@Crimsonorblue22 The moment I knew TRob was destine for greatness came against (I think) Colorado St his sophomore year when he blocked a shot, fell to his butt, then was up again to block the same player's putback attempt. It, to this day, is one of the most amazing basketball plays I've ever seen.
konkeyDong
383 posts
@BeddieKU23 I don't think that's completely true, but I think he'd have to be in trouble for something Derrick Rose level egregious in order for KU to get hit hard.
We've had a few of these issues pop up over the Self era with a lot of hemming and hawing from the peanut gallery, but, in the end, very little to show for it. Even the Pump Bros. scandal, which had nothing to do with the team itself, only resulted in one scholarship being pulled. But McLemore's thing came and went without a peep from the NCAA. So did the pot thing. Selby, Rush, and Jackson all had minor violations that were taken care of with relatively little pain. Hell, they screwed the pooch at Miami, and still haven't really done anything with Cuse or UNC, and if the NCAA can't find a way to throw the book at Duke after it was discovered that a former player had received massive loans for jewelry while attending the school, I doubt they're going to pull wins from KU because of something minor (which Self's comments/disposition lead me to believe this is). They've got bigger fish to fry, and as others have pointed out, they've lost a lot of their teeth from back in the day.
Mickleson has been a declining player since he was a frosh, unfortunately. He came in with a lot of promise, but he was a feather weight, 6'10" and maybe 215 after a big meal. That left him pretty effective defensively, agile enough to close out on quicker defenders, but long enough and skilled enough to bother big guys. But he was also terribly foul prone. He was also always a poor offensive player, able to pick and pop ok, but no back to the basket play, no footwork, not ambidextrous, etc.
The biggest thing is, when Mike Anderson came in, Mickleson wanted to transfer but couldn't get a release and Anderson wanted him to bulk out. Mickleson gained 25 - 30lbs, and he's never been the same (I do watch Arkansas games when I can cause my father teaches there. It's also usually easy to get good seats when I go and visit). I had hoped, based on comments after he transferred, that Hudy would get him back down to 215 - 220. But that hasn't happened. @jaybate-2.0 has speculated that he may be injured. I can't disagree that he moves a bit like a corpse these days, but I seem to remember him being that way as a sophomore at UArk, so who knows for sure. Either way, I hope he can grad transfer in part because he really can't contribute much here, and in part because I think that he deserves better than to rot on our bench when he could really shine at a mid-major. And, of course, that would probably help us land another big, hopefully Thon or Cheick, but I'd take Zimmerman or Rabb too.
@Kip_McSmithers said:
@wissoxfan83 said:
@BeddieKU23 No, but we can ROOT for a Baylor ROUT as we are en ROUTE to another big 12 championship. And then we'll raise a cup of ROUT beer, uh, alright, I'm confused now.
All while listening to The Roots. Is that root beer made from sarsaparilla roots?
I'd love to guys, but I can't cause I'll be watching my old VHS tapes of Roots and comparing it to the original novel, Roots: The Saga of an American Family.
@HighEliteMajor I'm more of a gin or beer drinker myself, but I can't pass up a chance to be pedantic, so here's a quick lesson in wine pairing:
The easiest rule is match the color of the wine to the color of the meat, so red wine for steak and white wine for fish. But what it really comes down to is you want the wine to balance out the flavors of the dish. So richer/heartier meals call for drier wines, where lighter meals call for sweeter or effervescent wine.
Between that and learning to make creme brulee (which is dead easy), you can wind up even happier than your wife on her next birthday.
@Crimsonorblue22 Phoenix would be too awesome. That might make me actually want to watch the NBA. The Lakers could use him too, and I'd love to see a Robinson/Black front line (woulda been great at Kansas, too).
@HighEliteMajor Amended.
As for the kiss of death, you're right, but there is a glimmer of hope. Morningstar was never going to be anything more than a glue guy. Selden doesn't have to be, though, and the degree of the changes he needs to make to get out of the glue trap are so enticingly small:
- Don't shoot floaters over defenders, you just don't have the touch.
- Use the jump-stop/Eurostep. I know bigger dudes just get called for more charges, but you can cut that down by more than half with these two weapons.
- Don't go for the dunk unless you absolutely need to or it's a sure thing. Layups may not be as crowd pleasing, but they count for more points than rim-jections.
- Don't pass to a guy that doesn't have hands ready.
- Don't try to bullet pass through the middle of a zone.
