke, he wants to be a team's top priority in the class and a (if not the) top option on the team asap. That wasn't ever happening for him at Nebraska now that Miles is gone and frankly won't happen at most top 100 schools.
 
I mean, that's basically what Williams said himself on one of the radio interviews he did after the news broke, he wants to be a team's top priority in the class and a (if not the) top option on the team asap. That wasn't ever happening for him at Nebraska now that Miles is gone and frankly won't happen at most top 100 schools.
My translation to that comment made by a very nice high school kid on the radio is he wants to be a priority, not necessarily a "top priority". NU was going to honor the commitment and that's about it. Donovan made the right call. Don't go somewhere where the staff acts like they don't really want you around. That's what was going on, but how can you say that tactfully?

He's getting sound advice from somebody. Go to a school where the staff wants you badly that way you figure the staff will look to play you. It's not about about playing "right away". It's about going to a school where the staff has actually seen you play and wants you.
 
Wherever Donovan goes, his team will be able to schedule a game in Lincoln next year so he could play in front of his hometown fans.
Maybe he could even play against Teddy Allen next year. If Allen is still with the team by then.
So are you saying that you want consideration of Williams to be a “top priority” in husker basketball scheduling
 
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My translation to that comment made by a very nice high school kid on the radio is he wants to be a priority, not necessarily a "top priority". NU was going to honor the commitment and that's about it. Donovan made the right call. Don't go somewhere where the staff acts like they don't really want you around. That's what was going on, but how can you say that tactfully?

He's getting sound advice from somebody. Go to a school where the staff wants you badly that way you figure the staff will look to play you. It's not about about playing "right away". It's about going to a school where the staff has actually seen you play and wants you.

He said he did feel like he wasn't a priority for Hoiberg, but he also said he wanted to go somewhere he will be an immediate impact player.

Williams said another aspect of his decision was seeing how NU was assembling its roster with so many older transfers, both from DI and junior college ranks. Williams said he didn’t disagree with the strategy but felt like it wasn’t conducive to his goal of being an immediate impact player next season.

The four-star Rivals150 prospect said the tipping point in his decision came when Nebraska landed a commitment from 2020 Western Nebraska C.C. guard Teddy Allen on Tuesday.

“That definitely, definitely, definitely played a part in it,” Williams said.

https://nebraska.rivals.com/news/2020-guard-williams-discusses-his-decommitment-from-nebraska
 
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And for someone who said he didn't feel wanted by this coaching staff, he sure seemed to be invited to visit quite a bit by them since they were hired. So I'm calling BS that our coaches acted like they didn't want him around. He wanted Hoiberg to kiss his ass more and not bring in more recruits at his position, instead of being honest about his role next year.




 
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