🏀 KuBuckets Archive

We wait anxiously the decisions by the last few presumed OADs. We're stuck. We have have no choice. The 2015 recruiting season has a thoroughly underwhelming event to this point. Kansas has, however, landed an excellent prospect in Carlton Bragg. Given the current status of our post depth, Bragg's commitment was crucial. I considered Bragg the perfect recruit.

Self didn't let Bragg escape. An excellent signing.

Marques Bolden is the next "must have" recruit -- he's a multi-year, highly talented post player. In recruiting, we may be looking for "10s" -- in reality, we seem to really want and need "5s", as in a true center. A rim protector. A back to the basket scorer. Bolden is perfection in Bill Self's world.

It gets very crucial moving forward. Even if we make the assumption that we land Cheick Diallo, Kansas will lose four post players after the 2015-16 season -- Ellis, Traylor, Mickelson and Diallo. Bragg and Lucas would remain. Even if we add Georgios Papagiannis, that's just three guys.

Enter Marques Bolden.

Bolden is 6'10", 235, and is a true center. Very importantly, Bolden is a back to the basket scorer with an array of skills. He is a long player, with an impressive wingspan. And Bolden isn't considered a presumed OAD, ranked #19 by 247sports, #19 by ESPN, and #29 by Rivals.

This recruiting story deserves our attention. Bolden is considered a pretty strong Kansas lean right now. Bolden, however, seems familiar, doesn't he? If you followed the 2015 class about this time last season, Tyler Davis, a 6'10" 270 lb center was in a similar position. Ranked in the 20-30 range, considered a strong Kansas lean -- one recruiting service had said Davis was "in the bag for Kansas" last summer. Different players to be sure, but similar status.

But leading up to Davis' commitment to Texas A&M, Kansas' OAD pursuit was in full force. It became clear that Kansas' time and resources were being focused primarily on the large group of presumed OAD post players -- Simmons, Zimmerman, Diamond, Labissiere, Jeter, Raab, Diallo -- all to varying degrees. Davis suddenly jumped ship and committed to Texas A&M. Davis seemed like a Kansas lock, if there ever was one.

Self can't let this happen with Marques Bolden.

In the class of 2016, there are fewer top big guys. Henry Giles and Udoka Azubuike are the flies in the ointment. Both are big, both are presumed OADs. The concern is that the pattern has become a protracted recruiting process for the OADs, where decisions are made very late, after the "normal" recruits have all committed. This dynamic threatens our pursuit of Bolden. It is not fatal, of course, we got Bragg ... but we need multiple guys.

And with Bragg in the stable, who will be heading into his sophomore year, there is likely room for only one starter. And we can't forget that Landen Lucas will be returning, as well, with all of his "experience." Again, as we've discussed, how does the constant pursuit of presumed OADs affect our overall recruiting efforts?

My hope is that Self makes Bolden THE priority, and that he doesn't repeat the flawed OAD pursuit of 2015. The fact is that Self will need to sign at least three bigs for 2016 (possible just two if he lands a worthy big like Georgios Papagiannis).

What strikes me most about Bolden, in what I have read, is that he appears to be highly skilled. That seems to be the consensus. So not only does he have the physical size, he's got a somewhat ready made skill package around the basket. We need that.

Below are a couple videos on Bolden. This stuff is many times of limited use. We know that. Dunks and blocks against undersized guys. Really, they're just so you can see them. But there are some nuggets. Most importantly the use of his left hand -- and he's right handed.

Here's one video on Bolden:

Here's a second video on Bolden. [Video One](

Bolden's scouting report from ESPN is below. Bolden appears to be the perfect recruit for Self's system -- a guy with skill, size, and little chance to bolt after one season. And that ever elusive back to the basket scoring. Can't let this guy get away.

Strengths:
Bolden is a long and mobile post that runs the floor extremely well. He has excellent touch in and around the lane where he can score with either hand with excellent touch and body control for his size and Bolden loves to go over his his right shoulder with his left hand although he is right handed. He also is stronger than he appears which allows him to score through contact. He rebounds well in his area and blocks shots with his great length and athletic ability. Bolden works to deny the ball out of the low post as well.