- Finish at the rim, especially through contact.
- Focus. Keep your eyes on the rim when you put up a shot. Keep an eye on your man when defending. Catch and rebound the ball with two hands always. You don't have to think more, just be more present.
@Crimsonorblue22 Agreed. Both players struggle to finish at the rim, but Selden has been hitting his Js and is better at screen defense. Selden does struggle with small, quick guards, but I don't recall Svi being significantly better in that department. Svi is the better passer/ball handler. I don't know if we have enough data to compare their rebounding, but Svi's board work hasn't stood out to me in any special sense. Selden does need to do more in that area, though. Once Svi has a bit more of an NBA body, things may well change (provided he gets the typical sophomore uptick in shooting), but this season, I think Selden over Svi is the right choice. Even if Svi's shooting upticked, he's still going to have the same body throughout the year, and it still won't be ready for American/D-I levels of physicality. Those kind of rebuild jobs are an off season thing.
Also, in regards to Selden's performance alone, he really hasn't been bad, but the fact that he's more of glue guy rather than a franchise player is what I think frustrates most people, because a franchise guy is what we were all expecting and what he should really be. He's still a better defender, rebounder, and hustle-play-maker than Graham or Greene (per HEM, Greene is in fact a much better rebounder), but he doesn't accomplish as much on the offensive end in his minutes (at least discounting Graham's recent slump).
Lastly, I'm not a grass-is-always-greener type. The 'what if?' game can be a lot of fun, but the fact of the matter is, frequently, the path not taken leads to the same town. Different choices represent different opportunities, but not necessarily different results. We can speculate as to which player might have made for more wins over the course of the season, but unless those players are playing a similar amount, it gets really hard to compare their efficiencies in any significant manner, and it may not make a difference anyway because both players have exploitable weaknesses.
@REHawk Spot on analysis. From a BBIQ standpoint, Svi is probably the smartest player KU can put on the floor. He has great awareness and feel/instincts. But he's clearly physically over matched at this point. It started with the Florida game where Self had to pull him because he couldn't get over/around screens. It also doesn't help that he's been shooting like a freshman. But Greene was very much in the same position last year and look at how far he's come. If Svi could shoot half as well as Greene and finish at the rim half as well as Kelly (he needs to abandon the floater just like Selden), then he'd be our best player by far.
According to Zagsblog.com, Thon Maker is doing the reclass dance ↗. This is great news for KU, as we're probably his early leader and no worse then tied with UK.
@drgnslayr I think you're right about Thon. We're either 1st or basically tied with UK. We're the only two schools on his current list that he's singled out to receive a visit. Hopefully this all goes through and we can seal the deal.
@wrwlumpy I don't believe that's the case. Most years, the team is assembled from a number of college teams. This year was an exeption. The NCAA asked for one university to take responsibility for representing the US and Kansas submitted for the opportunity. At least by the world game rules, we could add players from other teams to fill out the roster. I don't know if the NCAA would be okay with it, and I doubt Self is interested, but there isn't any rule preventing that from happening.
As for how this affects our recruiting, I don't know that it does. I think one of the most important aspects of landing Bragg was that he'd be given more opportunity to learn the system ahead of the season. I don't necessarily think that was a primary reason for him to sign up, though. I think Bragg knows he's a multi-year guy (most likely TAD), and that he'll probably be coming off the bench at first, especially if Alexander stays (which I think is more likely than not). Really, I think this opportunity is a lot like an NCAA title: any top recruit that joins a school says they want to win one or that it was a consideration, but when they fail to do so, very few return. There are exceptions, such as Sullinger coming back for a sophomore year, but most guys that come back do so because they don't like where their draft stock is (see all of UK's multi-year guys not named Stein, and excluding Willis and Hawkins, obviously). Only one of the two guys we're most likely to land at this point (Diallo and Newman) would actually be able to join the team, and I don't think it's enough of a selling point to change our fortunes with the remaining guys.
Lastly, on a somewhat related note, in a recent post I said I thought KU was in 2nd place with Ivan Rabb. I'm downgrading that to 4th. I think his list right now would rank 1) Cal, with a bullet 2) UoAz 3) UCLA, 4) KU, 5) UK, and I think it's unlikely we'll get a visit. Rabb earlier in the year canceled a visit because KU wouldn't be playing, but talk of rescheduling it has died down and there remain only 3 home games in the regular season. Unless he announces something in the next week, we won't have got him on campus and, thus, that pretty much kills our chances with him (not a Julian Wright kind of situation). Diallo is trying to get back out here, though. Still waiting on word from Thon. Having to hang on like this leaves me in a bit more doubt that it will happen, but I'm still on the reclass side of the curve. We'll see what happens, though.
