🏀 KuBuckets Archive

@JayHawkFanToo said:

While formations are being implemented in practice, they are observed bay band personnel from several high locations at the stadium to make sure the design looks correct…even my grandson’s HS band does this.

It's worse than that. Even a modestly well off HS band director is going to have access to software that they can use to simulate how things will work in real time. This guy knew what he was going for long before he got his band on the field. He either didn't care or thought he could get away with it as long as it was done with just enough of a wink and a nod.

Now do I really care? No. Hell, I'll cop to sophomoric side of me finding it somewhat funny. But at the same time it is completely unprofessional and really has no place in what I would hope KSU school administrators would want to be a family friendly environment.

The only thing that really irks me about the situation is all of the playing dumb or "You've just got a dirty mind" responses by KSU fans. When I first saw a video clip, I couldn't tell what the formation was exactly, but what it was doing was unambiguous. Seeing it later with the context of what it was supposed to be, as you pointed out, it still makes no sense without the double entendre. If KSU really isn't above doing something like this, fine, but own up to it.

Monk has spoken well of KU, but he's played it pretty tight as well. I think the hometown consensus will probably prove out, but I don't doubt that we have a real chance with this kid.

@Kip_McSmithers I'm willing to wait until the beginning of next week.

@Kip_McSmithers Fancaster isn't just some twitter rando. The account has always reported accurate news afaik, although I've never known them to break news. That's why I said it has potential to be true. Still, that's not enough for me to breath a sigh of relief. I just hope it proves to be correct.

It is potentially exciting, but who knows if there's anything to it. Regardless of whether or not this is true, I hope it's correct.

@nuleafjhawk Here you go:

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@drgnslayr I think Homer Simpson put it best:

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@JayHawkFanToo I think he's the new walk on since Pollard left. I can't recall all the details, but he was announced a month or so ago.

Here's what a CBS Sports poll had to say ↗.

@BeddieKU23 said:

Agreed, 247 sports is the worst culprit with its crystal ball predictions. Recruiting has become a big $ game with social media & the internet's reach to everyone and anyone.

Although I don't hold the whole crystal ball thing in high regard, it is interesting to watch how the zeitgeist of recruits shifts among the peanut gallery. But if you're looking for information from it, the only thing worth paying attention to is who Jerry Meyer is betting on, and then only because he's really good about responding on twitter as to whether or not he's going on gut feeling or real info. Meyer is often in the know and, unfortunately, it seems he was on top of it in the case of the Ferg.

Definitely a bitter pill. I was convinced as long as he showed up at Late Night, Bill would close. Self won't tamper though, so unless he backs out in the next month, this won't change. Too bad, but not the end of the world. There is Josh Jackson, and we'll still have Greene and Vick next season at the very least.

@drgnslayr I know the article cites Hoiberg leaving, but given all the turmoil in the Greek economy, it's entirely conceivable that he or his family needed the money. And it's not like his spot in the ISU rotation was guaranteed. If you're gonna keep the bench warm, may as well collect a paycheck while you're at it, right?

@JayHawkFanToo As I've stated over and over, this is the Eubanks' story. It hasn't been corroborated by Baylor or the NCAA. It's merely what the suit says. If this goes to trial and there are deliberations, we'll find out what happened, but until then, you can't uncritically accept anything that someone alleges in a law suit. It's meaningless without the process of discovery and actual evidence. Our Savior doesn't have to certify anything from American, but they are responsible for what they report about themselves. If they reported the original transcripts GPA in their GPA, then the NCAA could interpret them as trying to inflate it, perhaps to keep him eligible or help unfairly to get him into a D-1 school, whatever the case may be. If they took the amended GPA, then it could be the fault of American. We don't know. There's no reason to assume that we do, so there isn't any reason to believe Our Savior is any more on the up and up than American. After all, if Our Savior is on the level, why do you think American would be tampering with Eubanks' grades? I could understand an honest mistake, but what do they have to gain from lowering the GPA if it was correct to begin with, as Eubanks' suit seems to imply? You're just assuming Eubanks' story is true (or at least truish), and there's no reason to do so.

@JayHawkFanToo Of course they can't certify it. That has absolutely nothing to do with anything. They can certify their own transcript, and that transcript is going to include credits that they transferred in and a resulting GPA that they are claiming is accurate. So either American lied and inflated the GPA when they sent transcripts to Our Savior, or Our Savior lied and inflated the grade that they received. You cannot possibly know which case is the matter at this point, can you? Either way, you link doesn't show it.

@JayHawkFanToo I read the link too, but do you understand what it actually means? The suit was filed by the Eubanks', not the NCAA. The NCAA received a transcript from Our Savior that reported a different GPA than what they saw on the American Heritage transcript. The Eubanks' are making the claim that it is American Heritage that changed the grade and Our Savior just reported what they (AH) said, but from the NCAA's perspective, Our Savior transferred in an inflated GPA. Everything in the law suit is on the Eubanks' say so, so of course they would put themselves into the best light in making their case. The NCAA rejected the Our Savior transcript. If you can demonstrate otherwise, as I said, I'm all ears, but nothing in the link contradicts what I've stated.

@JayHawkFanToo I'm not sure what you're getting at with the link. This jibes with what I said earlier: there was a discrepancy with the transcripts. The NCAA wouldn't accept the Our Savior transcript because it differed from the American Heritage one. The Eubanks' filed suit against American on the basis that it's their fault. We don't really know, but as with the Pitt kid, Diallo isn't the only Our Savior kid being held up by the NCAA. What I have read hasn't mentioned an issue with transcripts from Africa, although it has mentioned some suspect courses at Our Savior. I'd be kinda surprised if the NCAA were going to disqualify Diallo on the basis of his HS transcript if they were happy with his Our Savior work, given that he only went to HS in Mali for his freshman year. Then again, I wouldn't put anything past the NCAA. If you've got specific information that contradicts that, I'm all ears.

@HighEliteMajor From everything I've heard and read, Self very much knew about potential eligibility issues with Diallo going in. If you look back, you'll see I mentioned this on the day he announced, and I believe a week or so prior. Now if we can put aside the OAD issue for the time being, if you have a chance to get one of the top players in the class knowing that he might not qualify, would you? Especially if he could be a key cog? I think it's worth the risk, especially since we already signed another top big in the same class. Mickleson having a bit of a breakout at the WUG is just icing.

I'm going to be of the mind that Diallo will receive eligibility unless we get all the way to October without hearing something. Either way, there's no sense ruminating about it. If he's eligible, we'll have one of the best post players in the country on our team. If not, we'll still have solid options in the front court, especially if Mickleson can carry his work forward.

@BeddieKU23 Well, that's what Eubanks claims. We won't know the truth unless and until this gets sorted out in court, but I do know that the NCAA rejected the transcripts coming out of Our Savior, whether or not the specific issue originated with his previous school. Heard wrong about the Pitt kid, but I think that just hammers home that the issue has more to do with Our Savior than any of these individual kids.

@RockkChalkk The specific issue isn't with Diallo, per se, but with Our Savior, the school he attended. If you recall my comments on his signing, about which I was quite stoked, I did bring this up as a potential bug-a-boo, given that he isn't the first athlete to have trouble qualifying coming out of that school. Former Baylor signee Kobe Eubanks was forced into a prep school last season when he failed to qualify. I forget where he landed, though. There is another D-1 player out of Our Savior that has been cleared. I've heard from reliable sources that Self had a plan for Diallo in order to head off issues, which I think is why he spent extra time in school earlier this summer, going to @HighEliteMajor's point, but we probably won't know how successful that plan was for another month or so (football players get priority from the clearinghouse too, so that slows things down). Anyway, the heart of the matter is a list of courses that the NCAA considers dubious. If Cheick took any of these courses, he'd have to do additional coursework, or perhaps retake them, in order to qualify. Diallo himself is reputedly a very good student, but he may have taken some classes that have garnered him this unwanted scrutiny.

