K.J. Adams
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Always happy to get good news. Welcome aboard.
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All things considered (the NCAA cloud and all), if Coach can sign Bates and a solid PG and maybe a big, I’m good. That would easily be a top 6 or 7 class.
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Great news! Now they need to land Hickman!
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@Marco Nolan Hickman is the PG the staff is after and Zach Clemence probably ends up being the low post player in this class. And as mentioned above, KU offered another 4 today.
Tamar Bates would be a nice developmental player to add, but not near the priority of Hickman and honestly, if KU adds Hickman, he’ll probably spend most of his time at the 2 next to Harris to give Self his preferred dual PG line up and making Bates a luxury signing.
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I’m more interested in Adam’s handles and jump shot than if he’s fast-twitch or not. I have more confidence in Self adapting his strategy around finding the right 5 to put on the floor. We saw that this last year. Going big didn’t work. If he can use his size and still motor well, he’ll be an asset in a smaller lineup.
He’s a Jayhawk now and I welcome him to Lawrence!
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@Texas-Hawk-10 said in K.J. Adams:
@Marco Nolan Hickman is the PG the staff is after and Zach Clemence probably ends up being the low post player in this class. And as mentioned above, KU offered another 4 today.
Tamar Bates would be a nice developmental player to add, but not near the priority of Hickman and honestly, if KU adds Hickman, he’ll probably spend most of his time at the 2 next to Harris to give Self his preferred dual PG line up and making Bates a luxury signing.
To clarify KU “offered” Rhodes in January. Rivals lists it but 24/7 does not however. It is my understanding that KU’s interest got a little higher recently. It’s also possible he is taller than his listed height by now, as that likely has not been updated. If KU got him that would be three developmental guys* on the roster that would be able to play the 5. If Dave goes, someone like Curry or pulling off a miracle with Kepnang becomes a high priority.
*Rhodes, Muscadin and Clemence with Zach being the guy most likely to contribute next year imo.
I would go as far to say KU/Self needs Hickman. KU probably won’t make the next cut for JD Davison, Auburn is all over Frankie Collins and Hunter Sallis can be plugged into next year’s UNC depth chart if they want him. So Hickman is far and away the best option for a PG. It would also be nice for Townsend to actually land someone.
Of course, Bates is a player I would absolutely love to see in Lawrence but he doesn’t play the same position. He could possibly develop into a PG but right now he is more of a 2/wing.
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@BShark Zach Clemence isn’t a developmental player. He’s someone that can play right away as Dave’s back up and step into the starting spot after Dave graduates.
I’m not calling Bates a PG or saying that Hickman is a 2. I’m saying because of roster composition it’s likely Hickman would be playing off ball like Graham did when he played next to Mason with Dajuan Harris as the lead guard in the Mason role. I also think it’s likely Hickman would come off the bench his first year or two until Thompson goes pro.
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I think Zach will need time to not get pushed around inside as the 5, but I could/would love to be wrong about that. Love his game overall and I do think he plays immediately next year.
Right I wasn’t really commenting on what you were saying for that part. Just what I think their positions are which makes Hickman more of a need because we need more guys with elite ball handling as we know Self prefers two guys that can really handle it playing at the same time when he can. Harris is probably the only guy on the roster next year that fits due to Garrett graduating. Bryce potentially could, I know he’s been coming along as a pg.
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Hope we land Hickman. With Garrett then being gone, it is certainly a priority. We would still have Jossell, but is he even a true PG or a very small two?
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@Marco Jossell is a PG, but he’s probably not a viable option at PG in the near future at KU and there’s a strong probability he ends up transferring.
My biggest concern with both him and Harris are their size. Harris is listed at 6-1, 160 lbs. and Jossell at 5-11, 155 lbs. which is tiny. With the Big 12 being one of the more physical leagues, I do have doubts about durability with both players, but Harris especially since he’s projecting to play some minutes and take over for Garrett next year.
Just from a durability standpoint, Hickman is probably the staff’s current top priority in recruiting because KU desperately needs another player that can be a lead guard because while Thompson and Braun are good ball handlers, they’re not lead guards though.
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@BShark said in K.J. Adams:
I think Zach will need time to not get pushed around inside as the 5, but I could/would love to be wrong about that. Love his game overall and I do think he plays immediately next year.
