jayballer54 said:
@BShark Always have liked him, I know people like grimes better and I understand , it's just Devon has kind of hit me from the get go, realy like his game for me? - - I hope he lands here. - -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY
Well, he is a true point guard and can create for others. I like Grimes and hope he is a Jayhawk, but optimally he would be the second ball handling guard on the court most of the time.
I like it, I like it a lot. He's got a little bit of Frank to his game. When KU first got involved I was lukewarm, but he has really made some strides to improve. Jmo.
BeddieKU23 said:
Dotson said he'd like to be a fall commit. Liked his comments about KU and the relationship he's built with the coaches..
Is this on 247?
KirkIsMyHinrich said:
Their starting pitching has actually been not that bad, and their bullpen has been great. I hope they can keep it up. They need to stop losing to bad teams like the Mariners and Padres.
Pretty young starting rotation too.
ParisHawk said:
approxinfinity said:
@chriz surely pulling a mcd frosh big, a lanky guard that was POY in Texas, a big transfer than can play right away and a couple transfers that were beasts in their conference and open up a pipeline to several other ranked family members should be considered a strong class.
No.
The rankings are based on new recruits only, not transfers. The transfers do not belong to the same "class".
Such rankings are meaningless when you have a roster with so many transfers.
I don't know if the other teams in the conference have lots of transfers or JUCO guys: how about Iowa State?
ISU brought in a couple grad transfer posts AGAIN this year.
Also there is a very good chance they are going to lose their ditr guard commit Darius McNeill.
BeddieKU23 said:
So much for Aaron Wiggins, he's off the board to Maryland..
Pretty much expected.
KUSTEVE said:
I actually hope you're right. Townsend's comments make me believe there will be growing pains, and Self will settle for the more experienced guy.
There will definitely be growing pains.
JayHawkFanToo said:
Several knowledgeable sports writers have projected Malik as the conference POY based on reports of his progress during his off year. I just don't see Malik not starting.
Malik is a lock imo.
KUSTEVE said:
Here is who I think will end up being the starters: DG, Newman, Vick, Whitman, Doke. Svi is the 6th man, and he replaces Whitman. Preston comes in next. Whitman is what Self wants at the 4. Down to the T. He's a rebounder, he'll battle inside, he can post up, he is tailor made for the hi-lo. I will reference Bill Self as my source, as he said we didn't have any more Josh Jacksons to run the 4 out.
I bet Preston starts. Maybe not right away though.
Per a KU sports article.
stoptheflop said:
Has Preston been cleared by the NCAA to play? Earlier, there were questions about his academic eligibility. Now, many posters already predict he will be a starter. When will we know if Preston is academically eligible? Does KU make an announcement or do we just keep predicting greatness until the NCAA urinates on his eligibility?
Will forward Billy Preston be KU’s next great freshman?
With the arrival of June, all eyes in the Kansas basketball world begin to shift to the incoming crop of new Jayhawks, many of whom will land in Lawrence this weekend, in time for Bill Self’s youth camps, summer workouts and whatever other welcome-to-college-basketball adjustments the powers that be at KU choose to throw at them.
For a program that has welcomed such high-profile players as Andrew Wiggins and Josh Jackson in the past four years, the incoming 2017 class lacks sparkle.
That’s not to say that forward Billy Preston, combo guard Marcus Garrett and four Division I transfers — only one of which will be eligible in October — will not add a lot and play important roles for the Jayhawks.
But while Garrett might wind up being the next Devonte’ Graham and William & Mary transfer Jack Whitman could follow in Tarik Black’s footsteps, human nature — particularly with KU fans — tends to take people’s attention to the highest-rated player on the board. In this case, that’s Preston, who finished his prep career at Oak Hill Academy ranked as the 10th best player in the Class of 2017 by Rivals.com.
Unlike Wiggins and Jackson, Preston does not carry with him the automatic assumption that he’ll be a one-and-done Jayhawk.
That mentality won’t fly at Kansas and no doubt will lead to much more bench time than court time for Preston.“Talent-wise, he could definitely be that,” KU assistant coach Kurtis Townsend recently told the Journal-World. “His issue’s always been, he’s switched so many schools and he’d never really had great coaching until he went with Steve Smith (at Oak Hill) so he’s never really been held accountable for how he plays. The ball sticks sometimes with him and it’s, ‘Let me see if I can go one-on-one.’ With coach (Self), if he gets the ball and he can’t shoot it, pass it or drive it, he’s gotta get rid of it. So that’s something he’ll have to learn and (who knows) how long it will take him to learn how to play.”
