Royce compared to other similar ranked players

Considering how much time we spend saying "what if" about Royce, I thought I would go back and see how comparable players fared in their first season. Here is a brief synopsis of players ranked similar to Royce in the Rivals Top 150. Note also that Royce was ranked higher in Rivals than other ratings.

14. Dante Taylor, Pittsburgh, 13.9 minutes, 4.1 points on a good NCAA team
15. John Jenkins, Vanderbilt 23 minutes, 11 points on a solid NCAA team
16. Renardo Sydney, Mississippi State. Appears to have red-shirted on a bubble (unsuccessful) NCAA team
17. Latavious Williams, did not play (academics)
18. Wally Judge Kansas State, 11 minutes, 3 points for very good NCAA team
19. Royce White
20. Ryan Kelly, Duke, 6.5 minutes, 1.2 points on NCAA champion
21. Alex Oriakhi, Connecticut 24 minutes, 5 points, 6.6 rebounds on mediocre team
22. Daniel Orton, Kentucky, 13 minutes, 3.4 points for very good NCAA team.
23. Eric Bledsoe, Kentucky, 20 minutes, 11 points for very good NCAA team
24. Elijah Johnson, Kansas, 6.6 minutes, 2.4 points on a high ranked NCAA team

First off, it is clear that great programs recruit great players. It is good to see the Gophers mixed in with Kansas, Kentucky and Duke. However, it is also clear that it is not that easy for freshman to dominate. Bledsoe and Jenkins have the best stats but most of these guys played smaller roles in the rotation. The player closest to Royce in size and program is probably Dante Taylor of Pittsburgh who had a relatively disappointing year (at least stats wise).

My conclusion: Royce would have helped but likely wouldn’t have been a program changer.

A pretty unpopular opinion.

Winnipegopher said:

My conclusion: Royce would have helped but likely wouldn’t have been a program changer.

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Winnipegopher said:

Considering how much time we spend saying "what if" about Royce, I thought I would go back and see how comparable players fared in their first season. Here is a brief synopsis of players ranked similar to Royce in the Rivals Top 150. Note also that Royce was ranked higher in Rivals than other ratings.

14. Dante Taylor, Pittsburgh, 13.9 minutes, 4.1 points on a good NCAA team
15. John Jenkins, Vanderbilt 23 minutes, 11 points on a solid NCAA team
16. Renardo Sydney, Mississippi State. Appears to have red-shirted on a bubble (unsuccessful) NCAA team
17. Latavious Williams, did not play (academics)
18. Wally Judge Kansas State, 11 minutes, 3 points for very good NCAA team
19. Royce White
20. Ryan Kelly, Duke, 6.5 minutes, 1.2 points on NCAA champion
21. Alex Oriakhi, Connecticut 24 minutes, 5 points, 6.6 rebounds on mediocre team
22. Daniel Orton, Kentucky, 13 minutes, 3.4 points for very good NCAA team.
23. Eric Bledsoe, Kentucky, 20 minutes, 11 points for very good NCAA team
24. Elijah Johnson, Kansas, 6.6 minutes, 2.4 points on a high ranked NCAA team

First off, it is clear that great programs recruit great players. It is good to see the Gophers mixed in with Kansas, Kentucky and Duke. However, it is also clear that it is not that easy for freshman to dominate. Bledsoe and Jenkins have the best stats but most of these guys played smaller roles in the rotation. The player closest to Royce in size and program is probably Dante Taylor of Pittsburgh who had a relatively disappointing year (at least stats wise).

My conclusion: Royce would have helped but likely wouldn’t have been a program changer.

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If you want to say Royce wouldn't be a program changer then whatever, but if your reasoning is because players ranked similarly to him weren't program changers then your logic is very flawed. Royce is Royce, Wally Judge is Wally Judge. One players success doesn't depend on someone else's success. Also a lot of those players were ranked where they were because they have loads of potential, but they are far from finished products. Royce might not have as high of a ceiling as some of those players, but he is about as polished as they come and is built to succeed right away.

I think Royce would have had an up and down season. Maybe he'd level off to average 7-10 ppg and 4-6 rpg.

Winnipegopher said:

16. Renardo Sydney, Mississippi State. Appears to have red-shirted on a bubble (unsuccessful) NCAA team
17. Latavious Williams, did not play (academics)

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Sidney (vs. Sydney) - wishes he just redshirted - he didn't play because he was a bad boy. NCAA handed down a ruling re: unethical conduct... he lost one year of eligibility and also has to sit out 30% of the 2010-11 season (unless punishment is reduced in the appeals process).

