Recruiting Master Thread Part Deux
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Juiston earns MVP award Michael Stavola Staff writer mstavola@hutchnews.com 6 hrs ago (1) The Hutchinson Community College players had a serious tone all night – none more than Shakur Juiston.
Just before tip off, Juiston grabbed Samajae Haynes-Jones and reminded him of their losses - Juiston his brother and Haynes-Jones his mother.
“We have to play with all our hearts,” Juiston remembered saying. “We have to play for them and just leave it all on the floor.”
Juiston’s demeanor finally changed with 1:38 left in the game, up 20 points, when coach Steve Eck pulled the starters. Juiston’s straight face turned to a big smile as he embraced assistant coach Jay Cyriac.
Hutchinson went on to win its third national title at the NJCAA Tournament Saturday with a 84-58 rout of Eastern Florida. As the awards were announced, an emotional Juiston tucked his face inside his jersey and wept like he’s never wept before.
“It was a very emotional time,” Juiston said. “I told myself last year, when the buzzer was over and we lost, that wasn’t happening again … When the buzzer went off (this time) tears of joy just came.”
Juiston’s double-double made sure it was tears of joy. He garnered a double-double each game of the tournament and capped the final game with 18 points and 13 rebounds and earned another record along the way - Most Valuable Player.
“Shakur just wills the team to follow his lead. We are going to miss him … sometimes he is a pain in the rear, but we are going to miss him,” Eck said with a laugh.
The 6-foot-7 power forward doesn’t know his next stop, but his mark is forever left on Hutchinson.
Juiston holds the school record for rebounds with 742 - the previous record of 714 was set by Mickey Jackson in 1977 - along with being the 14th in all-time scoring (1,042), fifth in blocked shots (117) and now the third player in Blue Dragons’ history to be the William B. French MVP.
“This is the period from the whole paragraph, the whole story,” Juiston said of ending his career in Hutchinson with a national championship.
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@Crimsonorblue22 hopefully we can get him, especially if Bragg transfers.
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@Crimsonorblue22 I’m glad he can use that terrible event to motivate him instead of drag him down. It’s easy to let something like that (murder of your brother) destroy you. And I mean completely destroy everything you thought you knew about the world/god. It’s not an easy thing to come thru on top.
Juiston sounds like one hell of a man and I will be routing for him wherever he goes as long as he isn’t playing KU.
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Hopefully we can get this young man on campus now that his season is over and KU’S is as well…
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I have not kept up with recruiting at all. Can I get a summary ?
Billy Preston? Newman and Cunliffe. Marcus Garrett is next is 2 years away, Right?
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@Blown said:
I have not kept up with recruiting at all. Can I get a summary ?
Billy Preston? Newman and Cunliffe. Marcus Garrett is next is 2 years away, Right?
Garrett is for next year, he’s going to be a STUD.
Newman will start at the 2.
Cunliffe will compete for a starting spot at the SF once he’s eligible.
Preston will be a while before we know if he’s gonna put on a jersey. But he’s got a great chance to start if he is here
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@BeddieKU23 if Graham returns who runs point?
Preston has eligibility issues? So if he doesn’t come we have Doke, Lightfoot, and Coleby ?
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@Blown Graham is the PG next year, Newman the two, Svi at the 3, Vick and Garrett off the bench for the backcourt. The front court picture is a lot murkier. UA and Coleby should anchor the 5 spot, but the 4 spot is where there are all kinds of question marks. Is Bragg going to be back, will Preston play period? What will Lightfoot’s development look like?
KU may very well be forced into another 4 guard line up next year with Svi and then Cunliffe (once he’s eligible) manning the 4 along with Lightfoot.
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The hutch juco kid would be great
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@Blown said:
@BeddieKU23 if Graham returns who runs point?
Preston has eligibility issues? So if he doesn’t come we have Doke, Lightfoot, and Coleby ?
Yup Graham would run point.
Preston does have issues but he went to Oak Hill where they master in this stuff. His problem probably won’t be grades but the amount of schools he attended and the fact 2 of them were basketball factories. Let’s hope he got enough core classes before he went to Oak Hill.
Not a great front court if we don’t have Preston. Bragg, I think it was telling he didn’t play last night…
A lot of holes to fill with this team still. Self should sign to 13 guys which could mean 4 to 5 more players this spring
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Any chance of going after chase Jeter for 2018?