Townsend knows this. And Preston claims he does. The key question entering the summer will be how closely Preston’s expectations match up with the reality of the journey which he’s about to take.
“It just depends on how long of a learning curve there is for him and how well he takes coaching,” Townsend said. “I told him, ‘I’m interested to see how you react when coach (gets on you) the first time. Are you gonna quit and pout?’ And he said, ‘No, no, that’s why I came there. I need that.’ They say the right things but until it happens you just don’t know. The (Morris) twins said that too and they fought it or they could’ve gone (pro) earlier. They ended up being great players, but it took ’em three years to figure out, 'all right, we ain’t gonna fight him.’”
One of the things Self, Townsend and Rivals all liked about Preston were his physical gifts.
“He’s got an NBA body already,” Townsend said.
And that’s both a good and a bad thing for the incoming freshman, who, according to a source with knowledge of his status, should be good to go in terms of eligibility when he arrives on campus.
Good because his potential is off the charts and his versatility will be a luxury for Kansas that approaches the way Jackson was used last season.
Bad because it remains to be seen if the KU coaching staff's high demands and expectations from Day 1 will be something the 6-foot-10 forward can handle or if it will inhibit the steady progress required to make a serious splash.
“With his body and his athleticism and his skill set, that kid, if he wanted to, could average a double-double,” Townsend said. “But I don’t know if he’ll do it because we’re gonna have to kick his butt to go to the glass every time. I would say to him (after high school games), ‘Dude, 6-10 and you had three rebounds? Go get 10 rebounds.’”
Regardless of how much talent Preston possesses, how long it takes him to figure everything out and what his overall impact on the 2017-18 team actually winds up being, Townsend made it clear that the Jayhawks were glad to have him.
“I think he’ll be OK,” Townsend said. “Could he be one-and-done? Yeah. Will he be? It just depends how long it takes him to figure it out. It could take ’til Christmas. The advantage he has, though, is we’re going on this trip to Italy (in early August). So he’ll be a little bit ahead of the game. But the second game of the year against Kentucky he might look lost. And people might say, ‘Oh, he wasn’t as good as you thought.’ But we’ll be able to tell by January, once league play starts, if he’ll be a guy who could (leave early).”
So I got around to checking other Big 12 rosters
Some things of note
ISU out: Ray Kasongo (I believe KU briefly and I mean briefly checked him out in HS) and Simeon Carter
ISU in: Jeff Beverly 6'6'' PF Grad transfer, Hans Brase 6’9 PF Grad transfer
OU out: Dante Buford, Darrion Strong-Moore.
WVU out: Elijah Macon
These are things I noticed that seemed new since the last time I checked.
And even in the top 20 then sometimes you have Cheick situations.
justanotherfan said:
Look at KU's own history with lower ranked guys.
Andrew White, Brannen Greene, Royce Woolridge and Rio Adams were all lower ranked recruits that came. Only Greene lasted more than two years, and he never started. White, Woolridge and Adams all bounced around after leaving. It could be argued that those three would have been better off going to a different school as opposed to trying to stick at KU.
For many of those guys, being ranked outside the top 50 at a school like KU is basically like being a walk-on, except that you would actually play at maybe 340 of the other schools at the D1 level. That knowledge gets frustrating after a while.
Rankings are 247 composite and then 247 ranking.
Brannen Greene #35/27. You don't have to leave but you can't stay here after three years.
Andrew White III #54/69. Transfer after one year.
BMac #39/35. OAD (essentially).
Conner #43/43. Quit the team after one year.
Frank Mason #117/52. KU PG GOAT.
Devonte Gram #99/93. Great 4 year player that we were all thrilled came back for his SR year.
Svi #232/31. Solid four year contributor.
Lagerald Vick #88/29. Story yet to be written.
Recruiting is a bit of a crap shoot outside of the top 20 or so.
BeddieKU23 said:
BShark said:
BeddieKU23 said:
Brian Bowen ending up at Louisville. Jeez that just made them easily the Top ACC team going into next year
What a WEIRD 5* recruitment.
Imagine if we were involved with that one throughout. Strung along A LOT of teams then visits his 57th school in Louisville and decides that's where he's going on the wim.
Yeah pretty crazy. I know MSU and Oregon were heavily involved. Hell Creighton was being considered at one point and then out of the blue it's Louisville.
BeddieKU23 said:
Brian Bowen ending up at Louisville. Jeez that just made them easily the Top ACC team going into next year
What a WEIRD 5* recruitment.
Doke coming back and getting Steere would be a realistic pretty good scenario for KU.
If I'm dreaming, sign up Bagley.
And yes @jayballer54 it's early, so it will take a bit for things to shake out. Kids do ask out of LOIs but usually it's due to a coaching change, can't blame the kid for that.