Weaknesses:
In addition to continuing to add strength, Bolden must maintain his aggressiveness, keep his motor running and get lower when he post up in order to have a stronger post to hold his position.

Bottom Line:
Bolden is a post that can score on the block, rebound and block shots. He is mobile and athletic and a high major prospect.

Self can't let Bolden get away.

Interesting choice @HighEliteMajor. Self is out today watching Bolden as we speak which bodes well for your post. He visited for Late Night and we've visited him twice since. Hopefully Self won't make the same mistake twice.

I'd also throw in his AAU teammate Schnider Herard as Self's other important recruit for 16. These 2 would be the perfect 5's to bring to the program but could Self really get both of them with Lucas. The only way I see that happening is if 1 of them had enough versatility to make them a big 4.

Lock em up!

@HighEliteMajor Strongly agree on a kid like this...and ALWAYS agree that a 10-50 ranked kid is best for Self's system.

This whole waiting out the OAD-circus/late-declarations simply leaves a feeling of us waiting for the 1-bird-in-hand, which causes us to LOSE the 2-in-the-bush. (& we've lost the potential 1-in-hand more than once, leaving us with zilch.)

I have often wondered if Self's ego/competitive spirit has got him in a swirling dogfight with Calipari? I've tried to explain it away and say Self is going for the OADs because he knows that over half of 'presumed' OADs end up being 2ADs or 3ADs, and those multiyear types do very well in his system, once they get to that 2-3yr mark...
I suspect its a bit of both at play with this current recruiting phenomenon.

The interesting wrinkle is Kentucky got beat. The platoons may now be interpreted as "half the mpg". And top15 ranked HarrisonTwins are going as projected 60th & 80th pick? That fact cannot help Calipari, although DRose, JWall, etc...still carry plenty of lustre for the KY-Calipari brand connection.

My point is maybe the playing-time issue levels it out a bit...but also the resurgence and parity of mid-majors may cause a different distribution of top20 guys.

I still really like @HighEliteMajor 's idea of targeting & prioritizing the 2AD-type of guy. Do we want another Cliff, or do we want another TRob, or MorrisTwin-level of player? A Withey? A Shady? A Tarik Black x 4yrs?

@HighEliteMajor

A couple of things... first.. I really like your choice in the post. Bolden tends to go to his left a lot, but he can score with either hand and on either side. Defenders have to play him straight up, no hedging (even though college guys aren't taught how). Another thing, he looks to have very big hands and palms the ball easily. That is a very nice plus for a 5, just ask Okafor.

What we really need to do is get this guy signed up early. If we can get more guys signed early we can actually build momentum in our recruiting. I thought we would get a bit more momentum from signing Bragg, but I guess we needed one more 5-star recruit to be put up there in the mix at the top. Many of these guys like to go where other elites are signing.

Another reason to sign him early is to help keep guys like Shaka off of Bolden. Kentucky will be after him, but I'm going to guess our biggest challenge will be to pry him away from the Longhorns. Texas recruits like to stay in Texas. They tend to be in school environments where the other students have a lot of State pride and they put tons of pressure on their players to stay in Texas. I believe that is why we lost out on Turner. He wanted to appease his classmates.

I'd love to see us sign this guy NOW! Start building the fire under next year's class so we aren't waiting until the last possible second to fill a roster.

@HighEliteMajor Thanks for the updates. This guy looks like a must have for KU.

@ralster

This whole waiting out the OAD-circus/late-declarations simply leaves a feeling of us waiting for the 1-bird-in-hand, which causes us to LOSE the 2-in-the-bush. (& we've lost the potential 1-in-hand more than once, leaving us with zilch.)

Should that be waiting for 1-bird-in-the-bush causes us to lose 2-birds-in-hand? :)

You hit the nail in the head about OADs becoming TADs; look at Kaleb Tarczewski, a presumed OAD and who now will be playing his 4th year at Arizona. Had he come to big man U, KU, he might be in the NBA by now...and KU might have a few more wins...

@HighEliteMajor Is he eligible to do what Thornton did with Dook ( reclassify to 2015 ) ????

What would happen if we went "all in" on Bolden right now?

