🏀 KuBuckets Archive

@Marco said in 2021 Transfer Talk/List:

@BShark @mayjay no doubt. Another thing that the new transfer rule will help to bring about is the deserved death of the OAD rule. It might help the mid-majors too, since with so many of players transferring to P5 schools (exhausting their scholarship limits) more highschool talent will be available to sign than there used to be.

The NCAA has zero control over the OAD rule. That's part of the NBA CBA and will be around for at least 2-3 more years. With more players going the G-League route, I don't necessarily see the NBA getting rid of the OAD rule when they redo their next CBA.

KU still needs a 2/3 style player for sure and should be the priority with the one for sure scholarship available and a pure wing depending on what Ochai does which I believe he'll be gone. The staff also needs to keep in contact with a starting caliber 4 in case Wilson makes a mistake and doesn't return.

Pre pandemic transfer numbers had leveled out around 700 players per off-season. We're around 1500 now but I don't think we'll see numbers this high on a regular basis going forward because of the rule only allowing players to transfer once without sitting out a year. I also don't see numbers going back to pre pandemic numbers either. I think we'll end up seeing numbers closer to around 1,000 players moving per off-season.

I do think most transfers will be freshmen who don't pan out or get minutes they expect and low and mid major players getting cherry picked to fill in gaps on P5 rosters.

@BShark said in 2021 Transfer Talk/List:

Bishop to Texas.

Bishop's a much better fit at Texas than at Kansas.

@Kcmatt7 said in 2021 Transfer Talk/List:

@KirkIsMyHinrich I will take Bishop over watching Clemence hang out around the 3pt line next year and do largely nothing.

I think he has a lot more work to do than most people though... From a coordination perspective - very coordinated guy at 6'9.

From an athleticism perspective, I think the has a LONG ways to go and a lot of time to spend with Ramsey.

The problem with this take though is the Christian Bishop is unplayable next to Dave unless you think the Doke/Dave comb was successful in 2019-20. Bishop has zero outside game and has less range than Dave.

The only way you can play Bishop is next to Martin/Lightfoot or backing up Dave and since Bishop supposedly has no interest in playing the 5, backing Dave up is probably not an option.

Christian Bishop is a good player, but he's a terrible fit on KU's roster because his skill set doesn't compliment anyone else's except maybe Cam Martin.

@BShark said in Kyle Cuffe JR:

Bossi thinks he is a RS candidate fwiw.

I think Cuffe and Curry will reshirt and I would probably redshirt KJ Adams as well if he doesn't look like he'll factor into the rotation next season.

@BeddieKU23 said in 2021 Transfer Talk/List:

It sure would be nice to return 1 starter, is that too much to ask?

You mean like Braun and McCormack that are for sure returning and McCormack that will for sure be starting next season?

I really don't see Christian Bishop being a good fit on KU next season. He'd likely be a 4 instead of a 5 here, but he's got no outside game and would have to play near the basket next to McCormack and we've seen how much the offense struggled when Doke was the other big with Dave and Bishop is nowhere near Doke.

Christian Bishop is a very good player, but I just don't see Kansas being the place where he'd be able to excel and think he would actuallake the offense worse. You have to have a 4 that can stretch the floor playing next to Save and that's not Bishop.

Defensively, Bishop is a huge upgrade over Wilson and Clemence so he makes sense on that end of the floor, but I think the offense suffers too much to overcome his defense.

@Woodrow said in 2021 Transfer Talk/List:

@BShark said in 2021 Transfer Talk/List:

We have two because Ochai is gooooone.

I get that guys go pro for different reasons, but there is not one reputable draft expert that has Ochai even getting drafted. Chad Ford just released his top 65 prospects and he nor Wilson were listed. It just seems insane to me that he is going to go to the combine ( if he gets invited) and be told he will not be drafted and keep his name in.

If Ochai gets the feedback that he likely wouldn't improve his draft stock coming back, like what happened with Selden after his junior year, then Ochai leaving is the right decision.

@BShark I don't want someone who progressively got worse every season. Collins is an offensive black hole at the mid major level and would be a waste of a scholarship at KU.

Collins is a high volume shooter who can't shoot and KU can doicj better than David Collins.

