So I guess
-
So I guess we have yet another option possibly. a De-commit from Flordia, alexander 6 ft 5 1/2. Kentucky tomorrow - - KU on Tuesday soooo let me hear from ya my friends- -ROCK CHAL;K ALL DAY LONG BABY
-
His Rivals.com page: https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/10291
6-4 165 point guard Shai Alexander-Walker was 53 on rivals top 1o0.
Number of stars: ****
According to the Rivals page, he was offered by Florida, and then by no other major, or elite major. He was offered by the likes of Binghampton, American U, Middle Tennessee and St. Bonaventure.
Ding, ding, ding, ding!!! Red flag. Warning lights. Ah oooogah, Ah oooogah!!!
Among those that offered, Florida was a no brainer, but why did only Florida offer? Or is the Rivals page out of date?
Sing to the tune of Ghostbusters…
There’s something weird And it don’t look good Who ya gonna call Clearance busters!!!
Self needs a point guard for next season to go with Malik Newman, if everyone bugs out.
4-star Shai make sense for Self to take a clearance risk on, since a point guard anywhere in the Top 100 would be a coup during the era of the apparent recruiting embargo at the 1 and 5 spots.
But the above was after a very brief surf.
Maybe there is more to this story that makes Cal and Bill get interested.
-
Frank Mason had committed to Towson before de-committing and committing to KU.
Devonte Graham originally signed with Appalachian State only to de-commit, spend and extra year at Brewster academy and then join KU.
Ding, ding, ding, ding!!! coach Self and staff know a lot more than all of us.
-
Ok now we are getting somewhere.
Neither of us said we were smarter than Bill, did we? No, We did not.
My point rests on Self being smarter than us.
My point rests on him knowing better than we do that his chances for joining the great coaches hinges on access to Nike players and that Duke gets dump trucks full, and that that job is coming up.
Self hasn’t won a ring, since his access to the best players in the greatest numbers forced him to recruit the kind of players he said he won with at Tulsa, and to get by without as good of talent as Duke and Uk.
Self is so smart he appears to know he can’t win rings with the talent he has had access to. He has focused on what he could win. Titles.
Ding, ding, ahooogah!!!
-
I think that Coach has reached legendary status here. So if Coach is interested in some one then us fans should be too.
Look I know it’s fun to look at some of these recruits and explain why Coach should pass on them. As fans we have that right. I mean after all we do pay the bills.
Yet if Coach is interested in a kid in some small town in middle America that only has rock roads and no internet, then I think we fans should pay attention.
One thing about Coach he hardly ever whiffs on a kid.
-
Jaybate, you suggesting Self will go to Duke is just about the most vulgar thing you could say. I mean that’s like saying the Dalai Lama is going to enlist in the Chinese Army. Self is just not that guy. And I worry for you.
Brother, in this time where someone as vile a person as The Donald can come within arm’s length of the presidency, do not give up hope in humanity. There are public personas who still possess souls. Good people we can admire, trust in, vouch for. There are dark alternate realities that will never see fruition. Take Heart! Pay Heed! Believe!
ROCK. CHALK. CHAMPIONSHIP.
-
Yes, it is awful to utter such a thing and I run to the mouthwash bottle after each post.
But it is worse not to ride shouting the British (another loathsome word to my Yankee Doodle dandy tongue) are coming than to let the red. Coated bastards come and drub us and take what we love.
I hate saying Self and Duke in the same sentence except Self beat Duke.
But we CANNOT be sleeping and let them take him as that vile sears doubleknit powder blue sport. Coat wearing Dean took our Roy.
I’m telling people this is a danger.
And we must alert our leadership who are intransition of the risk!
-
We all knew that Roy Williams was on loan to KU and we all knew that sooner or later he would go back to UNC; we just did not know when. Anyone that thought Roy Williams was a lifer at KU was fooling himself. KU Alum Dean Smith made the call earlier than we anticipated by pulling the rug from under former Tar Heel Mat Doherty and completely undermining his authority and ruining his career in the process.
I don’t see any scenario where Bill Self goes to Duke anymore than I see any scenario where KU goes after Calipari. Duke much like KU, has too much pride to go after an elite rival’s coach. They have several up and coming coaches that are part of the Duke tree including Bobby Hurley, Steve Wojciechowski, Johnny Dawkins, Tommy Amaker, Mike Brey and yes…that KU favorite punching bag…Quin Snyder.
As far as Shai Alexander, you posted there were all kinds or red flags because he was not highly recruited.
According to the Rivals page, he was offered by Florida, and then by no other major, or elite major. He was offered by the likes of Binghampton, American U, Middle Tennessee and St. Bonaventure.
Ding, ding, ding, ding!!! Red flag. Warning lights. Ah oooogah, Ah oooogah!!!
Is how you put it. I named the two current KU guards Mason and Graham, both outstanding players, that came top KU under very similar conditions and no flags were raised and Coach Self proved once again that he is one smart cookie when it comes to evaluating potential and talent. If Coach Self does not see all the red flags you do and goes after him I say good for him and in 2-3 years we might have one the top players in the League.
-
Let’s not forget that KU has rarely been bounced by teams with superior talent. Is Kentucky the only one we weren’t favored against? Maybe Michigan?
