Random Stuff
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Not a lot going on now in hoops, but here are few thoughts I had this morning:
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Diallo: At this point, I wish I cared. But it does get old. These players attend questionable schools, and all of the coaches know it. My opinion is usually consistent … the buck stops with coach Self. But on this topic, I only blame Self if it is someone he signs when there are other choices. He took Traylor, B. Anderson, and Diallo late in the game. What were the other choices? Self surely knew the risk with Diallo, but if he passed on Diallo, we would have a hole for 2015-16 anyway. McLemore, though, was a different story. I think perhaps we don’t hear of Duke having issues like this because Duke eliminates those issues from their radar. But I don’t know.
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T.J. Leaf: Here’s the link. When I read a story like this, it gets me hoping that Mr. Leaf signs anywhere as long as it is not Kansas. This is exactly what I want to avoid at Kansas. Pretty obvious that he doesn’t want an objective assessment of his skills. I kind of doubt that it was his “walk with the Lord” that steered him away from Arizona, but just speculating. Leaf also said, “I want a program that has a lot of freedom. That’s the main thing for me,” Leaf told Peegs.com. “A team that plays guys in a lot of different positions, coaches that let guys go out there and play basketball for the most part.” Can you say, “not a fit”?
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Recruiting: A few months ago, I mentioned my thought that Marques Bolden is our most important recruit. That thought hasn’t changed. As I survey the 2016 recruiting field and our “sure” holes upcoming, we have to sign this guy. I see that he is visiting Duke. If we lose this recruit, it is really a shame. We are heading into the time where securing commitments is common-place. Last season we had only one in November. Securing Bolden is critical. Bragg, Coleby, Bolden, and Lucas isn’t a stellar situation for 2016-17, but it’s perhaps one excellent player away from being stellar. We’ll need another big on top of Bolden, preferably a PF type.
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Selden: I don’t know if anyone else saw Selden’s comments recently about last season. “Performing well in the tournament is our main goal this season. We weren’t able to find an identity last year." I seriously find this comment laughable. Everyone saw their identity. Everyone knew their identity. Everyone knew that they only had one possible identity that could take them to tournament success. Everyone was pleased with their identity. Everyone except Coach Self. When we were 21-4, no one was posting that we were in trouble, that we should abandon what had created that success, that we should make a wholesale shift in strategy – no one. The discussion was whether or not to further that identity. There were some voices (mine included) that suggest more of what we were doing well. When I read Selden’s comment, I think the guy has been brainwashed (of course not, in fact - but at least drinking the Kool-Aid a little to aggressively). In reality, coach Self prevented the fulfillment of the team’s true identity, and identity he foresaw in describing last season’s team as the best shooting team he had at Kansas.
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Planning: As we sit here in mid-August, we can each map out many possible pit-falls that could face the 2015-16 Jayhawks. As the head coach, Bill Self cannot do what he did last season. Thus planning for the contingencies is a must. Self faced a stark reality last season. He had no competent back to the basket scoring, and he was not inclined to stomach playing the one guy that could have changed that dynamic by the end of the season (Cliff). And of course, it wouldn’t have mattered with Cliff anyway. Last season, Self determined that he had to resort to “bad ball.” We can’t be put in that position again. Self’s high low provides multiple options, but back to the basket scoring has been a must. I do think that Self will make the necessary adjustments after his WUG experience, and his experience last season. I do think we’ll have a the same high-low, but it will look different. We’ll still try to get the ball inside, but I think last season’s experience will (I hope) prevent us from ever getting handcuffed by that blind persistence again. I know there are doubters out there. And the doubters have history on their side. But I think we will see a different Bill Self this season – well placed adjustments and tweaks that will change the dynamic offensively.
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Frank Mason: This is what we have been waiting for. We have an upper classman as a point guard, and one that has proven that he has the skills and abilities to do the job. If there is another point guard you would trade Frank Mason for, straight up, speak up. I would suggest that would be unwise. Frank Mason – the former “no rank Frank” – is the best point guard in the country.
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WUG: As we reflect on the WUG, was that experience anything but a complete success? I know just before the tournament some of us were becoming a bit disenchanted. Graham’s injury was my main concern. But the experience can clearly be used a catalyst for the upcoming season. It allowed Mickelson to showcase his abilities in a a way that he never would have been afforded, and it got Bragg’s feet wet (a guy we all hope forces his way into major P.T). Selden seemed to find himself and Mason’s role as the team leader was cemented. Eight games in July. We’re spoiled.
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Royals: I am done correcting folks that are talking about the World Series this coming fall. I’m giving up. Folks talk about the Royals upcoming trip the Fall Classic as if we are going waltz through the playoffs, seemingly as if the Tigers, Angels, and Orioles downfalls in the post season last year never happened. Sure things are not sure things particularly when you think they are sure things.
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I have a hard time accepting anything you write as “random.” Well done… again.
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It seems Duke has less of a problem with this because they get first pick on the cream. Look how Duke and UK rebuilt after losing all those players a few months ago. Talk about “reloading”… I know… I know… it was just two years ago we had JoJo… but it does feel like “Big Man U” has become “Big Man Pew.” I say this because we have been spoiled with some great post players in the recent past.
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I was thinking the same about Leaf. He sounds like a disruptive force. If he’s looking for flexibility, why is he considering Kansas? I consider him a 1 and 1000 odds future Jayhawk.
