I don’t mean do you remember Christmas time last year. If you’re at all like me, you spent Christmas worry about what gifts to get your kids and wife and folks and such. You negotiated travel plans or how much time to spend with your family and how much time the in laws got. Were you supposed to bring wine or a desert to the white elephant exchange?

What I mean, do you remember the feeling of Christmas from when you were 12. That year, the only thing I really wanted for Christmas was this book. It was really well illustrated and I could just stare at it for hours. It wasn’t a terribly long book, nor an expensive gift. My mother actually told me I could get anything else I wanted in addition to it, but there was something about that book that just fulfilled my every adolescent desire. I didn’t need a skate board or a new bike. I just needed that book, and the anticipation and build up to that particular Christmas has always stuck with me.

Nowadays as a man of means, I don’t get that feeling at Christmas time anymore. I love Christmas as much as any red blooded American should: I love the traditions; spending time with my family; my son’s excitement when he unwraps a present. But me, I don’t get excited anymore. I tend to just go out and buy something when I want it, and as I’ve grown older and amassed more stuff than my house can manage, my wants have grown fewer and less urgent.

For a long time I’d thought I’d never get that kind of a Christmas feeling again, but today, cheesy as it sounds, and pitiful as it is for a grown man to feel this way, I felt that same twinge my 12 year old self did unwrapping that book.

I’ve followed Cheick Diallo’s journey for the past 3 years. I’d heard the name when Kansas first offered him, but it wasn’t until I found a clip of this play that I got excited (it’s at 47 seconds in case this doesn’t embed correctly):

He wasn’t a top 10 or even top 15 recruit at that time, but after seeing him get that kind of a hustle play put back, I knew I wanted to see him play in Allen Fieldhouse. So the wait was on. I watched him play on live streams of all star games when I could. I followed him on social media. I’m sure in my low moments, I did things bordering on cyber-stalking. The anticipation. The hope. The dream!!!

I know there will never be another TRob, though a lot of players will get compared to him (heck, I’ve described Big Cliff as reminding me of TRob physically), but Cheick is the only big man who truly reminds me of him where it counts. This kid is all heart and grit. He plays hard and scraps for everything. I don’t know how many hours of basketball I’ve watched this kid play, but I can say with earnestness, I’ve never seen him take a play off in 3 years. Who was the last basketball player at any level that you could say that about in a span of 3 weeks, let alone years?

This isn’t the happiest day of my life, and not even in the top 10, but this will be a day I remember forever simply for the way it made me feel. This is wish fulfillment at it’s best. Rock Cheick, Mr. Diallo, and thank you for becoming a Jayhawk. (And thank you too, my fellow posters, for not ribbing me too hard that I’m out here gushing like a school girl!)

Here we are again the dog days of summer, the longest time of the basketball year. We can do our best to keep our interest up, but there are only so many ways we can dissect the failures of last season; so many times we can project starters, leading scorers, and benchwarmers. Even with the WUG giving us a feast of highlights when we’d normally only a bit to nibble from camp games, we’re still in a no man’s land as college basketball fans. Even on the recruiting front, with Self’s tendency to bring his classes together late, we’re going to be light on action in the coming months. So I thought I’d take advantage of the fact that we got our nonconference schedule out in a rather timely fashion this year and project how I think it’s all going to play out. Here’s my take on the overall schedule, as well as a breakdown of every game we play, what’s of note about the teams, and how I think we’ll fare.

The Schedule

Self made it clear that, after running his past two teams through a meat grinder in the nonconf in recent seasons (Kansas was the highest Big 5.5 team in NCSOS on Kenpom the past 2 seasons) that he made a mistake to do that to a young couple of teams, and wanted to let off the gas this time around. Myself, I’m a fan of the tougher scheduling, but I think UK, Duke, and UNC have been a little smarter about it, tending to schedule a few really big games with a lot more cupcakes in between. Self seems to have cribbed that plan. We’ve got several teams on the list that finished below 50% overall, in their conference, or both last season. We’ve got a NCAA upset capable mid-majors. We’ve got a couple of nice super heavyweights, and a solid field in Maui too. I see this schedule as giving us the right mix of truly challenging games and and opportunities to develop our bench and future stars. All in all, mission accomplished with this schedule.

The Games

University of Northern Colorado - AFH - Nov 13

UNCO finished 15-15 last season, going 10-8 in the Big Sky conference, and ranking 257th in Kenpom efficiency. They return only 2 of their top 5 scorers in juniors Jordan Wilson and Cameron Michael. They’ve added Juco (small) big Jamal Evans, but no one else that’s likely to be a major impact player. I’m expecting this outing to be a stroll in the park for KU, as UNCO looks like a team on the the way down, not up. We’ll probably run out to a big lead at the half, then let the B squad clean up in the final 10 minutes while UNCO cuts a 30pt deficit to 18.

Result: KU 82 - UNCO 64

Michigan State University - Champions Classic, Chicago, Ill. - Nov 17

When we last faced MSU in the Champions Classic, KU gave up a late lead when no one could prevent Keith Appling from repeatedly driving to the rim on the high screen and roll. Last season we got the better of them in a typical Big 10 style game that served as a bit of a break out for Svi, but sadly would serve as his highlight game of the year. That same team made a push to put MSU back in the Final Four for the first time in 5 years. Overall, the team that we beat last season was better than who we’re likely to face this time around. Although Izzo does return 4 of his top 6 scorers, the stats suggest that Tum-Tum Nairn, Izzo’s only true PG for the coming season, isn’t going to be able to step in and replace what Travis Trice gave him last year. Combo that with losing your top defensive player and rebounder in Branden Dawson, and I think MSU is a team that will be good, but one that we should be able to handle.

That’s not to say there’s no cause for concern. The Spartans should have considerable firepower from deep next season. Top 3pt shooters Denzel Valentine and Bryn Forbes are back for their final seasons and will be joined by WVU transfer Eron Harris, who torched us with 28pts on 5-7 from deep in our visit to Morgantown in 2014, and baby-faced freshman Matt McQuaid, a 4-star shooter from Texas. They’ve also upgraded in the frontcourt with McD’s AA Deyonta Davis, a player best described as a poor man’s Cheick Diallo. Although I expect the trio of Costello, Schilling and Davis to be a tough group, none of them is the proto-typical beef sheet/space eater type bigs that have typically defined Tom Izzo’s teams. Luckily that guy, Caleb Swanigan, decided to back out of his commitment in order to join the footers at Purdue, where he could play PF, not small C. I still see this as being very much a grind, but I don’t think Izzo has either the bigs nor the PG to keep up with what we’ll be fielding. KU will pull ahead in a game that will be close until the final TV timeout, when Izzo’s guns finally run out of ammo.

Result: KU 66 - MSU 58

Maui Invitational

Although the field has been set for the Maui Invitational, the brackets haven’t been released, so there’s no telling exactly who we’ll be slated to play. Nevertheless, I have my suspicions that the tournament organizers will want to see either a KU/IU final or a KU/UCLA final given the teams available, so I’m going to put us opposite those two schools. Likewise, a student vs master game is the sort of thing tournament organizers and television broadcasters love to engineer, so I’m putting Wake Forest on our side. I know when Duke plays in the invitational, K requests to be in the opposite bracket as D2 host Chaminade, as playing D2 teams is an RPI killer. In our last trip to the islands (one in which we faced Duke in the finals), we also avoided playing Chaminade despite being in their bracket, suggesting to me that RPI hawk Self is of like-mind to K. Thus, I’ll put Chaminade in the IU/UCLA bracket. St. John’s is a school that KU has some history with, but ancient and recent. Not only did we beat them out this past spring for the services of Cheick Diallo (after a heretofore unheard of hiring putsch), but they were also felled in KU’s first NCAA tournament triumph in 1952. Bigs coach and top recruiting assistant Norm Roberts also coached the team from 2004-10. For that, I’m guessing they’ll wind up in our bracket as our first opponent. As for UNLV or Vanderbilt, I think it’s a toss up, but I’ll go with UNLV being pitted against UCLA in the first round, so Vanderbilt will face off against Danny Manning’s squad in our bracket. Final projection:

Kansas vs St. John’s

Wake Forest vs Vanderbilt

IU vs Chaminade

UCLA vs UNLV

St. John’s - Lahaina Civic Center, HI - Nov 23

Despite having a good amount of talent, St. John’s went only 21-12, 10-8 in the Big East last season, which as enough to make the NCAA tournament, but not enough to save Steve Lavin’s job once school legend Chris Mullin became a possibility. Mullin’s transition to HC was far from smooth, however. With D’Angelo Harrison and Sir’Dominic Pointer both lost to graduation, Mullin was set to rebuild with his remaining stars. It was not to be, however, with the unexpected departure of two key cogs from the previous two seasons in PG Rysheed Jordan, who was forced out due to academic issues, and star C Chris Obekpa, who elected to transfer. He also lost the commitment of blue chip Brandon Sampson. That leaves Mullin’s squad without not only the top 6 players from last season, but no player that even averaged double digits in a previous season on the roster. What little help he’s getting will likely come form PG duo Marcus LoVett, Jr, a former KU target, and Frederico Mussini, a Nike Hoop’s Summit participant from Italy. Given a new HC and effectively a brand new roster with only a month of playing together under their respective belts, I have no idea how this game will play out, other than to say KU will prevail and it won’t be particularly close.

