🏀 KuBuckets Archive

Illinois prep Brunson considering KU ↗

Kansas University, which landed blue-chip basketball point guard Devonte’ Graham on Friday, has emerged as one of eight finalists for Jalen Brunson, a 6-foot-1 junior point guard from Stevenson High in Lincolnshire, Ill.

Brunson, who is ranked No. 14 in the recruiting Class of 2015 by Rivals.com, tweeted Saturday that he has a list of KU, Michigan State, Michigan, Illinois, Purdue, Villanova, Temple and UConn.

Kansas lands PG Devonte' Graham ↗

Less than 24 hours after learning that it was losing its starting point guard, the Kansas University men's basketball program landed another, when Devonte' Graham, a 6-foot-2 senior point guard from Brewster Academy in New Hampshire announced his plans to join the KU program.

Brewster basketball coach Jason Smith confirmed Graham's decision via Twitter just before noon today. Graham spoke to the Journal-World this afternoon.

Devonte' Graham highlights ↗

In the blink of an eye, KU's point guard position went from having a seasoned veteran leading the way to a list of inexperienced players who will be counted on big time during the 2014-15 season.

Gone is Naadir Tharpe, who announced he was transferring on Thursday, and in his place are sophomores-to-be Frank Mason and Conner Frankamp and newcomer Devonte' Graham, a Brewster Academy prospect who committed to Kansas on Friday.

Kansas Jayhawks get commitment from point guard Devonte Graham ↗

Kansas moved quickly to replace starting point guard Naadir Tharpe, receiving a commitment from Devonte Graham.

The Jayhawks announced a day earlier that Tharpe would transfer.

Newell: Devonte' Graham commits to KU basketball ↗

LAWRENCE — Kansas coach Bill Self is fired up about his team’s signing of Devonte’ Graham, the nation’s top unsigned basketball recruit that committed to the Jayhawks on Friday morning.

“We got good today,” Self said. “He’s a late-bloomer that’s going to continue to get better. To think that we have a true point guard back there with two other guys that can play point or play off the ball, it gives us more of an opportunity to play small, because Devonte’s a big, strong kid. I’m excited.”

Dodd: Point guard Devonte' Graham commits to KU basketball ↗

LAWRENCE — One day after Naadir Tharpe announced his intentions to transfer, Kansas landed another point guard from Brewster Academy.

Devonte Graham signed with Kansas on Friday. A 6-foot-2 guard, Graham is ranked as the No. 36 overall recruit in the Class of 2014, according to Rivals, and could battle for immediate playing time at Kansas.

Scout's take on Devonte' Graham committing to Kansas ↗

Who he reminds us of: Smith has had his share of elite point guards over the years at Brewster Academy and compares Graham to the others. “He defends like Dogus Balbay [who plays at Texas] while having a quick first step similar to Semaj Christon [who plays for Xavier] and shoots it better than any point guard I ever coached.”

How Kansas' 2014 class is shaping up: With a pair of standouts in No. 11 Kelly Oubre on the wing and No. 3 Alexander inside, Graham is not only the missing piece to this recruiting class, he is the X factor to Kansas being a legitimate Final Four team. This class -- which moved up to No. 5 in the rankings with Graham's commitment -- has offensive firepower along with a defensive mindset and high-level athletic ability to make waves as freshmen.

ESPN video ↗

@dylans can you change Naismith's pic and quote? Been there awhile. Maybe our new recruits?

@Crimsonorblue22 No i can't. I don't have access to that. You'd have to contact @approxinfinity

@dylans thanks! Not a big deal.

I love Bill's comments about our PG situation in the Newell article. It is amazing that he now feels that PG may be our deepest position. What a difference a year can make.

It will be very very interesting to see who starts at PG. Seems like Wayne is an obvious starter at the 2 spot and may play some 1. I personally think Mason will get the job but that is really just based on gut with Devonte and CF getting some action at the 1 and 2 and more or less being interchangeable parts...sometimes bringing up the ball and sometimes playing off. If Mason gains confidence on his shot that could be key for him. We all know that CF can shoot and Wayne is a good shooter. Hopefully Graham's High School shooting carries over into Div 1 at the highest level.

This may still leave AW3 as the odd man out at the SF spot. Oubre is supposed to be an instant impact player and Greene obviously got the minutes over AW3 last year. Who knows though...there are always surprises, injuries, suspensions and Self's dog house to think about.

@joeloveshawks We have the same logjam for minutes at the 1-3 as we did last year. Substitute Oubre for Wiggins and Graham for Tharpe. The one difference is that Oubre (or anyone else) will probably not command the 38 minutes or so that Wiggins automatically got.
Still at least 2 guys among the 7 vying for playing time will probably be the odd men out.

@Hawk8086 Same amount of players vying for minutes, but there should be more to go around with Tharpe and Wiggins gone. I don't think these freshmen will command as many minutes freeing up more floor time for Frankamp, Greene and possibly White. I look for Mason's minutes to slightly increase too. But someone will be the odd man out.

I'm hoping Manning and Self log 5 minutes a game!

@dylans command, not sure. But unless these sophs have improved, these freshmen look pretty talented and aggressive!

New article up top about recruiting and Graham.

Hmm, why is it that KU has no recruits in the '15 class yet? I know it's early, but is it just because we have a decent amount of top 50 talent already and people want to see who's leaving first?

How many schollies will we have available? Oubre + Cliff + This years open scholarship = 3. However, none of these are guaranteed openings, especially if Self fills that last scholarship this year. With that open scholarship given to a walk on, and if Oubre and Cliff stay (which would be awesome), we'd have a recruiting class of 1 next year.

@BucknellJayhawk3 I'd be willing to bet that Bill is planning on filling 3 spots next year. He will not be caught with his pants down like when the Morii left.

@BucknellJayhawk3

This time last year there were more High school basketball recruits committed than there are today and I am guessing it has a lot to do with a log jam of talent at every blue blood out there. Kids that want to attend a blue blood but want pt are going to hold out longer to get a better picture of what possibility's might pan out. It used to be come to UK go to the NBA but that myth has been busted so kids are not going to commit as easily as in recent years IMO. Only 10 of the top 50 have committed out of the 2015 class so I think we are still in good shape. When official visits start up like Late night I think we will sign enough kids to be comfortable. I would be surprised if alot of these kids sign before October. Unless UK gets his whole team to declare for next years draft this summer.

I think more kids are waiting to declare to see how recruiting shakes out. Not only a who's staying, who's going question with current players, but also with coaches, as well as where other top talent is headed.

These kids want to play with other talented players, but you can't know where guys are going to land this early in the process. Right now, only 15 of the top 60 players on ESPN's list have declared. On Scout, it's 25 of the top 100. On Rivals, 35 of the top 150 have committed.

Roughly three quarters of the top talent is still out there. Kids that are ranked lower are learning that declaring early isn't necessarily in their best interests as we have seen with instances of players not being able to get out of LOI's after a coaching change. I think lots of kids are taking that into account and waiting to see if the staff that is recruiting them will be around. Whether that is a continuing trend will be determined by the NBA age limit, conference realignment (if that gets churning again) and overall college job security.

Brunson would be a great pickup. Chicago tough, winner, good pedigree, etc. He scored 56 points, that's not a typo, in the state semifinals against Whitney Young and Jahlil Okafor. He was all state as a sophomore as well. His team beat 11 Tribune top 20 teams this year. He is the Real Deal with a capital R and D! Mr. Brunson, your table is ready at AFH!

@Crimsonorblue22
Actually I love it. Approx-if you replace it can you keep it somewhere else on the site?