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I’m with you on Bolden. It seems like he is getting washed away because both him and Kansas are busy “dating around.” When you think about it… recruiting is pretty much like dating. If you focus on one recruit, you stand a better chance of getting him, just like you do with a date. But if you play the field, good chance you lose the same recruit (or date) but you’ve also broadened your possibilities. If you play the field you appear to be more popular. We all know how important perceptions are. I don’t think Self has been the same since he lost out on Tarc. He made some bold statements after that and he had been starting to get in a rut. He definitely said he wouldn’t wait on any player again. I’m glad he did that.
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You nailed it on this. At 21-4, we had a strong identity… soon to be lost because of “fools gold” attitudes and clinging to the past. I do think we don’t know exactly what happened with BG. He was quietly hurt and went into a slump. Coaches didn’t know of his injury? Really? And if they did know that did they make the change away from the trey because of it? I’m pretty sure Self knew about Brannen’s injury but kept quiet to protect BG’s future and also to keep running his “Riverboat Gambler” bluff.
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I’m glad for the new shot clock. It sort of forces us to play different and actually play to our strengths. Our strengths should be speed, depth and defense. We certainly could use more steals and run outs. We will definitely play most of the time with Frank and Devonte on the floor at the same time (if Devonte regains his health). I’m all for that. Up the tempo. Let’s force teams to play our tempo for a change. Why do we always seem to concede tempo to how the other team likes to play?
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Frank is awesome. He still needs some PG polishing… but he has improved considerably every year and no reason to suspect that he won’t reach a higher level this year, too.
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I’m so glad WUG turned out the way it did… not just winning it, but giving such a good experience to our guys and only getting Devonte banged up. Of course… we never know if any other guys suffered a lingering injury because those seem to often be held in confidence.
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I’m going to my first Royals game next weekend since my last game in 1985 at the World Series!!! I know I could be classified as a “fair weather” baseball fan… but I can’t watch that game if it isn’t played well. Royals have been playing like a championship team all year. I’ve caught most of their games this year on the tube. Nothing is for sure, but I like their confidence and team glue. And now we have been trading away a bit of future for quality, experienced players NOW! We are definitely focused on winning it all this year and for a few years ahead.
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@HighEliteMajor I can see last year being repeated with a bit of an upgrade due to experienced players like Perry, Wayne, Frank, and Graham. If Diallo is eligible and doesn’t disappoint like Cliff, and/or Bragg lives up to his lofty ranking, then we’ll be a top five team I believe.
One positive, it’ll be an election year. Good things happen to KU in election years with Bill Self.
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@drgnslayr said:
I’m going to my first Royals game next weekend since my last game in 1985 at the World Series!!!
Were you throwing around the beach ball while Saberhagen was pitching? It never got near my seat.
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@HighEliteMajor Great thoughts.
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I had the bleeding nose… up in the clouds. Can’t recall where I stored all my World Series memorabilia…
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@HighEliteMajor Diallo will get cleared in time for the season, I can feel it.
I dont want anything to do with that TJ kid. I really hope KU doesnt pick him up. You are right @HighEliteMajor , So not a good fit at all. Blabbering on about wanting freedom and being mature…sounds like a primadonna to me.
I hope we get Bolden, clearly KU will need him next season but to be honest Im more worried about this coming season.
I did not see Selden’s comments about last season. The identity concerns are telling. Lets hope that what ever Coach Self learned about what he can do and what his team can do during the WUG’s sticks and he uses that knowledge and experience to its fullest potential rather than reverting back to what he tried to do last season, which didn’t work as well as we all wanted it to. Meaning, I am happy that we got our 11th big 12 title in a row, I even got a shirt to keep the streak alive, yes I have 11 shirts now, but we clearly underperformed in March and I will be even more disappointed if we don’t at least sniff the final four this season and it turns out to be related to Coach Self’s inability to let his guys play ball on occasion like they did in the WUG’s.
Frank Mason, Devonte Graham and Selden will be one of the best back courts in Div 1 this season. Top 3. People say ohhhhh Kentucky and Duke and Maryland. But honestly everyone, we havent seen this level of talent and experience in our back court since 08. Ok maybe 12 too. But Im still of the opinion that EJ and Tyshawn were down grades from what we have now and what we did have in 08.
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I just saw this comment on CBS sports by one of their hoops writers:
- Cheick Diallo’s status will ultimately determine Kansas’ ceiling
The Jayhawks are always going to be the favorites in the Big 12 as long as Bill Self is the coach, but having a chance to get to a Final Four and win a national title next season will depend on whether or not Kansas has Diallo in the lineup. The Kansas City Star reported this week that the 6-foot-9 freshman has still yet to be cleared by the NCAA and that will obviously have a major effect as to what people can expect from this team next season. The Jayhawks have several proud veterans returning in Frank Mason, Wayne Selden, Devonte Graham, Brannen Greene, Perry Ellis, and Jamari Traylor who should all be better than they were a year ago, but remember this: if Kansas is ranked among the top teams the country heading into next season because it added Diallo in the spring. No player in the 2015 class and maybe all of college basketball has a motor like this kid, who attacks rebounds off the glass like a flock of seagulls goes after a ham sandwich. If the Jayhawks have Diallo, they’re as good as anybody playing. If they don’t, they drop down the line – immediately.