Result: KU 83 - St. John’s 59

Vanderbilt - Lahaina Civic Center, HI - Nov 24

As much as I would love for that Self/Manning face off to occur, given the bracket I’ve drawn up and the 13-19 finish the Deacs put up last season, I don’t see any way Manning’s boys would make it past a veteran Vandy team, especially one that returns all but one of their top six scorers and made it to 21 wins last year, good for a top 40 rating on Kenpom. Unfortunately for the Commodores, they don’t have half the talent of Lionel Ritchie, and all they’re gonna leave on the floor of the Lahaina Civc Center is a whole lot of funk.

Okay, it won’t be that easy. Between leading scorer and rebounder Damian Jones, Luke Kornet, and as well as the promising freshman footer, and former teammate of KU target Schnider Herard, Djery Baptiste, and stout Samir Sehic, Vanderbilt will be a brick house in the post. Likewise, they’ve got machine guns in Wade Baldwin IV and Matthew Fisher-Davis, both hitting over 40% from deep last season. Riley LaChance also shot a healthy 38% from 3 in his first year of college ball. For all that offensive prowess, however, Vandy is a fairly poor defensive team. Although they were decent FG% defenders and shot blockers, they rebound poorly, and their 4.9 steals per game makes our mediocre 6.5 look sterling. Baptiste should help their rebounding situation, as well as contributing a few blocks, but the guard core that failed to turn opponents over is likely to remain in place, and that should make the difference in the end.

Result: KU 77 - Vanderbilt 65

Indiana University - Lahaina Civic Center, HI - Nov 25

Although it’s perfectly conceivable that UCLA could emerge from our opposite bracket, I think we’ll be facing off against our 2nd Big 10 foe on the year. Crean’s team figures to return perhaps the best scoring backcourt in the country. Last season James Blackmon, Jr., Yogi Ferrell, and Troy Williams combined to score 45ppg on 46% FGP, 42% from deep, good for 20 wins, a top 10 Kenpom offense, and an NCAA berth. What held the Hoosiers back, aside from an injury to Blackmon, who is out for the summer after another injury, was a lackluster front court lead by the dismissed Hanner Mosquera-Perea, and the undersized Collin Hartman.

Post help has arrived in Bloomington, however, in the form of McD’s AA C Thomas Bryant (an AAU teammate of our own Cheick Diallo), and 4-Star PF Juwan Morgan. Bryant figures to bring the rebounding and shot blocking that Perea, who barely outrebounded the diminutive Ferrell, couldn’t, but I don’t expect he’ll do much else. He can certainly play on the block, but from what I saw of him on the AAU circuit, Noah Vonleh he is not. Morgan will probably time to make an impact, but he is long, athletic, and something of a putback artist. Max Biedtfeld has also joined the Hoosiers, leaving Ann Arbor behind, but at a stout 6’7", 250, I don’t see him making much of a dent, as he was barely effective for a depleted Michigan frontcourt. Given that, I think Crean will play small, which is just as well, as he prefers to play through his guards rather than his bigs. Expect a real shootout, but one where KU still wins due to overwhelming advantage down low. Should be a good game for Perry Ellis who excels against smaller front lines.

Result: KU 84 - IU 79

The rest of the field

Since this is just one possible bracket for the Maui Invitational, I wanted to add a brief synopsis of the other potential opponents:

Chaminade

If we wind up playing a D2 school in this thing, odds are something has gone horribly wrong. I don’t know too much about Chaminade, but even with plenty of upperclassmen on the roster, I don’t see them as a team that could challenge us much more than Chile did in the WUG. In fact, Chaminade hasn’t defeated a D1 school since the toppling of Ralph Sampson’s Cavs, the sole reason this tiny tournament exists. If this match up happens for some reason, we’ll be cruising past the century mark on the scoreboard.

UCLA

Our next most likely final opponent should be a pretty good version of the team Steve Alford piloted to a Sweet 16 after a dubious call against SMU in their opening round. They’re losing major firepower with the departures of Norman Powell and Kevon Looney, but they return a solid core in Bryce Alford, Tony Parker, and Isaac Hamilton. Footer and paint patroller Thomas Welsh will have to become a much bigger impact player for them to reach their potential. Jonah Bolden, a top 40 RS freshman should also help fill some of the void left by Looney. The biggest potential impact, however, is the return of a true point guard to the team in Aaron Holiday, brother of alumn and NBA All-Star Jrue Holiday. They also add the freshman with my favorite name in this class, Prince Ali. With a little luck, UCLA can reach the finals in Maui, and they can certainly pose match up issues in the post, given Parker’s girth and Welsh’s size, but either way, I don’t think they’ve got the guard play to match us. Frank Mason will eat not only Holiday’s lunch, but his dinner and next day’s breakfast too.

UNLV

Yet another team we played last season, that version of the Rebs was dismissed rather effectively after an 18pt outburst from Frank Mason. Although David Rice has done a good job of drawing talent in, as well as retaining local stars, such as the giraffe-necked footer Stephen Zimmerman, he has yet to demonstrate the coaching chops to do much with what he’s been given. With Christian Wood and Rashad Vaughn out, UNLV is unlikely to live up to anything near the legacy of the last true mid-major team to win a national title. At AFH, we beat them by 15. In Maui, we could do even more damage.

Wake Forest

As I mentioned, Manning went through a rough first year with Wake. Although he has most of the best parts of his roster back, as well as adding a quality recruiting class highlighted by athletic footer Doral Moore, for whose commitment he beat out UK, WF is unlikely to shape up much better in a brutal ACC than the team that went 13-19 on the year. They may not have been as bad as their record suggests, ranking 124th on Kenpom, but they certainly aren’t in much of a position to challenge anyone but perhaps St. John, and of course D2 host Chaminade, in this year’s field. If we do wind up playing them, it will be in the opening round, and there will be little doubt as to which HC is the student, and which is the master.

Loyola Maryland - AFH - Dec 1

The dubious honor of worst game on the schedule is a toss up between this bout with Loyola and the one with their Patriot League conference-mate Holy Cross. Both teams finished with not only losing records, but losing conference records in a bottom tier conference (independent schools finished five spots higher in RPI conference rankings). Still, Loyola finished only ahead of Army, so this distinction is about the only thing they’ll win next year.

As for the team, the Greyhound’s bus returns pretty much everything that was loaded on last year’s trek to langour. Far more likely to be run out of the gym than to lap the Jayhawks, this match up should be little more than a stat-stuffer for the team, and perhaps a popcorn worthy highlight reel for the fans, nothing more. Our exhibition games will probably be tougher.

Result: KU 92 - Loyola MD 45 Woof!

Harvard - AFH - Dec 5

The state of Kansas and the city of Lawrence have a lot of ties to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and city of Boston (and it’s environs). Lawrence itself was founded with the help of the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Company of Boston (which is why the main drag is Mass St). Wayne Selden, of course, is a native of Roxbury. The game Wayne had devoted his life to was invented in Springfield, Mass, the state’s second largest city, and the choice of his school’s colors was inspired in part by Harvard Crimson. Originally KU’s colors would have been a blue and gold similar to that of Marquette, however, as the main benefactor in founding the school, Amos Adams Lawrence, for whom the town is named, was a Harvard man, it was decided to add crimson to the school’s repertoire.