Speaking for myself, I will be crestfallen if we don't get to actually play Diallo. I've been following his career pretty much since he showed up in America just because he's been so impressive that he got on my radar that quickly. I likened his signing to opening a present at Christmas as a kid. Athletically and effort-wise, he's everything you'd want in a basketball player. I hope the NCAA does the right thing and lets this kid have his year in the sun.

I'm definitely not going to sweat anything I heard on reddit. Our Savior has had some problems in the past, but according to a source, KU compliance had a plan in place for dealing with this. Coach Self was obviously rather frustrated when his 2011 class was cut in half by eligibility issues, and he's been said to have vowed to never send papers to a kid that he wasn't sure he could get eligible again. We went through the same rigmarole with Adams the next year. Self didn't send him his grant in aid until he was sure Anrio would qualify. I think that's the reason Diallo wasn't totally finished with classes until after the 4th of July (ormally northeastern schools let out after Labor Day). My guess is Self knows what he's doing and it's going to be one of those things where Diallo gets cleared but not until the last possible moment, just like what happened with Rush and the Morris Twins.

I really want to say Svina Colada because I think he'll be the more productive player overall, and is probably the bigger individual talent. But individual talent only gets you so far. A lot has been made of the shift of Selden from the 2 to the 3 spot, but I find the idea that he played better at the WUG games because he was (nominally) the small forward funny because the truth of the matter is, in Self's offense, there is no distinction between the wings. They run the same cuts, they get the same plays, they have the responsibilities. I think the difference, though, is that when you have a better ball handler than Selden to compliment Mason (and contrary to what some have argued, Selden isn't terrible, just not as good as some other options), the offense flows better. So unless Svi is truly enough of a better secondary handler than Selden, I think things will work better with Graham in the rotation than Svi.

@jayballer54 Don't fret too much about those crystal ball predictions. Most of the people making them have no specific knowledge about where kids are leaning. Arizona may indeed be a slight leader in Jackson's recruitment, but his top 2 are still KU and UofA, and the distance between us isn't that great. Either way, I wouldn't sweat it. Jackson isn't likely to choose until the spring, and by then we'll know who's staying or going between our 2/3s. In the meantime, Terrance Ferguson is slated to choose soon, and KU is the heavy favorite in that one, so even if we miss on Jackson, we'll be loaded at the wing for the foreseeable future (Greene, Vick, Ferg, maybe Seldon/Svi).

Allen is a kid we've offered, but made no real push for. Smart is the one pursuing him the hardest. Gabriel is someone who I've mentioned would be enviable to have. He's at least a 2 year guy right now, possible 3 year, but he's already a very skilled shooter and finisher, and he's got a great motor to boot. Adding weight, working on his back-to-the-basket game, and developing as a rim protector are what he needs to work on. His recruitment is really taking off, so nobody knows exactly where we are on that one. My guess is he'll lean Duke, but they may add a couple bigs ahead of him (specifically Giles, possibly Bolden too), and will have Sean Obi and probably Chase Jeter too, so it's anybody's game at this point.

Great thread. I haven't been back on the site in a while, but I thought I'd chime in on this one.

I'm actually feeling really good about Ferg. I think he's just paying lip service to appease his AAU coach (same as happened to us with Shabazz Muhammad). Every whisper I've heard about this kid has been strong KU lean. Josh Jackson is more of a toss up, but I like where we are with him. Either way, I think we'll be securing a commit from at least one of these two. Ferg is the most likely, but I'd gladly take either. Both are scorers. Both are guys not afraid to take over a game. The real difference is Ferg is more of a shooter, and Jackson is more of an off-brand Wiggins. That's not a sleight to Jackson at all, though. It's tough to be (potentially) the 2nd coming. Josh is more a Pierce than a Jordan, though.

I think Duke is both real competition and probably the main threat with Bolden, but based on what I've heard, I think he'd prefer to stay Big 12. Like all great recruits these days, he wants to OAD, but I have my doubts as to how feasible that will be. He's highly skilled and a good athlete, but not an elite athlete (reminds me a ton of Cole as a soph), and his motor has been an issue in the past. He has at least improved on the motor front.

As for who might replace him if we miss, or who there is to supplement, there's been a lot of recent action. Both Sacha Killeya-Jones (a recent UVA decommit) and Wenyen Gabriel have exploded recently on the AAU circuit and wound up on KU's radar. They are cut from the same cloth. High potential, long and lean type bigs. Both need to add size and work on D, but either could develop into a great rim protector. What's most impressive, though, is that they're both great shooters. Either can operate quite comfortably out to 18ft and they should easily be able to extend that range even more as they get stronger. Gabriel seldom dunks anything, but he has remarkably good touch around the rim. Jones is the better operator with his back to the basket. He has the turnaround jumper that I have always wished Ellis would develop. He also knows how to use his long, craning legs to step around defenders and finish on the opposite side of the rim, one of Embiid's goto moves in his time with us.

I'd still like to add a guy like Herard so that we have a true bully in the post, instead of having Lucas as our 'muscle' (although Coleby should help in that regard), but either of these guys would be a fine consolation prize should we miss out on Bolden. Better yet would be a class of 3 bigs: Bolden, Jones/Gabriel, and Herard, as that gives you a (likely) 2-year, 3-year, and 4-year guy to build around.

Here we are again the dog days of summer, the longest time of the basketball year. We can do our best to keep our interest up, but there are only so many ways we can dissect the failures of last season; so many times we can project starters, leading scorers, and benchwarmers. Even with the WUG giving us a feast of highlights when we'd normally only a bit to nibble from camp games, we're still in a no man's land as college basketball fans. Even on the recruiting front, with Self's tendency to bring his classes together late, we're going to be light on action in the coming months. So I thought I'd take advantage of the fact that we got our nonconference schedule out in a rather timely fashion this year and project how I think it's all going to play out. Here's my take on the overall schedule, as well as a breakdown of every game we play, what's of note about the teams, and how I think we'll fare.

The Schedule

Self made it clear that, after running his past two teams through a meat grinder in the nonconf in recent seasons (Kansas was the highest Big 5.5 team in NCSOS on Kenpom the past 2 seasons) that he made a mistake to do that to a young couple of teams, and wanted to let off the gas this time around. Myself, I'm a fan of the tougher scheduling, but I think UK, Duke, and UNC have been a little smarter about it, tending to schedule a few really big games with a lot more cupcakes in between. Self seems to have cribbed that plan. We've got several teams on the list that finished below 50% overall, in their conference, or both last season. We've got a NCAA upset capable mid-majors. We've got a couple of nice super heavyweights, and a solid field in Maui too. I see this schedule as giving us the right mix of truly challenging games and and opportunities to develop our bench and future stars. All in all, mission accomplished with this schedule.

The Games

University of Northern Colorado - AFH - Nov 13

UNCO finished 15-15 last season, going 10-8 in the Big Sky conference, and ranking 257th in Kenpom efficiency. They return only 2 of their top 5 scorers in juniors Jordan Wilson and Cameron Michael. They've added Juco (small) big Jamal Evans, but no one else that's likely to be a major impact player. I'm expecting this outing to be a stroll in the park for KU, as UNCO looks like a team on the the way down, not up. We'll probably run out to a big lead at the half, then let the B squad clean up in the final 10 minutes while UNCO cuts a 30pt deficit to 18.

