Next Year's Team
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@Texas-Hawk-10 That is pretty solid assessment. And I agree about McBride, so the big question is who should we recruit to join him?
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@Texas-Hawk-10 I think McBride is closer to Tharpe (w/o the stupid) than Mason but I like the overall optimism.
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@wissox Yes, Doke is great, but this thread is about next year’s team, the year after Doke graduates.
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@BShark He’s like Tharpe because he’s short and he can shoot 3’s. Beyond that, I don’t see the same game. Tharpe was a spot up 3 point shooter. He did have a step back, but nothing in the same league as Isaac, imo. Isaac can really score off the dribble, plays quicker, has better handles, better reflexes, imo. Who can forget Tharpe being destroyed by a couple of Eastern Kentucky guards in the NCAA tournament? In the scrimmages, I noticed Issac dropping some nice dimes off drives, which a Tharpe could never do. I’m not sure Tharpe ever got within 15 feet of the rim in his time here.
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@BShark Not even close to Tharpe. I’m not saying McBride ever becomes as good as Mason, but that he has a similar style of play. McBride is a playmaker. He can stroke it from deep, he’ll probably be 40% pretty quickly, but he’s not afraid to drive the ball and score in the paint. He’s a bulldog.
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@Marco I’m not going to get into the specific players, partly because I’m not up on who KU has a realistic chance at right now.
KU will for sure have 3 scholarships to offer. KU currently has 1 unused scholarship and Doke and Moss are seniors so KU will for sure have 3 to hand out. This class could get up to 7 available scholarships though depending on others listed below.
Position wise, there are some unknowns that will influence recruiting. Those unknowns are Devon Dotson, Ochai Agbaji, Silvio DeSousa, and Mitch Lightfoot. Do they stay or go, or redshirt in Mitch’s case. Dotson seems like the most likely to leave after this season. If Ochai can repeat what he did before his shins bothered him, he’ll likely be gone as well.
That said, KU’s plan in recruiting should be to focus on the perimeter very heavily. It’s possible Garrett and McBride are the only returning perimeter players that play meaningful minutes this upcoming season. We’ll also know a lot about whether or not McBride is capable of playing starters minutes as a sophomore this season.
The other need would be development player capable of playing both low post spots because KU should have McCormack and DeSousa starting, if Mitch redshirts, he can sub for both spots.
Basically, expect KU to focus mostly on perimeter players with a lower ranked big in as well.
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If I had to take a gander as of July 3, 2019:
90% of leaving: Dotson, Moss, Doke, Silvio
More likely than not: Ochai.
Staying: everyone else. Mitch redshirts.
So we’ll need 2 guards, 2 bigs, and a wing in recruiting. I’d really like a skilled 4 to complement Dave. Isaiah Todd would be perfect. Dawson Garcia and Josh Hall are other options. As far as a wing, Fletcher out of St. Louis or Kyree Walker would be good fits. At the guard spots, Thompson is target #1, and he’d be a great complement to a pass first PG like Nix, who KU still really feels good about. Caleb Love is another guy out there to watch. Maybe Ty Berry is a take late if he has a great senior year. The other big should be a 5 for depth. Mady Sissoko would be perfect. Could be this year’s Oscar T at WVU.
A guess at a starting lineup: Nix, Thompson, Garrett, Wilson, McCormack. I think Enaruna, McBride, Sissoko, and Lightfoot would be the main subs. I think it’ll be hard to get a 5* kind of 4 man since the position is kind of crowded. Could see us going small again, though Wilson isn’t tiny by any stretch.
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@FarmerJayhawk Doke is a senior this year, there’s a 100% chance he leaves unless another freak injury makes him eligible for a medical redshirt.
Silvio is probably 25/75 for leaving or staying and Agbaji is probably 50/50 right now.
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@Texas-Hawk-10 gahhh. It was supposed to read “greater than 90%”
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I am expecting Silvio, Ochai, and Dotson to leave early.
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@Texas-Hawk-10 word around the program is everyone expects Silvio to leave. He’s had some really good offers overseas and he’ll probably never be a 1st round pick, so might as well maximize his earning years. I think Ochai has a good chance at being a 1st rounder this year just based on his athleticism and shooting ability. Especially since it’s an absolutely putrid draft. 2021 is going to be a lot better draft.