Latavious Williams - I think he 'decided' to go pro.. never headed to school... played in the D-League with Tulsa.. 20 mpg, 7.7 points and 7.7 rebounds.. in 7 playoff games, 20 mins, 11.3 points, 8.0 rebounds.. led the league in rebounds per minutes.

I made a similar post a while back but I hate how everyone assumes that Royce White is so amazing especially since the majority of you I doubt have ever seen him play. Here's what 'experts' had to say about him after the Jordan all american game.

Royce White -- 10 pts, 3-6 fg, 1-1 3p, 3-4 ft, 1 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl -- Has a powerful body, but seemed more interested in showing a jumper. White was able to step out and knock down a trey, but is far from a pure shooter. His shot is hard and flat, as it almost appears he is muscling it up. He was slightly overmatched athletically inside. Used to overpowering his opponents and having his way, but won't be that simple at the next level or the pro's. Undersized post player at 6-7 who must make the transition to the wing, but currently does not possess perimeter skills.

This is basically saying he wasn't a finished product so to declare him more of a finished product then others and maybe not having as high of a ceiling you're just making up stuff to make an excuse that the Gophers weren't as good as they could have been.

Here's some players that were ranked ahead and below him a while back...my original post
42 rodney Williams 5.6 ppg 1.9 reb 0.5 ast Minnesota
41 isaiah armwood 2.2 ppg 1.7 reb 0.2 ast Villinova
40 thomas robinson 3.2 ppg 3.3 reb 0.4 ast Kansas
39 kyryl natyazhko 2.2 ppg 2 reb 0.1 ast Arizona
38 Erik Murphy 3.5 ppg 2.7 reb 0.3 ast Florida
37 Travis Wear 3.8 ppg 2.7 reb 0.2 ast North Carolina
36 David Wear 2.5 ppg 1.3 reb 0.4 ast North Carolina
35 Royce White
34 Christian Watford 12.4 ppg 5.9 reb 0.7 ast Indiana
33 jamal coombs mcdaniel 3.2 ppg 1.4 reb 0.6 ast Uconn
32 leslie mcdonald 3.4 ppg 1.6 reb 0.8 ast North Carolina
31 jamil Wilson 5.1 ppg 3.6 reb 1.2 ast Oregon
30 noel Johnson 5.2 ppg 2.1 reb 1 ast Clemson
28 Elijah Johnson 3.1 ppg 1.3 reb 1.7 ast Kansas
27 dexter Strickland 6.1 ppg 1.4 reb 2.3 ast North Carolina
26 milton Jennings 3.5 ppg 2.6 reb 0.5 ast Clemson
25 peyton siva 4.7 ppg 0.8 reb 1.6 ast Louisvillie

Oh no, Royce didn't dominate in an All-American game? He must not be destined to succeed in college then. We all know that if you only score 10 points in an All-American game with a select few of the best players in the country, you probably aren't going to make it in the Big Ten. "It won't be that easy in the pros." He must be assuming he's going to make it there if he says that. I think a future pro would do just fine in the Big Ten.

Draftexpress had a different opinion on the Jordan classic.

Other than Wall, there were a couple of other standouts on the White team. Minnesota commit Royce White really came out strong today, looking like he had a real chip on his shoulder, making shots from the perimeter, coming up with a couple of steals, crashing the offensive glass hard, and overall looking very impressive with his size and athleticism as a legit 6-7 small forward. He needs to improve his ball-handling skills, but he looks like quite a find for Tubby Smith from the little we saw today.

This has been pointed out, almost in an identical fashion. The issue isn't that Royce would come in and go 20 and 12. The issue is when we were sitting there losing games by 1, 2, maybe 5 points, we could have used him, and likely he could have been enough of a difference to turn some of those close losses into wins. Suddenly instead of an 11 seed, we're an 8 seed, or a 7 seed, and a more favorable 1st round matchup. Obviously there's no guarantees with any recruits, but I feel pretty confident in saying that Royce White would have at least been a quality contributor to the team, especially considering the talk of what he was doing to guys in practice, and that contribution would have directly led to more wins.

Monty519 said:

This has been pointed out, almost in an identical fashion. The issue isn't that Royce would come in and go 20 and 12. The issue is when we were sitting there losing games by 1, 2, maybe 5 points, we could have used him, and likely he could have been enough of a difference to turn some of those close losses into wins. Suddenly instead of an 11 seed, we're an 8 seed, or a 7 seed, and a more favorable 1st round matchup. Obviously there's no guarantees with any recruits, but I feel pretty confident in saying that Royce White would have at least been a quality contributor to the team, especially considering the talk of what he was doing to guys in practice, and that contribution would have directly led to more wins.

