2024 Recruiting: Isaiah Abraham OV

[Hey Adrien!]

 

[kansashusky]

More officials to follow. Going to be a busy summer in Storrs.

 

[husky429]

He has looked like a mid-major player this EYBL season. I'm hoping that's just a string of bad luck and not an indication of his overall game. Clearly he's ranked this way for a reason... I'm just not seeing it in the 4 games I watched.

My biggest concern: He's 6'7 195lbs and doesn't seem to be a shooter at all. I don't like recruiting anyone but Cs/5s who can't shoot. It's not a recipe for success in 2023 unless they are absolutely elite at a number of other skills (like Andre.)

Here were my thoughts after the 2nd EYBL session:

His best performance in EYBL by far. 13/7/1 on ⅝ shootoing. Starting to see why he’s a top-100 recruit a bit. Really nice defender. High energy, aggressive, gets his hands on the ball, and defends the point of attack well. Offensively, he is extremely limited. Cannot create a shot, turnover prone when dribbling, doesn’t have a good sense for the game, especially spacing. Can’t shoot and doesn’t look for it. Has some nice back cuts and is super aggressive on the offensive boards. I don’t see what he’ll do other than get dunks and take low-risk passes at this stage. FT shot doesn’t seem great either. Without substantial development, I see a 5-8th man with little 1st, 2nd, or 3rd option potential without a whole lotta hard work and development.

Averaging 8/3/1 in EYBL. 50% from the field (60% from 2, 25% from 3 on about 1.5 attempts per game). 0.8 TO per game. 71% FT, 1.8 attempts per game.

 

[Jbirdp5]

He has looked like a mid-major player this EYBL season. I'm hoping that's just a string of bad luck and not an indication of his overall game. Clearly he's ranked this way for a reason... I'm just not seeing it in the 4 games I watched.

My biggest concern: He's 6'7 195lbs and doesn't seem to be a shooter at all. I don't like recruiting anyone but Cs/5s who can't shoot. It's not a recipe for success in 2023 unless they are absolutely elite at a number of other skills (like Andre.)

Here were my thoughts after the 2nd EYBL session:

His best performance in EYBL by far. 13/7/1 on ⅝ shootoing. Starting to see why he’s a top-100 recruit a bit. Really nice defender. High energy, aggressive, gets his hands on the ball, and defends the point of attack well. Offensively, he is extremely limited. Cannot create a shot, turnover prone when dribbling, doesn’t have a good sense for the game, especially spacing. Can’t shoot and doesn’t look for it. Has some nice back cuts and is super aggressive on the offensive boards. I don’t see what he’ll do other than get dunks and take low-risk passes at this stage. FT shot doesn’t seem great either. Without substantial development, I see a 5-8th man with little 1st, 2nd, or 3rd option potential without a whole lotta hard work and development.

Averaging 8/3/1 in EYBL. 50% from the field (60% from 2, 25% from 3 on about 1.5 attempts per game). 0.8 TO per game. 71% FT, 1.8 attempts per game.

At 19 overall I would expect the kid to be dominant and have you raving about at least one aspect of his game…the staff especially lately has seemed to really value shooting as well so the fact that he’s not a shooter at all is really a surprise……he is big tho and we know Hurley likes his big guards

 

[husky429]

At 19 overall I would expect the kid to be dominant and have you raving about at least one aspect of his game…the staff especially lately has seemed to really value shooting as well so the fact that he’s not a shooter at all is really a surprise……he is big tho and we know Hurley likes his big guards

He isn't really 19 overall--only on On3, which sucks as a recruiting service for basketball. They're a football website.

247 has his composite as 101. He's in the 60-70 range on the other services and unranked on ESPN as far as I can see. His composite ranking has dropped from 58 in January to 101 today. His ranking has dropped on every service in the last 6 months.

As always, I trust the staff completely with recruitment. There's clearly something I'm missing here, because right now I'm seeing more Rahsool/CFJ than I'm seeing Andre/Hawkins.

 

[Chin Diesel]

He has looked like a mid-major player this EYBL season. I'm hoping that's just a string of bad luck and not an indication of his overall game. Clearly he's ranked this way for a reason... I'm just not seeing it in the 4 games I watched.

My biggest concern: He's 6'7 195lbs and doesn't seem to be a shooter at all. I don't like recruiting anyone but Cs/5s who can't shoot. It's not a recipe for success in 2023 unless they are absolutely elite at a number of other skills (like Andre.)

Here were my thoughts after the 2nd EYBL session:

His best performance in EYBL by far. 13/7/1 on ⅝ shootoing. Starting to see why he’s a top-100 recruit a bit. Really nice defender. High energy, aggressive, gets his hands on the ball, and defends the point of attack well. Offensively, he is extremely limited. Cannot create a shot, turnover prone when dribbling, doesn’t have a good sense for the game, especially spacing. Can’t shoot and doesn’t look for it. Has some nice back cuts and is super aggressive on the offensive boards. I don’t see what he’ll do other than get dunks and take low-risk passes at this stage. FT shot doesn’t seem great either. Without substantial development, I see a 5-8th man with little 1st, 2nd, or 3rd option potential without a whole lotta hard work and development.

