'08 IN C Julian Mavunga (Miami-Ohio Verbal)

[Jason Svoboda]

Center
Brownsburg (IN) Brownsburg
AAU: Spiece Select 2008 (http://www.spieceselect.com/)

Ht: 6-foot-7
Wt: 235 lbs

Mavunga is rated a three-star prospect by Scout.com. He holds offers from Miami (Ohio), Penn State, Kent State, Wichita State and George Mason. Mavunga is from Zimbabwe and will apparently be the first Zimbabwe born player to earn a Division I basketball scholarship.

[Jason Svoboda]

http://www.spieceselect.com/playerPhotos/2008/spieceSelect/mavungaJulian06-2.jpg
http://media.scout.com/media/image/42/429462.jpg

[Jason Svoboda]

Mavunga has recently said that Miami (Ohio) and Indiana State are his top two schools right now.

[Sycamore75]

http://indianastate.scout.com/a.z?s=462&p=9&cfg=bb&c=4&yr=2008

[Jason Svoboda]

Julian is a skilled and powerful forward. The first thing that stands out with him is his build. He’s able to use his big body to punish defenders around the basket. During this game, Julian played mostly as a face up forward and was very aggressive attacking off the dribble. He had little trouble getting by his man with the dribble. On his best play of the day, he drove into the lane and finished with a power jam. Julian handles the ball better than most big men. He uses long strides to get into the lane quickly and doesn’t waste dribbles. Even though he’s solid in that area, Julian still probably add some quickness to his ball handling. He has very good touch around the basket and combines that with strong hands to convert at a high rate. Julian had a good game on the boards as well. He didn’t shoot much from the perimeter and that’s an area he’ll need to improve upon if he wants to go to a higher level. He missed the one three point attempt he took during this game. He does have a high release point on his shot, but his form could use some improvement. Julian didn’t look to score much with his back to the basket, opting instead to show off his improving wing skills. He also needs to move quicker on the defensive end. Right now he looks to be a good mid major prospect that can go higher if his perimeter skills continue to improve.

URL: CAAInsider.com (http://www.caainsider.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2390&Itemid=240)

[Jason Svoboda]

There is also some very good information on Mavunga available on HoosierHoopsReport.com. It does require registration.

URL: HoosierHoopsReport.com (http://www.hoosierhoopsreport.com/smf/index.php?topic=486.0)

[BlueSycamore]

The latest up-to-datest:

http://caainsider.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2954&Itemid=240

[BlueSycamore]

TWIR Notes (From around Indiana) -- Mavunga, Hobbs
? on: Today at 12:31:27 AM ? Quote

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
More visit talk, as some recruiting processes start to wind down, while other kids are starting to see their recruiting heat up more.

Mavunga narrows and plans. Aggressive with his visits late last summer and fall, Julian Mavunga, among the schools which offered him during his junior year, he only had two schools he felt he wanted to visit before starting to narrow down his list, George Mason and Wichita State.

He took a visit to George Mason two weekends ago, and while his meetings with the coaching staff went well, he worked his way to a decision he likely wasn't going to go that far from home. Wednesday night, Mavunga officially trimmed his list to two schools, Indiana State and Miami, opting not to visit Wichita State.

"I like those guys," referring to the coaching staffs at both George Mason and Wichita State, "But I felt about halfway through my trip to (Washington) DC, I didn't think I wanted to go that far from home." Mavunga will finalize plans to schedule official visits and home visits with Indiana State and Miami by Friday morning, and he plans to finish them by the end of the September.

There are two high major programs trying to be involved, Penn State and Virginia. Both have contacted Mavunga's coaches about visiting the school in September. Penn State has been recruiting Mavunga since the winter but has yet to offer. Virginia's interest is new. Mavunga had received a new set of offers after the July period, but he had stuck to the four schools above and Kent State through early August into last night.