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+1

So Royce wouldn't have been all big ten. It'd be more production than out of that scholarship than...nothing. Plus I think a big key is he was a weapon that the Gophers did not have, a 3/4 you could look to to score. With how stagnant our offense was at times, a different type of option would have been nice.

this thread is pretty pointless. IMO. how can we talk about a player who never played for us? If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, life would be a huge stomach ache. Unless he plays for us in the future he will be a never-was. The next thread could be if Cory Joseph play for us.. or if John Wall would of played for us. Not trying to be an A$$ about it. Just getting sick of the Royce threads.

Kris Collins, Part II

If he ever performs in a Gopher uniform, only then will we be able to judge whether Royce White would have any (positive) impact on the Gopher basketball program. Until that time, all he is is Kris Collins revisited. Neither could even even make it to the first exhibition game of their freshman year without getting into trouble. Collins is the best comparison for any Royce White discussions.

SelectionSunday said:

If he ever performs in a Gopher uniform, only then will we be able to judge whether Royce White would have any (positive) impact on the Gopher basketball program. Until that time, all he is is Kris Collins revisited. Neither could even even make it to the first exhibition game of their freshman year without getting into trouble. Collins is the best comparison for any Royce White discussions.

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Speaking of Kris Collins, it looks like he played at New Mexico (I must have missed that) and is now playing in the D-League.

http://www.nba.com/dleague/playerfile/index.jsp?player=kris_collins

http://www.golobos.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/collins_kris00.html

Winnipegopher said:

Considering how much time we spend saying "what if" about Royce, I thought I would go back and see how comparable players fared in their first season. Here is a brief synopsis of players ranked similar to Royce in the Rivals Top 150. Note also that Royce was ranked higher in Rivals than other ratings.

14. Dante Taylor, Pittsburgh, 13.9 minutes, 4.1 points on a good NCAA team
15. John Jenkins, Vanderbilt 23 minutes, 11 points on a solid NCAA team
16. Renardo Sydney, Mississippi State. Appears to have red-shirted on a bubble (unsuccessful) NCAA team
17. Latavious Williams, did not play (academics)
18. Wally Judge Kansas State, 11 minutes, 3 points for very good NCAA team
19. Royce White
20. Ryan Kelly, Duke, 6.5 minutes, 1.2 points on NCAA champion
21. Alex Oriakhi, Connecticut 24 minutes, 5 points, 6.6 rebounds on mediocre team
22. Daniel Orton, Kentucky, 13 minutes, 3.4 points for very good NCAA team.
23. Eric Bledsoe, Kentucky, 20 minutes, 11 points for very good NCAA team
24. Elijah Johnson, Kansas, 6.6 minutes, 2.4 points on a high ranked NCAA team

First off, it is clear that great programs recruit great players. It is good to see the Gophers mixed in with Kansas, Kentucky and Duke. However, it is also clear that it is not that easy for freshman to dominate. Bledsoe and Jenkins have the best stats but most of these guys played smaller roles in the rotation. The player closest to Royce in size and program is probably Dante Taylor of Pittsburgh who had a relatively disappointing year (at least stats wise).

My conclusion: Royce would have helped but likely wouldn’t have been a program changer.

Click to expand...

Great post! Even with this logical and sensible post (something very rare at Gopher Hole), people still think Royce White is the Second Coming. It's beyond ridiculous how Gopher Holers have built him up.

Thanks for the breath of fresh air (and common sense) ... this site badly needs it!

Those numbers aren't really that telling. The players didn't get significant minutes for the most part because of how talented the players ahead of them were. We wouldn't have had that situation. In other words, they weren't asked to be significant contributors, but had Royce had his act together, I think it's safe to say he would've been playing significant minutes considering he would've been our only true pf.

MillionMoves said:

Great post! Even with this logical and sensible post (something very rare at Gopher Hole), people still think Royce White is the Second Coming. It's beyond ridiculous how Gopher Holers have built him up.

Thanks for the breath of fresh air (and common sense) ... this site badly needs it!

Click to expand...

MillionMoves said:

Great post! Even with this logical and sensible post (something very rare at Gopher Hole), people still think Royce White is the Second Coming. It's beyond ridiculous how Gopher Holers have built him up.

Thanks for the breath of fresh air (and common sense) ... this site badly needs it!

Click to expand...