@Crimsonorblue22 Not just top 10, but dunk of the year. Fun read, but dunking's not going anywhere and I wouldn't have it any other way.
@Crimsonorblue22 Jinx ;)
@JayHawkFanToo The limit wasn't years removed, but age (and I think you have to take a class within 3 months of the games or something), and I don't remember exactly what those ages were, but I do remember that one of the fine journalists at the LJW confirmed when it was announced that KU would rep the US that TT and TRob could both theoretically play for KU as long as they enrolled in a summer school class.
@wrwlumpy It'd be unlikely that Sactown would give Ben permission. Tarik is a maybe because his contract isn't guaranteed, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Actually, there is a real chance that TRob could become available because Portland is passing on re-upping his contract. He might want to put on a big show before he tries out on the agent market.
There's not enough positive that can be said about Dean Smith. He was a favored son, and a champion on the court, on the sidelines, and in the arena of civil rights. It's rare that a person of his standing would be willing to take on the burden of being a true hero, but Smith carried that load as though it were a feather-weight, and the label is absolutely warranted. Rest in peace, Dean.
@jaybate-1.0 You forgot, "with a win"...
@truehawk93 So on the issue of competition between Bragg, Big Cliff, and Big Zim, yeah, I get that Zim's a 5 and the others are 4s, but Self has played a 4b when he had a true 5 available in the past (see 2008 team), so it wouldn't be unprecedented for him to play a forward over a center. But more to the point, despite being #1 in his position in his class, generally regarded as very coachable, and usually making a big impact in the minutes he's given, Cliff still doesn't start, nor is he regularly getting starter level minutes in the rotation, despite playing behind a much less talented and somewhat spastic Jr. So that raises the obvious question, why come to KU where your minutes aren't guaranteed when UNLV is more than willing to roll out the red carpet (not to mention that really, there's no one else standing in the way once Christian Wood declares)? If Self were willing to guarantee Zim 30 minutes a game, I don't think it would be an issue, but we both know that's just not how he operates.
I'd love nothing more than to land Zimmerman, but I think it's much less of a realistic possibility at this point when compared to other available bigs, including Rabb, Diallo, and Thon Maker. And don't try to apply logic and/or reasoning to this cause we all know logic has nothing to do with 18 yr olds behavior.
@BeddieKU23 With Rabb, Cal is definitely the heavy-weight favorite, but Rabb likes Self quite a lot and was actually pretty underwhelmed with UK. I don't know how hard Zona is going after him, but I haven't heard anything connecting him to UNC or UCLA, so in the absence of other indicators, KU looks to be in 2nd place by default. Of course, in recruiting, coming in 2nd is coming in last, but if we can get him on campus, we have a shot to flip the script. Won't be easy. I wouldn't hold my breath or anything, but we aren't hopeless on this one, either.
Somebody rubbed my lamp, so I'm forced to make an appearance :).
@truehawk93 To answer some of your concerns about Zimmerman, I don't think we're off his radar, but I don't think we're in a favored status currently, either. One of the nice things about the kid is that he and his mother are very open and active on social media, so it's relatively easy to get him to talk about what he's looking for. His wishlist thus far has been 1) OAD, 2) get big PT (necessary to OAD in all likelihood), 3) find a good strength and conditioning program.
Zimmerman knows he needs to bulk up in order to compete in the association, and what we have to offer with Hudy sets us apart from even other elite programs. That's our biggest in. But PT and getting college out of the way seem to be the more important factors for Zimmerman. There was a source at Zagsblog about two months ago that was saying UK was not in the top 3 for Zim, but that he favors staying out west. I don't know if UK has moved up in that regard (I suspect not because they offered center Thomas Bryant shortly thereafter, but, in retrospect, that could be because of Bragg), but the west coast rumors persist. Basically, UNLV has constant access to the kid and, although they may not win a ton of games or get the same national exposure that KU, UK, and Zona can offer, they have the most in the way of guaranteed PT and he'd be greeted as a hometown hero should he choose that path, so I think @BeddieKU23 is spot on in his analysis. The biggest hurdle for him coming to KU at this point is Big Cliff's semi-failure to launch. No one can question that when Alexander gets minutes, he's usually very productive, but the fact that he still hasn't cracked the starting rotation at this point spells a very likely return, and I don't think Zim wants to compete for that time. Bragg committing just compounds that.
