If I recall correctly, and I think I'm overdue in that respect, there was a recent change in NCAA regs about hiring a relative or coach of a prospective recruit - within a certain time of his choosing that college. TP's AAU coach may have been hired early enough to avoid the issue. TP's high school coach can go to uga since TP did not go there - but there might be issues if others on the team are recruited by uga.
Hey Miltk...aren't you the one who predicted the windfall for UCLA months ago? If so, congrats. You proved right and everyone else wrong.
Maybe this has already been discussed in previous pages, but my interest and stomach for recruiting has become very weak.
In any case, that's a nice haul for your Bruins. I seem to recall a bet Airowe placed in regards to Parker in particular.
FWIW - Rafal Juc', an employee of the Polish Basketball Federation and scout for Eurohopes.com tweeted about an hour ago:
"@rafjuc Przemek Karnowski finished his USA tournee...Turned down offer to visit Duke. Why? He wants to play as freshman."
If this is true, can't say I'm that upset as he seemed like a MP3 clone, IMO.
This is true, unless the clone was raised on a diet of HGH, fast-food hamburgers, and whole-milk - "milk does a body good...pass it on!".
Seriously, do you feel Karnowski would bring a skill-set that much different than what we already have with MP3?...I'm not so sure.
unless i'm not up with rules, and i'm probably not, hiring a relative and hiring a coach are two different things, or WAS. and no you can't hire a relative but you can hire a coach. my off the top of my head guess is that one can excuse a coach's hire as it is his profession after all, but a relative is not - it would be like giving donations to the family. makes sense really. with the coachy thingy, banning such a hire would be close to depriving a coach who in fact deserves the hire and many of those deserving coaches DO get desirable players,,,,so who's to say what is right or wrong.
and i got a private message from a mod because someone misinterpreted my posting style, LOL. fellas,,,i NEVER mean to cause a ruckus because i know i'm just a guest in someone else's house.
the bazz thing was easy. people don't know how DEEEEP bazz's relationship with ben has been. lemme give you a 411. this is interesting...first and foremost it's NOT about adidas.
bazz grew up through UCLA's 3 FF's and wanted to attend ben's camps early. ron holmes reluctantly acquiesced because you see,,,,,holmes and the whole family are die-hard u$c people!!!! when bazz brought home a UCLA jersey, ron cut out the letters. hahaha! but bazz was determined and adamant. so you see, if his family couldn't drive him away from westwood, certainly ky and duke wouldn't. everyone knew this, and that's why zona dropped out of the race last year. this has always been about love, not shoes. bazz's commit was as close to a sure thing as kluv's, only for different reasons.
but everyone knows a recruiter job is never done, so ky and duke tried to turn bazz (with some blatant egging on by holmes). difference is, k is a gentleman, and calipari was a ... after missing on bazz.
i don't think i ever followed recruiting as closely as this one, probably because of our turmoil, and i learned two things,,,,fans will believe what they want to hear regardless of rationale, and it's so easy to start a rumor even if unintentionally.
the parker thing got tougher with all the postponements, and was never as certain of course, but there were some tweets and one particular photo that went unnoticed and probably never passed through the duke fanbase.
Last edited by miltk; 04-25-2012 at 01:30 AM.
I'm starting to wonder if those early signs that Bazz was a UCLA lean/commit along with the other talent coming in were the reasons why Howland kept his job for another year; and I still wonder if he is going to be able to properly harness and integrate the incoming talent with the returning players. Maybe all the turmoil coming out UCLA was exaggerated; but I have to think that there is some truth in questioning Howland's ability to manage and relate to players as evidenced by the fact that it's been a while since those 33 FFs. What are your thoughts on Howland's ability to coach and relate to his current and incoming players?
Thanks for the info miltk. I do remember you saying way back in the fall that this was going to happen (Anderson, Bazz, and Parker all going to UCLA) and you sure nailed it. Though from what you just said about Bazz, it doesn't sound like it was so much of a "package deal" with those three guys but rather all of them just wanting to go there. Maybe Parker was swayed by getting to play with Anderson and Bazz, but it sounds like the other two decided independently.
At any rate, I think most of us Duke fans held out some hope of getting him but realistically knew we probably wouldn't. Kind of like with John Wall - it's awesome to envision him being on our team, but afterwards we wake up and realize it was never going to happen. UCLA should be really good next year, and I think it's always good for college basketball when the traditional powers are strong. As long as they're not playing Duke of course 8-).
Obviously it doesn't matter now, but I do think he brings a much different skill-set than MP3. Karnowski is obviously heavier, he shoots the ball outside much better than Marshall (with range out to the 3-point line), he has a more developed back to the basket game at this point, and he learned basketball in Europe so he brings that styles which is much different than kids who grew up playing in the states. Marshall is much better in transition, a better athlete, and much more dynamic on defense because of his athletic ability. IMO Karnowski is a guy that you play inside-out with, trying to get him touches on most possessions in the half-court. MP3 is much more of a versatile player who can run in transition and guard both the C and PF on defense.
That was a good comparison overall. A couple of other factors is that Karnowski's father is a basketball coach and his mother played as well, which has led him to having a fairly high basketball IQ. In addition, he is quite a passer, sometimes being compared to Brad Miller in potential, whizzing passes all over the court. His lateral quickness is lacking for defense, but as I said earlier, he could lose 10-15 lbs, his body fat percentage is too high. With a cutting-edge conditioning and weight program he likely will gain some ground with his athleticism and defense. I expect to see him in an NBA uniform in due time as he works on his weaknesses, and he is one of those rare players that is honest about what he needs to work on. His father is known as a very direct coach in terms of feedback.
the "package" was bazz and kyle. not parker, not adams. mccray reeled them in.
to '94 - besides the most dysfunctional recruiting class('08) in the history of the ncaa, a quitter, 2 potheads, and a mutineer, followed by a crazy and a lazy (nelson and honeycutt), ben relies on mature players to self-police, and that was the problem with those recruits....unbelievable
I think we should just stick to guys who don't give goofy, childish signing announcements. Make them promise.
Show off with your skills on the court, not your piehole.
I agree with your sentiment here, and would only add that a goofy announcement would have been a substantial upgrade in this very recent case.
Don't know that the staff could actually head off all such announcements. ESPN's not going away, nor is the internet or YouTube. But maybe after a few more scornful reviews of embarrassing spectacles, the thing will fade for awhile.
Just trying to figure out who's who in that 2008 class. The class consisted of: Jrue Holiday, Drew Gordon, Jerime Anderson, Malcolm Lee, and J'Mison Morgan if I'm not mistaken. I assume Drew Gordon and Morgan are the quitter and the mutineer (not sure which is which). So would that mean that Anderson and Lee are the potheads? Lee, who is in the NBA now, was portrayed in the SI article as one of the guys who was serious and had his head on straight -- which is probably why he got to the league. So help me out here and straighten all this out -- who's who???
Thanks.
Przemek Karnowski announced he's going to Gonzaga via twitter. Not a big surprise since he didn't really visit any other schools. I guess this happened a couple days ago...Lots of Polish on his twitter page so I don't understand it all.
https://twitter.com/#!/PKarnowski/st...91943340359683
Gonzaga lands Poland’s Przemek Karnowski, a 7-foot ‘McDonald’s All-American-type’ recruitIn the next season I will play in Zags uni! #GoZags #NCAA