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@wissoxfan83
I look at it this way…
Which “troops” do you want leading the charge?
Veterans?
Or buck privates?
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@HighEliteMajor Uncertainty about Diallo is tempering everyone’s expectations, which might be a good thing. I think Diallo gets cleared with no problems, but you never know. I know this - if he doesn’t get cleared, and Skal does get cleared, I’m going to insist that Adidas match Nike’s “donation” to whoever is pulling the strings at the NCAA.
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This Diallo Eligibility Issue once again calls to account the crass manner in which the governing body deals with pawns on its chessboard. In this case an aspiring student athlete comes to the USA, is somehow funneled to an institution under investigation, spends 3 years of upwardly mobile effort, then is left dangling in the wind by the “system.” So now, this kid might have to pay a heavy price for the shortcomings of his school? And the subjective longwinded decision making of a high dollar organization which, historically, turns a blind eye to iniquities perpetrated by some of its toplevel member institutions of sport and higher learning? Diallo is a teenager who evidently was lured down a thorny path, and now finds himself dangling for months over a steep precipice.
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@REHawk “Pay a heavy price…steep precipice.”
I basically agree with you but let’s not exaggerate.
At worst, he will have to go to school an extra year with free education, room and board.
It would not be the end of the world for Diallo.
I do hate how long this stuff takes, but I believe they have lots of football players to look at first.
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Here’s what I’d suggest to Diallo and every other kid who thinks that he is worth more than what the NCAA and colleges will provide or if a kid doesn’t like the rules – skip it. No one is forcing you to sign, or put yourself at peril “dangling for months over a steep precipice.” This is not forced servitude.
It is that simple. Skip it. Choice.
Quit whining about it and put your money where your mouth is. Do something else. It is the athletes choice and nothing more.
If the alternative college life is better, where you apply for loans and get a job so you can pay for pizza, then do it.
If you think that not coming to college at all is better, then do that. Get a job. Work out. Get ready for the NBA draft.
If you really think you have value now, then skip college and market that value world wide and get whatever you can for a year, or for however long you want.
The NCAA has no rule requiring you to come to college for one year, two years, or ever.
The NCAA, however, as the representative of its member institutions, requires a minimum level of high school coursework to be eligible to play. If you want to go to some basketball factory, don’t complain that your credentials are being questioned. Try going to a real school.
Whether you have lived out of a car in Chicago, or whether you come from a wealthy family in a Dallas suburb, you ultimately have to determine whether the value of the bargain – they deal one makes with the college and NCAA – is worth it. Choice.
And if you don’t like the NCAA’s rules in general, again, skip it. Choice.
Kansas is held to the same standard as every other school. Kansas chooses to recruit guys they know, or should know, might have issues. If they would prefer not to have those issues, they too can skip it. Choice.
Again, the issue is choice. It always has been.
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@HighEliteMajor This is exactly how I feel about the student athletes getting paid.
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@HighEliteMajor I have read nothing to indicate that Diallo is whining. If he is, bully for your clear advice.
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If Diallo isn’t cleared then he will spend his one year on campus & go pro without playing a game here. I just don’t see him sticking around if the NCAA were to screw him over. I know I wouldn’t want to. The NCAA has done such a marvelous job at doing the wrong thing that I have absolutely no respect for how they are run. Also, if the belief that he’s only here 1 year anyway then expecting another year because he is not eligible is stupid.
He’s going into the fall with a lottery type status, whether he plays or not may not affect that at all. The benefit of him playing is that he’s our starting 5, shows enough offensive game & shows us the motor & defensive presence that got him such praise. That would get him drafted high. Not playing would keep him a relative unknown to all teams & his workouts would be very important. He could still be drafted high based on workouts etc.
Let’s all hope that we get the good news we need so that we can go back to planning this teams championship run.
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Two things puzzle me.
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I am now amazed at how many programs were scrambling for the opportunity to sign a guy that everyone must have known was an eligibility risk. Calipari and UK vied strongly for him at the end. And Calipari’s former assistant that jumped to St. John’s tried to sign him for Chris Mullins’ new regime. And, if I recall, there were quite a few others vying for Diallo.
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Why didn’t Self announce to the fans at signing that there were “issues,” or if not at signing, then a few weeks after. Why wait so long? Or did he announce it and we are just now learning of it? The longer Self waits to announce this sort of thing, then the bigger the let down among fans. Fans are willing to accept pretty much anything he tells them these days, and they are pretty much used to everything being up in the air with recruits and recruiting after all the guys we’ve had like Selby, BenMac and Traylor with “eligibility issues.” Why contribute to an appearance that Diallo has been signed and a huge hole has been filled, when it appears a significant possibility that Diallo has been signed and may not become eligible for a year, if at all? Something seems odd here. Either this is faulty PR strategy, or Self did not understand that he had signed an eligibility problem.
I am curious: will more complexity with Diallo surface?
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@HighEliteMajor said:
Thus planning for the contingencies is a must. Self faced a stark reality last season. He had no competent back to the basket scoring…
With Diallo an uncertainty, to reiterate a recent post of mine, the WUG offense (i.e., its quick trigger, reduced passing and absence of action) could be the blue print for playing with, or without Diallo this coming season.
And Self talking about having to “play inside,” despite what the team learned at the WUGs, may have just been Self smoke screening, same as Bob Huggins appeared to be smoke screening about the shortened shot clock making it less logical for his team to press the way it did last season.
