RJ Hampton



  • And daddy has spoken, let’s move on. A starting lineup of Dok, Silvio, Enaruna, Dotson (hopefully), and Agbaji with Dave, Mitch, and a combination of Braun, Garrett and McBride coming off the bench doesn’t sound half bad.



  • Marco said:

    And daddy has spoken, let’s move on. A starting lineup of Dok, Silvio, Enaruna, Dotson (hopefully), and Agbaji with Dave, Mitch, and a combination of Braun, Garrett and McBride coming off the bench doesn’t sound half bad.

    I think Dotson is the difference between a 2-3 seed and staring at the NIT.



  • Agreed. Would rather watch him for year two than Hampton for year one.

    I think Dotson is the difference between a 2-3 seed and staring at the NIT.



  • I am gonna be honest - unless Agbaji and Dotson take big steps forward, the freshmen come in ready to contribute immediately or Garrett has fixed his jump shot, the ceiling for this KU team is Sweet 16 or Elite 8.

    There just isn’t enough punch in that backcourt to make a Final 4 run. KU should be able to start a new conference title streak, but this roster probably isn’t a title contender.

    KU will be good next year. Perhaps even very good. Probably will spend most of the year in the top 10 good. But that’s the ceiling. This likely won’t be a great team.



  • @justanotherfan Agree. Garrett having to play 30+ mpg in particular will limit the team. It seems highly unlikely that he improves his jumper much.

    Great thread from Sam Vecenie: https://twitter.com/Sam_Vecenie/status/1133369258858012672

    Interesting stuff here. This could become more of a trend. Players are worth more than a scholarship, that much is clear.



  • BShark said:

    @justanotherfan Agree.

    Great thread from Sam Vecenie: https://twitter.com/Sam_Vecenie/status/1133369258858012672

    Interesting stuff here. This could become more of a trend. Players are worth more than a scholarship, that much is clear.

    This has been coming for a while. I have posted on this board numerous times that college hoops needed to rethink its structure. There are other options out there and more kids are starting to take those other options.

    Eliminating the OAD rule is a solution about five years too late for college basketball. That won’t solve the problem now. The ability to earn a salary, plus endorsements is too lucrative. A guy like Zion Williamson could have made millions last year on an endorsement deal alone.

    The trial has just brought more light to how much its worth to get even a mid tier recruit. Its no surprise that some of these people are starting to believe that money should go into their own pocket instead.



  • Without knowing how much Zion and his family got to go to Duke, I was surprised he didn’t go the pro route simply to sign a deal early. Like you said, it would have been millions.

    We could be looking at a huge shift where even the big schools are closer to what is currently MVC level or thereabouts. There is really no reason for anyone in the top 10 minimum (maybe even expand this) to play college ball, then the rates will go up for the 2nd tier talent.



  • Going to college made Zion more money. He got a ton of exposure that wouldn’t have happened overseas and his advertising value has skyrocketed. The American consumer believes in the competitive level of college basketball. Footage from overseas always is received as “those players are not as good”. Only real basketball nerds like us understand that those pro leagues are actually more competition.



  • Zion already had a huge brand w/o Duke or college basketball. That said, ESPN/Duke definitely helped him to some extent.



  • BigBad said:

    Going to college made Zion more money. He got a ton of exposure that wouldn’t have happened overseas and his advertising value has skyrocketed. The American consumer believes in the competitive level of college basketball. Footage from overseas always is received as “those players are not as good”. Only real basketball nerds like us understand that those pro leagues are actually more competition.

    Five years ago I would have agreed with you. But Zion was famous before arriving at Duke thanks to YouTube. There’s nothing stopping a high level recruit from going overseas for a year while having a strong ad campaign either stateside, or in Australia or Asia (the Asian market is huge). It may be more lucrative long term to go to Asia and launch a campaign there just based on the population difference.



  • @justanotherfan RJ had a bigger offer from China according to reports but took the Australia offer due to English language and perceived better lifestyle.



  • Does this mean Grimes will return?



  • kjayhawks said:

    Does this mean Grimes will return?

    no



  • I got a new thread, Season 19-20 and Beyond, check it out… I’m interested in your take.



  • kjayhawks said:

    Does this mean Grimes will return?

    I hope not



  • justanotherfan said:

    BigBad said:

    Going to college made Zion more money. He got a ton of exposure that wouldn’t have happened overseas and his advertising value has skyrocketed. The American consumer believes in the competitive level of college basketball. Footage from overseas always is received as “those players are not as good”. Only real basketball nerds like us understand that those pro leagues are actually more competition.

    Five years ago I would have agreed with you. But Zion was famous before arriving at Duke thanks to YouTube. There’s nothing stopping a high level recruit from going overseas for a year while having a strong ad campaign either stateside, or in Australia or Asia (the Asian market is huge). It may be more lucrative long term to go to Asia and launch a campaign there just based on the population difference.

    Zion is not the norm. Zion was so popular on youtube as a recruit because he was a walking highlight reel with unique size and athleticism. He was a lot more popular than RJ Barrett, who was a higher ranked recruit than Zion. And Zion’s popularity reached another level after he committed to Duke to the point where ESPN and other sports websites were writing articles about him every day. Now, people who don’t even watch college basketball know who he is. I don’t think that happens if he plays in New Zealand.



  • https://twitter.com/adamzagoria/status/1133406066493067265?s=21

    Been in the works for 3 months!! Surely Self knew this.



  • Woodrow said:

    https://twitter.com/adamzagoria/status/1133406066493067265?s=21

    Been in the works for 3 months!! Surely Self knew this.

    I think he probably had faith that Adidas would take care of it.



  • Woodrow said:

    https://twitter.com/adamzagoria/status/1133406066493067265?s=21

    Been in the works for 3 months!! Surely Self knew this.

    Did any coach visit RJ the last three weeks? Pretty telling.



  • BShark said:

    @justanotherfan RJ had a bigger offer from China according to reports but took the Australia offer due to English language and perceived better lifestyle.

    Has he seen the spiders and snakes in Australia? LOL



  • By chance did anyone else wake up their significant other with a loud MFer! This morning?



  • dylans said:

    By chance did anyone else wake up their significant other with a loud MFer! This morning?

    And here I thought I was the only one.



  • You guys!



  • Crimsonorblue22 said:

    You guys!

    TELL ME MORE CRIMS



  • Hampton’s twitter is cracking me up. “PEOPLE ARE MAD I TOOK BAGS.”

    No dude. Nobody is mad you went and got paid. They’re mad you tried to pretend you were staying (even though Slater was basically all over this) to get hype.



  • I’ll only mention his name because others are following in his footsteps but since RJ went to Australia there’s been two players I’ve seen that are bypassing College.

    Kenyon Martin’s son who was signed to Vanderbilt is skipping. Puzzling decision since he wasn’t a top recruit.

    Now Arizona’s Terry Armstrong- a 4 star SF is skipping College to go pro. Poor Sean Miller.

    The trend is definitely opening up pandora’s box



  • @BeddieKU23 Hadn’t heard about Armstrong. It’s pretty curious for lower level guys, but I can’t blame them. Nobody has to go to college and kids are starting to realize it.

    I wonder about the full story here though. AZ was at 14 scholarship players before he left.



  • Armstrong didn’t qualify





  • FarmerJayhawk said:

    Armstrong didn’t qualify

    That’s what I was guessing. Thanks for confirming.


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