🏀 KuBuckets Archive

Feb 16

@Kcmatt7 My birthday present?!!!

Exciting day today. We've all been waiting for the announcement of when there is going to be an announcement!

Well glad he finally announced
- At least we know when this is going to end - - I don't know how all this alleged BS is going to effect his decision - -well maybe not even him, but his Mom putting in her two cents - -not wanting him to be around that type of thing whether it's true or not. - -Doesn't matter what anyone of us think BUT I'll bet you this, the others two schools are really playing this up to his folks---WHETHER THERE IS ANY TRUTH to any of this or not - -they are still going to get the last shot in as a negative recruiting tool against us - -anyway they can. - - Hoping for the best - -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY

I feel extremely confident!

I feel so confident that I will be wearing my "never fail" Jayhawk t-shirt.

I will sprinkle salt over my shoulder that day, too. Saying lots of prayers. Won't cross under a ladder or let a black cat walk in front of me. I will also keep my fingers double-crossed.

With all of that going for us, how can we fail?

@drgnslayr Please tell me you're not really superstitious....

If so, I will quit watching the games at my brother-in-laws house and sitting in the same chair every time. I will quit wearing my Baylor neon green hoodie, quit eating my sour-patch candies during the game, quit crossing my left foot over the right foot when we have the ball and vice versa when the other team has the ball.

Superstitions are silly, huh?

@nuleafjhawk

They are silly... until you forget about them and lose!

@drgnslayr said:

I will sprinkle salt over my shoulder that day, too. Saying lots of prayers. Won’t cross under a ladder or let a black cat walk in front of me. I will also keep my fingers double-crossed.

After last night's run of (revelations/bullhockey--pick one), I was scared to look into my duct-taped mirror, but fortunately nothing sheared off this time.

I have it on good authority that Trae Young will be a Crimson and Blue bonafides Jayhawk on February 16.

247Sports reports Young is between Kansas and Oklahoma. The 18-year-old is from Norman, Oklahoma so if he chooses to attend a different Big 12 school other than Oklahoma, he won’t remain too popular among the locals.

(http://www.fanragsports.com/news/five-star-recruit-trae-young-announce-commitment-feb-16/) ↗
This is an example of the nasty pressure they put on these kids. Xavier Henry was on his way to Memphis and then ended at KU. He didn't get much backlash from the local Okies. In fact, most Sooners don't really care much for the bball program. They are so full of pigskin, they oink.

(

Rayford Young wants his son to have a winning college experience. OU does not have a winning bball program. Also, the distractions are just that at this point. His mother will entrust him to Bill Self and trust Trae as well. He's a big boy and it's time he steps out of the Sooner state and into the halls of greatness at KU. He wants to be a part of history. His announcement will be KU. If not? Oh well, he just made a choice that will impact his college bball career. All he has to do is look at Mason and that should help him make a decision.

What's happening at KU is reality and not covered up. Rayford and his mom knows more than anyone what happens at ALL these schools. He's going to get exposed to all kinds of crap. This is where he grows into a young man and learns life. He's a good kid, he'll make a great choice.

It's a great ride Jayhawks, let's enjoy. Let's have some fun.

@truehawk93

"It’s a great ride Jayhawks, let’s enjoy. Let’s have some fun."

I second that motion!

@drgnslayr My dad and I own matching Green Bay packer sweatshirts and during the Pack's late great run this year we wore them every game (dad not washing his for some extra mojo). They just kept on winning, clearly due to the sweatshirt magic. Alas, it worked like a charm until the NFC championship game. Should have switched back to the Rodgers jersey. I take full blame for us not playing tomorrow.

@Fightsongwriter

I've always been a Packers fan.... and Chiefs, too. On my bucket list to go to Green Bay for a game when it is really cold and snowy.

As you know, I have been a huge Packer fan ever since A little kid, we gonna be allright. - Keeping my fingers crossed on Trae. -- I'm not sure - would feel better if Matt hadn't said it was to close to call.----- - - - -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY

@drgnslayr I'm actually a shareholder. Been to lambeau many times and it is a must see for every sports fan. Make sure toleave plenty of time to visit the packer hall of fame. It is first class.

@Fightsongwriter I would love to be able to see a game there. - -I remember the good old days, - -John Brockington, Starr and the gang. - -Green Bay is the only team in the NFL that is owned by the fans love it - - ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY

Bill is going down to Oklahoma tonight and will be at Trae's game. Also, Trae's dad will be on RJST today.

