Mitch Lightfoot is officially a Jayhawk
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@joeloveshawks I guess I’m not hearing anyone saying that we should NOT sign him. It is questioning the value of the signing and whether it was just to get a body in the fold.
The numbers (usually) don’t lie. A few seasons ago, a poster (I forget who now) did a nice analysis over five years of low and unranked players that exceeded their ranking. It came in just below 15%. There were a few borderline guys, but roughly correct.
Mitch Lightfoot is ranked, at present, as follows: Lightfoot is #117 at Rivals, #99 at ESPN, and #132 at 24/7.
And this goes to @DoubleDD’s post – his post was made with his heart. Respectfully, it did not appear that it was done with his head – meaning it was passionate, it was about feelings – about a kid chasing his dreams. That’s cool. I get that. It is a nice story.
However, like @DoubleDD, I want KU to win national championships. That’s the bottom line. That is how I evaluate every signing … will this guy help us get to that goal?
When I look at Lightfoot, I see a relatively slow, skinny kid who isn’t a ball handler type. A guy that if he plays in the post, will be annihilated in the Big 12. A guy that doesn’t appear to have much as far as post moves. And a guy whose shot from three point range is a slow trigger.
What I see is a project. He is not a guy that will likely help us win a national championship any time soon. And a marginal chance to do so later.
Right now, I don’t see that he helps us get to that goal. A guy like Bragg or Bolden, you can see that immediately.
As Eric Bossi said Lightfoot is a kid whose “real value” will be as a “junior and senior.”
Guys like Lightfoot, like Traylor and Lucas, can become roster cloggers. They may not deter another signee now, but possibly later when they have experience, and when they have coach that favors experience. That #40 ranked player that wants to play now may be deterred by Lightfoot, who as junior, is getting better.
@DoubleDD mentioned Lightfoot in comparison to OADs – meaning, isn’t this what we want?
I would say “kind of.”
I want highly talented guys that aren’t OADs. Highly talented non-OADs usually means #15 - #60. It rarely means #100 or above. Historically, #15 - #60ish are the core type of guys that will put us in the position to win a national title. But it isn’t of course possible to fill your roster solely with these guys.
That’s where a guy like Lightfoot comes in.
The one thing I like about the Lightfoot signing that is in contrast to some other low/non-ranked signings is that Self is signing him early, and not as a late, roster filling signing. I doubt Self takes him at this stage of the game if he thinks he’s a long-shot to be a quality rotation level player.
Let’s see where he sits after his senior season. Kids mature, get bigger, grow, etc. @Crimsonorblue22 mentioned a Kevin Young comparison – that would be quite nice. I’ll take that right now.
The reality is that this signing will be judged in 2018-19 most likely, and by the ultimate composition of our current class.
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@SoftballDad2011 said:
Ortega said that, after speaking with Lightfoot, he phoned recruiting analyst Jerry Mullen, who contacted KU about Lightfoot’s interest.
This maybe the most interesting aspect of this story beyond KU signing a No. 113 big during the apparent Embargo.
Notice that AAU Coach John Ortega did NOT phone KU directly. Ortega used an intermediary reported to be a “recruiting analyst” named Jerry Mullen.
Does anyone know if this is a current convention for the AAU coach not to contact the head coach directly about a player’s interest in that head coach and his program?
I would have thought an AAU coach would like to call a head coach himself with that kind of information.
And what is this group of professionals called “recruiting analysts”? Are they an informal group, or do they have a professional association of some kind?
Here is some Wiki-skinny on Jerry Mullen.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Mullen
And here is a link to his bio on Mullen Sports Enterprises.
http://www.mullensports.net/jerry-mullen/
A USF All American probably a year or so before Big Russ and Casey Jones became Dons, he was drafted by the NBA, but opted to play AAU semi-pro 6 years for the Wichita Vickers; that was not unprecedented in those days. Head coached Cowley County Juco 1973-1979 and Barton Juco till 1985 compiling a .615 W&L statement. Since '85 he has run a juco scouting service, a Top 1o0 juco camp, and joined with Mike Mitchell, of Midwest Scouting, to host the 60 team Mullen/Mitchell juco jamboree.
