Interesting, NEW Name surfaced for 2016
-
well guys not quite sure what to think on this. One theory maybe we are feeling our chances of landing Bolden not as well, OR we just trying to secure 2 big men for 2016. A New name has just popped up, never heard ANYTHING on this guy till just like the last week. His name is Jayce Johnson a as they say in article a 4 star rising 6 ft 11 center 225 lbs out of Henderson Nevada. I see we offered scholi just on the 28th of July. just kinda threw me for a loop had again heard nothing about him, 247 has an article on him today under basketball news, now there it shows I believe Arizona State in the lead, BUT if you go under the latest crystal ball shows KU in he lead, right now shows KU, Auburn, Ariz St, and Utah kinda mixed feelins, hope we get Bolden, saw where bolden today was talking about visiting KU. Then on others read today again where Trae Young is visiting for late night, this is his 2nd unofficial visit to KU although Duke it shows has a huge lead for him, says with this being 2d unofficial visit to KU could shake things up. Then Michael Porter as we know is visiting for late night, I feel this is a huge recruit for KU, in order to stay on top when you have top notch recruits right in your back yard, you can’t afford to let them get away, kinda surprised but as of now it shows us with a huge lead over Washington and Duke. shows us at 71% and the other 2 at 14 % each need to nail him down yes I realize he is 2017 long ways out, lots can change, but we need to keep on top of him and keep him secured. Still doesn’t look good for De’ Aaron had his crystal ball as of yesterday, Texas way in front 64% to KU 21 %. we shall see. ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY
-
Someone unloaded a bug in my ear yesterday… telling me that Kansas is about to get a verbal from a top recruit, but I didn’t get a name.
Has anyone heard anything? Rumors?
-
@drgnslayr I’ve heard rumors about Ferguson maybe committing somewhere soon. Might have been on this site though
-
It’s Ferguson. Alabama is pushing hard because his AAU team is connected to the new coach but with a decision likely coming before fall, its as close to a done deal for KU as there is. Anything could change with these kids but I feel we will be very happy when he announces. Elite shooter, Elite Wing reminds me so much of B Mac with more length.
Johnson is a new name, if he decides to visit then we may have a chance with him. The CB means nothing people jumped on him being offered as so much of these CB’s go one way or the other when the elite schools offer.
Bolden is the must get big man but we have our work cut out for us and he will not decide this fall as he said recently. At the moment we really don’t have a legit backup plan to him if he goes somewhere else. Johnson isn’t nearly the caliber Bolden is.
Fox was just offered by Kentucky which he said he was waiting for their offer to come in. Not sure how serious he will take the offer, but KU is still in the picture. A few weeks back it was near certain that Kobi Simmons was Kentucky bound but his poor July showing has reportedly cooled off their interest with him.
-
KU is probably going to lose 4 bigs this year, so KU is absolutely going to have to sign multiple bigs. KU needs 3 bigs for sure if they lose 4 players so KU has been targeting a lot of big this year.
-
I don’t think we will sign 4 bigs though. If we assume we will have Bragg, Coleby & Lucas signing 4 is overkill. Especially with so many 2017 recruits being legit KU targets.
We all know Bolden is the top Big we are after. But he’s certainly no cinch after his comments & his mentor’s guidance (the same guy who sent Randle to UK) in his corner.
Giles is out of the question, he’s going to Duke regardless of us being in his top 5.
Bam Bam Adebayo seems a lean to NC State with his AAU teammate Dennis Smith, both kids we recruited until we found out other schools had a strangehold on them.
Jarrett Allen has been rumored to Texas.
Huell & Azubuike are being pressured to stay in state by Florida St (Hamilton has really stepped up his game with Bacon this yr & Issac in 16).
That pushes us past the top 30 or so kids in the country and we are now recruiting 4* star players that really aren’t ready to contribute from day 1.
Gabriel’s recruitment absolutely went bananas, will be tough to figure out where he’s leaning now that all the top programs came calling.
Yakwe could be a good catch especially with the Diallo connection. His defense is far ahead of his offense. Was defensive MVP of the EYBL.
Ideally, we could get 1 to 2 bigs & maybe look to the transfer route for an immediate Sr available who can score and has experience.
Thoughts??
-
@BeddieKU23 I think you have hit it pretty much on the head. We still have a good shot with Josh Jackson too. I am damn near banking on him coming here. It is such an easy sell to him after Wiggs I would think. Especially if you can tell him he would be playing with an elite PG like Frank who can make him look good.
