He was asked about his pick on twitter. He said he switched back to KU because it was the "best bet" at the moment. He had zero inside information.
BeddieKU23
31745 posts
Maybe Jesse has the stats from last year. It's something the staff should already have at their disposal.
Your right, we know it won't happen but we may at times see a more free flowing offense. If he took anything from the Summer, it was that he can trust these guys to make plays without all these restrictions. KU thrived in Korea on the up-temp play with little play structure. It really allowed Selden have his "beast mode" moment.
I don't believe we will see Self abandon much from what he always does. Maybe some new wrinkles, maybe some new sets but we will have to wait and see. I do hope the dribble weave has been abandoned, deaded, put to sleep, had a funeral for it. I can't believe that was a staple of our offense over the past few years.
I would go with Wayne.
He's going to have to prove this summer was no fluke. If he's aggressive, all the time & making shots at a higher clip he's going to be the biggest impact. I'm hoping he can shoot 70% from the charity stripe because if he's being aggressive he's going to get fouled a lot. Having him off the ball is going to help this team tremendously.
Svi & Diallo were my other choices. Svi is important because he's good enough to be a starter but looks like he will be our 1st guard off the bench. Diallo, well we all know the situation..& I've gotten accustomed to believing he won't be playing so I didn't pick him.
Nice discussion.
I think it starts with passing, if we are going to be a better post scoring team. I don't know the stat but we had an absurd number of shots blocked last year. You can point your finger at anyone but if this team is a better passing team it can make a big difference. When the H/L is working to its best, our guards maximize angles & make passes that make it easier for the post player to execute. Luckily it looks like Graham & Svi will be joining the rotation with another year under their belt who can help out tremendously in that fact.
I agree that if the issue continues into this year, Self should gameplan to find easier ways than just post ISO's. We have way too much firepower on the wings to focus our offensive on post scoring. That's not what's going to win us a championship, we have the best collection of wing talent in the country. That's the strength of this team.
Herard's ranking has no bearing on whether he would play next year. It has everything to do with him being a project player. He's played basketball only a few years, there's valid concerns about his effort & weight for that matter. He needs a coach who's going to push him & hopefully he will be a guy that can mature in a program to maximize his talent.
His ranking in the top 100 is more to do with the weakness in the class overall at the position & the upside he does possess if he's able to develop. There's a lot to work with if he can develop offensive skill and learn to play hard all the time. That's a common weakness for a lot of HS kids, its hard to motivate them at that level.
KU must have liked the longterm value of Lightfoot better. He seems to have a mature approach to the game, something that the staff must have valued.
Howland needs bigs, he's got I think only 2 posts on the team past this year so he could obviously sell Herard playing time. I think that if Lightfoot hadn't chosen KU, Herard would have seen more pressure from the staff to come here. I think KU took the safer player with high character, & he seems like a hard worker which may be a trait that helps him become a valuable player for KU down the line.
I wish Lightfoot was bigger, & had a more advanced body to expect that he can play next year but that's really not the case. Herard because of his size, would have a been a body that could play as a freshman but he's just very raw from a BBIQ standpoint. I think we won't know for years which prospect has the better career, but because Lightfoot is a jayhawk & Herard seems unlikely to be one I'll be rooting for Mitch.
The way I see it (if Diallo is not with us) we have 3 legit post players and 2 situation post players.
I already know I'm going to go nuts when I see Self sub in Lucas & Traylor ahead of Bragg & Hunter if we have a just 5 posts available. His best post players are his best offensive options, he better not forget that. We dug ourselves a problem in the post last year having just 1 post player with any skill to score. This year we have Hunter & Bragg to help out there, they should see the majority of minutes but we know that won't happen.
You may be right that about his comments. If Playing Time is truly his #1 goal, then it doesn't look good. And if you project the kind of player Herard is right now and expect him to beat out Lucas, Coleby etc it doesn't look likely.
Now KU has been recruiting him a long time, Schnider knows KU is known for its big men. Also Embiid & Diallo going to KU helps us with the Foreign connection.