I also don't see the transfer numbers being as high as they are this season going forward since it's only a one time deal on not having to sit out.

I think this being the first year of the rule has created a spike in transfer numbers and I think we'll see a smaller number next season. I don't see it ever going back to pre pandemic numbers, but I think somewhere between 900-1,100 per year probably becomes the new annual range.

@bmensch said in Kyle Cuffe JR:

soooo....here's what we've got...as of 2:30pm EDT on 4/15/2021:

the seniors - freshman thing doesn't work because you have covid...so

1 year left
Mitch
Teahan
D2

2 years eligibility left
Big Dave

3 years eligibility left
Yesufu
Braun
Syd Curry

4 years left
Dajuan Harris
Zach Clamence
KJ Adams
Pettiford
Cuffe

we have 12 players, but only 9 schollies count (Mitch and D2 don't count...right?? and Teahan is on his own dime)...so we have 4?

Marcus could come back...but his scholarship won't count.
Ochai may come back as well as J-dubbs.

that leaves 1 scholarship and TyTy is pretty much the only dude out there being heavily recruited. so we potentially have 3 left over scholarships for next year?

Gone for good...Bryce, gethro, Juco boy, and latrell. and they aren't coming back...forever. right? except to play in AFH in Bryce's case when he goes to OSU.

Does that pretty much sum things up. I think I'm missing someone. like a creighton kid or something.

Chris Teahan is not on scholarship and Mitch Lightfoot's scholarship doesn't count towards the 13.

As of now the scholarship situation is:

Returning: Braun, Harris, and McCormack

Undecided: Agbaji and Wilson

Newcomers: Adams, Clemence, Cuffe, Curry, Martin, Pettiford, and Yesufu

KU currently has 1 scholarship officially open with potentially 2 more open depending on Agbaji and Wilson's decisions.

@Kcmatt7 said in Welcome Sydney Curry!:

@BeddieKU23 can he give us any minutes? We just need to not have to play Mitch

I'm pretty sure Cam Martin is the person you're trying to describe here and not Curry.

KU currently has 4 players who play the 5 spot as their primary position. 2 of them (Lightfoot and Martin) will be gone after 2022. A third (McCormack) could be gone and will after 2 more years for sure. That leaves KU with only Sydney Curry at the moment in 2023-24.

If Cam Martin never plays a meaningful minute for Kansas, that's the wasted scholarship, not Sydney Curry because Cam Martin is coming to KU as a grad transfer with only 2021-22 to play. Sydney Curry is coming to KU with 3 years of eligibility left along with the option to redshirt (which I think happens next season) and not lose a season eligibility.

Sydney Curry was brought in with the idea of him being David McCormack's long term replacement. Curry committed to KU well before Martin so Self and staff actively sought out Martin presumably with the intention of Martin backing up McCormack this upcoming season.

If Curry doesn't develop as expected next season, move on and nothing is really lost since he wasn't expected to contribute next season anyway. Cam Martin was specifically brought in for the purpose of backing up McCormack next season otherwise it would make no sense to tie up a scholarship on a one year rental that wasn't expected to play.

Cincy looks like they're going to land Wes Miller from UNCG

I've seen Gonzaga atop several way too early polls again next season as well so they're still going to be loaded again next season.

Harris and Yesufu are good enough to man the PG spot next year with Garrett playing off the ball. Harris and Garrett were a very solid combo last year with Harris as the lead guard and Garrett playing off the ball.

Garrett playing off the ball allows him to play his defense and be the NDPOY caliber defender that we didn't always see last season.

@BShark Please no on Collins, he's gotten worse every season shooting. 50% as a freshman down to down to 42% last year. He was 71% from the FT line as a freshman and was down to 55% last season. Hard pass on Collins. KU doesn't need another guard who can't shoot.

@Kcmatt7 said in 2021 Transfer Talk/List:

People are worried and all I can think is we are returning the 3 best players from a top 15 team (Och, Jalen and Dave) and adding Yesufu, Pettiford and post depth.

And that is at a minimum.

I think we will be much improved.

All we talked about all year was needing a guy who can get to the basket. Check.

Post depth. Addressed.

About the only thing missing is adding shooters, but something tells me our 3pt woes can improve pretty drastically in house once you add a real PG to the rotation for 40 minutes and subtract Garrett (God please).