Now, that said, I don't really have any inside information about Zimmerman. In the absence of that, I always deffer to looking at Jerry Meyer's recruiting predictions cause he's the best in the game. Meyer currently says UK, but admits it's more of a default position, and one based more on UK making Zim a primary target than the other way around. How meaningful is that prediction then? Who knows? But if you're wanting to glean something as we approach April, Meyer is the guy to follow.
As for where we wind up with recruiting this year, I'd be genuinely surprised if we added 3, especially given the guys we're targeting. Dorsey, who was a KU lean back in December, saw the writing on the wall and decided to go Oregon. Malik Newman is a kid that I still have a hard time believing will wind up here, but there is a lot of smoke in that camp at the moment, and that may have triggered Dorsey's decision. I wouldn't count out Diallo. I still think he's quite high on KU. ISU wants him more, but Norm's done such a good job recruiting him. It's hard to see him not closing the deal, but again, Cliff's likely return may ward him off. Duke now having pushed Rasheed Sulaimon out of the picture has basically paved the way for Brandon Ingram to come in and start. I know Bragg wants to play with him, but Ingram is an unabashed Duke fan and now has the golden path. I can't see it playing out any other way. I'll like our chances more with Ivan Rabb when we can actually get him to visit campus.
So yeah, I think we'll add one more top guy, probably Diallo, but maybe Newman, and that will be that.
Lastly, I think Hunter Mickelson has got to go. I've got nothing against the kid on a personal level or anything. He seems like a genuinely good dude, but he's clearly outclassed here and struggling to beat out Landen 'Paddle Hands' Lucas for even scrap minutes. He should grad transfer to Arkansas State or some other similarly small school where he'll actually see the floor, rather than continuing to wilt on our bench. I know Svi isn't playing much anymore either, but there's a kid who I know will be ready when his name is called. Mickelson, not so much.
One last word on Thon. He's reclassifying. We're in a strong position, having paid him several visits and already having received an unofficial, but that pesky school in Kentucky has also make a push with him recently. That's right, Louisville is in hot pursuit. Actually, a lot of schools are trying to horn in on Thon. I wouldn't call KU the definitive leader at this point, but like I said, we're strong. Him and Diallo basically comprise my wishlist for the rest of the class.
@HawkInMizery I've tried giving people instructions on how to use a public VPN to connect to ESPN3 (which is how I've survived the blackout), but I'm a poor teacher. Maybe you'd have better luck.
Selden is 2/12 on made dunks this year (I've been keeping track, unfortunately). There have been a couple others, but he's the primary reason we're montage worthy in that area. Although he's no longer playing on a bad knee, I can't help but feel his knee must be really weak for him to misjudge dunks so badly. It's not just the ones where he's trying to fly over a defender that he's missing. At 6'5" and a 6'10" winspan, he really doesn't need to get up all that high to complete a dunk, so it's got to be more a matter of adjusting his timing/distance until he can get his knee stronger.
I guess to play along, though, the next time a KU player clangs a dunk off the rim I'll add it to Wayne's tally.
That was a real defibrillator kind of game. I really have nothing insightful to say about it. Any chance in march is going to depend on UK having a bus crash and us containing dribble penetration and getting back on D. How will Self justify keeping Oubre out of so much of the second half when he basically put the team on his back in the last 4 minutes?
@JayHawkFanToo I get what you're saying, especially about carrying weight on his joints. I think it's clear from the picture that he isn't anywhere near 300lbs, though, and that number came from a tabloid magazine, so that should tell you what it's worth. I'm just saying there are plenty of guys that have been stellar players at both the college and pro levels that carried a few extra pounds and had long and productive careers. JoJo will get back in shape. He's not heading down the Sherron path. At least, not yet.
What matters is the way JoJo competes, not what he weighs. The plus-sized models of Sir Charles and Shaq were some of their best years. JoJo will be fine. If for nothing else, his agent has a strong stake in keeping him competitive.
From those highlights, I was fortunate enough to be on hand yesterday to witness Christian Garret's first official career field goal. Kid's been in the program for 4 years, originally invited to help attract Deandre Daniels. It was a really nice moment, not just to see a walk on score, but one who's been waiting so long to make it happen.
