Josh Huestis transfering to a prep school?

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basketballp
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Re: Josh Huestis transfering to a prep school?

Post by basketballp » Thu Aug 13, 2009 1:41 pm

yeah i think he will be a step behind but he will be able to play the position...but if he goes to a prep school or reshirt then he should be ready to step in and contribute immediately. i also got a chance to see his father while in vegas and he looked 6'10 easily so josh is possibly still growing



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Re: Josh Huestis transfering to a prep school?

Post by tetoncat » Thu Aug 13, 2009 4:25 pm

Basketballp, I strongly disagree. If he got that much attention just playing in these summer games those same coaches will be following him all year. These schools don't make offers in the Summer and then ignore you. You have risks both ways. He goes to Findley Prep with a team full of athletes that all want to make it to a big time program. Numbers may not be as good as they could be in Montana. He could not fit into their system and not play well and drop in status, or he could excell and move up. In Montana, those scouts have seen what he can do in other positions, so if he does end up playing center it will not hurt him that much. Defensively and rebounding it will allow him to match up against similar size players. Offensively, if he learned anything this summer it will be that he needs to individually work on his skills and he can do that on his own time. He will excell here and still get noticed. Remember the high school season is only 3 or 4 months long and 20-24 games. That in his senior year is not going to make or break whether he turns out to be a pro or just a good college players. Joslyn Tinkle managed to get signed by Stanford and play in the McDonald's all american game playing in little ol no talent Montana.


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basketballp
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Re: Josh Huestis transfering to a prep school?

Post by basketballp » Fri Aug 14, 2009 8:59 am

i have no doubt that the coaches will continue to come see him that are already recruiting him. the thing is he will be behind from not playing the position he will be playing in college in a game situation. Yea you can work on it youre self but its better to work on it while going against the same type of guys you will be going against in college. he will not go against those type of guys in montana and will be playing down low. dominateing and rebounding down low in montana against slow 6'4-6'6 guys is alot different then going against the nations best who you will see when you get to college. And if he played for findley trust me he would start at the small foward position with no problem. they only keep 8-9 players and there only strong position is the pf c, and pg spot. my thing is just he would be alot more ready for high major college playing against more d1 competition then playing in montana against kids who prob wont play basketball other then ymca after highschool. Ive lived there all of my young life and i know, as well as others im sure, that the competition level is no where near division 1 level



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Re: Josh Huestis transfering to a prep school?

Post by quincey hodges » Fri Aug 14, 2009 9:28 am

i agree with both of ya'll . But one question how many other guys make it to the mcdonalds game from montana or get highly recruited from there? just curious. Any way Though i do agree it would benifit him more to go to a prep school but since he is family (ill back any decision he makes) and the fact i know he is a hard worker i dont think it hurts him that bad as far as him staying his senior year in montana even though the competition level is low. Im pretty Sure he will work on his game either in practice or individually to get his self prepared for the small foward position on the next level and im pretty sure he will work on this in his games. Though im pretty sure the competition isnt the greatest there, im pretty sure thoses kids work hard on defense and play with heart which is something alot of todays player who have great ability dont do. After he finishes his senior year he will have the whole summer before his college season starts to work on his game even more with the trainer my brother had him work with this summer and other college and pro players. With his ability,intelligence, and strong work ethic as well as his strong family support system in montana,cali,florida, and north carolina, im more than confident that he will succeed as a college and pro player. And if by some mystery he doesnt make it pro (im certain he will though) im just as confident that he will be successful at whatever profession he chooses to do. As far as vegas he easily showed down there that he is a elite player and should be mentioned with some of the best players in highschool. He is a very good athlete that is best on defense and a very very good rebounder( he was easily a top 5 rebounder in the vegas tournament) he has very nice range out to the 3point line and is a very very good shot blocker as well as not being afraid to dunk on someones head. My hope is that his coach wont just tell him to post up under the basket the whole game. Hopefully the coach will exploit his overall abilty and have him play outside in as well as check the other teams best player



tetoncat
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Re: Josh Huestis transfering to a prep school?

Post by tetoncat » Fri Aug 14, 2009 9:40 am

You both kind of prove my point. He worked with a trainer this year to improve his skills, the big improvement came from that, not from playing in games all summer. Obviously he has raw talent, but someone here in Montana has also helped him get better and get good fundamental skills. I remember seeing him play in the 5th grade and you could tell then that he was going to be good. Traveling around the state in tournaments against all these weak, poor players does not seem to have hurt him very bad so far and I don't think will bother him that bad at the next level. Fundamentals are the same every where, and I would argue stressed more in these rural areas because we don't have as many kids with the pure raw talent.