People think our shooting was bad - but it wasn't REALLY the starters. A good chunk of our woes were from a complete lack of offensive fire power off the bench.

• Enaruna - .245
• Bryce - .222
• TFG - .130

Dajaun only took one three per 40 minutes on the floor so he wasn't exactly coming in to be the spark on offense.

Our shitty shooting really was the starters. Enaruna, Bryce, and TGF only took 81 out of 663 3 point attempts. Don't try and blame three guys who only took 12% of KU's outside attempts for KU being a bad shooting team.

Christian Braun and Jalen Wilson are the two biggest reasons KU's shooting was shit last year. Braun was 34% on 153 attempts and Wilson was 33.3% on 120 attempts. Those two combined to take about 41% of KU's outside attempts and only made 33.7% of their attempts combined. That's where the trouble with shooting last was, Braun and Wilson.

@Kcmatt7 said in Ochai:

@bskeet If he was a Bill Self guy he would have been in the rafters already, jmo.

Doubtful because he's still an active player overseas and likely hasn't had the schedule to make it back to Lawrence if they were to ever do that.

The problem for Langford and Aaron Miles is neither one even meets the expanded criteria.

Sydney was not brought in to be an immediate impact player for KU. KU has the option to redshirt him and with KU already having Dave, Cam, and Mitch at the 5 spot, it'd make a lot of sense to reshirt Curry this season and let him develop out of the spotlight because he has insane athleticism for a man of his build.

@Marco said in Coach Howard:

@Texas-Hawk-10 said in Coach Howard:

@Marco said in Coach Howard:

@mayjay said in Coach Howard:

@AsadZ I already gave an opinion on this, but it might simply be that he thinks it would be cool to work with Beard and is looking forward to recruiting kids to the $300 million facility.

Not to mention basically only having to recruit in one state. If you can recruit in Texas, well,,, you win....
l
Basketball recruiting in Texas is not even remotely the same quality of depth as football recruiting is. There's just simply not enough high level talent to sustain multiple P5 programs.

I didn't say that it competed with football, but there is talent there.

I never said they competed either, I said Texas doesn't have much quality of depth. Texas might be a huge state, but the HS basketball scene here isn't very good. 5 top 50 Texas kids in 2021 (and this includes Zach Clemence who doesn't actually go to school in Texas) is a spike from the normal 1 or 2 Texas kids in the top 50.

2020 only had 4 top 100 kids from Texas which is pretty normal. So unless Texas landed every top player in state (never going to happen), the state of Texas does not produce enough basketball talent to sustain 1, let alone 4 power B12 programs and the AAC teams in state.

@Marco said in Coach Howard:

@mayjay said in Coach Howard:

@AsadZ I already gave an opinion on this, but it might simply be that he thinks it would be cool to work with Beard and is looking forward to recruiting kids to the $300 million facility.

Not to mention basically only having to recruit in one state. If you can recruit in Texas, well,,, you win....

Basketball recruiting in Texas is not even remotely the same quality of depth as football recruiting is. There's just simply not enough high level talent to sustain multiple P5 programs.

@tis4tim said in Coach Howard:

Serious question: As a recruiter what are you selling a kid?

A rather simplistic question, I know, but are you selling the program, playing time, national TV exposure, all of the above? Or are you selling to the parents? How much weight is placed on being straight with people and how much is telling them what they want to hear? Does each team have a pre-determined philosophy about how to approach recruiting or do teams let individuals flex their independence when talking to kids?

Would love to hear from someone in the know.

If a kid has pro potential, most of the selling to both the player and parents/guardians is going to be how their program can help develop a kid and get them to the next level. If a kid doesn't have a pro future, then most of the selling will be on academics of the school such as support staff to help the kid graduate, help the kid get into some type of career post college.

When selling the kid, the along with the above stuff, a coach is going to sell the overall college experience at their school. For KU, that's going to include McCarthy, playing in AFH, Mass St., and other stuff like that.

@BeddieKU23 said in Coach Howard:

Howard recruits better then Townsend..

I'm gonna very strongly disagree with that one.

I'll also add about Howard that I believe he was very underwhelming as a recruiter which he was supposed to be one of his elite traits.