Mike Mitchell’s Midwest Scouting is located in, drum roll please, Edmond, Oklahoma, the birth place of Bill Self. Here is a link to Midwest Scouting Service, which claims to be “the best in the business…since 1986.”
http://midwestscoutingservice.com/mss/Contact
I am getting to the point of needing to flow chart recruiting.:-)
FWIW, its kind of nice to know that juco ball is still out there.
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@rocketdog no its jay, but that’s a good try Francis Jay- - -Francis- - -Francis- - -Jay ya that’s it sounds pretty similar, little to old for lighten up phrases but thanks for the try
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If you are too old for lighten up phrases, I would have expected you to be old enough to pick up on a classic movie reference!..and a reference to a classic at that!..lol.
I was curious about that as well. I suspect a third party was helpful after Mitch re-opened his recruitment (after decommitting from NM to insulate from tampering charges), but I was surprised it went from the athlete to his AAU coach to an industry analyst to the prospective school. I’d be interested in hearing more about this process as well.
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The comments from Lightfoot himself are very encouraging to me about his future ability to contribute to KU. It sounds like he realizes he’s not the most physically gifted player and knows his ticket is to be a smarter player than others. If he can do that, he can absolutely be a player like a Kevin Young or Brady Morningstar who earned the PT through being smarter players and knowing hiw to play angles and exploit opponents weaknesses.
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“Can you imagine how much Norm and Bill would like to work with a guy that even just talks that way?”
I hear you! Heck… just having a player capable of clear articulation should be helpful and set some kind of bar (as an example) for our entire team to clear. And then there is his attitude… which is off-the-charts positive!
He is a real Jayhawk PRIOR to signing! We should always have one or two of those. Guys who can help the other guys understand what that Jayhawk is and means to fans.
Mitch gives me the feeling of what college basketball used to be, before it became just a NBA tryout league.
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I read that other KU site this morning, even the comments which I do at time for the comic content. This signing has created the typical level of hate and discontent that drove me away from there in the first place. What I see here is a kid with a reputation of being hard working, has decent footwork, some skill, and a lot of hustle. The type of player that can be used to push that one and done to practice and play with effort. Sometimes it is the type of player that as his body matures turns into a valuable rotation player. The kind of player that Self has turned into serious players in the past.
As far as his current ranking I’ve noticed that kids that commit early in HS are sometimes ignored a bit by the ranking services. I am curious to see what will happen now that he has been brought back into notice. I would not be surprised to see him bounce up into the mid 70’s, which for what I see as a redshirt four year player would be about right. I believe KU needs a couple of 3-4 year players. It brings some year to year continuity and leadership potential down the road.
Basically Self see’s a lot of holes opening up for big guys and he just filled his “four year guy” spot.
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In the grand scheme of things our boy Lightfoot doesn’t really move the needle that much. Yet it is nice to know that in this day in age of power conferences, big media deals, and the craze for the OAD’s. That a kid can still get his chance to chase his dreams. In the end I believe that is what college sports should be about.
Sadly this is not the case anymore with these star studded and over hyped kids. To many people whispering in their ears, and in some cases forcing them to this school or that school. I’m always amazed at how many schools these want to be mega stars have on their wish lists. It’s just mind boggling.
It’s easy to look at things with your head. Logic would say Lightfoot will be in way over his head and mostly likely will become nothing more than a footnote of the lore of KU basketball. Yet never under estimate a persons heart. It’s not just a nice story. Wars have been won and lost because of heart. Societies have changed because someone had the heart to stand up for what is right. And athletes have won games they had no business playing in with heart.
I’m not discounting talent by no means. Yet I’ve seen to many kids with no heart and all talent way under achieve. Think about it? All the greats had heart, Using your head and playing a system can only carry you so far. It’s been proving on the field and the court.