@Lulufulu If Svi's height is correct, he's dad's about 6'3" - 6'4" and his mom is around 5'8". Wouldn't be totally surprising that their boy is so tall.
@JayHawkFanToo While that KU/KSU blurb is interesting, I thought the Moorehead/Tennessee Tech one was absolutely bonkers. I'd actually kind of love to see a game go that far off the rails (not one that KU is involved in, of course).
@JayHawkFanToo LOL
@JayHawkFanToo Nestea is Coke and Lipton is Pepsi, so I see no relief in your preferred beverage.
@icthawkfan316 Thanks. I like this place much better anyhow.
@KUSTEVE Who's Rodney?
The headline for this thread really should have been "BIG SHOE COMES THROUGH FOR KU".
@jaybate-1.0 said:
QA is about being close for the right reasons.
KENPOM's prediction was close and so one should look more closely at his profile of reasons to discover controllable elements of it that might enable KU to escape its determinism. All systems can be open ended, or closed, depending to some degree whether we choose to reinforce them, or break out of them, as Turing chose to break out/externalize a game changer (the computer) across the skull wall boundary and so move beyond his analog, masonry past and agonizingly into a digital, vacuum-tubed and electron-flow connected Base 1 present. And the director brilliantly puts the audience in a perspective that feels like one is looking back at Turing who is in our past.
Well said.
@globaljaybird @JayhawkRock78 NP on the link.
Mulligan. Get's it right this time.
Jebus, he said Kentucky first!!!!
KANSAS!!!!
No hats is a good sign.
@JayHawkFanToo On the whole, I don't put a lot of faith in the overall Crystal Ball predictions because most of the guys making them are people like me: recruiting enthusiasts trying to make sense of rumors and speculation. Every now and again, you find a really good source that's willing to share what they know (and I had a very reliable one in Norm Roberts circle for a while), but more often than not it's a mix of gut and logic. When I do get those sources and they have good news to share, I like to get it out to everyone as soon as I can, but otherwise I'm speculating. Having said that, Jerry Meyer usually is 'in the know' more often than not and when he sends a strong signal, that holds a lot of weight with me. Overall, though, I think the composite predictions make more sense. And I'd rather have Diallo (who Meyer switched to ISU) and Bragg than Bragg and Ingram. Like @HighEliteMajor says, we don't really need another perimeter player, and getting one would likely spell a transfer.
I spent a good chunk of last night hitting up every good recruiting resource I know to try and find out if anyone had an in on Carlton Bragg. Unfortunately, I can't say that I met much success, so I'm left with starring at the pundits and trying to puzzle things out for myself. The only real interesting thing that I saw was a tweet by Jerry Meyer about his latest round of Crystal Ball predictions ↗, and thus the title of this post. Can this be for real? Are Bragg, Brandon Ingram, and Malik Newman really coming to KU as a packaged deal? Is that the recruiting class we want? This one is really getting under my skin.
@justanotherfan I'm not usually the one to temper expectations (that's HEM's job), but I just don't see what you're seeing. Bragg might be more explosive than Ben Simmons, but Cheick Diallo is clearly the best PF in terms of pure athleticism (first step/vertical/no step vertical/2nd jump/etc), and I'd rate Rabb, Zimmerman, and Labissiere over him too. Likewise, as good a scorer as Bragg is, he's undersized (both a bit short and very light) and really not much of a defender at this point. Being the best athlete isn't everything, but unless he can bulk up quickly, which I think is questionable with his frame, I think it's going to take time for him to impose himself at the college level the way he does in HS. I always reserve the right to be wrong and would be very pleasantly surprised if he picks KU and turns out to be NBA ready from day 1. I'm just not holding my breath on either account.
@HighEliteMajor Pessimism feels like the right mode to me, too. This just has the feel of the Randle commitment. Experts were mostly in the dark, but figured KU just made the most sense, and as those rumors started swirling, I drank the koolaid. I worked hard on a mantra to convince myself that it just had to be KU because it just seemed so obvious. But reality kicked in and I was rudely reminded that recruiting, just like 18 year olds, seldom makes sense.