Self is making sure early season opponents have to prepare for both the WUGs offense AND legacy Self Ball and, since he briefly showed BAD BALL the last game of the WUGs, BAD BALL, too.
That’s a lot to prepare for early on.
Playing WUG BALL in D1 could make a lot of fans happy…but ONLY if it were to work as well in D1, as at the WUGs.
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I think the only thing certain is change.
Someone moved our dinner plates 6 inches and if we don’t adjust, we will starve to death.
A season of BAD BALL could really do us harm. What if we had an experienced, skilled team (like we have now) but we drop 12+ games this coming year? A team averaging 65-points with the reduced shot clock.
With or without Cheick… where have we turned the corner on back-to-the-basket scoring? Hunter? Landen? Jamari? Carlton? Perry? Cheick?
It is one thing to get an occasional basket (or attempt) through a back-to-the-basket scheme. It’s another thing to count on it and run it as your primary offense. Back-to-the-basket is a skill set, not just a quick scoring concept. After we dedicated back to it last year, who suddenly became proficient at doing it? Right. No one. And who would suddenly become a dominant back-to-the-basket D1 scorer this year? Right. No one.
Dropping 5 off the shot clock only makes it a tougher option.
We have a team full of great athletes, most with very good speed… and scoring potential in every spot on the floor. We should be running some type of motion offense… a progressive Princeton, with more high ball screens often developing into pick and pop and pick and rolls because we have the guns to do it… especially with Perry and Carlton. Carlton is absolutely tailor-made for pick and pops. He will be a huge weapon for us this year (even as a freshman) if we utilize his ability to nail the mid range. Here is the tall mid range scorer, who can shoot it over about anyone, that we’ve been looking for.
We may have had an extra short season on everyone else this year… but we can’t waste most of the year trying to beat a square peg in a round hole.
And as far as hitting treys… we have to not consider them fools gold and integrate some offense to take advantage of them. We have some of the league’s better trey shooters and it will be a crime if we don’t finish the year with a high % from trey. The only reason that could happen is because we don’t consider it a real weapon… fools gold.
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@jaybate-1.0 You said, “Either this is faulty PR strategy, or Self did not understand that he had signed an eligibility problem.”
Perhaps Self thought, “why bring it up if it may not be an issue?” But that goes to your first possibility. I would think it would be reasonable to get out ahead of this just a little bit.
I cannot believe that Self did not understand there was a potential eligibility problem, though.
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Why don’t we look at half court offense this way?
There are 3 areas for scoring:
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Perimeter treys
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Mid range jumpers
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Low post scoring
These are the 3 areas where scoring comes from. We should have an offense that can focus on all three scoring areas. No team we face will be able to adequately take all 3 of these away from us.
And what about those times when teams sag in and give us the trey and we don’t hit them? It just isn’t very common to be given wide-open treys and continue to miss them. We have several good shooters to give it a try. Usually we miss a bunch of consecutive treys because the defense is guarding them “well enough”… getting a hand in the face of the shooter, or disrupting the pass to the shooter so he has to make an awkward motion with his shot, or we have to take the trey out of desperation because of the shot clock. If you are running effective offense then you should be able to get some wide-open treys.
Perimeter weapons - we have many perimeter weapons. Frank, BG, Devonte, Wayne, Svi, Perry, Carlton and Vick (perhaps). We could easily run 5 of these guys on the court at the same time, if need be.
Penetration weapons - we are good here, too. Frank, Devonte, Wayne, Vick, Perry… there are others that can get the job done here, too.
Mid range weapons - Frank, Devonte, Vick, Perry, Svi, Carlton, Wayne, Cheick… let’s add in Hunter, too!
Low post weapons - Cheick, Perry, Hunter, Carlton, maybe sometimes Wayne. This is our weakest area, but with the right offense, we could mask this weakness and get some good offense out of our low post.
We can argue about who fits where as a weapon, but we can’t argue how many weapons we have available to us. We have an arsenal of good weapons. Focusing all of that potential on a hi/lo is tunnel vision. Without a dominant, low post, back-to-the-basket scorer opponents can put just enough defense on the low post to thwart are low post scoring, while focusing on the pass out.
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What’s the big deal about Self’s PR strategy? Who’s going to switch to KSU because Self didn’t give us a heads up on Diallo’s eligibility issue?
I care infinitely more about what Self does than what he says.
Is he doing what it takes to prepare the team, given current uncertainty about when Diallo will be eligible?
As I said earlier, maybe playing Hunter a lot and Traylor very little has to do with who can (sort of) fill Diallo’s shoes in case he is cleared late.
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“As I said earlier, maybe playing Hunter a lot and Traylor very little has to do with who can (sort of) fill Diallo’s shoes in case he is cleared late.”
I like how he mentioned WUG as Hunter’s “coming-out party” (similar to Cole in the UNC FF game). I know it is just words, and Bill is known to deflect attention away from his real game plans, but we all have to take notice of what he said.
Still… you said it right… it is all about what he DOES not what he SAYS.
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Regarding Diallo - has anyone actually seen someone reputable say that there is an “issue” regarding his eligibility? I recall some comments from Self that came when he was talking about when players would be on campus where he said something like Cheick had to “take care of some paperwork” or something like that. He said it a few times over the course of a couple of weeks and that wasn’t that long ago. Maybe Cheick didn’t get his stuff submitted in a timely manner and that’s why he hasn’t been cleared yet. I’m sure the process takes some time considering how many new NCAA athletes there are each year.
