Verbal from 2020 Dwon Odom

[MHettel]

I get the connection. I was never more excited about a recruit Xavier landed than I was about Dez Wells. He just looked like a athletic super hero with the ball in his hand- some one who (at least at that time) usually got scooped up by one of those top sevenish programs who can pretty much hand pick the players they want. I remember thinking, this kid is from Carolina. How the hell is he not going to Duke or UNC. He looked that dominant. that talented. that polished. That far superior to the players he was playing against - much like Odom now looks like in his videos. I’m pretty sure I literally drooled every time I watched Wells’ hi light reel, knowing he was coming to X.

The only X recruit who came close to Dez (prior to last year) was Jalen Reynolds. Reynolds looked like a manly beast among boys. But now Odom not only has those qualities (albeit in a smaller frame) but he also looks much more polished and versatile than Jalen did (like Dez). Kyky might also be on my list of top 5 recruits X landed that I was most excited about just by watching his high school tapes.

That’s not to say I wasn’t blown away by with both Tre and JP’s tapes where they were scoring machines. But no one come off like gifted athletic freaks with super human abilities in their HS tapes like Dez and Odom. I will be very, very surprised if Odom isn’t averaging at least 28 minutes a game during his freshman campaign.

Not athletic by any means....but Redfords highlights were Tecmo Bowl level almost fake. 3's from everywhere. 95% of the highlights were just crazy 3's.

Lets just say that the competition was a little step up when he went to college.

[GIMMFD]

I get the connection. I was never more excited about a recruit Xavier landed than I was about Dez Wells. He just looked like a athletic super hero with the ball in his hand- some one who (at least at that time) usually got scooped up by one of those top sevenish programs who can pretty much hand pick the players they want. I remember thinking, this kid is from Carolina. How the hell is he not going to Duke or UNC. He looked that dominant. that talented. that polished. That far superior to the players he was playing against - much like Odom now looks like in his videos. I’m pretty sure I literally drooled every time I watched Wells’ hi light reel, knowing he was coming to X.

The only X recruit who came close to Dez (prior to last year) was Jalen Reynolds. Reynolds looked like a manly beast among boys. But now Odom not only has those qualities (albeit in a smaller frame) but he also looks much more polished and versatile than Jalen did (like Dez). Kyky might also be on my list of top 5 recruits X landed that I was most excited about just by watching his high school tapes.

That’s not to say I wasn’t blown away by with both Tre and JP’s tapes where they were scoring machines. But no one come off like gifted athletic freaks with super human abilities in their HS tapes like Dez and Odom. I will be very, very surprised if Odom isn’t averaging at least 28 minutes a game during his freshman campaign.

Not to mention Dez started at Word of God Christian Academy where his teammate was John Wall, then went to Hargrave so he was doing it against great competition. I'm still pretty close friends with Dez, and happy to see him doing well, one of the best moments I remember was I think it was his first year at Maryland in the conference tournament they were playing Duke, and I think he put up like 30 that game, and I noticed Krzyzewski said something to him as they were going through the handshake line, and I texted him and had to ask, "dude, what did Coach K say?" and he said, "you won't believe this but he said I was the best player on the court today." Dez was athletic like hell, his ball handling needed a little work, as well as jump shot, but his work ethic was awesome, I'd go rebound for him in the aux gym at like 2am on random nights, he's a good dude.

[MADXSTER]

Does Dez know how well regarded he is at Xavier?

[xu82]

Does Dez know how well regarded he is at Xavier?

His Gold Star is a secret.

[bobbiemcgee]

My X paranoia is showing. When I saw this thread reappear I was thinking the worst.

[GIMMFD]

Does Dez know how well regarded he is at Xavier?

We haven't really talked about the situation since it happened to be honest, he definitely knew a decent amount of the students at the time were all aboard the #FreeDez train, obviously I didn't want to put any of his business out there, but he definitely put it behind him once he got to Maryland. For what it's worth though, one of my roommates was also on the soccer team at X and buddies with Dez as well, and they traded some X soccer gear for Maryland basketball gear, so I'm pretty sure he has no hard feelings about it. Plus he still keeps in touch with a small group of us, not to mention his name was cleared basically in the whole case, I just don't plan on bringing it up unless he does haha.

[sirthought]

I never thought of Wells, but I guess Odom can jump like him. I seem to draw more of a connection to Tu Holloway in that Odom seems to have really good dribble control and the confidence to move through traffic in the same way Holloway did. In some ways I think he might be a better ball handler than Holloway, but it's premature to really know that for sure.

I see Odom and Tandy being very similar to Holloway and Lyons, only maybe better. Both guys need to get use to shooting around college defenses, but I think this backcourt could really be special.

[MHettel]

I see Odom and Tandy being very similar to Holloway and Lyons, only maybe better. Both guys need to get use to shooting around college defenses, but I think this backcourt could really be special.

How about this memory of Tu as a Freshman. After 2 meaningless cupcake games the team went to some destination tournament and played 3 games.

Holloway was already playing meaningful minutes and put up this stat line over the 3 games: 67 minutes played. 2-8 shooting. 6 rebounds. 6 assists. 2 steals. 5 turnovers. 7 fouls...…

….oh yeah, he was 20 for 20 from the FT line and ICED 2 of the 3 games.

Steel Balls.

[xu82]

How about this memory of Tu as a Freshman. After 2 meaningless cupcake games the team went to some destination tournament and played 3 games.

Holloway was already playing meaningful minutes and put up this stat line over the 3 games: 67 minutes played. 2-8 shooting. 6 rebounds. 6 assists. 2 steals. 5 turnovers. 7 fouls...…

….oh yeah, he was 20 for 20 from the FT line and ICED 2 of the 3 games.

Steel Balls.

That was when I fell in love......

[Xuperman]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XTOXwC_yTNI

I really like this one....a nice send off and tribute to a now, Georgia High School Legend.

Just try and break a smile watching!