-
http://www.verbalcommits.com/schools/kansas
Here is a list showing who all we have offered so you guys can go do research.
-
@BeddieKU23 I have never once said KU needs 4 bigs and I have said that multiple times here. I think at the end of the day, KU ends up needing to replace 5 players. The 4 bigs plus either Selden or Svi so bascially 4 bigs and wing. The breakdown of the class to me should be 3 bigs (2 ready to start/play immediately and 1 project), a wing that’s a year away from contributing, and a PG/combo guard that’s a year away from contributing.
I’m basically picturing KU’s returning roster next year looking like:
Back court: Mason, Graham, Vick
Wing: Svi/Selden, Greene
Front court: Bragg, Lucas, Coleby
The priority needs to be bigs, wing, PG/combo in that order because that’s the likelihood of losing players.
-
@BeddieKU23 Why are you so sure that TF is KU bound? I guess what has he done or said recently that makes you say that? I would love to hear some evidence that supports this because I think he would be a great catch for KU.
I’m not directing this at you specifically but it seems that sometimes people just echo what they hear somewhere and this gossip expands all the way until it becomes something that is taken as fact. Personally, I like to see the hard evidence behind this stuff so I tend to dig around and do my own research on these guys and form my own conclusions. Unfortunately, when I look at TF’s twitter feed, all the recent activity is tied to Alabama. Even further, the only KU player he follows is Oubre Jr. If he was such a strong KU lean, I would expect it things to look a little differently.
-
T-FERG @the2kferguson · Jul 26 Paradise, NV
College Decision
-
5 players sounds about right. I wasn’t saying that you were implying we needed 4 bigs in this class, I just responded as saying 4 would be too many imo. At the moment even getting 3 bigs is looking unlikely but we all know how spring recruiting has dramatically changed & Self’s ability to close in the spring, we will probably end up with exactly what we need.
The evidence is in KU’s favor. He’s been to KU for a visit and loved it. He hasn’t been to Alabama.
A few months back, there was some insider talk from people close to his situation that a friend or family member blurted out that he was going to KU. Whether that info was true or not, usually where there is smoke there is fire. KU staff has been present at all his games basically since last summer.
Everytime he is asked about his recruitment KU is always at the front of his talks. Yes Alabama has done what they can with his AAU connection & with Johnson trying to sell his NBA roots to him. All the recruiters believe he will go to KU sooner than later, they view Alabama as a contender but at the end of the day KU being there from day 1 with him will win out.
I’m usually the first person to put the breaks and hold off any on certainties but I would be more than shocked to see him go anywhere else. He’s as much a lean as any prospect out there being tied to one program or another. For example, do you expect Harry Giles to end up anywhere else but Duke? Especially after Tatum committed who was his roomate at the U19 games for a month.
Because of Sean Miller’s connection with the u19 program its going to be tough for us to beat Zona for Jackson. They were also front and center at all his July games & KU wasn’t as prominent with him. They focused a lot of their attention on Fox & Ferguson.
-
Recruiting…and committing are getting to be like a game of chess. Coaches and players are now waiting to see what others will do before offering and/or committing. We saw this past recruiting season where an inordinate number of top ranked players waited to see where other top prospect committed and who stayed before committed themselves. I believe we will see more of this in the future and we will not know what the next team will look like well into June.
-
Here is my intel on Freguson. He is friends on fb with Diallo, Bragg, and Lucas which gives KU the advantage on that social media outlet. His twitter is full to the max with KU banter which is another good indication for KU. I will start digitally stalking him to keep my friends here at bucket up to date. I completely believe he is a KU lean and that he will commit soon biased on what I have been able to recon from my multiple sources.
-
@Statmachine Interesting! And we can always count on you as our social media guru to keep us informed. I must have been looking at the wrong twitter handle because I did not see the KU banter on it. Going to go look again…
-
@RockkChalkk If you click on the
T-FERG @the2kferguson · Jul 26 Paradise, NV College Decisiontweet then you will see a bunch of KU banter.
When he was on his visit to AFH he actually posted himself dunking in AFH on instagram.
