Memorial Day – a perfect day to host a basketball recruit

Basketball Recruiting12

Happy Memorial Day, a day of celebration and remembrance. Evidently, it is also a great day to host a potential basketball transfer!

Check this out.

Less than two months after losing its long-time basketball coach, the UNC Asheville basketball program has lost its top returning player.

Rising junior Keith Hornsby was given his release by head coach Nick McDevitt, the Bulldogs’ long-time assistant who replaced Eddie Biedenbach in April.

The 6-4 guard averaged 15 points and 4.2 rebounds last season and shot 37.9 percent from beyond the 3-point line.

Hornsby’s father, musician Bruce Hornsby, said Keith had received feelers about transferring from other schools and that he was visiting N.C. State on Sunday and Monday.

“Keith is very happy at Asheville, and Nick has been great about this, but he wants to explore his options with a couple of other schools,” said Bruce Hornsby.

The elder Hornsby said he wanted to keep the option open of his son returning to Asheville, but McDevitt said that isn’t possible.

“That wouldn’t be in the best interest of Keith and it wouldn’t be in the best interest of UNC Asheville,” said McDevitt.

“He’s a great kid and we wish him the best. We have a great relationship, so I don’t think this has anything to do with the coaching change.”

Hornsby had some of his best games against better competition, including 26 points (six 3-pointers) at Ohio State last season. He also scored 23 points and made 4-of-6 3-pointers in an 81-80 loss at N.C. State.

I guess ‘some things will never change’ as this staff continues to show that they are tireless workers!

Not only would Hornsby’s talents be well received in Raleigh, but so would his impact on the Wolfpack’s scholarship spacing.

A quick perusal of UNC-A’s boxscores last season show that Hornsby performed very well against top flight competition.

  • 9 of 12 shooting for 26 points vs. Ohio State
  • 6 of 14 shooting for 14 points vs. St. John’s
  • 8 of 14 shooting for 23 points vs. NC State
  • 4 of 12 shooting for 23 points vs. Charlotte

NC State continues to be a player in the Trevor Lacey transfer sweepstakes. Lacey, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound guard, was a Top 25 player coming out of S.R. Butler High School (Huntsville, Ala.) where he was also a Parade All-American and only the second ever two-time Alabama Mr. Basketball.  Auburn, Kansas, Kentucky and UConn. While most public speculation regarding Lacey has him choosing between NC State, UNC-CH, Pitt and Miami, recent speculation seems to have de-prioritized UNC-CH and Miami and elevated Pitt and State to the top of the list.

Because of the Wolfpack’s lack of depth and projected lack of experience on the wing in the next few years, I personally think that there is room in Raleigh for both Lacey and Hornsby.  But, that doesn’t mean that the kids share the same opinion.  We shall see.

And, ‘that’s just the way it is’.

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Basketball Recruiting

12 Responses to Memorial Day – a perfect day to host a basketball recruit

  1. colapack 05/27/2013 at 9:00 AM #

    listen to the mandolin rain….

  2. JohnGalt78 05/27/2013 at 10:32 AM #

    That’s just the way it is
    Some things will never change
    That’s just the way it is
    Ah but don’t you believe them

  3. rtpack24 05/27/2013 at 10:54 AM #

    I have watched the kid play for two years. He is a very good player and can jump out of the gym. He has an unusual shot but it goes in. 92% free throw shooter. Our staff will wait on Lacey and if he goes elsewhere then we will offer Hornsby.

  4. Pack Leader 05/27/2013 at 11:43 AM #

    I have several friends who are UNCA alums, so I have followed the Bulldogs for some time from afar (not to mention I am a big fan of Eddie B) and I have heard rumblings about Hornsby for sometime now. He’s a legit 6’4 guard with handles and a lightning quick release. Outside of the blueboys (And I say that softly because UNX wants him aswell), he could start on ANY team in the ACC right now. Not only would this help fill a big void as far as leadership, it would help space scholarships more evenly.

    As for Lacey, and I have ZERO inside information, he sounds like locker room nightmare. Give him to someone else, lets get our own youngbloods.

  5. wolffpride 05/27/2013 at 12:16 PM #

    This is what I dont get. We don’t need guards! I would love to have players like Lacey and Hornsby, but we do not have the space for them. 2014 will have Lewis and Barber at the 1. Any combination of Turner, Lee, Martin 1 and Martin 2 at both the 2 and 3 spots. That is 6 deep on the guard positions. If we bring in 7 or 8 deep then what is the point. Gottfried will likely not even play 6 deep. Bench the Martin twins? Bench Lee and/or Turner and say thanks for your service for one year but now we have more talent? Bench the transfer/s and say next year will be your year? Truthfully we can only pull 1 post player for 2014 as well. IF you pull 2 then you will first have to bank on the fact that Gott will run a 4 man rotation on the block (making a 10 man overall) and poor Leonard Freeman will be a practice dummy.

