JMU Likes ‘Intangibles
Posted: November 23, 2012
PITTSBURGH – James Madison basketball coach Matt Brady said when he was an assistant coach at St. Joseph’s, future NBA guard Delonte West was lightly recruited by the time the Hawks dug their claws into him.
So Brady doesn’t care if his 2013 class — including Tom Rivard, a forward who signed on Tuesday — fails to rack up stars and buzz on recruiting websites.
“I’m really not nonplussed by [ratings],” Brady said. “I’m happy that he didn’t get a lot of interest.”
JMU has again gone under the radar, inking the 6-foot-7 Rivard, who plays at Worcester Academy in Massachusetts.
Madison was the only Division I school to formally offer Rivard a scholarship, although he and his coach said multiple Ivy League schools (which don’t grant athletic scholarships) were also vying for his services. Fairfield and Bucknell also showed interest during the summer, they said.
While you won’t find Rivard on any major recruiting databases, his high school coach thinks he can jump in right away and contribute for the Dukes.
“Tom played four years of prep school basketball against all Division I players,” Worcester Academy’s Jamie Sullivan said Wednesday. “So he has played with and against, for the last four years, high, high Division-I caliber prospects. And most of the time they were 19-year-old post-graduates. This is who he played against. This is who he developed his game with.”
One of those high-caliber prospects Rivard faced was Nerlens Noel, the flat-top-wearing Kentucky center who was the No. 1-ranked 2012 recruit. Worcester Academy played against Noel’s Tilton School. Rivard admitted his team struggled to score against the uber-prospect known for his shot-blocking, but then again, so did everyone else.
It’s those types of experiences that makes Rivard — who averaged about 8.5 points and 6-8 rebounds per game — confident he can compete in the Colonial Athletic Association.
“I feel like these past four years, being able to play top Division I talent in and out, every day — I feel like it’s prepared me mentally, going into college,” Rivards said. “I feel like I know what to expect. I’m not gonna need to go in and feel like I’m a big shot. I’m going to be able to find my role and fit in and jell wherever they need me.”
Rivard joins High Point (North Carolina) guard Jackson Kent and Lithuanian forward Paulius Satkus — who both signed last week on the first day of the NCAA’s official commitment period — as the first half of what could be a six-man recruiting class to replace the team’s half-dozen seniors.
With Brady in the final year of his contract and probably needing a big season to be retained, it’s no secret that recruiting high-ranked talent will be a challenge. But Brady has signed players who he deems versatile and heady, even if they lack elite athleticism.
“We have really good athletes in this [current year’s] freshman class, and I think the best teams have a combination of those two things,” Brady said. “You want to have good athletes and you need to have good basketball IQ guys. And I think we’ve got both in the freshman class. But we wanted some longer frontcourt guys that could play multiple positions and have really great intangibles. And these three guys have off-the-charts intangibles.”
Assistant coach Mike Deane drove north to scout Rivard during a workout in September.
“He’s a forward. Not a power forward, not a small forward, just a forward,” Deane said. “He’s a player. What he is, is something different than what we have in the program - a complete forward with a lot of skill.”
Brady flew up weeks later to see the forward for himself and offer him a scholarship.
Rivard visited Madison on the weekend of Oct. 13, and watched the football team defeat William & Mary in overtime. He said Madison’s blend of basketball, academics and social scene was perfect for him. Rivard has lived in Worcester, Mass., his entire life and wanted to attend college away from home.
He also thinks he will fit in nicely with the Dukes’ four-out, one-in offense, which puts an emphasis on perimeter players and their ability to knock down outside shots. Rivard has played in similar offenses for the majority of his basketball career, he said, noting that both his high school and AAU teams are motion-based.
“I know Coach Brady has a really good reputation for working with outside shooters, and I feel that’s definitely something I’ve improved a lot on over the past couple months,” Rivard said. “I feel like I’ll be able to come in and really contribute on the energy and the perimeter. I also add defensive energy and talking and communicating on the defensive end. I feel like it’s not really common with freshmen coming in, but I feel like it’s definitely one of my strongest assets.”