BeddieKU23 said:
I wouldn't be surprised if Bol went to Zona with O'Neal. They play together on AAU and Ristic is a Sr. They are going to clean up on a lot of the premiere recruits from out west.
Agree on Williams, although they are recruiting Grimes just as much as KU.. I would like to think we have the advantage with his mom and Adidas helping but I'm not that stupid to believe that anymore.
Yeah Arizona has to be very tempting for recruits. Great location.
I'm hoping for Grimes and Carey, then fill in post players as needed.
Been watching recent Ian Steere videos. I'm coming around.
I would be shocked if Brandon Williams isn't an Arizona wild wild cat.
KU might have a decent shot at Bol, better than most think. Probably depends on if Doke stays or goes.
I'd feel pretty good about Jalen Carey. He is sounding like an early signing period decision.
http://www2.kusports.com/news/2017/may/30/full-speed-ahead-ku-forward-mitch-lightfoot-laying/ ↗
I really really want Mitch to succeed. Sounds like a great kid.
jayballer54 said:
@BShark Just for fun nothing more, nothing less, let's remember this day.mark it down so we can look back. - -You say Doke is gone after this year - -And I say he will still be here two years this year and then another. Your pretty set he is gone - -I'm set he is staying, again just for giggles - - ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY
No. I said if he was for sure in his intent then the staff would know and it would be apparent based on how the staff recruits post players in the early period. Also if KU lands a couple big time post prospects early, it's a safe bet that at least Preston is for sure gone, probably Doke too.
I hope Doke stays.
I am assuming Newman is gone for sure. So a minimum of 3 guards for the class. If Garrett, Cunliffe, Vick and KJ are all still on the roster it would take a pretty high impact wing to start. I would think the staff would want to add 3 more PG/CG types, with one almost assuredly having to be a development project with Moore already on the roster. That would be 4 1/2 guards and 4 wings. That's already leaving a couple guards/wings really unhappy with their pt not counting the completely developmental 8th guard. I think it's needed though. Unless Garrett shows he is capable of being at least a 2 guard under Self this team needs ball handlers. I think Grimes and Carey are fantastic fits but the possible third guard recruit wouldn't matter a ton for next year, unless it was some kind of Bill Self miracle. Hard to see Self adding another top 25-ish guard/wing commit and Grimes though. Vick leaving would change things too.
Then again all this assumes the roster will be filled, which has been an issue lately since kids just want to play, not sit on the pine and develop.
Also if Preston and Doke are going to go pro and have their minds made up I would assume the staff knows and will recruit with this information. I think how KU recruits bigs in the early period will say a lot.
It's still only May, can the season get here yet? :grinning:
If Missouri can start winning consistently I wouldn't mind KU playing them again. Not that my input on the subject really matters, but w/e. Last year they would have been the worst team KU played probably. Note that not many Missouri fans were dying to play KU last year.
Right actually possibly 4 wings, I forgot about Cunliffe. In that case I can't see a wing being added at all.
Grimes/Carey/Steere would be a nice class, and I think quite possible. Might have to take more bigs though. If Preston and Doke both go after this year that's 3 post scholarships to fill. Just one more year out of one or both would be ideal to bridge to 2019.
BeddieKU23 said:
BShark said:
Steere looks like a plan D to me.
He's much better than Plan D. Sign him up
I suppose it depends who you think KU can really land. If the staff thinks Steere is good and prioritizes him then that will be interesting. He's definitely a late riser. I just hope he isn't waiting around for a UNC offer. Right now KU is his biggest offer by a fair bit I'd say.
BeddieKU23 said:
Quickley and Smart are both UK if Cal wants them both. Depends on Quade Green, I don't see him OAD so maybe one of these 2 goes somewhere else. I don't expect either will be for us.
It's good to be on the short lists but to this point Quickley hasn't really indicated his seriousness in KU. He's really good, outplayed Grimes recently even though Grimes was sick..
Yeah Quickley is really really good. We will find out who Cal is prioritizing soon. Maybe he pushes Green out early and takes both.
BeddieKU23 said:
KU has been recruiting Aaron Wiggins & Days pretty hard lately. Both will see big jumps in their current rankings. I get the impression one of these guys could end up at KU.
I'd love to get both. Days despite his size is a PF. Maryland people think they will get Wiggins. Wouldn't be a huge loss since KU could have 3 returning wing players.
He's going to be a wild wildcat.
Steere looks like a plan D to me.
I will be shocked if Harvey and JRE don't end up Jayhawks. It won't be because the staff backed off either.
Duke wants Garland and Jones btw. Not sure they are a huge player for Grimes.
