Position: PG
Hometown: Encino, CA
School: Crespi Carmelite
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 170
24/7: 88; three stars
ESPN: 82; four stars; #21 PG; US #83, CA #7, West #11
Rivals: three stars
Scout: four stars; #25 PG
Other offers: Illinois, Arizona State, Washington State, USC, St. Mary's, assorted WCC schools
We're UVA fans, so we'll come up with something else, but one of our biggest gripes about our basketball team disappeared yesterday. What was left of it after Devon Hall's commitment, anyway. There's no longer a worry about the future of the point guard position; Tony Bennett has gone and stocked up on them after so many fears that he was being too picky and couldn't close on the ones he did like.
London Perrantes's commitment gives UVA a deep list of point guard options once Jontel Evans graduates. He's a "true" point guard, in the sense that'll never be anything but. Scoring is not his main thing; distributing is. "High basketball IQ," "heady," and words to that effect pop up in every scouting report. Dave Telep at ESPN, who makes no secret of the fact he thinks Perrantes is overlooked (and ESPN's rating reflects that belief) calls him a "pass-first, run-your-team, low-maintenance point." Rivals's ASU branch scouted him this summer and came away impressed:
(T)here was nothing yawn-inducing about the play of Perrantes, who carved up his opponents with the precision of a physican's scalpel. Time and again, the 6-foot-1, 185 pound passing phenom made not only great decisions off ball screens delivered to his doorstep or in the open floor, but decisions that most others would have never seen seen much less had the skill to execute.
Perrantes also came in for praise for not being a showboating asshole, which is nice.
Size is one thing that'll keep Perrantes from being a shooting guard. Oh, I know - it didn't stop Sammy Zeglinski from playing extended minutes at the two. But now there's no need to use undersized twos; Devon Hall can certainly play that position if needed, Taylor Barnette is 6'3", and if desired, Tony Bennett can go big and put Joe Harris, Justin Anderson, or Paul Jesperson there, with even bigger threes. Besides, Perrantes doesn't project as a top-notch scorer, and his weaknesses as ESPN describes them sound suspiciously similar to Evans: "In terms of skill, he needs to get stronger finishing in the lane...Lastly, he needs to continue to work on becoming a knock down shooter when defenders back off." That's Evans to a T when he came in (he's done well in the former category but has mixed results in the latter.)
Two of the top questions that accompany the Perrantes commitment are: "Are we still recruiting Austin Nichols?" and "What does this mean for Taylor Barnette and Teven Jones?" The answer to the former seems to be "yup" and as for the latter, well, I stick by what I said last month: it's not necessarily that Tony doesn't like what he sees out of the PGs he has, it's that he's bound and determined not to ever go through an experience like last season again, and PG depth is pretty darn crucial to your chances of doing anything, ever.
However, it now looks like an uphill climb for both Jones and Barnette, and this season will be crucial for them to kind of get a foot in the door for playing time the next three, four years, because between Hall and Perrantes, they basically just got recruited over. The upside for them is that they'll have this year to establish themselves, and next year, well, the idea of having a freshman back up a freshman at the point is a leeetle scary. But if you don't see much of them this year, probably don't expect to see a lot of them next year either.
As for Perrantes himself, based just on ratings and offers and such, Hall would seem to be the better prospect. Hall brings size, playmaking skill, and a scoring touch that Perrantes appears to lack. But the cerebral Tony Bennett probably sees a little of himself in Perrantes, and by all means don't assume that since they're both point guards, their minutes are mutually exclusive. Bennett seems to want to be a little bit of a mad scientist with his guards, and even though Perrantes doesn't look very interchangeable, Hall does. Plus, Perrantes's ability to see the game should make him a quick study in the nuances of Bennett's defenses, and that as you know is the key to playing time. It's nice to have a lot of options, and at a bare minimum it looks as though he is an excellent complement to the scoring punch we expect out of guys like Hall and Justin Anderson. If there's a PG competition in the future the way we seem to have QB competitions every year, expect a good one, and the different styles they bring make it hard to handicap. Even if Perrantes loses out, though, he's not likely to be the guy you bring in for 8 minutes a game and hustle the starter back out there ASAP. What Bennett has built for the future is a mix-and-match toy, and Perrantes is a very new kind of piece.
P.S. - Nichols. From what I read it sure sounds like Bennett has no intention of dropping his pursuit of Austin Nichols. We're full up on scholarships - but only for the 2013-14 season. If Nichols commits, there'll be some juggling - I hope not of the kind where someone is asked to give up their scholly "for the good of the team" - but there's space available in years past that season that doesn't require creative contortionism to fit someone else.
P.P.S. - Perrantes even has his own website.
P.P.P.S. - I wonder if I can get Vegas to take bets on whether the next UVA-related "London Calling" headline is about Mike or Perrantes?