The issue I have with Schnider is the amount of scouts that have said he's unmotivated, lazy & may not take to a coach as rigorous as Self. There's no denying he's got talent & you can't teach size. But his skill set is raw. Rivals #34, ESPN #67, 247 #43. ESPN seems to be way off on his projection, which could have been due to his inconsistent play that has been mentioned as his major weakness.
The flipside is that Self can motivate him to give consistent effort & develop his game. Scouts are wrong all the time, no reason that they couldn't be way off on this guy.
A few reasons signing him could be important is that other than Lucas nobody is projected to be a Center next year. Bragg is a stretch 4, Coleby is an athletic 4, Lightfoot is a small 4 who may turn into a stretch player. Herard is 6'10 240, with zero outside game, he's a 5 true and true. He's not a OAD, I think more than likely will take 4 years to develop him. Your not worried about losing him to the NBA for the immediate future. Does this impact Bolden, Azubuike, Allen? Likely it does because of the #'s game. So do we take another developmental big before knowing the fates of those 3 is probably my biggest question regarding him.
***“Schnider had, I think, 34 scholarship offers and narrowing that down from 10 to five, he was looking for where he might play right away and which programs are going to use their big guys,” Derrick Shelby, Herard’s guardian, told goldandblack.com.
“The most important thing in his decision is going to be the ability to play right away,” Shelby added. “That’s No. 1. So many kids go to these schools and sit there for a year or two. He’d like to be able to play right away. There’s no question about that. That’s the No. 1 criteria.”***
If playing right away is his #1 criteria he will go to Miss St where their starting forwards are seniors.
@Texas-Hawk-10 said:
@blackmild33 Says the guy who said Lightfoot was Arizona bound. I've lost track at this point at how many times you've been wrong on these statements over the past few months.
It's because he only reports the crystal ball. Then if it changes he changes with it. The only way he's ever wrong in his mind is if it's a total random pick.
I'm a huge fan of Diallo as well, watched a lot of his games over the past few years. I've been biased about him from the beginning but not regarding this fiasco.
In all likelyhood they rejected his eligibility based on the fact that his core classes he took at Our Savior were a bunch of pastry puffs. That's why he's been the only one not cleared, as opposed to his teammates that took core classes at other schools which combined with SAT/ACT scores were sufficient to let them play. This would also explain the NCAA's investigation of the school, finding that they have cut major academic corners to cater themselves as a basketball factory. Because Diallo was their 3 1/2 years, basically his whole transcript could be full of red flags to the NCAA's concerns.
I think the NCAA wanted his full transcript from Mali, which was the flag for the incomplete info he initially sent. I have zero confidence that his half year of school in Mali is the "wildcard" to him being eligible. The only thing its going to do is give the NCAA everything for which a fair decision can be made.
The timing of this all sucks, as Diallo has been late to the party for everything, from graduating to being at KU this summer, to giving the NCAA all the information they needed. And now we stand 2 weeks from our first game still waiting and not knowing what's going to happen.
If by chance his core classes and gpa and test scores do meet the mininum requirements & the NCAA is just being a stickler because of what was missing and wanting to verify his whole body of work then I'm completely wrong with my assumptions. I would understand that they couldn't make a full judgement until they had the knowledge of his Mali classes or lack of them. If this was a mess up by KU & Diallo himself, then I'm sure Self will elaborate on that fact when a ruling is made.
If I'm wrong, I would gladly come on this site and say I was wrong, and I'll give the NCAA a little more credit for all the work they do. And in the end my new favorite player would get the chance to help this team win a championship. A win win really.
I do believe that Self knows a lot more than he's shared, either the fact that they are appealing a denial of eligibility, or that he's eligible but not until his Mali stuff is verified. Self did let the birdie out that the case they had presented before, didn't sound like he would have been eligible if that's all they had to go on. That would confirm my earlier assumption about his school screwing him over in the academic department.
Anyways this topic has been beaten to a dead horse many times over. it needs to end, 1 way or the other
Bolden was at Late Night last year as well btw unofficially. I can imagine this year was better with the new dorms and when you officially visit you get the time to spend with the team/coaches.