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Re: Josh Huestis transfering to a prep school?

Post by quincey hodges » Fri Aug 14, 2009 9:51 am

Kinda tru. He didnt get noticed untill he worked out this summer on his small foward skills. Before that he was a pf/C. After this summer of thoses workouts and playing in these summer leauges is when the big schools started offerring. Before that it was just montana and montana state. He got big improvement from that and from playing against better players during the summer. Anyone that has played basketball knows you get better from playing against better competition( you can ask any pro player about that). And travelling and playing against these weak players in the past obviously didnt help as much as youd like to think seeing as none of these top schools started calling or scout reporst started taking notice untill he started playing against top competition. If youre a top coach and you want a player for youre program will you go to a aau tournament in alaska or vegas? You go to alsaka if there are players already known there and you know the competition is very good but if not you dont go, but you will go to vegas because you KNOW thats where the best players are gonna be and when you go there to see one of the top players you end up seeing a player who isnt known nationally(josh) whos from a place that doesnt produce alot of really good players or the competition isnt on par with places like d.c ny texas northcaroline, then you watch more of his games against top competition. Yes josh could have just worked on his game during the summer with the trainer and skipped all the camps and gotten better but he wouldnt have gotten looks from the bigger schools because they still wouldnt know how good he is and big time coaches arent clearing there schedules to fly to montana to try to find talent. Thats just the nature of Highschool these days. As i recall the brock guy did the same thing by playing for a bigger aau team to get more exposure because thats how you get seen when you arent from a place that coaches flock too



basketballp
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Re: Josh Huestis transfering to a prep school?

Post by basketballp » Fri Aug 14, 2009 10:48 am

I agree with that because i watched him during his jr year and i saw zero big time coaches/school at his game. Plus his game at vegas was nothing like his game this past season. From what i heard he played downlow with his old aau team last year and there was nothing new on the net after playing against whatever competition he was playing against so obviously the tournaments and aau team he played for this year really helped in reguards to getting noticed. And yeah they do teach the same fundamentals everywhere but if you arent using thoses fundamentals against top notch competition then what do you think will happen once you play against guys who are stronger faster and more athletic then what you are used to? Going aginst joe blow for billings whos 6'3 185 25inch vertical with lil handles , good fundamentals being recruited by south idaho state for a walk on position vs going against mike dunker for oak hill whos 6'7 with good handles 40inch vertical and good fundamentals being recruited by duke,ucla. now if youre going against players like joe night in and night out how much better do you think you are gonna get compared to going against players like mike? which player do you think you run into more when you get to college? You wanna play against the competition thats gonna push you and make you play harder and get better not against the players you know you can do one move against and score at will, you want players who make you go to youre second and third move, players who will make you work on things youre work on by youre self before or after practice



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Re: Josh Huestis transfering to a prep school?

Post by CPACAT » Fri Aug 14, 2009 11:52 am

Josh was getting looks before he hit the AAU trail this year. His performances appear to have really gotten him noticed. I have no doubt that playing against top flight competition very night would lead to his improvement more so than staying in Montana. However, basketball is still a team sport and he obviously has a connection with his teammates which is commendable. One this that I noticed watching Josh play last year was that everyone seemed to pick up their game and intensity when Josh was in the game and he was double and triple team constantly and still performed.


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Re: Josh Huestis transfering to a prep school?

Post by quincey hodges » Fri Aug 14, 2009 11:57 am

i think both agree he was getting looks before aau this summer but those looks were from the state schools and a couple other low level college schools. The big schools didnt come till after this summer of tournaments and aau basketball. And you are on point with basketball being a team sport and how his teammates raise there level. i think there disagreement is more along the lines of getting better for the next level. My hope is that his highschool coach allows him to play the position he will play in college an not just stick him downlow for the whole game which doesnt benifit him.



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Re: Josh Huestis transfering to a prep school?

