Jermaine Lawrence is (nearly) back on the market
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It looks like Jermain Lawrence is trying to get released by Cincy. If he succeeds, I hope Self makes a run at him. He’s an uber-athletic combo-forward and given that we now have two schollies going unused, there’d be nothing lost making a run at him. The other guy I think we should reach out to, although we’re likely too late, is USF’s John Egbunu. He’s a 6’10" center that put up decent numbers in his freshman campaign. Although there are a lot of great bigs in next year’s class that we’ve offered, we’d be well served getting a replacement lined up for Big Cliff asap. Either of these guys fit the bill for the sorts of players that excel in our system.
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Wow. Just saw this. I’m getting giddy now.
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@konkeyDong Hmm…and Self’s post-season recruiting magic just got even more interesting. I think missing on Turner may be a bigger blessing than those of us who were pro-Turner realized. It wasn’t the OAD hype either, but just the whole recruiting ruse that he conducted may just backfire on him yet.
I would love for Self to get Lawrence. It’s interesting how these kids go to a program, play minimally and realize a number of revelations. Now they’ve been in and have learned D1 teams, he may think not only does he want pt, but will look ahead. He needs to evaluate his options closely. He shouldn’t just go anywhere, but he has a second chance to make his college choice really count toward an academic degree in the short-term, but now he needs to think where he can get NBA ready. Someone needs to remind him of Mr Tarik Black. He came out of Memphis with a jaded reputaiton, and left KU a whole new man, now playing with the realization of being in the NBA draft.
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Kind of related- isn’t it Bill Self’s way to just fill the roster instead of saving scholarships for more talented players in future seasons? Haven’t we picked up a few 3 star players here and there because we had open spots after potential recruits decided against KU?
I wonder if there’s wisdom here? Given how often Self will lose 2-5 rotation players a year, is it better to have the bodies NOW than to have non-guaranteed bodies in the next year? This type of philosophy may not be especially relevant to this years team given our depth, but then again we did just lose Tharpe and AW3 to transfer in what was a crazy week. Who could have ever thought at the beginning of last season that Tharpe was going to transfer at the end of the year?? The KU roster is very fluid! For all we know, we could see a Devonte or Lucas or <gasp> CF transfer if their playing time never meets their expectations.
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" I think missing on Turner may be a bigger blessing than those of us who were pro-Turner realized."
I was one of the fans hoping we would land Turner… but after more thought, glad we didn’t. I know there are strings in place for signing Turner and I didn’t want to see us turn our offense upside down to accommodate his need to showcase his outside game. Better he do that to Texas… and I wish them luck with that.
Barnes will have a lot to figure out next year and maybe he’ll actually earn his recent coaching merits.
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Saw where Lawrence was granted his release … but will likely transfer close to home because of an ill father. He’s from New Jersey.
