Brandon Ingram Decision



  • Per Paul Biancardi twitter “Just spoke with Espn # 12 Brandon Ingram he has home visits with #NCState (Mon) , #Duke (Tues ) #UNC (Wed) and plans to decide on April 27”

    All the NC schools are getting the last words. Either way, one week from tomorrow it will be official and hopefully its good news for Jayhawk nation.



  • @RockkChalk The Duke coaches prioritizing Ingram, their top recruiting target on the board in the Class of 2015, on the first available day they can do so should be no surprise.

    Ingram, the #11 player in the Class of 2015 according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings, is expected to make his college decision later this month. He stated last weekend at the Nike Hoop Summit that Duke, Kentucky, Kansas and North Carolina were his favorite schools heading into the final weeks of his process. link text

    Where’s Ol’ Roy in all this mess. No telling where that Silver Fox is in all this recruiting. But again, Ingram isn’t necessarily staying in N Carolina. I really don’t think he would go to UK either. They are stacked with the possibility of Brown committing and Poythress, Lee, and Willis all at UK. I also think his friendship with Bragg just might win out. Remember, they talk every other day, if not every day.

    Maybe a better question is where’s Self? Why isn’t Self doing a quick turn around visit like Dook, UNC, or NCSt? I think Self may have gotten some good news Jayhawk Nation.



  • @truehawk93 you seem so positive. I hope you are right, those 2 are my choices.



  • @Crimsonorblue22 It’s like being a millionaire and then going back to rags. I know what it’s like to be wrong. It’s not the first and maybe not the last. But, Ingram’s recruiting has become all too interesting.

    Worse case, Ingram tells Self he’s staying in N Carolina and that he’s down to the three N Carolina teams, but that makes no sense if they are all making last minute pitches. Then again, maybe it does.

    What happened to UK?

    link text

    Well, this may answer my question about Ol’ Roy. Wow, I didn’t know this. So, UNC may be out. This means he’s down to Dook or NCSt? But, if he was going to commit to UNC, and was staying home, wouldn’t it make sense for him to choose either Dook or NCSt if they had a chance?

    I’m going out on a limb and I’m posting it here first folks, my deductive reasoning has him coming to KU because Bragg knew that he was leaning toward UNC, but for the sanction mess, knew Ingram would come to KU. Brandon Ingram chooses KU on 27 April.

    I’d just get out of tobacco row because he’s going to piss off the other N Carolina teams no matter if he stays in state. However, a KU choice would be better and fair to his state schools. He gets to be with his friend Carlton Bragg, and he would’ve already chosen if staying in the state.



  • Duke getting a 2nd visit in less than a week sticks out to me as the likely winner for him. Just seems odd that they would get another visit unless the 1st one didn’t happen in the first place.

    If Ingram stays in state, great for him his recruitment dragged on for nothing then, at least in terms of dragging KU along for the ride until the end. His last 3 visits are all with in-state programs so if his mind isn’t already set on KU he’s not coming.

    It just further shows how many obstacles KU has to fight against with out of state prospects. We are the only Elite school in the nation without a plethora of nearby talent to choose from.

    We are in the same boat for Diallo, and a home school that has done everything possible from a coaching change, to cornering him with 2 of his lead recruiters from other programs. We all certainly wish that at least Diallo will pledge to be a Jayhawk because of the sheer effort that has been put into his recruitment the past 2 years. A fan base gets more weary each passing day that we won’t get anyone… Some good news needs to start coming our way.



  • I’m pretty sure this boils down to Kansas vs Duke. Most of what I’ve read points him to Duke. Too bad Sonny Vaccaro isn’t still with Adidas… we’d have Ingram and others if he was.

    There is no balance in the ShoeCo war.



  • @drgnslayr

    I saw all the chatter suggests Duke as well. It is what it is if that’s the case. And it makes sense because of the locality and Duke needing anyone to fill the roster.



  • If we do not land Newman, Brown, or Ingram, we seriously have to question our investment of time and effort in the OADs.

    If we are able to land Diallo, it will be a big relief. But it won’t really change the discussion points after this drama is done, if we whiff otherwise.

    Diallo is a must have. Ingram, Brown or Newman – one of them – appear to be must-haves in the OAD arena. Are we a player, or aren’t we?

