Admittedly, I don't follow recruiting very closely until we actually sign someone...then I go watch their mix tape to see how they dunk on 6' high school guys and AAU guys playing no defense.
Here is my short list of guys we missed on that I was bummed about.
Felipe Lopez.
Charlie Villanueva
Terrence Jones.
Kaleb Tarczewski.
Others?
Last year I thought we had a good chance with Winslow. We got Oubre though.
2 years ago Randle obvious choice and Demetrius Jackson who ended up at ND.
3 years ago Zeus & Marcus Smart although I'm glad we missed on Smart after all his flopping antics and bricklaying.
4 years ago Bradley Beal
@BeddieKU23 I don't know about Smart. I don't believe he would have pulled that crap more than once with Self.
Plus - we would have gotten Forte. Not a bad BOGO deal.
Willie Cauley-Stein was in our own back yard!
Gosh... what was the guy's name we lost to Roy? That was painful... especially since Roy would never recruit in the east when at KU.
Anyone else catch how Kaleb runs? Pretty interesting stride for a big man.
Missing on Kaleb was one of those deals that changed Self and his recruiting methods. Self had put all his eggs in one Kaleb basket that year.
Can't believe he has played this long at Arizona. Had he become a Jayhawk the media would have convinced him to go OAD.
So was Buddy Hield... down in Wichita.
@Statmachine OW. OW. OW. One of my customers/friends (a K-State fan) knows him well and rubs my nose in it frequently.
@nuleafjhawk Imagine that guy paired with Ellis the last 3 years?
@drgnslayr I couldn't look at Buddy Hield's stupid mug twice a week though lol
@Statmachine No. I can't!
But it makes me think why do guys as obviously talented/gifted as him stay in school - at least for a while, when other much less experienced and talented players bolt as soon as they can?
I don't get it. I know everyone says it's the money, but if you've been broke for 18, 19, 20 years does another year or two matter? PLUS with another couple years of experience and learning, you're going to make even MORE money in the Pros. Argggggghhhhh.
I don't think he had KU as a finalist, but Bronson Koenig was being recruited by UW. He'll start tomorrow night and watching him play all year I always imagine how nice it would be to see him in a KU uniform.
Wasn't it down to us or Texas for Turner?
I always like to think that if he had to go to college first that Lebron would have come to KU! I mean, why wouldn't he have?
Koenig great example, we did recruit him but I think we stopped after he was likely to stay in state. Or Self thought he'd get other higher rated players.
Buddy Hield's parents probably turned HCBS off. I mean anyone that names one of their kids Nay-Nay Hield cant be one of the most intelligent beings on the planet. Bad genetics lol
Interesting angle.
OAD Tar became 4AD Tar--on a Nike stack that never won a ring. A very overrated prospect.
Villanueva bcam a part of the Calhoun corruption. Cannot recall if he won a ring and Calhoun then appeared to use sick leave to manage ncaa inquiries.
OAD Jones became a TAD that road the coat tails of reputed Anthony Unretracted Chicago Newspaper $100K Pay to Play Allegation and the fabulous Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Marcus TeAgue--real OADs.
The misses I recall most were:
Derek Rose--imagine that 08 ring team with Rose taking his own SAT!!!!!
John Wall--I misjudged how good he was. At KU he would have made us another ring for sure!!
The more I think about this subject the more I suspect it must take huge INCENTIVES to keep these guys from coming to KU!!!!!
WHAT KIND OF ELITE BIG MAN WOULD NOT HAVE WANTED TO PLAY WITH FRANK, KELLY, DEVONTE, WAYNE, BRANNEN AND PERRY LAST SEASON, OR NEXT? THEY ARE A RING TEAM WAITING FOR AN ELITE 5!
@jaybate-1.0 IF Ingram or Brown signs with KU in Kelly's absence SOON I think an elite BIG will follow. Just my take on the current state of affairs.
I used to feel like KU had an advantage when pursuing top level inside players, but I think that has disappeared almost completely over the last few years.
UK and Duke, our two biggest rivals for big time interior players, have both shown an ability to utilize inside guys, and even have those guys be successful at the next level. Who is HCBS most successful big at the NBA level? Probably Markieff?
Calipari has Davis, Cousins and Jones that are all at least as good as Markieff, with Davis and Cousins both decidedly better. And that ignores Noel and the injured Randle. Maybe Embiid puts a strong tally in Self's side, but if you are thinking about pro prospects, Cal has the upper hand. Coach K has the historic advantage, and he gets to add Okafor to that this year.
Self needs some guys that come to KU, do well and then go pro and become stars as well. That's what the top guys are looking at.
@justanotherfan I don't think there are a lot of bigs that want to play the traditional back to basket. Turner would have been better prepared if he went to KU, I'm sure he knows that now. Cliff was a bust, some times it's a crap shoot.
@justanotherfan Good points. To the UK roster of bigs, you could of course add Towns, Lyles, and Cauley-Stein, each of whom is more likely to be successful in the pros than any of our bigs. With Duke, you could add Parker (although not really a big), who was playing at rookie of the year level until he got hurt. And, to add salt to the wound, both UK (Labissiere) and Duke (Jeter) have bigs already committed. I would be willing to bet UK adds 1 or 2 more once Calipari's OADs and TADs announce. Given that UK already has 2 5 star and 1 4 star commits, it's possible Cal gets a haul that is just as stacked as the past couple. Duke and Arizona aren't far behind.
@Crimsonorblue22 @justanotherfan did mention Embid in his post. So, even if Embid turns to be an NBA all-star, which I would love to see, that will be the first for a Self guy - big or small - of course, Wigs could get there pretty quickly. But, it doesn't come close to the UK record with bigs. Cousins is all-star caliber, Davis is close to all-world, and Noel had a monster night earlier in the week (believe 30 pts and 14 rbs) - on the same team where TRob gets bench minutes. And, UK may have the #1 pick in the upcoming draft.
Don't forget the New Zealand Big Kentucky signed might reclassify to 2015, watch for him in the Nike Hoops Summit game. Labissiere may never play college as his high school is a red flag. Could be wrong on that one but I believe he was unable to play his senior year and wasn't eligible for the All-American game because of that.
I'd say the conservative estimate on UK's turnover is 4. The Harrison's will be the key to them. They will only have 4 days after the Championship if they make it to decide.
According to zagsblog UK is going to lose 7 to the NBA. If that happens I would imagine KU COULD completely wiff on the remaining OAD's.
@Statmachine You say that as if it's a bad thing....
@nuleafjhawk I think it would be a bad thing.
@Statmachine True OAD's have not helped KU one bit.
@nuleafjhawk Come on - that's not giving them their full due - they've helped end the run of 30 wins seasons - their quick departure helps creates more opportunities for more new guys - they help instill opponents with the confidence they can hang with Hawks, heck even beat them... ;)
I forgot to mention Lance Stephenson
I don't remember the recruitment of Wall and Rose...did they come to late night?
Try this .. Otto Porter in 2011. If he is here for the 2011-12 season, well, just imagine that. Almost had him.
That sounds right. I don't think we were all in on him and he knew it so he went to Cincy
I think that was in his rookie NBA season.
@drgnslayr Agree with @wissoxfan83 and you. He had problems in HS as well as the league.
@drgnslayr HCBS might have decided on the lesser of two evils. Henry and his dad vs LS and ???.