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Post by DiMarz on Aug 8, 2023 9:05:51 GMT -5
WORCESTER, Mass. – Holy Cross head men's basketball coach Dave Paulsen has announced that A.J. Wills (Richmond, Va.) will attend Holy Cross and play for the Crusaders. Wills will be one of six new players joining the Holy Cross program for the 2023-2024 season
"We're excited to welcome A.J. to our Holy Cross Basketball family," said Paulsen. "A.J. is a dynamic and versatile guard who has the potential to make an impact in a variety of ways. He has played at a very high level in both high school and at the AAU level and comes from a basketball family. Most importantly, A.J. is an outstanding young man and student who will be an excellent representative of our program in the classroom and in the community."
Wills is a 6-foot-2, 165-pound guard played for the Shining Stars Sports Academy in Petersburg, Va., during the 2022-2023 season. He previously attended L.C. Bird High School in Chesterfield, Va., where he earned All-Region honors in 2021-2022. Wills also played AAU ball for Boo Williams. Away from the court, he appeared in the movie Shooting Stars and the series Swagger.
Holy Cross will be entering its first season under Paulsen in 2023-2024.
HOLY CROSS MEN'S BASKETBALL INCOMING CLASS
Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown / Previous School
Declan McIntyre G 6-2 175 White Plains, N.Y. / Worcester Academy (Mass.)
Joe Nugent G/F 6-6 220 Berkley, Mass. / Tabor Academy
Declan Ryan F 6-8 250 Clarence Center, N.Y. / Worcester Academy (Mass.)
Kahlil Singleton G 6-3 180 Vancouver, Wash. / Scotland Campus (Pa.)
DeAndre Williams G 6-3 180 Beacon, N.Y. / St. Benedict's Prep (N.J.)
A.J. Wills G 6-2 165 Richmond, Va. / Shining Stars Sports Academy
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Post by hchoops on Aug 8, 2023 9:29:47 GMT -5
Welcome, AJ.
Hope you experience much success off and on the court.
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Post by KY Crusader 75 on Aug 8, 2023 10:28:45 GMT -5
Interpreting the language used---is A.J. a walk-on?
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Post by efg72 on Aug 8, 2023 10:33:58 GMT -5
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Post by Sons of Vaval on Aug 8, 2023 10:41:32 GMT -5
There was no release when known walk-on Declan McIntyre was added to the roster.
Wills definitely a scholarship guy.
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Post by KY Crusader 75 on Aug 8, 2023 11:12:08 GMT -5
Thank you- I apologize for over thinking there
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Post by Non Alum Dave on Aug 8, 2023 11:18:41 GMT -5
In your defense, KY, the wording of that first sentence is a bit odd for a schollie. Glad it's official!
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Post by longsuffering on Aug 8, 2023 11:19:07 GMT -5
"SIGNED" what? The post doesn't identify what was signed, who else signed it, etc. If someone says they took a Xerox of something they could easily have used a Canon copier. "Signed" could mean something different than "received a full athletic scholarship." Say I'll have a coke and be prepared to be served a Polar Cola, especially if you are in Polar Park.🙂 How many scholarships can Dave pull out of the hat? You can't give partial scholarships in D-1 BB as I think I understand.
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Post by timholycross on Aug 8, 2023 12:10:07 GMT -5
Not sure how they get AJ Wills out of Avery S Wills, Jr.; who's the only Wills I can find in those two shows.
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Post by Ray on Aug 8, 2023 12:40:24 GMT -5
Not sure how they get AJ Wills out of Avery S Wills, Jr.; who's the only Wills I can find in those two shows. Really? Avery Junior = AJ. Entirely common practice with family names. |
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Post by bison137 on Aug 8, 2023 12:40:46 GMT -5
"SIGNED" what? The post doesn't identify what was signed, who else signed it, etc. If someone says they took a Xerox of something they could easily have used a Canon copier. "Signed" could mean something different than "received a full athletic scholarship." I have no idea about whether he got a scholarship, but you are absolutely correct. There are hundreds of press releases each year that say a non-scholarship player "signed" with a given college. Sometimes they are signing something related to need-based aid. Sometimes an agreement to attend the school. Etc. Look how many Ivy athletes had signing ceremonies even though Ivy's don't even give athletic scholarships. One example: There was a walk-on in Paulsen's first recruiting class at Bucknell. In the December press release announcing the commitment of this player and the other recruits, he was called a "signee". |
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Post by hchoops on Aug 8, 2023 13:26:27 GMT -5
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Post by Tom on Aug 8, 2023 13:43:05 GMT -5
Not sure how they get AJ Wills out of Avery S Wills, Jr.; who's the only Wills I can find in those two shows. Really? Avery Junior = AJ. Entirely common practice with family names. Did anyone tell Damon Hart Jr (aka DJ Hart) about this practice |
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Post by Tom on Aug 8, 2023 13:50:45 GMT -5
and then there were 13. There is now a full compliment of schollies for the coming season
For what it's worth, the only time I remember HC announcing walk on's was the Coach Carmody group of Hart, Yeutter, and Lovisolo. It was done as a separate announcement from their scholarship classmates Hargis and Verbeek
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Post by longsuffering on Aug 8, 2023 15:12:10 GMT -5
and then there were 13. There is now a full compliment of schollies for the coming season For what it's worth, the only time I remember HC announcing walk on's was the Coach Carmody group of Hart, Yeutter, and Lovisolo. It was done as a separate announcement from their scholarship classmates Hargis and Verbeek There are fifteen on the roster. Who are the two non-scholarship players so I can start rooting for them to get in games. Also the logical thought of what's preventing NIL from becoming a partial or full or more scholarship for walk-ons is interesting. If I was an NIL funder and supported a team with no established stars like HC, I would be tempted to sponsor the kid with the best personality regardless of whether he was a scholarship athlete or made a big contribution on the floor. |
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Post by bigfan on Aug 8, 2023 15:18:36 GMT -5
Reviewing the new players, it list 5 of the 7 new players are guards, we need big men.