Result: KU 82 - UNCO 64

Michigan State University - Champions Classic, Chicago, Ill. - Nov 17

When we last faced MSU in the Champions Classic, KU gave up a late lead when no one could prevent Keith Appling from repeatedly driving to the rim on the high screen and roll. Last season we got the better of them in a typical Big 10 style game that served as a bit of a break out for Svi, but sadly would serve as his highlight game of the year. That same team made a push to put MSU back in the Final Four for the first time in 5 years. Overall, the team that we beat last season was better than who we're likely to face this time around. Although Izzo does return 4 of his top 6 scorers, the stats suggest that Tum-Tum Nairn, Izzo's only true PG for the coming season, isn't going to be able to step in and replace what Travis Trice gave him last year. Combo that with losing your top defensive player and rebounder in Branden Dawson, and I think MSU is a team that will be good, but one that we should be able to handle.

That's not to say there's no cause for concern. The Spartans should have considerable firepower from deep next season. Top 3pt shooters Denzel Valentine and Bryn Forbes are back for their final seasons and will be joined by WVU transfer Eron Harris, who torched us with 28pts on 5-7 from deep in our visit to Morgantown in 2014, and baby-faced freshman Matt McQuaid, a 4-star shooter from Texas. They've also upgraded in the frontcourt with McD's AA Deyonta Davis, a player best described as a poor man's Cheick Diallo. Although I expect the trio of Costello, Schilling and Davis to be a tough group, none of them is the proto-typical beef sheet/space eater type bigs that have typically defined Tom Izzo's teams. Luckily that guy, Caleb Swanigan, decided to back out of his commitment in order to join the footers at Purdue, where he could play PF, not small C. I still see this as being very much a grind, but I don't think Izzo has either the bigs nor the PG to keep up with what we'll be fielding. KU will pull ahead in a game that will be close until the final TV timeout, when Izzo's guns finally run out of ammo.

Result: KU 66 - MSU 58

Maui Invitational

Although the field has been set for the Maui Invitational, the brackets haven't been released, so there's no telling exactly who we'll be slated to play. Nevertheless, I have my suspicions that the tournament organizers will want to see either a KU/IU final or a KU/UCLA final given the teams available, so I'm going to put us opposite those two schools. Likewise, a student vs master game is the sort of thing tournament organizers and television broadcasters love to engineer, so I'm putting Wake Forest on our side. I know when Duke plays in the invitational, K requests to be in the opposite bracket as D2 host Chaminade, as playing D2 teams is an RPI killer. In our last trip to the islands (one in which we faced Duke in the finals), we also avoided playing Chaminade despite being in their bracket, suggesting to me that RPI hawk Self is of like-mind to K. Thus, I'll put Chaminade in the IU/UCLA bracket. St. John's is a school that KU has some history with, but ancient and recent. Not only did we beat them out this past spring for the services of Cheick Diallo (after a heretofore unheard of hiring putsch), but they were also felled in KU's first NCAA tournament triumph in 1952. Bigs coach and top recruiting assistant Norm Roberts also coached the team from 2004-10. For that, I'm guessing they'll wind up in our bracket as our first opponent. As for UNLV or Vanderbilt, I think it's a toss up, but I'll go with UNLV being pitted against UCLA in the first round, so Vanderbilt will face off against Danny Manning's squad in our bracket. Final projection:

Kansas vs St. John's

Wake Forest vs Vanderbilt

IU vs Chaminade

UCLA vs UNLV

St. John's - Lahaina Civic Center, HI - Nov 23

Despite having a good amount of talent, St. John's went only 21-12, 10-8 in the Big East last season, which as enough to make the NCAA tournament, but not enough to save Steve Lavin's job once school legend Chris Mullin became a possibility. Mullin's transition to HC was far from smooth, however. With D'Angelo Harrison and Sir'Dominic Pointer both lost to graduation, Mullin was set to rebuild with his remaining stars. It was not to be, however, with the unexpected departure of two key cogs from the previous two seasons in PG Rysheed Jordan, who was forced out due to academic issues, and star C Chris Obekpa, who elected to transfer. He also lost the commitment of blue chip Brandon Sampson. That leaves Mullin's squad without not only the top 6 players from last season, but no player that even averaged double digits in a previous season on the roster. What little help he's getting will likely come form PG duo Marcus LoVett, Jr, a former KU target, and Frederico Mussini, a Nike Hoop's Summit participant from Italy. Given a new HC and effectively a brand new roster with only a month of playing together under their respective belts, I have no idea how this game will play out, other than to say KU will prevail and it won't be particularly close.

Result: KU 83 - St. John's 59

Vanderbilt - Lahaina Civic Center, HI - Nov 24

As much as I would love for that Self/Manning face off to occur, given the bracket I've drawn up and the 13-19 finish the Deacs put up last season, I don't see any way Manning's boys would make it past a veteran Vandy team, especially one that returns all but one of their top six scorers and made it to 21 wins last year, good for a top 40 rating on Kenpom. Unfortunately for the Commodores, they don't have half the talent of Lionel Ritchie, and all they're gonna leave on the floor of the Lahaina Civc Center is a whole lot of funk.

Okay, it won't be that easy. Between leading scorer and rebounder Damian Jones, Luke Kornet, and as well as the promising freshman footer, and former teammate of KU target Schnider Herard, Djery Baptiste, and stout Samir Sehic, Vanderbilt will be a brick house in the post. Likewise, they've got machine guns in Wade Baldwin IV and Matthew Fisher-Davis, both hitting over 40% from deep last season. Riley LaChance also shot a healthy 38% from 3 in his first year of college ball. For all that offensive prowess, however, Vandy is a fairly poor defensive team. Although they were decent FG% defenders and shot blockers, they rebound poorly, and their 4.9 steals per game makes our mediocre 6.5 look sterling. Baptiste should help their rebounding situation, as well as contributing a few blocks, but the guard core that failed to turn opponents over is likely to remain in place, and that should make the difference in the end.

Result: KU 77 - Vanderbilt 65

Indiana University - Lahaina Civic Center, HI - Nov 25

Although it's perfectly conceivable that UCLA could emerge from our opposite bracket, I think we'll be facing off against our 2nd Big 10 foe on the year. Crean's team figures to return perhaps the best scoring backcourt in the country. Last season James Blackmon, Jr., Yogi Ferrell, and Troy Williams combined to score 45ppg on 46% FGP, 42% from deep, good for 20 wins, a top 10 Kenpom offense, and an NCAA berth. What held the Hoosiers back, aside from an injury to Blackmon, who is out for the summer after another injury, was a lackluster front court lead by the dismissed Hanner Mosquera-Perea, and the undersized Collin Hartman.

Post help has arrived in Bloomington, however, in the form of McD's AA C Thomas Bryant (an AAU teammate of our own Cheick Diallo), and 4-Star PF Juwan Morgan. Bryant figures to bring the rebounding and shot blocking that Perea, who barely outrebounded the diminutive Ferrell, couldn't, but I don't expect he'll do much else. He can certainly play on the block, but from what I saw of him on the AAU circuit, Noah Vonleh he is not. Morgan will probably time to make an impact, but he is long, athletic, and something of a putback artist. Max Biedtfeld has also joined the Hoosiers, leaving Ann Arbor behind, but at a stout 6'7", 250, I don't see him making much of a dent, as he was barely effective for a depleted Michigan frontcourt. Given that, I think Crean will play small, which is just as well, as he prefers to play through his guards rather than his bigs. Expect a real shootout, but one where KU still wins due to overwhelming advantage down low. Should be a good game for Perry Ellis who excels against smaller front lines.