-
Tyler Dalton @tylerd91 · 4h4 hours ago
Apparently it’s down to Kansas and Alabama for Terrance Ferguson. Would be a huge pick up but Kansas is still the favorite.KU Live Tweets/News @kutweetsandnews · Jul 27
KU is currently leading in the crystal ball for three ESPN Top 15 recruits (Josh Jackson: 3, Terrance Ferguson: 14, Marques Bolden: 15)KU Live Tweets/News @kutweetsandnews · Jul 27
KU has shot up in Terrance Ferguson’s crystal ball to a whopping 82% . 2nd is SMU at 12%Rock Chalk Blog @RockChalkBlog · Jul 27
Nothing official, but keep an eye on top-15 2016 recruit Terrance Ferguson. #kubball reportedly contending, but no set date for a decision.JayhawkSlant @JayhawkSlant · Jul 27
Notebook: Terrance Ferguson close to decision? http://kansas.forums.rivals.com/threads/notebook-terrance-ferguson-close-to-decision.15384/ … #kubballrkelle fultz follows
Jerry Meyer @jerrymeyer247 · 16h16 hours ago
Jerry Meyer retweeted Lance T Wouldn’t be surprised if Avery Johnson did it. Right there w Kansas for Terrance Ferguson http://247sports.com/Player/Terrance-Ferguson-31759 …
-
@BeddieKU23 The only other thing I know on Johnson is, he Is currently ranked 66th by 247 composite and like 9 th best center but rising had really good showing in last tournament or whatever, says he reminds people of Jeff Whithey
-
@BeddieKU23 the only thing I can say on Jackson is what I’ve seen yesterday, and this is SINCE the games with Miller coaching,not that long ago they had us in a dead heat, all even at 46% between us and Arizona, now its us back up 46% and Arizona has dropped to 38% with I believe its Louisville taking the 8 % Arizona has lost
-
Josh Jackson is Canadian and has Wiggins on his fb along with Bragg, and Diallo. I think KU is in the running because Wiggins has a HUGE influence on this kid!
-
Big man recruits we’ve offered that are most likely projects:
Schnider Herard
Isaac Humphries
Jayce Johnson
Mitch Lightfoot
-
@Statmachine said:
Jerry Meyer retweeted Lance T Wouldn’t be surprised if Avery Johnson did it. Right there w Kansas for Terrance Ferguson http://247sports.com/Player/Terrance-Ferguson-31759 …
Thanks for the great updates Statmachine! Ones like the tweet above are the ones that scare me. Meyer usually has a good feel for things. Really hoping KU locks it up soon!
-
I just don’t think the CB’s are accurate in anyway when a player hasn’t made his intentions known when he plans to sign. Guys haven’t switched their picks because Jackson hasn’t tipped his hand 1 way or the other. Miller has gotten so many kids coaching up the u19 squad that anytime they lock into a player its usually a done deal. He just had a chance to be coached by him for a month and then they are front and center at everyone of his games in Vegas. That’s how you win these kids these days… Hopefully KU at least gets him to Late Night so he can see the difference in atmosphere.
-
From 247 Sports:
Terrance Ferguson Prime Prep Academy
Where will Terrance Ferguson commit to?
Kansas 76%
Alabama 12%
SMU 6%
Louisville 6%
-
@Statmachine Josh is not Canadian. He grew up in Michigan. I wish he were if that would help us get him, though!
-
@Kcmatt7 Would we get both Jackson and Ferguson? I would think getting one would cause the other to go elsewhere?
-
Doubtful but its not out of the realm of possibility. Either can play the SG/SF role but I think more importantly it would depend on who’s back next year, if Selden and Svi go to the NBA.
-
Just Seen T-Ferg will visit Alabama next week.
He’s also planning to go to Late Night which could be the nail in the coffin for us getting him.
Bolden has scheduled a visit to Duke, says he will visit KU but no official date is set.
Fox has been offered by UNC & Kentucky in the last week.
-
@BeddieKU23 I just don’t have a good feeling about T-Ferg. Hearing that an announcement may come very soon then he schedules a visit to Bama? Not good. Sure he may be scheduled to come to late night but that isn’t until October. His twitter feed, meaning stuff he has tweeted, retweeted, and people he has followed, indicate a Bama lean in my opinion. Hope I’m wrong but my gut is picking up a bad vibe, maybe its just that chinese food I ate last night…
Fox made some other interesting comments. He said he will choose a school that has been at least a top 4 seed the previous 3 years. Basically, he wants to be at a powerhouse school. You won’t see him picking a weaker program school like a Cal, LSU, MSt that these guys did this year. But does his comment mean that a team like Texas is out too? Texas surely hasn’t met that criteria and neither has VCU so you can’t twist it that way either. If the comment is true to the word, that would also rule out Kentucky with their first round exit from the NIT three years ago. He also made comments about Arizona saying that they haven’t had a single one and done ever and seems to turn him off to them a little bit. My take on Fox is that he wants to come to KU but is going to wait to see if Mason returns first. If Mason goes to the NBA, I feel pretty confident that Fox will come to KU. If Mason stays for his senior year, then I doubt Fox comes to KU but you never know. He would basically be eliminating his one and done chances but giving himself a year to learn from one of the best in the country.