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@RockkChalkk The specific issue isn’t with Diallo, per se, but with Our Savior, the school he attended. If you recall my comments on his signing, about which I was quite stoked, I did bring this up as a potential bug-a-boo, given that he isn’t the first athlete to have trouble qualifying coming out of that school. Former Baylor signee Kobe Eubanks was forced into a prep school last season when he failed to qualify. I forget where he landed, though. There is another D-1 player out of Our Savior that has been cleared. I’ve heard from reliable sources that Self had a plan for Diallo in order to head off issues, which I think is why he spent extra time in school earlier this summer, going to @HighEliteMajor’s point, but we probably won’t know how successful that plan was for another month or so (football players get priority from the clearinghouse too, so that slows things down). Anyway, the heart of the matter is a list of courses that the NCAA considers dubious. If Cheick took any of these courses, he’d have to do additional coursework, or perhaps retake them, in order to qualify. Diallo himself is reputedly a very good student, but he may have taken some classes that have garnered him this unwanted scrutiny.
Speaking for myself, I will be crestfallen if we don’t get to actually play Diallo. I’ve been following his career pretty much since he showed up in America just because he’s been so impressive that he got on my radar that quickly. I likened his signing to opening a present at Christmas as a kid. Athletically and effort-wise, he’s everything you’d want in a basketball player. I hope the NCAA does the right thing and lets this kid have his year in the sun.
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Kobie Eubanks ended up at Alabama. He had to sit last year because of his prior High School tampered with his transcripts for which he is currently suing them over. Our Savior was not the reason he was ineligible.
As others have said, his school is being investigated. That didn’t stop his teammate from being declared eligible the other day so there’s no real information what is going with the school. Wilson his other teammate hasn’t been cleared at Pitt yet and I’ve seen little info on if he’s being looked at for attending Our Savior or if he bounced from school to school.
Some have said his prior schooling to Our Savior is being looked at, that would explain the paperwork aspect & if it’s coming from Africa might have taken a while to get here.
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@BeddieKU23 Well, that’s what Eubanks claims. We won’t know the truth unless and until this gets sorted out in court, but I do know that the NCAA rejected the transcripts coming out of Our Savior, whether or not the specific issue originated with his previous school. Heard wrong about the Pitt kid, but I think that just hammers home that the issue has more to do with Our Savior than any of these individual kids.
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Where it gets tricky is how individual each situation is.
Dillard came from Indiana to Our Savior for 1 year. He was cleared late last week. He was committed to Cal before signing with Ok. St. but I read an article that his time at Our Savior was being looked at. There were articles in May asking why he wasn’t signed yet which would be a lot earlier than the now news about Diallo.
Damon Wilson Jr played at St Benedict but does not say how long before playing at Our Savior his Sr year. He is a native of Georgia so my guess is he started in Georgia, transferred to St Benedict’s & then ended up at Our Savior.
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60 DAYS TILL LATE NIGHT!
Titled: OUR YEAR
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There is huge difference between the NCAA “rejecting” the transcripts, in other words saying that they are not valid or the NCAA indicating that the course taken do not meet the requirements or that the student simply did not take the number of core credits required by the NCAA. One would indicate that the school is doing something shady or the courses it offers are not up to standards and the other would indicate that he student simply did not take the number of core credit that the NCAA requires.
As far as Kobie Eubanks, he only played his senior year at Our Savior and his issue is related to his previous HS and Our Savior played no part on that and its transcript did not get rejected by the NCAA, the one(s) from his previous HS were. Here is a link that outlines the issue and as far as I know, Our Savior has had no other players turned down by the NCAA.
Again, I will try to find the link to the story that indicates that the issue with Diallo is his overseas transcript and not the Our Savior transcript. Anyone that has attended HS overseas knows that the transcripts need to be certified by the State Department (mine were) and many times they are unable to do so because the grading used in other countries is quite different…sometimes from one year to the next. Oftentimes the State Department simply states they are unable to certify and advise schools to admit the student, provided the school’s ACT/SAT requirements are met and see how the student performs the first year.
There is ZERO evidence that Coach Self knew of any potential issues.
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“Again, I will try to find the link to the story that indicates that the issue with Diallo is his overseas transcript and not the Our Savior transcript.”
That raises even more fear in me!
A friend of mine’s dad married an African woman and she has never been able to adopt his nationality because she has no valid birth certificate. It doesn’t exist in the area she came from and there is no solution for her. From a record keeping perspective… she was not born on this planet! Very frustrating situation that can not be resolved.
I wrote a sarcastic post on here last week about Cheick’s educational records being discovered under a tree in Mali. It was meant to be sarcasm but actually addresses my fears.
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We can refine this further.
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Perimeter treys = 3 possible points always.
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Midrange jumpers = 2 possible points most of the time unless Bad Ball is used to shrink the impact zone to a point one can draw fouls in the mid range shooting zone.
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Low post scoring and iron driving = possible 3 points much of the time.
Inference: to maximize your potential scoring, you want to take as few midrange jumpers as possible, when playing anything other than Bad Ball.