Post by tetoncat » Fri Aug 14, 2009 1:43 pm

Unless you go to a prep school that travels the country you are not going to play against D1 kids every night. Each team in a larger city might have a D1 kid on them, but it might be a guard one night, forward the next. Saying you cannot improve your skills and make it to the next level is like us saying a 6 man football player could never play for the cats or griz or whatever. It happens all the time. You get noticed by going to the out of state tourneys that are large and well known because there are a lot of coaches there. The kids who have gotten noticed before Josh have probably played in way more of these type of games. lets remember though that it is summer ball where that is happening and then the coaches start going to their high school games. It is sad, but you have to pimp yourselves these days through camps and year long ball to get that kind of recognition. And of course then perform well like Josh did this summer. Saying his past experiences did not help him is a joke. I guarantee you if he had gone to a USC camp or example as a freshman and sophmore and showed the potential he is showing now, he would have been on the radar screen. The competition is not as much to blame as the location of the tourneys and camps he may have been going to.


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Re: Josh Huestis transfering to a prep school?

Post by CPACAT » Fri Aug 14, 2009 1:53 pm

quincey hodges wrote:i think both agree he was getting looks before aau this summer but those looks were from the state schools and a couple other low level college schools. The big schools didnt come till after this summer of tournaments and aau basketball. And you are on point with basketball being a team sport and how his teammates raise there level. i think there disagreement is more along the lines of getting better for the next level. My hope is that his highschool coach allows him to play the position he will play in college an not just stick him downlow for the whole game which doesnt benifit him.

I have seen Josh in the gym a lot since basketball ended working on his game. I think he will get the opportunity to play a lot of positions this year and won't be stuck with his back to the basket 8 feet away. I think we will end up playing a lot of point forward and get a lot of looks away from the basket.


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Re: Josh Huestis transfering to a prep school?

Post by quincey hodges » Fri Aug 14, 2009 10:30 pm

For one thing compeition is the MAIN reason coaches recruit kids. Ive talked to coaches and scouts and they will tell you they wont recruit a kid whos dominating inferior competition if they dont see him doing it against a kid(s) who also have division one potenial. Thats like saying a nba team is gonna pick you because youre a 6'5 center dominating against 5'11 guys who have no nba ability. Second who said his past experience did not help him? Third these kids will tell you they love playing aau basketball and love playing against better competition why do you think they dont turn down playing in these top camps or top aau teams? They want to play against the best and show that they can play against the best, any person who has played basketball on a competitive level (not just ymca) will tell you that. Also in the basketball hot beds (texas,ny,maryland etc) each team has a good 2-3 division one prospect and the small towns/cities that dont, they players go play aau basketball during the summer. I havent seen too much montana basketball but from talking to josh and from looking up stats im pretty sure that if youre 6'5 and youre team doesnt have many big men they youre gonna be forced to play center in the games as well as in practice. how exactly does that help the player become ready for college and beyond? Isnt the objective of the coaches to help the player reach there full potenial,prepare them for the next level, help them go to there dream school, as well as make them a better person and win? The whole reason kids transfer from small towns or from inferior competition is because they know that when they go to college they wont be as prepared because they arent used to playing against that type of competition. Josh was a good 6'7 montana/montana state power foward before this summer during the summer he trained hard with my brother(his father) as well as played against top college and pro players while becomming a small foward/shooting guard. Ive checked countless montana news articles for years as well as watched him play aau ball during his hs career and not once did i read about him playing anything but pf/c or seen his coaches play him anywhere but pf/c so im pretty sure that he would have continued playing that same position while the same coaches would have continued workiing with him on being a pf/c. The truth of the matter is top coaches see you in aau and summer leauge unless you play where there is competition during youre highschool career in which case they will travel to youre highschool games to see you and thats a fact. If you dont believe me go write some scouts and college coaches and ask them.



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Re: Josh Huestis transfering to a prep school?

Post by quincey hodges » Fri Aug 14, 2009 10:32 pm

i really hope thats the case CPACAT. If not then Josh already knows to take it coast to coast and work on his moves/game during the game.



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Re: Josh Huestis transfering to a prep school?

Post by markymark » Sat Aug 15, 2009 12:43 am

Quincy,

Josh looks like a very intriguing prospect. Where was he working out this summer and who was training him? I know most of the trainers and facilities in southern california so I was wondering how I didn't catch him.



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Re: Josh Huestis transfering to a prep school?

Post by quincey hodges » Sat Aug 15, 2009 3:02 am

it was at some type of training facility i think near burbank..its where alot of the pros and college players go train at. I dont recall the trainers name but he trains alot of the college pros and top hs players. ill find out the exact name and get back to you tommorrow



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Re: Josh Huestis transfering to a prep school?

