I agree. CJ may be a better shooter, although he hasn’t seen a college game yet, and Evelyn’s 38% from 3 as a soph is rather good. But I doubt CJ could perform the two plays from the 2:27 mark of this vid like Evelyn did. Plus Evelyn is a senior while CJ is a RS frosh.
Bakari Evelyn commits!
- Thread starter skydog0784
- Start date
Much needed depth at guard...let's hope he's 100% and stays healthy.
WELCOME Bakari!!! 
Looks and sounds like a great pick up. It's hard to predict what the guard rotation will be with so many new guys, but he can fit at either position, which is a huge plus. Seems like he has multiple skills, shooting, ball handling, defense, and that is exactly what we needed. Feeling a LOT more comfortable about our roster for next year.
Looks and sounds like a great pick up. It's hard to predict what the guard rotation will be with so many new guys, but he can fit at either position, which is a huge plus. Seems like he has multiple skills, shooting, ball handling, defense, and that is exactly what we needed. Feeling a LOT more comfortable about our roster for next year.
Anybody else have to mute that highlight video? Awful. Now get off my lawn.
CJ starts at the 2 Connor at 1. CJ most complete guard on the Hawks roster. Can shoot defend and pass. Total package.
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I love all the people so sure about CJ's abilities and that he's a lock to start. You guys watching practices or what?
I have been to practice yes. Total player complete.
I'm excited about this kid, watching his video he has a skill-set we've been needing/wanting for a while. He's got good size at 6'2, can get to the rim and has the vision to make last second decisions to dish or take it himself. On top of that, he seems to be a solid shooter. Moss had much more size but I think Bakari has the moves we wanted from Moss the whole time.
If this kid is healthy, I see no reason why he can't log significant minutes and contribute right away.
Highlight videos are just that, but to me watching him against other college players means more than high school highlights. He seems like a much better dribbler than Moss, can take his man off the dribble and finish, and sees the floor well.
Again, if healthy, he should be a solid contributor and may end up starting.
I think your starting backcourt is Conner and Bakari with CJ and Joe T getting plenty of backup minutes. If JBo is good to go then so much the better.
Saw him play at the state tourney of Kentucky if your a Hawkeye fan you will have a crush on him.
Fran should have some options that he didn't have a week ago. Until I see them play against top competition, I am trying to keep from getting too excited, but I love hearing such optimistic reports about the guys coming in next year. Starting to think it wouldn't be horrible if JBo didn't rush back, so he can truly be 100% the following year.
I have seen enough in practice....... keep hating on a 18 year old kid..... classy
If you’re going to criticize the competition Evelyn faced in those videos, the you should have command of a few facts...
1. Valpo moved to the MVC in 2017-2018; the year the video in post 43 references
2. All of the competition in those videos except USU are MVC opponents
3. Including many highlights against Loyola Chicago who went to the Final Four that very year.
Very impressive court vision, ball handling, passing, penetration, and finishing when being bumped physically. I am looking forward to watching him next year.
Who's hating? Trying to understand the love for a player that's never played in a college game does not equal hating. If he's as good as you think he is, then I'm all on board. It seems like nearly everyone on this board thinks he's going to be great though, and I'm just trying to understand. There must have been a lot of message board posters at practice last year...
I can’t speak for everyone on the boards.... I can only speak for what I have seen. I saw CJ play four high school games and two practices. He was beyond expectations. He will be a very good player. I never said he’s an all American or all big ten even but he is better than Moss and from hearing Coach McCaffery comments the other day he seemed pretty sure of CJ being able to contribute right away. Talk from folks that saw more than I have was he’s more complete than Isiah. He can really pass and make others better. I just wished JoBo was healthy because having him would help all these young guards including Connor Joe T snd CJF.
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I think everyone hopes good play in practice translates into good play in games.. however some times it doesn’t... With Bakari coming in it helps with depth and competition in practices. I hope they all push each other in the right direction to be able to compete in the big ten. Being good in practice and high school is great & I’m sure every kid on the roster has had great high school games and practices but the goal is game time greatness! We’ll shall see!