We stick around Dallas and put the pressure on, far more than any other blue blood program. Push and push and push and get this guy to sign his LOI now. Let him know we believe in him as the Kansas basketball future.

Seems a lot less work than just hanging out with him and sharing attention with all the other schools... then letting this kid go down to the wire and then what? We continued to hold out a big space for him to fill?

Sign him now and bring Hudy to the signing and have her give him a strength training schedule for his summer. The kid will come back stronger next year and will have already started his transition to D1. Meanwhile... he can be tweeting and connecting with his future team mates and developing chemistry and desire to be a badazz Jayhawk in two years!

We already know we will have a monster hole to fill when this guy is a freshman... so why wait? Close the door before his class mates hammer down on him to stay in Texas. Let him know the advantage of not having a media circus around him his senior year because he needs that year to start his transition to D1. Then he can come into D1 and play immediately and be an impact player.

I would treat this recruit like he is eligible this coming season... with that same recruiting intensity because (actually) RIGHT NOW is the time we need to make a dent in that big hole coming our way!

@drgnslayr Lets get him to reclassify to 2015 now. If we whiff on Diallo, he would be a helluva consolation prize. Stick that kid in the lineup from Day 1, and give him the ball!!!!

@KUSTEVE

Not that simple. He needs to have enough credits to graduate and most don't have and if they do and they are young enough, they might need to stay in college 2 years like Svi, something that most of the top players consider too much of a risk.

@HighEliteMajor Great post HEM. You actually beat me to the punch on this one. I was going to do a class of 2016 thing once 2015 was official. Great news about Bolden is, not only is he a strong KU lean, but he's a life long KU fan and has made no bones about that. He is ours for the taking if we make him a top priority, which wasn't necessarily the case with Davis.

Bolden is also on the top of my wishlist for 2016 big men. Everything you've said about him is everything I'd have said too. For comparison, he's a lot like Cole Alrdrich, but a more skilled scorer. His hook shot is what every coach dreams about when recruiting a center. The other guys on that list right now are Australian Issac Humphries and Hatian sensation Schnider Herard.

The Hump is kind of an odd one. He's one of the least athletic footers I've ever seen. Like, a true footer, but a below the rim player. It's weird. Imagine Georges Niang, but 6 inches taller. In terms of pure basketball skills, though, he's the best big in the class. Fundamentals are sound. Footwork is good. Shoots out to 15 ft, but scores with his back to the basket. Catches and passes well. Can put the ball on the floor, but doesn't dribble more than he needs to. Just don't throw him any lobs.

Herard is a lot like Tarik Black: Long, powerful, athletic. He's definitely more of a long term project than Hump or Bolden, but he's the type of guy that is going to give you 4 quality years, then do a stint as a relief player in the league.

Lastly, I am getting more positive buzz these past few days on the Cheick Diallo front. Nothing on the order of what I was hearing two weeks ago, but plenty of reason to remain optimistic. Hopefully we'll find out what's what after Ingram's commitment on Monday. I'll be really shocked if he goes anywhere but Duke at this point, but if he were to venture out of state, KU would probably be the destination.

@konkeyDong sounds good, thx for info.

@HighEliteMajor Love it. I 100% agree on this kid. The best post players of the Self era come from this same cloth. Top 20-40 kid. A bit raw. Needs some tweaking but has a high ceiling. Withey, TRob, Morris Twins, Darnell, Ellis, etc. Really love this idea and I hate to think how many kids great programs (not just KU) lose by scaring off recruits like Bolden by going "all in" on the OAD's. It is sad and bad for NCAA basketball.

The highlights are of course to be taken with a grain of salt. Remember Selden's highlights? Or Cliffs from last year? Both guys dunked everything. Fun to watch but that is about where it stops with the exception that I agree that it is fun to see him use both hands around the basket. If he already has that ability he could be a great finisher in college after a couple of years.

Even if this player develops quickly... I'd take two years of this guy over just about any OAD unless it was a freak like Anthony Davis.

Isn't it about time we form a KUBuckets "handler team?"

We get out and start talking to recruits. We can't directly recruit them to a school beyond the scope of any of the AAU handlers or ShoeCo handlers (so we can direct recruit). We have the freedom of not forcing players to a ShoeCo or to a player's agent. They are more likely to trust us since we aren't trying to get a piece of their dollar action, just their court action.

