J-S: Childress granted release

[dylanrocks]

UWM recruits given release

Jeter says Panthers will fill the two spots

By DAN MANOYAN
[e-mail]
Posted: April 18, 2005
New UW-Milwaukee basketball coach Rob Jeter might have thought the bulk of his recruiting work for next season had been handled by his predecessor, Bruce Pearl, but apparently that is not the case.

Before leaving UWM to accept the Tennessee coaching position, Pearl signed three players to letters of intent for next season. Two of them, junior college guard James Douglas of Schoolcraft College in Livonia, Mich., and Cincinnati Moeller High School forward Ryan Childress, have asked Jeter for and been granted releases from their national letters of intent.

Walt Waters, a 6-foot-10 post player who is also from Schoolcraft, is already on campus. But Waters, who has a history of academic problems in previous short stays at Pittsburgh and Cleveland State, is, according to sources, unlikely to be with the team next season.

Jeter, in just his second week on the job, is taking the defections in stride.

"It's not a problem," Jeter said. "We've already had some very good players visit and we plan to have some more in. Add that to the nucleus we've already got on campus and we'll be just fine."

Jeter has at least three scholarships to offer now, and possibly four if Waters doesn't stay at UWM.

Jeter is unable to comment on specific recruits but it is known that he is particularly interested in another Schoolcraft sophomore, 6-5 Kevin Massiah. The Toronto native plays a wing position.

Waters, a massive left-hander, was considered one of the best junior college big men in the nation while at Schoolcraft. He was considered a top-100 high school prospect before signing originally to attend Pittsburgh.

Douglas, a 6-3 guard, is rated the 43rd-best junior college player in the nation by HoopScoop Online. He played for one season at Eastern Michigan, averaging 7.2 points per game and making 15 starts.

Childress is a 6-8 power forward who played for national powerhouse Moeller. After his junior season, he was rated the 12th-best player in Ohio.

[Pantherholic]

Well I guess this is Jeter's perfect oppurtunity to prove his worth to this team. I didn't even know Childress was unhappy w/ the new regime.
Burgundy out.

[fan]

What's next? Are they moving the team to Canada?

How much worse can it get? Rob Jeter needs to pull off a miracle now.

[bball30]

Everybody's gotta relax, it's not the end of the world that these guys are not coming anymore. If you HONESTLY thought Waters would be available you were nuts. The guy has grade problems, that's why he hasn't played for 3 years. And just like how everyone got all worked up over Passley, look how the season ended up for UWM, sweet sixteen. UWM will be fine without these guys, there are still plenty of good recruits out there for the late signing period.

go panthers

[dutchpthr]

bball, your right and i agree with what your saying we are going to be fine, but still to hear that people who were supposed to be coming hear don't want to anymore it is still kind of a kick in the pants.

Now i understand why it was that all of these guys felt the need to go elsewhere and i wish them all the best of luck in all that they do, but it would still have been nice to see Childress in black and gold next year.

[Kingsbury]

It is not the end of the World and I do wish Ryan the best of luck in the future as long as he does not play for Wright State. I could see him end up with Dayton.

[PantherLou]

THE SKY IS FALLING! THE SKY IS FALLING! THE SKY IS FALLING!

No, it's not. Relax people. This is unfortunate, but dylanrocks and I were talking about this just last night and both felt that it would be a huge deal if Jeter could keep Childress. Unfortunately, it did not work out.

This is a reality when coaching staffs change. BP is going through the exact same thing in Tennessee. Its a sad reality, but reality nonetheless.

Please don't blame this on Rob Jeter. Give him the time to bring in his own guys and win with the players who are here. Judge him on what happens on the court, not on how well he keeps BP's recruits.

[PeterPanThers]

Granted the sky is not falling or fallen, but I cant say that I was expecting this to happen. How much time does Jeter have to sign 4 guys?

It's wonderful how much the sweet sixteen run has done for us.

[dylanrocks]

Also, now you can look for Jeter and staff to dip deeply into the pool of talent at Indian Hills Community College, the former home of new Panther assistant Chad Boudreau. Among the players there are Jermaine Bell, a 6-11 power forward who is rated a three-star recruit by scout.com; Carl Marshall, a 5-11 point guard; and DaShawn Walker, a 6-6 small forward.

[PantherLou]

Well, you are right that so far, the sweet sixteen run hasn't done much for us, recruiting wise. But interest in the program is at an all time high, and alumni donations are up, and that's not "nothing". Its a big something. But this program, this new coaching staff, needs to keep it going.

I didn't expect this to happen, but I think you have to admit that you realized it was a strong possibility. If not, you were fooling yourself.

Lets see what happens. As for time to sign recruits, I have no idea what the time frame is, but i would assume that sooner is definitely better than later. There are still some very good recruits out there, but we need to strike while the iron is hot.

[bball30]

I think you almost had to expect this to happen, how often to do players that are recruited stay for the new coach? Look at UWM's own Allan Hanson. More than not players ask for release and are granted it. WE ALL should have seen this coming

GO PANTHERS

[PANTHERfan]

it's no surprise that this happened... sucks, but not the least bit shocking. this is what happens when you lose your coach. now we'll see just what Jeter has in terms of recruiting ability. there's a lot of good players out there to be had.

[UWMBaller]

i think jeter will do just fine in recruiting... look he landed hill from chicago, tigert from oshkosh, and a couple mor eplayers... just take it easy and let him do his job

[dylanrocks]

Two exceptions to the rule, then, would be our own Chris Hill and Adrian Tigert, two guys who clearly merit the label, 'exceptional.'

[Zoofan]

I completely agree, and I don't thikn anyone wouldn't. Look at what great players Chris and Adrian both are! We certainly wouldn't be the same team without them!!!