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Jake Weingarten declares that 6'9" F Isaac Traudt of Nebraska is the real deal. The young man appears to have the basics you would want to see in a tall wing or potential stretch 4. He has good footwork, a pure-looking jumper, and seems comfortable with the ball in his hands. A number of high major programs have reached out, including UVA. More recently, Duke assistant coaches have called. Might Duke snag a recruit from the high plains?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_c...ature=emb_logo
Probably not. Rotation is pretty tight this year, especially with Johnson/Moore/Hurt playing similar positions. The bigger issue is the 2021-22 season, where he'll have some serious competition about Paulo, AJ, and hopefully Patrick.Quote:
Originally Posted by DavidBenAkiva
But hey! Why not at least try to go for it!
Umm, the kid is a 2022 prospect which means this year's rotation and the arrival of Paulo, AJ, and (perhaps) Baldwin won't have an impact on his recruitment because all those guys will likely be gone when he arrives on campus.Quote:
Originally Posted by flyingdutchdevil
Yup. I can’t read the title of the thread.Quote:
Originally Posted by JasonEvans
Quote:
Originally Posted by roywhite
A possibly interesting side note:
One holiday, Christmas or Thanksgiving, my wife and I were visiting her sister and B-I-L in Shaker Heights OH. B-I-L, a coach at a local high school, suggested that we come along to one of his games. It was close by, just a short drive to Akron. We went along and saw that b-i-l's team was completely overmatched. The other team had this receiver (TE or WR, can't recall) who could run like a deer and catch anything thrown into his remote vicinity. The guy looked like a man among boys and required several opposing players to tackle him in the rare circumstance that he was tackled at all. Must have had seven touchdowns.
After the game we mentioned how amazed we were by that kid's performance and b-i-l/coach said "yeah, how did you like seeing LeBron James play a high school football game".
(Note: At the time everybody knew the name LeBron James. He was all over the news/Sports Illustrated etc. for his remarkable athletic talent, but seldom was it mentioned that the kid also played football. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that if he had gone into football he would probably have been one of the greatest receivers of all time)
Top 20 PG Skyy Clark committed to Kentucky yesterday. The only thing good about that is that he spurned UNC, along with Memphis and UCLA among his finalists. He is a possible re-class to 2021.
All in all, with the ruling on Olivier Sarr's eligibility, which surprised nobody, it's been a good week for Big Blue.
Recently, Duke and other schools have shown great interest in a Massachusetts big man Kyle Filipowski. Kyle, along with his fraternal twin brother Matt, are promising post players from the Wilbraham & Monson Academy of Wilbraham, MA. They play for the AAU team Renaissance Hoops, coached by none other than Andy Borman. Recently, Jon Scheyer reached out to Kyle, the more talented brother, to get the relationship going. Kyle appears to be a player that can operate all over the court with an impressive mix of skills. Duke Update recently conducted an interview with the young man, which noted that the relationship with Duke is in the early stages.
Here's an interview with Filipowski and a little footage of the young man in action. He has a smooth, quick release on his jumper and is a quick and skilled player for his size. This is one to keep an eye on.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYS3PXxa4wg
The kid has Polish heritage. If Coach K wants him, Coach K will get him.Quote:
Originally Posted by DavidBenAkiva
Bryce Griggs - PG
He recently made some comments about Duke that sounded like he wants to commit the second Duke offers him. Obviously that probably wouldn’t happen but his favorite player is Kyrie. He’s spoken with Kyrie and was told that Duke is a really good school and once you’re in The Brotherhood, you’re set with family for life. He comes from the same town as Daniel Ewing and has somewhat grown up with him and trained with him a lot. He sounded like he was in love with the Duke Program.
I absolutely loved his mixtape!! Just like everyone else, he shot an amazing 100% from the field. But the thing I noticed and liked the most ... he can get a shot wherever he wants. Very quick with the ball with a killer step back. He reminds me of Kyrie, but with a better shot. Also, in the mixtape I watched, his shots always hit nothing but net. I don’t think I saw one shot that hit the rim ...
The knock on him is that he tends to drift.Quote:
Originally Posted by DavidBenAkiva
https://balldurham.com/2020/11/16/du...elite-recruit/Quote:
Originally Posted by flyingdutchdevil
Interesting interview with the Dad. He was both a Duke and Cheat b-ball fan at the same time. How’s this even possible.
