🏀 KuBuckets Archive

Tell everyone he did it on purpose, because it was getting too easy to win 84% of his games with a full allotment of scholarship players.

Tell the players he did it to toughen them up this year by letting them know what it was like "back in the day" at ORU.

Tell KU fans he's tired of their complaining about him shortening the bench, so he decided to shorten the roster to really give them something to worry about.

Tell Trump that he's rolling the balls out with only 9 guys, so Trump doesn't feel like the only one facing a stacked deck.

Tell Hilary that he's rolling the balls out with only 9 guys, so she can't blame losing on him, too.

Tell General Kelly he wants to hire him to fend off all the questions about why he only signed 9 guys to rides.

Tell Rocket Man that even though KU only has 9 guys on rides that KU would still use a 4 out 1 in set to rain down fire and fury on the University of North Korea Fighting Goose Steppers if KU and they meet up at the World University Games before Rocket Man gets the whole world blown up.

Just say "shoes."

(Note: All fiction. No malice.)

@jaybate-1.0 Life is a stacked deck. For the likes of Bill Self, the life of a topflight recruiter boils down to SHOES.

@REHawk

Barrel of bat.

On ball.

Frozen rope!

Way to go Coach!

The shoeco theory could have taken a bit of hit with the new adidas deal .. maybe.

Bill Self owns KU. If Self wants a specific shoeco he gets it. Agreed?

Thus, if shoecos dictate his success vis a vis recruiting, and adidas is an impediment as many so often suggest, why would Self not insist on a shoeco that helped him win (recruit)?

If it's money, does a guy like Self who has money galore, really compromise winning for some more money? Assuming he finanacially benefits from the deal?

Seems to me (and I hope) the only thing that is important is winning and national titles. But perhaps I'm simplistic that way.

Maybe it is all about money, and Bill Self is all about the money. Alternatively, maybe in Self's world adidas is not the problem in recruiting that some think it is.

I don't know.

@HighEliteMajor

Adidas offers KU a much better deal than the others do. Nike has big programs in the Midwest already signed and with the current status of the football program, KU is not an attractive or a priority target for them; the marketing demographics do not favor KU either.

Under Armour is more interested in marketing to the big urban centers in both coasts and again, with the lack if a good football program, KU is not an attractive target for them. Thank God for Adidas who seems to value the basketball program more so than football.

Let's face it. KU is in a small market (on CST) with a decent basketball following and a non- existing one in football so, from a marketing perspective, KU is just not an attractive program. All thing considered, KU has done remarkably well with Adidas.

Yeah when you realize KU got this contract purely based off the basketball program, it's pretty insane. Louisville has a slightly better deal imo but they have a real football program so yeah.

@HighEliteMajor

It appeared significant timing that Self reputedly reiterated prospects of his retiring in his 50s--even speculating on 59 as one possibility in relation to the end of the contract--so close to the release of information about the new KU contract with adidas.

Any reports of negotions to enhance Self's personal contract with adidas, too?

Also, if recruiting were the way he alluded to it being BEFORE he appeared to tie the issue of leaning to retirement in his late 50s maybe with the end of the contract at 59, imagine how much more so it would appear to become that way now that recruits and opposing recruiters have him on record saying he may be out in only 5 years, or less. That ought to REALLY make recruiting MORE of however he experiences recruiting already, right? There's quite a difference between a 5 year horizon and an undefined up to 10-15 year horizon. Self has apparently made himself a lame duck. And KUAD is really the only one that can fix that. What KUAD does about it will tell a lot about KUAD plans for KU BASKETBALL.

Whatever, the new KU shoe deal would appear to reward and intensify whatever dynamics were already in place.

PROS:

80%+ winning percentage

String of conference titles

String of high seeds

Frequently making it to Selected 16 or the Engineered Eight.

CONS:

Increasingly conspicuous inability to sign domestic OAD/5-star 1s and 5s.

Increasing difficulty with fielding a 10 player rotation of D1 grade, scholarship players above 3 star rank

9 scholarship athletes this season.

Rising reliance on troubled transfers.

Generally less talent recruited than Duke, UK and UNC.

No Final Fours since 2012.

So....

In the end, it seems the idea is not to change anything and enhance the subsidy for minor sports.

And Self at least might be bridling a bit at the likely path, at least that's how it appears to moi.

Numbers of scholarship players of genuine D1 talent suitable for an elite program appear trending down, as Self finds himself in a contractual situation, where it would seem logical for KU to up his benefits at least proportionally with KU's increased benefits from adidas, right? After all it is increasingly Self's masking skill, strategic mastery of the game, and hat rabbit recruiting that have enabled the consistent winning, and decreasingly adidas' infusion of OAD/5-star summer game talent. Surely KU leadership grasps it would only take two straight 9 scholie rosters, 3 at the most, to deplete the talent so low that no other replacement coach would have a prayer of winning a conference title, and would likely face a big rebuild. For now Self's bargaining position appears to be being strengthened by the declining scholarship depth. It appears Classic Self. Take what they give him. Play it any way they want.

Not sure how and where all this shakes out, but it doesn't feel like we are upping our commitment to getting better at basketball by stringing the bow to win rings. It appears we have enhanced our ability to subsidize minor sports and meet KUAD office overhead. Maybe we have also built a little rainy day cushion for realignment too. But I don't see how we are moving closer to competing for a ring, or getting Self more players. Do you?

Rock Chalk!

It's not hard to figure out why UK, UNC and Duke recruit better than KU for the most part. UK has Cal, the GOAT recruiter with his connections and it's UK. Combine them and he recruits at an unprecedented level. UNC is UNC. Powerhouse program. Jordan. On the east coast. Duke has the perceived greatest coach of all time. Team USA etc...

I'd say Arizona recruits better than KU too, pretty easily. Much better location and campus.

Kansas is...in the middle of nowhere. It's a big battle just getting some kids to actually visit. Look no further than this year when Dotson mentioned that Kansas is better than all the stereotypes.

I'd say KU recruits damn well, considering.

@JayHawkFanToo I don't know why footwear and football are even that relevant. I haven't bought cleats in how many decades...but basketball shoes - seems a much bigger market.

@Bwag because schools like Ohio State sell $30M of apparel at almost every football game. Brands are making back there money in the first 3 home games of a football season.

@Bwag

Cleats are not even part of the equation. Even basketball shoes are a small part of all the athletic shoes they sell. Football has by far the bigger audience and brings the most money for most programs except for a handful. Even at KU, and as strange as it seems, the football programs brings a bigger revenue than basketball.