Bye Bye Ernest



  • @BeddieKU23 said in Bye Bye Ernest:

    Another casualty to the portal. No use anymore getting attached to kids

    OUCH. Oh well, I wish him well at his future location.



  • I get it. I don’t like it, but I get it.

    He’s going to tear it up somewhere. Hopefully not against us.



  • Also, the general consensus is that this hurts us down the road. Which is true, but…

    This also hurts us immediately.

    The scout team takes a huge hit. This is a big experiment because it’s hard to quantify the value of the scout team. However, history suggests that the best Bill Self teams consistently have had outstanding scout teams. For this team to do great things, they will not have that benefit.

    Without some of the guys who transfered, our scout team is not going to be able to push the starters in the same way. Ernest and Zuby had skill and size that would test Hunter and would resemble the kind of competition he would likely face.

    I don’t know if this is a great analogy, but it seems like it would be like getting a great car and a great driver at the expense of experienced crew members… And generally when you compete at the highest level, the winning difference is not just about the driver and the car. (I don’t know much about racing so, maybe this is a terrible comparison… but hopefully it gets the point across that the guys that don’t get the limelight also contribute significantly.)



  • @BigBad great points, not saying you’re wrong. It might take another couple years for someone like Udeh to develope the skills Hunter already has and has proven to be able to demonstrate against P5 “Big 10” competition. He is going to make the game so much easier for everyone on the court around him. 40% from 3 threat that can back his man down from the high post, and vision to find the open shooter/cutter. Someone like Timberlake 40%+ proven sharp shooter who doesn’t wilt or shy away from taking the big shots. Morris is probably the most explosive athletic guard Self has had including Dotson in years, with plenty of Big-12 experience. Probably would have averaged impressive #'s has he not been stuck behind all those returning stars on the perimeter for Texas. Guarding KU is going to be a match-up nightmare for opposing teams. Can’t say that about last year’s team or even the NC team.



  • @BigBad said in Bye Bye Ernest:

    @madmax said in Bye Bye Ernest:

    The plus I see is Kansas won’t have down years anymore. No more wondering and waiting for a window to have a great team. Each coming year will be National Champions or bust. How painful has it been going into a year knowing the team has a glaring weakness that inevitably will result in an early tourney ouster.

    What proof do we have that Coach Self can navigate this many new guys? The key to his success has always been guys who have been in his system a few years. Self is EXTREMELY difficult to deal with for first year guys. Look how many freshman can’t deal with him. Look how Remi had issues for a lot of his one year. It’s always worked because it was a weeding out process that led to every year having a mentally strong team filled with guys who withstood it all.

    People are looking at all the incoming guys and assuming they will all be great. Self’s history proves that about 75% of newcomers will either struggle with his demands and/or won’t earn his trust enough to garner playing time. On top of that we now have only TWO guys left to help the new guys navigate it.

    Of course it’s possible Self truly has softened. I just don’t believe it.

    So, explain McCullar to me.



  • @Jethro Did you not see the 75% number I listed?



  • @BigBad

    Can’t like your post enough.

    This is truly unchartered territory in Self’s career here



  • @BigBad He blows a hole in your narrative, even considering your 75% number you pulled out of thin air. I would say Remy blows your theory out of the water, too. If there was ever an example of a player integrating into our system, it would be Remy. Not only was he the star of our team throughout the NCAA tournament, his block of Love’s drive to the basket was one of the key moments that allowed us to win a national championship. To go from playing absolutely no defense, not learning any of our plays to becoming a star in the NCAA tournament was an incredible job by our coaching staff integrating Remy into our system.



  • @jayballer67 I totally agree that this could bite KU in the ass in the future. Hopefully not, but I will not be surprised. Recruiting over what you already have and not allowing growing pains with the younger bigs or any player for that matter will bring hesitation to any HS recruit and his family. The IARP and now this could hurt recruiting for years to come unless the player is more interested about money than playing basketball. And unless there is a clause within the NIL that states that maximum payment is based upon effort/performance, then there is no guarantee that the players will perform to their potential.
    Obviously, I don’t know much about how NIL works, so if I am wrong about that, then let me know.



  • @Jethro You want a whole team of guys like Remy? I’m glad he stepped up in March, but it did take the entire season for him to buy in. Guys like Mitch, Dave, Och, Braun and Harris were the real Jayhawks on that team.



  • @Jethro

    So its a theory that Self is hard on new guys? It’s a theory that most first year guys struggle under him? Again most gloss over some of this because there is always a vet who steps in and fills the void. This year there won’t be any of those so it’s going to be REALLY interesting.



  • @DanR we will never have those guys anymore. Those are the guys I love to watch, guys that love KU, like Dtae, Frank, so many more of our 3 and 4 yr guys. Play for the name on the front.



  • So - who pays for all the gallivanting? When a player jumps to a different school (or 4 or 5 of them), who’s picking up the tab? The player and his family? The school that they transfer to? The taxpayers of that state? The more I think about this, the pisseder off I get.



