KAEO Unique McLean (2016)

rsox1221 · Post by **rsox1221** » Thu Jun 11, 2015 6:52 am

69MG wrote:
rsox1221 wrote:^^
Well let's hope they're expressly clear with him that he's going to be a 2 at UMass. Just brought in Pipkins, already have Jefferson, and are going hard after guys like Jarreau. They don't need him to be any kind of 1. They should, and I stress 'should' be able to make him understand that. He'll be far more valuable as a 2 on this team anyway.
Do you have a scoop on Jefferson that we don't know about?

No, I don't. That was from Verbal Commits, they have him listed as a 1, and as I check it again, it appears I read it wrong. That's my bad, I'll edit my first post.

Though the overarching idea was that they have players and are recruiting others that signify that he doesn't need to be a 1. He should be slotted in as a 2 from the start.

UMass'96 · Post by **UMass'96** » Thu Jun 11, 2015 7:04 am

Can anyone say Jameel Pugh 2.0?

Chris20 · Post by **Chris20** » Thu Jun 11, 2015 7:25 am

Also sounds like David Gibbs, somewhat.

Carl Spackler · Post by **Carl Spackler** » Thu Jun 11, 2015 7:48 am

UMass'96 wrote:Can anyone say Jameel Pugh 2.0?

Can anyone say Glass Half Empty?

Chris20 · Post by **Chris20** » Thu Jun 11, 2015 7:56 am

I'm excited to get such an athlete to UMass. And I like that it's an early commit and he has another year to get polished. Yes, we've missed on some athletic recruits who we signed on potential before, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't take more swings. Difference making players don't often consider A10 teams if they are a complete package....we need to get non-qualifiers, transfers, or guys like this who are potentially studs if they develop the skills to go along with their gifts.

DTM80 · Post by **DTM80** » Thu Jun 11, 2015 8:12 am

Welcome aboard! Looks like we are doing well with adding guards. With a year to further develop Unique sounds like a nice recruit!

Jackson96 · Post by **Jackson96** » Thu Jun 11, 2015 9:32 am

I think at the very least, based on his athleticism and strengths, he's got the potential to be bit of an X-Factor, disruptor-type in the backcourt, which is always useful, especially if DK decides to really push that tempo. And if that jump shot ever develops (and I have no idea how much it needs to develop) then I think his ability to score will make him much more than that.

As for being a point guard, I'm sure he will end up being fine in small doses, but I'm from more of the "point guards are born rather than made" school. Would love to be proven wrong, though.

At any rate, we have multiple spots open (4 scholarships left still between 2015 and 2016) so I'm of the train of thought that it's nice to have one commit in hand. And I don't think he will hurt us in the pursuit of our biggest targets and might even help with some of the local kids if he's got a relationship with some of them through prep school etc.

Certainly not a huge commitment, but a promising one with potential for sure. Especially if we are able to open up the floor. Happy to have him.

NilesGold · Post by **NilesGold** » Thu Jun 11, 2015 9:48 am

Swampy wrote:From a friend of mine who used to coach...

"I've seen him play a few times and he's a 6'0-6'1 ft. shooting guard who wants to be a point guard which isn't happening. He will win a lot of dunk contests he's ultra athletic but I think this was a stretch to take this commitment this early. If he was a knockdown shooter I would take the chance but he isn't. I saw Putnam play McDuffie is a fall game last yr. and Jon Garcia who is a very good defender but someone McClean should be able to dominate but couldn't. That to me is symbolic of his game , he had a couple of crowd pleasing plays but really did nothing while trying to be the point guard."

I can't find any record of Putnam playing MacDuffie last year. It's not on either team's schedule. 2014-15 was McLean's first year at MacDuffie, so if that game did happen in the fall as your friend stated, that would have been very shortly after he joined the team, it's not always easy to step right in on a new team, especially as a PG and especially against a team like Putnam that's pretty good and puts a ton of pressure on opposing guards.

Floyd · Post by **Floyd** » Thu Jun 11, 2015 10:28 am

Do you contest everything?
From what I know, Swampy is pretty dialed in to umass athletics and I doubt he's making that up

uz2b-len · Post by **uz2b-len** » Thu Jun 11, 2015 10:39 am

Floyd wrote:Do you contest everything?

Huh?

69MG · Post by **69MG** » Thu Jun 11, 2015 11:21 am

Since we have so many holes to fill in 2016 (Trey, Jabarie, TBerg, Space +1 open scholly as of today), Unique is well worth the risk. As someone mentioned earlier, if he were the complete package today he would be going to a high major school. He has tremendous upside and if he were to blow up this year we wouldn't have a shot at getting him. He has a year to work on his weaknesses. Pipkins worked on his PG skills in his senior year and it paid off. I hope the same holds true for UM. Because his shot mechanics are sound, he at least has a decent chance to become a better shooter. I am looking forward to seeing him as a Minuteman.

KahunaK · Post by **KahunaK** » Thu Jun 11, 2015 11:39 am

Can't wait for the 5 guard offense.

tdmass · Post by **tdmass** » Thu Jun 11, 2015 12:30 pm

Not much love from ESPN . . . .

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/baske ... que-mclean

NilesGold · Post by **NilesGold** » Thu Jun 11, 2015 12:45 pm

http://www.coxhub.com/st.-andrews-holid ... vs-cushing
Full game from December, 7th game of their season, so still pretty early on. McLean is #4 in red. Some nice plays, some not so nice plays. He split his time between PG and off the ball. Took a few jumpers and missed them. Had a couple of blocks and played some good defense, but for the most part the other team seemed to not want to attack him on the defensive side. I was really surprised at how comfortable he looked with the ball in his hands and how well he did running the offense. Very under control and got his teammates involved. He absolutely blew by his defender pretty much every time he wanted.

McLean's got to continue to get better and his shot could definitely stand to become more consistent, but the physical tools are there, it's up to him to put the time in. I don't know what UMass' plan is with him in terms of position he'll play, but I didn't see anything in there to convince me that he has no chance to play PG at UMass and do it well. If anything, I thought he did better as a PG creating off the dribble than he did off the ball. Regardless, lots of upside.

69MG · Post by **69MG** » Thu Jun 11, 2015 1:31 pm

tdmass wrote:Not much love from ESPN . . . .

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/baske ... que-mclean

This is ESPN's Scouting Report on Unique. Need to be an insider to get the full report, but the first part doesn't match the rating.

Strengths:
McLean is an absolutely explosive athlete who can take off and play above the rim like few others in the country, especially for his size. He is a highlight reel waiting to happen in the open floor and capable of making the type of momentum changing plays that ignite ... for full access to RecruitingNation become an Insider

UMassHoops.com

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