🏀 Recruiting Lenard Commits

[Bill Lowery]

It looks like we’ve completed the recruiting for 2021 with the addition of 6-7 athletic wing Teafale Lenard of Link Year Prep in Branson, MO. He’s a teammate of Gavyn Elkamil, who signed last week. With the extra year of eligibility granted to players due to the COVID virus, its anticipated that all big men for Tulsa will be returning for next year.

 

[Bill Lowery]

SURPRISE OF THE WEEK: Teafale Lenard

TEAFALE
LENARD

UNDECIDED
6'7" | 169 LBS | SF | 2021
LINK YEAR
BRANSON, MO


I had never heard of Lenard before this weekend’s All-American Jamboree outside of Orlando. In fact, few people had. The Link Year Prep wing spent his high school career in a small town in semi-rural West Texas and generated only light college interest.
Now in prep school,, the 6-foot-7 forward is clearly a player with Division-I talent. A hyper-athletic and long wing with good bounce and a knack for scoring at the rim, Tefale took the weekend event by storm and showed some decent range to go along with his quickness, court vision and passing ability. By the end of the event, schools such as Boise State, St. John's and Tulsa had reached out to Lenard’s coach to inquire. Lenard needs to add weight and polish, sure, but it seems like a program could get a major steal here. Offers shouldn’t be far off.

 

[astonmartin708]

It’s like Woj vs Shams on draft night up in here.

 

[Gmoney4WW]

SURPRISE OF THE WEEK: Teafale Lenard

TEAFALE
LENARD

UNDECIDED
6'7" | 169 LBS | SF | 2021
LINK YEAR
BRANSON, MO


I had never heard of Lenard before this weekend’s All-American Jamboree outside of Orlando. In fact, few people had. The Link Year Prep wing spent his high school career in a small town in semi-rural West Texas and generated only light college interest.
Now in prep school,, the 6-foot-7 forward is clearly a player with Division-I talent. A hyper-athletic and long wing with good bounce and a knack for scoring at the rim, Tefale took the weekend event by storm and showed some decent range to go along with his quickness, court vision and passing ability. By the end of the event, schools such as Boise State, St. John's and Tulsa had reached out to Lenard’s coach to inquire. Lenard needs to add weight and polish, sure, but it seems like a program could get a major steal here. Offers shouldn’t be far off.

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If he is that good of a player, better get him to sign quick.

 

[Chris Harmon]

If he is that good of a player, better get him to sign quick.

He can't sign until the spring period. Early period ended yesterday.

 

[Gmoney4WW]

He can't sign until the spring period. Early period ended yesterday.

I forgot it ended yesterday. If he is the real deal, we might have a little competition holding onto him.

Yeah, yeah, they stop recruiting after a commit. 😜 I still think that motto disappears with a recruit like him, who gets discovered late. We've had em stolen once or twice recently.

 

[Gmoney4WW]

@Chris Harmon can't they extend this recruitment period like they have the last two or three in basketball/football. Come on, do it for little ol Tulsa.😁 Then we can get him on the dotted line.

 

[TU4ever2]

These Branson kids look a lot like our Chicago pick ups. We were good on one kid, noticed his teammate and extended the relationship then closed the deal.

I like our recruiting a lot lately.

 

[I.I.]

Commits one day after signing day. Wonder why that happened?????

 

[astonmartin708]

Commits one day after signing day. Wonder why that happened?????

Either a big bag of money or we were his best committable offer lol. Also doesn't hurt that we had his teammate signed.

 

[seniorgolfer]

With the extra year of eligibility granted to players due to the COVID virus, its anticipated that all big
men for Tulsa will be returning for next year.

@Bill Lowery :
While the one year's extension of eligibility for all current players apparently has not reduced the
size of the '21 recruiting class (for us at least), it would seem reasonable that it might affect the
size of the '22 class.....

I still don't understand whether or not there will be extra roster slots for the seniors who decide
to stay the extra year...Will there be more than 13 allowed scholarships--At least in the short run??

 

[cmullinsTU]

@Bill Lowery:
While the one year's extension of eligibility for all current players apparently has not reduced the
size of the '21 recruiting class (for us at least), it would seem reasonable that it might affect the
size of the '22 class.....

I still don't understand whether or not there will be extra roster slots for the seniors who decide
to stay the extra year...Will there be more than 13 allowed scholarships--At least in the short run??

I have wondered the same thing. If that isn’t allowed it makes recruiting a challenge if seniors are undecided if they want to return or not. I suspect the decision will also be impacted across the country based on how the season plays out and what gets cancelled or postponed.

I really hope Rachal, Joiner, and Jackson decide to come back one more year.

 

[nevadanatural]

My understanding from previous discussions is that scholarship limits will be increased to accommodate returning seniors. The rub could be how many extra scholarships the school is willing to pay for.

 

[seniorgolfer]

I really hope Rachal, Joiner, and Jackson decide to come back one more year.