In his 8 years here, Howard only landed two 5 star players and neither one came close to the hype of their rankings. Cliff Alexander ended up being a disaster for Kansas off the court and Grimes never coming close to looking like a top 10 player in his year here.

Other than those two, McCormack is the only other top 50 recruit Howard landed for Kansas. His best overall player has to be Marcus Garrett. In 8 years, he didn't bring in very much talent and never really was able to keep the Chicago pipeline open that's been really good to KU under Bill Self.

I honestly don't see losing Howard as that big of a hit. KT historically is a lot better at landing the top end talent and Norm has been much more successful at finding the diamonds in the rough.

Quentin Grimes declared for the draft again today.

@BigBad said in Jalen Declares For Draft:

Jalen Wilson averages against big 12
11.7ppg
8rbpg
33% from 3

At absolute best he’s a 3 and D guy in nba. Not much d and slow
33% from 3

But go have a conversation with agents and scouts and feel like an NBA player for a few weeks.

College basketball sucks now

Why is a player going through the process of learning what it takes to be a professional basketball player a bad thing? I don't see Jalen ever being an NBA guy, but he absolutely will be playing professional basketball somewhere and this is nothing but positive since players can go through this process multiple times.

@BigBad said in Jalen Declares For Draft:

Someone fill me in. The stock explanation is “get feed back from nba scouts on what to work on”.

For years and years college coaches would get reports and feedback about players. What did this have to change? Do players not trust their college coach? Or is this actually more about feedback from agents?

NCAA changed the rules a few years back so that now a kid can go through the pre-draft process and have that experience which I think is overall a net positive for kids because they are also allowed to have guidance from a licensed agent while going through the process.

@approxinfinity 38% in college doesn't cut it as a 3&D guy at the NBA level either though. This isn't a Wayne Selden situation when Selden left with his stock at its peak. Ochai still has enough left to work on that he can genuinely boost his stock into being a draftable player next season.

If I'm an NBA GM, I wouldn't even use a second round pick on Ochai at this point because he only brings two above average skills to his position and that's defense and athleticism. There's plenty of players who will be in the draft with those skills and more that make Ochai a Summer League pick up and probably playing in G-League somewhere and not even on a two-way contract.

I expect him to declare and go through the process because he should, but he's definitely not ready for the NBA.

@nuleafjhawk said in Does Baylor's title make Self hungrier?:

@Texas-Hawk-10 I never thought of it like that. Dang you - now EVERY potential KU recruit will run to Waco for the chance to check out Joanna's shiplap.

It's not to check out the shiplap itself, it's to check out the girls checking out the shiplap that's the problem.

@Fightsongwriter said in Yesufu to KU (Drake PG Transfer):

@Texas-Hawk-10 Gosh, golly and gee-willakers tx hawk, thanks for explaining all that. After following college bball for 43 years, I didn't know ANY of that!

And yet for some reason you still think a team that couldn't shoot for shit or defend for shit this season was capable of making a deep run in the tournament this season by sitting their best offensive player.

@BShark said in Does Baylor's title make Self hungrier?:

@mayjay said in Does Baylor's title make Self hungrier?:

Funny no one ever mentions Tharpe as a vital cog of the past. That last EJ pass to the poor guy...looked totally shocked, as were we all.

Tharpe was, um, probably one of the few guards of the past I wouldn't have taken on last year's roster.

Was there anyone here sad to lose Tharpe because I don't remember a lot of mourning over that loss.

@mayjay said in Does Baylor's title make Self hungrier?:

@Texas-Hawk-10 Did we have any suspensions or off-court incidents this year? I remember people being so concerned about the "character" of our players after Josh-in-the-parking-lot, Preston-on-the-curb and Bragg-pretty-much-everywhere.

Depends on how you view and categorize Silvio DeSousa's situation.

@Fightsongwriter said in Yesufu to KU (Drake PG Transfer):

@Texas-Hawk-10 Agree he was playing better but compared to Suggs or Cade, for a 5 he seemed an awful lot like a 3.

There's a very big difference in talent level between guys like Cunningham and Suggs and someone like Bryce Thompson.

Most basketball recruiting classes have somewhere between 25-30 players rated as a 5 star recruit.

