Some fodder to throw at your Kentucky friends:
John Martin
Verified account
@JohnMartin929
DJ Jeffries' father @CoreyJeffries10 on our show: "We talked with Kentucky (about the decision to de-commit), and it kinda shocked me. They were kinda unprofessional. They didn't handle the news the way I expected them to handle it, being professionals."
Cal should have yelled at DJ's mom while she was praying on the floor.
Armando Bacot may have had the most impressive AAU circuit of anyone. He won at Peach and Vegas. And he looked very good doing so.
Now back to Crying Cal !
Bacot just named his final 5 schools a couple days ago. I may have missed it being mentioned earlier in this thread. They are: Duke, North Carolina, Georgia, Oklahoma State and VCU. Everyone is saying this is a Duke vs. UNC battle, but everyone is also saying UNC will win. 13 predictions on 247... every one of them for Carolina. Ugh...
-Jason "of course, part of that is likely because it is widely assumed we will land more highly regarded prospects Stewart and/or Carey... still I hate to see the Cheats land anyone they really want" Evans
Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?
Feels like there are a number of guys in this class being pursued by both Duke and UNC. The UNC fans I know ageee with Jason and think that Duke is getting Stewart or Carey and UNC is getting Bacot. But who knows.
In stark contrast to how Lorenzo Romar handled it when Terrance Jones switched from Washington to Kentucky: https://www.kentucky.com/sports/coll...e44066184.html
CBS reporting the Cole Anthony is visiting Chapel Hill this evening. Cole also was at Wake this morning. Both visits are unofficial.
Cole Anthony is on an un-official visit to UCLA today.
Duke makes Nico Mannion's final 4.
On another note, noticed Bacot's crystal ball went from 100% UNC to 75% UNC and 25% Duke. Is Duke back on the saddle for him? I imagine they wouldn't be going back at him if they thought they would get Stewart and Carey.
I noticed that a couple of Duke insiders recently picked Bacot to go to Duke. The big man has talked glowingly about Duke for a while but has been seen as more of a UNC lean of late. Stewart and Carey have not had any activity lately on the Crystal Ball. It could mean something or it could mean nothing. If it means something, my guess is that the staff have a better feel for Bacot and his decision-making or that a message about him to be a multi-year guy will work out. Stewart has become a consensus top 10 player in the class while Bacot is more in the top 25 range. Maybe the coaching staff is trying to convince Bacot to come to Duke next season as a backup big man before assuming a more prominent role as a sophomore and beyond.
As is always the case with me, this is just speculation.
Recently, some recruiting pundits seem think UK is in the mix (and maybe even the favorites) for Carey: https://www.aseaofblue.com/2018/8/13...tucky-wildcats
The article speculates that Duke is pulling ahead for Stewart and Bacot, while UK and Miami have moved ahead of us for Carey.
In any case, the crystal ball is far from a reliable indicator. Zion Williamson is a pretty good example of that. There's still a LONG way to go, and things could change quickly.
We're not going to get all 3 of Carey/Bacot/Stewart . . . but hopefully we get 2 of them.
Last edited by kAzE; 08-14-2018 at 01:54 PM.
I've read a few posts about this and generally agree that the Crystal Ball is a good way of reading the way the winds are blowing for recruits. You'll often see a lot of predictions flood in about a particular recruit a day or week before they commit. An individual recruit shocking the consensus doesn't mean that the consensus shouldn't be considered in most cases. Zion was unusually tight-lipped. As was Kevin Knox. But almost everyone had R.J. Barrett, Cam Reddish, and Tre Jones going to Duke. The Crystal Ball is just one data point. And I find it to be kind of fun!
That being said, I completely agree that Duke can and should expect a commitment from at most 2 of the 3 big men targets in the class. All I am doing is reading the way the winds are blowing and speculating.
Sage Grouse
---------------------------------------
'When I got on the bus for my first road game at Duke, I saw that every player was carrying textbooks or laptops. I coached in the SEC for 25 years, and I had never seen that before, not even once.' - David Cutcliffe to Duke alumni in Washington, DC, June 2013
I have a source that is pretty in the know when it comes to ShoeNC recruiting. He's only been wrong once when he's given me Intel in the past. He just texted me that unless something dramatic happens, Bacot will be a Tar Heel. Not sure if that's breaking news, but I know some thought that we were leading there.
Yeah, Evan Daniels picking UNC yesterday for Bacot is not a good sign for us.
I'm okay with getting just one, and if it's not Bacot, I'll take the high-motor Isaiah Stewart. I think I'd be fine with a center rotation of Stewart and Javin, and call me crazy, but I'd be okay with seeing if the stretch-4 can be covered by a Sr Jack White, So Joey Baker, and Sr Justin Robinson. And if we have to play lane-clogging, awkward, 2-big basketball, let it be Stewart and Javin that is the pairing. Not looking forward to seeing Vernon Carey pretend he's a 4.
2019 Big Man Armando Bacot announced this afternoon that he will be making his college announcement on Thursday, August 16th at 5 p.m. Eastern. Looks like it will be a video posted to social media (IG/twitter).