Why couldn't we do this? We are not affiliated to KU in any way, shape or form. And we only accept handlers that do not make direct contributions to the university.

Gosh... imagine the brain trust we could put together. And how we could show young players some of the ropes very quickly.

HEM- I have a few points:

1. I totally agree.
2. How do we sign him before the evil influences of crooked coaching tactics get to him; ie. Coach K and Calipari. He's not a secret and KU isn't going to be the only program soliciting his services.
3. KU always starts out strong with all these recruits and most verbally commit, until late in the process. How many top bigs have been ALL KU, only to be influenced to other programs. I'll not name them because we all know them.
4. He is good. He's got skills and talents. I think he could be a big piece of Self's system.
5. Interestingly enough, and call me backwards, but he reminds me of another young recruit in high school that we signed. LANDEN LUCAS and Bolden have very identical frames, skills, and moves.
6. I also agree that Bolden would likely be a 3-4 yr player.
7. So, again...how do we get him? While you're at it, please contact Bill Self and give him your recruiting idea. It appears he may need it at this point in his recruiting needs.
8. He's also playing average to slightly above average size and talent too. Once he enters the D1 stage, it will be a totally different experience.

I'm a realist and optimist. I simply know that unless he's AD (Anthony Davis) dominate, we'll need patience as he develops. Lucas has many critics and most have written him off as not filling the bill for the program.

@HighEliteMajor

Let us assume for a moment that top Nike leans tend to go to anointed Nike coaches and top Adidas leans tend to go to anointed Adidas coaches.

Let us next assume that there are way more Nike leans than Adidas leans.

Next let us assume that among the leans there are some that could be swayed by increased informal downstream incentives. Let's call these recruits "switchables."

Finally let us assume that Adidas wants to increase market share of players choosing Adidas schools and programs above the existing proportion of Nike leans vs. Adidas leans.

What kinds of switchables would an adididas-agent complex want Self to pursue most? Switchables in the top 10 or switchables in the top 11-50?

Answer: top 10 switchables generate more endorsement potential and more agent fee potential, so the system would prefer Self go after the best switchable talent and Self would prefer to work with the best switchable talent.

Next, about Tyler Davis, what if Self and the Adidas-agent complex try to keep lesser bigs like Tyler from going to competitors in conference like Texas, or out of conference (any elite coach needing a near footer)?

What if Self and the Adidas-agent complex looking for top 10 switchables think they've got a couple, and think Embiid was staying, and so soffer Tyler a choice: wait for KU to clarify, or go to Texas A&M, to old pal Billy Kennedy and his assistant Glyn Ciprien, who was on Billy Gillispie's staff at UK? This keeps Davis out of conference and off a UK or Duke, or UA. And it builds a bridge in Texas for future recruiting and maybe builds a bridge for hiring Ciprien as a KU assistant down stream.

But then Embiid jumps, Cliff comes and the Top 10 switchable stays with Nike?

Re: Boulden--see Tyler.

The point? It seems Self HAS to go for the OAD switchables AND the Davis/Boulden types. It seems he strings it so guys he has to ask to wait get an option to go another place and get to choose when to commit, or wait.

@JayHawkFanToo I knew there was a catch. It was just too easy.

@ralster - We've said it a million times. Self values experience. Self many times appears impatient with inexperience. He will bench guys for system mistakes, or more regularly, for taking the wrong shot, at the wrong time. While he has moderated slightly on that, it's still in his DNA. There was one game this season where he benched 5 or 6 guys in a row, during a short stretch of time, for misplays. The longer term guys generally just fit with coach Self better. It's that simple. Our best functioning teams have those type of guys in the primary roles.

@BeddieKU23 I can't disagree on Herard. The key is whether one could be the "high" in the high/low. I think it would be tough, like you said, to get two true 5s in one class.

@konkeyDong Ugh. Sorry about that ... I'd rather leave the recruiting stuff to the expert. But don't let this deter you.