@BShark OK, so I give - - what is - RJST? - -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY

@jayballer54

Rock Jock Signing Trama

@drgnslayr OH, ok gotcha - -thanks -- ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY

LOL.

Rock Chalk Sports Talk

http://www.klwn.com/?pid=3659829 ↗

And yeah I had a typo at first oops.

Rayford young - -Trae's dad is going to be on at 4:30 today on KLWN out of Lawrence 1320 am might have to check that out -- ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY

@jayballer54 said:

Rayford young - -Trae's dad is going to be on at 4:30 today on KLWN out of Lawrence 1320 am might have to check that out -- ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY

@BShark said:

LOL.

Rock Chalk Sports Talk

http://www.klwn.com/?pid=3659829 ↗

And yeah I had a typo at first oops.

Ehhhhhh?

@BShark they were talking to Trae's dad today about Trae and such. - trying to pick up on any tidbit. - -not much, he said even as of today he hasn't made up his mind.

He did say that when Trae got invited up to Bill's camp he said /Trae said it was like a dream come true, and then he also said, that with Frank being gone after this year that it would be very intruiging for Trae to step in there, , but then also said Oklahoma also losing their PG this year

Said they watched the KU- K-State game last night so really bottom line - - NOT MUCH lmao - - -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY

@Kcmatt7 Kevin Young?

Im kidding

Read off Dean Belvins twitter out of Oklahoma, Coach Self going to watch Trae and meet with Family one last time tonight & then Kruger gets the last visit after that - - -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY

Young, Newman, Vick, Bragg, Udoka -- no joka.

@HighEliteMajor Devonte' hasnt declared yet. I still assume he will be a Senior. Svi as well

@HighEliteMajor said:

Young, Newman, Vick, Bragg, Udoka -- no joka.

With a bench of Preston, Garrett, Cunliffe too. That's pretty damn good if it happens of course Young is the key, need a true PG.

@Lulufulu said:

@HighEliteMajor Devonte' hasnt declared yet. I still assume he will be a Senior. Svi as well

I wouldn't get your hopes up.

@jayballer54

Oklahoma St gets a visit as well. I love how OU people forget they are involved

The football crazy state of Oklahoma becomes college basketball ground zero this evening with WVU playing at OU and Baylor at Oklahoma State. The results of these two games could well decide the outcome of the conference.

@JayHawkFanToo

Would be great if Oklahoma St could win tonight.

@BeddieKU23 we need wv to lose too

@Crimsonorblue22 Yes, I hope they both lose........but hopefully we will hang one more L on WVU next week. At Baylor next Saturday as well.........but a little help would be nice.

@BeddieKU23

If both can win it would be even better... :smiley:

@Crimsonorblue22

Why?

We can break their hearts for them on Monday, they deserve it

@JayHawkFanToo

that would be a great night. I think more likely WVU holds serve at home and OSU upsets Baylor.

@BeddieKU23 I worry more about our wv and osu games. I'm going to wv game🤣

@BeddieKU23

The WVU-OU game is in Norman and OU has already beat WVU in Morgantown...

@JayHawkFanToo

How'd that go for KU against ISU? I'd bet WVU wins.

Caught some additional footage of Trae.... wow!

He isn't a freak athlete, but he has quickness and his lateral movement might be the best we've had at the point for a long, long time!

With his lateral speed, he should be able to learn how to DEFEND and stop the opposing guards' drives.

@drgnslayr But can he avoid overhelping and cover his man on a kick-out?

@mayjay

It would be nice to see our current guards set the example.

Our perimeter defense is horrible. It's horrible because we have one of the best group of guards in the country but they won't defend.

We better get it together or I can see us getting beat by another mid-major who gets hot from the edge (in March).

@JayHawkFanToo

Woops got that mixed up!

@drgnslayr

If he comes here Hudy will be his best friend as well. She would have fun transforming his body for his benefit. I hope that he seriously considers all the advantages of coming here, not only for the short term but his whole career.

8 more days. Apparently Kruger showed up at the game last night after he found out Self was there.

@BeddieKU23

Absolutely!

What I really LOVE about Trae.... he will be a 4-yr Kansas PG (most likely). And he will help us even in his freshman year. Our conference will get so sick of seeing him and think he has been playing for us for a decade or so.... just like how they feel about Frank.

Hudy will go to work on his physique here shortly. If he picks Kansas next week she will get him started on a strength/conditioning program while he is still in HS. The goal is to have his body at least respectably ready for D1 by November.