    If we land one of the perimeter guys, and Diallo, Self’s investment of time and effort would seem to have been justified.



  • @HighEliteMajor

    If we do not land Diallo then Self screwed up royally not locking Tyler Davis in the summer as you pointed out before. I thought Davis was a lock to KU, then we apparently didn’t give him the commitment he wanted. Shame on Self if Diallo goes elsewhere, I’ll forever hold that one against him.



  • @BeddieKU23 The Davis thing was really strange. He seemed like a dead-lock for Kansas. It is perhaps the most stark example of the price we have paid for the OAD dance. Right now, I’d still rather have Davis than Diallo, if given the choice.



  • Notice the paradox: we vigilantly sweat, yearn, and dream to land “the-next-OAD”, yet we’ve seen the pattern of our system working the best with not-top-10 guys, but still some McDAAs (who were multi-year guys) along with very notable top50 guys like TRob, Morris Twins, Withey, Russell Robinson, EJ, Releford…

    Again, I think Self goes for the top guys, simply because he knows many of them will take more than 1 year to become high-draft departures. Look at KY, Dakari Johnson, Doron Lamb, etc…all were supposed OADs, who stayed for more than 1 year. This isn’t just a Self-system phenomenon. Takes some guys longer.

    Serviceable as a frosh, vs leaving if a lotto pick are not necessarily the same thing. Sometimes they are, like an Okafor or a Julius Randle, but other times not.



  • @BeddieKU23 So a kid makes a decision based on whatever are in that kid’s head (because a top kid like Diallo can go wherever he chooses), but we will go slap Self if that kid chooses elsewhere?

    Do you know anything about 7ft “Zeus”/greek god statue Kaleb Tarczewski, that Self was after hard, but he went to AZ? What happened there? Should we “not forgive” Self for that “miss”? If you think so, let me know, and I’ll tell you exactly what Self said about Tark’s recruitment (simply as 1 example).

    This recruiting wanking-off is ZERO different than what’s going on over on other school’s forums and chat sites. Nothing new.


  • Banned

    This is the cold reality of recruiting OAD’s. One day you wake up and your left holding the bag. I get going after the best talent but at some point you have to ask yourself when does this become pointless, or where do you draw the line?

    These top recruits have had more than enough time and visits to know where they want to, or have to go. What are they waiting on? I always hear such and such school is making a late push and is closing in on such recruit. Really? What kind of pushing are they doing that they could change a kids mind in such a short time?

    It used to be a kid knew what college they wanted to attend when they where in junior high. Now they just sit back and let all the offers come in. Kind of makes you think what’s in those offers? Huh? I think HCBS should still recruit the best, but I also think he should have a line in the sand. He shouldn’t sacrifice the future of the program to chase some kid that is just looking for the best deal. To many quality kids in the 20 to 50 range that want to play for KU, to just dangle in the wind so you can see what a top talent is going to do.

    Besides that why would you want to be left standing when the musical chairs of OAD stops?



  • I am actually good with our current roster. I am letting go of any hopes of landing anyone else in this class. KU has a bunch of glue guys and future NBA’ers kind of like our 2012 team and I believe if given the opportunity Mickelson will flourish this year. Look at Jeff Witheys numbers back in the 10-11 season. They have very similar numbers and I believe he is due for some PT of we don’t land Diallo.



  • @DoubleDD Loved your phrase “many kids in the 20-50 range” (waiting to see what the OADs do), as I think those have been our best kids. I’d even say 10-70 ranked. That 11-20 is guys like Chalmers, EJ, Sherron, Selden, Cole, maybe Rush…and the 51-70ish range can find gems like Mason, Tyshawn, Graham, and possibly Darnell Jackson. But it must be remembered that Jackson wasn’t even serviceable his frosh year.

    Some kids actually blossom by their Sr year, while others plateau-off, don’t know who that will be. I think of the developmental guys, Kaun plateaued off. Jackson steadily improved. Mason is a shooting star, a damn stud. Graham is right there, an outta the park home run find. Lucas has to show us more in his Sr. year, or he’s a plateaued guy. Same goes for Jamari–show us more. KYoung was a plateaued player. If he played all 4yrs for us, he may have been more of a stretch 4, instead of just an energy-guy that he was. I still recall his 2 3s vs THEOhioState (lol).