Jekyll and Hyde?!?Quote:
Originally Posted by arnie
“Kyrie, but with a better shot”, huh? Well, at least you didn’t damn him with faint praise.Quote:
Originally Posted by DukeBlue666s
As someone who used to teach geodesy, I have to ask ... What is his opinion on the shape of the Earth?Quote:
Originally Posted by DukeBlue666s
Random prediction: I would expect 2+ grad transfers in this class.
Duke relies so heavily on AAU and Team USA events for our scouting that Covid has done a number on our preparation for this class. Unlike many programs, we rarely venture out to high schools for scouting (because we prefer to see elite prospects go up against other elite prospects, and preferably with all ten players on the court at a 4-star or above level), and who knows how much high school basketball is even going to be played this season. For example, the City of Palms tournament is one event that Duke coaches *do* attend typically (because it pits top high school teams against each other), but that was canceled: https://cityofpalmsclassic.com/
So, how are we going to scout? By looking at college film of potential grad transfers, imo.
How Duke approaches scouting and the Class of 2022 is something that really fascinates me for the reasons you stated. I think you might be onto something.Quote:
Originally Posted by Troublemaker
Another thought I've had is that the coaching staff, through circumstance and a little luck, is going to have more upperclassmen on the roster in 2022-23 than we've seen in recent years. I expect we could see the trio of Jaemyn Brakefield, Henry Coleman, and Mark Williams as starters that year. It wouldn't be all that crazy to see someone like DJ Steward or, if he commits, Trevor Keels, on the team as well for various reasons. Duke has been able to hold onto 5-star scoring guards like them in the past, guys like Matt Jones and Grayson Allen. I'm less certain about Roach, Steward, and/or Keels. It's just not out of the question is what I'm saying.
The guys that Duke appears to be targeting - Filipowski, Traudt, Rylan Griffin, Noah Shelby, MJ Rice - are not the top 10/5-star recruits that the coaching staff typically would target this time of year. Perhaps they were underrated earlier in their high school careers and the scouting services haven't caught up. Or it could be that Duke thinks it will have a crop of veteran starters on the roster and will rely on the Class of 2022 to provide depth and grow into roles in time, like Joey Baker or Jordan Goldwire have done.
The other thought is that Duke has the ability to make up ground really fast with a recruit and will do that on several 5-star recruits over the summer. There are few teams like Duke that can swoop in after having limited contact with a recruit and secure a commitment. Many of the best players want an offer from Duke, after all.
Either way, it's a fascinating thing to see and I am interested in seeing how it plays out this year and into the summer of 2021 when, hopefully, we can get back to a more normal routine.
I'd be somewhat surprised if all 3 of Brakefield, Coleman, and Williams are on the roster for the 2022-23 season. It's not impossible, but given the current landscape of college basketball, it seems unlikely. Especially given that next year's recruiting class is likely to be very heavy at the PF/C spots, and we're already likely to see at least one and perhaps two of those 3 playing a tiny role this year.Quote:
Originally Posted by DavidBenAkiva
It could happen, but I wouldn't say it's the expected outcome. The days of expecting 4- and 5-star recruits to sit the bench for multiple years waiting their turn are gone. There will be some that still do (see Baker). But they are becoming the exception rather than the rule.
That said, I agree that the 2022 class will be an interesting one to watch.
Interesting theory. My counter argument would be that fewer players will want to transfer in the next few years because they would forfeit the extra year of eligibility that the NCAA granted.Quote:
Originally Posted by Troublemaker
I think we’ll still be able to scout players. Every kid who can dribble a ball has their own YouTube channel with professional highlight videos from “Ball Is Life” and such. Top high school games are now broadcast on ESPN. It’s the smaller schools that rely on showcase events to find hidden gems and give themselves an edge over the big boys; we’ll be fine. We did bring in Tape, but K will always prefer an elite freshman over a solid grad transfer.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DavidBenAkiva
I haven’t been following closely, but isn’t it also possible that the NBA one-and-done restriction will be gone by 2022 and the top tier players won’t play college ball at all?
That seems very unlikely at the moment. It will have to be negotiated between the NBA and the Players Association. That usually happens during the collective bargaining agreement process. The current agreement runs through the 2023-24 season with a mutual opt-out the year before. Based on that, the earliest a change to one-and-done rule could occur would be the draft of of 2024.Quote:
Originally Posted by mkirsh