Official Player Declarations Thread



  • HighEliteMajor said:

    FarmerJayhawk said:

    @kjayhawks Diallo and Selby are mine. If Diallo stays for 16-17 we absolutely run everyone. We start NPOY Frank and designated sniper Devonte, then the fun starts. We can go small and start Svi at the 3, Josh at the 4, and Cheick at the 5, or Josh at the 3, Cheick at the 4, and Landen at the 5. Either way we’re great. And you’d still have Bragg and Doke as your backup bigs. Cheick would’ve been the perfect matchup for Jordan Bell and Oregon. What could’ve been.

    You make the assumption that Self would have started him over LL. Logical in all worlds except the one we live. I have zero faith that would have occurred. Diallo was the perfect match vs Nova in the 16 EE. And he sat. NC chance down the drain.

    We would’ve gone with 2 bigs, Cheick and Landen.



  • @FarmerJayhawk I don’t know. You have more faith than I do. But my opinion, no team is winning a national title starting a LL at center. As discussed back in the day, ATHLETE – LL just had matchups where he was horribly exposed. '16 Nova, '17 Oregon as examples. You know, the most important games of the season.

    Back when LL was on the team, I think we looked back over Self’s tenure and could only locate maybe one NC team with a similar post handicap, thinking Louisville maybe 2013? My LL/Traylor notebook is in storage maybe.



  • PJ Washington _ UK Jared Harper - Auburn

    Both declared today.



  • Notable not declaration: Ashton Hagans.



  • FarmerJayhawk said:

    Notable not declaration: Ashton Hagans.

    Lack of a jump shot seems like something that may keep him another year in KY. Just wonder how him and Maxey will coexist though



  • BeddieKU23 said:

    FarmerJayhawk said:

    Notable not declaration: Ashton Hagans.

    Lack of a jump shot seems like something that may keep him another year in KY. Just wonder how him and Maxey will coexist though

    It does seem like an unforeseen circumstance. I have to think one of him or Quickley is not on that roster in a year.0



  • Grimes is at least testing, and probably gone for good.





  • I don’t believe this to be a smart move on Grimes part but Good luck to him. Remember we are jayhawks everyone, I hate when I see our fans bashing our guys social media.



  • @kjayhawks Is this social media?

    I bash the continued failure of Self bringing in presumed OADs. This was a complete failure. A complete waste of time.

    I sure wish Grimes would have stayed.

    The presumed use of KU as a pit stop has NEVER paid the anticipated dividends for KU, except maybe JJ — but there was no FF even there.

    We need to focus on non-OADs, and commit to those non-OADs that we will never recruit over them with a presumed OAD. But I’ve said that for quite a while now.



  • @HighEliteMajor No, this is not social media lol and I agree that the OADs have mostly been failures here. I just don’t like seeing people target these young guys for following their dreams even if I disagree with the Decision. Dook fans have been hammering, I mean hammering bad at RJ Barrett for turning pro. We are better than that.



  • @kjayhawks agree 100%. I honestly not sure he even gets drafted. If he wants to move on and pursue his dream then so be it.



  • @kjayhawks I agree 100% too. Everyone is should be entitled to make money, leave college, do what they want, when they want.



  • It’s his choice, but it sure seems like an unbelievably stupid one.



  • @HighEliteMajor “We need to focus on non-OADs, and commit to those non-OADs that we will never recruit over them with a presumed OAD. But I’ve said that for quite a while now.”

    I’m in 100% ageeement. Welcome to the G league Quentin… at best. Here’s betting that he will never see a full season on an NBA court.

    When self and the staff go recruiting, listen to the messages coming from the family. and if it’s all about playing their kid playing pro ball as fast as possible, move along.



  • …and my love affair with college b-ball continues to die a long, slow death.



  • How will KU recover from losing the actual worst rotation player on the team?



  • @Blown Well compared to anything else, it appears we may have to hang in there …( maybe the chiefs will win the super bowl next year… ? ) there are still players who come here for the right reasons… there still is SOME good. Dook, Kentucky and North Carolina did not even make the final four. !! (Trying to cheer you up…) The greatest OAD in many years, Zion the Marketable, with a STUD cast around him, couldn’t put dook in the final four.

    Self said he is more energized than ever. Let’s see what kind of coaching and leading he can pull off now. I doubt too many top 25 kids will pick us what with the ncaa cloud. F em… We still have some KU guys who will most likely play 3 or 4 years… we will get to see them at senior nite !! Let’s go get hungry guys who will bleed crimson and blue. No more Grimes types, PLEASE… a 19 yr old who has been given spectacularly bad advice from his fam and circle.