Trae and his dad will be impressed on how much he improves over the next 12 months.

@drgnslayr

Interesting you think he's a 4 year player. But I do get the point you were trying to make and if KU or OU was lucky to have him 4 years its hard to imagine the fan-base not being excited and proud of him. I'm extremely high on his potential and impact at the College level. He's a stud and there's a reason Self has followed him for over a year trying to sign him. I don't want to play against him, we will not be happy if we have to.

If you put his measurable's on the table for the NBA they will say no way he leaves early.

His elite shooting ability IMO says he can make the league early if he maximizes the S&C system in College and perfects the craft of being a leader. This is what Steph Curry was able to do and look where he's got.

If he signs with KU I hope he puts on a solid 10-15 pounds of muscle before the 1st game. He needs it to handle the Big-12 guards and the tough non-conference games we play.

@BeddieKU23

If he is as good as advertised, the first year he builds his body and gets acclimated and the second year he stars and then he is gone to the NBA.

@BShark

Opposite situation. OU will be playing at home and with house money...nothing to lose...

🐦 View Tweet

@wrwlumpy

Self and Kruger... that is an interesting sight...wonder what they talked about...

My only question is will it be an old announcement after next Thursday? :laughing:

@JayHawkFanToo

That could be a likely scenario, he's a top 20 player for a reason. Jerry Meyer from 247 thinks he will be a 2 year player when asked the other day by a fan whether they thought he was a OAD.

So some interesting comments made in the Radio Interview Trae's father did.

Why would he go on Rock Chalk Sports if his son was going anywhere else?

The whole family seems well versed in the Big-12. With his father playing at Texas Tech they know everything about this decision coming up.

He hasn’t made a decision yet,” Ray Young told Nick Schwerdt during a 15-minute radio interview. “That’s one thing I can tell you. He’s still praying about this thing every night.... I would be lying to you if I said that I’m not ready for this thing to be over with, but, at the same time, I’m kind of sad too because we really care for all these schools that have been putting in their time recruiting him. It’s gonna be a bittersweet day when we have to tell a couple of those schools no.”

Ray Young went on to explain just how difficult the entire process has been for Young, who appears to be weighing the decision of staying home and becoming the next great Sooners savior or joining the Jayhawks and competing for a national title on a stacked roster.

“Now it’s at the point where he just wants to make sure whatever school he goes to it’s a good fit for him and he’s gonna have the role that he deserves, that he should have,” Ray Young said. “Kids these days, they want to step on campus and have an impact from Day 1, especially a kid like Trae, one of the top two or three point guards in the nation, a McDonald’s All-American. So he wants to go play right away and make an impact and help the team win. I’ll be honest, one thing about Kansas is they’ve got Frank Mason playing the point and he’s a senior, that’s very intriguing to my son. Why wouldn’t it be intriguing to any senior in high school?”

While all of those factors, and so many more, have weighed heavily on Young’s mind during this whole process, Ray Young said Self’s style and the manner in which he has gone about recruiting Young have been refreshing and made things much easier to handle.

“It’s been a really, really tough decision,” Ray Young said. “But Coach Self’s been great. He doesn’t put any pressure on Trae, he just tells it like it is and tells him what his role’s gonna be and now it’s up to Trae.”

The part about Self's style of recruiting him being refreshing is what stood out to me. It almost feels like he's implying the Oklahoma schools have put too much pressure on him to stay home and that may drive him out (which would be in line with the Comments his father made weeks ago about OU sportswriters).

I'm still confident he lands at KU. This is why Self gets paid the big money, he has to be able to beat his fellow Big-12 coaches for the best talent.

@wrwlumpy That's pretty cool seeing those two hang out.

@BeddieKU23

I am starting to wonder if the dad is going to be the second coming of Carl Henry...and Carl was a Jayhawk...

@JayHawkFanToo

He could be well on his way towards that status

You could take his rant about OU sportswriters a few weeks back as a sign of a diva father living in the glory of his All-American son now. Whether or not the Young's have a legitimate grip to pick with them is one thing, but how many dad's are this involved and this vocal? Not many..

If he doesn't pick KU next week then I'll question why he even bothered going on a KU sports radio show to talk about his son possibly committing to KU in the first place.

@JayHawkFanToo With his antics re X, Carl might have earned a nomination to the "Once a Jayhawk, not necessarily always a Jayhawk" list.

@mayjay

That's a good one! very true

Iverson never broke this many ankles. If he can be as strong as Frank, he might become the best.