    I know from what I have seen that Gottfried prefers a smaller rotation, i.e 7-8. Maybe 9 if you have the right balance. Loading our team with 10-11-12 talented players will not bode well. Guys are gonna get left out, then they are going to transfer, then the sky will start falling again. Honestly all we need for 2014 right now is 1 or maybe 2 post players, no guards?

  6. PoppaJohn 05/27/2013 at 1:00 PM #

    ^ Got to agree, more guards? Find us a big or two!

  7. Tau837 05/27/2013 at 5:07 PM #

    wolffpride said: “This is what I dont get. We don’t need guards! I would love to have players like Lacey and Hornsby, but we do not have the space for them.”

    Completely disagree.

    First off, we have scholarships that will be unused right now. Using them for players with potential to earn playing time is a good thing. It will better space the scholarships.

    Second, assuming we were to get just one of Lacey or Hornsby, I think you are overstating the situation. Best case, Lewis, Barber, Turner, Lee, and Warren all stay after next seasons. Entering 2014-15, we add the Martins. If we also add Lacey or Hornsby, that makes 8 players to play the 1-3 positions, along with some 4 when we go small. Say there would be 130 minutes for that group. Two guys get 10 minutes each, two get 15 minutes each, two get 15-20 minutes each, and two get 20-25 minutes each. What’s the problem? We can run them out in waves. We can press and push the tempo.

    Or we could redshirt a player or two. Or a player or two will go pro early or transfer or suffer a major injury.

    IMO it is a nobrainer to add either or both of these players if possible. Especially since both of them are considering UNC as well, meaning adding them keeps them away from our rival.

  8. ryebread 05/27/2013 at 10:20 PM #

    I remember Lacy but haven’t kept up with him. If he is a locker room headache, then that isn’t good. I don’t know anything about him.

    I remember this kid from the Asheville game. He almost single handedly beat us. Sign him up and don’t wait. It is obvious that he has worked hard relative to his high school rankings. We also could really use another good free throw shooter.

    Also, we need as many good players as we can get. Programs like Duke and UNC are great because they have good players willing to wait because they are playing for something bigger. Injuries happen. More depth makes for better practices and more competition. Transfers happen.

    There is a reason that scholarship reductions are handed out as punishment for programs with sanctions. Use them all. By not using them, we’re effectively hamstringing ourselves.

  9. wolffpride 05/27/2013 at 11:00 PM #

    All I know is if you crowd the backcourt, then soemone is going to get left out. Everyone wants to play 20 plus minutes a game, you can only do that with 6 deep. If Gottfried were to play 10-11 guys like Turgeon (or coach K) did this past year then I am all for it. He has stated many times that he prefers a smaller rotation so that the play stays consistent. If we load up at either the frontcourt or backcourt then there will be disgruntled players and transfers. Maybe this is inevitable, and maybe college basketball has come to this, but don’t say you couldn’t see it coming.

    Gottfired has struggled to keep a team with some talent and mostly role players together (De Thaey, Painter, Harris, Purvis all gone). If he builds a team with talent form top to bottom (10 plus players) then how well do you think it will hold? I agree that the depth is something that every team should want, but I am not sure ours can handle it. I hope Gottfried proves me wrong.

  10. ryebread 05/28/2013 at 9:36 AM #

    wolffpride: I agree with you that Gott’s shown preference for a shorter bench. Whether he can manage the egos is something that also seems to be in question.

    Part of that is the recruiting process though — being up front with kids about their roles. You could tell quite early that some expectations were wrong with Purvis for instance. His camp was clearly sending messages before the season that he’d be playing some point. It took me all of 5 minutes in live action and about 2 trips to the free throw line to see that he had no business running a team (and I am no expert). Was the staff up front with him? Was that just his family? Time will tell based on whether we see repeat situations.

    I think transfers are a part of college basketball for the foreseeable future. There were 400+ this year I believe. To not complete a roster due to fear of transfer seems short sighted. The only valid argument is APR, and that’s more about having the appropriate structure in place to keep kids motivated and eligible. I suspect the APR will fall apart anyways given the current number of transfers.

    By not completing a roster though, we simply don’t have enough good players to have tough practices. The starters aren’t improving if they are not pushed day in and day out. We aren’t prepared for adversity like foul trouble, injuries or transfers.

    Heck, I fundamentally believe that the reason our interior defense was so weak this season was because we really didn’t have the bodies on the bench to sub in. Howell and Leslie were much more aggressive last year when we had Painter ready to go. Vandy is fine for 3-5 emergency minutes a game. If he’s all you’ve got on the bench, then you’d better be able to keep the starters in the game. Signal the matador defense.

    I’d suggest we use all 13 scholarships, every single year. Someone will ultimately leave early every year either to transfer, academic casualty or the pros. It is better to have more players prepped in our system and ready to go.

    Put another way, NC State needs ballers. Hornsby = baller. Come on down!

  11. Tau837 05/28/2013 at 11:51 AM #

    “Put another way, NC State needs ballers. Hornsby = baller. Come on down!”

    This.

  12. choppack1 05/28/2013 at 8:15 PM #

    We need this kid. I believe he has a better 3point % than the juco.

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