Nice Hawkcentral article on Bakari Evelyn. The ankle injury he had last year was bone spurs on his right ankle. Does anyone have experience with that? It sounds like it would have a lot less recovery time than a structural break in that area, but I’m sure it’s painful.
https://www.hawkcentral.com/story/s...ecruiting-fran-mccaffery-hawkeyes/1406014001/
https://www.hawkcentral.com/story/s...ecruiting-fran-mccaffery-hawkeyes/1406014001/
Not sure why we are debating who we should be most optimistic about??? I am glad to read first-hand observations that CJ was a stud in HS and is looking great in practice. I am also really glad that Bakari is a Hawk, because he brings experience and a variety of skills that we probably didn't have in a single backcourt player before he committed. Add in a more experienced CMac and JoeT, who looks like he also brings some quickness we were missing, and I am feeling pretty good about the backcourt (and the team) next year, even without JBo, who could still be back to be the late-game assassin... We just need to wait a few more months to see if it all comes together to be better overall team.
You're right - he's going to get better everyday until we see him in a game ... and then he will suck.
Hawk-Fran1,
You inserted a quote totally out of context from the dialog we were having.
You quoted a post from yourself indicating "I have seen enough in practice....... keep hating on a 18 year old kid..... classy" with my post indicating that Valpo played in the MVC and not the Horizon as you mentioned in the two posts of yours that I quoted.
To answer your question, yes Evelyn's percentages obviously went down in his Junior year from his Sophomore year. It's unknown how much of that was due to his nagging, well documented ankle injury versus stiffer competition. I personally believe his production drop off was due more to his ankle injury but we'll see.
Finally, I personally am very optimistic about CJF. I think he's going to be a great player for the Hawks. As others have mentioned, you seem to be under the impression that several posters are calling into question CJF's abilities and upcoming contributions to the program. I'm not seeing that at all from most posters.
Go Hawks, Go Bakari, Go CJF!
You inserted a quote totally out of context from the dialog we were having.
You quoted a post from yourself indicating "I have seen enough in practice....... keep hating on a 18 year old kid..... classy" with my post indicating that Valpo played in the MVC and not the Horizon as you mentioned in the two posts of yours that I quoted.
To answer your question, yes Evelyn's percentages obviously went down in his Junior year from his Sophomore year. It's unknown how much of that was due to his nagging, well documented ankle injury versus stiffer competition. I personally believe his production drop off was due more to his ankle injury but we'll see.
Finally, I personally am very optimistic about CJF. I think he's going to be a great player for the Hawks. As others have mentioned, you seem to be under the impression that several posters are calling into question CJF's abilities and upcoming contributions to the program. I'm not seeing that at all from most posters.
Go Hawks, Go Bakari, Go CJF!
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I think this: BE-Connor starting, CJ-JoeT backups, is most likely. It would be our most experienced starting backcourt. Also like the idea of having starting 2PGs to pass to the talented front court. But would love for JoeT to come on and be that 2nd starting PG as the quick penetrator we've been craving. Or for CJ to make us TOTALLY forget and surpass Moss. Or for perhaps CJ and BE to start together. More possibilities is a good thing, especially after losing significant experience.
I have a good feeling about this. Welcome and good luck to the youngster.
Good article. Glad to see that he feels healthy once again. Didn't know that Sherm recruited him.
The people that i know that have seen him practice 10+ times said they wouldn't be surprised if he's another ellingson or moss. I've seen him twice and it was meh.
Why don't you guys pick a date after the Hawks start practicing and go watch? Then, both can report back on what they saw with player analysis, especially CJ and the other new guys. I love hearing first-hand reports, but this bickering about who knows more is silly.
He was injured at the start of the season, then had much older players in front of him in Moss, Dailey, and JBo that he likely wasn't going to steal playing time from as a true frosh. We'll probably be happier that we get 4 years of him instead of a situation like Gabriel Olaseni where he barely played his first year and would have been really useful if he had a 5th with the way he developed.
He broke his ribs right before the season.
Isn’t it not realistic to think that after he came back from injury and started practicing every day that he outplayed Moss, who isn’t exactly a star?