I think the easy answer because we are up against Duke.. Until Coach K leaves we can't beat the sucker.
If we lose Bolden, its because of the work Coach K did getting him to visit during the summer into fall. He signed Top Talent and we didnnt. KU sat back and watched their top target go all over the place without doing a thing. Then he finally came here and visited & it was an eye opener, but it never should have been that it takes Late Night to do that. Now the staff has been in practically panic mode going after a plethora of bigs because frankly I bet they have zero confidence that one is leaning to them or not.
Schnider Herard is done taking visits and will be deciding soon. Miss St seems the favorite at this point especially after getting local 4* PG yesterday.
Jarrett Allen from reading is not that big on attention. There has been trouble getting info on his visit but all accounts say it went great.
Just for information. A guy who is somewhat reliable and gets information about KU recruiting had this to say about the possibilities of Azubuike, Bolden, Allen.. He's been very critical of where KU stands with these guys, very little homerism so either he's well informed or frustrated like a lot of us are about the state of our recruiting.
*KU is going to be lucky to get 1 of the 3. They're pushing hard, but it still doesn't look great for any of them individually.
Udoka is still most likely headed to FSU, though there are some convinced KU has a good shot.
Bolden is...all over the place. Duke still thinks he's theirs, UK has a guy in his camp pushing for them, and KU seems to think their visit made a good push. My money is still on Duke for the time being.
Herard will probably go to Miss St. Not sure KU was all that enthused by him on his visit, and I tend to believe they chose Lightfoot over him.
Allen is the mystery, and everyone thinks they're in good. I don't buy anything between him and UK. For the same reason (spotlight, attention) I'm not sure I buy him at KU either. ND/Texas seems righ*t.
I was just trying to look at it from all angles. When you have already gotten a lot of good talent signed on its easier for these kids to in vision them playing together. Plus his family really enjoyed the duke visit and their preference before the KU visit was there. We got a verbal from Mitch Lightfoot WHO? Bet Bolden doesn't even know who he is..
And Duke has a scenario where they would need immediate help so they must be selling that fact.
Bama still scares me with the Johnson angle. They just signed a very good SF to go along with elite SG. Now all of a sudden they have foundations of a good class. He can immediately step in as day 1 starter.
I think the visit to KU helped us, did it do enough to sell him and did the staff do enough to sell him a spot, a day 1 spot..I really hope we did enough, it seems almost too easy to sell 3 guys in your position leaving. How much more can it take, it's Kansas
Maybe because Bolden desires to play with the best?
Tatum, Jackson, Giles, DeLaurrier all top 50 kids. Ingram is a likely OAD, who knows what Jeter is going to do & Jefferson & Plumlee graduate.. He must believe there is room for him & Coach K must be doing a great job still selling that fact.
I have no direct knowledge but I believe the staff took Lightfoot over Herard. Sounds like the staff likes Mitch better in the long run. That's just the feeling I get. A lot of scouts feel Herard can be good, but its going to take coaching to get him to bring consistent effort.
As @HighEliteMajor has said Duke is very likely to get Giles (even his AAU coach says they are the favorite) & Duke setting up his visit as last on purpose will only help them. I'd say of the 4 teams left for him we are his last option.. The others are just closer to home & have ties to him.
Not sure, but the word has been that he was brought here and placed into school by FSU assistants. That's why FSU has been the perceived favorite in his recruiting.
We thought maybe possibly might cliff or kelly would stay but that ship sank. The guys that are obvious picks for the NBA go pro. That has been the trend at KU. I think he's as good a candidate to leave as any of the top rated kids. I uses to think 2 years because of his skill needing work. He's not a sure thing on offense but he always used his motor and athleticism to dominate. The NCAA may force his hand if they rule him ineligible. I certainly want him to stay as long as possible, I don't watch the NBA other than keeping up with fellow hawks. Reality is it seems slim he will be around..
I fully expect that if Diallo is ruled ineligible, he will go pro at the end of the year. If his stock is still lottery after sitting, there's little reward to not getting paid.
Coming back to KU for his red-shirt year if he's rules ineligible is a big risk for him.