The key is to find a kid with talent and a heart of a Jayhawk.
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Very good post!
And let’s not forget the possible positive impact Mitch can have on the rest of the team, both with his positive, scrappy attitude and his love for Kansas!
I think he is receiving a bit too much ridicule because he isn’t a top-ranked player, and we have not landed anyone else. Imagine if we already had signed many top elites and filled what we needed, and then he came along to fill out the use of our scholarships?
Fans are stressed-out, seeing other top preps consider Kansas then go somewhere else. And… we hadn’t signed anyone. And… we have a big time hole opening in our post.
I will not go out on a limb here and proclaim that Mitch will shatter Kansas scoring and rebounding records. But I will say this… from what I have picked up on Mitch, I seriously believe he will make a very sizable positive impact on the Kansas program. It may come partially from his play… and/or he will find other ways to contribute to Kansas. He is 100% Jayhawk! Maybe he stays up until 3am working out with an elite big. Maybe coaching is in his future, and 8 years from now he joins on with the coaching staff or in the AD. Maybe someday he will coach Kansas and give us 30 years of winning basketball!
It is hard to say what young Mitch will sprout into. But there is no denying his love for Kansas, and it all starts there! Let’s face it… we’ve had a lot of guys on the court that didn’t have the love that Mitch does!
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Let’s leave the kid to his dream without making him into our dream.
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@HighEliteMajor said:
Guys like Lightfoot, like Traylor and Lucas, can become roster cloggers. They may not deter another signee now, but possibly later when they have experience, and when they have coach that favors experience.
A “roster clogger” may or may not take minutes away from younger, more highly ranked players; he will certainly consume a scholarship.
Why do we have such a looming lack of large bodies? Because Traylor, Lucas and Mickelson had scholarships and we didn’t send one packing to make room for another recruit this year.
So why didn’t we jettison a “clogger”? Because all 3 had already used up their redshirt year.
Self has let lots of players go, but never a guy who had already redshirted. Accept a redshirt and Self feels morally obligated to keep you 5 years.
Lightfoot will become a fullblown roster-clog risk the day he redshirts. Until then, he’s just a project who risks getting recruited over and sent to Plan B.
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Let’s look at recent history…
Unranked 5’-11" Devonte Graham signs with Appalachian State over Murray State.
Graham now 6’-2" begins to be notice and has great senior year.
He attends Brewster prep and asks to be released from his LOI, becomes a top 50 ranked player,command attention from elite programs and eventually signs with KU.
Could we have ever imagined that Graham would turn out the way he did from the time he committed to Appalachian State? I think not.
Let’s keep in mind that partly because of his early signing, junior Ligthfoot was largely unnoticed. I am confident that much like Graham senior Lightfoot will climb up the rankings now the he is known and hopefully will be a top 50 player but the end of the upcoming season.
THE END.
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Here’s another KUSports article talking about Mitch Lightfoot and getting his HS coach’s opinion of him. http://www2.kusports.com/news/2015/oct/26/lightfoots-coach-no-stranger-talent/
Mitch Lightfoot’s head coach at Gilbert Christian is Kurt Keener. If that name’s familiar to anybody, it’s because he was the head coach at Detroit Country Day for 35 years. Detroit Country Day for those that are unaware is the same HS that produced Chris Webber, Shane Battier, and Ray McCallum who are play(ed) in the NBA and were all McDonald’s All Americans along with former Ohio St. player Amir Williams.
Keener says Lightfoot isn’t as physically gifted as Webber or quite as smart as Battier, but he has the same competitive fire that both have. He also says that Lightfoot is someone that has stepped his game up to his level of competition and has the “Christian Laettner swag” that he’s the best player on the court and can do anything. The player Keener actually compares Lightfoot is former KU great Raef LaFrentz.
Overall, it’s a good read and Keener talks about his plans for developing Lightfoot’s game on and off the court.
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I just like the kids name. Sounds like a movie character from a City Slickers type movie.