Result: KU 84 - IU 79

The rest of the field

Since this is just one possible bracket for the Maui Invitational, I wanted to add a brief synopsis of the other potential opponents:

Chaminade

If we wind up playing a D2 school in this thing, odds are something has gone horribly wrong. I don't know too much about Chaminade, but even with plenty of upperclassmen on the roster, I don't see them as a team that could challenge us much more than Chile did in the WUG. In fact, Chaminade hasn't defeated a D1 school since the toppling of Ralph Sampson's Cavs, the sole reason this tiny tournament exists. If this match up happens for some reason, we'll be cruising past the century mark on the scoreboard.

UCLA

Our next most likely final opponent should be a pretty good version of the team Steve Alford piloted to a Sweet 16 after a dubious call against SMU in their opening round. They're losing major firepower with the departures of Norman Powell and Kevon Looney, but they return a solid core in Bryce Alford, Tony Parker, and Isaac Hamilton. Footer and paint patroller Thomas Welsh will have to become a much bigger impact player for them to reach their potential. Jonah Bolden, a top 40 RS freshman should also help fill some of the void left by Looney. The biggest potential impact, however, is the return of a true point guard to the team in Aaron Holiday, brother of alumn and NBA All-Star Jrue Holiday. They also add the freshman with my favorite name in this class, Prince Ali. With a little luck, UCLA can reach the finals in Maui, and they can certainly pose match up issues in the post, given Parker's girth and Welsh's size, but either way, I don't think they've got the guard play to match us. Frank Mason will eat not only Holiday's lunch, but his dinner and next day's breakfast too.

UNLV

Yet another team we played last season, that version of the Rebs was dismissed rather effectively after an 18pt outburst from Frank Mason. Although David Rice has done a good job of drawing talent in, as well as retaining local stars, such as the giraffe-necked footer Stephen Zimmerman, he has yet to demonstrate the coaching chops to do much with what he's been given. With Christian Wood and Rashad Vaughn out, UNLV is unlikely to live up to anything near the legacy of the last true mid-major team to win a national title. At AFH, we beat them by 15. In Maui, we could do even more damage.

Wake Forest

As I mentioned, Manning went through a rough first year with Wake. Although he has most of the best parts of his roster back, as well as adding a quality recruiting class highlighted by athletic footer Doral Moore, for whose commitment he beat out UK, WF is unlikely to shape up much better in a brutal ACC than the team that went 13-19 on the year. They may not have been as bad as their record suggests, ranking 124th on Kenpom, but they certainly aren't in much of a position to challenge anyone but perhaps St. John, and of course D2 host Chaminade, in this year's field. If we do wind up playing them, it will be in the opening round, and there will be little doubt as to which HC is the student, and which is the master.

Loyola Maryland - AFH - Dec 1

The dubious honor of worst game on the schedule is a toss up between this bout with Loyola and the one with their Patriot League conference-mate Holy Cross. Both teams finished with not only losing records, but losing conference records in a bottom tier conference (independent schools finished five spots higher in RPI conference rankings). Still, Loyola finished only ahead of Army, so this distinction is about the only thing they'll win next year.

As for the team, the Greyhound's bus returns pretty much everything that was loaded on last year's trek to langour. Far more likely to be run out of the gym than to lap the Jayhawks, this match up should be little more than a stat-stuffer for the team, and perhaps a popcorn worthy highlight reel for the fans, nothing more. Our exhibition games will probably be tougher.

Result: KU 92 - Loyola MD 45 Woof!

Harvard - AFH - Dec 5

The state of Kansas and the city of Lawrence have a lot of ties to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and city of Boston (and it's environs). Lawrence itself was founded with the help of the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Company of Boston (which is why the main drag is Mass St). Wayne Selden, of course, is a native of Roxbury. The game Wayne had devoted his life to was invented in Springfield, Mass, the state's second largest city, and the choice of his school's colors was inspired in part by Harvard Crimson. Originally KU's colors would have been a blue and gold similar to that of Marquette, however, as the main benefactor in founding the school, Amos Adams Lawrence, for whom the town is named, was a Harvard man, it was decided to add crimson to the school's repertoire.

Despite all of these connections, I can neither recall nor realize a time when these two teams have actually met, so this may well be the first. And it's just as well that it is as Harvard is currently riding atop the Ivy league and has their most successful coach in school history manning the helm. Tommy Amaker's Crimson have a streak of NCAA tournament appearances going that dates back to 2012 (only the 2nd time they made the dance in school history), and even notched a couple wins in 2013 and 2014 respectively. Perhaps more important was the emergence of Jeremy Lin in the NBA. Whatever you attribute it to, Amaker has made Harvard not only a respectable destination for academics, but athletics as well.

2015-16 figures, however, to be something of a rebuilding year for Amaker. He's lost all but 2 of his top 6 scorers and, as Ivy League schools don't offer athletic scholarships, it's not likely that his incoming class have much impact. Siyani Chambers, the team's play maker, does return and Amaker can flat out coach, so I don't expect this to be a rout. KU will outlast the Crimson in a surprisingly close game.

Result: KU 61 - Harvard 54

Holy Cross - AFH - Dec 9

You could basically copy and paste my analysis of Loyola here and you'd get about the same result. The Crusaders are a bit better than the Greyhounds, but are just as underwhelming and undersized. They have 4 or their top 6 guys back and actually put up a good number of blocks and steals per game (enough to rank top 40 in both). It won't matter, though, as they're offensively challenged to say the least. With no rebounding and very little scoring ability, but the ability to manufacture turnovers, we're in for a decisive, if sloppy victory. This should come as no surprise as Holy Cross was the first step in each of back to back Final 4 runs in 02 and 03, and Kansas hasn't lost to a Patriot league team since our bitter defeat to Bucknell the next year.

Result: KU 63 - Holy Cross 46

Oregon State - Kansas City, MO - Dec 12

Oregon State was listed among the programs trending up in ESPN's preseason analysis of the Pac 12. Surely that has more to do with the hiring of HC Wayne Tinkle, who brought along with him his 4-star son Tres, than it does an 8-10 conference record on a team that loses very little. To their credit, the Beaver's PG Gary Payton, Jr did lead the team in scoring and rebounds, as well as leading the nation in steals per possession, so it's not as if they lack any star power. They're also long on length. None of their 6 scholarship bigs is shorter than 6'10". Fortunately none of them are talented scorers, and only one is anything resembling a shot blocker, Daniel Goomis.

I was as surprised as anyone in 2012 when the Beavers gave us a legitimate run for our money at the Sprint Center, but I won't be caught unawares twice. I'm expecting this one to go down very much like the last: Offensively challenged team causes a lot of turnovers, but can't put up the numbers to fell the giant. Tinkle may have a team on it's way up, but it ain't there yet.

Result: KU 64 - OSU 55

Montana - AFH - Dec 19

The Montana Grizzlies are a bunch of big bears from a very tiny pond. The Big Sky conference from which Montana hails is one of the worst in the country, raking in at #27 out of 33 conferences in 2015. Although they finished with 20 wins and a 14-4 conference record, I doubt it will be any kind of wrestling match. They have 4 or their top 6 scorers back and were able to wrangle an NIT berth thank's to a solid offense, but they were blown out by a mediocre Texas A&M team thanks to the Grizzlies poor D. Brandon Gfeller is their lone shooting threat, although Mario Dunn is capable. The size of the Grizzlies is also nothing special. Marin Breunig does score and rebound, but he's a poor FT shooter and his D makes Perry Ellis look like Jeff Withey. No one of note is coming onto this team to replace leading scorer Jordan Gregory. Poor rebounding and a mediocre steal rate will make this one a solid win. Expect to see the 'hawks run away with this game in the 2nd half.

