2018 Recruiting
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@Kcmatt7 The One possibility that we may hear on, and that’s Trae Young as he is saying he is going to probably decide sometime in Jan right? - - I really think the chances of him going to Kentucky now are slimmer, and slimmer. - - and the more Oklahoma loses I think enhances our chances, plus Billy been on him from what I hear so we shall see, keeping my fingers crossed. - -Still wondering what happened to Wooten? - -sure went quiet, I was hearing he was going to transfer in somewhere at semester anybody heard anything on him? - - ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY
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As of now, most likely signings are Grimes, Dotson and Oturu imo but things change. Chris Smith will play his way into or out of being a legit KU target this year.
KU seemed to cool way off on Kezo Brown.
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@Kcmatt7 I’ve said all along that DG comes back for his senior year. He wants to have a Frank senior year, and he’ll have it. I also would think that Vick comes back, although if he takes the money and runs, I wouldn’t fault him a bit.
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@jayballer54 Wooten committed to ASU
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Nice work!
I think we have a lot more going on than we all know about. There are lots of holes in recruiting information when going forward more than the current upcoming class.
Some of these recruits Bill and staff have been following for several years now.
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@Ralph wow. that’s crazy he had said that KU was the ONE school he wanted to visit - -what the heck happened? I really can’t understand sometimes these guys, he just kept say in repeatedly KU was the one school he wanted to visit - -said multiple that we were the one school he wanted to visit FOR SURE. - - -DAMM ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LON GBABY
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@jayballer54 the big thing that happened was Billy committed.
The next guy to look at in this class is MJ Walker, while waiting for Young and Duvall to decide.
Eric Bossi
#Kansas assistant Norm Roberts watching MJ Walker for second day in a row. Jayhawks have turned up interest level in 5-star SG. (https://twitter.com/ebosshoops/status/811301031233671170?s=09)
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@Ralph said:
@jayballer54 Wooten committed to ASU
Jmo, but I feel that KU cooled way off when Self felt Bragg would be changing his plans and coming back. No fact to this, just the vibe I get.
@Ralph said:
@jayballer54 the big thing that happened was Billy committed.
The next guy to look at in this class is MJ Walker, while waiting for Young and Duvall to decide.
Eric Bossi
#Kansas assistant Norm Roberts watching MJ Walker for second day in a row. Jayhawks have turned up interest level in 5-star SG. (https://twitter.com/ebosshoops/status/811301031233671170?s=09)
Also Preston committing definitely could be a factor.
KU really wants Walker. I think we should all get acquainted with his game.
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@BShark So MJ Walker, sorry haven’t heard much. – pretty talented? where is he from who ever it is I know coach is on top of things. - Ya I wondered if we may have backed odd big time from him when it got so quiet. - - -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY
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Walker is a five star talent, but also multi-year player. Not completely different from Selden honestly.
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@BShark I like his game. He is multi dimensional.
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@KUSTEVE Yea I never thought DG would work his way to be a guaranteed money guy. But if he did I knew we would be in for a crazy awesome season.
Vick, well if he can go in the first round he has to go. Can’t turn down millions.
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From all I’ve seen scouts are high on Devonte Graham in the NBA. The mock drafts might not say as much but its hard to read into those this early. Graham will be a solid 2nd round pick, maybe even the last few slots in the 1st round type.
It’s nice that Vick is getting looks, playing on KU he will with his athleticism and improved shot. I don’t think there’s any chance he leaves after this season because scouts are going to want to see him in a feature role. I’m still waiting for Vick to be consistent in games. He got some points late in the Stanford game but was largely absent for most of it. Svi took his spot because of his consistency. Next year I think Vick will end up somewhere in the 1st round. He’ll see his opportunity for a feature role after this seasons roster attrition.
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In the other Recruiting Thread I posted about a new name on the radar, Jarius Hamilton a 6’9 SF 4 star prospect out of North Carolina. His coach is a huge KU fan and we have 2 assistants recruiting him right now. Will be interesting to see how involved we get with him going forward.