Despite all of these connections, I can neither recall nor realize a time when these two teams have actually met, so this may well be the first. And it’s just as well that it is as Harvard is currently riding atop the Ivy league and has their most successful coach in school history manning the helm. Tommy Amaker’s Crimson have a streak of NCAA tournament appearances going that dates back to 2012 (only the 2nd time they made the dance in school history), and even notched a couple wins in 2013 and 2014 respectively. Perhaps more important was the emergence of Jeremy Lin in the NBA. Whatever you attribute it to, Amaker has made Harvard not only a respectable destination for academics, but athletics as well.

2015-16 figures, however, to be something of a rebuilding year for Amaker. He’s lost all but 2 of his top 6 scorers and, as Ivy League schools don’t offer athletic scholarships, it’s not likely that his incoming class have much impact. Siyani Chambers, the team’s play maker, does return and Amaker can flat out coach, so I don’t expect this to be a rout. KU will outlast the Crimson in a surprisingly close game.

Result: KU 61 - Harvard 54

Holy Cross - AFH - Dec 9

You could basically copy and paste my analysis of Loyola here and you’d get about the same result. The Crusaders are a bit better than the Greyhounds, but are just as underwhelming and undersized. They have 4 or their top 6 guys back and actually put up a good number of blocks and steals per game (enough to rank top 40 in both). It won’t matter, though, as they’re offensively challenged to say the least. With no rebounding and very little scoring ability, but the ability to manufacture turnovers, we’re in for a decisive, if sloppy victory. This should come as no surprise as Holy Cross was the first step in each of back to back Final 4 runs in 02 and 03, and Kansas hasn’t lost to a Patriot league team since our bitter defeat to Bucknell the next year.

Result: KU 63 - Holy Cross 46

Oregon State - Kansas City, MO - Dec 12

Oregon State was listed among the programs trending up in ESPN’s preseason analysis of the Pac 12. Surely that has more to do with the hiring of HC Wayne Tinkle, who brought along with him his 4-star son Tres, than it does an 8-10 conference record on a team that loses very little. To their credit, the Beaver’s PG Gary Payton, Jr did lead the team in scoring and rebounds, as well as leading the nation in steals per possession, so it’s not as if they lack any star power. They’re also long on length. None of their 6 scholarship bigs is shorter than 6’10". Fortunately none of them are talented scorers, and only one is anything resembling a shot blocker, Daniel Goomis.

I was as surprised as anyone in 2012 when the Beavers gave us a legitimate run for our money at the Sprint Center, but I won’t be caught unawares twice. I’m expecting this one to go down very much like the last: Offensively challenged team causes a lot of turnovers, but can’t put up the numbers to fell the giant. Tinkle may have a team on it’s way up, but it ain’t there yet.

Result: KU 64 - OSU 55

Montana - AFH - Dec 19

The Montana Grizzlies are a bunch of big bears from a very tiny pond. The Big Sky conference from which Montana hails is one of the worst in the country, raking in at #27 out of 33 conferences in 2015. Although they finished with 20 wins and a 14-4 conference record, I doubt it will be any kind of wrestling match. They have 4 or their top 6 scorers back and were able to wrangle an NIT berth thank’s to a solid offense, but they were blown out by a mediocre Texas A&M team thanks to the Grizzlies poor D. Brandon Gfeller is their lone shooting threat, although Mario Dunn is capable. The size of the Grizzlies is also nothing special. Marin Breunig does score and rebound, but he’s a poor FT shooter and his D makes Perry Ellis look like Jeff Withey. No one of note is coming onto this team to replace leading scorer Jordan Gregory. Poor rebounding and a mediocre steal rate will make this one a solid win. Expect to see the 'hawks run away with this game in the 2nd half.

Result: KU 74 - Montana 60

San Diego State - San Diego, CA - Dec 22

In many ways, KU’s lone true road game in this nonconf schedule could be the hardest one of them all. Steve Fisher rose to fame after somehow guiding Big Blue to an NCAA title in his first 6 games as a head coach, and continued with the Fab Five in the early 90s. He hasn’t had the same resources nor the same success since he landed at San Diego State, but he’s almost always had tough and competitive teams in his 15 seasons there, leading them to a 27-9 record, 14-4 in the MWC. So it was hardly a shock that a coach with Fisher’s pedigree was able to come into Allen Fieldhouse and leave with a win. That narrow setback came before the emergence of Joel Embiid as the best C in the country, before Wiggins truly showed any ability to take over games, and with a not quite up to the task Naadir Tharpe running the show. Despite not having anyone likely to be drafted in the top 5 on the roster, the team we field this year should be much better overall.

With that in mind, a W might seem academic, given that the Aztecs barely managed to hang on at AFH. Not so fast! Three things haven’t changed: San Diego is still a long and defensively strong team; team star Winston Shepherd is still on the roster; and Steve Fisher still heads the ship. Finishing 4th in defensive efficiency on Kenpom last season, but only 166th for O, this game figures very much to be one of contrasting styles. Kansas was certainly no stranger to good defense last season either, finishing 10th thanks largely to their FG% D and rebounding (plus surprisingly good shot blocking numbers), but scoring came far more naturally for us than it has to the Aztecs. What is likely to turn the tides is that half of the top scorers for Fisher’s squad have gone, specifically double digit contributors Aqeel Quinn and J.J. O’Brien. This has to be a devastating blow to an already anemic offensive team. Top scorer and player Winston Shepherd is still there to soften the hit, as is his soon to be partner in crime Malik Pope, who really started to come on late in the season. Redshirt Zylan Cheatham and new comer Jeremy Hemsley will mean no shortage of big bodies, but unless D’Erryl Williams can develop into a real point guard for this squad, I see defeat in the cards for a team lacking a floor general. Expect a real boxing match, though.

Result: KU 57 - SDSU 53

University of California Irvine

It’s a great time to be an Anteater. A 21-13 finish and a very first NCAA tournament berth are high watermarks for a historically lack luster program. But the big story at UCI has to be Mamadou Ndiaye, the 7;6" 300lbs Senegalese pivot. He’s the top of the returning scorers along with gaurds Alex Young, Luke Nelson, and Jaron Martin. UCI neither stood out as a defensive team, nor defensively, but was still able to take an Elite 8 bound Louisville team to the wire in their lone March Madness game. The key to the win will be dealing with the massive middleman Ndiaye, but the load may not be as bad as it seems. Ndiaye is a lumbering foul machine, and Perry Ellis is adept at taking bigs off the dribble, as well as getting fouled on his way to the hoop. Get these things done, and our backcourt superiority will carry the day. My guess is Mamadou fouls out midway through the 2nd half and we never look back.

Result: KU 68 - UCI 52

University of Kentucky - AFH - Jan 30

The choice to have blue blood heavyweights KU and UK face off in this year’s edition of the Big12/SEC challenge was all but foregone. LSU and aTm have had successful recruiting seasons and are certainly intriguing teams, but nothing is going to put more butts in seats than these two historic programs go at it. Now much to our chagrin, KU has almost always been on the losing end of these meetings, owning a paltry 5 wins over UK throughout the years, and has suffered defeat in all 3 of our most recent meetings. That should make this bulletin board material, especially given the players we return from a team that was utterly humiliated 72-40 last season. This Jayhawker wants revenge too.

In addition to the intrigue, this game is also one of the most difficult to predict. None of UK’s top 7 scorers nor rebounders return. That’s hardly unfamiliar territory for Kentucky, though. They do have a very strong recruiting class, headlined by C Skal Labissiere, and recently bolstered by Canadian Jamal Murray, but this team doesn’t have the talent level nor the depth that Calipari has been privileged with in his time at UK. What has BBN on edge more than anything is waiting for Skal to be officially cleared to play. He wouldn’t be the first kid waived off for the season that Cal’s brought to Lexington (Enes Kanter), and between his OAD pedigree and UK’s meager post depth, that sort of loss could spell a season as low as 2013’s for a team that treats Final Fours like trips around the block. KU likewise has to get its star big man cleared, but if Diallo’s debut is delayed, we’ve got more tools to patch the hole. Tyler Ulis and Alex Poythress will mean UK has some key veterans to blend with the new comes, and Jamal Murray and Isaiah Briscoe are big, athletic play makers, much more in the mold of Derrick Rose or John Wall than the Harrison twins.