Right I wasn’t really commenting on what you were saying for that part. Just what I think their positions are which makes Hickman more of a need because we need more guys with elite ball handling as we know Self prefers two guys that can really handle it playing at the same time when he can. Harris is probably the only guy on the roster next year that fits due to Garrett graduating. Bryce potentially could, I know he’s been coming along as a pg.
Clemence should be fine by his second year to handle playing in the low post. As a HS junior he’s listed at 210 and probably comes to KU in the 220-225 range and then it’ll be up to the new S&C coach to determine Clemence’s ideal playing weight which I’m guessing will be in the 240 range which Clemence should be able to get close to by his sophomore year.
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Exactly. I am hoping Harris bulks up a little bit. Jossell is a D2 player imo. His jump shot actually looks really nice but it will be hard to him to not get abused on defense.
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@BShark said in K.J. Adams:
Exactly. I am hoping Harris bulks up a little bit. Jossell is a D2 player imo. His jump shot actually looks really nice but it will be hard to him to not get abused on defense.
am sure harris is bulks up
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I see Harris as a Russell Robinson upside. He has good defensive potential, can drive a little, not much of an outside shot but could be average with it by his senior year. I don’t see him having NBA potential. They need to have that nba level guard. Hickman has that upside. Jossell is such an unknown. Either we will be surprised with his game or he’s merv Lindsey level and your left shaking your head what the coaching staff saw. I never see braun being a true pg, just in emergencies. Garret should do well next year but the worry is offensively he has only been consistently effective when playing the 4
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@jayhawks2010 and he’s so injury prone
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I feel pretty good about Harris (though he does need to bulk up), but agree that if we sign Hickman Jossell will more than likely, and probably should, transfer. I just wonder if Coach maybe signed him due to keeping an eye on and wanting to sign someone that Jossell might know?
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@jayhawks2010 said in K.J. Adams:
I see Harris as a Russell Robinson upside. He has good defensive potential, can drive a little, not much of an outside shot but could be average with it by his senior year. I don’t see him having NBA potential. They need to have that nba level guard. Hickman has that upside. Jossell is such an unknown. Either we will be surprised with his game or he’s merv Lindsey level and your left shaking your head what the coaching staff saw. I never see braun being a true pg, just in emergencies. Garret should do well next year but the worry is offensively he has only been consistently effective when playing the 4
Russ came in around 200 pounds. Pretty big difference though their game can be similar in the ways you mentioned. Harris might be a better passer, need to see.
I will bet Jossell never sees the floor.
I am not even slightly worried about Garrett. He frequently handled the ball last year to give Dotson a breather and did fine in the game Dotson had to sit out.
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I guess I don’t mean that Garrett can’t run the team or create some looks for others but he was such a mismatch at the 4 spot and most of his offense translated from mismatches in drives. It will be interesting to see if he can score at a similar rate driving against quicker guards
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He played PG frequently last season from what I remember. I’ll rewatch some games and see who guarded him primarily.
I think more important is Agbaji taking a step forward or finding less minutes. There will be less of a strain on Garrett if other players around him are capable of driving it.
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@BShark said in K.J. Adams:
Exactly. I am hoping Harris bulks up a little bit. Jossell is a D2 player imo. His jump shot actually looks really nice but it will be hard to him to not get abused on defense.
Jossell is a lot better than a D2 player. KU was the only offer he officially had that I’m aware of, but he had interest from several other P5 schools and some good mid majors. NC State, Texas A&M, and Missouri were other P5’s interested according to 247 and Louisiana Tech, New Mexico, and South Dakota St. we’re the mid majors interested.
He’s a classic example Self seeing him something shiny in a river bend and hoping that Jossell pans out as gold instead of pyrite. Credit to Jossell for stepping up and challenging himself as well, but it’s probably a case of produce and shine in practice without getting overwhelmed since he’s probably going to redshirt along with Gethro this year or transfer to a mid-major where he can shine.
The biggest concerns I see with Jossell other than his size is he’s not super quick and his shot is pretty slow and low. A couple of videos I’ve watched on Jossell and he struggles at times beating defenders off the dribble which he has to be able to do at KU to be successful. His shot also needs retooling otherwise he’s going to get blocked a lot on close outs. He starts at his chest his release is slow.