Yeah....Our three best returning defenders from last year's team.....

 

[Gmoney4WW]

@Bill Lowery :
While the one year's extension of eligibility for all current players apparently has not reduced the
size of the '21 recruiting class (for us at least), it would seem reasonable that it might affect the
size of the '22 class.....

I still don't understand whether or not there will be extra roster slots for the seniors who decide
to stay the extra year...Will there be more than 13 allowed scholarships--At least in the short run??

There will be extra slots AVAILABLE for all players for 4/5 years, in all sports. But in basketball, with Haith's regular practice of asking/having players find another team, I doubt it matters much for us in basketball. We will slough off those extra spots rather quickly.

 

[seniorgolfer]

There will be extra slots AVAILABLE for all players for 4/5 years, in all sports. But in basketball, with
Haith's regular practice of asking/having players find another team, I doubt it matters much for us
in basketball. We will slough off those extra spots rather quickly.

Valid point.....You would expect the transfer portals to be full, except every team may well be in the
same situation....Where will limited PT players transfer to?

Coaches that try to accommodate too many players with PT, even if it is not for significant minutes,
end up with teams that have little continuity....Having too many players may be tougher than barely
having enough.....

 

[Gmoney4WW]

Valid point.....You would expect the transfer portals to be full, except every team may well be in the
same situation....Where will limited PT players transfer to?

Coaches that try to accommodate too many players with PT, even if it is not for significant minutes,
end up with teams that have little continuity....Having too many players may be tougher than barely
having enough.....

Yep, there will be a limited # of places players can go.

I wouldn't be surprised if players are asking if a transfer from 4 years to Jucos is possible.(Just kidding!!!)

Yeah there was be a heavy dose that transfer to DII, and DII, or quit playing altogether. It was a decision that looked and felt good, but actually makes a lot of bad situations for players across the board.

 

[I.I.]

This is a significant advantage to the non-top 10 teams who don't have one and dones. Extra years for those big men who need extra time to develop. Not so important at the guard level. We can have 5th or 6th year seniors playing against Memphis' McDonald's all american one and done Freshmen.

 

[Tulsafanzz]

This is a significant advantage to the non-top 10 teams who don't have one and dones. Extra years for those big men who need extra time to develop. Not so important at the guard level. We can have 5th or 6th year seniors playing against Memphis' McDonald's all american one and done Freshmen.

We could have the BYU advantage in 2021-22!

 

[TU4ever2]

This is a significant advantage to the non-top 10 teams who don't have one and dones. Extra years for those big men who need extra time to develop. Not so important at the guard level. We can have 5th or 6th year seniors playing against Memphis' McDonald's all american one and done Freshmen.

This.

It is going to be huge for g5 teams in football. NFL talent isn't sticking around, top teams have players who get tired of riding the bench when underclassmen take their spot.

In basketball it will really matter about your philosophy if you produce a lot of NBA talent and it leaves early a lot (blue bloods, Memphis, Michigan, Michigan St, etc) this means nothing. If you build strictly on team concepts it will be a nice bonus. Teams like Tulsa or Butler, or the tip top program at this Gonzaga who work off team concepts and individuals who are borderline and work their way up this is going to be a huge advantage. Even if you do it with a good dose of transfers or JC. More kids will be transfering from top end programs opening up opportunities, JC kids turn from two to three year players, all while your core of four year recruits get more coaching, more experience, more cohesive, more development, etc.

This could be a nice launching pad for some schools if they can take advantage of it and they get a season similar to what football has managed with most games played.

 

[GoldenCaneKC]

Too bad it all happens to the benefit of the current students (especially the upperclassmen) at the expense of the future students. If you’re an incoming freshman next year (Fall of ‘21) it means there is always going to be an extra class above you to compete with for PT/game time experience.

 

[TU4ever2]

Too bad it all happens to the benefit of the current students (especially the upperclassmen) at the expense of the future students. If you’re an incoming freshman next year (Fall of ‘21) it means there is always going to be an extra class above you to compete with for PT/game time experience.

Red shirts are often a product of those schools system, Gonzaga is famous for it. Kids like Jackson who are good athletes and need skill work will eat that up. Kids with good skills but need physical development will belly up to the table and hit the gym to put the weight on and gain strength. Both will become better players because of it and won't lose elgibility.

With free transfers coming this will be an issue next year. But by 2022 it will basically have dissipated from all those moves. By 2023 it won't even be relevant. It's really a one maybe two year bump, that's why it will be interesting to see who can leverage their advantage into long term recruiting/program gains.

 

[Russ Wood]

My understanding from previous discussions is that scholarship limits will be increased to accommodate returning seniors. The rub could be how many extra scholarships the school is willing to pay for.

Multiple Coaches have told me that seniors who return for another season (the term they used was "Super Seniors) will not count against the 13 player scholarship limit.