In the end, I think this is more likely to be a vintage Calipari team than a dud. And for that reason, I have to say KU’s revenge fantasy reaches fruition! After all, what Calipari teams seem to do more than anything is sort of sleepwalk through the regular season before using overwhelming waves of individual talent to make a run in the dance. This just figures to be a much bigger game for KU, and in our venue to boot. We won’t be taking UK to the woodshed, but that same fight that carried a dead-legged KUSA to a win against a game group of Deutchers in double OT will carry the day on Jan. 30th. UK probably has the overall backcourt edge, but wave after wave of big man bodies will wear down the thin Big Blue Line.

Result: KU 81 - UK 75

Summary

So you heard it here first, KU will sweep their nonconf opponents this season, a feat not repeated since the 2010-11 season. It’s going to take some luck, but the grit on display throughout the WUG is exactly what it will take to get through this fairly strong schedule. Good Wayne has to show up to all the big games. Perry has to keep attacking bigger post men. Svi needs to turn his great fundamentals into a good all around game. Chieck needs to qualify, then become this team’s pacemaker. But I see it all coming together. It’s going to be a very good year to be a Jayhawk.

Ah, the shifting winds of recruiting. As we’ve all heard by now, Chris Mullin pulled an incredibly baller move and stole the Diallo carpet out from under Calipari’s feet. The big question is, with Slice at St. John’s, has Mullin now tilted the scales enough to beat out Norm Roberts? I gave it a couple days to let the dust settle, but things couldn’t be any less clear at this point.

For starters, Slice to St. John’s is perhaps the slickest move, both tactically and strategically, that I’ve seen in recruiting in the past decade. Short term, you get the obvious in with Diallo, and long term, you get the guy with the best connections in the NY/NJ/Philly triangle, an area we’ve recruited heavily over the years (Twins, Robinson, Taylor to name a few). That’s hardball, hardcore, tough nuts politicking. St. John’s now has Cheick’s lead recruiters from both ISU and UK. In fact, the move is so strong, it’s virtually knocked UK out of consideration, and I thought they’d be our biggest competition given how lukewarm Cheick was to Mullin. But Mullin did what he had to do.

All hope is not lost, though. Last Thursday, the consensus was Diallo was all but mind made up on KU and ready to commit at the JBC. Even losing some ground, there’d be a long way to slide to lose this one. Mullin is still recruiting as though he’s not going to have Diallo on his team, too. That could indicate that he’s not as strong as he hoped he’d be even after the move, but he may just be being prudent. Diallo is a Nike prospect, but St. John’s is UnderArmor, so it’s unlikely that Nike is using any pull to move him in either direction. Norm Roberts is a great closer, too, and I’m sure he’s preparing some great stuff to go for the kill. He’ll be telling Diallo about Self’s track record with getting bigs into the NBA. He’ll point to the last kid from Africa that signed on the dotted line, injured his back and foot, and still went #3 in the draft. He’ll mention the door is wide open on a potential title contender at KU, whereas at St. John’s they’ll be lucky to finish 4th in the waning Big East. If anyone can make this deal happen against these headwinds, it’s Norm.

Still, the waters have been significantly muddied since last weekend. If Diallo stays on schedule and declares at the JBC or the day after, he’s ours. But if he waits until next week, it’s anybody’s game. Heck, there are even a few die-hards saying ISU is in this, despite the KU v SJU consensus. Things aren’t as rosy as they were, but I’m going to keep the faith on this one.

Ok, so I’ve been gone from the site for a while, but HEM brought up where we are in recruiting the other day and I’ve got the time, so here’s my weigh in:

Obviously the early signing period came and went with out even so much as a whimper on the recruiting front, and understandably, that’s left some posters both here and on the old site on edge. This year is such a mixed bag and reminds me a lot of the position we found ourselves in between the 2011 and 2012 seasons. We’re in on a very narrow, but elite number of players, but pretty much everyone else has decided where to land. This is a little odd after last couple years where all but a handful of players decided early, and KU was able to clean up pretty well, but these things are cyclical, I suppose.

The biggest and more apparent threat to KU recruiting this year is Calipari’s platoon system and whether or not it proves to be attractive to the incoming recruits. By his own admission, the platoons are just a gimmick to keep Cal’s freshmen happy after the unexpected return of the Harrison Twins and Dakari Johnson, but if it pays dividends and UK can put the full 7 of 10 players currently projected into the league, there’s a real chance that we get swept in the head-to-heads with UK in the class of 2015 and then are relying on the transfer/carousel/Merv Lindsay wire to come up with more bodies. That said, I don’t think that’s the most likely scenario today, and based on Calipari’s recent behavior, it doesn’t look like he’s counting on that either. With all of that established, I’m going to break down on who we’re still in on, what kind of player they are, where we appear to rank with them, and what odds I’d give to them signing. This list will be based on the offers list from Verbal Commits.

1. Marcus LoVett, Jr.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Bill Self is recruiting an undersized, underweight, low-ranked/unranked PG after striking out with better options. If that scenario gives you heart burn, there are two good reasons not to panic: 1 Frank Mason; 2 Devonte Graham. With the unfortunate departure of Conner Frankamp last month, our PG situation for the next 3 years has become pretty much solidified. LoVett wouldn’t necessarily be a bad addition to that, but anyone we’re looking at in this class should strictly be considered depth, as I don’t think Self is going to hand over the keys even if we sign a combo like Malik Newman or Tyler Dorsey. LoVett isn’t without his strengths. Although not a great shooter, he is a great passer and has very good control over the ball. But like all undersized players, he’s a real defensive risk, and like many young PGs, he dribbles way too much for his own good. The sick moves he can bust out in highlight tapes will turn into bench minutes really quick against competent D-1 defenders.

Given that we’ve only offered him very recently and given that we haven’t made any kind of real push for the kid, I don’t think Self sees adding another ball handler as a priority this season, meaning for the time being at least, he trusts the situation of Mason/Graham with Svi and Selden as the emergency relief. Between that and the near guarantee of being a career backup or being recruited over, I’d say the odds of signing LoVett are pretty low, and even if he did sign, it would be to his detriment. He’s carrying an offers from UCLA and SDSU, and given their PG situations and his West Coast lineage, I expect him to choose one of those schools.

Odds to KU: 25%

1. Malik Newman

Is it enough to say Kentucky and be done with him? Actually, things are a little bit more complicated with him than that, but that doesn’t change where my mind is on him much. UK already signed combo Isaiah Briscoe and SG Charles Matthew to compliment an all but guaranteed to be returning Tyler Ulis and Devin Booker, so they have a really good backcourt lined up already, plus it looks like Antonio Blankeney will be spending time in Lexington next season, as well. Given that, you’d think we’d have an in, but that’s where the platoon thing comes back to haunt us. Even if Poythress or Lyles returns, there’d still be room for another 3 as both of those guys are really more face up 4s than anything, so the situation is very fluid for Cal. Self won’t platoon and really only wants to play 4-5 perimeter guys anyway. Given who it looks like we’ll get back right now (I actually believe that Selden will get his rehab sorted out enough to come out this year, so that’s Oubre/Greene/Svi/Mason/Graham), I don’t see any real benefit for Newman in terms of coming here, and really, he’d just be bumping Greene or Graham in all likelihood.

As for his strengths and weaknesses, all I will say is that Newman is a combo, the best player at his position in this class, and his ranking is fully warranted.

If you’ve taken a look at the ‘Crystal Ball’ feature on CBS’ 24/7 sports, you’d see that UK is a heavy favorite for Newman, as well. Now, myself, I don’t put a ton of stock into those predictions because most of the contributors to the site are guys like Matt Scott, enthusiasts that have parlayed their hobby into a day job, but not real experts of any kind. If you do take a look at them, though, the two guys really worth paying attention to are Jeff Borzello, CBS’ resident recruiting guru, and Jerry Meyer, a seminal member of the site before it was purchased by CBS. Those guys tend to actually be in the know when it comes to recruiting information, and Meyer is especially reliable. He sees Newman at MSSU, and barring the return of platooning, I think that’s the most reasonable guess at this point.

Odds to KU: 5%

1. Tyler Dorsey

The other combo and West Coast guard Self is looking at this year, Dorsey is a former Arizona commit that makes no bones about his desire to play point, and his frustration at getting cut by the USA Basketball team that Stumpy was assistant coaching. Dorsey is very much the poor man’s Malik Newman, but that could bode well for us as a long term option. He doesn’t have Newman’s length, strength, handles, or touch, but he’s still all-around solid in the areas that matter. He needs to get stronger, work on his handles and passing, but as an upperclassman, he’s likely to be a real force.