  • @ralster By the way, was able to read all of your posts over the weekend about your contact with coach Self. Great stuff. Really appreciate you sharing all of that.



  • @Statmachine Why do you think Mickelson was so hopelessly stuck behind Lucas and Traylor? I guess I tend to think that won’t change much. Plus, Mickelson doesn’t appear to be Withey from a skill standpoint at least at present; but Withey looked rough, too. I really worry – @stupidmichael like – about our post play in our current system, with our personnel.



  • @HighEliteMajor

    Exactly and Mickelson had a full year to learn the system and earn minutes and he could only get them after all else had failed. I was intrigued by Hunter’s defensive ability but anyone who watched him knew his feel for the game just lacked. I’m not comfortable that the same roster will produce better results. Adding players that exceed our current players talent is the only way to go at this point and those are becoming harder to find.



  • @DoubleDD

    “It used to be a kid knew what college they wanted to attend when they where in junior high. Now they just sit back and let all the offers come in. Kind of makes you think what’s in those offers? Huh? I think HCBS should still recruit the best, but I also think he should have a line in the sand. He shouldn’t sacrifice the future of the program to chase some kid that is just looking for the best deal. To many quality kids in the 20 to 50 range that want to play for KU, to just dangle in the wind so you can see what a top talent is going to do.”

    I watched “Sole Man” over the weekend and it was like a light bulb going off a hundred times. These kids are probably waiting to get some shoe verbal commitments. There is obviously quite a bit of negotiations going on that none of us are privy to.

    I can’t believe Self would put himself back in the same position he was in with Tarc… and Diallo isn’t even a true 5. He must have some knowledge where he feels we have some leverage, otherwise… he has gambled our entire program off on a long shot. I give him credit for being a guy who learns his lessons in life (eventually). He didn’t get to where he is at today strictly by being stubborn. Stubborn works when you are right… but when the recruiting season closes at a blue blood school who couldn’t recruit a real 5 in a couple of years, there is nothing right about that!

    This is where my head is at right now, otherwise I’d go off on a total destructive rage!



  • @DoubleDD

    These top recruits have had more than enough time and visits to know where they want to, or have to go. What are they waiting on? I always hear such and such school is making a late push and is closing in on such recruit. Really? What kind of pushing are they doing that they could change a kids mind in such a short time?

    Very good point. In the case of Diallo, a coaching change and 2 assistants directly involved with him jumped to the home team so in his case probably a lot has changed. But if he’s truly hasn’t made his mind up then this recruiting has become an uncontrollable wack job.



  • The Basketball Diary ‏@TheBBallDiary · 6m6 minutes ago
    They are finalist but hearing Kentucky, NC State, UCLA are out of the running for Brandon Ingram. Leaving Duke, Kansas, UNC as potentials.

    Couldn’t help my self and had to post this…



  • Self did change his hi/lo last season. He positioned guys differently and had different motion.

    Isn’t it time he gives his offense a new name? Isn’t this a branding issue?

    I know I have zero knowledge about what happens behind the recruiting scenes… but does anyone believe that Self’s hi/lo ISN’T being used against us on post recruits? Heck yes it is. All the schools competing against us are saying how Self will force these guys to live in the low post. No big wants to do that. And also they will be forced into making their living with back to the basket moves… No big wants to do that.

    Maybe we can all help out. Seriously. I bet some recruits check out message boards, too. Since Self doesn’t have a marketing background enough to understand branding, we do and we can help. I have two degrees in marketing and spent a lifetime working in sports marketing. This hi-lo horse has run it’s last leg. Time to send it out to pasture or shoot it in the head to put it out of its misery.

    I’m open to suggestions…

    At this moment I’m thinking we call it the “POWER FAN.” If you look at the goal from above, the perimeter 3 line makes a 180-degree fan. Our post guys can be positioned anywhere on offense… whether it means a high ball screen, base line, FT line, out on the perimeter to hit their own 3, our out away from the basket to drive it to the hole. We give our post guys full range.

    If you look at Perry in last year’s offense, he was anything but in a typical hi-lo position. He was bombing 3s from the top of the key or on the sides. He was positioned on the base line and slashed into the paint. He was setup around the FT line as a passing hub. And once in a while he was in the low post to take on a mismatch.

    Doesn’t get any more diverse than that! But we fail to take advantage of it because of a failure to brand it! If this was a product on the market it would fail without proper branding.