Since KU won:
Michigan State (1) UNI VCU Kentucky (2) Michigan (3?) Stanford WSU Nova
Talent-wise, if you tell Self at the beginning of each of the above seasons that he gets to pick which group of guys he wants, he’d pick the KU guys in five or six of the above 8.
I guess you could argue that it’s easier to beat lesser competition with more talent, which is perhaps why Puke and Kensucky have done relatively well in the tourney. But I don’t think the gap is all that bad.
-
Almost no one I knew thought Roy would leave KU for UNC, after the last time he turned down the UNC job. Not sure what you are referring to. I was in touch with quite few Jayhawks then, too.
Thanks for clarifying about Mason and Devonte. I didn’t recall them being ranked around 53 in top 100.
Are you saying Shai decommitted from a school like Towson before he signed with Florida the way Frank did with Towson? I didn’t see that.
It looked to me like Shai was a hotter prospect than Frank. Can’t recall Devonte’s rank.
One thing: we have 100% agreement that Self knows guys that can play.
I have no doubt Shai could bring it if Self likes him. I just found it nerve wracking that no other major wanted a Top 100 prospect. I worried that it might signify clearance issues!
We know he can play if Self likes him.
But do you think clearance issues might be a risk with Shai?
-
You are kidding right? Dean Smith himself indicated he sent Roy William to his Alma Mater, KU, to get experience until he was ready to retire and Roy Williams was ready to take over the program at UNC. A very close friend of mine was at the time very high officer at KU and very close to many of the top William Fund contributors and he indicated that they all knew Roy Williams was eventually leaving for UNC. I knew he was leaving but I have always indicated that the timing (NCAA Tournament) was absolutely horrible and a slap to the face of KU by alum Dean Smith. I did not at the time and still do not have a problem with Roy Williams leaving, I did and still do have a problem with the way it happened and most of it can be attributed directly to Dean Smith.
You made it very clear in your post that you thought Shai was not recruited much and the only known school that offered was Florida…I would think that Florida is a superior program compared to Towson and Appalachia State, so compared to Mason and Graham he is way ahead. Like I said, if Coach Self thinks he will help KU I am all for it. I have not seen anything in his profile that raises any kind of red flag, maybe you know something we don’t and hopefully you will share it with us.
-
Where are we going to play all these guards? Are we going 4 guards and Udunka next year? Is Garrett ( didn’t make late night ) still on board?
-
@jaybate-1.0 We also have to remember our popular little buddy DeAndre- -NO other school had offered him surposedly, where we had been on him from the get go because of possible grade issues but yet there we were until Kentucky sneaked in but didn’t do them any good either and he winds up of all places Arizona. If Bill is going after them or interested - - -I’m no longer worried, he must feel it’s worth the shot. - -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY
-
@KUSTEVE I’m pretty sure he had a game that night, but is still firm.
-
@Crimsonorblue22 That’s good to know.
-
When economies survive embargoes, they are often stronger after, because their producers and consumers have had to improvise and develop to survive. When they re enter a competitive economy it may take awhile but their massive edge in developed human resourcefulness eventually show up in rapid growth (e.g., Germany, Japan, China, Russia, South Korea.
Coach Self is probably a far better coach now than if he had not been forced by the apparent embargo to improvise and develop. But…
Self was a good enough coach to win a ring BEFORE the embargo, so it has been a very costly apparent embargo to his quest for enough rings to join the all time great coaches.
The silver lining is those imposing the apparent embargo may have created unintentionally a $6 Billion Dollar Man kind of coach should he start being allowed his share of the players. He is better, stronger, more multifaceted and skilled than any other coach at an elite program now because of the apparent embargo and his will to get better.
THIS IS WHY ITS IMPERATIVE KU KEEP HIM NOW AT ALL COSTS AND NOT LET THE SUCCESSION IN CHANCELLORS CREATE A POWER VACUUM THAT DUKE CAN SWOOP IN AND EXPLOIT!
It is a pivotal moment looming in THE LEGACY!
-
One more thing: notice how the leaness of the embargo has forced Self out of his inefficient habits of all the players he used to sign and run.
Sign and run is decreasingly part of his repertoire.
Scarcity has focused him into signing what is essential. He has moved from a chef who experiments wastefully with ingredients to a chef who makes the most of whatever ingredients he has; this was why Wooden became so great AFTER the first two rings with players other teams had not recruited hard. Wooden learned efficiency in coaching before the great talent and depth came. And when the talent came in tidal waves he never forgot efficiency.
Self is in a position to do the same thing…
If he can ever break the apparent embargo.
Efficiency in coaching is as important as efficiency in playing.
-
"All we are saying/
Is give Bill a chance…"
Sung to the tune of “Give Peace a Chance.”
This should be sung by the student body at every nationally televised home game and accompanied with signs waved reading:
"STOP THE
APPARENT
RECRUITING
EMBARGO
NOW!!!"
-
Four-star PF Deng Gak tells me that he has committed to #Miami @canesport
-
-
@jayballer54 Self likes system PGs that will hang around. Like TT, Frank and Rusrob. Dont matter where they decommit from self can make them solid players.
-
@Crimsonorblue22 He really wants to be a Jayhawk! Someone should slap his momma!!!
-
Coach Knight called, he said he would be happy to oblige…LOL.