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@FarmerJayhawk Silvio didn’t come back to KU to pursue an international career, he came back to pursue an NBA career and he has to expand his range to play the 4 in the NBA and that probably takes the next two seasons. If he shows some 3 point range this season, then he will likely The international offers will always be there for him.
Ochai’s draft status will largely depend on how his health holds up. His NBA position is on the wing as a 3 because he doesn’t have the handles to be on ball. His draft status is largely based off his athleticism and if his injury issue from last year is chronic or recurring, that kills Ochai’s draft stock.
I have no issues with recruiting as if those two will leave because nobody wants a repeat of the 2011 recruiting cycle when Self didn’t plan on the Morris twins leaving. That said, Self can’t commit Agbaji and DeSousa’s scholarships to others until it becomes more clear if one or both of them are NBA prospects for the 2020 draft.
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Silvio has talked frequently about education as well. Remember he is from a different culture, and most likely didn’t grow up in an environment where everyone around him fed the message of $$$ / NBA
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A Silvio/ McCormick 2020-2021 would be spectacular. Of course, a Enaruna/McCormick front court might be better. That Enaruna kid is better than what people think. He has that Ochai fearless gene. The guy has skills with the ball. The guy can shoot. He is extremely poised- in those summer scrimmages, he truly didn’t look overmatched to me. The guy drives the ball well, excellent dribbling and ball handling skills, sees the court, looks for teammates…etc. I really think he’s a guy that is going to get minutes this year. Probably not more than 5 in any one game…maybe less if Mitch forgoes the red-shirt. But this skill set is exquisite. It is completely off the chain. I mean, when this guy hits, we’re talking Dedric +. He’s a Euro player, so he has extremely advanced fundamentals. He passes brilliantly, he dribbles tremendously for a 6’9 guy. He shoots great- his form is absolutely perfect. Not sure how he rebounds, or if he does mix it up, but having Big Dave on the other side of the paint will help. His upside is crazy high, imo.
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I’m amazed how much you can tell from some summer scrimmages. I’m a real pessimist. I know dedric scored and rebounded well, just still shocked how poorly he moved. I expected so much more! 2 yrs w/hudy?
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@Crimsonorblue22 He looked good to me, coach.
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@KUSTEVE I do hope your right!
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@Crimsonorblue22 Hudy is good at her job but she can’t work miracles.
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@KUSTEVE European developed players also tend to take longer to adapt to the American style of basketball, that’s just reality.
Another area that Euro players in Tristan’s mold tend to struggle with is post defense. Tristan is a classic Euro stretch 4 and one thing just about all of those players struggle with is defense.
Svi was never more than an average defender in his four years, Dirk, Danilo Galinari, Dario Saric, Bojan Bogdanovic, Nemanja Bjelica, just to name the prototype and some current Euro stretch players. Those guys all struggle/d with interior defense.
I fully expect the Enaruna will have a game in the nonconference where he knocks down 3 or 4 threes in a game and people will start begging for more minutes out of him when the reality will likely be that Enaruna’s post defense will be nowhere near ready for extended minutes.
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@FarmerJayhawk It seems, and if so you would not be the first to say so, that you see Wilson as more a 4 than a 3?
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@Texas-Hawk-10 He’s a project. 5 minutes or less, probably very little in conference. The skill set I like, but we won’t see much of it this year.
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@KUSTEVE Aha, I think of 2019-20 national champs version as next years team!
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@wissox It’s going to be a memorable season. We’re loaded with talent, experience, and depth. I don’t think we’ll have a sorting out period - I think this team will be ready to go Day 1. I’ll bet we start with Dotson/Marcus/Ochai/Silvio/Doke. Moss will get sprinkled in, along with Big Dave. There will be times when we have 3 seniors on the floor ( Lightfoot is a question, or it could be 4 seniors. ) We had more than a few games last year where it was Dedric, and 4 freshmen on the floor last year. I think we’re going to be astonished how good we look from the git-go. Bill’s best teams have all had lots of experience, and this team is oozing with it. And his best players are all players coming back- no OAD minutes carve out. The experience on the team will carry us through the pre-conference, and the depth will allow us to maintain the excellence through conference. This is a 2 or 3 loss team, imo.