Result: KU 74 - Montana 60

San Diego State - San Diego, CA - Dec 22

In many ways, KU's lone true road game in this nonconf schedule could be the hardest one of them all. Steve Fisher rose to fame after somehow guiding Big Blue to an NCAA title in his first 6 games as a head coach, and continued with the Fab Five in the early 90s. He hasn't had the same resources nor the same success since he landed at San Diego State, but he's almost always had tough and competitive teams in his 15 seasons there, leading them to a 27-9 record, 14-4 in the MWC. So it was hardly a shock that a coach with Fisher's pedigree was able to come into Allen Fieldhouse and leave with a win. That narrow setback came before the emergence of Joel Embiid as the best C in the country, before Wiggins truly showed any ability to take over games, and with a not quite up to the task Naadir Tharpe running the show. Despite not having anyone likely to be drafted in the top 5 on the roster, the team we field this year should be
much better overall.

With that in mind, a W might seem academic, given that the Aztecs barely managed to hang on at AFH. Not so fast! Three things haven't changed: San Diego is still a long and defensively strong team; team star Winston Shepherd is still on the roster; and Steve Fisher still heads the ship. Finishing 4th in defensive efficiency on Kenpom last season, but only 166th for O, this game figures very much to be one of contrasting styles. Kansas was certainly no stranger to good defense last season either, finishing 10th thanks largely to their FG% D and rebounding (plus surprisingly good shot blocking numbers), but scoring came far more naturally for us than it has to the Aztecs. What is likely to turn the tides is that half of the top scorers for Fisher's squad have gone, specifically double digit contributors Aqeel Quinn and J.J. O'Brien. This has to be a devastating blow to an already anemic offensive team. Top scorer and player Winston Shepherd is still there to soften the hit, as is his soon to be partner in crime Malik Pope, who really started to come on late in the season. Redshirt Zylan Cheatham and new comer Jeremy Hemsley will mean no shortage of big bodies, but unless D'Erryl Williams can develop into a real point guard for this squad, I see defeat in the cards for a team lacking a floor general. Expect a real boxing match, though.

Result: KU 57 - SDSU 53

University of California Irvine

It's a great time to be an Anteater. A 21-13 finish and a very first NCAA tournament berth are high watermarks for a historically lack luster program. But the big story at UCI has to be Mamadou Ndiaye, the 7;6" 300lbs Senegalese pivot. He's the top of the returning scorers along with gaurds Alex Young, Luke Nelson, and Jaron Martin. UCI neither stood out as a defensive team, nor defensively, but was still able to take an Elite 8 bound Louisville team to the wire in their lone March Madness game. The key to the win will be dealing with the massive middleman Ndiaye, but the load may not be as bad as it seems. Ndiaye is a lumbering foul machine, and Perry Ellis is adept at taking bigs off the dribble, as well as getting fouled on his way to the hoop. Get these things done, and our backcourt superiority will carry the day. My guess is Mamadou fouls out midway through the 2nd half and we never look back.

Result: KU 68 - UCI 52

University of Kentucky - AFH - Jan 30

The choice to have blue blood heavyweights KU and UK face off in this year's edition of the Big12/SEC challenge was all but foregone. LSU and aTm have had successful recruiting seasons and are certainly intriguing teams, but nothing is going to put more butts in seats than these two historic programs go at it. Now much to our chagrin, KU has almost always been on the losing end of these meetings, owning a paltry 5 wins over UK throughout the years, and has suffered defeat in all 3 of our most recent meetings. That should make this bulletin board material, especially given the players we return from a team that was utterly humiliated 72-40 last season. This Jayhawker wants revenge too.

In addition to the intrigue, this game is also one of the most difficult to predict. None of UK's top 7 scorers nor rebounders return. That's hardly unfamiliar territory for Kentucky, though. They do have a very strong recruiting class, headlined by C Skal Labissiere, and recently bolstered by Canadian Jamal Murray, but this team doesn't have the talent level nor the depth that Calipari has been privileged with in his time at UK. What has BBN on edge more than anything is waiting for Skal to be officially cleared to play. He wouldn't be the first kid waived off for the season that Cal's brought to Lexington (Enes Kanter), and between his OAD pedigree and UK's meager post depth, that sort of loss could spell a season as low as 2013's for a team that treats Final Fours like trips around the block. KU likewise has to get its star big man cleared, but if Diallo's debut is delayed, we've got more tools to patch the hole. Tyler Ulis and Alex Poythress will mean UK has some key veterans to blend with the new comes, and Jamal Murray and Isaiah Briscoe are big, athletic play makers, much more in the mold of Derrick Rose or John Wall than the Harrison twins.

In the end, I think this is more likely to be a vintage Calipari team than a dud. And for that reason, I have to say KU's revenge fantasy reaches fruition! After all, what Calipari teams seem to do more than anything is sort of sleepwalk through the regular season before using overwhelming waves of individual talent to make a run in the dance. This just figures to be a much bigger game for KU, and in our venue to boot. We won't be taking UK to the woodshed, but that same fight that carried a dead-legged KUSA to a win against a game group of Deutchers in double OT will carry the day on Jan. 30th. UK probably has the overall backcourt edge, but wave after wave of big man bodies will wear down the thin Big Blue Line.

Result: KU 81 - UK 75

Summary

So you heard it here first, KU will sweep their nonconf opponents this season, a feat not repeated since the 2010-11 season. It's going to take some luck, but the grit on display throughout the WUG is exactly what it will take to get through this fairly strong schedule. Good Wayne has to show up to all the big games. Perry has to keep attacking bigger post men. Svi needs to turn his great fundamentals into a good all around game. Chieck needs to qualify, then become this team's pacemaker. But I see it all coming together. It's going to be a very good year to be a Jayhawk.

@JayHawkFanToo Mediocrity if far too generous an assessment.

Holy damn, what a wild ride! Had to watch it on my phone while driving, so I'm glad I didn't wreck. A totally gutty performance down the stretch. Despite being held to under 33% field goal shooting, they found the will to win. If you can do that in July, you can do anything come March/April. Self is going to be able to go to the well with this game when the going gets tough. Love love love my team. Love love love my country. America is proud today! Rock Chalk Jayhawk, go World Champs!

Bad luck, especially when you're a pretty kid. Then again, maybe that's the kind of thing that unlocks a woman's inner Florence Nightingale. I wouldn't know. Despite playing football and basketball in HS and doing Judo in college (nothing seriously competitive), I never once broke a bone. Hell, even falling off the top of the gym bleachers when I was a dumb ass freshman didn't break anything (of course I landed squarely on my head, er butt). Maybe I'm the opposite of some glass-boned, wheelchair bound mad man somewhere, or maybe I've just seen one too many M.Night Shamylan movies (and really that's anything two and up). Either way, hope they don't Owen Wilson you too badly, Carlton.

@Statmachine

Here's one more crack at the picture:

!ku_bkc_media_nk_01_t640.jpg ↗

This time, I moved everyone's heels up to be on the same line from McLemore on the left to Traylor on the right. Ben is used for scale because he's the only one in the photo for whom we have exact measurements from the NBA combine. There, he came in at 6'4.75" in shoes. Keegs at the old site is fond of saying that Traylor is really only 6'6" in person, but given his appearance in this photo, even if his head is craned up significantly more than McLemore's, there's no way he's not basically 6'8" in shoes (and this is with his head shaved, not his current flat top look). Ellis appears to be nearly the same height, though with lower shoulders and a longer neck. Now comparing all of this to the WUG team photo, it's possible that Lucas was further back than Bragg since we can't see where their heels hit, but I'm still willing to bet that they are the same height at 6'9" or so.

@Statmachine said:

There is some speculation on how tall Bragg is in the Twitterverse? If Lucas is 6'10" then how tall is Bragg? It looks like he is on his toes to me but people at the game said they looked like they were the same height.

