If we get Muhammad and keep Mason, we might even be preseason #1. That said, I'll be surprised if we are able to get Muhammad. But we'll see. I think he fits better at Duke than he would with Goodwin and Poythress at Kentucky. But I'll be surprised if he doesn't go to Kentucky.
I agree, the writing is on the wall that he's waiting to sign with Kentucky. If he preferred Duke he would have signed already; I don't think he's holding out to see what happens with Mason. And it's pretty hard to turn down a school that just won the title and puts multiple guys in the NBA every single year.
At any rate, we'll go with the guys we have and I'll cheer like crazy for them.
This guy tends to agree:
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketb...l_title_040312
It's disappointing how much influence worldwide wes has on these kids and on Kentucky's success.
First of all I am not worried about UCLA. That program is in such a mess I do not think they have much of anything but a longshot in the dark to sign Muhammad.
I have an awful feeling your right about the tweet being a bad omen for Duke concerning Shabazz. I hope I am wrong. I guess now I am looking at NCSU and waiting on Calvin don't call me C.J. to declare or not. I think if he stays it looks real good for the Devils chances to land Jefferson. That is if KU does not. I have not heard, read, or seen anything that makes it seem like Duke is going to get a commit from Parker. We are in the running, but I do not like our chances. I may be 100% wrong. Parker could surprise us all and come to Durham. My fingers are crossed.
GO DUKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I expect Parker to end up at Ohio State or UCLA and I expect Muhammad to end up at Kentucky. I don't know which way Jefferson will go, but I don't see him making much impact next year wherever he goes (he'll likely need a year to get stronger physically).
I think that any impact players we add (along with Sulaimon, who I think will be an impact freshman) will be via transfer and via removal of redshirts. The rest will have to come from improvements in the returning players.
Pardon this conceit: If it were up to me as a recruit and the rosters going forward were important to what may be a one-and-done decision, I would wait until the dust settled before making even a tentative decision. Otherwise, you may have a choice from your heart that makes no sense to your head (whatever that means).
This is another way of saying that recruits at this point may have not made up their mind at all, even decisions conditioned on certain people leaving.
sagegrouse
A depressing but true thought. I think Bazz is going to UK as well.
On the flip side, I also agree that we will cheer Duke and the guys that are here. Something from Hoosiers is rolling around in my mind:
"I would hope you would support who we are. Not, who we are not. These six individuals have made a choice to work, a choice to sacrifice, to put themselves on the line 23 nights for the next 4 months, to represent you, this high school. That kind of commitment and effort deserves and demands your respect. This is your team."
We, of course, will have more than six individuals who will be putting themselves on the line for more than 23 nights and longer than 4 months. That most assuredly demands our respect.
Go Duke!
I'm not sure how much impact Sulaimon and Murphy will have next year but i just have a distinct feeling those two are the future IT guys for Duke. I really like the way both of them play and they both have amazing attitudes about the game as well as Duke from what I can tell. I'm not sure what next year will be like but those two playing in a Duke uniform is one thing i'm really looking forward to.
Interesting. According to the article, Cal thinks he's putting his top six guys into the League this year. If he gets Shabazz, Bennett, and Noel, that gives him a rotation of five top 20 freshmen (four top 10) plus sophomore Wiltjer and redshirt sophomore Harrow, and pretty much nothing else. Could be a really good team, but one that starts four freshmen and Harrow. If he misses on any of his three remaining recruits, or if Harrow or one of the key freshmen aren't quite ready yet, he could be in trouble.
Your projected KY lineup raises a question that's been on my mind. Would Bazz go to KY with Poythress already committed? I remember reading an earlier post from a thread where Duke backed off Poythress because he wanted to be a SF and Duke already had Alex and MG. Would Poythress move to the 4 in order to bring in Bazz at the 3? I don't see Poythress coming off the bench. I know other posters have conjectured that Duke backed off Poythress because of the "supposed controversy" over the phone call K had with Poythress (where some believe call led the charge in stirring this up in order to get Duke to back-off Poythress).
Hindsight is always 20/20; but man I would rather have Poythress than either Amile Jeffereson or Mitch (since his has gone down in the rankings).
Poythress looked a lot more like a CJ Leslie style player than a Michael Kidd-Gilchrist style player. So from that perspective, I'd see him as a college PF. The two could certainly play side by side at forward with a guy like Noel or Bennett in the middle. But I completely agree that I'd rather be in the mix for Poythress than Jefferson. Poythress looked really good in the McDonald's game.
So it looks like the Kentucky class of 2011 is waiting until closer to the draft entry deadline of Apr. 29 to decide whether they are going to be NBA bound.
http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap...Draft_Deadline
So, does Shabazz roll the dice? Not an ideal situation if the players at his position decide to stick around and try to defend their title.
What is the point of the April 10th NCAA deadline? What happens to a player who declares April 11 - 29th that is different from one who declares before April 10?