Following potential 2017 draftees...

[Game6Conley]

Smith and Alkins would be unreal.
Those two against Fox and Monk (PPV).

Yup, there's probably NBA backcourts that couldn't hold (a healthy) Dennis Smith and Rawle.

Fox is the show-stopper though!!! In those games vs big-time players he will shine the brightest. He's built for it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ4QzYCofGM

An absolute match-up nightmare at PG...

 

[Game6Conley]

PKM do you have any update on Wenyen Gabriel?? There appears to be some serious re-shuffling of plans going on. SF domino's will surely be falling in the next 2 weeks.

Duke's involvement with Javin DeLaurier appears to have affected things(are they selling DeLaurier on time at SF?!? something doesn't add up..

I can't help but think somehow Giles is implicated, maybe Duke isn't as confident as they once were??. I guess it all makes a bit more sense if Giles plays the 5.



Is Maryland infact the team to beat for Gabriel? For some reason I have a difficult time buying that(despite what he said). IMO, Gabriel seems very well spoken and capable of telling everyone what they want to hear.

 

[Dr. Jones]

PKM do you have any update on Wenyen Gabriel?? There appears to be some serious re-shuffling of plans going on. SF domino's will surely be falling in the next 2 weeks.

Duke's involvement with Javin DeLaurier appears to have affected things(are they selling DeLaurier on time at SF?!? something doesn't add up..

I can't help but think somehow Giles is implicated, maybe Duke isn't as confident as they once were??. I guess it all makes a bit more sense if Giles plays the 5.



Is Maryland infact the team to beat for Gabriel? For some reason I have a difficult time buying that(despite what he said). IMO, Gabriel seems very well spoken and capable of telling everyone what they want to hear.

Gabriel loves Duke, but I don't think K is at all committed to trying him at the 3, and Gabe knows it.
I think Maryland is a legit contender for him.
Calipari is the only coach (I know of) that truly believes the kid should be playing on the perimeter.

My best guess is if UK gets Bridges Gabe goes to the terps and MAYBE Duke.
If Bridges goes MSU, I think UK lands Gabriel... At least I hope so because Cal's plan seems to be Simmons as the plan b.
I would MUCH rather have Bridges or Gabriel than a 3-guard line up with Kobi as the last addition.

 

[Dr. Jones]

PKM do you have any update on Wenyen Gabriel?? There appears to be some serious re-shuffling of plans going on. SF domino's will surely be falling in the next 2 weeks.

Duke's involvement with Javin DeLaurier appears to have affected things(are they selling DeLaurier on time at SF?!? something doesn't add up..

I can't help but think somehow Giles is implicated, maybe Duke isn't as confident as they once were??. I guess it all makes a bit more sense if Giles plays the 5.



Is Maryland infact the team to beat for Gabriel? For some reason I have a difficult time buying that(despite what he said). IMO, Gabriel seems very well spoken and capable of telling everyone what they want to hear.

Gabriel loves Duke, but I don't think K is at all committed to trying him at the 3, and Gabe knows it.
I think Maryland is a legit contender for him.
Calipari is the only coach (I know of) that truly believes the kid should be playing on the perimeter.

My best guess is if UK gets Bridges Gabe goes to the terps and MAYBE Duke.
If Bridges goes MSU, I think UK lands Gabriel... At least I hope so because Cal's plan seems to be Simmons as the plan b.
I would MUCH rather have Bridges or Gabriel than a 3-guard line up with Kobi as the last addition.

 

[Game6Conley]

Gabriel loves Duke, but I don't think K is at all committed to trying him at the 3, and Gabe knows it.
I think Maryland is a legit contender for him.
Calipari is the only coach (I know of) that truly believes the kid should be playing on the perimeter.

My best guess is if UK gets Bridges Gabe goes to the terps and MAYBE Duke.
If Bridges goes MSU, I think UK lands Gabriel... At least I hope so because Cal's plan seems to be Simmons as the plan b.
I would MUCH rather have Bridges or Gabriel than a 3-guard line up with Kobi as the last addition.

Well I'm not sure If you saw his recent comments about MD recently, he said they told him he'd replace Jake Layman at 3.

I always try and remember my first impressions of players, Gabriel definitely struck me as a SF prospect when I first saw him. I see an Antetekounmpo type quality to his play, he almost makes the court look small when he's dribbling full-speed..

So I guess it's a done deal that Maryland came up in the world of College Basketball.

They really have some annoying, uninformed fans though. I hate to generalize but in the 12 years I've been posting about basketball on internet forums, that's what I've found.

I have a friend who's a MD grad that consults for them (and other colleges/ pro-teams). He's a company man thru and thru so I started to bug him about Maryland not being able to keep recruits like DJ Harvey and Markelle Fultz in-state a while back(I think it was winter).

His response was they need to just secure a ton of 4 star players and develop them. It's crazy how fast that's changed.

 

[Game6Conley]

Hey PKM whats the story with this well-dressed young fella?

 

[Joe Bagadonuts]

Yup, there's probably NBA backcourts that couldn't hold (a healthy) Dennis Smith and Rawle.

Fox is the show-stopper though!!! In those games vs big-time players he will shine the brightest. He's built for it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ4QzYCofGM

An absolute match-up nightmare at PG...