  • @drgnslayr I call it the get our best scorer the ball where he can do his thing.(Perry) it worked really well til the knee injury.



  • Duke is putting an all-out recruiting blitz on 5-star wing Brandon Ingram

    Our only mention was in the piles of teams being considered.





  • @drgnslayr

    SBNation article. Some wanna be experts opinion.



  • @sfbahawk

    I wonder what that ride cost? I guess Booker’s parents have money?



  • @HighEliteMajor Thanks. My takeaway from all of it, and some of the well-articulated thoughts by others here with their impressions, is that Self has the guys that he does, and they each come with what attributes (or not) that they possess. Some will get better, some wont. But Self has who he has by the time it is October. He was once that midmajor coach that took a no-McD Tulsa squad to the E8 and 32-5. Its no different than what Few and Marshall and Shaka showed with an upperclassman squad.

    We wistfully see what K did with freshmen, against Bo Ryan’s veteran squad, but we also see that Wisc game was up for grabs until the final 60sec or so. Wisc was up 8 with 3-4min. Plus, we saw how pretty NDame looked against WSU, and against KY, where again it came down to the last few possessions. To me, its hard to draw big conclusions from a W that was anybody’s game until the final 2min. That of course can be said for Self, if he best squad ever got beat by Davidson or Memphis in '08. Maybe he wouldn’t even be here, who knows. But I see his own successes with past schools, teams, and I look for the common denominator (for his system), and it keeps coming up as experience and toughness (to also match some level of 10-70ranked ability). To blow a 17pt lead to IowaSt in the BigXII Tourney Champ game, simply underlined the toughness/poise component was missing. Same thing for the WSU game. Mason and Graham cant do it alone.

    When the announcers were saying pregame that WSU’s interior could be exploited, and we were simply unable to do it, it simply left me wondering what Cliff or more Hunter could have done. Selden no-show is a big part of the problem, as is letting a 6’4 post player (Wessel) beat you. My take is Self went back to trying to develop the post game, hoping for a lightbulb moment, as no team gets far in the dance without post play…and because Greene fell off due to injury. Problem is Cliff was done, and Ellis wasn’t the same either.

    To me, Mason’s mindset needs to infect the whole team. The experience, finally, after 2 yrs of waiting should be there, along with top 50 talent throughout. But the mindset/attack/baller mentality & some confident swag has got to be there. Chalmers had an abundance of that, as did Collins and Tyshawn. KYo had it, while Lucas is spotty, as is Jamari. Withey developed it. It can be done for the developmental guys, but it takes time.

    Its just a complex interplay to me, is all.



  • @drgnslayr His father Melvin Booker played basketball at the University of Missouri and in the NBA and other professional leagues. He was the 1994 Big 8 POY. Forgive me for the c and p from Wiki.


  • Banned

    @sfbahawk

    No please I have no desire for KU’s females acting in this way. Let UK have their way. Maybe in couple of years a UK recruiting porno tape will surface.



  • @ralster

    I thought the biggest factor in the Wisconsin-Duke game was how the refs totally flipped their calls the second half. It was glaring…

    Even though I think this way, I also believe the game was for Wisconsin to grab. In my books, they were far superior, especially in experience.

    I thought they just played too cautious and didn’t attack. Okafor should have had zero impact (IMO) because he should have had his 3rd foul within just a few minutes in the first half. Frank had several opportunities to go to work on him but he would back off and throw the ball out (from the post or baseline). Those were missed opportunities, even more important than their missed FTs.

    I will never understand why teams play different in the championship game over the style that brought them there. Wisconsin didn’t take advantage of their size and experience in the post. To be honest, I wasn’t even expecting this game to be close. Wisconsin should have pounded Duke, and by letting them hang around Duke built momentum.

    It was tough to experience because Wisconsin doesn’t get many chances at a title, and Duke gets them all the time.

    @DoubleDD

    If I caught my daughter doing that I’d cut her tongue out myself.



  • @DoubleDD we need to stay classy!



  • @drgnslayr Duke had an easier game in semis.