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@BeddieKU23 Preston’s eligibility issue isn’t grade related, it’s that amount of time he spent at API which used to be Prime Prep in Dallas. That place has never been accredited by the NCAA which is why Prime Prep shut down and was basically rebranded as API after Deion Sanders was no longer involved in the school. Basically, Preston is facing the same battle that Diallo faced and how many of those core classes was Preston able to make up this year at Oak Hill will determine his eligibility. I really wouldn’t be surprised if Preston doesn’t get to Campus until August after attending summer school at Oak Hill or somewhere that he can make up his API credits the NCAA won’t count.
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So basically we will have one point guard yes?
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@betterfireE Yes but both graham and Newman I look at like a Chalmers type. Self loves combo guards.
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No.
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@betterfireE said:
So basically we will have one point guard yes?
Right now we have just 1. And that one may test the waters and leave… very sticky position to be in. No backups on the team, not a single primary ball handler on the team right now. We can only hope that Self goes out and finds someone who can help next year’s squad.
Garrett ran point at his school but he’s probably going to be more of a combo guard in college at his 6’7ish height. I love what Marcus is going to bring to this team especially defensively. He might be used in situations as a facilitator if we lose out on some options.
Even if Devonte returns we need another point guard that can play right away. Self has said Newman isn’t an option to run point and that his best assets will be used at the 2 guard position. It will be a deviation from what we had the last couple years with Frank/Devonte.
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@BeddieKU23 Svi is a competent ball handler as well so I would imagine he would handle some of the secondary ball handling duties as well. Vick is who really needs to work on his handles next for next year so he can play and sub for the 1-3 spots next year.
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Competent, sure, but we both know Svi is not going to be a point guard if he’s around next season. His role at KU and the role he’ll have after KU will be most likely at the SF position. We’re in trouble if we are forced to rely on any of the following players running the show (Newman, Svi, Vick). Players don’t magically become something overnight(or even in 1 off-season) especially a floor leader after previously having little to no experience doing so in the past.
Self better find this team some ball handlers even if Devonte sticks around
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The party should start soon. I agree KU needs a PG.
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Marcus Evans will transfer from Rice. This is an upgrade type transfer for the kid. Was around 20ppg first two years.
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@BeddieKU23 I didn’t say Svi would run point, I said he could handle the secondary spot such as breaking the press, being an outlet, and a lot of that stuff
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Svi looks to get rid to the ball almost as soon as he touches it in the back court. Not sure if its a confidence thing or just told to get it in Mason’s or Deveonte’s hands.
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Duke has no interest in Waters either. The plot thickens…
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Syracuse will take him no questions asked. They currently have what 4-5 scholarship players…
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@Blown Graham runs point. Malik is the number 2. Vick/Svi is the 3. Preston/Bragg is the 4. Doke is the 5. Or something like that. I choose to remain myopic about Preston, so when someone suggests he might not be eligible, I put my hands over both ears, and yell BLAHBLAHBLAH as loudly as I can. Now, of course this can be a little tricky sitting in a public restaurant with a smart phone, so I’m hoping I don’t read many more posts prophesying that negative event.
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What a mess Syracuse is.
@KUSTEVE said:
@Blown Graham runs point. Malik is the number 2. Vick/Svi is the 3. Preston/Bragg is the 4. Doke is the 5. Or something like that. I choose to remain myopic about Preston, so when someone suggests he might not be eligible, I put my hands over both ears, and yell BLAHBLAHBLAH as loudly as I can. Now, of course this can be a little tricky sitting in a public restaurant with a smart phone, so I’m hoping I don’t read many more posts prophesying that negative event.
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Nobody wants Preston to be ineligible but at least we are not blindsided by his issues (Diallo) well in advance. More than anything I’ve just tried to keep the buckets fan-base well aware that Preston is not a slam dunk to play at Kansas. I hope all this goes away somewhow…
He’s a fantastic talent, with some coaching needed around the edges. He’s the type of 4 that would be tantalizing in KU’s offense with his guard skills stuck in a legit 6’10-6’11 body. Very reminiscent of a young Marcus Morris with more athleticism
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I do think Preston will play, but it’s good to be cautious. It might take some summer school work. Obviously the classes from API are not going to count.
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Per Andrew Slater
"Hearing Duval to Duke, but UA wants him overseas with an endorsement deal
Sounds like MJ Walker to FSU
Knox-Duke but the father runs it
Tugs- Arizona/MSU battle—but waiting to see who leaves Arizona—Trier has to go…When I was in Atlanta yesterday, the word was Kobi would love to declare, but probably has to do another year.