Hobbs gets offer and others increase interest. Perhaps the most puzzling recruiting situation in the state right now is that of New Albany's Braydon Hobbs. The 6'5" point guard is not the prototypical point guard, more long than quick, while he may not make the high light reels, he rarely makes any type of mistake.

6'5" point guards who can guard all three perimeter positions don't grow on trees, especially those with a 4.0 GPA.

Austin Peay has stepped up with an offer, and Hobbs made an unofficial visit to the Clarksville, Tennessee, campus last weekend. "It was really nice. I didn't get to meet all the coaches and players, but I did get to spend time with Coach Loos and Coach Combs and see the campus." Coach Combs is former Indiana all-star from Paoli, Scott Combs.

Other schools showing increased interest are Eastern Kentucky, IPFW, Indiana State, Morehead State, and Western Kentucky. Right now, Western Kentucky is out of scholarships, so it's uncertain how he would fit into their program.

Hobbs is planning to visit IPFW, and as these other schools are planning on getting down to see him this September, he's liked what he has seen from Austin Peay so far.


:sycamores:

[Jason Svoboda]

Though being down to two schools officially, Indiana State and Miami (OH), Mavunga has one high major is still considering him as a prospect. Penn State, who has recruited him to variable degrees since last fall, was at Brownsburg's morning workout Tuesday morning. Mavunga had Indiana State in for a home visit on Sunday night and Miami in on Monday night. This weekend he takes the first of his two official visits to Miami. Next weekend he visits Indiana State.

URL: Hoosier Hoops Report (http://www.hoosierhoopsreport.com/smf/index.php?topic=571.msg1896;topicseen#new)
Let's gooooooooo Coach McKenna and crew!

[isuhoops]

The coaching staff was supposed to have an in home visit with Julian over the weekend. Any Idea how it went? Anyone?:sycamores:

[Sycamore75]

Julian Mavunga will be visiting ISU next weekend.

[Coach '72]

There are several of you that are high on Mavunga. If I had my choice, Goff would be a much better fit for the sycamores. He's quicker, more athletic, gets off the floor much quicker, plus he plays a lot harder. Mavunga just doesn't play with another gear. Very impressed with Goff when we played. That's my take.

[Jason Svoboda]

There are several of you that are high on Mavunga. If I had my choice, Goff would be a much better fit for the sycamores. He's quicker, more athletic, gets off the floor much quicker, plus he plays a lot harder. Mavunga just doesn't play with another gear. Very impressed with Goff when we played. That's my take.
Thanks for your insights. I think folks aren't too high on Goff because he isn't a legit possibility since he has pretty much said he wants to play at IU or Purdue. Additionally, Goff has been playing on the IU summer team, and performing well, so he could end up getting some high D1 offers.

That said, Mavunga had a very good summer playing AAU ball. The fact he is still considered a raw prospect intrigues many -- including myself. With some good coaching, the upside on this kid is tremendous.

[Jason Svoboda]

“I’m liking it. There’s good guys here, it’s a good facility. I like the gym and campus a lot and I like the coaches. I’m getting a good feel for it,” Mavunga said. “I’m good at slashing to the basket and passing it. I know when I get to college I need to mold my body and get stronger. The big difference is the quickness and athleticism of college players.”

http://www.tribstar.com/ISU/local_story_265225254.html
Interesting.

[Proud To Be A Tree]

Come on down Julian!

[btisu22]

My gut says he will be a Sycamore!

[BlueSycamore]

Mavunga to Miami.

[Jason Svoboda]

Yep. You win some, you lose some.

[Coach '72]

The loss for State was Mavunga was an Indiana kid. I hate that, but boys don't lose any sleep. I wish him well, but he would have had a major, major adjustment. If we are going change our style of play, he would not have helped us that much. The best he would ever have gotten, if that, would be the results Cruse from TH North gave us, which was not bad, but we need more. I can assure you no other Div.I team in the state was beating his door down. Let's move on. I enjoy reading everyone's take and glad to be a part of you guys. It's interesting seeing what people think.