-
Man… those big mean look like extreme projects. Even their highlight clips make them appear very slow, clumsy and nothing really looking D1 caliber. That scares me and I hope we can find better than the guys in those videos. I know videos are misleading… but WOW!
-
Alabama is playing major catch-up work. It was just like schools that were after Diallo in the spring, KU had done its work early and kept steady until he came here. I was way more worried about Diallo than I am about T-Ferg because the Diallo situation was shady the way teams were fighting for him.
Ferguson has already been to KU for a game in January, he saw the Oklahoma St game and he loved it. Meyer saying that Alabama is right there with us, I just don’t buy it. It’s the things that recruiting services do to draw interest from multiple fan-bases to keep visiting their sites. 247 has blown up with its Crystal Ball projections where only a handful of people actually know any info at all and everyone else follows suit. Notice in the case of T-Ferg nobody followed Meyer’s switch to Bama.
I think if he makes it to Late Night without picking a school we will have won the battle after it.
With Fox he has made a lot of interesting comments, some that he mentioned about Mason leaving after this year. Kentucky will be very much in the picture if they make him a priority. They have their way with anyone they want, just like Duke. They had Simmons in the bag, they have cooled apparently on him due to poor play. They want Dennis Smith or Rawle Alkins & now they offered Fox in case they don’t get any of those PG’s first. His comments about Arizona, were they about the PG position? Because Zona has had OAD’s including Gordon & Johnson recently.
-
Those are the guys we might have to settle for if Bolden doesn’t come to KU. It’s not a great class for depth in the front-court that was this years class. Herard is a guy that has that KU feel to him. He’s definitely a few years away but he plays hard. Skill Set & BB IQ need work though, hes only played basketball for a handful of years.
-
@BeddieKU23 Bah, I misread the article. He actually had a lot of positive things to say about Zona. Then the next paragraph he started talking about schools in general, saying that he wouldn’t want to go to a school that has never had a one and done because the odds of them having one (if he went there) would be much less than a blueblood school who has had a lot of them over the years.
-
@drgnslayr I think Mitch Lightfoot looks pretty good. looks like he’s agressive and has some good basics of post moves. I am not impressed with Jayce Johnson. Not sure how tall he is (looks 6’9) but he has a hard time dunking and it looks like he just throws the ball up. Doesn’t look like that great of an athlete to me. Schnider Herard has a good looking stroke, but is it just me or does it seem like he has troubles palming the ball? Every dunk they showed was either a two hander or he had to gather the ball and swing it up for a one handed slam.
-
He’s also planning to go to Late Night which could be the nail in the coffin for us getting him.
Nail in the coffin? Maybe “Icing on the cake” would be a better expression?
Just kidding, I know what you meant.
-
I hope he doesn’t need a special Red Velvet cake!
-
Crimson and Blue cake with Gold (medal) icing and 11…or 12… conference rings on top!!!
-
Great thread. I haven’t been back on the site in a while, but I thought I’d chime in on this one.
I’m actually feeling really good about Ferg. I think he’s just paying lip service to appease his AAU coach (same as happened to us with Shabazz Muhammad). Every whisper I’ve heard about this kid has been strong KU lean. Josh Jackson is more of a toss up, but I like where we are with him. Either way, I think we’ll be securing a commit from at least one of these two. Ferg is the most likely, but I’d gladly take either. Both are scorers. Both are guys not afraid to take over a game. The real difference is Ferg is more of a shooter, and Jackson is more of an off-brand Wiggins. That’s not a sleight to Jackson at all, though. It’s tough to be (potentially) the 2nd coming. Josh is more a Pierce than a Jordan, though.
I think Duke is both real competition and probably the main threat with Bolden, but based on what I’ve heard, I think he’d prefer to stay Big 12. Like all great recruits these days, he wants to OAD, but I have my doubts as to how feasible that will be. He’s highly skilled and a good athlete, but not an elite athlete (reminds me a ton of Cole as a soph), and his motor has been an issue in the past. He has at least improved on the motor front.