According to what I’ve heard as of right now, Dorsey really likes KU, but the reality of the opportunity to play the point is what’s keeping him thinking. Every indication is that it’s down to us and Cal(ifornia), and that he’ll commit sometime this winter. Honestly, I think this one’s a coin toss. I think he could realistically be a point option as an upperclassman, but the patience and willingness of kids these days to play their way there can’t be relied upon. At Cal, he’d be joining Jabari Bird and Jordan Matthews, with Tyrone Wallace’s senior season being the only thing between him and full control, as all of the Bear’s other guards are crap. One way or another, Dorsey is likely to have to wait for his gratification, at least a little, but if I were placing a bet, I’d have to go with Cal at this point because there are just so many more unknowns if he chooses KU. They may not win a ton of games, but at Cal, he’ll be able to do what he wants and get a lot of minutes without having to look over his shoulder at who might be recruited over him.

Odds to KU: 45%

1. Jaylen Brown

Why is Self putting so much energy into recruiting small forwards right now? Better question: why have so many elite 3s signed with Kansas in the past two seasons when Self’s offense put’s next to no emphasis on that position?

Jaylen Brown is basically a stronger version of Andrew Wiggins. Great size and length for position? Check. Spin moves and freakishly athletic dunks? Check. Lock down D? Check. Relies entirely on his athleticism to get by? Check. Dribbles too high and away from his body? Check. High potential/low foundation? Check.

Okay, okay. I’ll lay off Wiggins. I actually really loved having him on the team, and I think, even though it didn’t pay off during his lone season at KU, there are dividends to be had if he wins Rookie of the Year and becomes an NBA All Star. We’re waaaaay overdue for another. Seriously, though, we have Svi, and I don’t know why we’re bothering with this guy. He’s a fantastic prospect, but not the sort of player I’d want to build a team around, especially a OAD. Wiggins was really a lot better than Brown, and love or hate the hype, he brought an injection of interest to KU in what might have been the first real rebuilding season for Self in his tenure here. Brown doesn’t even have that and we have a glut of guys that can do more, if just not as flashy.

As for signing him, I’ll say we don’t. Between him, Newman, and Blankeney, I don’t think all 3 could co-exist with who UK already has without Booker or Ulis transferring, so their situation looks like a real Mexican standoff. Any two could probably work, and Blankeney will undoubtedly be the first to pull the trigger, but I bet it’s Newman that follows suit, if either do. Brown is looking at UCLA and is taking his last two officials at UNC and Michigan. UK is the front runner in the twitter sphere, but when the dust settles, I’m thinking Brown winds up in yellow, whether bruin or wolverine.

Odds to KU: 5%

1. Brandon Ingram

Stop me if I’ve already used the ‘Stop me if you’ve heard this one before’ joke. Ok. Everything I’ve said about the futility of recruiting Jaylen Brown applies to Brandon Ingram, although Ingram is a much more fundamentally sound player. The only reason I can think of that would make his recruitment make sense for KU is if Self wants to play him at the 4 a la Julian Wright. Ingram has decent handles and court vision for his size, plus can score with his back to the basket, so it’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility, but he’s also not going to soar in for dunks over players trying to take a charge. In a lot of ways, he’s like Kelly Oubre with less athleticism and a better J. I don’t know if he’d struggle with the speed of the D-1 game the way Oubre has, but if Oubre grows over the season and comes back, we really have nothing to offer Ingram, and he has very little to offer us.

Compounding matters with Ingram is that he’s a life long Puke fan, and all indicators point to him not venturing too far from Tobacco Road. I think the only reason he hasn’t committed to Duke already is the enormous logjam Duke has in their back court. K has already signed Luke Kennard and given who is likely to be back next season (Tyus Jones, Matt Jones, Grayson Allen, Semi-should-probably-transfer-Ojeleye, and Rasheed Sulaimon), there really isn’t any immediate use or need for Ingram there either, as K doesn’t platoon (jesus, I sound like Dick Vitale!). That leaves UNC and NC State as the remaining hometown options. I’ll say UNC for now and call it good.

Odds to KU: 1%

1. Ivan Rabb

Finally we get down to some genuinely good news. If you’d asked me in October where we stood with Ivan Rabb, I would have said ‘outside looking in.’ Then seemingly out of nowhere, Self pays the young man a visit and at the moment, I’m thinking top 3. At a long and lanky 6’10", Rabb would bring a lot more size to the 4 position than we’ve been accustomed to under Self. Given what happened against UK this year, and the fact that we have MSU queued up for next year’s champion’s classic, that added length would be very welcomed. At his best, Rabb actually reminds me of Joel Embiid. He’s a little too skinny, but has great hands, timing, patience, and really good footwork. He doesn’t have JoJo’s grace, and I don’t know if he has Jo’s mean streak, either, but if anyone can pull off an impression of an impression of Olajuwon, Rabb’s the guy. On the downside, in addition to being too skinny, Rabb likes to score face up , despite his good feet. He doesn’t have any real goto move with his back to the basket. He’s also a little soft. Still, with some Hudyization and seasoning, he’d be a real force for KU.

What is perhaps most exceptional about Rabb right now isn’t necessarily his talents, but the tepid reaction he had to Big Blue Madness. Although his HS coach downplayed his lack of enthusiasm as simple exhaustion, he points to Halloween in the list of events more exciting than visiting Lexington. That, his enthusiasm for Cal(ifornia, again), and his mother basically saying Ivan doesn’t necessarily see himself as an OAD (same article) leaves a lot of operating room for KU, and we haven’t even had our official yet. Were I to venture a guess at who the remaining schools are in Rabb’s top 3, I’d say it’s us and UCLA. Zona could be there as well, but with Brandon Ashley and Kaleb Tarc likely to finish their senior years in Tucson, PT could start to be a real consideration. At any rate, I like where we’re positioned with Rabb right now.

Odds to KU: 35% with plenty of room to grow

1. Cheick Diallo

Diallo is a guy I identified in 2012 as a young up and comer to covet. Time has only strengthened that stance. Diallo is a physical specimen nearly on par with Wigs. Blake Griffin dreams of one day having Diallo’s bounce, quickness, and energy. Diallo is also tough and nasty. He’s got swagger to spare and played through a back injury last summer because his teammate Thomas Bryant (more on him later) just couldn’t carry the load. Diallo blocks shots. Diallo cleans glass. Diallo dunks everything. Diallo is raw, but sick. Sound familiar? Diallo is the cheetah. Cliff Alexander is the lion. Being a little more terrestrial, Alexander has struggled against length so far (mostly UK and MSU), mostly because that baby hook of his is still in utero. Diallo will probably struggle more against the back-down type of bigs (Okafor, Josh Smith, Cameron Ridley) when defending, but should be able to get them foul’d up on the offensive end. Diallo is more desirable.

The big 3 in Diallo’s recruitment are us, ISU, and UK, and from what I hear we’re the frontrunner, but I think that depends heavily on Alexander or Ellis joining the Association. Alexander will probably get there, but as an undersized 4, there’s a very strong possibility of slippage if he doesn’t get his minutes up. Ellis isn’t on anyone’s radar to go pro this season, but if he can keep up what he did in Orlando and show some ability to score against length (Use a turnaround jumper, dammit!), he can play his way into a mid 1st rounder, but that’s his ceiling. Perry will still project as a SF to most NBA teams, and then only as a career back up, given that he can’t defend elite 3s on the perimeter. That clouds things significantly, but not terminally.

ISU will make a good push for Diallo, but if we’ve got post minutes, I think he’s ours for the taking.

Odds to KU: 50%

8] Carlton Bragg

Bragg is another big I’ve been pretty high on. In terms of pure skill set, he’s probably the most talented 4 his class. If I could compare him to a Jayhawk player, it’d be Darrell Arthur: great scorer, good defender, above average athlete. He’s mostly a face up, attack off the bounce type right now, but scores at all levels, good BBIQ for his position, and would fit very well in Self’s system. His J is pure, his touch supreme, but he lacks focus sometimes and has no nasty that I’ve seen. He’s better than Perry was at the same point in time, but faces many of the same challenges, right down to the questionable height (almost definitely not 6’9" ) listing and limited length (though he should be a better defender). As such, Bragg is at least a TAD, but could be a 4 year starter too.