He’s got good handles and good vision and is a willing passer as there’s a lot more of his assists in his highlight videos than most players put in there so Self is probably thinking Jossell’s going to be a pass first, low scoring style PG.
I can see why Self would take a shot with Jossell, I just don’t know if he’ll develop enough to effective at KU.
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@jayhawks2010 said in K.J. Adams:
I guess I don’t mean that Garrett can’t run the team or create some looks for others but he was such a mismatch at the 4 spot and most of his offense translated from mismatches in drives. It will be interesting to see if he can score at a similar rate driving against quicker guards
Garrett rarely played as the 4 last year on offense. He primarily functioned as the 2 in Self’s offense. He was also usually guarded by opposing 3’s. Ochai is the one who spent most of his time at the 4 in the 4 guard line up.
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@Texas-Hawk-10 This clashes with what another poster here that knows the DBU coach said. Found the post actually: https://kubuckets.com/topic/8959/latrell-jossell?_=1596322053091 I do hope it works out of course and he should have a year or two to develop before needing to play at all.
He still has that low release after looking at him taking some practice shots on Instagram. Of course that will take time to attempt to fix.
@Texas-Hawk-10 said in K.J. Adams:
He primarily functioned as the 2 in Self’s offense.
This is what I was thinking, but still gonna watch some games to kill time tonight.
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@BShark That post was also 9 months ago before Jossell’s senior season. Being a back up on an AAU team isn’t necessarily indicative of where a player ability level is. Christian Braun was also a back up his AAU team. That’s not meant to compare Jossell to Braun, just some of the evidence used to say Jossell is only a D2 talent isn’t concrete. Also, his interest list wouldn’t have more P5 than mid-majors either. Jossell is someone whose talent level appears to fit in well at the mid-major level.
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Garret played the 4 lol. He caught the ball in the high post in many of the sets and was guarded by the other teams power forward
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I think in certain instances Coach if going small ball will play Garrett and Harris at the same time, allowing Harris to be the primary ballhandler. At any rate, after the season that he just had I am never going to doubt Garrett again.
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I have followed him as he has gone through high school and believe it’s a great get for our program. He was on live ABC local station to announce. Of course they were hoping for UT, but even in the paper today, there was a big article at the top of the front page of the sports section, with the headline: WESTLAKE STAR ADAMS MAKES HIS CHOICE: ‘KANSAS, BABY’ The announcement with over 50 friends and family gave out party favors of bottles of Jayhawk-decorated hand sanitizers.
Here’s the text of the article in case anyone wants to read his glowing praise of HCBS!!
Hope everyone is staying safe and healthy.
ROCK CHALK
**By Danny Davis
Posted Aug 1, 2020 at 3:58 PM
When it comes to college basketball, Westlake fans have a couple of schools in the Big 12 to root for.Three former Chaparrals — Brock Cunningham, Will Baker and Shay Holle — are now playing at Texas. Matthew Mayer is playing at Baylor.
But when asked this weekend about which Big 12 team the Chaparrals should pledge their allegiance to, rising senior KJ Adams presented a new option.
“Kansas, baby. Rock Chalk, Jayhawk,” Adams said with a smile.
Inside a basketball gym in South Austin, Adams announced his commitment to Kansas on Friday on live TV. He revealed his plans in front of 50 mask-wearing friends and family members. Bottles of Jayhawks-decorated hand sanitizer were given out as party favors.
Adams said he made up his mind more than a week ago and that Kansas coach Bill Self was the deciding factor. Adams said he had talked with around a dozen players who did and did not attend Kansas, and that he consistently received positive feedback about KU’s coach.
“With all this quarantine stuff, I didn’t have a chance to go out there,” Adams said. “I’m just blessed to know that no one has ever talked bad about him or said anything about him. That’s rare to see as a coach. You always get one player that says something bad about a coach.”
Adams, a four-star power forward, is the state’s sixth-best prospect for the 2021 recruiting cycle, according to 247Sports’ composite ratings. The 6-foot-7 big man was a unanimous selection to the Statesman’s All-Central Texas team this past winter. As a junior, he averaged 22.6 points and 6.7 rebounds.
