Basketball Recruiting: Can Florida State Land Marcus Jordan?
by TrueCubbie on Mar 24, 2009 6:57 PM EDT
in FSU Basketball
29 comments
The season may be over but it is time to look toward building the Seminoles' basketball future.
As the national signing period approaches, I will feature a few players of interest to Florida State. Some may be seriously considering us, others may simply have us on their list.
To start things off...let's take a look at Marcus Jordan. Yes, he is related to His Airness.
Ever heard of Michael Jordan? Well, let me introduce to his son, Marcus Jordan a 6'3 180lbs shooting guard who recently led his Whitney Young High School Dolphins to the Illinois State Championship.
The schools that are currently listed on Marcus's list include the following: Florida State, Miami, LSU, Davidson, Toledo, Iowa State, Nebraska, Iowa, Penn State, Rice, Toledo, Wright State and Virginia Commonwealth. The first five are the only ones listed on his ESPN profile. The only overlaps between his ESPN profile and his Scout profile are Miami and Florida State. He currently has offers from Iowa St, Nebraska, Miami, Penn State, Rice, Toledo, VCU and Wright State.
Rivals, who I don't think does such as good a job with basketball as it does with football, has him interested in Miami, Florida, Iowa, Michigan State and Wright State, with an offer from Miami. It is true that Miami provided him an offer. However, Marcus has explicitly stated he is not interested in Illinois as he doesn't want to "trespass" on his brother's school. Jeffery Jordan is a guard for the Illini.
Jordan is currently ranked as the 61st Shooting guard by ESPN.com and scores an 87 with Scouts.com. Jordan is described as an intense player who has excellent athleticism and leaping ability. The added twist is that Jordan is a lefty who loves to drive to the basket. One concern that has been expressed is his shooting technique, demonstrating a low release point. In the articles I have read, it seems that Marcus has spent a lot of time on his shot and is constantly demonstrating improvement. Many articles comment on his strength and his tenacity on the defensive end of the court.
This past weekend, Marcuse led his team to the Illinois Class 4A Championship, scoring 19 points, hitting 4 free throws down the stretch and pulling down two defensive rebounds down the stretch to seal the 69-66 victory over Waukegan.
Photo from Chicago Tribune
Here are some clips of Marcus:
Midstatehoops.com This video shows his athletic ability as well as his ability to score with his right hand around the rim.
Oneent I think shows his strength and quickness very well. He's super quick as he turns the corner off the screen.
Ballislife.com I think this really shows his explosive ability and shows a couple of different angles on his jump shot. He does have a low release point but that could easily be corrected.
AAU National Chamionships Buzzer Beater Marcus is wearing number 3 and has the yellow head band on.
Sorry about this but could only embed it:
Find more videos like this on PrepTicket
A nice article from the Local Media.
So what are the upsides? Marcus is currently listed as a shooting guard, but I think he has the body type and skill set to be a true point guard in college. He is aggressive and has excellent athletic ability. He doesn't quit on either end of the court and most of the stories I have read talk about his tenacity on defense. Clearly, he already has the best mentor in the game. Marcus fits the mold of Leonard Hamilton type player. I wish I had more statistical data to back all of this up and I'm trying to find more on Marcus's stats. In his AAU league, he averaged over 10 points a game. He had a number of games with 3+ steals and also had a game with double digit rebounds.
Marcus may not have had the press that a Michael Snaer or Chris Singleton had coming out of high school, but I think he could really contribute to our team. Of the potential players that are interested in Florida State, Marcus is certainly someone who could immediately make an impact at a position in need. Position in need you ask, we have tons of guards, what are you talking about TC? Who is our point guard next year? I think Michael Snaer is going to play the 2. Dulkys is not a point guard. Kitchen...eh? I love the kid but he's not our point guard. Loucks is a great basketball player but doesn't fit my mold for a true point guard. Pierre Jordan...yes he is still on the team. Demercy is a better 3 than a 2, plus he's 6'7. It's a huge load to carry but I think Marcus Jordan is a sleeper recruit could have the skill set necessary to run the point for this team.
There are a couple of excellent players who are reportedly considering Florida State: Latavious Williams (6'8 Power Forward Kingsville,TX) and Kyryl Natyazhko (6'10 Center Bradenton, FL) Remember, all of these names are simply speculation and the correlation between various sites is not as good as it is for football.
But if he is the remaining guard who might be interested in our program, wouldn't this look nice:
1 recs |
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It's important to remember that
we will not be asking our new PG to score. If he can distribute and defend anywhere close to what Toney did, that’ll be fine.
Does being a lefty matter when running the point? For instance, being a left handed second baseman doesn’t work well.
The kid looks good on film, but that’s coming from someone who doesn’t understand what to look for in a basketball recruit’s film.
I don't think that being a left handed point guard makes much difference. It is a change up compared to most players and as you can see in those videos, he can score with both hands around the rim.
Obviously, he will prefer to move to his left as he will be able to protect the ball on the dribble.