Never thought I'd hear anyone with a more obnoxious "and 1" yell than Boozer... but I was wrong. This kid is a legit talent, though, and I'm sure I would grow to love his yell if he was playing like that for my team.

 

[Game6Conley]

Meh - Hopefully I'm wrong and this will look dumb in 9 days. As of now, I buy that MSU's the favorite for Miles Bridges.(I prefer Wenyen Gabriel anyway)

Kentucky's involvement means most MSU fans aren't trying to get their hopes too high. I don't think he's gonna disappoint all those Michiganders(and his boy Cassius Winston) tho. Bridges commitment would instantly crown 2016 as the best recruiting class Izzo's ever had..


Kentucky doesn't have offers on any other c/o 2016 SF's(just Gabriel and Bridges) the field thins daily at this juncture too... Which might result in UK running a 3 guard lineup, as they will this upcoming season. Peeks has posted that 3rd guard would likely be Kobi Simmons. I can't figure how he's a better option than Rawle to run a 3 guard with, but I digress, this post is about SF's.


Perhaps Coach Cal has a plan C or D up his sleeve and haven't revealed it yet? last season when they were striking out on SF's, they offered an athletic 3 star SF, Shaun Kirk in the 25th hour and tried to steal him from N.C. State... If Kostas Antetekounmpo can progress accordingly, it's easy to see why his recruitment could ramp up bigtime. Kegler has been mentioned here plenty.

I can't help but wonder 'maybe they can get a SF from 2017 to re-classify?' that's an easy solution(ramifications could be awesome). I don't know particulars on school stuff or if its feasible, just spit-balling here. De'Aaron Fox's teammate Jarred Vanderbilt would be an absolute monster addition in 2016 IMO. He's got what it takes to be a productive college SF(out-of-area rebounding specialist) as one of the youngest players.

Vanderbilt already has tremendous chemistry playing with Fox, their games compliment each other well.. both get tons of steals and can handle it on the break. Vanderbilt outlets the ball to Fox quickly, who accelerates to warp speed the gives it back to Vanderbilt for the finish.. It's a nice combination(seen it for years).

Vanderbilt would be too young to go one-and-done if he re-classed. These 2 forwards, with confirmed UK interest are '98 born and that rule wouldn't be an issue.

4-starDaniel Mading (Thon's cousin) posted about him yesterday in the 2018 thread is a 6'10" Forward, whos kind of Wenyen Gabriel-esque.

Billy Preston, who like Jarred Vanderbilt already holds a 2017 offer from UK(both top-10 players in that class FWIW).Preston(like Vanderbilt) would be a certified game-changer.

tl;dr - Just check out the emboldened/underlined bits.

 

[Dr. Jones]

Cal has been mtg with JVanderbilt a lot recently.
Everyone WAY prefers Rawle over Kobi, but Rawle seems destined to State, so I was speaking in terms of predictions more so than wish lists.
Cal turned up the heat on Gabriel big time about three weeks ago. Don't feel great about getting him, but there's a shot.

Btw, Cal has also surprisingly gone strong after all
Of Giles, Bam, and Bolden of late.

 

[Game6Conley]

Cal has been mtg with JVanderbilt a lot recently.
Everyone WAY prefers Rawle over Kobi, but Rawle seems destined to State, so I was speaking in terms of predictions more so than wish lists.
Cal turned up the heat on Gabriel big time about three weeks ago. Don't feel great about getting him, but there's a shot.

Btw, Cal has also surprisingly gone strong after all
Of Giles, Bam, and Bolden of late.

That's great news. I'd happily concede missing on a few other targets to have him aboard.

If I could ask Coach Cal 1 question, it'd be "Is it just a coincidence you're recruiting all these lefties?" Vanderbilt was the first prospect from 2017 I posted on JF, I think I dropped a few posts on him before anyone else

Since there's no 2018 thread, ima leave these here;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EURbQcc09AQ

 

[Dr. Jones]

That's great news. I'd happily concede missing on a few other targets to have him aboard.

If I could ask Coach Cal 1 question, it'd be "Is it just a coincidence you're recruiting all these lefties?" Vanderbilt was the first prospect from 2017 I posted on JF, I think I dropped a few posts on him before anyone else

Cal loves lefties. He has some progressive coaching strategies for defense and rebounding, in particular, that he loves to teach. Works best with two lefties on the floor. I admit I don't really get the technical aspects of it though.

 

[Game6Conley]

Been looking for some clarity on these bigs with UK offers for some time. I'm sure its still a layered/complicated/tangled situation. Isaac Humphries is now a factor and that's relatively new.

Obviously things get held up waiting for the Giles domino to fall..

(If Ayton's a possibility to re-classify, that's worth waiting on too. Seems logical - It's clearly a decision that could lead to millions.. because he's old enough to be eligible for the 2017 draft)

Bolden just announced he's rescheduling his Kansas visit. Which could mean something, or nothing. Seems kinda ominous though reading that after seeing that Cal's turned up the heat.


This loaded question remains;

Do they think Bam and Bolden are better(projects OR players) than Jarrett Allen/Thon Maker/Azubuike, or is it just there's more mutual interest with the first 2??