So, some random thoughts.



  • Ok, soo just got through watching ESPNU recruiting special, & of course all this did is just brought back this recurring question which I have discussed here before. That is why can’t we close the deal on these recruits? Ya I know I hear well more players are waiting to see what other players are going to do - - -I am not buying that or if it is then that’s a very small part. again I’m feeling that our recruiting team is NOT CLOSING. Guys I mean there are perfect examples of guys we were in on and lost, Harry Giles- - we were in final 4- - Result- -Duke, DeAaron Fox- - we were in final 4- - Result- -Kentucky, & Terrence Fergurson we were surposedly at the top for most of time. My whole thing is, if we are in that final 4 or that close then someone really needs to be putting their foot on these guys throats make that sale I mean dam. I mean we are getting beat for top recruiting classes by the likes of ( Penn State # 10 ) ( Mississippi State # 9 ) ( Harvard # 11 ) it’s time for a change of the guard. 2nd thought, some of these school s are getting top recruiting classes, but yet their not guys like in the top 20 players, but yet they are top 100 players. Do we need to lower our sights some. seems like we have been into a battle of top 10- - top 20 players and it’s not cutting it. Example ( Virginia # 7 recruiting class of 2016- - -4 commits- - 3 were ESPN top 100- - none in the top 20 but still the number 7 class in the nation, they got the nu 25, the nu 52 the 4th recruit wasn’t even in the top 100, Flordia State the # 6 recruiting class? WHY? why are we losing to the likes of these schools? not very comforting, maybe we need to lower our sights to lower ranked players in the top 100 possibly have better luck, because for some reason we are NOT GETTTIN IT DONE with these top notch players. we shall see, still some left that we are in on but i’m not sure about holding my breath on any of them # 3 Josh Jackson- - Michigan State # 2 ranked class have gotten 4 commits, how many did they have available? then there is Allen at # 19, Bolden at # 20 & Azubuike # 22 kinda crazy, not feeling very confident ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY



  • @jayballer54

    You have to consider several things.

    First off… we get a few OAD players, but we aren’t running a revolving door. Teams like Duke and UK… they have to replace their starting 6 or so every year. Since they are elite programs and have gotten the top players for a while, they will always finish near the top. Some of the teams in the list had to replace a big chunk of their roster. That often leads to momentum.

    Next… up until a few years ago, we really weren’t getting a lot of attention from the very top recruits. Now we are. The first step is to just make the lists of most of the top recruits. We have done that now, so we are getting in that position to score more elite players.

    You can list some schools that rarely get big recruiting classes every year. The thing is… are they making it high on the list consistently? Sometimes schools just manage to put it all together. Take U of Cal for example.

    In the perfect scenario… we will have our players spread out from different classes with few leaving early each year. It would be great if we spaced things perfectly and only needed 3 or 4 new players every year.

    I think we will get a bump from McCarthy Hall and the DeBruce Center. We are working our way up the recruiting ladder.

    Question is… do we want to start having “revolving door” teams? Personally… I am very pleased when we sign players like Carlton Bragg. I don’t mind an occasional OAD… but it would be great to get the guys just below and keep them for a few years.



  • @jayballer54 In regards to Giles, name the last 5 star recruit from North Carolina who didn’t play ball somewhere in North Carolina? Those players don’t leave the state for college.

    With De’Aaron Fox, where was he going to play at KU? He wasn’t going to come in and play over senior Mason or junior Graham.

    KU was always a long shot on these two players because of history and KU’s roster for next year. Terrance Ferguson was the only legitimate miss so far for KU with 4 other guys (Bolden, Allen, Azubuike, and newly offered guard Andrew Jones) being targets right now who are spring commits.

    KU is only going to sign one of Bolden and Allen and is likely running second on Azubuike right now. Jones is too new to the picture to have a good indication of where KU is at with him.



  • @drgnslayr well if your wanting to recruit with the big dogs, you have to be able to stay with the big dogs, and that’s not happening, evidentally that’s what coach self is wanting to be why otherwise recruit the same players that Kentucky are doing? you say we are not a revolving door, so that means you don’t want to become part of that revolving door, so as I said lowe your sights. If you don’t want to become part of that door then don’t recruit those players, because if that’s what you recruit- - -that’s what your gonna get ONE AND DONE. it doesn’t seem to bother them to have to replace 6 or so every year, look what its got them. I’d take that if your going to recruit top 10 players which we are trying to do, then your going to have a revolving door. It’s been more then a few years that we have been in on Top players been in on top 20 players for quite some time now. As far as listing schools that rarely get big recruiting doing it consistently- - -well we are sure not getting them consistently, - - well we are not either so that’s a wash, so take us as a example. we got wiggins - - -AND? who else did you consider that a big year? Again why even bother recruiting the bigs if you don’t want the revolving door, you can’t have both. That’s why I said if we can’t get these guys then lower the sights. Did Kentucky make it to the championship last year with all the big time recruits? NOPE. A school with lower profile beat them out so why not lower your sights? screw the one and done, people say you want players that stay 4 years and develop- - -so don’t waste your time on the higher caliber, get the 3 and 4 year players and develop case solved