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@KUSTEVE This squad doesn’t have the experience the classifications next to each players name would indicate. Nobody on this roster has played over 100 games in a KU uniform.
Marcus Garrett at about 1,600 minutes is the most experienced returning player as far as minutes go. Mitch Lightfoot is the most experienced in terms of number of appearances at 96, but has played just over 1,000 minutes.
Even though Doke is a senior, he’s only played in 56 games and logged a little over 1,100 minutes in his KU career. To put that number in perspective, Devon Dotson has played more minutes at KU in one season than Doke has in 3 seasons.
Silvio DeSousa will be a junior who’s only played 175 minutes of college basketball.
This team is not as experienced as most assume and there will absolutely be a learning curve with this team early on.
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@Texas-Hawk-10 But good enough and experienced enough to gel into a FF team.
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Solid perspective on the experience. Another factor is “life experience.” Just being older kids. Doesn’t necessarily translate on the court but I would rather have several 20+ year old players instead of 18-19 year olds.
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@Texas-Hawk-10 A 3 year starter, and a player who came in off the bench as a freshman, and played tremendously …two guys that were essential to our Final Four run. Like someone else said, two grown men. You could be right that it takes them awhile to gel. I’m still of the opinion that we’ll be doing 80 in a 45 from day 1.
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Texas Hawk 10 said:
@FarmerJayhawk Silvio didn’t come back to KU to pursue an international career, he came back to pursue an NBA career and he has to expand his range to play the 4 in the NBA and that probably takes the next two seasons. If he shows some 3 point range this season, then he will likely The international offers will always be there for him.
Ochai’s draft status will largely depend on how his health holds up. His NBA position is on the wing as a 3 because he doesn’t have the handles to be on ball. His draft status is largely based off his athleticism and if his injury issue from last year is chronic or recurring, that kills Ochai’s draft stock.
I have no issues with recruiting as if those two will leave because nobody wants a repeat of the 2011 recruiting cycle when Self didn’t plan on the Morris twins leaving. That said, Self can’t commit Agbaji and DeSousa’s scholarships to others until it becomes more clear if one or both of them are NBA prospects for the 2020 draft.
Right, I just don’t think he’ll ever be a real NBA prospect and that’s the feedback he’ll get if (when) he tests after this season. I’m just not sure what he does at the NBA level. Not sure he’s skilled enough to play the 4 and probably too small with too short a wingspan to play the 5. I think he’ll be an extremely good college player and make a bunch of money overseas. Nothing wrong with that.
@Marco that’s my read on him from watching him. I don’t think he’s quick enough to guard most 3’s, especially since it seems like teams are going with 3 guards more often now instead of 2 guards and a wing or vice versa.
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FarmerJayhawk said:
Texas Hawk 10 said:
@FarmerJayhawk Silvio didn’t come back to KU to pursue an international career, he came back to pursue an NBA career and he has to expand his range to play the 4 in the NBA and that probably takes the next two seasons. If he shows some 3 point range this season, then he will likely The international offers will always be there for him.
Ochai’s draft status will largely depend on how his health holds up. His NBA position is on the wing as a 3 because he doesn’t have the handles to be on ball. His draft status is largely based off his athleticism and if his injury issue from last year is chronic or recurring, that kills Ochai’s draft stock.
I have no issues with recruiting as if those two will leave because nobody wants a repeat of the 2011 recruiting cycle when Self didn’t plan on the Morris twins leaving. That said, Self can’t commit Agbaji and DeSousa’s scholarships to others until it becomes more clear if one or both of them are NBA prospects for the 2020 draft.
Right, I just don’t think he’ll ever be a real NBA prospect and that’s the feedback he’ll get if (when) he tests after this season. I’m just not sure what he does at the NBA level. Not sure he’s skilled enough to play the 4 and probably too small with too short a wingspan to play the 5. I think he’ll be an extremely good college player and make a bunch of money overseas. Nothing wrong with that.