Here are a couple of articles about lefties in the NBA:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1423236/lefthanded_players_in_the_nba_the_five.html?cat=14
http://www.apbr.org/lefties.html
http://milehighramblings.blogspot.com/2007/03/best-lefty-nba-players.html
I recognize that not all of these players are point guards.
The only real problem I see with a left handed PG...
is that most defenders are right handed and you would think they would instinctively try to steal the ball with their right hands. When he is guarding a player his right hand would be closer to the PG’s left hand, which he would be using more often to dribble the ball, possibly making it easier for the defender to make a steal. However, this problem should not happen very often, if at all, and could easily be eliminated by being a skilled in ball handling. The PG would also have pretty much his entire life experience playing against right handed defenders.
So basically I don’t think this is much of a problem at all.
by nolesblogger on Mar 24, 2009 11:59 PM EDT up reply actions
I mentioned in the game thread the other day
I havent been able to come back until today. That loss really soured the rest of the tourney for me. Anyway,
http://withleather.uproxx.com/2009/03/cbs-mid-shot-cutaway-was-an-error
It cut away for me
I was very pissed.
http://today.sportingnews.com/sportingnewstoday/20081229/?pg=2
by tdchrisdavis on Mar 24, 2009 9:27 PM EDT up reply actions
But since they missed the shot I got over it fast.
http://today.sportingnews.com/sportingnewstoday/20081229/?pg=2
by tdchrisdavis on Mar 24, 2009 9:28 PM EDT up reply actions
Great read, I don't know where I'd get FSU basketball updates if not for you...
Florida State University should put you on their payroll AND provide you with basketball updates in the off-season so that you can continue to build basketball enthusiasm. As a huge basketball fan, I know I’m always looking for updates on the program and usually coming up empty. It seems like you did all this research on your own… imagine what you could do if FSU actually gave you some insight into the program!
Look forward to following your updates and to the national signing period in April. Not sure if we should expect much more this year, but his heirness would be welcome with open arms… and he would be quite popular in beautiful Tallahassee. I have to think if Marcus visits FSU, we’d have a great chance to land him. Compared to the other schools on his list, our campus defeats the rest of the schools with ease (and I haven’t even seen the new basketball facilities yet). Oh, and his Dad just bought a place in south Florida so- in state tuition! Yeah! :)
by smash! on Mar 24, 2009 11:46 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
You should E-Mail Chuck Walsh
Let him know what you think about the site and Truecubbie! Maybe we could actually get on the list to receive FSU Sports Information, or a press pass.
by Bud Elliott on Mar 25, 2009 12:00 AM EDT up reply actions
Don't forget about MS PG Julysses Nobles
He was a major sleeper and Florida State and Arkansas jumped in late. He’s a true PG and may win Mr. Basketball in the state of Mississippi.
Interesting
My first thought was that he’d be a UNC legacy, but then I remembered Ham’s relationship with Michael at the twilight of his career on the Bullets/Wizards…
btw – I think DK is a point guard – he just needs to make better decisions…
What was Ham's relationship with MJ?
I’ve been looking for that info…
And I really don’t think Kitchen is a PG… Even if he had the natural talent to be, he’s too unsure of himself with the ball and he makes too many mental errors. And I think he’s at his best when he’s slashing/cutting, which lends better to playing off the ball…
Hamilton is the last coach MJ played for
He was also there when he transitioned to management.
I just remembered that they knew each other and probably have a good relationship so that might help us in the recruiting.
I don't think we are in the running for Kyryl
He has already visited Xavier, Pitt, Ohio (omg my school), and Arizona State and is expected to decide between those.
Honestly, I don't think we need any more bigs...
We’re pretty stacked up front with young talent. We need some deadly shooters though, that’s for sure.
Whats up with the Bo Outlaw shades?
is that to protect from someone poking him or really for vision? Because you figure he’d want to wear contacts. what happens in case those things fog up mid-shot?
on a serious note, i really dont think it matters which hand is your point guard’s dominant hand. As a coach or a fan i would be more concerned with their ability to use their “off hand” both to dribble and to finish. I hate seeing players drive to the left and use their right hand to finish. If you are able to go both ways and finish with both hands you have a serious advantage at the rim. Either way a defender is going to force you to your “weak” hand so its not going to matter in that regards.
Dude, I kind of like those shades.
I may have to get me some of those since I can’t wear contacts. I’ve been playing sans corrected vision the last couple years and have noticed a serious decline in my shooting.
Are those things custom made or something?
I don’t see any bball specific shades on Oakley’s website. Is he just using a clear prescription version of the sunglasses?
Here are his shades:
http://oakley.com/custom/radar
I believe they are the Oakley Radar with custom lenses.
Yeah, they definitely look like flak jackets. Thanks.
Which I tried on over the weekend and are pretty cool. The problem is if you want prescription shades from Oakley you’re talking about $130 for the frames and b/t $200-300 for the scrip lenses. I’m looking at getting the “transitions” version, which are even more costly. I’m just not sure if I want to drop $500+ on shades that are likely to get beat up.
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