Midnight Madness

[stuball888]

So who is going. 730 at Practice facility for Pride Club members only. 8 at the Mack. So Polito will you be there?

[bobe13]

I will be there (weather permitting) LOL

[Cards]

I will be there. I must say that I've been looking forward to it!

[hofstrahoopsfan2000]

Hey all - just found the board. its me - the one stu hates. hofstrahoopsfan. cant make it tomorrow but cant wait for the season to start.

[Jojogunne]

Will any recruits be at MM?

[Polito]

Believe me, I would LOVE to, but no can do - hope to hear some great reports from those who attend!

GREAT question Jojo...insiders??

[cactus]

Nice event. Practice facility looks great. Intrasquad scrimmage was very sloppy but there is a lot of talent on the team.

[dutchalum01]

How was the turnout cactus?


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[stuball888]

I would say about 1,000 attended. Not a tremendous amount of students but about 500 pride club members and family and friends. First part was a get together at the practice facility for pride club members with food and drinks and desserts. Got to talk with Speedy and Norman Richardson. Many of the coaches of the other teams were there too. We then moved to the arena where teams were introduced. men scimmaged first. It looked like an NBA all star game minus some of the talent but it was entertaining. Malik Nicols very athletic and Kone had some nice moves. Bernardi looks like a real good shooter and green was as advertized. Rokas Gutsy moves well for a big man and has nice moves around the basket. they had a three point contest one from mens team and one from womens team. Then had a mixed scrimmage that was fun to watch. Overall it was a fun evening.Kudos for Hofstra for a great event.

[ProudofPride]

Hofstra Pride posted a photo album on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 414&type=1

Also, there were a lot more students there than it seemed like, I'm not sure why a so many weren't sitting in the student section, but I recognized several (and knew some) that were sitting scattered around the arena.

[Jojogunne]

I realize the MM scrimmage was not serious, but three newcomers stood out to me:

1. Juan'ya Green - This guy can play. Seems to be an excellent 3pt shooter, too.

2. Rokas Gustys - Big body, but runs the floor well and can really jump. Look for a lot of offensive rebounds and alley-oops this season.

3. Malik Nichols - Another big player with a strong vertical game.

Of the returning players, Moussa Kone also looked good and might have been the leading scorer.

We also appear to have two walk-on guards: #3 ??? and #5 Noah Woods from Trinity-Pawling:

http://www.hudl.com/athlete/851315/highlights/153273376

[Polito]

Thanks for the reports back guys...

Very excited to see Green's impact to the team/program next 2 yrs. I was big on Rokas from his recruiting, believe he's going to be a beast for HU in the post. And really interested in seeing Nichols - talent must be there considering he was desired by 2 separate staffs, had great hs career, has great size and athleticism... didn't have huge numbers in JUCO, but I think he could be the X factor to this team

Believing Bernardi can be the lights out deep threat the team needs - a combined Hernandez/Rivera type!

Glad to hear Kone looks good - as a Sr I think he's a key part to stability and leadership

Any info/thoughts on Eliel? Walker? Tanksley?

And I think about 1k people is pretty good for the first one under JM with a program that has been very down - should grow by leaps and bounds with a big season - and really, if they want to draw a crowd, they should look to bringing in a 'hot' DJ or special guest appearance... don't have to go crazy, but that's pretty common among other midnight madness's - def helps

but good first round - very happy to see them do it - and quite frankly, I think we're seeing HU do some VERY good things as far as basketball 'operations' - everything is really just looking professional, and being treated with a level of importance we haven't ever seen before - exciting times

[Cards]

I also attended last night - Agree with all that has been said - Green, Nichols, Kone, Bernardi all impressed. But WOW, Gustys is a beast...shoulders about a yard wide.....pretty mobile to boot! i see alot of talent on the floor this year and barring any hickups, I could see us only losing a few games before we head into the conference schedule. that would be a nice confidence builder for the team.

So I'm watching the guys shoot around in the practice facility and at the next basket over is a high school looking aged kid wearing sweats. he's shooting 19 - 21 footers and there was a girl getting his rebounds for him. He appears to have a really nice smooth "J" so I start paying attention to him. He drops one, then another, then another, and I start counting as he's draining 20 footers. this is no joke, I counted 20 consecutive makes and then he just stopped and walked away. I had a feeling about the kid, and a few minutes later JM comes walking by so I asked him if the kid was Justin Foreman (the recent committ). With a big smile, coach said "Yep, thats him.......kid can really put up some points!"

Earlier in the evening, coach came up beside me introduced hinmself and thanked me for coming. It was nice to see him going out of his way to say hello and thanks. Class act!

Finally, i did see another kid walking around with what looked like his coach (high school maybe). The kid was talking for a minute with Gustys. I'd say he was a solid 3 inches taller that Gustys. Don't know anything about him, but he surely was at least 6'11" Possibel recruit??????

[Polito]

great feedback Cards, thanks

VERY excited about Gustys, major 'get' - type of post presence HU has been after for years - looking forward to his impact during his HU career

and J W-F I believe will prove to be a super player - will be following his Sr yr - looking for him to be a top 10 player on a top 10 team in NYC - if I'm Buie or Carter, I'm ALL over the chance to start with him and make a top backcourt on what looks to be a high-rising program that can do damage over the next few yrs