  • @patoh3 said in Bye Bye Ernest:

    @jayballer67 I totally agree that this could bite KU in the ass in the future. Hopefully not, but I will not be surprised. Recruiting over what you already have and not allowing growing pains with the younger bigs or any player for that matter will bring hesitation to any HS recruit and his family. The IARP and now this could hurt recruiting for years to come unless the player is more interested about money than playing basketball. And unless there is a clause within the NIL that states that maximum payment is based upon effort/performance, then there is no guarantee that the players will perform to their potential.
    Obviously, I don’t know much about how NIL works, so if I am wrong about that, then let me know.

    The NIl is turning College sports into a big free Agency. - Hunter stated in an article that NIL was an increase in his pay---- over Michigan, saying that there was nobody in the room would not take a 10,000 dollar increase. - It’s all about the biggest bidder. you can say what you want but bottom line is now - - It’s not about a School , it’s not about a Coach - -it’s all about the money. I saw a post sometime back about how now all College players is just farm system , kids getting money off the NIL & it’s only going to continue to get worse - -Amateur as we knew it will no longer exists, the fun is being taken out of the game , the days of kids playing ball for the love of the game-- -is gone. It’s for sure more of a business now then in the pat.

    Sure the ultimate goal for the kids is to make the NBA , but before there was no one an dones, fans could connect with the players gt to know the kids - -today not so much, it’s making it harder to pull for the sport -everything has to be about Money , Money , Money



  • Imagine there is great value in those all-american level college players that are not NBA prospects might be the most sought after guys. You can get multiple years on elite level players.



  • So - Udeh’s decision to leave right before the deadline ….is it because we’re getting Mgbako on Friday?



  • @nuleafjhawk oh man then don’t ask about football recruiting where we have 100+ total official and unofficial visitors and their families many weekends



  • @nuleafjhawk said in Bye Bye Ernest:

    The more I think about this, the pisseder off I get.

    I have a hard time getting as upset about all this as you are, but I still nominate this sentence for PHOF!



  • @wissox yeah, he’s a big man transfer from North Dakota State. In the draft now, but if he pulls out KU will be a player. 6’11 235, has a lot of skill. Was their leading scorer, rebounder, shot blocker, and assist man last year. Profiles as a 4 or 5



  • @jayballer67 said in Bye Bye Ernest:

    @patoh3 said in Bye Bye Ernest:

    @jayballer67 I totally agree that this could bite KU in the ass in the future. Hopefully not, but I will not be surprised. Recruiting over what you already have and not allowing growing pains with the younger bigs or any player for that matter will bring hesitation to any HS recruit and his family. The IARP and now this could hurt recruiting for years to come unless the player is more interested about money than playing basketball. And unless there is a clause within the NIL that states that maximum payment is based upon effort/performance, then there is no guarantee that the players will perform to their potential.
    Obviously, I don’t know much about how NIL works, so if I am wrong about that, then let me know.

    The NIl is turning College sports into a big free Agency. - Hunter stated in an article that NIL was an increase in his pay---- over Michigan, saying that there was nobody in the room would not take a 10,000 dollar increase. - It’s all about the biggest bidder. you can say what you want but bottom line is now - - It’s not about a School , it’s not about a Coach - -it’s all about the money. I saw a post sometime back about how now all College players is just farm system , kids getting money off the NIL & it’s only going to continue to get worse - -Amateur as we knew it will no longer exists, the fun is being taken out of the game , the days of kids playing ball for the love of the game-- -is gone. It’s for sure more of a business now then in the pat.

    Sure the ultimate goal for the kids is to make the NBA , but before there was no one an dones, fans could connect with the players gt to know the kids - -today not so much, it’s making it harder to pull for the sport -everything has to be about Money , Money , Money

    At the same time, fans demand more amenities, better tv production, the best coaches. All that takes more revenue. Stands to reason that getting the best players (which has NEVER been free) was next.

    Hard to be that upset about it when coaches bolt for the next big thing in the middle of the night and leave their players behind. If loyalty was a big thing, many folks would’ve quit following the sport years ago.



  • Lets see how this feels for a year and if it sucks, lets find a constructive way to complain. I just dont see it being unsuccessful. I can see it being less interesting. Want kids I care about. Some of these freshmen better be cool and stick around.



  • I’m all for a NIL salary cap. Even though it’s not really in the best interest of Kansas basketball in particular.



  • On the flipside is it so bad to root for people and less exclusively for places? Next year we might have to register globalbuckets.com and migrate the board



  • @approxinfinity that’s today’s NBA!



  • The good news here is it likely means Hunter’s plan is to stay for two years. It sucks less when you think of it as trading 3 years of Udeh for 2 of Hunter.



  • @mayjay I want to be more mellow, but I’m going the opposite direction the older I get. Or maybe I just don’t care what people think anymore. Lol



  • @BeddieKU23 I guess I didn’t see the announcement that Udeh was leaving??! Or is this just speculation??



  • @coolfool13 Our town criers just told us but didn’t put any links here. Try googling “udeh” and you’ll find it right away.