McCoy-Very likely Oregon with UNLV and MSU remaining contenders
Zion’s mom runs his recruitment, but the stepfather will continue to be the one who talks
Quinerly to the RENs "
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Dequon Lake to ASU. They are desperate for bigs so that makes sense.
Jemarl Baker got out of his LOI from CAL.
French PG Joel Ayayi is looking to go to a US college. Baylor has already offered.
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@BShark Ayayi would be a great pickup. Reading his draft profile he would be great for us. Especially next year if we are running and gunning again which it looks like we would be.
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Your going all Bham on us, I don’t like it. Where’s the positive KU news. That was full of nothing positive. I need sunshine pumping to the max, we need something good to put the Oregon loss behind us.
Problem is I think we’ll see more negative news towards next years team before we get some momentum.
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Heh. The thing right now is that if Graham and Svi come back that’s already 6 good guards. History has shown the 6th won’t really play. So any guard pick-up would likely be entirely developmental.
The post is a log jam as well. Adding a kid like Juiston only makes sense to me if Bragg is leaving. Though Coleby/Doke/Preston/Mitch/5th post is still only 11 players when combined with 6 guards.
So that leaves 2 to fill though the end of the roster is typically not very good.
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@BShark I don’t think Garrett will get much time unless we don’t pick up another guard or we don’t land another PG. Although, if Garrett is an elite level defender, it wouldn’t hurt my feelings to throw his 6’7 frame at opposing PGs and create some havoc.
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True, the six we potentially would have would be a great collection of talent. Really would allow Self to continue to be flexible with a perimeter oriented (4 guard offense). Svi, Vick, Cunliffe, Garrett have great size, athletic ability and the ability to guard multiple positions. Having 6 guards/wings would be ideal for depth and allow Self to potentially put more pressure on teams and keep legs fresher.
I don’t think we can go into next season without getting another post. Not a single post player on the roster that doesn’t have major questions to answer. A Preston/Doke combo sounds great on paper but comes with a lot of growing pains. Coleby, solid backup especially if he can maximize his off-season with Hudy. Lightfoot ? Bragg? Boy we have a lot of uncertainty down there.
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Can someone put together a list of guys that we are actually actively recruiting? I’m out of the loop, but it doesn’t seem like there is a lot going on with us and recruiting.
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Juiston
Duval (no chance)
Right now that’s it. I’m sure we will find out a lot more over the next month since KU is now out of the tournament.
While true, I’m not sure if there is a post player KU could now get that doesn’t have question marks.
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Juiston looks a like a reliable option if he was able to transition into the system and the trip to Italy would certainly help him there. But your right overall.
As BShark said the list is small, especially until Graham/Svi/Bragg decide on their future. April will provide more clarity
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@BShark said:
Marcus Evans will transfer from Rice. This is an upgrade type transfer for the kid. Was around 20ppg first two years.
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Marcus Keene not transferring, going pro. Can’t blame him. His stock is as high as it will ever get. I expect him to get a pretty good deal to play overseas.
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I like Juiston’s game overall, but his shooting is definitely a question.
@mayjay said:
@BShark said:
Marcus Evans will transfer from Rice. This is an upgrade type transfer for the kid. Was around 20ppg first two years.
Yeah he will be a really nice pick-up for whoever gets him. Has to sit a year.
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If Graham is back, he runs point, Newman slides to the 2, with either Vick or Svi playing the 3 spot.
Garrett and Vick or Svi comes off the bench.
Doke starts at the 5. Bragg or Preston at the 4. Non-starter of Bragg and Preston comes off the bench, Coleby is the 4th big. Lightfoot grabs the extra minutes (still will need to add weight and get stronger).
Just not sure where we can fit another backcourt recruit if Graham stays. Cunliffe will be eligible and in the mix for PT at some point. Vick and Svi have to get minutes. I just don’t know where you find the time.
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I fully expect Graham & Svi will test the waters, they both could be combine invites as well. That will keep KU in limbo for any potential top player and will have us on eggshells for next year.
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@BeddieKU23 Usually things get a little clearer after the Banquet right? Which should be here in just a couple of weeks.
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@BShark I clicked on this and couldn’t find anything but a picture “slideshow”. Is there an actual interview? I’d like to hear what he has to say!
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Seems like 247 is having some issues. I watched the video already, basically he said KU was recruiting him since 8th grade, he loves Self and Townsend, would like Duval to come to KU of course.
I would just check back later maybe it will be fixed.
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@justanotherfan You expect Bragg to be here?
Preston getting NCAA clearance concerns me.
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The Weathers brothers are transferring from Miami Ohio. NE Kansas natives.
