Billy Donovan agrees to become Thunder coach (#Ride4Noah)

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Coaching circles definitely know what Donovan is going to do, whether he stays or actually leaves.

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Anyone with general basketball knowledge knows what Donovan is going to do. I think this one will last longer than a day though

I don't think it's a guarantee, but I think we have a great shot if he does in fact back out. You also have to remember he was committed to Georgetown before he switched to Florida

I did a little research to try and get an idea of why Noah decommitted from Georgetown and committed to UF. Here is what I came up.

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After re-opening his commitment a few months ago, Class of 2015 Montverde Academy (Fla.) PF Noah Dickerson announced that he has committed to Florida.

Many people thought he would consider Georgetown again or at least take an official, but he will be staying in the state of Florida after he finishes his senior year. Dickerson did not give any reasons why he re-opened his commitment, but according to a source, he did not feel comfortable and also the Hoyas have two bigs already in Marcus Derrickson and Jessie Govan.

Dickerson felt that Florida was the ideal situation for him to grow. Georgia Stars coach Mike Artis talked about it with Big East Coast Bias. Artis told Big East Coast Bias that Dickerson " felt that (at Florida) he had the best to opportunity to grow and prepare himself for the ultimate level. He spoke to numerous Florida alums and they reassured him that Florida was a good school for a big of his caliber."

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Why have these schools stood out for Dickerson?

Florida: “Coach (Billy) Donovan is a really, really good coach. He has had a long history of power forwards that have gone through his program and going off to do other things. And doing a lot of really nice things when they go out.”

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Head coach Billy Donovan was the main motivating factor behind Dickerson’s decision to attend UF.


“Coach [Billy] Donovan is a great coach,” Dickerson said. “He develops players, and he has great character. That’s one thing I love about him. He’s a great person outside of a coach.”

“I fit in pretty well because they won’t have anyone in that position,” Dickerson said. “They like me inside, but they like me playing on the outside too. They want to develop me into a stretch four.” Noah Dickerson to CBS Sports

After originally committing to Georgetown, Dickerson decided his relationship with Donovan was strong enough to commit to Florida.

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Okay. Now, take that along with his reasons for transferring to Montverde in HS.

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Recently, a top 50 player in the 2015 class decided to transfer to one of the top prep schools in the nation. Noah Dickerson announced on January 7 that he will transfer from North Atlanta High School to Montverde Academy for the 2014 spring semester. I had a chance to interview the Atlanta, Georgia native about his decision.

When asked about the move, Dickerson said, “I felt that when I got to college, I didn’t want to have a year where I didn’t play very much. I want to come into college and I want to play, and they weren’t really developing me that much at North Atlanta. (Montverde) Coach (Kevin) Boyle is one of the best high school coaches in the country and I know he will develop me.” He chose Montverde (FL) over offers from other nationally known schools such as Oak Hill Academy, Brewster, and New Hampton.

He believes that playing against a consensus top 5 player in his class in Ben Simmons every day in practice will allow him to take his game to another level. He also believes he and Simmons will work well together in games saying, “I’m truly more of a post player, and Ben is a little more an outside guy. So, I do think we will complement each other.”

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It's pretty clear that Noah has had two primary goals since high school.

1) putting himself in the best situation for development

2) getting to play his first year of college

He committed to UF because he believed that Donovan was the best option for developing him as a player while also being able to offer him instant playing time.

Based on what I gather, if Donovan leaves, he has no real reason to stay with UF other than playing time. If JJ can sell him on that issue, LSU seems like the best option left on the table.

saints talk pick brah

Did anyone even see this?

Eli Carter Now Transferring from Florida

Whoever is at UF next year isn't getting a NCAAT ready team. Some of their big names just haven't lived up to the hype (Kasey Hill very specifically)

They lose Frazier, Carter, Horford and Walker now.

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Dickerson
Victor
Simmons
Blakeney
Quarterman

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People tend to forget that LSU has some vets on this team that have proven themselves in conference play. Blakeny is a great talent, but I don't see him starting over Hornsby. With, maybe. But not over.

The biggest reason for that is Hornsby's defense. He and Quarterman were arguably the two best man-to-man defenders on LSU's team last season. IMO that means they have to be on the court. Otherwise LSU could get slaughtered on the defensive end with so much youth and inexperience.

Playing team defense at the college level is probably one of the biggest learning curves a Freshman faces coming in. For as good as Blakeny looks to be, I just don't see him being a better defender than Hornsby at this stage in their careers. That, plus the fact that Hornsby proved last year he was your best outside shooter and most consistent scorer in SEC play gives him the nod.

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Whoever is at UF next year isn't getting a NCAAT ready team. Some of their big names just haven't lived up to the hype (Kasey Hill very specifically)

They lose Frazier, Carter, Horford and Walker now.

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Lol cmon this is laughable, you realize you just listed three addition by subtractions in Carter, Horford, and Walker? The only key loss there is Frazier, but he is replaceable. Kasey has not yet lived up to the hype but he has his moments and is more than capable of leading the team.

Then you have Chiozza another solid guard, also Allen coming in this year. We return Finney-Smith (like how you glossed over that btw). Egbunu is a transfer big man we got last year that will eligible this year (was dominant at USF). Then you have Devin Robinson who will be more mature this year, and Devon Walker who sat out last season due to injury. Brandone Francis was another highly touted player who was ineligible that will eligible this year. Then you add in Stone and Dickerson who will also be solid. LSU is full of guards and not many big men. UF will finish ahead of y'all in the SEC.