Looking back on what I first said about Cam Long and Isaiah Tate as new recruits

Tomorrow night will be the George Mason's last home game of the regular season against Northeastern and seniors Cam Long and Isaiah Tate will be honored.  I have covered both Long and Tate since their arrival to Fairfax on this site and I thought it would be interesting to see what I first said about these guys when Larranaga and his staff recruited them. Some of it might make you laugh.

Keep in mind how lofty the expectations were for the guys in this recruiting class. The buzz from the Final Four was still all around Fairfax; Long and Isaiah Tate were being brought in to replace guys like Lamar Butler and Tony Skinn who basically seemed like Gods to most Mason fans. Earlier readers of this blog will remember how much I was gushing about Vlad Moldoveanu who committed after Long and Tate.

Here is what I said about each them.

Cam Long

Long turned out to be a very special player and I'm sure it was a shock to most fans to learn last week that he almost left George Mason back in 2008. When Cam first committed I wrote that he was described as a versatile guard who had the ability to play both guards positions. His high school coach Ahmed Dorsett was a former player under Jim Larranaga.  I loved his ball handling skills and ability to knock down a three.  Later on when I was summing up the 2007 recruiting class I mentioned how he carried his high school team on his back into the state playoffs and how that might translate into good leadership skills here at Mason. I also mentioned his size and defense would bode well for him under Larranaga. I remember hoping that he would be molded into a player like Folarin Campbell.

Isaiah Tate

I used the word "pure shooter" a lot with Tate, so much so that I once referred to his high school numbers as "Steve Kerr-like". Those numbers from behind the three-point line (44% in high school) and the fact that he came from powerhouse DeMatha in Maryland had me thinking he was going to be the team's next Lamar Butler.  His high school coach described him as "one of the best shooters we've had here in the last 10 years". Sadly Tate's high school sharp shooter ability didn't quite transfer over to Fairfax until this season where he is shooting 43.9% from behind the arch.  In the end he will probably be known more for his defense under Larranaga.