There's always that question of whether he would get hurt which would hurt his stock.
Could it help him coming back, no doubt we saw how Mclemore turned from a Top 50 kid to a Top 10 pick in the draft after waiting his turn. So coming back could possibly turn his lottery hype now, into Top 10, Top 5 after next year.
The thing is, Diallo needs to play basketball & keep developing skill which practice is only going to do so much of that. Whether its the NBA or College where he gets that chance, the kid just needs to play..
It is a very bizarre case, it seemed that the one guy that whistle-blowed on the situation (saying his handler was shopping him for money) was in fact the guy that was interested in getting involved and shopping Skal for money if that makes sense.
The nature of the fake team & just all the rumors & reports certainly implied some guilt on someone's part. It makes it easier to be frustrated when we have our own situation that hasn't been resolved. It won't feel right if Skal is eligible & Diallo is not regardless of how different their situations are.
Bolden & Lightfoot would be okay, 1 can play immediately & 1 is a stash & develop.
Allen is kind of a sleeper, although his ranking certainly suggest he's pretty good. From some of his tape, he looks light for a guy his size.
If Bolden bails, Allen is the next best thing. Nobody has an idea what Azubuike will do but he's definitely been on a visit spree since KU. I'd take the space eater anyday.
Herard & Lightfoot would be worst case scenario, a scenario I'm petrified by but could see happening.
At Least we finally got someone who wants to play for KU. The struggle was really getting real, waiting and waiting for anyone..
Whether he's an ideal fit is another story. He's definitely a risky player, for KU's standards. Maybe he turns out to be pretty good, play above his level because he's wanted to be a hawk. He's insurance to fill the gaps we will have after the year.
Now Self must knock it out the park with an elite big that's left. We may have to wait and wait for that reality.
The NCAA is easy to blame because their reputation is crap.
It's easy to say that Diallo is to blame for not having all this information sent. You could infer that Diallo is naive, he's been in the states what a few years & the American Culture/Language is all an adjustment period for him. It could very well be that Cheick just didn't know what was required of him. Do you think all 17-18 immature kids know exactly what is expected of them? I don't think you can make that judgement. Those around him, especially his advisors, families etc should have been more on point with all this, but if I remember correctly Self has pointed out that Diallo has done nothing wrong.
KU cleared him, they had to have looked at his body of work & it was acceptable. But now the NCAA has taken over what 4 months to decide? That is ludicrous, regardless of the exact details of how and when information was submitted & additional info was needed. What exactly takes 4 months to decide on..
Do you not agree that this whole situation has taken way more time than its supposed to have.
Without all the details of what's going on, and all we've gotten is bits & pieces here and there, its hard to have a positive view of the NCAA when you have the season fast approaching. It's created a frustrating position & well if KU & Diallo are not to blame who's left? The NCAA? The system itself?
Everything reported was hearsay though. And they must have not have found the money trail to prove anything really did happen. You have what looks to be a situation where a kid from a poor upbringing was allegedly being taken advantage of, its hard to want to punish a kid for no apparent wrong-doing. I'm glad the NCAA didn't overstep its bounds in this situation.
As far as Diallo, even if the result is negative, KU is likely to exhaust its options appealing which could take even longer. I still think that they are currently already appealing a negative decision which necessitated the additional info from Mali. Maybe I'm wrong, but I've already prepared myself for the worst. Self has been coy in the past or not forthcoming about these situations before. We don't know all the details, we may never get all of them.
It will be a sham if Diallo gets punished
that's good there was rumors he might go to bama with Ferg for a visit. If he doesn't take anymore visits safe to say he's down to 3 schools.
Skal has been cleared, Diallo has not.
No surprise here..
That's been the narative before, especially before the league went to round robin. But these days its the definition of a guantlet playing every team in a home & home setting. The ACC might have 254 teams but other than the Duke/UNC rivalry Duke can play Virginia once and on and on..
I don't think the conference slate anymore is what is leads to tournament success. We've seen ours dashed the last 2 years by just knocking out our best post man on a system dependent on inside scoring. Whatever the case may be, its all about how teams react in the moment in those live or go home games.