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If it was me, trying to make a comparison of Mitch to another player, and what he could develop into being, it would be Manu Ginóbili. I’m not saying he is the next Ginóbili.
But if you watch Ginóbili play, he often doesn’t look athletic, often even looking slow… but dominates in the league because he is scrappy and smart. He has found areas of the game where he can get his numbers, and he does.
I don’t think Mitch will play like most of the post players we have brought in, but I’m okay with that. What matters is production. Can he produce at Kansas?
There is another good read on him over at the other site. This article talks a lot about his competitiveness.
Perhaps he develops a bit like Svi is developing. Has potential but needs to strengthen up. I’m willing to wait a season to see a stronger Mitch Lightfoot.
According to Self… it sounds like Mitch is more the future than bringing in a big, bruising post player because the NCAA is going to be whistling pretty much all contact this year. I’m glad we will be putting energy into a finesse player.
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If Graham were still 5-11, he would not be a Jayhawk. That’s the harsh reality. He grew, which changed his outlook. Graham at 5-11, with a slight build, is not a going to be big enough or strong enough to play at a high major.
But he grew 3 inches, and that, coupled with his skills and shooting ability, made him a high major player.
Mitch Lightfoot is 6-8. He’s a PF. He’s kind of like a Perry Ellis lite. I don’t think his overall basketball skill is as high as Perry was a HS junior, but his footwork is good, his athleticism is solid. He’s a bit smaller than Perry was as a HS junior, but he could certainly fill out in time.
My concern for him is that he isn’t athletic enough to consistently step outside, but is also too small to have an advantage inside, while not being quick enough to exploit bigger players. I haven’t seen him work off the bounce enough to believe that he can take bigger guys to the perimeter and beat them off the dribble, as Perry often does from the top of the key. His shot is very much a set shot from three, although it appears he does have the range. However, if no one fears his dribble drive, guys will crowd and disrupt that shot.
So, back to @JayHawkFanToo the question is if he will grow. I will feel much differently about a 6-10 Mitch Lightfoot than I feel about a 6-8 Mitch Lightfoot, just like I would feel much differently if Devonte Graham was still 5-11 (basically making him Jeremy Case).
As to @drgnslayr and the point about Ginobili, let’s recall that when he first entered the league, Ginobili was a very athletic player. Check out his
. Yes, Ginobili is a very savvy player, but let’s not dismiss his athleticism. It has dropped significantly as he has aged, but he still has bursts, as demonstrated by dunk #9 there.
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Thanks for that. Yes… Manu was more athletic when he was younger. Think I’m more referring to his play today. He can still score almost at will on a single defender.
He is great at knowing (and creating) just the right amount of distance to get his shot off. Almost unstoppable on his drives. He is still a better inside scorer than Wigs… but give Wigs time to develop more tools.
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@DoubleDD Good point , I remember quite some time back, when a little point guard out of Topeka, Kansas so I’ve been told anyways as the story goes walked into Coach Brown’s and point blank said I’m the best point guard you’ve got. That kid played with a lot of heart, guts, and determination and if my memory doesn’t fail me played quite well during his time at KU, so like you say NEVER under estimate a kids heart. Especially as light foot says KU being a school of his dreams, you get someone in a place like that then who knows. The kid I was talking about from Topeka, Kansas? his name? a young kid by the name of Mark Turgeon, Turgeon the surgeon as they called him seems he did quite nicely , and now is doing pretty well as the Coach of Maryland if my memory doesn’t fail me, so who knows what can happen with Mitch , time will tell.