Bragg is 6'9". So is Landen. Here's a picture of him in the team photo from the 2013 season standing next to Zach Peters (#32, also listed at 6'9" ):

!ku_bkc_media_nk_01_t640.jpg ↗

I know it's not a very big/hi res picture, but I put red lines at the tops of Zach's and Landen's heads, shoulders, and feet. They're standing on the same plane and, basically, they hit the red lines at the same spots. Justin Wesley looks as tall or taller at the top, but he's on his tip toes. Ellis looks a lot shorter, but he's significantly further back. Traylor is a little further back but even adjusting for that, he's still significantly shorter.

U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! That was one of the most fun games I've watched in person. The wife won box seats from her job and it was crazy! I'm going to be chanting U-S-A at KU games from now on. As for a break down of the game play, here goes:

Nic Moore was good. Wayne looked more like the kid we always hoped he'd be. Frank Mason was stellar. If he's half as good this season as he was tonight we are going to be all smiles. All smiles IF we get more out of our forwards. I know Hudy has been laser focused on preventing injuries the past few years, but the lack of strength in our post players is a real concern. Perry is still Perry, for good and for bad. Bragg's thin. I knew that going in. He can't keep from getting backed down, although he does have active hands and got a number of steals and good deflections. He'll still struggle to defend straight up, though. Lucas and Mickelson... Those two are just so weak. I've been saying for years now that the only hope Lucas has to be an effective post player is to get jacked, like Rico Gathers jacked, and just dominate below the rim. It's not going to happen though, and that leaves us without anyone who can really just straight up defend those Canadian/Michigan St. style bigs. The tournament exit headline this year could very well read "Mondale to Self: Where's the Beef?" And we're still struggling to finish around the rim. Bragg also settles for pick and pop too easily. I'll reserve final judgement until Diallo gets here.

We played some 3-2 zone to start the game, and it was the biggest reason we struggled in the first half. FIBA rules space the floor a lot more and it made our zone incredibly weak. I've never been a fan of 3-2 zones anyway (they leave the best part of the floor wide open), but it's clearly the wrong defense for this style of play. I hope not to see it again, well, ever really. Our man to man was a ton better and really helped us get back into the game. We did a good job of turning Canada over, but we weren't great on the boards. Overall, just more struggle than we should have had. Still, we played a very convincing final 4 or so minutes, and we walked away with the W, which is all that really matters. U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!

@HighEliteMajor I don't personally own a gun nor do I have any plans to in my future. But that doesn't mean I'm any kind of opponent of the personal right to bear arms. Most of my friends are gun owners. Some of them live in small towns or in the boons, where I grew up, and have both hand guns and rifles. I also know a few lawyers with their own practices that do a lot of public defending, and they carry guns in their offices because they are frequently coming into contact with potentially dangerous people (one has been threatened by family members of defendants on multiple occasions as their kin were taken off to prison). As I mentioned, I grew up in the boons and enjoyed hunting rabbits as a kid. Like you, I live in suburban JoCo now (and believe me, it breaks my heart how good the rabbit hunting could be if I were allowed to discharge even a pellet gun in city limits), so I don't really have any use for a firearm for personal protection and, frankly, the idea of killing somebody for trying to steal my TV... it just doesn't sit well with me.

The biggest reason I don't want to have a gun in my home is because most gun deaths in this country aren't caused by street violence, but are the result of suicide attempts (64% in 2012 according to a UC Davis study, so the number of people who die by their own guns is not, in fact, minuscule). Most attempts aren't made with guns, but most successful ones are. Given that I'm in no real danger of violence in my home or workplace, I'm just more worried about losing my wife or son to an accident or a bout of depression than I am about them being hurt by a malicious person. Still, not everyone lives such a charmed life, and I'm completely supportive of people in that position owning firearms if they deem that necessary. Having said all of that and, since you did say you'd entertain any solution to the problem of criminals getting access to guns, I've got a very simple one that doesn't involve any additional restrictions or limitations on the legal purchase of guns.

One of the major sources of guns used in crimes (accounting for at least 40% and possibly as high as 80% according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics) is straw purchasing. Guns are legally purchased at a gun shop or gun show, then transferred to would be or past criminals, usually illegally. Gun dealers have also been known to circumvent background check laws by holding impromptu 'gun shows' just off the premises when someone who wouldn't otherwise pass a background check wants to make a purchase (I don't have any statistics on how often this happens, however, so consider it anecdotal, but verified). The long and short of it is, background check laws are largely toothless because they are too easily circumvented. The ATF and other law enforcement agencies have limited power to check inventories and track guns because they aren't allowed to keep any kind of database of who has weapons, and even when a registered weapon is used in a crime by a person other than the purchaser, it's very difficult to pin anything to that person unless the criminal rats them out.

Because there is no accountability, it's easy for bad people with bad intentions to get the weapons they want. But imagine if every firearm sold legally in the United States had not only a cataloged serial number, but also a ballistics sample on file attached to an owner in a central law enforcement database so that at nearly any crime scene where a weapon is discharged, you'd instantly have a significant lead in the case. Imagine that there are laws that hold legal gun purchasers and dealers accountable if guns that were registered in that database as in their possession were then used in criminal activity and if there were sever punishment for dealers whose inventory went unaccounted for or when stolen weapons weren't reported. Even if a person lied about their weapons being stolen, it would give a strong incentive to honest people to keep police as up to date as possible, and it would be easy to detect who the real source of the problem was when they 'lost' multiple guns over the course of months or years. I don't pretend that these measure represent any kind of panacea to gun violence and certainly they won't do anything about illegal weapons currently in circulation, but, as Confucious says, a journey of 1000 miles starts with a single step. If we can significantly stem the tide of legally purchased weapons that flow into the hands of criminals, it makes the task of removing other illegal arms from the streets that much easier.

Unfortunately, the major roadblock to any such a remedy is the National Rifle Association. I find this ironic because, if these minimally invasive steps could be taken, they wouldn't be combating nearly as many states and cities trying to push for tighter, more intrusive gun control laws. NRA members often implore that existing laws be followed, but this rings hollow to me for the reasons outlined above: existing laws have too many loopholes; loopholes that the NRA has lobbied for. The NRA's major concern about a central database of gun owners seems to be that such information could be used by a tyrannical government to round up and disarm gun owners in the event of a revolt. This is certainly true, but I ask you, is this the situation we're in now a worthy price to guard against a future which may never come?

Anyway, if you're done with this conversation or want to be kind to the board rats that don't want to watch another of our tangents unfold, I'm more than willing to leave it at this. But if you, or anyone else cares to chime in, I appreciate it.

Lastly, I'll just say that @nuleafjhawk, I totally agree with your basic sentiment: a society where anyone feels like they need to be armed at all times to be safe is a deeply troubled one, and not something that I'm proud of this country for having become.

2016 looks to be another big recruiting year for KU. My one real qualm about the WUG was that with Self tied up during the first half of July, we'd end up missing the best part of the summer recruiting season. Smartly, Self decided to leave his two top guys (Roberts and Townsend) behind. But with the upper limit on departures could be as high as 7 scholarship players this year, something we haven't seen since 2011, a year that proved to be rough on the recruiting trail, this year's haul is going to be all important in terms of maintaining Big 12 dominance, and keeping KU from falling further behind our blue-blood brethren.