Post by whitetrashgriz » Sat Aug 15, 2009 3:13 am

quincey hodges wrote:For one thing compeition is the MAIN reason coaches recruit kids. Ive talked to coaches and scouts and they will tell you they wont recruit a kid whos dominating inferior competition if they dont see him doing it against a kid(s) who also have division one potenial.
well this obviously isn't the case because he IS getting recruited by big schools and people are even labeling him an nba player! that's my point. he's obviously doing something right to have all of these ridiculous expectations, so he apparently doesn't need to move anywhere.


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Re: Josh Huestis transfering to a prep school?

Post by basketballp » Sat Aug 15, 2009 3:50 am

man you are missing the point. or reading just bits and peices. If you would have been following this convo you would have known that they are talking about being more prepared not being recruited( aau and working out took care of that). The being recruited by bigger schools was the result of the tourneys and camps during the summer not playing highschool basketball in montana and playing for whatever aau team is in montana now. im glad he actually played for a well known aau team else he would be stuck with the option of montana and montana state. no one said he did anything wrong its obvious that this summer he did the RIGHT thing by getting out of the state



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Re: Josh Huestis transfering to a prep school?

Post by c.falls cat » Sat Aug 15, 2009 11:16 am

basketballp wrote:man you are missing the point. or reading just bits and peices. If you would have been following this convo you would have known that they are talking about being more prepared not being recruited( aau and working out took care of that). The being recruited by bigger schools was the result of the tourneys and camps during the summer not playing highschool basketball in montana and playing for whatever aau team is in montana now. im glad he actually played for a well known aau team else he would be stuck with the option of montana and montana state. no one said he did anything wrong its obvious that this summer he did the RIGHT thing by getting out of the state
basketballp I agree with you to a point, competition is good. but I think you are missing the point whitetrash was making, after playing in montana at mainly the p/pf spots he just showed up this summer and wowed people at the wing positions so the lack of experience and competition must not have been much of a factor in his development if he is one of the best in the nation already. I don't know about the CMR coaches but I am assuming (hoping)that they won't just play him at the post, you were right about the lack of size in the state (the one thing that I think we truly lack. I could make a case for us having plenty of good athletes and some great skills guys, but size ehh, not so much..but anyways), and that a lot of times dictates where the kid plays and they can get pigeon-holed in the wrong spot. Actually there is a kid here in columbia falls that is going to be a junior, he is 6'4" and I think the 2nd tallest kid on the team, but the coaches made him a point guard because they thought that is what he does best, so it does happen in this state. The biggest thing I think we all want is for Josh to be happy and be the best he can be, I like this debate and I wish the kid all the best with whatever choice he makes.



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Re: Josh Huestis transfering to a prep school?

Post by Hawks86 » Sat Aug 15, 2009 12:01 pm

basketballp wrote:man you are missing the point. or reading just bits and peices. If you would have been following this convo you would have known that they are talking about being more prepared not being recruited( aau and working out took care of that). The being recruited by bigger schools was the result of the tourneys and camps during the summer not playing highschool basketball in montana and playing for whatever aau team is in montana now. im glad he actually played for a well known aau team else he would be stuck with the option of montana and montana state. no one said he did anything wrong its obvious that this summer he did the RIGHT thing by getting out of the state
I'll support whatever Josh thinks is best for him and to see a MT kid play for a big time B-ball program and maybe the NBA would be outstanding but to say a kid is being stuck by playing for MSU or UM is pretty much a slap in the face to both schools and all the hard working kids playing for those teams.


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Re: Josh Huestis transfering to a prep school?

Post by basketballp » Sat Aug 15, 2009 1:43 pm

Well the good thing is we all agree that he is very talented and a good kid and will represent montana proudly. Hawks if you feel its a slap in the face then thats what you fill but i dont see kids clamoring to visit montana or montana state other then players from montana that dont have that much of a choice. reguardless if you like it or not its a fact. i grew up in montana and ive watched the basketball in this state and i always hope that a player gets recognized and then goes to a big time program and succeed because thats gives him a better chance at going to the next level. Yes i like the colleges here but a 8th man on a team like duke has a much better chance to continue playing basketball or another profession then the starter for montana or montana state. Cfalls im not saying montana had no factor yes it had a factor in getting the offers from the local and a couple of low level colleges but it wasnt untill he went to that other aau and worked out with a trainer on being a sf then going to the camps( which i say on another website that you have to know someone to get into and his father got him into it) thats when he got much better and noticed more. before this summer he was not a small foward by any stretch of the imagination. Maybe his dream school is montana or montana state i dont think anyone out side of his family knows if thats true or not right now because he hasnt made a list



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