As for who might replace him if we miss, or who there is to supplement, there’s been a lot of recent action. Both Sacha Killeya-Jones (a recent UVA decommit) and Wenyen Gabriel have exploded recently on the AAU circuit and wound up on KU’s radar. They are cut from the same cloth. High potential, long and lean type bigs. Both need to add size and work on D, but either could develop into a great rim protector. What’s most impressive, though, is that they’re both great shooters. Either can operate quite comfortably out to 18ft and they should easily be able to extend that range even more as they get stronger. Gabriel seldom dunks anything, but he has remarkably good touch around the rim. Jones is the better operator with his back to the basket. He has the turnaround jumper that I have always wished Ellis would develop. He also knows how to use his long, craning legs to step around defenders and finish on the opposite side of the rim, one of Embiid’s goto moves in his time with us.
I’d still like to add a guy like Herard so that we have a true bully in the post, instead of having Lucas as our ‘muscle’ (although Coleby should help in that regard), but either of these guys would be a fine consolation prize should we miss out on Bolden. Better yet would be a class of 3 bigs: Bolden, Jones/Gabriel, and Herard, as that gives you a (likely) 2-year, 3-year, and 4-year guy to build around.
-
TFerg @T_Ferg2KU #winning #kubball @the2kferguson you get rings at Kansas!
-
Add the WUG Gold Medal to that picture
-
@drgnslayr Yea they do. But, remember how bad Withey looked in his first game as a Jayhawk. Or Sasha. And remember these guys have not been in a weight room with a collegiate strength trainer to really make them have explosiveness. If they add 3-5 inches on their verticals that is a big difference.
Of those guys, I did like Mitch Lightfoot. He gives me an Sam Dekker vibe…
-
@Hawk8086 I don’t think so necessarily. I mean if you watch Jackson he will have to make the slide to SF. NBA teams will want him there. He is too long, athletic, and springy. Plus his body type is that kind that looks like it can hold a lot more muscle when he gets into the weight room.
If Bill can get Selden and Wiggins I don’t see why he can’t get Ferguson and Jackson.
-
-
@approxinfinity like where’s Waldo. I see the lil guy, even better w/Mason plus the gold!
-
• I don’t see WSU and Marsha mentioned in the running for any of these players. Looks like beating KU didn’t change much in their recruiting so far.
• This looks like another recruiting season suggesting the embargo on top domestic 1’s and 5’s continues.
• It seems like the domestic OADs are basically out of the discourse till the end of the 2015-16 season, when most go through the long ritual of milking branding publicity pretending to make decisions that were apparently made back in early high school.
• Since KU appears shut out of the domestic OADs, then the big question should be who is the next foreign OAD? The next Wiggins, Embiid and Diallo?
• Oh, the other thing to focus on are the high school juniors most likely to reclassify and come to D1 early? The next Vick?
• the other thing to watch for is the foreign, or domestic, OAD that appears to change shoe leans? The next Wiggins, or Jaylen Brown?
The only legitimate speculation this time of year is among the 4-star and less guys and the occasional 5-star tweener local.
-
@jayballer54 Jayce would be a nice project that could pay off big down the road. Him and Hudy should become best friends. Here’s a mix tape I found: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5Dj8Dqy3ns
-
It’s a long shot… hoping big guys can strengthen up enough and extend their verticals and foot speed. And then there is coordination issues.
I think Withey was a rare breed… to make the improvements he made. He worked his butt off. Lucas is more the typical outcome.
Withey’s volleyball background helped him with his timing, as he added strength, pounds and esteem.
For the sake of depth, I’m okay grabbing a footer who isn’t great, just to have a player that size for possible match-up issues with other big teams.
But in the scheme of things… I typically prefer landing more guys around 6’9" that have better foot speed and coordination. They work better into a lineup, especially this year if we start picking up the pace. A wide-body 6’9" guy or a guy like Cheick who is a work horse can do a good job snagging boards and defending. Sure… I’d like a footer, but only if he has strength, foot speed and coordination.
-
@jaybate-1.0 Peyton Allen from Texas a and m is transferring to WSU, sit out next year, 3 years left. Don’t know much about him.
-
Hope he is a good one. We always need good basketball players that want to be Jayhawks.
-
TF will be taking a unofficial visit to Alabama Thursday he announced on his Twitter page
