No DaShonte

Gopher Target DaShonte Riley, a 6-11 center out of Michigan has gone the way of Verdell Jones and Krys Faber, spurning Tubby's advances in favor of another school. This time it's Georgetown, as Riley will head there in 2009, and fits in with the school's tradition of top flight defensive centers.

Losing Riley hurts a bit more than Faber or Jones, since he's 2009 whereas they were 2008, which is an already loaded class. On the other hand, Riley has been in pretty much a free fall in the rankins all season, bottoming out at #111 on Rivals most recent list after being in the top 10 at one point. #111 is still good, obviously, but that kind of a fall is a definite warning sign.

Riley was targetted early by the schools and recruiting services based on his size and natural defensive ability. He was given a lofty ranking, with the assumption his offensive game would develop. Well, it seems it didn't, as seen in a scoreless outing he had vs. Howard Pulley. He is still considering one of, if not the, top defensive big man in the '09 class, but his offensive game is weak enough to drop him to #111 overall. Whether he's a Dikembe Mutombo-type or an Antoine Broxsie-type remains to be seen, but I'm guessing he won't see much floor time for a year at least with the Hoyas, as he's now seen as a bit of a project. This may be a "good" miss for Tubby and staff.