One of the reasons Bad Ball worked so well is that it turned the mid range shooting zone into a much higher probability of a 3 point play. By continually driving into defenders at all five positions everywhere on the court, the shrunken impact space and the pressure of going all the way to the rim made it easier for KU’s drivers to pull up short in the mid range zone and take their jump shots jumping INTO the defender, thus drawing more fouls than normal in the midrange. In turn, as the game wore on, more and more opposing defenders were playing with more fouls and having to lay off more, which opened up both the outside trey, and the drive to iron.
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@JayHawkFanToo You said, “There is ZERO evidence that Coach Self knew of any potential issues.”
That is only part of the analysis.
Should he have known?
That’s due diligence.
He absolutely should have known. And I would be shocked if he didn’t know of transcript issues.
Your own post notes the issues with overseas transcripts, which relates directly to the “knew or should of known” regarding coach Self. Coach Self, dealing with foreign players regularly, didn’t know? Or didn’t investigate? Or didn’t suspect? Or wasn’t skeptical? I would be completely shocked if this whole thing were news to coach Self. In any case, he should have known.
But my opinion is that it is completely irrelevant. What was Self going to do in May, not sign him? There was no other player really worth getting for this coming season. Even if he did know, or should have known, it was worth the risk at the time I would think.
Now, if he signed Diallo in November and it cost him other guys without eligibility issues, sure, different conversation.
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Random stuff
Lunardi’s 2016 Bracketology.
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/bracketology/_/iteration/36
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Yes and no, KU has had several foreign players with no issues, Embiid Wiggins, Svi, all of them in the last couple of years come to mind, all of them with part of the HS course work completed in other countries. According to USBasket.com “there are 3,428 foreigners, who have been playing pro and college basketball in the U.S. in last 5 years,” so the great majority of them go though with no issues and assuming a foreign players will have no issue is not unrealistic.
By all accounts Diallo is a good student with no history of academic issues/red flags, i.e. multiple schools. and every major program including Kentucky and Duke (and ISU from our own Big 12) recruited Diallo and none backed off because none saw any indication of potential issues.
Look at the Eubanks situation. Apparently his original transcript had one GPA and subsequent transcripts showed up later with lower GPAs and long after he had committed to Baylor and he ended up having to go to a prep school for a year. These are things that regardless of how much due diligence you do, you cannot find out until the NCAA gets involved. Even local player Rush was not cleared until September…it happens…Alexander was late qualifier as well, if I recall correctly. Frankly, I would worry more about a top prospect from a big city with zero interest in academics and with a tunnel vision leading to the NBA.
Most “basketball factory” schools do not even have a building and are basically a 4-year traveling team and students take classes at different schools, like Oubre did at Findley Prep, or even Labissiere (who has not been cleared either but he has other issues not related to academics). By all indications, Our Savior is not that type of school since it has it own campus with several hundred students in grades K-12…not quite what you normally associate with a basketball factory type school.
My guess is that Diallo will get cleared some time in September.
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@JayHawkFanToo Just “Yes” … he either knew or should have known.
The buck stops with the coach. The coach needs to know the academic situation of everyone of his recruits. If a player fails to qualify because of something that was related to academics that occurred prior to his signing, it is fair to blame the coach for a lack of due diligence.
Certain facts, of course, could mitigate that.
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Few things in life are that black and white.
Here is what likely happens when schools look into a prospect.
Coach Self: How are your grades? Any issues we should be concerned about?
Prospect: I am doing well coach, here is my report card. You can see that I attend classes and get good grades.
Coach Self: Coach X, how is YYY doing on the court and academically?
HS Coach: He is doing great, he is a team player, practices hard and does not get into trouble. His grades are good otherwise he would not be playing. The reports I get from his adviser are that his grades are good and that he is fully eligible to play sports at our school and in our district.
Coach Self: Mr. Adviser, I would like to know how student YYY is doing academically and socially?
Academic Adviser: Obviously because of privacy laws I cannot show you his personal file but I can tell you that he is doing fine, both academically and socially and if his grades would not be good, he would not be playing varsity sports.
Coach Self: Any potential issue I should know that would jeopardize his eligibility to play Division I sports?
Academic Adviser: All his paperwork is in order, some of it is from his native country but the transcripts look good and we don’t see anyrseason why he would not qualify, but as you know the NCAA has its own way of looking at things.
Coach Self: Is there any thing that could come back to bite us?
Academic Adviser: Obviously I cannot guarantee anything since the NCAA has the final word, but that is true for all prospect and not only foreign students. Without revealing any information, I can tell you that I don’t see any reason why he would not qualify.
Coach Self: Mr. Z, as student YYY guardian in this country, are you aware of any issue, academically or otherwise, of anything else at all that could be a problem down the road?
Guardian: We have been very careful that nothing is done that would jeopardize this young man’s future, We make sure he goes to school and completes assignments and we monitor his grades and if there is anything else at all…we get a call from school and even minor issues are resolved quickly before they becomes problems. I can’t think of anything else we could do to insure he is on the right track. You are welcome to visit with all of us at home and you will see that he is in a really good environment and he gets all the family support he needs to succeed not only in HS but also at the next level.
As you know, because of privacy laws, there is very little information other than in broad terms that can be disclosed about a student by the school. I am sure Coach Self and his associated talk to other coaches at all levels, read the trade publications, follow blogs, twitter posts and are aware of any rumors about specific students.
