re: LSU Basketball Recruiting Thread: 2024 (And Beyond)

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Brother, Hunter Dean made 4 three pointers in his 5 year college basketball career. He is not a shooter

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I explained to you why he didn’t shoot 3s in college despite having the ability to, but ignore that if you want... but I'll reiterate it for you again even though you're going to ignore me once more.

Coming out of high school HD was 6'7'' and 190lbs. He was a wing player that could shoot, dribble, pass, and score. He was also extremely athletic. Fast forward to today he is listed as 6'10'' and 250lbs. Like I've stated numerous times, he had a growth spurt once he entered college. This whole "he made four three pointers in his whole college basketball career" argument falls off when you look at his year by year stats and realize for his first two seasons he did not play much at all to accumulate any stats as well as realizing that upon reaching college he had a growth spurt that caused the coaching staffs at his various schools to change his playstyle.

Fast forward to his junior year at GW. He is 6'10'' and 232lbs. He hit his growth spurt and also gained weight, while maintaining his athleticism. A such, the coaching staff at GW converted his game into a pick and roll center as he was among the best athletes in the A10 and this provided the most efficient offense for him. It was the path of least resistance. Watch his highlights from both seasons at GW and you will see that he scored exclusively from pick and rolls. In fact, he was so effective at this (58.5% 2pt FG JR year, 64.1% 2pt FG SR year) that this became his game. (And yet he came to LSU and barely got to be utilized in the PNR despite having a PNR centric PG... classic MM )

Say what you want about warmups... I don't think they are the best judgment necessarily, either. However, I am not using solely warmups to base my judgment. They are one aspect that helped get the gears in my head turning. I would understand dismissing him making a few in a row. But 5-10 in a row before multiple games? This caused me to do a deep dive and figure out why he wasn't getting these looks in game. In warmups, our good shooters like Wilkinson, Ward, and Cook rarely came close to making that many in a row. Most struggled to even make 2 or 3 in a row. Even Benhayoune who is a good shooter never did. I am not trying to insinuate that Dean was a better shooter than these players, just that he could shoot and deserved to be allowed to show it. Plus, his shot form is actually fluid. He has the shot form of a shooter. It is much more mechanically sound than Baker who is a stretch 5.

It is also far more fluid than Jalen Reed yet he was given the green light numerous times this year. Would you trust Jalen Reed to shoot instead of Hunter Dean for game??? I wouldn't. But yet he shot 39.4% on 1 3PA per game. Would you consider Jalen Reed a stretch four??? I wouldn't.... stats can be misleading when you don't contextualize them.. you have to use the eye test, do research, and go below the surface.

There were numerous times where HD was wide open this year but looked hesitant to shoot. It's almost like he was instructed not to by the coaching staff and chose not to shoot because he didn't want to risk losing the little PT he already had. I believe it was after the Missouri game (I know for a fact it was one home game at the end of the season) where he made a three or a pair of threes and McMahon remarked in the press conference that after HD drained a three he looked over to the coaching staff in a way to say "I told you so" and that he should be allowed to shoot more threes. Plus McMahon went on record at a press conference saying "there are a lot of misconceptions about Hunter Dean. He tested as the second best athlete in our program."

I would agree with McMahon that there are a lot of misconceptions about him. I'm also aware you're going to ignore all of this and say "he's not a shooter bro".

Here is a random video I found in my camera roll before the Southeastern Game on December 1. It's a video of him hitting like 5 or 6 straight threes in warmups. The shot form is the biggest thing I want you to notice. Much more fluid and clean than Baker or Reed who were allowed to shoot way more.
HD shooting in warmups