Top 10ish players who are generally considered OAD players are high end 5 star players. The 10-20 ranked kids are mid-level 5 star kids that have OAD potential, but not surefire OAD kids. 20 and lower are the low end 5 star kids that are considered to have an NBA future, but need more than 1 season to reach that level.

To out it in KU terms, guys Josh Jackson and Andrew Wiggins were on the same level as Cunningham. Guys that's would've been top 10 lottery picks straight out of high school. Xavier Henry and Kelly Oubre are comparable to Suggs in talent level. Guys that are OAD caliber, but maybe not top 5 draft pick good.

Bryce Thompson is ranked in the same general range as Devon Dotson and Elijah Johnson. Those guys were 5 star players, but never considered OAD. Those were guys that needed time for the light to come on and Bryce was no different.

@mayjay said in Does Baylor's title make Self hungrier?:

@Texas-Hawk-10 That reminds me...Did EJ ever explain why he flicked the Michigan guy in the 'nads?

EJ made a lot of poor decisions on and off the court. I believe he was suspended at least once a season for "violation of team rules" which in his case meant busted for weed.

@Fightsongwriter said in Yesufu to KU (Drake PG Transfer):

@jayballer67 Did Bryce seem 5 Star to anyone? Even before the injuries was failing the eye test.

Yes, low end 5 star players, which Bryce was, usually have an adjustment period and aren't always instant impact players and can take half a season or so to fully adjust. Bryce was definitely figuring things out at the end of the season and playing much better. Without those injuries, the light probably comes on for him in early February.

@mayjay said in Does Baylor's title make Self hungrier?:

@BShark Trying to draw out he-who-shall-not-be-named?

His beef was always with playing Brady over Elijah, never really mentioned Reed.

@mayjay said in Yesufu to KU (Drake PG Transfer):

@Texas-Hawk-10 Or possibly gained a bunch back during high school!

I believe Dave has said he was around 350 lbs. when he started getting serious about getting in shape so he's dropped close to 100 lbs. total.

@BigBad said in Does Baylor's title make Self hungrier?:

@BShark You honestly think you can win a national championship with Reed and Morningstar starting? The Selby suspension and lack of development killed any hopes.

With the NBA talent surrounding those two, absolutely. Even without Selby, Reed and Morningstar were surrounded with NBA talent.

@mayjay Dave came to KU at around 290 according to 247 and is currently listed at 250 on KU's site so he's dropped 40 more pounds since he arrived here.

My opinion on the transfer situation is this year is going to be a spike year in transfer numbers for two reasons. 1st is this is the first year the new transfer rule so we're naturally going to see a spike. The other reason is because of the extra year of eligibility everyone has.

The transfer rule also states that a player can only transfer once without having to sit out. That rule is going to bring transfer numbers back down next year. I think numbers will plateau higher than before the transfer rule was implemented, but a lot lower than this season as well.

@jayballer67 said in Yesufu to KU (Drake PG Transfer):

@Texas-Hawk-10 said in Yesufu to KU (Drake PG Transfer):

@jayballer67 said in Yesufu to KU (Drake PG Transfer):

@Texas-Hawk-10 said in Yesufu to KU (Drake PG Transfer):

@jayballer67 said in Yesufu to KU (Drake PG Transfer):

@FarmerJayhawk said in Yesufu to KU (Drake PG Transfer):

Tyty very much in play.

you think he is guy? - -makes me hesitant in thinking that , just not feeling it now with this addition - -mercy gonna be some competition for sure.

So with all these new additions - -when will these guys become official? put the name to the Ink? - Some have mentioned Curry maybe a no show - - I kind of think he still shows - -after his tweet about this commit, think he is still coming

I don't think Curry was ever pitched on being an immediate impact guy. I think he was likely pitched as having a much larger role in a year or two and still having 2-3 years to play as a starter or rotation guy. You don't run off someone who's built like Zion and has a lot of potential.

ya I didn't think is an impact guy either just a role player. might be a guy to possibly redshirt

He can be an impact guy, but it won't be in 2021-22. His biggest obstacle is that he doesn't have much quickness which is mostly from him being overweight. He has a naturally thick body type, but he's still about 20-25 lbs. overweight right now. He's the biggest reason Gethro moved on because his ceiling is much higher than Gethro's is.

now not comparing athlete wise or height or any of that BUT would you compare his being over weight wise is comparable to possibly Doke's over weight wise cause Doke was overweight when he came in but worked hard and transferred into a brick - think curry is about the same degree oveweight. - I think Doke was somewhere about the same but difference night and day in the end

Pretty much. Curry getting in shape should have a pretty big impact on his overall game.