What should Kansas fans expect out of him? Westlake coach Robert Lucero had a list of intangibles.
Athleticism? Check.
Defensive versatility? Check.
High basketball IQ? Check.
“Everybody wants to win, but to truly sacrifice for wins and then be happy at the end of the night regardless of how many points you put up, that’s kind of rare,” Lucero said. “I think that attitude will fit in well when he gets to college.”
With his commitment, Adams added another accomplishment to his family’s archive of athletic achievements. His father, Kevin, played football at New Mexico. His sister, Brittany, was an all-conference volleyball player at SMU. And Adams’ mother, the former Yvonne Hill, twice led Texas A&M women’s basketball team in scoring.
Like his mother and sister, Adams could have chosen an in-state school. Texas, Texas Tech and Baylor were among his suitors. Adams, though, has decided to forge his path outside of the state.
“It wasn’t really about location for me,” he said. “It was just about what I can do to be a better basketball player. Location is one thing and basketball is another thing.
“It doesn’t matter about my (comfort level) with the state or who’s there. I think whatever was the best place for basketball for me, wherever it is, I was going to go there.”**
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@RockChalkinTexas nice reporting! How’s the garden?
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Hey there!!! Burning up. Got no rain from Hurricane Hanna. It’s been over 100 for better than 30 days so far and this whole week it’s going to be over 100 with no rain in sight. We got a good crop of beans and cucumbers but they are not worth watering anymore. Mostly concentrating on keeping all my trees, palm trees and flower gardens from drying up. Have put off going anywhere and have only gone to grocery store 3 times since March 12th. It’s bad in the Austin area and so grateful I live where I can control who we come into contact with. We ran out of milk this weekend (for white russians!!! for me) and may need to go to the market in the closest city to me, about 12 miles away. It’s not a very crowded store but you sure do pay more than twice the price say at Walmart, but not having to deal with that outweighs the cost, IMO.
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You know, off topic, but after that last post I have to say this - we’ll be okay everyone. I wish all of my KU Bucketeers nothing but the best, and we will beat this fucker! This country and world has faced alot worse.
…I like the Adams and Clemence pickups, now we need to nab Hickman and Bates
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I’m happy with the Adams pickup, but have one other item of concern.
For an interior player with D1 size and athleticism, he averaged less than 7 rebounds per game. HS basketball affords plenty of rebound opportunities. I would hope he averages better than 9 rebounds a game this season at a minimum (10 to 12 would be ideal). Less means he’s either not working hard enough on the glass, or he is not a good rebounder. Each has its own issues.
If he isn’t working hard enough, that will only get worse in college because there are guys whose scholarships literally depend on grabbing every available rebound. If you aren’t as hungry as them, you won’t eat.
If he isn’t a good rebounder, again, that will get worse in college because that means he has either poor positioning or poor timing, both of which will hurt him when he can’t simply use his size and athleticism to grab a handful of boards each night.
I will be watching him closely this year to see where things go. He has talent, but, as his ranking suggests, there are some holes in his game as well.
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@justanotherfan Everything I’ve read indicates that he is a strong rebounder and gives good effort. Said to be extremely coachable and sacrifice personal accomplishments for wins. That said, the number is low as you mentioned so I would lean towards something besides effort. We will have to see how that progresses his SR year and then as he potentially gets PT at KU.
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Hard to say, but he hustles on the court and has size.
We don’t know how he was utilized in high school. Doubtful he was planted under the basket all the time. I see often he was on the perimeter to shoot or drive.
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@BShark 7 boards a game doesn’t seem too bad for a 6’6 guy, but he was probably one of the taller guys on the court.
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I’ve never seen a KU freshman show up to Kansas knowing how to rebound. Wait… I said NEVER… okay… thinking, thinking… I’ll keep to my original statement.
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@justanotherfan 9 is a lot under Self, especially a freshman. That’s not just being great that’s being in and rebounding for enough minutes to produce volume all season long.
Before these last two years, where Doke averaged 10+ and Dedric did the year before, we didn’t have a 10+ rebounder since Tom Rob’s senior year. I don’t think we had any 9+s either during that time
@drgnslayr JoJo was pretty great at 8.1 for a freshman.