  • @drgnslayr

    This game is going to hurt for a long time from my perspective. It’s going to fester. I hate that it’s going to be the refereeing to cause the festering, but it is. My view of UW was they played that game similar to how they’ve played all year. They did pass it too much, but they always passed it too much. They wouldn’t pound it inside when it seemed to be the best strategy

    Duke gets calls. For that matter KU gets calls sometimes too. I still can’t get out of my mind the FT discrepancy in 1986 when we played puke in the final four. The count was 26-14 which resulted in a 30-12 FT disparity. KU outshot Duke, outrebounded Duke, out assisted Duke. They didn’t keep stats for TO’s apparently but I’d guess we out turnovered them too. Manning, Dreiling and Cedric Hunter all fouled out. Archie Marshall’s injury when we were leading led to their referee assisted comeback.

    I sure hope KU gets back to the point that we can beat Duke and Kentucky in meaningful games. It could come soon, or we may have to wait a while, we’ll see.



  • @wissoxfan83 I was at Reunion arena-they took out Marshall on a lay-up-RUINED his knee…NO CALL.



  • @JayhawkRock78 I didn’t have the exact memory of that but it’s not surprising.



  • @JayhawkRock78

    I remember that.



  • @Statmachine

    I saw a tweet today that said St. John’s was slipping because of some recent developments, but no details were given. Wondering if you had any intel on that.

    Ingram seems to be giving the ACC the last word on his recruitment.

    Is your social media intel program capturing any trends this afternoon?



  • @wissoxfan83 I am 90 % sure about the no call. He was under the backboard a LONG time. After the collision and He was shooting a lay-up. In my mind nobody shot a free throw after they carried him off.



  • Ingram is to Duke what Diallo is to KU, the primary recruiting target based on need. No question that Duke will go all out to get Ingram…it sure would be nice to steal one from rat face.



  • @JayHawkFanToo I have a weird feeling that we get Ingram, only a feeling, not based on facts.



  • @SoftballDad2011 I have an opinion on Diallo and Ingram BUT I really don’t like sticking my neck out there because I would hate it if people on here started telling me that my info stinks. I will not give you my opinion but I will tell you what I have found in my recent searches.

    I might have looked at Diallo’s FB to find out he is friends with more UK players and UK NBA’ers than he is with KU guys. It has been said that he has talked to Embiid and he is friends with him on FB along with Svi (our only 2 foreign guys in recent memory). He did have over 3000 friends so its kind of hard to recognize every one of his friends on FB that could possibly be trying to steer him in the UK direction but give me some time I’m kind of new to this. The recent uptick in the UK 247 CB is only due to all the media buzz that’s going down atm. Just google “Cheick Diallo” and the first 20 results or more are all UK articles written in the last 24 hrs. There probably is some actual truth to it since coach Cal just visited him. I know Diallo has said he wants minutes and is not fond of the platoon thing at UK. There are already 3 other quality bigs at UK so you do the math. Everything on twitter up until Diallos meeting with Cal was KU, KU, KU now its a bag of mixed nuts but there are still more KU nuts in the bag. I would watch Matt Scotts 247 CB and if it changes then start warring.



  • Trey Scott ‏@TreyScott247 · 41s42 seconds ago
    Cheick Diallo’s twitter activity suggests something might be about to go down http://247sports.com/Player/Cheick-Diallo-27331



  • _cd13 ‏@cheick_diallo13 · 4m4 minutes ago
    It’s been a long 3 years. Just wanted to thanks all the coaches who recruited me and stopped by my school appreciated



  • _cd13 ‏@cheick_diallo13 · 7m7 minutes ago
    @cheick_diallo13 all the fans who followed my journey.All my teammates, my coaches teachers who’s make me a better thanks and Love y’all



  • @Statmachine

    Please keep us informed; you effort is greatly appreciated.



  • Kentucky reaches out to three-star center. With the missed opportunity to add Stephen Zimmerman or Mike Thorne, and a roster in need of another big body, John Calipari has now reached out to yet another former Charlotte 49er. http://kentuckysportsradio.com/main/kentucky-reaches-out-to-three-star-center/ Does this make a statement about Diallos decision?



  • Diallo had an in home visit with Calipari tonight didn’t he?

    Edit … sorry, that was yesterday.



  • @Statmachine

    3-star? WOW! He really is desperate; I thought that 3-start were not allowed to wear UK unis.



  • Jerry Meyer @jerrymeyer247
    · 2h 2 hours ago
    .@Jhawk0505 I’m not hearing positive things about St. John’s chances to land Cheick Diallo.


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