Throughout the summer, KU was where I saw Bragg. That’s changed recently. The aforementioned Jerry Meyer still has Kansas as his prediction, but the grapevine says Cal(ipari this time) has made Bragg a top priority and is making the push. Illinois and UCLA are also involved, but I don’t consider them much of a threat. Bragg is down to two schools in actuality, and I can’t say that we’re the favorite among them. Bragg would probably also be willing to platoon (I hate that that’s a thing now), so the allure of PT isn’t necessarily there for us. If our ties to Adidas are worth anything on the recruiting trail, then we can make up the distance. But big shoe has failed to deliver us on a number of bigs lately (Chris Walker, Tarc, Tony Parker), so I wouldn’t cast my lot with them. The lone glimmer of hope at the moment is Thomas Bryant.

Bryant was offered, but never really recruited by us. He basically worked his way down to just Syracuse without committing. But just this week UK offered, even after Bryant’s mother opined that she didn’t think it was a good fit for her son. Cal missed on Henry Ellenson during the early signing period, and clearly he’s not satisfied with just Skal Labissiere signed up so far. The move on Bryant could just be hedging bets, but it could also indicate losing ground with another target. Unfortunately, I don’t think UK is falling behind with him, so unless something changes behind the scenes, Carlton Bragg is looking like a Wildcat.

Odds to KU: 40% (if that seems high, remember, it’s a two man race)

1. Caleb Swanigan

Swanigan only barely merits mentioning here in that we’ve offered him and technically, he hasn’t cut us yet, but I think that’s only a matter of time. No one believes he’s seriously considering the Jayhawks right now, and there’s been no activity that contradicts that. Furthermore, as a wide-bodied, but undersized center, I don’t see him as a great fit. Self’s bigs are usually the sort that can get up and down quickly. Swanigan, for all his strength and rebounding prowess, wouldn’t really keep up with our schemes too well. He’s considering MSU and UK, and honestly, he’s the perfect sort of fit for Izzo, so I say let them have each other. If we get desperate, though, there is still time enough to horn in on his recruitment.

Odds to KU: 0%

1. Stephen Zimmerman

Zimmerman is another unexpected bright spot on the recruiting trail. He’s a super athletic 5 with awful hair, but high potential. He’s actually a lot like UT’s Myles Turner, swapping some range for better athleticism. He’s very quick on his feet and gets up incredibly well for his size. He’s got great length too. Like Turner, he’s more of a face up player than a back to the basket guy. He’s also pretty good at putting the ball on the floor, as long as he limits himself to a couple of dribbles. He’s on par with Cole Aldrich or Sasha Kaun in terms of shot blocking ability. He’s a little on the lean side, but has a good frame to build. Still, the biggest knocks against him are that he’s not a back to the basket scorer, and that despite good physical size, he’s awfully soft, shying away from contact, and not rebounding as well as you’d expect. He needs to work on his footwork too, but the whole of his short comings aren’t things you can’t say about most elite prospect bigs at this stage.

Zimmerman’s looking to OAD and he wants big minutes too. In other words, no platoons (and that should be the last use of the word from me in this post, and hopefully the remaining season). Wherever Zim plays, he’s planning on being on the floor 30 minutes a game. That makes the source on Zagsblog.com that says UK is NOT in Zim’s top 3 all the more credible, and when UK offered Bryant, Zim was the player I assumed Cal was making up for. The other thing the Zimmerman’s have been pretty vocal about is the strength and conditioning situation wherever he goes. That’s another great point in the KU column. If there’s anything to be worried about with recruiting Zim at this point, it’s that we probably can’t over come Ellis and Alexander both returning, but I’d consider that a pretty good problem to have. Still, I’ve consistently heard that he wants to stay out west, and until our post situation becomes clear, I’m going to have to consider that the default position, so I’d put UNLV up front for the time being. Still, we’re very much in this one.

Odds to KU: 30%

Bonus) Thon Maker

Thon Maker is a 7ft small forward based on his current skill set, and a member of the class of 2016. He’s been in the news, however, on speculation of whether or not he’ll reclass to join the class of '15, with a decision pending in January. For my money, anyone who talks about reclassifying this much is going to do it. It’s just a matter of when. But when that does happen, Self will be in a very good position to capitalize.

Maker is exceptionally athletic, with incredibly long arms and legs. He’s also got unbelievably good handles for a guy his size. He can score at all levels and is a superb shot blocker, using his agility and length the way God intended. Maker has the potential to make Anthony Davis seem like just an ugly chump. Still, Maker is insanely thin and frail. He can’t back down or prevent being backed down, and his slight build leaves minimal optimism about building bulk. Likewise, he hasn’t learned to assert himself as much as he could on the offensive end, and needs to work harder on the glass. With his natural gifts and some good coaching, he could put up 15/10/5 kind of numbers in short order, but it will take work. Also, even if he looks like a 3 when he plays, he probably shouldn’t play one. His J just isn’t there, and he’s got too much size and grace to waste out on the perimeter.

As I said, KU is in really good position to capitalize if and when Maker makes his move. Maker has already been on an unofficial, and coach Townsend has visited his school now on a couple of occasions. Nonetheless, Cal smells blood in the water too, and UK has made a big push recently. Also Maker visited Mizzou once, and that just automatically docks a couple points in my book. Provided I’m right about reclassifying, I think it will be a two-horse race between KU and UK, unless something changes soon. There are other schools involved, but none of them have put in as much effort just yet. We’ll see how it shakes out in January.

Odds to KU: ???

…but after tweeting this:

It’s been a long 3 years. Just wanted to thanks all the coaches who recruited me and stopped by my school appreciated

Cheick Diallo followed Perry Ellis on twitter. Turns out he follows a lot of Jayhawk players. Just a couple from UK. No one from SJU.

@BeddieKU23 WOOOOOOOOO!!!

2016 looks to be another big recruiting year for KU. My one real qualm about the WUG was that with Self tied up during the first half of July, we’d end up missing the best part of the summer recruiting season. Smartly, Self decided to leave his two top guys (Roberts and Townsend) behind. But with the upper limit on departures could be as high as 7 scholarship players this year, something we haven’t seen since 2011, a year that proved to be rough on the recruiting trail, this year’s haul is going to be all important in terms of maintaining Big 12 dominance, and keeping KU from falling further behind our blue-blood brethren.

Realistically, I don’t expect there to be quite as many as 7 scholarships opened, but I think the minimum to plan for is 5 (With 3 bigs graduating, Diallo likely to OAD, and one of the wings either taking the plunge (Svi or Selden) or looking to transfer (Greene or Vick)). With all that in consideration, here’s my 5 man dream recruiting class for 2016 by position:

PG) De’Aaron Fox

A consensus top 15 kid, all around, he’s a great player and the exact type of PG I (and more importantly Self) like: 6’3", great length, elite athleticism, supremely quick, great ball control, good passer, sees the floor, great defender, and a real ball hound. He’s a capable scorer, but unlikely to ever be the top scoring option. He is awfully scrawny for the time being, but that hasn’t made him shy about taking contact on the drive, and he’s a decent finisher at the rim. His J is mechanically sound, but his shooting touch is inconsistent. If all that sounds a lot like Tyshawn Taylor, I’ll be the first to admit it is, but Fox is doing a better job of learning to play at more than one speed than Ty had done at the same point in his career.

Given all of that, he’s likely to take 2-3 years in school before Fox is really ready to make the jump to the pros. Time to develop is exactly what KU has to offer given that we really don’t need to land a PG in this class, although we should want to. If Fox picks KU he can not only build his body with Hudy, but get schooled by both Frank and Devonte, almost as good a backcourt pair as Collins and Chalmers. Of course instant gratification is a concern, and with Fox being a Texas/Nike kid, Shaka at UT, and Fox very much a “Havok” (not “Havoc”) friendly kind of guard, we’re likely 2nd banana to UT right now.