What else would you suggest Coach Self does in the way of due diligence? Short of hiring someone to break into the school and take a peek at the student records and investigate anyone related to the student, there is really not much else he can do…legally, and even then, the record probably looks good and in many cases, the student does not even know there is a problem until the NCAA says there is a problem.
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I think coaches are sort of stuck in a “catch 22” scenario.
If a coach wants to thoroughly check out prospects they will have to spend much of their time and energy playing detective. They’d rather play recruiter. And when they find somethings that could put up a red flag, they still need to keep pursuing the athlete. Backing off of every kid that COULD have a problem will quickly limit a coaches choices and probable success.
It’s not like Self and his assistants are slugs. They don’t want to sign a kid and then lose him. But they have to take some gambles. All the elite schools take these gambles. We may have to take more because we don’t get to skim off the top cream like UK and Duke do.
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@wrwlumpy Oh NO! Joe, Joe, Joe! You have forgotten MIZZOU! And Nebraska. And Colorado.
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@JayHawkFanToo I’m not sure what you’re getting at with the link. This jibes with what I said earlier: there was a discrepancy with the transcripts. The NCAA wouldn’t accept the Our Savior transcript because it differed from the American Heritage one. The Eubanks’ filed suit against American on the basis that it’s their fault. We don’t really know, but as with the Pitt kid, Diallo isn’t the only Our Savior kid being held up by the NCAA. What I have read hasn’t mentioned an issue with transcripts from Africa, although it has mentioned some suspect courses at Our Savior. I’d be kinda surprised if the NCAA were going to disqualify Diallo on the basis of his HS transcript if they were happy with his Our Savior work, given that he only went to HS in Mali for his freshman year. Then again, I wouldn’t put anything past the NCAA. If you’ve got specific information that contradicts that, I’m all ears.
@HighEliteMajor From everything I’ve heard and read, Self very much knew about potential eligibility issues with Diallo going in. If you look back, you’ll see I mentioned this on the day he announced, and I believe a week or so prior. Now if we can put aside the OAD issue for the time being, if you have a chance to get one of the top players in the class knowing that he might not qualify, would you? Especially if he could be a key cog? I think it’s worth the risk, especially since we already signed another top big in the same class. Mickleson having a bit of a breakout at the WUG is just icing.
I’m going to be of the mind that Diallo will receive eligibility unless we get all the way to October without hearing something. Either way, there’s no sense ruminating about it. If he’s eligible, we’ll have one of the best post players in the country on our team. If not, we’ll still have solid options in the front court, especially if Mickleson can carry his work forward.
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You need to read the article…
"The suit alleges that when Eubanks left American Heritage, the school certified a transcript sent to Our Savior that stated his GPA was 2.5. A second transcript, sent later to Eubanks’ new school said that he had a 2.37 GPA, a number which Eubanks alleges was altered by American Heritage.
When Baylor requested all of Eubanks’ transcripts to verify his enrollment, the fact that there were two transcripts on file with differing GPAs prompted an NCAA inquiry.
The suit claims that after the inquiry American Heritage lawyers informed Eubanks that it would only certify a transcript in which his GPA was 2.29, leaving Eubanks short of the NCAA minumum standard for scholarship freshmen."
The entire problem is due to transcripts from American Heritage and not from Our Savior and this is why Eubanks is suing American Heritage and not Our Savior.
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@JayHawkFanToo I read the link too, but do you understand what it actually means? The suit was filed by the Eubanks’, not the NCAA. The NCAA received a transcript from Our Savior that reported a different GPA than what they saw on the American Heritage transcript. The Eubanks’ are making the claim that it is American Heritage that changed the grade and Our Savior just reported what they (AH) said, but from the NCAA’s perspective, Our Savior transferred in an inflated GPA. Everything in the law suit is on the Eubanks’ say so, so of course they would put themselves into the best light in making their case. The NCAA rejected the Our Savior transcript. If you can demonstrate otherwise, as I said, I’m all ears, but nothing in the link contradicts what I’ve stated.
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Adding to my previous post, Our Savior CANNOT certify the transcripts from American Heritage, all it can do is to include them with the transcripts of the classes Eubanks took at Our Savior…those it can certify.
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@JayHawkFanToo Of course they can’t certify it. That has absolutely nothing to do with anything. They can certify their own transcript, and that transcript is going to include credits that they transferred in and a resulting GPA that they are claiming is accurate. So either American lied and inflated the GPA when they sent transcripts to Our Savior, or Our Savior lied and inflated the grade that they received. You cannot possibly know which case is the matter at this point, can you? Either way, you link doesn’t show it.
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I never said the NCAA was suing any one; I simply indicated that Eubanks was suing American Heritage HS.
Again, Our Savior cannot certify transcript from American Heritage, only American Heritage can certify transcripts from American Heritage.
Our Savior simple passed along the two “certified” transcript it received from American Heritage. Apparently Our Savior received the original “certified” transcript with GPA of 2.5, then Our Savior receive a second "corrected’ and “certified” transcript with GPA of 2.37. When Baylor saw the discrepancy and requested a transcript from American Heritage, it produced a third “certified” transcript with a GPA of 2.29. The fact that there were three “certified” transcripts from American Heritage would indicate a problem with them. The NCAA has a problem with the transcripts (plural) from American Heritage and not with the one from Our Savior. Seems pretty clear to me…
The fact that Our Savior included both “certified” transcripts it received from American Heritage would indicate they were providing all the information they had available and they were not hiding anything…don’t you think?
