Shabazz Muhammad to UCLA

[jennja01]

FWIW, Evan Daniels of Scout.com just tweeted something along the lines of

"Shabazz Muhammad-- UCLA or UK?"

Not sure if he thinks its down to those two or if Shabazz has knocked us off his list. I figure its the former because there probably would have been a more formal announcement if we were axed from his list.

[BD80]

1. It's LA, which always helps.
2. I think a lot of the UCLA stuff centered around Reeves Nelson, who is gone.
3. They have a really good player (Kyle Anderson) who makes everyone around him better with his court vision and passing ability.
4. They are in the mix for several top prospects this year. Good players like to play with other good players.

5. The PAC 10,12, 8, whatever, sucks. It really, really sucks. Good chance of conference championship.

[mr. synellinden]

FWIW, Evan Daniels of Scout.com just tweeted something along the lines of

"Shabazz Muhammad-- UCLA or UK?"

Not sure if he thinks its down to those two or if Shabazz has knocked us off his list. I figure its the former because there probably would have been a more formal announcement if we were axed from his list.

Here's the tweet: Top Three Remaining: Nerlens Noel - UK, Gtown or Cuse. Shabazz Muhammad - UK or UCLA. Anthony Bennett - Florida or UK.

He also tweeted that he thinks Noel will end up at Gtown.

[CDu]

Here's the tweet: Top Three Remaining: Nerlens Noel - UK, Gtown or Cuse. Shabazz Muhammad - UK or UCLA. Anthony Bennett - Florida or UK.

He also tweeted that he thinks Noel will end up at Gtown.

If Calipari is leaving, the entire scope changes. UK no longer has quite the appeal depending upon who replaces him. In that scenario, I could see all 3 of those guys going elsewhere (Noel to Georgetown, Muhammad to UCLA, Bennett to Florida). I think a lot hinges on Calipari's situation.

[CameronBornAndBred]

If Calipari is leaving, the entire scope changes. UK no longer has quite the appeal depending upon who replaces him. In that scenario, I could see all 3 of those guys going elsewhere (Noel to Georgetown, Muhammad to UCLA, Bennett to Florida). I think a lot hinges on Calipari's situation.

Kentucky coach John Calipari said Wednesday he isn't going to coach the New York Knicks or any other NBA franchise for the foreseeable future.
"Kentucky is the best job in basketball coaching," Calipari said. "Why would I leave? We just won the national title. We're chasing UCLA."

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-bask...a-coaching-job

[FerryFor50]

Yeah, I think a lot of the negativity has been a little bit overblown or maybe exagerrated. Bazz would have the chance to basically resurrect that program. Also, a few months ago wasn't there a guy around these boards from the LA area who claimed to be in know that Anderson, Bazz and Parker were basically a package deal and were all going to UCLA? Maybe he wasn't so crazy after all.

Rome was not built in a day and UCLA will not be resurrected in a year.

So unless Shabazz decides to stay for 3 years, I don't know if he'd go to UCLA to resurrect the program.

Kentucky is the likely destination, but here's to hoping he comes to Duke.

[CharlestonDevil]

Rome was not built in a day and UCLA will not be resurrected in a year.

Indiana was resurrected in a year...

[freshmanjs]

[QUOTE=CharlestonDevil;569272][QUOTE=FerryFor50;569270]Rome was not built in a day and UCLA will not be resurrected in a year.

Indiana was resurrected in a year...

all it takes is one good recruiting class to resurrect a program. it absolutely could be done in a year. with shabazz and anderson, UCLA would be a very good team.

[FerryFor50]

Indiana was resurrected in a year...

It took Indiana SEVERAL years. They first had to hire Tom Crean in 2008. Then he had to convince players to come to Indiana.

Indiana showed up this year, 4 years after they got Crean.

[Ichabod Drain]

It took Indiana SEVERAL years. They first had to hire Tom Crean in 2008. Then he had to convince players to come to Indiana.

Indiana showed up this year, 4 years after they got Crean.