Exactly!! Last year we had a terrible problem of keeping opponents in games. We never really had the killer instinct to put games away and our players played too many minutes which in turn left us a beat down tired team. This years schedule does look like we will have some blowouts to get guys rest. And if guys are improved just maybe that will help even more in game management.
I've seen Jerry World (Meyer) report that its not set in stone he will visit as reported.
Oklahoma has been been one of those silent teams just sticking around.
Exactly, his coach has been highly thought of & according to Self has helped Bragg adjust well. Korea couldn't have hurt him either, it was almost like the ice-breaker for him. Bragg got to play against men, not just 18 year old kids in the same boat. Especially with the Diallo situation unlikely to be positive for us, Bragg's development is probably the biggest thing KU needs.
I love your insight, especially since you've been able to be near Self and experience him first hand. Your thoughts on Self and what he looks for in recruits are probably close to the truth. He's not always right, because the fact of the matter is he's not able to mold everyone into a minnie version of himself.
He's missed reaching the top talent and the lower rated players in the past. I think he recruits any top rated players regardless of backround unless he ethically can't stick with him. Sometimes doing your homework on kids will not be enough to see the flaws some kids have maturing (Selby, Cliff) among others. I think Thon Maker is a situation where they left him alone due to red flags & the uncertainty in his situation. There's a good reason most schools left his sweepstakes. So that's definitely a situation Self has probably taken the caution flag out for and gone in another direction.
I don't think Bragg is a valid comparison although I get your point. Bragg has played at the top level of AAU for years, although his high school isn't the top level, he played plenty of top level kids over the years. Just plug his name into youtube & he's played a lot of good players in HS. His talent as well is also undeniable which really explains everything.
Lightfoot has spent most of his life as a low level recruit. I don't doubt he's improved or he was simply missed on the recruiting front because he was a New Mexico recruit early in the process. After opening up, he became desirable to programs & recruiting services noticed & watched him closer than they may have ever. It's probably to his talent that he's now become a sought after recruit by KU AZ Utah & others. He sounds like a high character kid that Self covets.
If he does pick KU, then I'm hoping he will prove me wrong. The facts seem to point that he's got a long ways to go to proving that. We really wouldn't know what we are getting until he was here. Maybe he has a great Sr year and gets more notice.
With Allen from what I've seen posted and read, we definitely have a chance but our best bet is signing him in the fall, not spring.
We got involved by watching his workout. Now he's coming for a visit although its not Late Night so the wow factor won't be as glamorous. Maybe the new dorms will sell him.
He visited Notre Dame, which took a commitment recently from a guard, but they expect to lose Jackson to the pro's next year so there's a spot if he waits until spring which very well could happen. He has to be considering them seems how Auguste is a Sr. You only get 5 visits, so they are in his top 5.
Kentucky is the other "big" school on his list. Other than an offer from them I haven't seen anything linking them to him. Why would they, at the minimum they will have 2 returning & 2 freshman bigs next year. I don't see how Lee transforms into a draft pick but I think if he does even remotely okay he'll leave. If Allen wants to be the 5th wheel please be my guess. I do think if he holds out to spring Kentucky will get involved and all the media will say he's going there.
Texas is still the home school, and if Smart has a splashy first year I think the pressure to stay home like Turner did will weigh on him. That's why I think he waits until spring if KU or UK doesn't "wow" him. If he waits until spring it gives Smart too much time to fix the relationship I've heard rumblings wasn't the best when he first came here. Apparently Allen was high on the previous regime. They just recently signed a 4 star Center, but Texas has a glaring need for bigs and just lost on Braxton Key who was one of their big targets.
Your right about Bolden, it's been Duke, KU, & Alabama for a while. But recent news has said Bama isn't a threat anymore. Bolden's coach or handler (I forget which) has connections to UK through Julius Randle who had the same coach or handler situation. Plus he visited so that's usually enough for half the internet world to go nuts about predicting him going there. Everyone has said Duke was the team to beat because his parents like Duke & the fact that he visited their multiple times. The KU visit definitely has helped our cause but can it win out against Duke. I'm inclined to say no based on previous battles against them. We've also recruited Texas like it was the plague, or Texas kids grow up thinking KU is the plague. Our track record is terrible besides Arthur. We need Bolden to be a November signee with KU his lasting impression and understanding that he can start here next year..