@BeddieKU23 True, about being on the KU sports show But then again him and Trae were also on with Dean Blevins and his host on their sports, talking about the Oklahoma sports scenario that made Trae's dad say the things he said. - -Dean ask him if things were good, and Ray said something to the effect about ya things with Oklahoma were fine just having a dad moment something like that. - - Hard for me to get a read on him right now. I think you may have hiy on something too a little bit about dad re-living - -lining in the moment the glory, dad soaking this up maybe. - -It wouldn't totally surprise me one way or another which school he picks. - -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY

Now having said what I said above let me ask everyone. - - As the decision day is getting closer - - a week from today - -what's everyone's gut telling them? - -what - how you feeling? - -Trae to KU OR OU? - - even though I'm not as confident - -I'm still going to go out and say when it's said and done -- KU - -let me hear my friends - - ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY

@jayballer54

I can't blame his father for wanting to be involved, especially since he's been through it himself. Now the exposure his son has gotten with the social media days is just crazy. I don't see anything wrong with his dad's involvement but making headlines is something you have to question, at least a little bit. It will all be over next week and we'll probably never hear about his dad again

@BeddieKU23 DO you remember Ray when he played? -- I do, seems like he always hada good games against us lol - - -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY

@jayballer54

I'm sticking with him going to KU.

Why wait all this time to pick the hometown school?

He said he wanted to see how the teams after him were doing on the court.

OU crapped the bed, KU is a top 5 team again.

He said he wanted to see how teams used their guards.

What have OU guards done for Kruger this year? Mason is a front-runner for POY. We have successfully run a 4 guard offense all year. Self is adaptable.

Obviously both schools offer immediate playing time. It's a wash there

He said he wants to win and play in packed gyms. He will not get both consistently at OU. KU plays a sell out at home and on the road.

I can't speak for OU's Strength and Conditioning program but nobody beats Hudy, nobody. The kid needs the weight room. She can help.

In the end I think he waited this long so that he didn't receive a ton of backlash locally when he goes out of state. Just my opinion..

@jayballer54

Yes I remember him.

Funny the talk of his dad. When Trae did his official they played Ray Young highlights of him playing KU. That has been talked about in interviews by the Young's as something that stood out to them on how KU was recruiting him. Smart move, might pay off.. I don't know what else Self could possibly do to make him go here.

Mason gone, Graham most likely gone, catered his whole offense to guards this season. Mason POY season. If Trae wants to be elite he comes here

@BeddieKU23 Man very , very good points - -got to love those. He for sure WILL NOT be playing in a packed house all the time at OU , there are times there seems to look half empty , and there are times when even more full the atmosphere just doesn't begin to compare with ours. There are times -a lot of times you could almost hear a pin drop in there. It's not like when Chew Kennedy and the gang was there.

Oklahoma is young really really young, unless maybe he wants to be a part of their movement , seems like I heard someone say they thought OU had their PG of the future - -MCClusky? - - is that right - -I don't know, is he their PG

Man you brought up some excellent points, although as far as the backlash from local fans - -I think he will still face that, I know I read off their board people talking about him and them asking if he wanted the same reaction another player got for leaving the state -- - -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY

@jayballer54

I mentioned McGusty as an option for them but he's more of a Combo Guard. The kid has put up double figures in 10 of 11 conference games. I'm not sure he's an ideal replacement to Woodard as his assists numbers are not great but OU doesn't have any great options going to their backups.

Bill Self should win this battle if he's the great recruiter we all say he is and gets credit for. This is like Nike Saban at Alabama locking in on a guy and not getting him, when does Saban ever lose guys he personally goes after. OU basketball is not KU basketball and therefore we shouldn't lose out on Trae when pretty much everything the kid thinks is important to where he plays favors KU.

@wrwlumpy

Thanks for the video share. Kid has some great moves and a nice stroke. Hope we get him!

@BeddieKU23

Both of Wiggins parents played sports for major programs but were not intrusive at all. His announcement was private and with no hat picking; very classy. Ideal recruit, ideal family.

Kurtis Townsend was on hawk talk last night. Did anyone watch? Our coaches are awesome! There was a question about recruiting and he said they first talk to scooter and his team, then Hudy and the most important thing besides time w/coach was dinner time at cindys. All the coaches, wife's, and kids are there, the whole family vibe. Its important for the families to know it's a family atmosphere at KU! Some one complimented the players for always praising the other teammates and KT said that all came back to Coach Self. KT loves being at KU.

@Crimsonorblue22 Nice info! Is this your longest post ever?