Averaging 8/3/1 in EYBL. 50% from the field (60% from 2, 25% from 3 on about 1.5 attempts per game). 0.8 TO per game. 71% FT, 1.8 attempts per game.

Sounds like an Ndefo type player.

 

[Huskyforlife]

He seems like a good athlete at 6’7. If he’s a high character kid that works hard, maybe the shot comes around.

It could also be a favor to Paul IV.

 

[husky429]

I should add... @UConnStats reminded me that early scouting reports of his season at Paul VI were much more positive. Makes me wonder if he's more of a system player than AAU will provide.

That usually means he'll never be a star, but if he can limit turnovers, rebound, defend, and make a few opportunistic shots he could be a solid piece. Just doesn't strike me as a shot creator or passer really at all.

 

[RipCity]

I should add... @UConnStats reminded me that early scouting reports of his season at Paul VI were much more positive. Makes me wonder if he's more of a system player than AAU will provide.

That usually means he'll never be a star, but if he can limit turnovers, rebound, defend, and make a few opportunistic shots he could be a solid piece. Just doesn't strike me as a shot creator or passer really at all.

In regards to his ranking too… He’s top 67 on every ranking besides ESPN where he is unranked. They’re the worst recruiting service, and being unranked is what is tanking his composite. I’d say 19 is way too high but top 75 is fair. This reminds me of Middleton last year, but at least Abraham isn’t taking a million shots and missing like Middleton did for a bad Beal Elite squad.

 

[navery12]

UConn: “I like the overall feel I get from them. I’m excited to see the facilities and how the coaches and players interact with one another. The relationships they have over there. My relationship with Coach (Danny) Hurleyis not as strong as it is with Marquetteyet, but I feel like I’m going to get to know him more on the visit and learn more about the program and about him.”

 

[TheHorde]

Isn’t he Ngongba’s cousin? If so, they might end up being a package deal. I believe they are visiting together. You don’t need much of an incentive to recruit either individually but the possibility of getting both is exciting.

 

[husky429]

Isn’t he Ngongba’s cousin? If so, they might end up being a package deal. I believe they are visiting together. You don’t need much of an incentive to recruit either individually but the possibility of getting both is exciting.

Kids call each other cousin when it's really more like "family friend"... I'm guessing this is one of those situations. Regardless, these package deals rarely work out. We should be recruiting both of them individually.

 

[NJHoops]

Isn’t he Ngongba’s cousin? If so, they might end up being a package deal. I believe they are visiting together. You don’t need much of an incentive to recruit either individually but the possibility of getting both is exciting.

It’s in the linked article:

“Me and Pat (Isaiah Abraham’s first cousin Patrick Ngongba) have some of the same schools recruiting us, and we’re taking some visits together, but we aren’t trying to go to the same school or anything. It is all based on what happens. We’re both going through the process and if that happens, it happens. But it is not something we are meaning to do.”

 

[Candyman]

Him and Ngongba just arrived in CT for their visit.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

Him and Ngongba just arrived in CT for their visit.

Are you the candyman that fills up the recruits' goodie baskets??

 

[auror]

Honestly, he feels like a Marquette type guy.

 

[husky99]

Him and Ngongba just arrived in CT for their visit.

I heard they are both on rice university campus

 

[NJHoops]

Kids call each other cousin when it's really more like "family friend"... I'm guessing this is one of those situations. Regardless, these package deals rarely work out. We should be recruiting both of them individually.

Patrick’s mom and Isaiah’s dad are siblings. There is so much basketball history in this family, college and pro.

 

[husky429]

Patrick’s mom and Isaiah’s dad are siblings. There is so much basketball history in this family, college and pro.

Saw that recently. I'm guessing Isaiah's mom must be white for him to be so light skin compared to Patrick. That's why I was assuming the loose definition of cousins

 

[HooperScooper]

Connecticut: "I have friends that tell me how it is a really nice place and I have to check it out. I am just developing a relationship with the head coach and the assistants at the same time. I am also feeling the players out to see how they work with everybody."

Top-75 rising senior Isaiah Abraham recaps his Marquette official visit

Four-star combination forward Isaiah Abraham updates his recruitment.

247sports.com

 

[Waquoit]

Connecticut: "I have friends that tell me how it is a really nice place and I have to check it out. I am just developing a relationship with the head coach and the assistants at the same time. I am also feeling the players out to see how they work with everybody."

That level of thoughtfulness says UConn player to me.

 

[Storrs South]

 

[T-Squared]

Sounds like we were a bit late to the party, but don’t discount Hurley with a fresh National Championship trophy in hand.

 

[RipCity]

Sounds like we were a bit late to the party, but don’t discount Hurley with a fresh National Championship trophy in hand.

I wouldn’t say they were late to the party. He might not be the priority at his position though. Howard and Betsey are having better years so it makes sense to hold off on going all in on Abraham

 

[NJHoops]

UConn was his second official visit, Marquette (where his dad played) was his first.

The quote posted above was re-published after his visit and is an older quote they pulled from before he visited and met everybody. Most of those recruiting sites just want to create content and don’t necessarily aim to have the most updated information.