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Post by trimster on Aug 8, 2023 15:32:25 GMT -5
and then there were 13. There is now a full compliment of schollies for the coming season For what it's worth, the only time I remember HC announcing walk on's was the Coach Carmody group of Hart, Yeutter, and Lovisolo. It was done as a separate announcement from their scholarship classmates Hargis and Verbeek There are fifteen on the roster. Who are the two non-scholarship players so I can start rooting for them to get in games. Also the logical thought of what's preventing NIL from becoming a partial or full or more scholarship for walk-ons is interesting. If I was an NIL funder and supported a team with no established stars like HC, I would be tempted to sponsor the kid with the best personality regardless of whether he was a scholarship athlete or made a big contribution on the floor. I believe the two non-scholarship players are Capron and Mcintyre. |
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Post by longsuffering on Aug 8, 2023 15:35:46 GMT -5
There are fifteen on the roster. Who are the two non-scholarship players so I can start rooting for them to get in games. Also the logical thought of what's preventing NIL from becoming a partial or full or more scholarship for walk-ons is interesting. If I was an NIL funder and supported a team with no established stars like HC, I would be tempted to sponsor the kid with the best personality regardless of whether he was a scholarship athlete or made a big contribution on the floor. I believe the two non-scholarship players are Capron and Mcintyre. Thanks. Having either one break into the rotation is unlikely but would add interest to the season. |
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Post by KY Crusader 75 on Aug 8, 2023 16:11:24 GMT -5
It seemed like BN would not play walk-ons under any condition . For example, his treatment of DJ Hart baffled me. Perhaps bison 137 can tell us what Dave Paulsen’s practice was at Bucknell.
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Post by longsuffering on Aug 8, 2023 16:36:11 GMT -5
I will guess Dave's reputation as a gentleman is well deserved. Keeping fifteen players all rowing in the same direction is a challenge, but much easier for a veteran head coach. One more subtle reason for Holy Cross to not be the learn on the job first head coaching stop for any of our scholarship sports. For the non-scholarship or mostly non-scholarship sports, for budgetary realities it will be necessary in some cases.
I look for Coach Riga to be the exception to this rule of thumb.
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Post by timholycross on Aug 8, 2023 18:16:06 GMT -5
Really? Avery Junior = AJ. Entirely common practice with family names. Did anyone tell Damon Hart Jr (aka DJ Hart) about this practice Thank God they don't do that with a person who's a "Second", like I am: I'd be "B S"!  Or maybe I'm that anyway. |
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Post by rgs318 on Aug 8, 2023 18:36:35 GMT -5
That is one reason why I do not like being called "Bob" but prefer Rob...RS sounds better than "BS" to most people.
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Post by Tom on Aug 9, 2023 8:09:30 GMT -5
It seemed like BN would not play walk-ons under any condition . For example, his treatment of DJ Hart baffled me. Perhaps bison 137 can tell us what Dave Paulsen’s practice was at Bucknell. DJ got into 3 games as a senior. Last year Piwko and Capron played in 8 and 7 games respectively. Yeutter actually started 5 games as a sophomore. There was plenty to criticize Coach Nelson for. I'm not sure that his playing time for walk-ons was significantly different than the typical coach. For the most part, putting in the walk-ons is the second stage of throwing in the towel or claiming early victory. It happens some time after the 12th and 13th man get in |
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Post by hchoops on Aug 9, 2023 8:10:18 GMT -5
Maybe part of the confusion with the wording of AJ’s commit has to do with that it is too late to sign a Letter of Intent, so this signing is for a commitment to a scholarship.
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Post by hcnj on Aug 11, 2023 23:11:30 GMT -5
How could a player with valid offers to Wichita State and JMU possibly walk-on at HC? Not possible. I'd be mildly surprised if he wasn't the starting PG. He was recruited after Singleton who could play either guard spot.
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Or maybe I'm that anyway.