I noticed this topic when it was posted but didn't have a chance to reply until now and I'm glad it worked out that way because of Selden's play vs UNLV today. Today's game confirmed what I suspect Self sees in Selden. Yeah, he had a pretty good game today, but it wasn't Wayne's scoring that stood out. Selden is always the guy, it seems, making floor burn plays. He has a tendency, regardless of actual numbers, to put his fingerprints on a game. Now I get that a streaky-shooting glue guy who struggles to defend quick guards isn't exactly what you want to get out of your top 15 McD's AA, but he usually makes his presence felt in a positive way. He also has shown a lot of improvement in his ball handling and passing. His A:TO is actually quite a bit better than Mason's and he put's up nearly the same assist numbers. He should have even more, in fact, if Ellis, Lucas, and Mickelson would be more hands ready and finish around the rim.
Given the number of dunks Selden has missed this year, I'm thinking he hasn't come back from his knee surgery. The only question I have is 'is he coming back?' If he can rehab his knee back to the strength he had while he was playing injured, then I think the rest of his game can come together. Thing is, he's going to have to be back for another year. That's all good given that we're really unlikely to sign a guard other than Tyler Dorsey now that Blankeny chose LSU over UK (ah, how fast the recruiting wheel turns. Consider this my prediction of Newman to UK now), and I'm not sold we'll pick up him either.
@HighEliteMajor I don't have any new info that would change me from where I stood a month or so ago. Jerry Meyer having us over UK gives me some hope, but I won't be surprised if he changes his prediction between now and then. The one thing I will say is don't count out Illinois. He has been tweeting about them a bit lately, and the timing of this commitment is so odd. I could reasonably see that he's looking at KU and UK and thinking, I'm not going to play as much as I'd like given who they'll have back. Karl Towns and WCS are the only two guaranteed to leave for the NBA this year. Big Cliff might make that leap on KU's side, but that's about it. The weird part of the Illinois theory is that as far as I know, Bragg has never set foot in Champaign, but then again, we got Julian Wright site unseen, so it's hardly unheard of. The thing that really kills my optimism, though, is that KU's staff really hasn't had the kind of significant contact lately that UK and UI have.
The downsides of missing on Bragg are obvious. He's a 2-3 year player in all likelihood, and a very talented scorer. On the other hand, missing on Bragg could turn out to be a blessing in disguise. Although I've compared Bragg to Darrell Arthur, he could turn out to be another Perry Ellis. That's not to impugn Ellis, but what we need in our rotation for next season isn't another finesse tweener, and you run that risk with Bragg. But Bragg to UK would all but guarantee that they're out of spots for post players and that would strongly bolster our positions with Zimmerman and Diallo.
So long and short, I don't think we'll win this battle, but it could spell us winning the war. Always look on the bright side of life.
@joeloveshawks Actually, I see this loss as pro forma. In every single season Self has coached KU (try saying that 10 times fast), he's dropped one game that was just a complete 'WHAT THE HELL' kind of loss. Last year, it was WVU (or arguably Stanford, but they weren't as bad as their seeding). Before that, TCU. Before that, Davidson. Before that, VCU, then UNI, UMass, OSU, Oral Roberts, Bradley, Bucknell, and finally Nebraska. If it happens before March, there's this massive freak out, but we usually do pretty well in the dance. It's the years where that game happened during the dance that are frustrating. I'd much rather be experiencing this right now.
@HighEliteMajor said:
Remember Simien and Marcus? Both had pretty sweet fade away shots, and turn around jumpers. The simple problem with Ellis is that defenders do not have to respect him beating them going backward.
I've been beating that drum for the last 3 years. Everything about Perry's skillset says he should be a better version of Marcus Morris. Instead, he struggles against the sorts of defenders that Marcus would routinely embarrass by using his footwork, touch, and turnaround J. George Niang is a full inch shorter and could barely clear a broom handle in his first two years at ISU, but he has a turnaround and a fallaway hook that allowed him to still get looks against the likes of Jeff Withey and Joel Embiid. THIS is where losing Danny Manning has killed us in terms of what our big men can do. Norm Roberts has delivered the goods on the recruiting trail, but he just can't develop bigs the way Manning could.
@Hawk8086 With Ojeleye having to sit a year, he'd give us a head start on replacements for Svi/Oubre/Selden when they leave. He can also play the 4, so that helps with Perry and Traylor leaving next season. It's not that the competition isn't just as stiff, but the timing/opportunity might be better. He could be a Mickelson. He could be a Jeff Withey. It's impossible to know. But one way or another, according to the LJW, KU has reached out to him. We'll see what happens if he responds.