  • @dylans said in Bye Bye Ernest:

    I’m all for a NIL salary cap. Even though it’s not really in the best interest of Kansas basketball in particular.

    I’m with you, I think something has to be done. I’m all for the guys making money while they are here, have income, but they better get a grip on this before it’s over the top- -these guy gets a full ride while they are on Schoi so that in it’self should eliminate a portion of their cost - they should have plenty of money otherwise - -if that don’t do something it’s gonna just blow up



  • Ok, what would stop Ernest from coming back in a year? Let’s don’t throw Momma from the train just yet.



  • We act like a lot of these athletes couldn’t get an academic scholarship if sports wasn’t in the picture. College athletics is a full time job on top of the academics, and everyone is making piles of cash off them. Most never make NBA/NFL level pro, and they risk getting injured and never making it to the pros while making money for these colleges due to rules unjustly prohibiting them from going straight to the pros. If an athlete gets deceived into committing to a school that never intended on playing them to the level they were pitched and recruited, then they should be allowed to move on the greener pastures.



  • Shit



  • Saw this on Twitter:

    Here’s my prediction for how next season will go for KU.

    -Early struggles due to entire team of newcomers adjusting to Self.

    -Fans will meltdown - blame the transfer portal.

    -Hawks will get hot in Feb.

    -Win Big 12

    -Head into March as the favorites to win it all

    Book it





  • @FarmerJayhawk but we weren’t that team. We have a coach that developed those hidden gems/gyms! Frank, dtae-future mayor of Lawrence, young Och who stayed and also local CB. that led to a DaJuan Harris signed at a D-2 school. Then there’s the most cussed D-Mac and prison Mitch, we needed him too. Even the crowd loves Chris Teahan! I wanted to see Udeh develop, I wanted to see more dancing on the sidelines and in the ncaa big dance.



  • @Texas-Hawk-10 we’ll just see what happens but he ain’t starting on good team.



  • @Crimsonorblue22 our last title team had 8 new players. Even guys we love like Withey and Newman were transfers. One of the constants of the Self era has been roster turnover. There will be more guys that stick around and develop. The portal stuff will slow down once the Covid seniors all exhaust eligibility. I’m all for letting players have the same ability to pursue opportunities as coaches.



  • Keeping track of our rejects:

    • Pettiford- East Carolina
    • Cam- Boise State
    • Zach- UC Santa Barbara
    • Rice- NC State
    • Zuby- visiting Nova, St. Johns, TCU, SDSU
    • Cuffe- ?
    • Joe Yesefu- ?
    • Udeh- ?


  • @DanR Yesufu committed to Wazzu



  • I hope Zuby ends up at TCU and Udeh at Baylor



  • @FarmerJayhawk I don’t think you get me



  • @DanR me too. Would love to keep them in conference. I think you’ve made me realize that even with Bryce Thompson, to whom I didnt feel very attached, I still enjoyed him being in conference to be able to see him grow.



  • @Jethro you forgot one. Lose in the second round to a nobody.



  • found this kind of interesting , was doing my searchs of other boards and came across this. Not sure if the staff has said anything but their fans sure showing interest talking about Ernest- - -And that is DUKE. , they all seem to like rest, was talking about his rim protection how he had 4 blocks against them in 13 minutes- I guess Mitchell and other players have already hollered at him. Like I said I don’t know if Schyer has contacted or thinking about it or not. - -That would be really good for Ernest



  • @jayballer67 hate to lose Udeh but even worse to Duke! 🤮



  • @jayballer67 said in Bye Bye Ernest:

    found this kind of interesting , was doing my searchs of other boards and came across this. Not sure if the staff has said anything but their fans sure showing interest talking about Ernest- - -And that is DUKE. , they all seem to like rest, was talking about his rim protection how he had 4 blocks against them in 13 minutes- I guess Mitchell and other players have already hollered at him. Like I said I don’t know if Schyer has contacted or thinking about it or not. - -That would be really good for Ernest

    They’ve been looking for a shot blocking 5 to put next to filipowski



  • Trade for Mackenzie



  • I think he lands at TN or UCLA.



  • @rcjhdraft said in Bye Bye Ernest:

    @jayballer67 said in Bye Bye Ernest:

    found this kind of interesting , was doing my searchs of other boards and came across this. Not sure if the staff has said anything but their fans sure showing interest talking about Ernest- - -And that is DUKE. , they all seem to like rest, was talking about his rim protection how he had 4 blocks against them in 13 minutes- I guess Mitchell and other players have already hollered at him. Like I said I don’t know if Schyer has contacted or thinking about it or not. - -That would be really good for Ernest

    They’ve been looking for a shot blocking 5 to put next to filipowski

    Well we shall see if they contact. - I would be doing back flips for him, if he was a land at a place like that -he deserves that great kid



  • @Crimsonorblue22 said in Bye Bye Ernest:

    @jayballer67 hate to lose Udeh but even worse to Duke! 🤮

    I just want to see him land at a place where he can play , the higher the status of the school the better. Doesn’t matter to me , I’m even happier that he is not in conference, he come back play against us and play out his mind


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