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-- Both the basketball and football depth charts are now updated; basketball because of the new commitment, and football for Penn State. Only two changes: Conner Davis is now listed as the starter at LG over Cody Wallace (which already, in a way, obsoletifies my InsideTheACC article from yesterday but whatever read it anyway you'll like it) and - sad to say - Tim Cwalina is no longer on it, due to a heart condition that ended his football career. DAMMIT man. I hate reading that stuff. I'd honestly rather attrite players because they're screwing off in the classroom or stole a PS3 from a dorm or something. At least then, they deserve it.
4 comments:
I think, in regards to Nichols, and it's not that unreasonable to expect this, that Tony Bennett probably expects some attrition, particularly after his experiences with that first class. There's simply too many wings that it's reasonable to wonder if all of them stick here. My worry/concern is that the attrition is going to come from one of the bigs.
Either way, having too many guys is only a problem if Tony Bennett can't manage the egos/personalities. Jones and Barnette both can play as off-guards, by the sound of their reports.
I like Conner Davis in the starting lineup if only because he carries more bulk, and I worry about the interior being too undersized. There aren't that many teams with their interior linemen all officially less than their tackles in weight. Add in that, while Bowanko may have the smarts and head to play center, he's, physically, not the best at leveraging the position yet, and getting some more bulk in there could help, particularly against Penn State's interior.
Some quick thoughts on the pro potential of the football squad's upperclassmen, guys that get a bit over-looked at times by the youngsters.
- Oday Aboushi has size, feet, and mirroring ability, and arm length looks fine. I'll be surprised, barring a bad season, if he isn't a top 2 round pick, and I think there's a chance he's a first rounder.
- Will Hill is probably more of a late round/UDFA guy, but I also think that NFL teams may ponder him as a 5-tech, which could give him a better shot.
- Perry Jones NFL potential might be like Alvin Pearman's - a versatile RB (albeit, lacks the return ability of Alvin) who gets some looks for a few years until a younger guy comes along. Could see him sneak into the mid-rounds, but late round/UDFA seems more likely.
- The two wildcards are the LB's. LaRoy Reynolds needs to run well, but if he does, he'll likely get some looks. Undersized LB's, though, don't get drafted high unless they are elite, so he's another late round/UDFA guy. Walcott's the big x-factor. If he can show that he can be decent at the point of attack, teams may be intrigued with his ability to be a developmental rush backer.
Greer's a nice workmanlike guy with good instincts, and same goes for Schautz, but their lack of top tier tools, and being undersized for their spots will hurt their chances. I actually think there's a better chance for Phillips/Freedman, as more and more teams keep an extra TE or two around to double as a lead blocker. That said, hard to imagine any of these guys as anything more than UDFA, with a slim shot at late round.
That covers the senior class. I think Morgan Moses is more of a 3rd-5th round type prospect right now if he turned pro, with a shot at the 2nd round, but he could up his stock by returning for his senior year and doing well at LT (doing poorly at LT probably wouldn't hurt his ability to be picked in the mid-rounds).
The chances of Bowanko going pro now is unlikely. He reminds me a lot of Brad Butler, but lacks the bulk to make it on the edge. That said, he looks like he could be a good mid-late round interior prospect for a zone-scheme OL.
Tim Smith will need to show two things - consistency at catching the ball AND a good 40 time. A poor 40 time, and his stock plummets, but a good 40 time and he could be a mid-late round look.
Mathis and Cascarano still mildly catch my eye, but both guys need two strong seasons to have a shot at the pros. That leaves DL, where I'm fascinated with 3 guys. Justin Renfrow has the bulk, but really have to see how he does this year. Jake Snyder looks like a classic power end, which is going out of style, and he looks like he lacks the ability to put on much more weight to be a 5-technique. That said, I think he's got some mid-late round potential as a 3rd DE.
The guy that really intrigues me is Brent Urban. I thought, in his final years, that Al Groh finally learned how to recruit for 3-4 DL for UVA. He wasn't going to get the elite recruits, but going for guys that fit, like Conrath and Urban, made more sense. If Urban can show himself as an active interior guy, I think he could be a big wildcard in 2014. He's shown he can play at a higher weight, if teams want him to be a 5-tech.
Oh, that leaves Rocco, a guy who I think UVA fans underrate his pro ability. He has the size, above average arm strength, and good intermediate accuracy. He has good pedigree, with his family and with the fact that Lazor's offense is very similar to what a lot of pro teams run. All in all, he's a lot closer to Matt Schaub than UVA fans seem to give him credit for, and Schaub has turned out to be a heck of a pro QB.
Now, don't get me wrong, yes, Phillips Sims, by virtue of his tools, has higher pro potential, and by no means do I think Rocco will be a top 3 round pick. But 3 strong seasons as the starting QB at UVA, plus his family's connections, should get him a look at the pros, and likely as a mid-late round draft pick, but at least as a camp arm/UDFA type. He's the smart, heady guy with enough tools.
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