SG) Terrance Ferguson

Terrance is a true shooting guard with potential to so much more. Already blessed with a pure J and NBA range, this consensus top 15 kid has room to grow into a great defender and a 15+ ppg player, should he become an upperclassman. Ferguson is very much like a plus version of our own Brannen Greene. Whether squared up in catch and shoot situations or curling off screens, a swish seems all but guaranteed. Admittedly, his shooting stance is a little hinky, but it seems to work for him, and that’s all that matters. What makes him a plus version of Greene, however, is that he’s a far superior athlete, and a better all around ball handler. He’s not a take you off the dribble player like Vick, though. Just a kid that you can run some more stuff for. He’s a great finisher in the open floor, and has the hops and length to go and grab a lob or stick a put back that’s anywhere near the rim. Most of his scoring is going to come from kick outs and set plays.

Also like Greene, Ferguson is going to have plenty of work to do to get to the L someday. He’s not a great defender, although he does a better job of creating turnovers than his matriculated counterpart. Being longer should help that area of development. He just needs to put equal effort into his game on the opposite side of the court. His storking legs give him the sort of stride where, with focus and Self defensive coaching, he has potential to be Releford level lockdown. The biggest area of improvement, much like Fox above or Svi, is that he needs to add a lot of strength and with those stork legs and average shoulders, you have to wonder if he’s got the frame to build on. His triple-threat game needs work too. BBIQ-wise, he’s average.

All in all, there’s a whole lot to like about Ferg. KU has already emerged as an early favorite in his recruitment. As long as we place a wing in the draft this year, I think we’ve got a great shot at sealing the deal.

SF) Josh Jackson

Jackson is one of the top wing players in the country, and it’s not in the least bit difficult to see why. He’s among the elite athletes in his class. @jayballer54 already did a really nice write up on Jackson. What I’ll add to that is he’s very much a player in the vein of Andrew Wiggins. He’s already a D-1 level defender and he’s nowhere near his ceiling in that regard. He’s also a real scorer, but not much of a shooter. The similarities to the NBA ROY don’t end there. He’s got a lot of the same moves attacking the basket, including the trademark spin. There are a couple key differences, though, between Jackson and Wiggins. As an athlete, despite being at the top of his class, Jackson isn’t quite on the very top level. Wigs was an elite athlete by NBA standards from the day he set foot on campus. Jackson isn’t quite as long. He doesn’t have the uber first step, nor the 2nd and 3rd bounce. No shame in not quite being as athletic as a once in a generation kind of player, though. The saving grace, however, is that JJ is waaaaaay more aggressive than Wigs was. While everyone adapts to D-1 speed at their own pace, I’d be really shocked to see Jackson ever defer the way Wigs sometimes would.

Again, as @jayballer54 already mentioned, KU is seen as a leader in Jackson’s recruitment. But unlike Ferguson, Jackson would have little to fear in the way of upperclassmen keeping him out of a starting line up.

PF) Schnider Herard

With most of our defections coming from the bigs, the class of 2016 is going to demand at least one immediate impact player and at least one developmental/depth player for our front court. For the developmental side of the coin, my pick is Schnider Herard from Haiti. I’ve seen Herard ranked as high as the low 40s, although he’s dropped off ESPN’s most recent top 100 (still rated 4 stars). I think he’s likely to finish in the top 80 - 60 range, though. He’s most commonly listed as a center, but he does have a burgeoning face up game and overall good touch, so face up play is a distinct possibility, and lacking a true back to the basket game, I’ve listed him as a 4 for our purposes. He does know how to use his body, though, and his thighs are like tree trunks. He’s also developed his upper body a ton since arriving in the states, adding about 40 lbs top to bottom from his freshman to junior seasons. His best assets right now are his size, at 6’10.5" in shoes and 260 lbs, and his athleticism. He’s a good rebounder, too. As a player, he’s really just a bigger Tarik Black. His game is all about power and throwing his weight around. He is among the rawest of raw players I can remember Self ever offering (unless you count Wesley, which I don’t). If Herard’s game is steak tartare, Big Cliff’s is beef jerky.

What Herard does have, though, is NBA potential in a 4 year package. If he can learn to play D without fouling, add a drop step, a hook, and the ability to score over both shoulders, he could be a 2nd rounder by the time he moves on, a la Sausha Kaun. He’ll never be a franchise player, but he’s got everything you could want in a journeyman.

As for his recruitment, he appears to be wide open right now. While I can’t fault Self for not making Herard a top target, he’s exactly the sort of kid that will be easy to miss on not because we can’t offer him the best long term opportunity, but because we can offer the least short term benefit. There are plenty of mid-tier teams that would be overjoyed to start him or, at very least, offer him significant playing time as a freshman. Cal, Purdue, ASU, Nebraska, and any number of Texas teams could all make pretty immediate use of a guy like him. If he is on the market late, I think it’s an easy sell, but if he goes early, we’re probably S.O.L.

C) Marques Bolden

Another player that’s already shown up on another poster’s wishlist (thanks @HighEliteMajor), Bolden is my top overall want in this class. HEM’s post on him was must read and covers everything you need to know, but here’s my 2 cents: For a player comparison, I’ll go with #45 Cole Aldrich. He’s not the best athlete, best shot blocker, nor best back to the basket scorer, but there are no real blind spots in his game either. He’s got good shooting touch, a killer hook shot, nice size, a good set of post moves, and rebounds well too. The biggest strike he has had against him was level or effort/focus, but according to Eric Bossi, he’s been dominant on the AAU circuit as of late, playing with a heretofore unknown ferocity.

What should make me happiest is that he’s a self-proclaimed life long KU fan and we’re seen as the front runner in his recruitment. What gives me pause, however, is that UK and Duke are coming on strong, and the way he’s been playing, he’s likely to be among the most coveted bigs in a class lacking quality in that respect. The longer he stays on the market, the more of a dog fight it’ll become. Hopefully we get this one over with by Late Night.

@nuleafjhawk Here you go:

You know, prior to this game, I used to like Marcus Smart despite the backflip last year. After this game, though, it’s a complete 180. I can see why he came back to school - taking full advantage of the OSU drama department’s resources. There were a lot of Oscar season jokes about his behavior, but it wasn’t even good acting. It was disgusting. Dirty and undignified. A guy who’s supposed to be one of the toughest players in the country doesn’t fall down at being breathed on. Worse, that T he got on Selden was completely bogus. I’ve watched and rewatched it over and over again and you can see the blue of the student section barrier between both elbows and Smart’s face as Selden cleared out. Honestly, as bad as he was today, I wish Selden had just straight up busted his nose for all the bad acting. A little here or there doesn’t bother me. Sometimes you gotta sell a call or the refs won’t see it, but what we saw today was nauseating and ridiculous.

@Red.Rooster God bless and godspeed.

@RockkChalkk Gotta say I’m honestly surprised. I hadn’t paid too much attention, but I thought for sure NC State was gonna close with him. Not that it really we were really hard after him.

@BeddieKU23 It will be interesting to see how all of this plays out because Marcus Lee is looking like a 4 year guy, and Humph is likely a 3-4 year kid as well. One of Lee, Humph, Gabriel, Wynyard, or Jones won’t be playing much next season. Gabriel would have been smart to go to Duke.

What is salient, however, is that this is likely to put us in pole position with Jarret Allen. That should be very welcomed news as we’re apparently still lagging Florida State and possibly UNC for Azubuike. We are back on top with Bolden too, but that position is still a little shaky. Bolden is expected to go in the next month or so. Hope we can close on him. He’s my favorite big man in the class. Allen, however, would give us another Bragg-esque presence and that’s nothing to sneeze at.

@wissoxfan83 It’s gonna be real awkward when he forces overtime by hitting a late game 3… on his own team!

@JayHawkFanToo I still don’t buy into your definition of political correctness here. I think I agreed with you on the point that blacks and other minorities are quick to cry racism when facing criticism. Did I not call it a sledgehammer? You’re right that my analogy of the double standard of women being able to get away with hitting men but not each other didn’t match what you’re getting at, but again, it is still the case that blacks are allowed to criticize each other, as are Asians, Hispanics, Jews, etc, etc, including various white groups, so I don’t see where the political correctness element comes in. Everyone is allowed to say certain things about their own group in the same way that everyone is allowed to bad mouth their own families, but it would be considered untoward to speak poorly of another person’s family unless you’re especially close to them.

As for whether or not that is right or wrong, I think that’s up to the individual to decide. If it offends you, so be it, but that doesn’t make you the voice of authority in the matter. And again, demanding that everyone comport to your sensibilities on the issue in order to avoid offense is a form of political correctness. What you describe as ‘demeaning’ one’s own race, another might find harmless, or even empowering.