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@JayHawkFanToo As I’ve stated over and over, this is the Eubanks’ story. It hasn’t been corroborated by Baylor or the NCAA. It’s merely what the suit says. If this goes to trial and there are deliberations, we’ll find out what happened, but until then, you can’t uncritically accept anything that someone alleges in a law suit. It’s meaningless without the process of discovery and actual evidence. Our Savior doesn’t have to certify anything from American, but they are responsible for what they report about themselves. If they reported the original transcripts GPA in their GPA, then the NCAA could interpret them as trying to inflate it, perhaps to keep him eligible or help unfairly to get him into a D-1 school, whatever the case may be. If they took the amended GPA, then it could be the fault of American. We don’t know. There’s no reason to assume that we do, so there isn’t any reason to believe Our Savior is any more on the up and up than American. After all, if Our Savior is on the level, why do you think American would be tampering with Eubanks’ grades? I could understand an honest mistake, but what do they have to gain from lowering the GPA if it was correct to begin with, as Eubanks’ suit seems to imply? You’re just assuming Eubanks’ story is true (or at least truish), and there’s no reason to do so.
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It could be sour grapes. Eubanks played for American Heritage for 2 years and then he left the school/team in a lurch when he went to Our Savior for his senior year. Highly unlikely that any attorney would agree to take on a law suit like this unless there is pretty good documentation, otherwise they could find themselves at the receiving end of a counter suit by the school.
The fact that there were at least two transcripts is what started the whole thing so that much has been ascertained and since the NCAA did not clear Eubanks, he had to go to a prep school for an extra year to get his academic issues in order. In short, yes, the NCAA did not clear Eubanks.so that part of the story has been corroborated.
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@JayHawkFanToo I’m sorry, but I don’t think your scenario above is well thought out.
Schools to which a kid is applying have access to all of this information. Have you ever heard of a release of information? My oldest son provided his all of academic information from his high school before signing. I signed the release so that not only info could be provided and sent, but that the school could converse with my son’s school.
It is just comical. You cite privacy laws. But privacy laws only apply if someone wants to maintain privacy. Releases fix that.
Further, we are talking about the high school itself, as well. Information that a coach must be diligent in staying on top of. All a coach needs to do is contact the NCAA himself for information on the high school. The NCAA is there for the institutions. You miss a huge piece of the puzzle there.
Again, schools first and foremost can contact the NCAA directly about any high school program.
Further, there is an NCAA portal that all can use. The code for the school in question is 331284. Here’s the link
You will also see the notice under this school - “This program is under an extended evaluation period to determine if it meets the academic requirements for NCAA cleared status. During this evaluation period, the courses listed below may be subject to further review on a case-by-case basis, which will require additional academic documentation.”
Now, I don’t know how long this notice has been there. If it was there in May, then that would be definitive. I don’t know. But it is more than a stretch to think that this would be a surprise to Self, or that he couldn’t have understood this could be an issue when Diallo signed.
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@HighEliteMajor Very interesting stuff there, good find. It says that the last update was 4/21/15 so it almost certainly was there since then. Hopefully KU’s compliance dept picked up on it early enough and CD had a chance to right the ship if necessary prior to graduation/summer school ending.
Looks like there are 17 classes at the school that are listed as rejected by the NCAA. If CD took any of those courses it wouldn’t count towards his eligibility. Now, does anybody have access to his HS transcript?? Haha.
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I agree on the release; however, many prospects will only grant release after completion of HS work.
Now, let me ask you this question…granted that you don’t think much of Coach Self…but do you honestly think that if the transcript could be had that Coach Self or staff would not have secured a copy of one? How about Duke? or Kentucky that is rumored to have the best compliance person in the business? All of them and 100 other schools actively pursued Diallo and none (assuming the record was available) saw any flags that would make them back off, right? Don’t you think that this would in all likelihood indicated that there were no red flags with the transcript?
Now, if you go to the link that you so thoughtfully posted and enter the code for the school and scroll down, you will indeed see the caveat that you mentioned.
Now, continue scrolling down and look at the courses that have been approved and you will see a long list including Advance Placement and Honors classes; looks like 48 approved classes. Now, look at the “List of Denied NCAA Courses” and you will see a list of 17 classes, most of those remedial Math/English, computer science related (NCAA does not consider comp.sci. classes part of the core courses) and religion classes…they are a faith based school after all. As long as the student takes enough of the approved classes to complete the core requirements, there should not be an issue. right? Even you and I could get together (
) and figure that out…don’t you think that KU and the other schools would have done that much?Any top prospect that has an issue with his grades ends up going an extra year to a post-grad prep school to raise his GPA and meet core requirements. The fact that Diallo sent his information to the Clearinghouse and chose not to go an extra year to a prep school would appear to indicate that he was/is confident that he will be cleared based on the available information, right?
If Coach Self did not do his due diligence on Diallo, then he should be fired…and so should Coach K, and the squid, and Hoiberg, and Mullin, and Pitino, and Dixon…and every other coach that recruited Diallo that apparently did not exercise due diligence and did not see the issue either.
I am willing to wager a week of posting privileges in this Forum that Diallo gets cleared by the end of September…are you game?