@drgnslayr That's a good point on locking him in (the quickest we can do it is, unfortunately, next November ... meaning signature on the dotted line). But we should try hard to get the commitment. I'm quite sure that Bolden is the one waiting. Thus the commitment needs to be reciprocal. How about this -- "Marques, we want your commitment now. You are the foundation of our 2016 recruiting class. We will not sign any higher rated center in 2016. Period. We have spots to fill, and have to try to sign other guys, but we will drop out of the race for the one and done centers. You are our guy." Tell me, anyone, why this does not work?

@JayHawkFanToo -- I thought the same thing on @ralster's mixed metaphor. But I think he meant it that way to make a point. But regardless, he was rolling. You know, "did we give up when the German's bombed Pearl Harbor"?

@joeloveshawks You are so right about highlights. They are to be taken with a grain of salt. My view on highlights (as I've posted before) is that they are much better when assessing specific skills. That's just my view (I know some disagreed with that). When it was most apparent was in the discussion of Joel Embiid when he signed. If you saw one of his videos, it was amazing -- great footwork, the ability to handle the ball in traffic, and an array of post moves. I became giddy. It's the reason why I became so giddy when I first got to see Svi play. The guy oozes skill. When looking at Cliff, the discussion was of his brute force, his activity, his toughness. I don't recall anyone saying, "Wow, Cliff really has moves down low." That's helped sharpen my view a bit. I was certainly convinced by Cliff's apparent force down low. I think if we aren't seeing certain skill sets, it should make one more wary. It's probably why the videos on Selden shouldn't have caused us any giddiness. There were no strong skill sets apparent, right? Further, I think that videos are much harder when assessing guards in the open floor. But with Bolden, I'm struggling to see how that sweet little hook doesn't translate. He's more skilled than any of our post men right now, except for Ellis. If Ellis was 6'11" with arms commensurate with the length of his neck, he'd already be playing in the NBA. Bolden's skills are the real deal.

@truehawk93 A couple of things on your post -- I agree with most. You compared Bolden to Lucas. Bolden does appear longer, he does appear to have better moves right now, and appears more skilled to me. I'm a Lucas fan .. as our 4th big .. maybe. Or 5th insurance big. He might get better. But Lucas, right now, is pedestrian. Best way I can say it. Serviceable, in a 7 minutes per game sort of way. Also, I think Bolden could be just a two year guy. Possibly three.

@jaybate-1.0 So you think Self HAS to go after OADs? Meaning, adidas tells him what to do?

A lot of good points. This guy sounds like someone we should try to lock up. The fact that he has always been a KU fan sounds positive for us.
There is a fly in the ointment, as there will be with all Texas recruits......Shaka Smart. You can be sure one of his priorities will be to keep the instate talent.
I know.....he has his system which might not be the best for pure 5s....our system would appear to be better fit. But....maybe Smart can alter his system? People have made good points about whether or not Smart will be as successful as they hope he will be.
One thing he has going for him when it comes to recruiting is youth....younger players seem to respond positively to younger coaches....Self benefited from this earlier on in his career, I think. (Although they say making recruits and their families feel comfortable is Self's great strength).
Smart is not going to go quietly when it comes to us getting top talent to leave the stat of Texas.
It should be interesting as we move forward......

@HighEliteMajor

With Herard you got a guy that's been said to be just as much a lean to KU as well. It's hard to tell which one has the higher upside because it's clear they are both a few years away from reaching their ceiling. I'd just sign them both and hope everything works out. The likelyhood that happens the way things have gone lately seems slim to none.

Self's gonna aimlessly reach for Harry Giles or Bam Adebayo, kids he has no chance with because they are not in our backyard. He's trying hard to make kids like KU when all their going to show is enough interest to string us along. 2016 kids like Bolden/Herard, Fox, Ferguson are all showing heavy interest in KU. They are all from Texas and in a geographical area where KU is the bigfish school and not fighting in others backyards.

@HighEliteMajor

I feel your frustration, but…

I believe it is called being on the same team and having the same goals.

He wants the best players. They do too. They have the same goals.

You seem to have taken some tempting but tough ground to defend.

Imagine Self at a presser saying, "We at KU choose not to recruit the best players, because we don't want to compete to sign them. We don't think we can. We give up. We also don't want them, because I have to bench them too much!! Because of my personality, I can't coach them without benching them often, so screw them. The days of pursuing great players at Kansas are over."