I’m also quite certain that the phenomenon of celebrities being allowed to maintain their social status in the face of domestic violence accusations extends well beyond the boundaries of race. Mel Gibson, Charlie Sheen, Shawn Penn, and Bill O’Reilly are all white men that have all been accused or found guilty of violence against women and continued to enjoy their star status, and that’s hardly the tip of the iceberg. I think it says more about celebrity culture than about race relations or double standards.

I don’t know for certain that you’re not a minority, but I wouldn’t say it’s just an assumption. I drew that conclusion based on your own choice of words and attitudes and what my experiences have been like. I admit my deduction could be wrong, but I don’t see how it would change the tenor nor the substance of the conversation. That said, you’re nowhere near the least PC person I will or have ever met. I know comedians. They’re the least PC people in the world. You’ve self-identified as a conservative in the past and, in my experience, conservatives tend to be very PC just like liberals tend to be very PC, especially when you get to the extremes of the spectrum. The only difference between the two is that what one describes as politically correct, the other would simply call correct. My saying that black people (and other minorities) need to change their behavior if they want to be able to discuss race issues with white people isn’t political correctness either. You said yourself that criticizing black people is politically incorrect, and there I have laid a criticism upon them. Were you trying to say that white people not being allowed to say things that might offend black people is politically correct? That I can buy.

Finally, if I don’t understand your perspective, there is plenty you can say. You can make an effort to extend dialogue and explain yourself in other terms rather than getting defensive about it. Not that you owe me any such explanation. I’m not here to make demands of you. But if you’re not understood in the way that you meant to be, you’re not powerless to do anything about that. So please, if I have misunderstood you, take the opportunity to explain yourself, if you’re interested. If not, I’ll live.

@JayHawkFanToo said:

I am sorry but the use of that word is offensive whether on lyrics or as a pejorative term. Many prominent African American have spoken against the use of the word in rap music (along with other offensive terms) as it helps trivialize it; even “cool” people such as Jason Withlock have written and condemned the use of the word. It seems to me a double standard that has been tolerated because of political correctness.

For starters, aren’t you the one making the argument for political correctness? You’re saying, ‘I find a word offensive, therefore so must everyone else, and they should modify their behavior to comport to my sensibilities!’ That right there is the Webster’s definition of PC policing. Not every black person has to agree to the terms of its usage in order for it to be okay that a lot of them do. And for those that choose to, I think they’d argue to you that the whole point is to trivialize the word and rob it of it’s power.

Rap music is popular with young people of all races but apparently only black people (oops, am I allowed to say black anymore?) can say the words and not people of others races? That is BS. This would be the equivalents of saying only Hispanic people can call each other one of the many disparaging terms such as wetback, but people of other races could not? I don’t think so. If African Americans want to stop the use of the “N” word, they should start by doing it themselves…“do as I say and not as I do” has never been and never will be a good way to set an example.

Secondly, why do you care about the double standard? Do you want to be able to say the N word? What is it that you think is lost or gained by one group having exclusive rights to a word that is about them? You might as well be complaining that you can’t hit a woman. I mean sure, it’s a double standard, but there’s nothing desirable about regaining the right, and there’s little to fear from being struck yourself (Ronda Rousey not withstanding). Besides, that double standard isn’t unique to blacks nor Hispanics, for that matter.

There has been a long standing social convention that members of a group, especially a group considered a minority, are allowed to use certain words and phrases or express ideas or tell jokes about the group that might be considered derogatory when uttered by outsiders. This extends to white people as well, or at least it used to when whites weren’t considered homogeneous. My father is full-blooded Sicilian (as is pretty much his entire family), and his complexion is white as can be. Still, when he was a young man there were towns, neighborhoods, and institutions where he was either not welcomed or might encounter open hostility because he wasn’t the right kind of white. The Irish, Polish, Slavs, Germans, Jews, and Catholics have all faced that kind of discrimination in this country’s history, even those white as snowflakes. Each of those groups also developed their own jokes and language based on reclaiming elements from that derision in order to render them harmless. I’m sure everyone here has heard an ethnic joke regarding at least one of those groups at sometime in their lives. And as each of those groups became more a part of the mainstream, that element of the culture began to fade because it wasn’t needed any longer.

Finally, it’s not as if black people are okay with other black people using the N word in all contexts either. The first time I visited Las Vegas, I was waiting for a bus, having finished breakfast, when a homeless black man went up to another black man, who was waiting to go home from his night shift (I would guess this guy was a cook or some kind of custodian because his uniform was dirty), and started asking him for money. The homeless man kept talking about how they were N words (with an a) and how N words stick together and this and that, but the guy didn’t want to give him any money. The homeless man started getting belligerent, and finally started saying that the man wasn’t an N word with an a, but an N word with an er because he wouldn’t stick up for him. The guy then became enraged and started shouting at the homeless man for being a shiftless N word (again with an er) and for being the reason the word existed in the first place. At this, the homeless man slunk away the bus stop and went down the next couple blocks to beg from the people at that stop, having been thoroughly humiliated in front of the rest of us, none of whom were black ourselves.

Anyway, I’m not trying to single you out here or silence. But I genuinely don’t understand your perspective on the matter. Again, you seem to want to rail against being PC, but what you’re demanding is political correctness. There’s no two ways about that. I’m guessing it has something to do with the fact that the term racist itself has become something akin to the N word to us. I mean, I bet you most white people wouldn’t even blink at being called a cracker, and most kids (white or black) have probably never even heard the word honky before, but call a white person racist and that’s about the worst thing you can say about them.

The thing about it is, it’s true to some extent. That isn’t to single out whites. I think everyone has racial prejudices. It’s kind of impossible not to. Nobody gets to spend time with people from every part of the world and learn about their culture and values, so we invariably retain some short hand or misconceptions based on our limited experiences. I think the combination of the inability to recognize that fact and get over being criticized about it is a big part of why race relations haven’t really improved in this country for the past 30 years. Minorities want to talk about racial issues and their experiences vis a vis race with white people, but white people are so concerned with that extremely toxic label that, even knowing in their hearts that they harbor no hate for others, they don’t want to engage and chance that word sticking. If we’re ever going to get past it, I think it’s incumbent on both sides to change their behavior. Whites need to stop either putting their heads in the sand or blaming minorities that racial problems exist, and minorities need to stop wielding the R word like a sledgehammer to silence those with differing viewpoints and be willing to engage whites on their own terms if they really want dialogue.

This turned into way more of a rant than I intended it to, but I really do want to hear what you have to say, so please consider this a hand extended in camaraderie and not an open palm meant to chide.

@Lulufulu It’s the original rules of basketball. It was quite a different game at its inception.

@brooksmd I have never understood and continue to be perplexed by “love it or leave it” arguments. You’re saying if you don’t like a situation you should never try to change it? Like all those people joining the Tea Party protests should just shut up and go home or get the hell out of the country? If you don’t support gay marriage, too bad, American has spoken. Move to Uganda? Even in the private sector, I saw a woman on twitter who was getting balled out by complete strangers because she had the audacity to voice the opinion that maybe “slutty” Halloween outfits aren’t appropriate for 4 year olds and Wal-Mart shouldn’t be carrying them. There were people actually arguing that she should “let the market decide” as though an individual telling a company what they will or will not support with their dollars is somehow not a part of market economics!

As far as I’m concerned, it’s a two-way street. Nobody has to employ you if they don’t want to, and nobody has to be employed by someone who doesn’t meet their needs. If you can agitate enough to get pink napkins and your employer values you enough that they’re willing to acquiesce to that demand, more power to you. If you go to war with your boss over something trivial and you’re fired, that’s on you as well. But wanting change and vocalizing that to power is hardly any kind of crime. After all, if it wasn’t for a bunch of guys in triangle hats and wigs making demands and protesting for change, we’d all be subjects of Queen Elizabeth still. I’m sure you wouldn’t go back in time and tell George Washington to take a hike, would you?

@drgnslayr Jeff Borzello certainly likes our chances with the big dog.

@Lulufulu I would say the only way Diallo ends up staying is if he winds up eligible, but his draft stock slips. To say that would not be the happiest of circumstances is an understatement. If he maintains a late lotto draft projection into the summer, there’s very little he’d gain by returning. The only way it could come out in his favor is if he develops at an Embiid like rate after the draft.