So Brady doesn’t care if his 2013 class — including Tom Rivard, a forward who signed on Tuesday — fails to rack up stars and buzz on recruiting websites.
“I’m really not nonplussed by [ratings],” Brady said. “I’m happy that he didn’t get a lot of interest.”
JMU has again gone under the radar, inking the 6-foot-7 Rivard, who plays at Worcester Academy in Massachusetts.
Madison was the only Division I school to formally offer Rivard a scholarship, although he and his coach said multiple Ivy League schools (which don’t grant athletic scholarships) were also vying for his services. Fairfield and Bucknell also showed interest during the summer, they said.
While you won’t find Rivard on any major recruiting databases, his high school coach thinks he can jump in right away and contribute for the Dukes.
“Tom played four years of prep school basketball against all Division I players,” Worcester Academy’s Jamie Sullivan said Wednesday. “So he has played with and against, for the last four years, high, high Division-I caliber prospects. And most of the time they were 19-year-old post-graduates. This is who he played against. This is who he developed his game with.”
One of those high-caliber prospects Rivard faced was Nerlens Noel, the flat-top-wearing Kentucky center who was the No. 1-ranked 2012 recruit. Worcester Academy played against Noel’s Tilton School. Rivard admitted his team struggled to score against the uber-prospect known for his shot-blocking, but then again, so did everyone else.
It’s those types of experiences that makes Rivard — who averaged about 8.5 points and 6-8 rebounds per game — confident he can compete in the Colonial Athletic Association.
“I feel like these past four years, being able to play top Division I talent in and out, every day — I feel like it’s prepared me mentally, going into college,” Rivards said. “I feel like I know what to expect. I’m not gonna need to go in and feel like I’m a big shot. I’m going to be able to find my role and fit in and jell wherever they need me.”
Rivard joins High Point (North Carolina) guard Jackson Kent and Lithuanian forward Paulius Satkus — who both signed last week on the first day of the NCAA’s official commitment period — as the first half of what could be a six-man recruiting class to replace the team’s half-dozen seniors.
With Brady in the final year of his contract and probably needing a big season to be retained, it’s no secret that recruiting high-ranked talent will be a challenge. But Brady has signed players who he deems versatile and heady, even if they lack elite athleticism.
“We have really good athletes in this [current year’s] freshman class, and I think the best teams have a combination of those two things,” Brady said. “You want to have good athletes and you need to have good basketball IQ guys. And I think we’ve got both in the freshman class. But we wanted some longer frontcourt guys that could play multiple positions and have really great intangibles. And these three guys have off-the-charts intangibles.”
Assistant coach Mike Deane drove north to scout Rivard during a workout in September.
“He’s a forward. Not a power forward, not a small forward, just a forward,” Deane said. “He’s a player. What he is, is something different than what we have in the program - a complete forward with a lot of skill.”
Brady flew up weeks later to see the forward for himself and offer him a scholarship.
Rivard visited Madison on the weekend of Oct. 13, and watched the football team defeat William & Mary in overtime. He said Madison’s blend of basketball, academics and social scene was perfect for him. Rivard has lived in Worcester, Mass., his entire life and wanted to attend college away from home.
He also thinks he will fit in nicely with the Dukes’ four-out, one-in offense, which puts an emphasis on perimeter players and their ability to knock down outside shots. Rivard has played in similar offenses for the majority of his basketball career, he said, noting that both his high school and AAU teams are motion-based.
“I know Coach Brady has a really good reputation for working with outside shooters, and I feel that’s definitely something I’ve improved a lot on over the past couple months,” Rivard said. “I feel like I’ll be able to come in and really contribute on the energy and the perimeter. I also add defensive energy and talking and communicating on the defensive end. I feel like it’s not really common with freshmen coming in, but I feel like it’s definitely one of my strongest assets.”