Latest Ben Ball Warrior: Tyler Honeycutt

by Tydides on Sep 17, 2008 12:08 PM PDT in Recruiting Comment 27 comments

Tyler Honeycutt, UCLA's big wing target for the 2009 class, who recently was ranked the 21st best player in the nation for 2009 by Scout.com, verbally commmitted to UCLA today...

UPDATE (T):

Dohn has a rather amusing side note to the commitment:

"He has committed to UCLA," his mother, Lisa Stazel said. "He just called (USC coach) Tim Floyd to tell him."

UPDATE II (N):

Note the pointer re rebounding and defense in the LA Times story (HT bruinbabe2000):

Howland and his top assistants, who are prohibited by NCAA rules to comment about Honeycutt until he officially signs, closely followed the player's progress during a club tournament last July in Las Vegas and were convinced of the impact he can make. Despite his size, Honeycutt can shoot three-pointers as if he were a guard and he has improved his rebounding and defense.

Rebounding and defense ... music to Bruin Nation.

Welcome to Westwood, Tyler.

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woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow

This is a monster commitment!!

Welcome to Bruin Nation Tyler!!!!!

In Howland we trust.

by bluestreet on Sep 17, 2008 12:12 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Not only is he apparently a good bb player but he’s polite and respectful.

Bleeding powderkeg blue and gold for 54 years. Go Bruins!

by Digdog on Sep 17, 2008 1:03 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Per the fishwrap

“I just think he felt he’d have a good opportunity at UCLA and it’s been his dream school since he was a little kid,” Honeycutt’s mother, Lisa Stazel said.

The rest of the article is here.

by bruinbabe2000 on Sep 17, 2008 1:03 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

HaHa! Tim Floyd Sucks at Recruiting

Clearly USC brought Honeycutt in for an official visit on 9/13 so they could put him in a prime seat for SC-Ohio St.

My question is: How bad a salesman must Tim Floyd be? Obviously SC lures it’s top basketball players with direct payoffs from charities and sports agent runners.

With OJ Mayo recruiting himself and Demar DeRozen bringing in no talent Lil’ Romeo, I wonder what Honeycutt was offered.

He probably called Floyd to stop delivery on a car or a flat screen TV. You know, because Floyd has never recruited a 5 star recruit without cheating.

by alcor805 on Sep 17, 2008 1:45 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Alcor805..
Careful. I don’t like them either but have been around too long to disrepect SC. Those guys across town are getting better in basketball, and have a new arena to boot. Floyd is a decent coach, but does have an issue with recruiting outside Stoneridge prep, etc. DeRozan is a good player. BH is doing an unbelievable job from end-to-end, but Floyd is working hard…
Bill

BillSouthBay

by Mensgym on Sep 17, 2008 2:40 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

This is a joke, right?

“Floyd is working hard” . .. pleez

by charnaw on Sep 17, 2008 4:44 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

i'm not sure it's a joke

I do worry to some extent, but only because they seem to get away with everything over there. Who knows what other SCandals they’ll orchestrate to pull in more recruits. And their new arena is a draw for some (perhaps superficial) prospects.

I disagree, however, that they shouldn’t be disrespected. Their shady recruitment of OJ2, DeRozan/Lil romeo is not something to be respected. It was dirty and questionable. I don’t respect that. I don’t respect Floyd much either, for feigning ignorance of the whole SCheme.

by UCLAbruin920 on Sep 17, 2008 6:52 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hey

Its hard work buying an LCD for a kid these days, especially taller kids. Is the viewing angle up to snuff? LCD or plasma? And then you have to worry about getting the right car. SUV or convertible? Red or black? What kind of rims? I’m getting tired just thinking about it.

by bruin8uclap on Sep 17, 2008 6:53 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Welcome to the Nation TH

Looking forward to seeing this kid in True Blue.

The 2009 class is stacking up prettty well:

Brendan Lane, 6’-9" PF (Scout 4-star)
Reeves Nelson, 6’-7" PF (Scout 4-star)
Tyler Honeycut, 6’-8" SF (Scout 5 star)

by Ajax on Sep 17, 2008 2:11 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

can't wait

until basketball season starts. it’s my favorite time of the year: college football and basketball overlap, and as an added bonus, so do the NBA and NFL.

by UCLAbruin920 on Sep 17, 2008 2:26 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I'm with you!