  • @Texas-Hawk-10 All I’m saying is if we are in the last 4 standing then there is no reason well other then the exception of Giles that we can’t push. As Far as De"Aaron, if he isn’t coming in to push for playing time, and the staf knows that he can’t take that spot- - - then why recruit him? why waste our recruiting efforts as a staff if you know as you say that he wasn’t going to take Frank or Devonte spot, as a staff WHY BOTHER?, lower your sights , go after a less know point guard and like people wan’t to see a player Ku can develop and stay 3 or 4 yrs, a player that KNOWS he isn’t here for just 1 year



  • @jayballer54 Does it occur to you that a player looks at roster situations to help make a decision. Self can sell Fox on KU all day long, but at the end of the day it doesn’t change that Mason and Graham will be back next year while Kentucky is bringing back Ulis and ??? Isaiah Briscoe is a projected OAD so Kentucky has an opening in their back court next year KU doesn’t have.

    KU is also now targeting Andrew Jones who is a 6-4 combo guard from the Dallas area. Jones is the 38th ranked player which is the same area that Devonte Graham and Lagerald Vick are ranked.

    KU can sell recruits all day long on KU, but without an easy pathway to big minutes, it’s really hard to sell OAD caliber players on a school.



  • Its all relative. Look, the players KU actually gets are enough to keep Gregg Marshall up at night, green with envy.

    Probably more important is that we get 100% out of whomever recruit we get, because the mid-majors sure seem to, enough to knock KU out of the Tourney the last 2 years. That’s got to change.

    Final thought: Self’s key ingredient is experience, and finally, this year, the majority of the team HAS experience. They also should have a chip on their should from Stanford and WeecheetaSt. Time to execute to perfection/execute the demons.



  • @Texas-Hawk-10 did you just read your own question? hell ya he knows who is on the roster. Soo if he still listing them, If he didn’t think he could come in and compete then he wouldn’t have shown interest in the 1st place. If he wasn’t interested knowing who was on the roster he would of elimated Ku from the very beginning, when the recruitment process started in the 1st place.As far as Andrew Jones goes- - - -YA, GODD LUCK WITH THAT



  • @jayballer54

    Fox liked KU but once Calipari sold him a dream it was over in August. The threat of not starting & being the star wasn’t going to cut it for a guy like Fox. If Mason & Graham were Sr’s I think there would have been a good chance he landed here. But because neither has the NBA drooling over them Fox couldn’t predict with certainty he’d play a lot of minutes. He’s a OAD anyway, he’s got the best chance for success going where he is.

    Andrew Jones is a guy I really hope the staff goes all in on. A very talented combo guard, I’m surprised we didn’t get involved earlier as his rise up the rankings happened this summer. He’s very much in the same mold as Vick, skinny, quick, athletic and can shoot. There’s always the chance Svi or Selden go pro so getting a top 50 kid to help replace them is definitely something the staff has to keep an eye on.



  • @drgnslayr Totally agree but right now we have One guy. One. Will we get even one more? Im a little worried. But, Im more focused on what we are doing right now.



  • One thing that I think is hurting us in the backcourt recruiting is that we have a lot of guys coming back. The front court recruiting is the frustrating part…but we will have a lot of bodies back. The fact that everyone wants to come in and be assured of 30 min per game and then leave is what is hurting us…even in the front court.



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  • Yep, let’s just fire the whole coaching staff and bring in a Sleazy and set up an academic program for athletes like UNC. That ought to get us 6 OAD’s/yr. Uh, no thanks.



  • @jayballer54 You have raised a great question. Why can’t we close some of these guys before spring??? @brooksmd It’s a little too glib to use UNC shenanigans as an excuse. Per Rivals, 87 of the top 100 ranked players have already committed. 13 schools have signed at least three 4 or 5 stars players already - this includes both the blue-bloods that we are ostensibly competing against, as well as a bunch of upstarts like Alabama and Miss. St. We have exactly zero.

    Some have cited the excuse that there isn’t playing time available in the backcourt with Mason and Graham coming back - but that is just a one year issue and all of the top 100 aren’t OAD and even TAD guys. And, if it’s playing time, we will have lots of that available upfront, but we still don’t have any big commits. We have to trust that out of the remaining 13 unsigned players, Self and staff will pull a rabbit out of the hat by the end of the spring, as has been the case in past years. But, that is a very risky approach and it also means that you may end up with guys that have extra baggage and/or for which KU is at best a 2nd or 3rd choice and they lost out on preferred schools. If we were the first choice for any of the top 20 bigs, why haven’t we gotten any of them - plenty have signed elsewhere.

    87 of the top 100 have already signed. 13 schools have 3 or more top 100 players. A few have 4. Something is wrong with this picture…



  • @brooksmd where the hell you getting any kind of idea like that? hmmmmm, I don’t really believe anyone has said ANYTHING about firing the staff, but there is ONE and we all know who that is that doesn’t seem to be getting it done, it’s been mentioned before others are having to come in and close for him, you mu friend need to rest, do you always go off the deep end and get so irrational at the quickest point, lol ANYWAYS like I said there is a member that looks lie for sure needs replaced. Someone tell me the last big recruit he has brought in, OR the last recruit period, or any recruit on any kind of consistent bases. ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY



  • @DCHawker maybe coach knows we have some locks for 2017?


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