Good point about talent evaluation. I'm certainly no guru but I would like to think for all the years I've been a fan of this program and watching high school talent more than ever that I can at least have a semi intelligent opinion on kids. Like Lightfoot, my concerns have nothing to do with his ranking, but more to do with the lack of competition he's played & lack of physical attributes needed for next year. He cannot be the single egg we get in this class in the post. I don't believe he will be the only guy we possibly get either.
I don't think many fans will take another early exit this year. 2012 was the last banner year we had where expectations were relatively low given the roster issues, yet we overachieved in the tourney. 2013 had that chance but we blew it. The last 2 years are the reason there are any grumblings to begin with.
We do have the roster to compete for a championship with Diallo. Without him. I don't believe the ceiling is as high. on paper. But some good luck & momentum can always change that. A sweet 16 season is the minimum this year. Even that might not be good enough with the depth & experience we bring back.
We should handle UK at home, its going to be a crazy atmosphere with a revenge feeling to it. Will we have the roster advantage? You have think the eligibility of Skal weighs a lot on their success this year. How will he compliment 3 point guards as well.
Great post @drgnslayr
I will defend Calipari a little because its easy for any of us to discount the guy for what he's done in the College game. Love him or hate him, he's made himself an empire there. Why is he so good at recruiting besides all the obvious answers.
It's because of the success of the NBA guys. When you have John Wall, Cousins, Davis, many more performing in the NBA on an all-star level you reep the benefits regardless of whatever else. College hoops is just the holding pattern, the grooming station. Nobody goes to College anymore to be a College icon, you get whatever you can from a school and move on to try and gain your stardom in the league. Kansas needs Wiggins to become an all-star. We are a proven stop for NBA players, but Wiggins can be the future for young kids to follow. KU's reputation for getting guys in the league is rock solid, we just need 1 to breakthrough to bigger things like a Wiggins. Self's reputation changes it becomes enhanced if he's associated with the development of Andrew..
Valid points, your correct that every team needs those glue guy types. There great security blankets as you could say.
I just think Lightfoot is a risky recruit for KU. He's played at a lower level of HS & AAU ball all of his career. Reports of him playing well in the bigger tournaments do help his case but the fact is his film looks great when your playing overmatched competition. I've pointed out phyiscally he's a few years away from being at a level where we can reasonably expect him to hold his own in the post. When you don't play the best out there on any regularity its going to leave him with a lot to prove. Hopefully Self knows what he's doing.
I'm against the OAD circus. I initially thought that it would have some value but its proven to be the opposite. Make kids stay 2 years or nothing, kids these days aren't ready to step into the league like in the past.
I thought I was bringing up an important point about Lightfoot. Can this program, one that wants to keep in the elites with Kentucky & Duke recruit borderline top 100 kids if their are better players out there. Can the future of this program count on him? How many years can KU wait to get the rewards from him.
Self put KU in the business for 5 star recruits & OAD's. In the culture of instant gratification players that take 3-4 years to develop now are becoming a thing of the past. We all like to remember the kids that stuck it out & waited their turns, but the fact is that age is gone.
I have to trust that Self knows what he's doing, we've had a good track record of coaching up players to above their perceived skill level.
Lightfoot is no Dekker, remember Dekker was a 5star recruit out of high school. Whoever is comparing him to Dekker just googled a white dude with similar size. Comical.
The difference between Lightfoot & Mari is all physical attributes. Mari had a college ready body & athletic ability coming in. He's actually lost a lot of his explosiveness over the years.. Lightfoot will need at least 1 year just to be physically ready to play in the Big-12. 1 year might be being kind, he's going to need to change his body completely.