  • Let’s talk about noted KU fan RJ Hampton. We should pay what it takes.



  • 4 guys now either gone to the draft or transferring. Maybe more to come. I can’t believe I’m saying this but is this a situation where there is smoke there is fire? Do these kids know that KU is going to be in some sort of legal trouble this year. Please let that just be my paranoia.



  • At the beginning of the season, Grimes was the player I was most excited to see in a jersey. Now he’s the probable departure I feel most ambivalent about. If he’s gone, meh. I’ll regret all the time I spent screaming at him to move his butt on D and go get a rebound.



  • @joeloveshawks They were all leaving anyway.

    The FBI crap did cost us JRE though.



  • @BShark who is JRE?



  • We invested an entire year for nothing with Grimes. Nothing. No return investment. If anything the perception of a OAD having a poor year at KU again or whatever it will say does enough damage. Oh well. KU doesnt ever have enough successful NBA Players to cover the ones like Grimes and many others over the years. Just get out of the game of these kids.

    As I’ve suspected when he was pre season top 10 the outside influences got into q and his family, maybe even before. No matter the season he was going to leave.

    I wish him luck. He goes down as a huge bust given the commitment. Some kids are not ready to be stars off the bat. Another season could have helped both sides. Instead we again lose a player early that has a real uphill battle at an NBA career



  • joeloveshawks said:

    4 guys now either gone to the draft or transferring. Maybe more to come. I can’t believe I’m saying this but is this a situation where there is smoke there is fire? Do these kids know that KU is going to be in some sort of legal trouble this year. Please let that just be my paranoia.

    I don’t think so. This was always a possibility entering the season. The only departure so far that wasn’t really discussed back in the summer was Moore. Both Lawson’s were discussed as a possibility, Grimes was an assumed OAD, and Doke and SDS were also discussed as possible early exits as well.

    This is just playing put as worst case scenario for maximum departures.



  • there is SATILL a possibility for 2 more. IF that turns out to be the case - -that is SEVEN available that’s insane. - -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY



  • @Blown

    Amen.

    Between these one-and-dones and the situational officiating, I’ve really become cynical.

    I even picked Virginia to win the NC because I figured the NCAA would want to take the sting out of last year’s historic loss and get an exciting story line.

    Virginia was not the best team in their conference, and I don’t think you can even say that they “caught lightening in a bottle” in March and rode a wave to the championship.

    No, that was more Texas Tech, which won the first 4 games by a huge 15 pt average margin of victory. And then beat Mich State by 10.

    Virginia’s average margin of Victory for the first 4 games was 9.5. Then they beat Auburn by 1.

    Yet somehow, Virginia won it all.

    In Wednesday’s WSJ: https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-most-unlikely-story-ever-how-virginia-pulled-off-the-improbableagain-11554817507 An article was devoted to the statistical anomaly of Virginia’s late game comebacks:

    1. Virginia beat Purdue after trailing by 3 points with 17 seconds left, when they had a 9% chance of winning. They had to hit a shot as time expired to force overtime. “No team that would go on to win a national championship in at least the last decade had ever come back from such an improbable position in the tournament.”

    2. Next game they had a 4% chance of winning. Auburn led 61-57 with 17 seconds left, and by 2 points with 1 second left. Of course, the foul on the 3-pt attempt bailed out Virginia.

    3. In the championship vs Texas Tech, win probability was 11.7% when Virginia was down 3 with 22 seconds left.

    Chances of pulling off all three comebacks (9%, 4% and 11.7%) in succession is 0.04% – roughly 1 in 2500.

    But that’s just to win the championship.

    Consider how likely it is to be the first 1-seed to lose to a 16-seed and then win the championship the next year – not to mention, to do it in such an unlikely way.

    I’m kind of an Ocham’s razor kind of guy. Is the most likely explanation of this the “natural randomness of life”, or is it that things were unnaturally nudged?

    Or maybe God just loves Virginia Basketball.



  • BShark said:

    How will KU recover from losing the actual worst rotation player on the team?

    Qharlie Grimoore?



  • @bskeet great post! I do think Tony Bennett had those guys defying all odds. Its the sign of a great coach. Much like KU down 9 with 2 minutes to go against Memphis. Bill Self and his players never burned so bright.