November it all starts! Great time of year.

This is great news – a nice pick me up after Saturday.

GO BRUINS!!!

by uclafan11 on Sep 17, 2008 4:47 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

nice to see the note about shooting

we were lacking a pure shooter last year after JS went cold and with Roll injured

by bucknellbruin on Sep 17, 2008 2:31 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I've yet to see a pure shooter at UCLA in years...

I would NOT call Roll or Shipp pure shooters yet. Neither have earned that title. Collison shot the ball well, 2 years ago, but seemed off a bit from long range last year after missing the beginning of the season to injury. Mike Roll has only been a pure shooter in practice, not during games yet. I hope he proves me wrong this year. Josh Shipp needs to stop trying to shoot the 3 and instead, slash to the basket. That’s what he’s best at. His athleticism is amazing and its lost when he just hangs out behind the 3 point line, missing jump shots. The last pure shooter we’ve had was Jason Kapono, and his college career was ruined by Lavin. What a shame! I’m not even expecting Honeycutt to be a “pure shooter”. He’s a big wing that can shoot the three. I expect him to be proficient from 3, but from what I understand, he is going to be good closer to the basket as well. The present AND the future are both bright for UCLA Basketball! Thanks again, to Coach Howland and his incredible staff!

GO BRUINS!

by rgalloucla on Sep 18, 2008 11:46 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm pretty sure

Collison was over 50% on threes last year.

by SuperBruinMan on Sep 18, 2008 4:20 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Just looked it up

Last year he was 53/101, for 52.5%

In 2007 he was 51/114 (44.7%)

In 2006 he was 19/58 (32.8%)

by SuperBruinMan on Sep 18, 2008 4:24 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeap

That is why number of times I was pushing for CBH to put RW at 1 and DC at 2!

by Nestor on Sep 18, 2008 6:52 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Tyler Honeycutt Video

I found a video of him in action in Las Vegas. Sorry it’s from a USC site.

http://uschoops.tv/honeycutttv.html

He’s smooth. He has a really smooth jumper that he gets off quickly on the way up, and he has a nose for the ball.

Another fantastic job by the best coaching staff in all of college hoops.

by ishXdavid on Sep 17, 2008 4:17 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Upon first look

he reminds me of Tayshaun Prince. According to the article, he might not yet be finished growing (7-footers on either side of his family). I don’t know about his wingspan, but if he can play defense like Tayshaun Prince we’re are going to be very difficult to score on in 2-3 years.

by bruin8uclap on Sep 17, 2008 6:59 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

On campus

I was walking on campus today near Pauley and saw BH. He was on his cell phone and kept repeating “You’ve made the right choice” “UCLA is awesome” and then he got off the phone and was smiling and hugging some other guy that I didn’t recognize. I wasn’t sure what to make of it at the time, but I guess he was talking to Tyler? In any case, this is awesome!

By the way, this is my first comment, but I am a long time reader of BN. Go Bruins!

by UCLA07Law10 on Sep 17, 2008 4:42 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Cool!

I used to love being on campus when huge moments like this occurred! My first day there Steven Lavin came up to me..
yeah I was never around any cool moments :(

by bruin8uclap on Sep 17, 2008 6:35 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Smiling Ben

Just saw him at the Janet Jackson concert tonight! He was grinning from ear to ear…

GO BRUINS!!!

by uclafan11 on Sep 18, 2008 12:17 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

It's nice to get a SF

Hopefully he sticks around more than a year or two

by SuperBruinMan on Sep 17, 2008 7:46 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

A couple things worth noting

1. Honeycutt is the 1st 5 star SF Howland has landed.

2. Honeycutt is the 3rd highest ranked recruit Howland has had overall (21st), behind Kevin Love (3rd) and Jrue Holliday (4th), and ahead of J’mison Morgan (23rd) and Jordan Farmar (25th).

by SuperBruinMan on Sep 17, 2008 8:26 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs