@RockkChalkk The PAC 12 schools are going to wait and see what happens with the new TV deals they and Big 12 are working on which is the smart way to go. If you're officials at Arizona, Arizona St., Oregon, Colorado, Utah, and Washington, you'd definitely want to know what those potential values are before making a decision about the long term future of a school. I think it's more likely we see movement next year after each league gets their project TV deal packages which for the Big 12 will likely include values if they stay at 12, or go to 16 or 18 with the potential PAC 12 school additions.
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@Gorilla72 said in Big 12 Expansion:
I understand the PAC12 is going into television rights negotiations 2 years early to get a value on their remaining teams. Remaining teams may want to hear that before deciding. I’m thinking this will be a drawn out process.
That's the whole purpose of them opening their negotiations up early so they can make some kind of counter offer to whatever the Big 12 presented yesterday. I still think at the end of the day, 4 teams moving to the Big 12 is the most likely and I could see Oregon and Washington following USC and UCLA to the Big 10 once Notre Dame makes their decision.
Personally, I think all Notre Dame's decision does is affect how big the Big 10 goes in expansion. If Notre Dame says yes, not as difficult as what some may think, then the Big 10 adds 4 more to get to 20 so they'd be looking for a 4th school, which KU should fight tooth and nail to try and be. If Notre Dame says no, then I think the Big 10 only adds two more being Oregon and Washington.
I don't necessarily think the guns themselves need to be banned, but if someone claims they use their AR15 for hunting, there's not a reason any style of gun to need more than a 10 round magazine. The only time I've ever fired more than 10 rounds with a rifle or pistol is at a gun range. I've never needed more than a single 10 round magazine when hunting. The only type of gun I've ever shot more than 10 rounds when not at a range was hunting with a shotgun when bird hunting.
Limit magazine capacity and how many magazines can be bought in a time period. Develop a tracking system similar to certain medicines where you have to scan your license to verify the time frame.
Next, mandatory 7 day federal background checks, including all social media platforms, no matter where you purchase a gun from including gun shows. This won't catch everyone obviously if they have no record or nobody in their family has a record, but it would give a chance to catch more red flags and reduce the number of people who obtain a gun who shouldn't have one. If a person buys a gun at a gunshow, which frequently skirts background check laws, they still have to wait 7 days before the seller can ship to the buyer at the buyer's expense.
Next, mandatory yearly gun safety courses including a written test and range test to ensure people know how to properly amd safely care for and operate their weapons. If you fail either portion of the test, you have to surrender your weapons. One thing that scares me about how loose Texas gun laws are is that now you don't need a permit to carry which can lead to more people gaining access to guns who shouldn't have one.
Obviously these won't prevent every possible incident, but these three things are pretty reasonable to most people and pretty easily enforceable which would in theory significantly reduce the risk or more mass shootings happening.
@jayhawks2010 said in Big 12 Expansion:
Probably so. But basketball does have more games and more nights throughout the week. Like football has pretty much one day, so a one day game might have more, but what about the cumulative effect of a whole week of games. I get that it doesn’t matter compared to Football but I feel like it still has television value when it’s like literally the only thing on outside of the nfl Jan-March. Anyway hopefully it all works out
It's not literally the only thing on after football from Jan.-March. The NBA and NHL are also both going strong at that point and each averaged quite a bit higher numbers than college basketball for their nationally broadcast games which were on basically every night.
@jayhawks2010 said in Big 12 Expansion:
file:///var/mobile/Library/SMS/Attachments/eb/11/DAB2B33D-7A00-4B04-81F7-45EC6DAFA7D8/Image-1.heic
So we were third in revenue. Way higher then other big 12 teams. AAU membership and we have a lot of the KC market, which sure isn’t huge but still a decent market that the big ten doesn’t have…. I guess I don’t get how Bball doesn’t play into this. So all of these TV deals that are driving this are only football related. Literally one of the most televised things in the winter is college Bball. College football doesn’t carry the whole winter. So the UK vs KU Bball matchups have no value over a mediocre Iowa football team vs ucla football? Like I get getting the best football you can, but duke ku etc have such a Bball following. How would that not drive the needle a bit for the TV contracts, to include KU vs ucla, KU MsU etc
It's not that college basketball has no value, but it's much less than college football. Duke and Kentucky are the only genuine needle movers in college basketball. There were only 8 regular college basketball games that topped 2 million viewers and Duke and Kentucky played in 6 of those games and the other two were lead ins to NFL Playoff games. College football had 100 more games top 2 million viewers for regular season games. There is a lot more money in college football than college basketball.
https://www.heartlandcollegesports.com/2022/07/01/pac-12-big-12-college-football-realignment-news/ ↗
If accurate, WTF!?!? I guess the behavior makes sense considering Bowlsby is still in charge for a few more weeks and he's never been proactive when poaching teams when that's been anopinion, he's always been reactive when making moves. It'd be nice if his farewell to the Big 12 was to change it up, swing for the fences and invite Arizona, ASU, Cal, Colorado, Oregon, Stanford, Utah, and Washington to the Big 12 and see who's interested. Especially considering the Big 12 does have their next TV deal coming up a year after the B10. Going for those 8 schools is probably the only way to realistically increase the current yearly payout to schools.
@FarmerJayhawk said in Big 12 Expansion:
No wonder people say the ACC grant of rights is ironclad. There’s no mechanism in the deal for getting out of it! https://cdn.theathletic.com/app/uploads/2022/07/01185531/ACC-Grant-of-Rights-1.pdf ↗
I don't imagine the conference lawyers wanted to make it easy to make a "lateral" move for schools from one P5 league to another. The Big 12 probably has similar language in their deals which is why OU amd Texas haven't been able to work on an earlier move to the SEC than when the B12 Grant of Rights expires.
https://www.heartlandcollegesports.com/2022/06/30/big-ten-conference-done-with-expansion-for-now/ ↗
Not sure how reliable, but sounds like Big 10 is done for now with expansion. If that is the case, the Big 12 needs act and go after Arizona, ASU, Colorado, Utah, Cal, Stanford, Oregon, and Washington and beat the Big 10 and SEC to 20 teams.
@wissox said in 2022-23 Non Conference Schedule:
@Jethro Come on man, Wright coached up a bunch of talented guys but nowhere near the talent of a 2012 Kentucky for example and were a generational team. That's coaching! Brunson and Bridges are the only two decent NBA players from that group. I really don't agree any coach could have done that. 2012 Kentucky, yes indeed, Cal had a talented group and I think a lot of coaches could have won with them. Not very many coaches are taking 2018 Nova roster and dominating.
I'm going to partially disagree there. That 2018 Villanova team had 6 NBA players in their rotation. Out of those 6, 4 are still in the NBA and 1 is getting his shot this year at making the league with the Nuggets as an undrafted free agent with a good chance at a 2 way deal with someone. Brunson amd Spellman were both 5 star recruits so it wasn't like 2022 KU with no 5 star players. There's plenty of good coaches out there that could've won a title with that 2017-18 Villanova group.
@wissox My point is the talent difference that year between Nova and KU pretty much negates any coaching advantages because Villanova was so damn good that year, especially in the tournament. I firmly believe Self could've come up with the greatest game plan ever and KU played their A game and it still wasn't going to be enough to beat Villanova that night.
The biggest issue in that particular game for KU was that Self didn't have anyone who could match up Eric Paschall. All of KU's options were either too slow or to small to guard him.
@Jethro The is one pretty important metric in which Jay Wright had the advantage over Self amd that's head to head. KU and Villanova played 9 times with Self and Wright coaching and Villanova had a 5-4 record against KU in those games. There's a reason why so many here, myself included, have a lot of respect for Wright and was frequently at or near the top of who would you want coaching KU if Self left lists.
This is interesting and surprising because usually the Big 10 has been interested in schools that share a border with current Big 10 members.
With the Big 12 hiring their new commissioner, I'm hoping he'll look at further expanding the Big 12 by raiding the PAC12 and going after Arizona, Arizona St., Colorado, and Utah if UCLA and USC do bolt for the Big 10.
@justanotherfan None of Villanova's tournament games were close or competitive. That team was just on a different level from everyone else that season, especially once the postseason started. None of their 9 Big East or NCAA Tournament games were decided by single digits.
@wissox said in 2022-23 Non Conference Schedule:
@approxinfinity Mad respect for Jay Wright after he outcoached Bill Self twice in the the dance. I never would have believed it because Nova had a rep for choking in the tournament until they got over the hump in that elite 8 game in 2016. Of course in 18 it was no contest.
Wright only outcoached Self once in the tournament. KU could've played their A game in that 2018 Final Four game and Villanova still would've won. That team was the best college team in the last 30 years and the only other team that's close to me is the 2009 North Carolina team.
@jayballer67 Zuby is not a 5, he's a 4. Zach Clemence has the skill set and ability to play the 4 in college since he can play away from the basket.
If a top 20 player who could move up further is interested in your program, you recruit him because you need talent and depth to win championships.
KU is looking at potentially 5 non conference games against ranked opponents next season depending on what happens in the Bahamas. Only 1 of those potential games is in Allen Fieldhouse.
Duke and Kentucky are showing up as preseason top 5 teams in a lot of early rankings and Indiana is in the 15-20 range. In the Bahamas, KU and Tennessee are probably going to be on opposite sides of the bracket as the hopeful championship game of that tournament. Dayton is going to be loaded as they return every relevant player from last year when they beat KU and are also projected to be the 15-20 range next year.
This is a pretty good non-confernce schedule. 5 of the 10 known opponents were in the NCAA Tournament last year and and could end up with 8 tournament teams from last year depending on the Atlantis draw. North Dakota St. and Southern Utah both finished runner up in their respective leagues.
@FarmerJayhawk do you know what happened with the Gonzaga home and home series that was supposed to start this season? I don't remember seeing anything about that series being canceled or delayed.
Wed. 11/2- Pitt. St. (Exhibition)
Mon. 11/7- Omaha
Thur. 11/10- North Dakota St.
Tue. 11/15- Duke (Champions Classic)
Fri. 11/18- Southern Utah
Wed. 11/23-Fri. 11/25 Battle 4 Atlantis
Mon. 11/28- Texas Southern
Thur. 12/1- Seton Hall
Sat. 12/10- @Missouri
Sat. 12/17- Indiana
Thur. 12/22- Harvard
Sat. 1/28- @Kentucky
The Battle 4 Atlantis field also includes BYU, Dayton, NC State, USC, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.
@Kcmatt7 Self flat out said in the middle of last season that Yes wasn't a PG so the battle has been getting Yes to buy into that vision that he's better suited as an off ball guard.
@drgnslayr Dick has a higher chance of being a OAD than MJ Rice at this point. Dick is also not projected to be a lottery pick at this point so he doesn't have to be NBA ready immediately. Dick is also projected as a 2 at the NBA level, not a 3 or 4 he'll mostly play at KU. If he is OAD, he's probably going to end up in the back half of the first round which means mostly likely on a playoff team that can afford to ha e him spend some time in the G-League.
If we get to April next year and Dick's game is NBA ready, but he's still not physically developed enough, he'd still need to go pro because then he can work on physical development full time with an NBA trainer.
That's always been my take on whether a player should turn pro or not. If their skillset is NBA ready, or as developed as it will get, then go pro because that's when that person's stock is at its highest.
McCormack signed a Summer League and training camp deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
@nwhawkfan said in NBA draft, Jayhawk style:
By the way, that jingle they play before each pick...is it just me, or did they "borrow" the tune from the opening of that old song "See You In September" ? Always thought they sounded the same.
"I'll be alone each and ev'ry night...While you're away don't forget to write..."
They borrowed it from the NFL Draft.
Wow! Did not expect Banchero to go #1
@justanotherfan said in Big 12 Expansion:
@drgnslayr said in Big 12 Expansion:
Where will our kids be making their NIL? Maybe I'm off here... but won't it be for selling carpet in Kansas City? Or BBQ? Won't that be more localized $$$? Like... would Och be making money on his image in Michigan? I am thinking the big $$$ made from moving to the Big10 won't be going to the athletes.
You're right, they will be making money locally. But answer this - where can you make more money? Selling carpet in KC or selling carpet in Chicago? Advertising for a restaurant in Wichita or in Dallas? See where I'm going. The Big 12 footprint doesn't have a lot of pull in the larger metro areas, so NIL $$$ will depress slightly. If you're an athlete at UCLA or USC, you have all of LA at your fingertips. That will pay more than something in Lawrence. That's the challenge.
@Texas-Hawk-10 if streaming is the future, again, will Jayhawk TV get as many subscribers as a network dedicated to Texas or USC or Cal? If not, the money just won't be there because Kansas is a smaller state than a lot of these other places. That's just the difficulty with the new deals out there.
That's not how NIL works. Playing for a school in a bigger market doesn't guarantee a bigger payday. In the case of somewhere like LA, that's a pro sports town and it's going to be players from the pro teams getting the type of endorsement deals your talking about. The way NIL money makes it way to programs is through the school's boosters and the companies they own paying athletes to promote those businesses on social media.
As for streaming, no, JayhawkTV is not something that KU should market independently. If you go into ESPN+, you can find hours of content produced by JayhawkTV there like "Miles To Go" and other stuff like that. Old football and basketball games, olympic sports archives, behind the scenes stuff. That's stuff that adds value to JayhawkTV and if KU were to move to the Big 10, all that content moves with KU to be added to the BTN archives giving them even more content they can add. Then, when the Big 10 goes looking for a new media rights deal, if someone like Amazon or AppleTV get involved, the B10 can show them how many hours of content they have to sell, including JayhawkTV content and help increase the value of that type of deal because a lot of those deals are based on how many hours of content are being offered.
@drgnslayr said in Big 12 Expansion:
I challenge your view for us to go to the Big 10 but I appreciate your wisdom in this area. It is far deeper than mine. I openly admit to a simplistic view on this topic.
I am skeptical about us having an opportunity to go to the Big 10. And everything else... I've already stated.
I would like to ask you... let's say the Big 10 is a "no go." What is your best outlook for Kansas in the future? Connecting in another conference? Or if we stick it out... can you project a little deeper into the future... beyond dollars and cents?
You cannot take a simplistic view on a matter that is very complicated. If KU can convince the Big 10 to add KU, then KU needs to jump on that opportunity ASAP because it is a bigger benefit to the entire university and not just athletics which is what most people only focus on in these situations.
The Big 10 is generally regarded as the top academic conference among the P5 conferences and the Big 12 is at the bottom of the P5 in regards to academics. The SEC has significantly improved its academic standing in recent years with the 4 B12 schools it's added because 3 of the 4 are AAU member schools and once Texas officially moves, it would give the SEC 5 AAU member schools whereas pre-expansion they only had two.
Being apart of the best academic league among major conferences has recruiting prospective students looking for a top academic school (there's only 65 AAU member schools), it helps attract international students, especially from India and China because AAU rankings are currently emphasizing medical research. Medical isn't the only emphasis, but it's currently the largest.
Being in the Big 10 would allow KU to partner with other B10 schools on major research projects from government grants.
Travis Goff does have strong ties to the Big 10 so he can have conversations about what KU needs to do to join the B10 athletically amd pass on to Doug Girod what KU could do academically to help itself as well. Girod coming from the Med School has a lot as well because of the AAU's focus on medical research.
Once Texas is gone, KU will be the only AAU member schools left in the B12. Houston would probably be the only other school that could gain membership as the school just approved building a medical school and became a Tier 1 research school not too long ago so they have significantly increased the school's academic profile in recent years. Baylor is another possibility because they just became classified as a Tier 1 research school this year and ready have a College of Medicine, but I'm not sure the structure Baylor has between the main campus and the med school.
If KU can't get into the Big 10, staying put in the Big 12 is the next best option. I'm also perfectly okay with Girod and Goff not publicly discussing the matter because it's not a situation that needs to play out in public and Missouri basically making the negotiations public is one of the big things that hurt their chances at joining the Big 10 a decade ago.
@approxinfinity Texas and Oklahoma are the biggest reason why the Big 12's is where it's currently at. Losing those two likely drops the Big 12 into the Pac 12 and ACC range and possibly lower than that. There's a reason why both ESPN and Fox vetoed the Big 12 expanding while Texas and OU were still long term members of the league. The Big 12's next TV dealnis going to see a major drop off in value without the league's two cash cows.
@approxinfinity Duke is also an AAU school so there could be a deal there if the Big 10 really wanted to push that.
Realistically, what probably hurts KU the most is Iowa St. leaving the AAU this year.
@Jethro If you want to know the future of TV, look at MLS and their deal with AppleTV next year, look at the NFL and their deal with Amazon, look at UFC and their deal with ESPN+. The New York Yankees I believe have a streaming deal with someone beginning next season. That is the future of TV and live sports, not cable TV deals. Media market size is going to be less relevant than ever going forward and KU has always had good in-house production and can add value to a streaming deal because of how many hours of content they can provide to a streaming deal with another conference.
Streaming is the future of TV and KU adds value in that regard because JayhawkTV can provide many hours of content to a streaming service like Amazon or AppleTV who appear to be the platforms most interested in moving into the live sports realm.
@drgnslayr If the Big 10 only cared about on field football results, they never would've added Maryland and Rutgers who have been somewhere between middle of the pack at their bests in the Big 10 to bottom feeders. There's a lot more than football success that goes into the Big 10 discussions about adding new programs.
TV viewership numbers are down across the board because of how viewing habits have changed so I wouldn't expect any conference to see an increase in their next major deals. The Big 10 is also a conference that tries to keep up with the SEC and with the SEC moving to 16 members, don't be too surprised to see the Big 10 take a serious look at trying to add some combination of KU, Pittsburgh, Virginia, and UNC to keep up with the SEC.
@drgnslayr The reason to try and move to the Big 10 is not solely athletic. Yes, the TV money will be better because because of schools like Ohio St. and Michigan that are on par with Texas in regards to followings and drawing viewers. The bigger boon is going to be on the academic side because once Texas and Oklahoma leave, KU would be the top research university in the conference and the only AAU member university which is unofficial criteria for Big 10 membership. Joining a conference where almost everyone else is also an AAU member would be a big boost to the university itself and not just athletics
In regards to athletics, think about how much people here complain that a low level game is on ESPN+, that doesn't happen in the Big 10 because of the Big 10 Network that's generally apart of most providers sports package.
Happy for Wiggs, but Steph earned that Finals MVP this year. 31ppg, 6rpg, 5apg for the Finals for Steph.
@drgnslayr The Big 12's decline overall began with UT's decline in football after the 2009 title game loss to Alabama. Regardless of anyone's personal opinions of UT, they are the school that gave value to Big 12. They were the program that drew ratings to the league. They were the program that drew recruits to the league. How many other below .500 teams could KU have beaten on the road and garnered so much attention nationally? KU doesn't get the attention they got last year for that win if was any other Big 12 team that entered that game at 4-5 like Texas did. How many teams with a losing record sell 95,000 tickets to a game against Kansas football?
Texas is a name brand and losing them is going to do irreparable damage to the Big 12 because there isn't another Texas out there to bring into the Big 12. All the complaining about UT should be a bright, neon billboard to everyone about where UT's place and importance to the Big 12 is.
Cincinnati may have had more on field success than Texas recently, but Cincinnati is not capable of filling a 100,000+ seat stadium like Texas does.
As much I'm looking forward to being able to see KU in person more frequently with Houston in the conference, KU officials need to be working behind the scenes to get KU into the Big 10 as soon as possible.
Wiggins needed to get out of Minnesota and into a situation where he didn't need to be the alpha of the team because his on court personality is not an alpha and that was evident even during his year at KU. Being with the Warriors and that group has taken so much pressure off of him to be the alpha and has allowed him to grow into his game and become the star that he can be.
@Crimsonorblue22 College basketball doesn't draw big numbers outside of the NCAA Tournament. Only 1 regular season game topped 3 million, and only 8 topped 2 million. Duke or Kentucky were involved in 6 of those 8 games. The two games that didn't involve Duke or Kentucky were Ohio St./Purdue that was tge lead in to the AFC title game so a lot Bengals fans were likely watching that game as well and the other game was St. John's/Georgetown that I believe was the lead in to the Rams/Buccaneers playoff game.
And those overall numbers are still down from pre-pandemic numbers. People's viewing habits are changing amd I doubt very many leagues, if any, actually see their next media rights deals increase because of those changing habits.
@RockkChalkk Because billionaires clearly don't make decisions based on money. Also, no college basketball recruit has ever made a decision about what school to attend based on money.
Bronny will end up with the highest bidder which will probably be Duke.
The AAC has reached a deal with Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF on early buyouts and those three will be joining the Big 12 next summer and begin competing as Big 12 members for the 2023-24 athletic season. BYU had already committed to joining the Big 12 for 2023 so as of now, the Big 12 will be at 14 teams for two seasons before Oklahoma and Texas head off to the SEC.
With the AAC teams timeline settled, I wouldn't be shocked if we see Texas and OU negotiate an early buyout and head to the SEC early now as well.
Bronny is going wherever offers the best NIL deal which will probably end up being Duke followed by Kentucky. I don't see him going the G-League route at this point because of NIL because Bronny is someone who could pull in 8 figures from NIL deals in college.
As far as actual ability, I'd absolutely take him in heartbeat if he wanted to come to KU. Skillwise, he's not a OAD and he needs to develop his PG skills to reach the NBA and he'd be playing off the ball at KU which is currently his best position. I also don't know if he'd start at KU over Harris, Pettiford, and McCullar if he came back for year two at KU. That's also on top of if Dick or Rice are around for year two, I think it's more likely Rice is than Dick.
Even though Bronny is a good player that I'd love to have, I don't know that KU would be a great fit for him and that's without factoring in NIL. I think with everything factored in, Bronny's joining the Brotherhood for a year.
@jayballer67 They'll both likely play in the 25-30 minute range because they can both play the 2-4 spots for Self. The reason why people tend to be higher on Dick than Rice right now is because Dick's recruiting stock increased over the past season quite a bit whereas Rice's stock went down to the point where 24/7 even lowered him to a 4 star recruit.
@drgnslayr With NIL a huge factor in recruiting now, is KU amd Self going to follow Duke's example and hire a GM to oversee the NIL side of the program?
@Kcmatt7 Udeh probably will foul a lot because Self won't care if he fouls a lot. Back up 5's under Self generally have very high foul rates because they don't usually have to worry about playing extended minutes. Their job is typically play all out for a 3-4 minute stretch and if they get a couple of fouls, it's not a big issue. Since KU does have really good depth at that spot, there's 5 guys that can play the 5 depending in what Self wants out of the line up so Udeh is likely to be guy that can pick up a lot of fouls while playing aggressive defense.
I'm going with the over on points and rebounds, and minutes, and the 3FG% is close to what I think he'll shoot at.
I think Dick will be either the 2nd or 3rd leading scorer next season behind Wilson and possibly Clemence. I'll say Dick averages 12-13 ppg, 4-5 rpg, and plays about 30 mpg next season.
@drgnslayr said in Is Self ready for his next big shift in basketball approach?:
@Kcmatt7 said in Is Self ready for his next big shift in basketball approach?:
Also, he let Marcus launch 76 threes his final season, Kief 59, Perry 64, and the most recent example of Dedric shot 89.
The evidence is there that Bill will let him shoot.
Dedric is probably his closest comp from a Bill Self big man imo. And he put up 19 and 10. So, I think he knows what to do with Zach.Even though we got stuck playing these guys at the 5, do you think any were legit 5s? Even Zach is listed as a forward... I've met him and he is a legit 6' 10" guy.
Is it possible we see him at the 4 sometimes? That could sure give a way where Bill could still go with a hybrid hi/lo with 4/1 and Zach on the perimeter. I'm thinking maybe Self tries Zach at the 4 when Jalen needs a blow... at least, early on, like Nov/Dec.
Do you think he will force him to play back-to-the-basket?
