THat's how I interpreted it. But it could speak to other turmoil. Apparently Caleb Love's dad tweeted and then deleted a shot at Roy after the Wisky game. Haven't seen that discussed yet.
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If I'm a school that wants to recruit top freshmen against UNC, I show them the sporadic minutes for freshmen, especially after they have big games. If I'm a 5 star recruit and I see that you're going to make me ride the pine after a 21pt 8 board line, I'm looking elsewhere.
I expect Sharpe to go pro, and he'll probably be drafted late first round / early second depending on draft workouts. And Bacot is almost certainly staying--don't see any prospects for him to turn pro. UNC definitely could have run a Bacot-Kessler frontcourt, and it would have been a good one.
The only question mark is Brooks. He, and hundreds of others, are in the camp of "played four years, not good enough for NBA now, could start a pro career elsewhere, could take the one-time option of playing 5th season." Really not sure where most of those guys will land.
I remember thinking when Kessler committed to the cheats, why would he go there, of all places. It never made sense to me in the first place.
I don't know what happened to Kessler, but his shooting stats have declined each year since his sophomore season of high school. The kid was a 44% 3-point shooter as a sophomore on 87 attempts to 33% as a junior, 27% as a senior, and then 25% as a freshman in college. His FT percentage has also declined each year. Whatever shooting ability he has seems to have regressed.
https://www.maxpreps.com/athlete/wal...ball/stats.htm
He's a very talented player. His advanced stats and per40 minute stats show that he performed similarly to Mark Williams, believe it or not. I think he would benefit from playing a system that didn't clog the paint and then surround him with non-shooters like Leaky Black, Garrison Brooks, and the other centers. His entire offense was predicated on offensive rebounds for much of the season. He could end up as a very good college player and I think there's pro potential there, too.
Is there a world where Kessler comes 8 miles down the road? I kid...but feel like we were right there at the end. Not sure we have the room. I imagine Kessler would be looking to start and play 30-35 min a game. Not sure that is entirely possible with both Banchero and Williams in the fold.
Duke recruited Kessler pretty hard. The goal was to bring in Kessler and Mark Williams. When Duke missed on Kessler, they tried to pivot to Dickinson but it was too late.
I think Kessler would fit in well next season with a 4/5 rotation of Banchero, Williams, Hurt, Baldwin, Griffin, Brakefield and Coleman. :)
Come on down, the more, the merrier.
Jokes aside, is there any situation in which Kessler would be eligible next year? Banchero, Hurt, and Griffin will surely be gone by the 22-23 season, and Williams could bolt as well (if he gains 25+ lbs and has a terrific season). I'd take a former 5-star recruit...
If I remember correctly, Kessler's family has a LOT of University of Georgia degrees and he said no to them out of high school-- so he's not Georgia bound.
I also remember we were the strong favorites to land Kessler out of high school and during his visit to Chapel Hill, out of the (kerolina) blue, Kessler committed to the Heels.
I hope one of our recruiting gurus can tell us the story of why.
I remember when he committed to the Heels this board was incredulous and stunned at his decision.
He would have made a great one two punch with Mark; but now with Paolo, AJ and maybe PBJ, that ship has sailed.
Right ?
What's interesting about Kessler is that his game is a perfect fit for Duke (a big that can stretch the floor to the three point line) whereas he didn't fit as well in UNC's "camp the bigs out in the post" strategy.
Think about the recent crop of UNC bigs:
Brooks
Bacot
Sharpe
Manley
Bradley
Hicks
Maye
Johnson
Meeks
James
McAdoo
Zeller
Henson
Thompson
Davis
Hansbrough
Out of that list, only Maye was really allowed to shoot outside. The rest were tasked with getting rebounds/putbacks, setting screens, etc. Hansbrough wasn't even really allowed to take outside shots much.
Then you look at the recent Duke bigs:
Williams
Hurt
Carey
Zion
Bolden
DeLaurier
Vrank
Robinson
Bagley
Carter
Giles
Jeter
Plumlee(s)
Okafor
Jefferson
Parker
Kelly
Hairston
Singler
Zoubek
Thomas
Williams
McRoberts
Randolph
I mean, if you are a Duke big and can hit the 3, you get to take them. Duke targets those types of bigs, but also has shown they can be successful with post bigs, rim running bigs, etc. UNC has been a one trick pony with their bigs.
If you're Walker Kessler and fancy yourself as a stretch 5, why on earth would you go to a school that never really features them?
Yes, Duke felt very good about his recruitment and was a bit blind-sided by his quick commitment to Carolina.
And yes, I was being more than a bit facetious in positing a 2021-22 roster with Hurt and Baldwin when it's more likely that Duke will have neither. But it's still difficult to see Kessler starting ahead of Banchero or Williams. Would he be satisfied with being the first big off the bench? And would his arrival at Duke nudge someone else already at Duke into that same transfer portal?
I'd love to have Kessler if he would sit out next season and become eligible in 2022-'23, with some significant PT opening up. But I suspect that's a far-fetched scenario.
He does have family ties to Georgia, a school not exactly overflowing with hoops tradition. But he would be a focal--perhaps, the focal-point of a Bulldogs offense. Maybe sitting on the bench a year has changed his perceptions about staying at home and being the local hero.
Total up the career NBA earnings of those recent Carolina guys and compare it to the Duke guys... Carolina may have a rep as a big man school, but if you are a kid who wants to make money playing basketball, the past decade or so says you would be much smarter to come to Duke.