@Marco that’s my read on him from watching him. I don’t think he’s quick enough to guard most 3’s, especially since it seems like teams are going with 3 guards more often now instead of 2 guards and a wing or vice versa.
Silvio has played less than 200 minutes of college basketball. There’s nowhere near enough game tape on him to have a fair evaluation of him at this point.
Here’s what we do know about Silvio. He is currently listed at 6-9 and 250 lbs. He has an NBA body already at this point. His advanced numbers in his limited minutes also suggest he has very good upside. He’s PER was over 20 and his rebounding rate was about 25% and his offensive rebounding rate was north of 20% in Big 12 play. He was also a 71% FT shooter in limited attempts, but that number suggests he has a good enough form to have range out to the mid-range and can probably extend out to the 3 point line.
There’s just not enough on him yet to definitively say he’s not an NBA caliber player. Silvio DeSousa was a 5 star recruit for a reason. Silvio is definitely on NBA radars, they just want to see what progress he’s made since he last played a competitive game because he did practice with the team all season last year.
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@drgnslayr Doke is only 19 and will turn 20 in September. I think a lot of people forget how young he is. He’s in the same boat as Svi was about coming to KU younger than everyone else.
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How can he be a senior at 19-20? I remember he was young… but I think he’s older… 21. I think.
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@drgnslayr His official documentation lists his birthday as September 17th, 1999. Remember when he first committed to KU, one of the big deals about that was that Doke was guaranteed to be at KU for a minimum of two years because he didn’t turn 18 until his sophomore season.
Being that he’s from Africa, there’s always going to be some debate about the authenticity and accuracy of his birth date. As far as the NCAA and US government are concerned, Udoka Azubuike is currently 19 and won’t turn 20 for another month and a half.
Svi played his senior year at KU as a 20 year old as well.
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Texas Hawk 10 said:
FarmerJayhawk said:
Texas Hawk 10 said:
@FarmerJayhawk Silvio didn’t come back to KU to pursue an international career, he came back to pursue an NBA career and he has to expand his range to play the 4 in the NBA and that probably takes the next two seasons. If he shows some 3 point range this season, then he will likely The international offers will always be there for him.
Ochai’s draft status will largely depend on how his health holds up. His NBA position is on the wing as a 3 because he doesn’t have the handles to be on ball. His draft status is largely based off his athleticism and if his injury issue from last year is chronic or recurring, that kills Ochai’s draft stock.
I have no issues with recruiting as if those two will leave because nobody wants a repeat of the 2011 recruiting cycle when Self didn’t plan on the Morris twins leaving. That said, Self can’t commit Agbaji and DeSousa’s scholarships to others until it becomes more clear if one or both of them are NBA prospects for the 2020 draft.
Right, I just don’t think he’ll ever be a real NBA prospect and that’s the feedback he’ll get if (when) he tests after this season. I’m just not sure what he does at the NBA level. Not sure he’s skilled enough to play the 4 and probably too small with too short a wingspan to play the 5. I think he’ll be an extremely good college player and make a bunch of money overseas. Nothing wrong with that.
@Marco that’s my read on him from watching him. I don’t think he’s quick enough to guard most 3’s, especially since it seems like teams are going with 3 guards more often now instead of 2 guards and a wing or vice versa.
Silvio has played less than 200 minutes of college basketball. There’s nowhere near enough game tape on him to have a fair evaluation of him at this point.
Here’s what we do know about Silvio. He is currently listed at 6-9 and 250 lbs. He has an NBA body already at this point. His advanced numbers in his limited minutes also suggest he has very good upside. He’s PER was over 20 and his rebounding rate was about 25% and his offensive rebounding rate was north of 20% in Big 12 play. He was also a 71% FT shooter in limited attempts, but that number suggests he has a good enough form to have range out to the mid-range and can probably extend out to the 3 point line.
There’s just not enough on him yet to definitively say he’s not an NBA caliber player. Silvio DeSousa was a 5 star recruit for a reason. Silvio is definitely on NBA radars, they just want to see what progress he’s made since he last played a competitive game because he did practice with the team all season last year.