KU made Quickley's final four with UK (presumed landing spot), Maryland and Miami.
JayHawkFanToo said:
Here is a link ↗ that sheds some light on the alleged incident. If there was any truth to it the Star would be all over it.
Man, Reddit is such a pit. Every time I read something there I am reminded of why I don't post there.
When I saw the thread title, I was thinking this would be about Zenger's extension. :wink:
dylans said:
I thought the publications where running with Miles Bridges to be npoy. I didn't see it from the one game if msu's I watched last season, but that could be Franks fault for humbling him early.
Well to be fair to the kid, he got injured and played the rest of the game hurt.
He should definitely be an NPOY contender.
kjayhawks said:
This list is a joke right?? Joel Berry FF MVP, back to back FFs and ACC regular season titles is at 19? wow. The Porter guy thats going to the black hole known as Fizzou is #2 and the tripping sensation Allen at #1. No Newman? Newman is my sleeper for B12 POY. Doke could easily be a lottery pick with a solid season next year as well. ESPN go home you're drunk!!
Well when you can most of your good writers...
Well it could definitely bite them, especially if they run into a team that presses. But Trier/Alkins/Randolph/Ayton/Akot is a very solid core. Barcello might be the wildcard. I admittedly don't know much about him, but if he shows a bit better than people expect and supplants PJC that could be huge for them.
BeddieKU23 said:
Ayton Will play the 4 just like they played Markennan. Pinder is a solid rebounder but doesn't do much else. Arizona last year had Commanche who bolted for the pros and was a real defensive presence off the bench. They will lack that going to their bench this season.
I think for a team that will probably be ranked 1 or 2 to start the season, you want better at PG then they have
Ehhh, Arizona will be excellent. PJC isn't fantastic but he is a SR and just has to not take too many shots.
DanR said:
My Mizzou fan inlaws seem to think their Tigers are going to win it all this year.
How can they do this to themselves? They have so much history to look at.
BeddieKU23 said:
Interview with Slater, the best in the business.
All I have to say is Adidas better come through with this one or its time to bail
Grimes talking about KU and Self. Positives..
We don't need to discuss who will make the final list yet, but can you talk about the message of some of the bigger programs?
Sure. Coach Self called and said I'm a top priority and that he plays a lot of guards and sees me bringing in something different than the other guards, because of my size. He said their known now for their guards, but that I would be unique because of being able to play point guard at that size.
Was hopping on to post this.
I will also add he plans to cut his list to 5 within a few weeks. So it looks like he should be an early period signing.
Yeah the big thing is he has been able to run this whole time. Better cardio/stamina so he can actually stay on the floor and give great effort.
BeddieKU23 said:
I think USC is being undervalued. Top 5 team they have IMO and could easily be the best Pac-12 team next season. There are anywhere from 5-7 NBA prospects on their team. Thornton who transferred from Duke most likely won't even start! The O'Bannon freshman kid can play and he'll have a tough time finding minutes. Big revival for that program after a positive end to their season in the NCAA's last yr.
Arizona has some great talent but they lack a top PG. Cartwright has been nothing more then a role player for 3 years and the freshman they have I'm assuming will take time to acclimate. They don't have a lot of depth inside, a JUCO will be the primary backup with a Top 100 undersized C in Ira Lee (KU recruited for a while). I think the hype for Arizona is a little overblown right now. Definitely have the talent but when has Sean Miller not had a stacked team and the season always ends far short of their goal..
Well Fox has USC ahead of us, so there is that.
Arizona/MSU/KU best three teams imo.
Sounds about right. Graham and Newman are likely to be the stars on this team.
JayHawkFanToo said:
While Garret is projected to be a SG in college, he played PG in HS and from the tape I have sen of him, it appears he can play PG reasonably well. I can see him playing PG when Graham is resting, 8-10 mpg?
I hope so. If he can handle a secondary ball handling role that makes it easier to give Newman and Graham breathers.
He created as MSST, but poorly. Now, he has been drawing rave reviews in practice and has had a year in the program. I'm as excited to see him play as anyone but I tend to agree with @ParisHawk that this team will need time to gel and find an identity.
I like the Morris comparison better for Preston but if he has a Julian Wright type year that would be fine. Though, he will probably shoot some threes with Julian never really did.
Oh A&M. Tyler Davis is still there right? I expect him to play the game of his life.
This needs it's own thread.
https://theplayerstribune.com/frank-mason-goodbye-kansas-jayhawks/ ↗
Everyone should read it.
I mean, Frank is just ridiculously awesome and special. He will forever be a Jayhawk.
I'm about to make a thread.