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got a question, may and can be relevant to us at times and then sometimes not. ya, ya call it dum if you like, i’m a grown man and if you feel like taking shots for me asking go ahead. The question is, and its not just us KU fans but fans in general at times, why do we feel the need to compare incoming players to ANYBODY ELSE? Why can’t we just let them be their selves? How about letting Mitch develop into Mitch, all we hear is he looks so much like this guy or that guy and then a lot NOT ALL but a lot of crazies if they fell to turn into that player that they were compared to, surpose to be like, when they came into college then they automatically become a huge failure, OH they didn’t live up to their billing, they are a big bust. Why do we have to compare them to anybody? Why can’t we just sit back and enjoy Mitch Light foot for Mitch Light Foot? let Mitch form his own identity? I mean really, seriously, is that fair to the player? All we do, All he hears, - - - all he reads is who he is surpose to be like, play like. All we do by doing that is put added pressure on a kid that ha already enough trying to live up to potential at a elite program, just saying that’s all guys. Ok I’m done, now go ahead blast me if you want it ok just my thoughts that’s all ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY
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@drgnslayr Absolutely agree about Manu now. He is one of the most savvy and creative players in the NBA today. I am a HUGE fan of his play, which is why my eyes lit up when you mentioned him above.
However, I think asking Lightfoot to get anywhere near that as a collegiate player is probably not going to happen. Manu turned into that type of player after over 10 years in the pros (NBA and Europe). That’s a lot of coaching and experience that Lightfoot just isn’t going to have an opportunity to get. Ginobili made his pro debut at 18 in Argentina. By the time he was 25, he was 2 time Italian League MVP and had also been the Euroleague MVP. That was in 2002. Then he came over to the NBA and from 2003 to 2009 was a very athletic player on some very good (and some great) Spurs teams. Once he started getting banged up, his game changed, but by then he had been a pro for 15 years.
I think Ginobili is a great player to watch, but it would be very difficult for a high school or college player to possess the type of basketball IQ and court awareness that Ginobili possesses at this stage in his career. Ginobili probably played more basketball from 2002-2009 than Lightfoot has played in his entire life between international tournaments representing Argentina and NBA seasons. That’s an experience gap that even four or five years in college won’t cover.
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I’m not insinuating Mitch can become a Manu while in college. The only player I see in college with the possible level of court awareness would be Simmons at LSU. The guy is a freak! I hope LSU takes it to Kentucky this year.
Young developing players do well to see a player to emulate (as much as possible). Mitch should be developing his ability to know what he needs for scoring space and how to get it. That is what makes Niang so dangerous. He knows what to do in the post and he has several moves to create his scoring space. He likes a baby hook or step back and likes to bank it in from about 8 ft away. Manu likes to finish at the rim, either beating his man by a nanosecond, or use his body between the defender and the ball.
This is the part of basketball I really enjoy. When guys can be that precise and be effective without having 7’6" reaches or insane athleticism. I hope Mitch can develop into that kind of player and contribute a lot at Kansas (as a player). I think it would do our fan base some good to see a guy be effective without the reach and uber athleticism. Seems we sometimes focus too much on that part of the game, and we don’t respect the guys who are actually effective. We just think that the long reach and athleticism should fix everything.
Right on… I’m a huge Manu fan, too!
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@jayballer54 Because it gives people a frame of reference on what a kid’s game looks like and what their style of play is like. It’s not insulting or disrespcting to the kid to compare his game to someone who came before him because there’s a lot of people who haven’t seen the kid play and want to know what his game looks like. All does it is provide a frame of reference for people.
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@Texas-Hawk-10 patience is a virtue, good job!
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By the time he signed with Appalachian State Graham was already 6’-1" and at the PG position the difference is not that big as it would be for a big. In any case, my point was that as an unknown, under the radar Graham commanded little interest but once he was noticed he asked to be released form LOI and was sought by much bigger programs than Appalachian State and Murray State. Likewise, Lightfoot has been flying under the scouts radars and once he was “discovered” and he played well in the summer camps he asked to be released form his LOI and was courted by big programs.
When the next round of HS rankings comes out around the beginning of the season, I believe that Light foot will be unanimous top 100, not only form his improved play but he will also get a “KU bump;” hopefully like Graham he will improve in his senior year and with additional exposure, he might end up top 50. Just my opinion…and hope?