By 2018 I have no idea what this roster may look like and that is scary to think about.
Doke should be here Junior year but those were not his intentions when he signed here. The NBA is getting away from guys like him. Honestly the best thing for his game would be to spend 2 more years at KU or he’ll be in the D-League. Just my honest assessment of him right now.
I think Newman will leave after next year, he’ll have a featured role and if the reports are true about his game from this year he’s poised to step in and have a major impact on next years squad. Whether he starts at PG or is the 2nd lead guard is the only question at this point.
Bragg is a tough one to predict right now. Self said he wouldn’t be here 4 years, with this years off-the court trouble and his reserve role its hard to see him leaving this year. Bragg might be a guy that ends up here 4 years and has monster Jr/Sr’s years. We’ll see.
I’m going to take a stab and say we get Trae Young in 2017. What else we may get is a wild card based on draft decisions. MJ Walker could be in play at Wing, and we should definitely get another big to develop.
PG - Young (Soph)
SG - Garrett (Soph)
SF - ? (Walker (Soph) guessing, Transfer?, unknown recruit?
PF - Bragg? (Sr), Lightfoot (Jr), ?
C - Doke (Jr), Maxwell (Sr), ?
Devon Dotson seems like our best bet at a high quality PG at the moment. Things could change with him because of the recruiting area he’s from and reports that his parents desire to see him stay in-state will make him a tough pull.
Grimes should be a KU signee sometime in 2017, can’t see us losing out on him. I do think we will be in it for Langford until the end- get a visit- maybe he says some good stuff that keeps us fans thinking we have a chance. Big time player.
At this point I don’t have much to say about anyone else, 2018 is a down class and a down year for early targets
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@BeddieKU23 Was looking at the mock drafts. – The N.B.A. draft net - -has Josh as the # 2 pick going to Philly- - - and LaGerald as the # 26 pick of the 1st round going to Houston - - - and then SVI as the # 31 pick going to Dallas
the N.B.A draft express has Josh as the # 3 pick- - - -Devonte as the # 32 pick - - -and Svi as the # 33 pick - -kind of strange one has LaGerald so high in one mock draft and the other doesn’t have him listed and only visa versa for Devonte.- - - Interesting this was as of 12-13 2016 - - -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY
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Interesting. I like seeing Jackson in the Top 3. He should be a top pick candidate the way he’s playing. Will be interesting to see how the mock’s change after the new year when people’s attention shift from Football to B-Ball.
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@jayballer54 nbadraft.net usually is the bolder prediction, but more accurate in these early months. They are somewhere middle of the pack on draft day. Better one to watch right now.
Draftexpress typically is one of the most accurate mocks by the time draft day rolls around. They don’t make very bold picks early in the year. But don’t overreact to someone having a good game or something like nbadraft.net does. Better one to watch starting in February.
I hope that they both stay. We really can’t afford to lose either of them, but especially not both.
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I think Svi gets high marks for driving the ball. I’m surprised more people aren’t commenting on our 4-out/1-in being a motion, dribble-drive offense. That is what it is.
Our offense comes to a dead halt if we stop driving the ball.
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It’s what you don’t see in the mock drafts
The two paragraphs below were taken from article written shortly after the 2016 draft.
KU basketball’s Bill Self laments ‘false hope’ of NBA Draft, advocates for system fairer to college players
A record 26 international players were selected during this year’s 60-selection, two-round draft, shattering the previous high of 21 set in 2003. Several of those picks never played collegiately in the United States, and many were so-called “draft-and-stash” players nowhere to be found on many mock draft websites.
All of those international selections bumped projected bubble picks like Selden and former KU senior Perry Ellis out of the draft entirely, leading to the “false hope” Self referenced.
One of these draft-and-stash players is Saric who plays for the 76ers and considered a ROY candidate. He was drafted in the same class as Embid but played 2 years in Europe.
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He’s done a much better job of being aggressive and getting to the hoop as of late. I hope he continues to show that element of his game because he’s got the size and body to take advantage of that skill. He needs it because otherwise he’s kind of set-shot prospect for the NBA.
