Recruit Rankings

[*23*]

Thought I would post this. This guy does a ranking for every transfer in D1 I believe, what an undertaking. Not sure what goes into the evaluation - but thought it would be fun to re-post our guys on the discussion for this thread. All get good grades and feedback. This guy may be a bit of an easy grader - but perusing other schools and players I do see some C and D grades. As discussed on this board - big question marks on our transfers defensive abilities - but pretty positive on offensive capabilities.

Transfer Rankings 2025 @matthewwinick

t.co

Jaden Daughtry
Grade: B
Coference Comparison: Reed Bailey
Insane offensive player. Uses unique ways to maneuver his body towards the rim and is pretty unstoppable when he gets there. Not a vertical athlete. He's just an expert with footwork and angles on post-ups and PNR roll action. Can hit open threes if you don't guard him. Isn't much of a passer, but isn't a black hole for someone with insane usage. Needs to make more FTs. The D is an absolute disaster. He played strictly the 5 at ISU, so maybe if he plays the 4 at Richmond, which seems likely, I don't think he can stay in front of 4's. But for a team that just had no offense last year, he'll be a big help. He and Walz should be fun offensively.
Will Johnston
Grade: A-
Comp: Sheldon Edwards
Over 50% on unguarded C&S on his career over three seasons in insane. He's not a point guard. He got better at it over three years, but he'd be such a monster off ball. 75% of his shots should be C&S. In the Princeton offense where guards are often recipients rather than the creators, he could explode offensively. It's an excellent fit for him on that end. Also not a great defender. But such an elite offensive player that this will work. Him, Daughtry, and Walz should bring back the Princeton offense as it should be.
AJ Lopez
Grade: B+
Comp: Trey Autry
3-level scorer. Dropped 19 on Richmond, and then proceeded to dominate the AE offensively. He needs playmaking around him because he's a pure scorer. Not a great defender but does have fine length. Too thin to get to the rim in the A10, has to put on weight. The open C&S is elite. Probably too similar to Johnston offensively, but has a slightly higher defensive upside. Richmond didn't have anyone like any of these guys last year.
David Thomas
Grade: B
Comp: Sebastion Thomas
After a non-existent non-con at Mercer as a freshman, Thomas turned into an absolute beast. Elite passer with virtually no TOs. Hit his open threes. But then moving up two notches to DePaul, he started awful again, completely fell out of the rotation, and then turned it on a bit down the stretch. Interestingly, the rim is pretty good for a small guard. But the shooting is all over the place. Elite C&S awful dribble scorer as a freshman, then it completely flipped at DePaul. Defense is meh. I guess if he meets in the middle then he'll be a solid player at Richmond. He's a bit of a wild card.


This is his x handle, looks like a good follow for hoops content: https://x.com/matthewwinick

 

[*23*]

Really interesting take on Will Johnston. He clearly feels - and shows stats that Will is better off the ball, and a crazy good shooter on catch and shoot. Will , in his interview, says I am a point guard. Seems like Tyne will be point guard from practice reports so far. Doesn't sound like we have a real true PG on the roster. This points to opportunity for Argabright.

 

[*23*]

I do think AJ can get to the rim in the A10 BTW. As noted, he has a pull up / mid range game , and he doesn't need to muscle guys at the rim, I think his quickness converts and he has the experience and guile to get to the rim and finish - so I differ with his opinion on that point.

 

[Spider17]

Seems like the theme is that our offense should improve with the transfers who do well with catch and shoot, which fits the Princeton offense model. Worried a little bit that defense has not been brought up as a strength for any of the transfers. Defense is something we desperately need. Also of note, interesting that he doesn’t have Johnston as a true PG. IIRC some were saying he may play the point for us. I see Johnston excelling at the 2.

 

[*23*]

Liking our grades even more, I do see SDSU got two C's and a B for transfer class, but they also were just filling in role players for most part. But I do like the grades here.

 

[97spiderfan]

Well, I love the offensive summaries of all of our players, but equally concerned that none of them appear to be good defenders. Interesting comments on Will Johnston. I thought he was going to be our starting PG, but those comments make it appear he is better off ball. I have my concerns about Tyne being our PG but we all know Mooney continues to rave about Tyne and so it kind of makes sense based upon this to me that Tyne and Johnston are going to both start this year.

I will say one thing in defense of Tyne, he did not have a good year last year, but we also have to remember that he had to play with a trash team offensively last year, so perhaps playing with more skilled offensive players will allow him to take a much bigger step forward this year. I do remember when we played VCU at VCU last year that my remark was that Tyne was one of the only players on our team that looked like they physically belonged on the court with VCU.