Realistically, I don't expect there to be quite as many as 7 scholarships opened, but I think the minimum to plan for is 5 (With 3 bigs graduating, Diallo likely to OAD, and one of the wings either taking the plunge (Svi or Selden) or looking to transfer (Greene or Vick)). With all that in consideration, here's my 5 man dream recruiting class for 2016 by position:

PG) De'Aaron Fox

A consensus top 15 kid, all around, he's a great player and the exact type of PG I (and more importantly Self) like: 6'3", great length, elite athleticism, supremely quick, great ball control, good passer, sees the floor, great defender, and a real ball hound. He's a capable scorer, but unlikely to ever be the top scoring option. He is awfully scrawny for the time being, but that hasn't made him shy about taking contact on the drive, and he's a decent finisher at the rim. His J is mechanically sound, but his shooting touch is inconsistent. If all that sounds a lot like Tyshawn Taylor, I'll be the first to admit it is, but Fox is doing a better job of learning to play at more than one speed than Ty had done at the same point in his career.

Given all of that, he's likely to take 2-3 years in school before Fox is really ready to make the jump to the pros. Time to develop is exactly what KU has to offer given that we really don't need to land a PG in this class, although we should want to. If Fox picks KU he can not only build his body with Hudy, but get schooled by both Frank and Devonte, almost as good a backcourt pair as Collins and Chalmers. Of course instant gratification is a concern, and with Fox being a Texas/Nike kid, Shaka at UT, and Fox very much a "Havok™" (not "Havoc®") friendly kind of guard, we're likely 2nd banana to UT right now.

SG) Terrance Ferguson

Terrance is a true shooting guard with potential to so much more. Already blessed with a pure J and NBA range, this consensus top 15 kid has room to grow into a great defender and a 15+ ppg player, should he become an upperclassman. Ferguson is very much like a plus version of our own Brannen Greene. Whether squared up in catch and shoot situations or curling off screens, a swish seems all but guaranteed. Admittedly, his shooting stance is a little hinky, but it seems to work for him, and that's all that matters. What makes him a plus version of Greene, however, is that he's a far superior athlete, and a better all around ball handler. He's not a take you off the dribble player like Vick, though. Just a kid that you can run some more stuff for. He's a great finisher in the open floor, and has the hops and length to go and grab a lob or stick a put back that's anywhere near the rim. Most of his scoring is going to come from kick outs and set plays.

Also like Greene, Ferguson is going to have plenty of work to do to get to the L someday. He's not a great defender, although he does a better job of creating turnovers than his matriculated counterpart. Being longer should help that area of development. He just needs to put equal effort into his game on the opposite side of the court. His storking legs give him the sort of stride where, with focus and Self defensive coaching, he has potential to be Releford level lockdown. The biggest area of improvement, much like Fox above or Svi, is that he needs to add a lot of strength and with those stork legs and average shoulders, you have to wonder if he's got the frame to build on. His triple-threat game needs work too. BBIQ-wise, he's average.

All in all, there's a whole lot to like about Ferg. KU has already emerged as an early favorite in his recruitment. As long as we place a wing in the draft this year, I think we've got a great shot at sealing the deal.

SF) Josh Jackson

Jackson is one of the top wing players in the country, and it's not in the least bit difficult to see why. He's among the elite athletes in his class. @jayballer54 already did a really nice write up on Jackson. What I'll add to that is he's very much a player in the vein of Andrew Wiggins. He's already a D-1 level defender and he's nowhere near his ceiling in that regard. He's also a real scorer, but not much of a shooter. The similarities to the NBA ROY don't end there. He's got a lot of the same moves attacking the basket, including the trademark spin. There are a couple key differences, though, between Jackson and Wiggins. As an athlete, despite being at the top of his class, Jackson isn't quite on the very top level. Wigs was an elite athlete by NBA standards from the day he set foot on campus. Jackson isn't quite as long. He doesn't have the uber first step, nor the 2nd and 3rd bounce. No shame in not quite being as athletic as a once in a generation kind of player, though. The saving grace, however, is that JJ is waaaaaay more aggressive than Wigs was. While everyone adapts to D-1 speed at their own pace, I'd be really shocked to see Jackson ever defer the way Wigs sometimes would.

Again, as @jayballer54 already mentioned, KU is seen as a leader in Jackson's recruitment. But unlike Ferguson, Jackson would have little to fear in the way of upperclassmen keeping him out of a starting line up.

PF) Schnider Herard

With most of our defections coming from the bigs, the class of 2016 is going to demand at least one immediate impact player and at least one developmental/depth player for our front court. For the developmental side of the coin, my pick is Schnider Herard from Haiti. I've seen Herard ranked as high as the low 40s, although he's dropped off ESPN's most recent top 100 (still rated 4 stars). I think he's likely to finish in the top 80 - 60 range, though. He's most commonly listed as a center, but he does have a burgeoning face up game and overall good touch, so face up play is a distinct possibility, and lacking a true back to the basket game, I've listed him as a 4 for our purposes. He does know how to use his body, though, and his thighs are like tree trunks. He's also developed his upper body a ton since arriving in the states, adding about 40 lbs top to bottom from his freshman to junior seasons. His best assets right now are his size, at 6'10.5" in shoes and 260 lbs, and his athleticism. He's a good rebounder, too. As a player, he's really just a bigger Tarik Black. His game is all about power and throwing his weight around. He is among the rawest of raw players I can remember Self ever offering (unless you count Wesley, which I don't). If Herard's game is steak tartare, Big Cliff's is beef jerky.

What Herard does have, though, is NBA potential in a 4 year package. If he can learn to play D without fouling, add a drop step, a hook, and the ability to score over both shoulders, he could be a 2nd rounder by the time he moves on, a la Sausha Kaun. He'll never be a franchise player, but he's got everything you could want in a journeyman.

As for his recruitment, he appears to be wide open right now. While I can't fault Self for not making Herard a top target, he's exactly the sort of kid that will be easy to miss on not because we can't offer him the best long term opportunity, but because we can offer the least short term benefit. There are plenty of mid-tier teams that would be overjoyed to start him or, at very least, offer him significant playing time as a freshman. Cal, Purdue, ASU, Nebraska, and any number of Texas teams could all make pretty immediate use of a guy like him. If he is on the market late, I think it's an easy sell, but if he goes early, we're probably S.O.L.

C) Marques Bolden

Another player that's already shown up on another poster's wishlist (thanks @HighEliteMajor), Bolden is my top overall want in this class. HEM's post on him was must read and covers everything you need to know, but here's my 2 cents: For a player comparison, I'll go with #45 Cole Aldrich. He's not the best athlete, best shot blocker, nor best back to the basket scorer, but there are no real blind spots in his game either. He's got good shooting touch, a killer hook shot, nice size, a good set of post moves, and rebounds well too. The biggest strike he has had against him was level or effort/focus, but according to Eric Bossi, he's been dominant on the AAU circuit as of late, playing with a heretofore unknown ferocity.

What should make me happiest is that he's a self-proclaimed life long KU fan and we're seen as the front runner in his recruitment. What gives me pause, however, is that UK and Duke are coming on strong, and the way he's been playing, he's likely to be among the most coveted bigs in a class lacking quality in that respect. The longer he stays on the market, the more of a dog fight it'll become. Hopefully we get this one over with by Late Night.

@JayHawkFanToo Sorry, sometimes if I have something highlighted it pulls in part of the text. That was in reply to @Texas-Hawk-10 .

@Texas-Hawk-10
I compared him to Griffin. You're right, he's not nearly as good a scorer as Griffin, but I stand by that comparison. Even if he's less offensively talented, they both use high energy, great instincts, and elite athleticism to take over games. Diallo's just going to be doing more of his winning on D, where he's likely to outshine Blake. So even if they aren't identical players, they're cut from the same cloth. Two sides of the same coin, so to speak.