Agreed, I also think it depends on your definition of "resurected", are you talking just making the big dance, being a title contender, or actually winning a title. Or is it more along the lines of longevity, sustained performance. In which case while one can pretty confidently say Indiana will be a top team next year, that hasn't been proven yet, so far they have one sweet 16 appearance under Crean and he has a sub .500 record. Not saying they aren't on the rise, I just wouldn't call the resurected yet.

[FerryFor50]

Agreed, I also think it depends on your definition of "resurected", are you talking just making the big dance, being a title contender, or actually winning a title. Or is it more along the lines of longevity, sustained performance. In which case while one can pretty confidently say Indiana will be a top team next year, that hasn't been proven yet, so far they have one sweet 16 appearance under Crean and he has a sub .500 record. Not saying they aren't on the rise, I just wouldn't call the resurected yet.

Yea that was the point I was making.

Sure they had a good year... but one good year doesn't make a program. Just ask Florida St or any of the other ACC schools that had a good run and then have vanished on and off.

I think people get too caught up in one year results. If Watford and Zeller stay for Indiana, then sure, they'll be pretty good. But I'd argue that one and done players hurt a program more than help it unless you're "all in" like Kentucky is. If you get a one and done you weren't expecting... you're set back a year or two in recruiting.

[freshmanjs]

Agreed, I also think it depends on your definition of "resurected", are you talking just making the big dance, being a title contender, or actually winning a title. Or is it more along the lines of longevity, sustained performance. In which case while one can pretty confidently say Indiana will be a top team next year, that hasn't been proven yet, so far they have one sweet 16 appearance under Crean and he has a sub .500 record. Not saying they aren't on the rise, I just wouldn't call the resurected yet.

Not clear that we are going to see sustained, consistent excellence from any programs going forward. Maybe a small handful. The only ones that have pulled off sustained excellence across the last 5 years are Kansas and Duke.

[THE FUTURE]

Theres also a tweet from evandaniels thats says muhammad ruled Duke out months ago

[Bluedog]

Theres also a tweet from evandaniels thats says muhammad ruled Duke out months ago

Just to clarify, Evan Daniels' tweet does not say Muhammad ruled out Duke months ago. His tweet says "I [Evan Daniels] ruled [Duke] out [as an option for Shabazz] months ago."

http://twitter.com/#!/evandanielscout

Edit: The previous tweets are shown above, but here they are in order again to see the whole conversation:

Evan Daniels: Top Three Remaining: Nerlens Noel - UK, Gtown or Cuse. Shabazz Muhammad - UK or UCLA. Anthony Bennett - Florida or UK.
ACC Sports: ‏@EvanDanielscout U ruling out Duke as an option for Muhammad?
Evan Daniels: @ACCSports I ruled them out months ago

So, obviously that's his thoughts on the matter. He's not saying that he explicitly heard Shabazz eliminate Duke from his list several months ago based on my reading of that - but simply that he hasn't seen Duke as a viable option for Muhammad for a while based on whatever information/feelings he has.

While it doesn't sound rosy, you never know with recruiting and I won't lose complete hope until Shabazz actually announces his intentions himself.

[moonpie23]

this whole thread is driving me crazy...it's so simple....either he wants to come to a storied school with a rich history of amazing basketball talent and play/learn from the best of all time, or not....Shabazz can see for himself what the pros think of K....

if i'm a kid with his talent, i want to play/learn from K...


jmho...

[muzikfrk75]

Oh the speculation...

*patiently waits until the 11th*

[Class of '94]

This strikes me as something that can change within an hour.

Translation: Knicks have to show me the money and give me a lot of years for security purposes in order for me to leave "my dream job".

[CoachJ10]

Given how few Pac-10 games are on national televison in prime time, why would a player like Shabazz (who is trying to create a "brand") forego the visibility that comes from going to Duke and being on TV all the time?

[moonpie23]

nick saban..

[Tim1515]

His decision may come down to who he lands in the next few weeks. If Noel and Bazz choose UK I would expect he'll stay. If they don't, maybe he considers moving on.

Sounds like Bazz is a really long shot for Duke at this point. Luckily we have depth at the SF spot and maybe missing him helps Gbinije and Murphy to develop faster...but he would definitely help us win games.