I would love to see him back as senior to continue to work on his mid-range game. Graham & Mason have that pull up game that gives them the triple threat aspect and sets them apart in our offense. Imagine Svi back with Newman/Vick/incoming recruits. Another potentially good shooting team that could play small ball and exploit defenses. I could see Svi potentially being a leading scorer next year with another year here. I think he’s just starting to get confidence in his full game and the extended playing time he’s seeing this year is helping facilitate his improvements in his game
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Hamidou Diallo to potentially enroll at UConn at semester.
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I just don’t see Bragg at KU as a senior. Heck, with a good showing during the upcoming “meat” portion of the schedule. i.e. conference play, he might be gone at the end of this season. I can see him coming back next season but barring something unforeseen, he is probably gone after that. Same situation with Udoka, with his current playing time, one additional off season of conditioning and improving his technique and he is probably gone after his sophomore year. Players will not stay a single day longer than they have to considering there is a potentially big paycheck waiting for them.
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@Kcmatt7 As long as kentucky doesn’t get him I’m happy. Or duke
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@Ralph said:
@Kcmatt7 As long as kentucky doesn’t get him I’m happy. Or duke
Tfwiw but Duke insiders said Hami had to “prove he can shoot” before UK would take him. With the timing on this UConn makes the most sense to me.
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UCONN also has the most need for him right now with guys injured. Diallo would potentially start right now for Ollie.
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@BShark UK fans always think that they can literally get whoever they want and anyone who commits elsewhere got their scholarship pulled. That’s bull. Won’t believe that for a second.
UCONN made the most sense with their need, him wanting to go pro after this year and the fact that UCONN was the first major program on him in the first place.
I hope that all works out though, because I am in agreement. Anybody but UK. I’d love to see them miss the tourney again next season. Their 2017-2018 roster looks like it could be hot garbage. Monk, Fox, Abadayo, Willis, Briscoe, and Hawkins will probably all be gone. That leaves them with some decent post play but NOTHING on the perimeter. They could really really struggle next year.
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Lorenzo Romar hot seat talk is juuuuust starting up. They got a couple of wins against cupcakes lately, but that came after a 4 game skid where social media started buzzing about his future. They have one more guaranteed win before conference play. That will put them at 7-5 going into the WSU game. They could go into conference play at 7-6. And honestly, they look like a 4 or 5 win conference team. If that is all they do, it looks more and more like he will be done at UW. Would most likely put MPJ back on the market. Not saying that we should get our hopes up but just keep an eye on those Huskies. They could be delivering someone a present sometime in April or May.
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As much as I would like Porter if Romar did get fired and KU misses on PG targets in the spring the staff should also be looking at Blake Harris that signed with UW as well. Underrated PG in my mind from North Carolina. Wouldn’t mind seeing him at KU
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They will probably wait until late spring to make an announcement to lessen the chances of prospects from jumping ship, although if they choose to leave, there is not much they can do about it, other than perhaps banning transfer to a rival, or risk huge negative publicity.
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@Kcmatt7 no way coach porter would take over, I’m ducking!
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They would have to get a big name coach to keep the prospects; Coach Porter ain’t it.
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Honestly I wouldn’t have mentioned it if it was from UK people. It was from the main Duke 247 guy who knows a lot about recruiting in general.
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@JayHawkFanToo if he has a 4 win conference season the writing will be on the wall and coaches will definitely start to vulture on some recruits. And you can’t wait too long on a firing, because then a new coach won’t have time to be able to keep recruits.
Would it surprise me if Coach Porter stayed on the new staff? Absolutely not.
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@BeddieKU23 Harris would be a very good consolation prize.
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Watched him play against Oak Hill where Billy Preston plays and he was sensational. One of his other teammates is signed with UNC, big bruising forward type. Of course if Romar isn’t fired we would have no chance anyway but if he does and KU misses the Duval/Young party this guy would be someone to go after.