I am not sure I could get behind that.

@HighEliteMajor Unfortunately I agree on Lucas as a 4th big. I like the kid as I have posted before because he plays really hard and obviously wants to be on the floor and wants to be better. My issue is that he doesn't really have much of a ceiling. Slow and not a great athlete which is a bad combo. Even when Jeff Withey struggled his first couple of years in college you could tell there was a lot of potential there. I just don't see this with Lucas. If I am wrong and Landen Lucas turns into the next Jeff Withey I will be the first to admit that I missed something. Just not holding my breath on making that post.

Man, I really hope that Bragg is the real deal. If we don't sign another big and our post players at the 4/5 (other than Perry) are Bragg, Lucas, Bam Bam and Hunter we better hope that Bragg can contribute right out of the gate. I truly hate being negative on this board but if our starting lineup next year includes either Jamari or Lucas I may cry.

@HighEliteMajor

One issue I have is that you make it sound that when KU does not get a player is because the staff did not recruit him hard enough or promised him the sky. As much as we like KU and think is the best place to come play ball, after all we have the tradition, the name, the coach, the facilities, the fans...you have you consider that some recruits just do not feel that way and will likely go anywhere else but KU. Of course most recruits will consider KU because being courted by KU gives them clout and leverage, but many really have no intentions of ever coming to KU, they might even indicate they like KU and are seriously considering it so they continue to get all the free KU gear but in reality they have no intention of ever coming to KU. Kids nowadays (and their handlers) are pretty savvy about this stuff/marketing and will string along several schools even when they know early on where they really want to go. There is plenty of anecdotal information that Malik Newman was going to Mississippi State all along (his father went there) but he kept several schools hoping he would change his mind.

@jaybate-1.0

Your right Self will never say that, but if the recent trend continues we should pick wisely which top prospects we do chase. We threw our hat into A LOT of bigs this year and so far got 1. We are still in the Diallo circus that has no end date yet. But if he chooses the hometown school we wasted yet again 2 years of recruiting and could have had Tyler Davis. Some may even say if we win the Diallo circus we still lose because he could be a 1 and done but Davis could be a 2-3 year player.

We still have the slightest chance with Brown because he's given nobody a clue. Yet again a year helper who leaves for the league.

2016 is a big year for recruiting and these same events that have taken place better not happen again.

@jaybate-1.0 I think this is really easier than it seems. But first, if it is truly the same goals, then it is not adidas dictating. I am presuming that Self has his own free will.

The issue before us is not Duke, or UK, or adidas, or anyone else. It is selfishly Kansas. And only Kansas. What is best for Kansas?

The point you made Self and adidas, "He wants the best players. They do too. They have the same goals."

This is the classic disconnect. What is the better player for Kansas? Cliff Alexander or Thomas Robinson? Cheick Diallo or Cole Aldrich? Kelly Oubre or Travis Releford? Andrew Wiggins or Andrew White? Stephen Zimmerman or Markieff Morris? Henry Giles or Marques Bolden?

What is the best player for Kansas?

There is no press conference needed. Though if employed as Self's speech writer, I would be happy to assist. But Self need not announce his intentions. He certainly should continue efforts toward presumed OADs as it would be certainly unwise to ignore that group. It would also be impossible because recruiting begins so early - hard to pin down the presumed OADs.

What I'm talking about is the nuance of the offer and guarantee, if you will. Taking a Bolden now. Perhaps taking 20-80 ranked PF now. Committing to them. Guaranteeing them -- not playing time, but their place in the recruiting pecking order based. But very importantly, use your "guarantees" based on recruiting leverage. Some situations will call for more, others less. Build your house that way. And using the OAD as the back-up plan -- not necessarily by word but by deed. Stay in the game, but stay in the game on your terms. If there is an OAD that is a particular fit, who you really connect with, then sure, that can be part of the plan. That will be rare in this day of recruiting. Everyone has their hooks in. But very importantly, and in nearly all instances, avoid the protracted competition into the spring that costs you other recruits.