@BeddieKU23 said in Okay I Know but Hear Me Out:

Can we still get Ayton?

I mean why not, Baylor got Donovan Mitchell to play for them.

@BShark said in Okay I Know but Hear Me Out:

🐦 View Tweet

The dream is dead long live the dream.

This route worked out okay for Kelvin Sampson.

@Kcmatt7 said in Bill Self Emperor of Kansas:

@drgnslayr I think as a coach, Nike makes UK the better job.

If you were asking me what makes sense from an Athletic Department standpoint - sure I think a lucrative deal obviously is more important. But Shoe Co. dictates so much of your success and UK is the Nike darling.

The big money in college athletics is football. Our football program as crappy as it is still brings in more money to KU than basketball does. Shoe companies also have minimal influence on football recruiting. Nike also doesn't give their big contracts to basketball schools, their biggest deals are with Texas, Michigan and Ohio St. and not because of their basketball programs.

@jayballer67 said in Coach Howard:

@Marco said in Coach Howard:

@jayballer67 said in Coach Howard:

@Marco said in Coach Howard:

@jayballer67 I know

ummm Danny had no problem recruiting

Are you sure?

ya but you can believe what ya want

Danny was never a big time recruiter. He was brought in to be a player development coach after Jankovoch left for Illinois St. Dooley and Townsend were the ones landing the top talent at the time.

With Howard leaving and possibly Townsend having to leave, that's KU's two beat recruiters possibly leaving this season so KU needs to replace Howard with a top end recruiter.

@jayballer67 said in Yesufu to KU (Drake PG Transfer):

@Texas-Hawk-10 said in Yesufu to KU (Drake PG Transfer):

@jayballer67 said in Yesufu to KU (Drake PG Transfer):

@FarmerJayhawk said in Yesufu to KU (Drake PG Transfer):

Tyty very much in play.

you think he is guy? - -makes me hesitant in thinking that , just not feeling it now with this addition - -mercy gonna be some competition for sure.

So with all these new additions - -when will these guys become official? put the name to the Ink? - Some have mentioned Curry maybe a no show - - I kind of think he still shows - -after his tweet about this commit, think he is still coming

I don't think Curry was ever pitched on being an immediate impact guy. I think he was likely pitched as having a much larger role in a year or two and still having 2-3 years to play as a starter or rotation guy. You don't run off someone who's built like Zion and has a lot of potential.

ya I didn't think is an impact guy either just a role player. might be a guy to possibly redshirt

He can be an impact guy, but it won't be in 2021-22. His biggest obstacle is that he doesn't have much quickness which is mostly from him being overweight. He has a naturally thick body type, but he's still about 20-25 lbs. overweight right now. He's the biggest reason Gethro moved on because his ceiling is much higher than Gethro's is.

At this point, I would go with either Harris or Yesufu at the PG spot. Thompson at the 2, Agbaji at the 3, Wilson at the 4, and McCormack at the 5 spot.

My bench would be whoever doesn't start between Harris/Yesufu, Braun, Clemence, and Martin/Lightfoot depending on the match up.

I would redshirt Adams, Curry, and Pettiford since they likely won't factor into the rotation next season and none are early entry candidates.

@jayballer67 said in Yesufu to KU (Drake PG Transfer):

@FarmerJayhawk said in Yesufu to KU (Drake PG Transfer):

Tyty very much in play.

you think he is guy? - -makes me hesitant in thinking that , just not feeling it now with this addition - -mercy gonna be some competition for sure.

So with all these new additions - -when will these guys become official? put the name to the Ink? - Some have mentioned Curry maybe a no show - - I kind of think he still shows - -after his tweet about this commit, think he is still coming

I don't think Curry was ever pitched on being an immediate impact guy. I think he was likely pitched as having a much larger role in a year or two and still having 2-3 years to play as a starter or rotation guy. You don't run off someone who's built like Zion and has a lot of potential.