TRob would be another good comparison from a rebounding and energy standpoint, but I think that undersells Diallo's athleticism a bit, and his defense and 'feel' quite a lot. TRob was way more like Cliff as a freshman; often lost on D, and way too much of a foul magnet, but powerful and an exceptional rebounder.

I don't expect Diallo to put up Griffin's offensive numbers. He's not going to be a top scoring option, and even if he were, he's just not a natural scorer. But he's a guy who, with decent minutes, could approach double digit rebounds and block 2.5 shots a game. That plus 8-9 ppg would be a fine thing.

@HighEliteMajor Hit the nail squarely on the head vis a vis Embiid/Diallo. If Diallo has an impact at KU anything like what Embiid did, it won't be because he's the second coming of Hakeem the Dream, it will be because he's the second coming of Blake Griffin: Athletic and relentless, with a knack for making good things happen.

@JhawkAlum You're right. I had that backwards. Smart was their first choice. So yeah, I guess we may be playing Gregg Marshall twice a year.

@HighEliteMajor Yeah, if I'd known the rumor had been started by something from Matt Scott, I would have never posted it. He seems like a nice guy, but he's a total homer and completely unreliable for recruiting news.

@drgnslayr Oh wow! Neat stuff. Are all of these pinball machines? Either way, I really love this style of art. Vintage 60s/70s comic style. Jack Kirby-esque. Where did you find this stuff?

Anyway, I have serious doubts that Marshall would go to ISU after passing up Texas. Hoiberg did a great job bringing ISU back to relevancy, but Ames vs Austin isn't much of a fight. Texas has more money, better facilities, and some of the most fertile recruiting grounds right in their backyard. If Marshall is talking to ISU, I gotta imagine it's just to squeeze the Billionaire Wonder Twins for a little more cash.

@HighEliteMajor Apparently he will, at least according to the latest from the rumor mill. Hearing he's no longer expected in Lansing (not yet confirmed, though). Now if he cancels on Iona...

Well, I guess we can abandon the transfer talk. According to Rustin Dodd's twitter, KU has offered Paschal for 2016, but he'd have to pay his own way for a year or take a hiatus.

@nuleafjhawk I still favor tough scheduling. I just think we should crib the way UK and Duke do it: schedule a bunch of incredibly good teams, then use cupcakes as the mortar to fill out the schedule. Our problem in recent years was we've scheduled a couple really good teams, a ton of teams that are high quality, but not exactly top tier. So we don't get to develop players as much because we always have to have our horses on the floor and we still get beat because we're playing a lot of teams that can beat us on a good day.

@ParisHawk Yeah, Perry or Brannen wouldn't have to pay as much. Also, Perry is on the cusp of a pro career, so the burden of taking a student loan for a year would be a lot less to him than anyone else, so that's the logic.

@Crimsonorblue22 It's just an answer to a hypothetical. I don't realistically think Perry would be asked to go off scholarship. I just think he'd be the most logical choice to start with if you were going to go that route. For some reason I remember hearing that Brannen's parents moved to town, but now I can't find anything that corroborates that. But if that were the case, he'd be a potential candidate too.

At any rate, we're putting the cart before the horse here. Chukwu isn't in the fold and it doesn't matter unless that happens.

@BeddieKU23 said:

tuition isn't cheap. who's family is well off enough to do that, that i'm sure has no answer.

That's an easy answer. Perry Ellis could do it, if he was willing to do Self a solid, though the only coach that I'm aware of that has ever pulled of the lose your schollie, stick with the team scheme is Rick Pitino.

I get that no one would want to, but even if Perry had to take out the student loan himself, and even if he fails to make an NBA roster next year, he'd still be able to pay back that loan in full with a season of overseas pay.

Aside from him, I'm relatively certain Landen Lucas' folks have money to afford KU out-of-state tuition. They were at least willing to pony up the dough to send him to Findlay Prep for a season (and might have been willing to spend for two), and that place ain't cheap either.

@Texas-Hawk-10
1. I don't think I said anywhere that speed and quickness are the same thing.
2. Yes, if you're quick, you can beat guys off the bounce, but no, it's not the only way to get the job done. Look at guys like Paul Pierce or Joe Jackson since either of them started playing for the Nets (and subsequently the Wizards in Pierce's case). Neither of those guys qualifies as being quick by NBA standards at this point, but both of them are capable of getting free to score. Or, if you want some playing at the D-1 level, here's an embarrassing clip of Will Spradling crossing over Joel Embiid:

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Spradling isn't a quick player, certainly not as quick as Vick, let alone Embiid, but he still manages to get to the rim. It's called the old man game and it's a vanishing art among the young, elite preps. Never the less, it's a valuable skill set and one that tends to translate quite well, especially when the athletic advantage elite players have in HS evaporates at the next level. And, most importantly, it allows Pierce to continue to collect a pay check.

@Texas-Hawk-10 Vick almost certainly won't be able to do what he does as a D-1 frosh, but I don't think a lack of quickness will be a problem. Getting free isn't always about being the fastest guy on the floor (although that helps). You don't have to blow by your guy, you just have to get him to go right when you're going left. Vick has good handles and is very patient breaking down defenders off the dribble, and if he's a successful scorer at the college level, that will be why. He does need to get a lot stronger, though. He'll almost certainly have the same problem defending through screens that Svi had his first year because he's neither strong enough to fight through, nor quick/agile enough to consistently avoid them. But, depending on how things play out, he could be a 3 year starter beginning as early as 2016-17 (if we lose Selden and Svi and he's a better starter than Graham or Greene). Anyway, glad to see him coming into his own.

@DoubleDD I don't think there was any tampering on KU's part with Chukwu. When the whole Kevin Young/Steve Fisher thing went down in 2011-12, the story from both Self and Young was that Young's coach contacted him about an opportunity to play for KU, which led to Young contacting Self. When Self found out that Young was still committed to play for SDSU, he cut him off and told him to officially re-open his recruitment (ie, tell Fisher) or they'd have nothing more to say to one another. That's what Kevin did, and the rest is history. Now Fisher saw this as tampering, and I can understand his feelings, but I don't see it that way. I don't think anything like that happened with Chukwu (although, we could find out that that's not the case), and I wouldn't call what happened with Conner Frankamp tampering either, and he up and left KU identically to how Chukwu up and left Providence. At any rate, you're right about dog eat dog. There's nothing wrong with KU profiting from Providence's loss.

To me, the interesting thing about a 30 second shot clock is that it might actually decrease scoring even further. A lot of people assume shorter clock = more possessions = more scoring, but it's not that simple. After all, who does a shorter shot clock benefit? The defense, of course. Shortening the shot clock just gives the offense less time to find a good shot. The reasons the NBA has more scoring has more to do with the players being more talented on average, the game being longer (48 minutes instead of 40), and the 3-second defensive rule that opens up the lane more. The lack of being able to camp a footer in the lane is the reason Andrew Wiggins can go from 2nd Team All American to Rookie of the Year. At any rate, I am in favor of some of these changes, but yeah, the rules are only ever going to be as good as the refs, and I prefer the more physical and defensive minded game in college to the NBA style.

I'm in the temper expectations category. If you read the article, they stress that their pick of KU is fairly tepid, and more based on the fact that they're a veteran team that added great prospects in a year where there are no obviously great teams. I think we've got a long way to go, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it all come together either. The WUG should help bring this team along ahead of schedule as well.

@KUSTEVE Heard that as well. I don't know anything yet. Don't expect KU to get involved, though.

@KUSTEVE Yup. May be taking his talents to Purdue? I wonder if Calipari is involved, though. This smacks way too hard of the Terrance Jones thing. Either way, huge blow to MSU and really changes the tone of that match up. If Purdue does land Swanigan, that trumps the prior the recruiting story of the year of Brown to Cal.