The advanced numbers are of almost no use in a sample size that small. It’s the equivalent of saying a hitter is going to always hit for power after watching him for 50 AB’s. Sure you might be right, but precision with that small of sample is mathematically not possible.
He’s definitely on radars (since he was invited to the G League combine) but I just don’t see a long NBA career for him. He’s small for a 5 with just a 6’10 wingspan, and that’s even small for a NBA 4 man. Given the direction of the league and Silvio’s game, I’m just not sure what he does at the next level. But he’ll be a really good college player.
Fun story about Udoka’s age (I actually think he’s a year or two older than his listed age). On the AAU circuit he used to forget what year he was supposedly born and his coach had to inform him it was 1999. Relatively common practice to make African kids younger when they come over, similar to Latin baseball players (e.g. Vlad Guerrero, Albert Pujols, Miguel Tejada). Doesn’t really affect my opinion of Udoka at all, I think he’s a fantastic college player who will really struggle in the NBA, whether he’s 19 or 25.
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@FarmerJayhawk The advanced numbers show the potential Silvio has to be an effective NBA 4. 71% from the FT line suggests he already has a good enough shooting form to develop 3 point range which is the key to Silvio’s NBA future. He’s a well above average offensive rebounder and above average rebounder overall.
Silvio also has above average athleticism for his position which will negate some concerns about his wing span. As long as Silvio develops 3 point range which his shooting says he’s capable of, he’ll play in the NBA.
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@FarmerJayhawk It wouldn’t surprise me if Doke was 24-25.
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@KUSTEVE No way he’s lying by 5 or 6 years. The stories from when he was in HS would put Doke at being 1-2 years older, 3 at the most. He’s probably 21 or 22 currently.
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@Texas-Hawk-10 23, and that’s my final offer.
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KUSTEVE said:
@FarmerJayhawk It wouldn’t surprise me if Doke was 24-25.
Yeah… no. That many years is pretty much impossible to fake. That would mean he was like a HS senior in Nigeria and then came to the US and basically redid high school. Perry on the other hand… /s
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No way is he 25. But I would agree he is likely older than stated.
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Illinois is going hard on Adam Miller, but his mom tells me he’s kind of 50-50 between them and us and he will make a visit to Lawrence. He’d be a good add to NEXT YEARS TEAM (I figured it out @KUSTEVE) I don’t often have inside info on recruiting, well, I never had, until now.
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wissox said:
Illinois is going hard on Adam Miller, but his mom tells me he’s kind of 50-50 between them and us and he will make a visit to Lawrence. He’d be a good add to NEXT YEARS TEAM (I figured it out @KUSTEVE) I don’t often have inside info on recruiting, well, I never had, until now.
I like your inside info you found
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wissox said:
Illinois is going hard on Adam Miller, but his mom tells me he’s kind of 50-50 between them and us and he will make a visit to Lawrence. He’d be a good add to NEXT YEARS TEAM (I figured it out @KUSTEVE) I don’t often have inside info on recruiting, well, I never had, until now.
Would take 10/10 times. Have to really like all the guards we’re really in on at this stage. Especially since the staff wants to move Marcus to the 3 barring him developing a consistent jumper.
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Thx for the info
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Miller is as advertised a very crafty guard with an excellent perimeter game. A bit of a below the rim guard is the only concern
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@BeddieKU23 Yeah, he’s not a high flier, even though he has decent size.
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@KUSTEVE Every bit of 30 Lol
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wissox said:
@BeddieKU23 Yeah, he’s not a high flier, even though he has decent size.
The good thing about that is he might be around 3 to 4 years because of that. Just have to recruit others who can play above.
I did see Illinois has him as their top target. Going to be tough if he wants to stay close to home
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@BeddieKU23 His mom told me he wants to be a OAD! Not sure if he has that kind of talent, but he is good.
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wissox said:
@BeddieKU23 His mom told me he wants to be a OAD! Not sure if he has that kind of talent, but he is good.
I think most kids have that dream. He is a nationally known recruit so I can see why he has that confidence in himself. However it looks like he’ll get a dose of reality at some point. Should he land at KU I would expect he is around 3-4 years. Just my thoughts.
