Moving On From Lucas Woodhouse: Longwood’s Options
First of all, everyone take a deep breath and just watch this on a loop until you feel better:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaGUr6wzyT8]
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Could Jordon Talley help fill the void left by Lucas Woodhouse?[/caption]
I’m going to continue to say that a lot more positive things can come out of Lucas Woodhouse’s departure than bad things. This is not a reflection on Lucas but rather what Coach Gee is trying to install at Longwood and that’s pressure defense with an athletic/up-tempo offense. If we were out recruiting and those qualifications were presented then Woodhouse would likely be the last name that comes to mind. Lucas is a tremendous player but in Gee’s system he’s a defensive liability and we’d essentially be building the team around a guy who doesn’t fit what we want to do. The best news is we have a fallback in Quincy Taylor and a guy that can step into the starting role right away. Other good news is that we can now groom a point guard for the next four years who really fits the system. Here is a look at some of the immediate options that may be available to Longwood:
Timmy Jones, Henrico HS/Trinidad JC: If you remember Jones was originally slated to come to Longwood for the 2013–14 season when he was offered a walk-on spot and a chance to earn a scholarship. While it looked like Jones was coming, he decided to go to Trinidad State Junior College in Colorado to raise his stock a bit. It looks like Longwood might once again be interested and the feeling is mutual. Jones played in 19 games for Trinidad this past year and posted 7.4 points, 4.6 assists, and 1.1 steal per game. We all know that Jones excels in pressure defense and would be a perfect fit for PACE.
Jordon Talley, Henrico HS/Fishburne: Talley was Timmy Jones’ runningmate at Henrico High School and has spent the past year prepping at Fishburne. When he was at Henrico he was 3rd Team All-State, 2nd Team-All Region, 1st Team All-District. Talley played for East Coast Fusion under Lancers’ assistant Cade Lemcke and his only public offer at the moment is UMass-Lowell. Talley would be another good fit and a guy you can groom over the next four years
Kanayo Obi-Rapu, New Garden Christian Friends School (NC): Longwood offered Obi-Rapu back in late July and the athletic point guard still has not committed anywhere but is leaning heavily towards current Atlantic Sun champion and new Southern Conference member Mercer. Obi-Rapu is another guy that would be perfect for PACE and he also has offers from East Carolina, Brown, and Campbell.
Kamau Stokes, Dunbar HS (MD): Stokes would be an absolute slam dunk for Longwood and there may not be a better fit out there right now. He’ll be hard to get though as he has offers from Buffalo, Radford, Quinnipiac, FIU (boo), Utah State, Long Island, Northern Kentucky, Ohio, Toledo, Abilene Christian, Florida Gulf Coast, Mount St. Mary’s, Towson, and Delaware. Longwood offered Stokes in late July.
The Unknown: There are still plenty of names floating out there including some junior college options. Remember that Coach Gee brought in two Division I transfers a year ago and that market hasn’t even heated back up for the most part yet.