I think in the 7s would be really great production for us for his size. I think it will be less but that doesn’t mean he can’t still be a great rebound in less minutes.
Wait did you mean per 40? Then disregard.
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Happy to have KJ aboard. Tools to work with and were able to close on him so quickly after the shocking loss of Brown. Not going to complain about any Top 100 kid coming here with the unknown future. I’m happy he decided KU was home for him and hopefully when he gets to campus he’ll develop into a nice 4 year guy for the program.
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@BeddieKU23 Yeah he mentioned deciding over a week ago. Sounds like a deal got worked out within a day or two of Brown picking Baylor which is pretty remarkable. Just add Hickman plus a 5 and call it a class.
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@BeddieKU23 And as @BShark said, add a couple more players and call it day. What I like about this class so far is how it’s coming together early, might have the entire class signed by November.
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@approxinfinity said in K.J. Adams:
@justanotherfan 9 is a lot under Self, especially a freshman. That’s not just being great that’s being in and rebounding for enough minutes to produce volume all season long.
When I say 9, I’m talking about in HS this year (assuming he gets a full season). A guy with D1 size and athleticism should be able to get 5 boards just getting off the bus.
Many top D1 PG prospects average 5 rebounds per game purely because of their athleticism (John Wall, Derrick Rose, Eric Gordon, Lonzo Ball, etc.). That’s why for a wing guy to have just 7 a game sticks out to me.
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@drgnslayr said in K.J. Adams:
I’ve never seen a KU freshman show up to Kansas knowing how to rebound. Wait… I said NEVER… okay… thinking, thinking… I’ll keep to my original statement.
Thomas Robinson. Averaged almost 3 rebounds a game in just 7 minutes as a freshman. Averaged over 6 rebounds a game as a sophomore in just 14 minutes. TRob understood how to get position and pursue the basketball.
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At least 1 high level guard for sure and Hickman has been my #1 choice since we offered.
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@BeddieKU23 said in K.J. Adams:
At least 1 high level guard for sure and Hickman has been my #1 choice since we offered.
He’s a top 25 type guy, imo. I don’t care where he ends up in the rankings.
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@justanotherfan gotcha gotcha. Thanks.
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Hickman will announce for the Jayhawks within the next couple of weeks imo, and also maybe a big. Bates will hold off for a time, waiting to see what he is offered. Yes, call me Marcradamus. I hope
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@BShark said in K.J. Adams:
@BeddieKU23 said in K.J. Adams:
At least 1 high level guard for sure and Hickman has been my #1 choice since we offered.
He’s a top 25 type guy, imo. I don’t care where he ends up in the rankings.
Agree he might not be elite at any one thing but I watched a lot of his film and he’s exactly what we covet at the position. He would play early here. Imagine a combination of Harris, Hickman, Thompson & Braun in the backcourt in 21-22. Solid if you ask me
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@BeddieKU23 I would say that that would be a very solid rotation. I am liking the make-up of our team for not only this season (and I hope we have one, the nation needs a distraction) but also next year.
The NCAA crap will by then be resolved, and all things considered Coach and co. have done a great job in bringing in players. I am just saying, I am not so sure that Brown would have been a better fit than Adams. I think that Tyon will be around for a couple years, would Brown have been able to beat a senior Tyon and then after that Braun out? And let us not forget Enaruna and Wilson (though like some, I think that Wilson might transfer after this season and I wouldn’t blame him).
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Should be a solid core. You could theoretically have Sr’s: Agbaji, McCormack & Grant-Foster, Jr’s: Braun & Enaruna, 3rd year players Wilson & Harris & a second year of Thompson. That might be enough to make up for the lack of top end elite talent at any one position.
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@BeddieKU23 said in K.J. Adams:
Should be a solid core. You could theoretically have Sr’s: Agbaji, McCormack & Grant-Foster, Jr’s: Braun & Enaruna, 3rd year players Wilson & Harris & a second year of Thompson. That might be enough to make up for the lack of top end elite talent at any one position.
If Grant Foster stays healthy, look out for him as a senior. The level of improvement from HS to now is mind blowing. That type of trajectory is very rare.
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Does Grant Foster wear sunglasses backwards?
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@mayjay banned