I think we could see Zach some at the 4 this year when Self tightens the rotation if Clemence plays next to Udeh.
@drgnslayr said in Reasons to believe in next year’s team:
Gosh... the news this past week... Wilson and McCullar here... We should be competitive on the boards this year! Now... if we get good boards from the 5? Could be huge!
Rebounding won't be an issue unless Self decided to play KJ Adams the majority of the minutes at the 5. He's the only big that's going to play that's a bad rebounder. Clemence is already a good rebounder and should be even better with a year of lifting and bulking up. Udeh has the frame to be a monster on the glass, and Wilson is a good rebounder for a stretch 4.
@mayjay said in Famous Buckets Blunders:
Did anyone mention Josh Selby? My belief he would become a star certainly got dashed!
I will always believe KU wins the 2012 title if he swallowed his pride and came back for his sophomore season.
@BeddieKU23 said in Roster’s set ... who starts?:
I agree Pettiford is a point guard but if Self wants to use 2 littles he's certainly got options. Bobby with a year in vs freshman (I think we know by now experience seems to beat out inexperienced players, especially early). Once Self latches onto a guard he tends to trust them as well & I think Bobby positioned himself favorably there.
Will be interesting to see what Juan does with even more responsibility this season. I'm hopeful and optimistic he's got more to give
What position has historically been the most successful for freshmen to come in and thrive in from Day 1 under Self, especially in the OAD era? The wing. Jackson, Wiggins, Oubre, McLemore, and Henry, were all wings at KU.
Where does Gradey Dick play? The wing. No offense to Pettiford intended here, but Dick is a much better player right now than Bobby Pettiford is and it's much easier for a wing to pick up the system than a PG.
@Bosthawk He didn't play well here because he's not a great athlete and wasn't very skilled. Dropping to the AAC help cover for his lack of athleticism and Kelvin Sampson is a very good coach.
I think the three that really get squeezed from the rotation early on are Cuffe, Martin, and Ejiofor with Yesufu amd Adams possibly getting squeezed when Self cuts the rotation to 7/8.
With Grimes, I said pretty much from the beginning that he was massively overrated as a top 10 recruit and should've been a high end 4 star ranked in the 40-50 range. I also said that he would be AAC POY when he announced he was going to Houston. What I didn't get right about him was that he would develop into a 1st round pick because of his lack of athleticism.
Before this place existed, or at least before I was posting here, I also correctly called Ben McLemore only playing one season at KU and being a lottery pick which is probably my proudest prediction because I caught tons of crap for that.
I also correctly predicted that the Morris Twins would be gone after their juniors seasons which even Self missed on that one and messed up recruiting for a couple of years with one.
I also called Joel Embiid being in a class with Hakeem Olajuwon as far as skillset went and that Embiid would be a very fast developing player and where most people thought he'd be here 3-4 years, I kept beating tge drum that he was a 2 year max player and even that was wrong on how fast his development was.
My biggest miss was probably Cliff Alexander because I thought he'd be a T-Rob clone.
I already said in another thread that I think it's going to be Harris, McCullar, Dick, Wilson, and Clemence. I think the new wrinkle we see this year is Self playing quite a bit of 5 out based on personnel. I'm also excited about MJ Rice because of his body and what he can add playing any of the 2-4 spots when needed. McCullar reminds me a bit of Marcus Garrett with his combination of size and skillset.
So with Wilson's announcement, the most likely starting line up for next season should be Harris, McCullar, Dick, Wilson, and Clemence I'm guessing.
Next season should be interesting to see how Self handles the line up because other than Udeh, there's not a true post that figures to be part of the rotation unless Cam Martin suddenly got good enough to play at this level. Even then, Cam's outside shooting was a big reason why he was brought in so we could potentially see a lot of 5 out next season which is something I never thought I'd see out of a Bill Self coached team.
I'm guessing the core bench pieces will be Rice, Pettiford, Adams, Udeh, and Yesufu with Ejiofor, Martin, and Cuffe getting spot minutes unless Ejiofor jumps ahead of KJ in the rotation. I'm not knocking Ejiofor, but he's probably looking at being the 5th big in the rotation which historically means very few minutes.