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You can also look at it the other way. Recruits will not jump while he is still the coach. The longer he stays the more other rosters get filled and the less opportunities for recruits to go elsewhere. I don’t believe Porter is at the major program level as a coach; he might be able to keep his kid but likely no one else with potential.
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@JayHawkFanToo I’m not saying Porter will be head coach. But he could still be a “video coordinator” or something dumb.
I just don’t see how you can wait too late. Someone will have an open scholarship.
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Teams would literally do anything to get Porter if he was available. Roster situations will “work themselves out” wink wink
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@BShark Like the sound of that.
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@BShark He’s a big get. It sures up the wing spot next season. He shot 40% from trey in the 10 games he played for ASU. Good add at semester to come in and practice and push guys this season. Then he would get to be a fresh body at semester next year. Just in time for conference play.
Our practice squad is seriously phenomenal. I’d love to see a practice this year. Newman, Maxwell, Lightfoot and Coleby pushing guys. If we add Cunliffe this year, man, our practice squad could end up pushing our starters to that next level.
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Hope that news hold true. Big pickup. Question- Have we ever added a midseason transfer before?
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@BeddieKU23 Withey
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@dylans beat me to it! I had to fact check to be sure.
http://m.espn.com/general/blogs/blogpost?blogname=katz_andy&id=3756696&src=desktop
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Thank you! totally forgot about him.
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This comment on that article intrigued me:
“Onto Cunliffe. I will tell you EXACTLY who he reminds me of from his Soph year through his Senioe year in HS. A 2” shorter Micah Downs! He also has the same issues that Micah had when he was 18/19 and parents influence. Micah went to Kansas expecting to be the star and it didn’t work out. Best move of his life was to get under Coach Few’s handling. Turned his LIFE around. As for Cunliffe, off to Arizona State with the same dreams as Micah had. Wrong Coach in Hurley (style). He just got his ego bruised.
I’ll tell you this, I watched them both for 3 years in HS and they are mirror images of each other: talent, BBIQ, athleticism, shooting style and range. Great hops too! Also transfered around in State alot (both). Only difference is height and parents! I would give this young man a chance if “I” had the room but like Peter pointed out, I don’t see it now either. Oh well. Thanks Peter for the info, especially the charts. Mike"
ASU posters claim he is a head case. Sounds like there is some truth to it. Might be one of those cases where he was never going to succeed on his first college stop. Regardless of if he ends up at KU or not I hope the kid turns it around, he is quite talented.
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Saw that post somewhere else. Not sure I agree with that comp but to each their own.
Definitely seems like this is a messy exit for Sam with the amount of press being thrown around about his transfer. Anytime a Top 40 kid leaves so early into a career there is always going to be flags thrown up and concerns to address. We’d be similarly upset if a top 40 kid from KU transferred out of the program so early. I do think Sam could be a very good fit at KU. Scores on all 3 levels, has that athleticism and shooting ability that Self loves to have from his wing player.
A lot of benefit to adding him right now with the open scholarship. If anything is true about his character it won’t fly under Bill so I have no concerns about what kind of player he was, only that if he wants to play here he’ll be a better version of himself by the time he steps foot on the court.
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@BShark To me, he looks a little more athletic than Micah, but that isn’t a bad comparison. I’d take 3 1/2 years of a Micah Downs.
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Yeah the rumour is that he decided to transfer after Hurley unloaded on the team after the Purdue game. I think he is definitely worth a shot if the visit goes well. If there are bad signs on the visit then I bet Self moves on.
I mentioned it elsewhere as well but Cunliffe, Newman and Preston is a lot of mercurial talent to have on one roster. If anyone can make it work, it’s Bill though.
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I think there are many possible scenarios and it depends on who the new HC ends up being. He might prefer to bring his own people or he might keep Porter in some capacity as long as Michael and then his brother are there; Michael seems to be a OAD and I am not sure about his brother. Keep in mind that while any program would take Michael, there are really very few places where he would be able to truly showcase his talent for the NBA, including a depp rum in the Tournament. Having said this, Ben Simmons went to a crappy programs and it did not seem to hurt his draft status.