Of course, there is no reason why you can't engage in such a competition if you have quality recruits locked down and such a pursuit does not violate the promises you made to those locked up.

See, the "great" players are the ones we remember, not the ones that treat Kansas as a pit stop. We aren't talking the same language using the term "great." Wiggins wasn't "great." Not even close.

@JayHawkFanToo No, I agree with you points. I am not presuming that when we don't get a player, we haven't recruited him hard enough. This is a hard game we're engaged in. Sometimes the pieces don't fall right. Sometimes we would have never won the battle with a kid no matter what we would have done.

I am making the assumption, based on Self's prior recruiting history, that when he wants to land top players in the 15- 80 range, and he puts his mind to it, he's going to get a reasonable share of them. I believe that this year's OAD pursuit has distracted from that mission.

@joeloveshawks You said, "I truly hate being negative on this board but if our starting lineup next year includes either Jamari or Lucas I may cry."

I hate say this too, but I feel about Jamari's minutes like I did about Brady's minutes -- from a purely business perspective, if Jamari were to be deemed ineligible to play, and never set foot on the court next season, we would be a better team because of it. I believe that would have been the case last season, I believe it to be true for next season.

man, I have to say, I think I've never seen so many good responses to a post as to this one. a lot of good points, and too say we need to lock him down, like has been pointed out thing is we can't REALLY get a lot done until November at the earliest. great posts, great replies, that's why I love this board. we get him we still need more bigs a has been pointed out we will be losing a lot, Ellis,Mickelson, and if we happen to get Diallo, will be losing him also, good to see Coach is visiting and what he has been here twice already and a life long Ku fan? Now like I have said w have GOT TO CLOSE the deal. I will say that I like the high profile guys, but like has been said seems like they are dragging things out, love the attention. example? 2016 already, Malik Monk has come out and said he wants to really wait late and then make his announcement a huge thing on TV not quite sure how that sits with me. seems like its all about me me me look at me, nothing about team. anyways lets get this guy GO HAWKS

@HighEliteMajor Home run, post that ended with "great players are the ones we remember". Great recruiting gameplan, if I ever were to contemplate one to feed Self what he actually needs...(doesn't need more Salty Iguana either..lol)

Exactly agree on Wiggins: a truly great recruit (overall #1), but a so-so player ("not" great) when it comes to all the guys who have worn the Jayhawk uniform. The fact that he was the best defender on the team, simply doesn't speak well for the rest of his team, that season...

@ralster

Hey...I love the Salty Iguana; the original in Prairie Village is still the best. Luckily I have one very close to my home on 135th St. in Overland Park.

Would you says that Wiggins was the best freshman ever at KU? Didn't he break the scoring record? and, can you think of a better defender (as a freshman) than Wiggins? Maybe he was not "his" best or the best player at KU...we obviously have had many...but who played better as a freshman? Maybe we are holding him to a higher standard than we should. Just sayin'...

@JayHawkFanToo @HighEliteMajor Ha, yes, my "metaphor" may look like I mixed it up, which I did do on purpose: We wait, wait, wait for the 1 golden bird (OAD) to land in our open hand...while we may lose 2 lesser birds that are nearby in the bush...(the 20-50 ranked ones). And if we don't get the OAD...we have zero in-the-hand. Recruiting risks...

@JayHawkFanToo Oh, I love the Salty Iguana, too, and about 4yrs ago, my wife, son, and daughter were there and Self walked in, and agreed to pose for a pix with my then 12yr old boy whose eyes were popping out of his head. He'd last been around Self in 2007 at a father-son camp, and was too little to know much.

My jest (all in good natured fun), was about Self's little-bit-of-a-belly we've seen lately...

Always great eats in the greater KC area, and we try to get to KC or Lawrence 2 or 3 times/yr from the Wichita area. Im forever tied to KC, as KU Med is there, where I grad from...And actually, when I graduated from KU (med) and walked down the Hill in Lawrence, it was only the 3rd time I'd ever been to Lawrence. I realized, whoa!, I think I missed out...! (one of the other times was a bday party at Teller's on Mass.)

@ralster

LOL... you got so excited about the food and Coach Self that forgot my question about Wiggins... :)

No biggie; it can wait.