  • Updated the OP to reflect Grimes’ seemingly all-in declaration to move on and try to play in the NBA. Thats 4 Open spots to fill that aren’t spoken for yet and high likelihood of at least one more. Yikes.



  • @RockkChalkk 2 of them are spoken for.



  • approxinfinity said:

    @RockkChalkk 2 of them are spoken for.

    There are definitely 4 open scholarships right now. The two commits account for Vick and the previously vacant scholarship. It’s gonna get wild and tough.



  • RE Grimes there is a rumor that he didn’t even attend a class all 2nd semester. And, not even surprising here that his dad and handler still believe he is an NBA LEVEL PG (I know…I know…) and that Self mishandled him.



  • @BShark When LeGerald Vick is in Memphis tending to necessary personal business … uh, allegedly … my guess is that young man isn’t attending classes either.

    What gives?

    Self’s only mishandling of Grimes was not sitting his tail on the bench. I’m not sure what else you can do for a kid.



  • HighEliteMajor said:

    Self’s only mishandling of Grimes was not sitting is tail on the bench. I’m not sure what else you can do for a kid.

    Exactly. Just goes to show that some people are going to think what they will, and no evidence can change that. Grimes lacked the speed to play PG at the D1 level, let alone the NBA level. Honestly Grimes’ speed made him a 3/wing, if anything. You are what you can defend.





  • @Crimsonorblue22 waaay too long of an article for an ex-Jayhawk who never produced in his one year. If he comes back I’ll read it with interest.



  • Jaxson Hayes from Texas declared today



  • Woodrow said:

    Jaxson Hayes from Texas declared today

    Makes sense. He’s a top 10 prospect. Then there are the KU guys. 🤦♂



  • @dylans what are his stats at Texas?



  • @Crimsonorblue22 A 6’11” springy athlete. 10pts 5 rebs, but more importantly 4.3 win shares, 27 PER. Lots of upside, no reason to get exposed in college.

    Grimes is a non-athlete. 8 pts 2.5 rebs, 2 asts. 1.4 win shares, 8.7 PER. He wasn’t good according to advanced stats or the eye test, even though his points per game and rebs+assists are very similar in stats to Hayes. If he thinks he can play better he should come back and improve his draft stock. If he thinks he’s been exposed, he had better go while his HS reputation still means something.

    I know which one I would take as an NBA gm if those were my two choices.



  • @dylans I wasn’t comparing them. Shaka just doesn’t seem to get his bigs to score much



  • @Crimsonorblue22 Shaka sucks. He’s wasted 3 straight loto big men



  • Crimsonorblue22 said:

    @dylans I wasn’t comparing them. Shaka just doesn’t seem to get his bigs to score much

    Sorry crim, I figured you were making a statement since his stats are readily available.



  • If you’re a 1st round pick, leaving is a no brainer. If you are a 2nd round pick, I think leaving is probably the right decision. That’s a lot of money still. If you actually do latch on to the roster, it’s millions and you’re set for life as long as you aren’t an idiot. You’re very likely to make 6 figures overseas even if the NBA doesn’t pan out for you as a 2nd rounder.

    All in all, you should become very rich playing basketball if you are projected to get drafted in either round.

    If you are not guaranteed to get drafted, I think it is very very very very very stupid to leave. Get your degree or bust your tail for a summer and get yourself in a position to be guaranteed a lot of money to play basketball in the coming years.

    I don’t have a problem with OADs. But I will say that Grimes is going to go down as one of the most disappointing players we have ever had step foot in the Fieldhouse wearing the Home Whites. Which is really sad.



  • @Kcmatt7

    Great post.



  • Cam Reddish declares for the draft.



  • @kjayhawks If that is so…Hammering RJ Barrett is about the stupidest thing I have ever heard. He was a presumed sure fire OAD when he stepped foot on campus . And…he is going to be a lottery pick.



  • @Kcmatt7 Second round picks don’t have guaranteed contracts and don’t sign for enough to be set for life if that’s their only contract which does happen. Playing pro ball in Europe doesn’t make one rich either unless you’re among the best of the best in Europe.

    The only reason a projected second round pick should stay in the draft is of their projected to be undrafted the next year if they stay.

    Grimes is an example of someone who should not be leaving at this point. If he’s even drafted, it’ll be a non guaranteed deal. Based in how he was playing at the end of this past season, had he stayed for his sophomore year and built off those last few games, he likely would’ve played himself into being a first round pick instead of the second round/undrafted player he will likely be this offseason.



  • You know what they say about that ugly gal? I wouldn’t draft Grimes with your pick.


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