What he does offer is hopefully a more skilled offensive player, maybe in year 3-4 or 5 if he red-shirts he will be a glue guy we need. Can we afford as KU to take on a project as opposed to a High 4 or 5 star potential OAD. Remember signing Lightfoot can mean his scholarship is used just on him for the next 5 years.. Just a thought
Saw this and nothing was out of the ordinary, they basically just reported the popular opinions out there.
I think they know nothing about what Bolden is thinking. Bolden not going to those visits definitely helps us but his parents didn't want to pay for the plane tickets & he's already visited both officially.
They have no idea with Allen , that's a guess out of their you know what. Don't see why Allen would want to be the 5th or 6th wheel at Kentucky..
it defintely doesn't work against them with having Drake. The new Drake album was the intro song for what 3 KU guys at Late Night.
You have a point, you laid out a worst case scenario that definitely could be in the realm of possibility. Coleby's ACL scared me, it still does because I know Self didn't bring him here to be a filler. It's obvious that he's very high on the kid, but he just lost a year of skill development, chemistry, & practice time. He should be ready to go by springish.. but that puts him no further ahead really than any freshman we will get, beside that he's experienced in D-1. He'll take months just to get back to speed and conditioning.
I say we need 2 bigs because 5 is plenty enough, especially if we have a Sr Lucas, Soph, Bragg, Jr Coleby + 2 freshman. Having 6 like we do is a nice problem to have, but with Self he can only really play 4 with any regularity. Depth is nice, but depth can also leave you with too many mouths to feed. We can definitely get talented kids in the 17 class unless the way this year is going is the new normal.
As far as Lightfoot goes, the kid played High School Ball in a lower division class in a state not exactly known for its basketball. It's kind of like Kansas, just not a lot of guys cut out for a school like KU. The last guy we got from AZ didn't pan out (Royce) and he was just not prepared to play for KU. I see Mitch as the same thing, he's got talent but I just don't feel its the talent KU needs going forward. He's not going to play freshman year, we need at least 1 impact plug in freshman big. 2 would be great insurance....so he's the 3rd wheel or potentially 6th wheel next year??
I'll welcome any kid here, I just have a hard time seeing the vision right now.
I don't think we need him at all, if we whiff on others so be it..hopefully spring will bring late signees.
The last thing we need to do is sign handcuffs for future recruits. 17 class is loaded. We need 2 bigs not more. Lightfoot as I've stated isn't an early impact, I don't even think sophomore year he'd be a factor. SO what's the point of getting him. I know the staff has found diamonds before, I just don't think he's one them
I am worried he would affect others, I look at him as a handcuff to future classes. Lightfoot at KU is 2 to 3 years away from being a contributer. Maybe im wrong but guys like mari and lucas while experienced we knew their ceiling years ago. At KU we need better than them and i reference them because both were similar ranked similar scouting reports.
We don't need 3 bigs, we need 2 at most and if we can get the better players by waiting we have to
Well in fairness his parents didn't want to foot the bill for plane tickets to the events seems how he had already visited officially. Sheds more light to the canceling after the ku visit. His visit here helped us but it's not like anyone is ranting and raving that he's coming here...
But I get your comment, just was elaborating
I just don't see it with this kid. We've all complained on how small Ellis & Mari have been over the years. He's the same height, & is less athletic than both of them. I just don't feel his style fits the Big 12.
Arizona needs bigs just as much as we do. They will graduate 3, I think the smart money is still there that he lands at Zona even with that Finish 7 footer going there.
We need momentum, but I would be okay missing out on him
We need all the help we can get.
He already visited Notre Dame but they just took a SG commit which leaves them with no open spots. But the kicker with that is that Jackson their PG is projected to leave this year..
He's supposed to visit UK after his Kansas visit. I have to ask why after Calipari has gotten Jones & Gabriel. Texas will be involved but wonder if them taking Banks was the sign that Allen isn't considering them anymore. KU really has a chance to take advantage here & hopefully they do.
That would be ideal..Many seem to think Herard will end up at Miss St. but the new dorms probably have swayed that.
Jarrett Allen will visit next weekend officially.
He might be an even better option, top 25 kid can block shots & is an athletic big we always covet.