2021 Men's Basketball Recruiting Thread

[English]

That one is an outlier of outliers. Not just talking about the player.

Bagley is another obvious example of a late commitment who kept everyone in suspense until the ESPN announcement. If I recall correctly, Bolden is another one. Brandon Ingram kept things tight until he started letting his coaching suitors know he wouldn't be joining them. There are plenty of examples where the crystal ball is scattered among 2-5 schools with some fraction of projections when the final decision is announced. It isn't as though all of us are 100% certain in advance of a Duke commitment, and if we're not, the kid is going elsewhere.

[indy1duke]

Maybe he will stay four years and save his dad’s job. I don’t think one year will do it. Lots of laughs from the front page suggesting that both teams may be destined to play each other in the NCAAs. Pigs will fly before Milwaukee makes the tournament.

[Pghdukie]

There's always the Tuesday play-in games that no one watches !

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Maybe he will stay four years and save his dad’s job. I don’t think one year will do it. Lots of laughs from the front page suggesting that both teams may be destined to play each other in the NCAAs. Pigs will fly before Milwaukee makes the tournament.

Which front page are you referring to? I don't see anything like that on DBR's front page.

[simplyluvin]

This, this, 1000 times this. Right now we're looking at a squad starting a sophomore Jeremy, junior Wendell, freshmen AJ and Paolo, and sophomore Mark. That's about as good a mix of top-tier talent and experience as you can find in the modern college game. Off the bench we have a 5* freshman in Keels with high upside, an experienced Joey Baker who we know can come in and add energy at worst and at best be a sharpshooter, and an experienced big in Theo John. Blakes can come in and play the point for brief bursts too.

I honestly feel that if we hadn't been so down last season, a team that looks like that would be a Preseason Top 5 team and clear-cut national title contender. We deserve to take a bit of a fall in those rankings based off of our disappointing last season, but luckily preseason rankings mean nothing come March. If Mark Williams plays like he did in the ACCT (or develops into something better), Jeremy and Wendell improve (which they in all likelihood will to some degree), and AJ and Paolo live up to the hype (Paolo was especially impressive at the all star game this past week), this team is going to be a LOT of fun even without PBJ.

This is the right view. I like our team going in to the season, especially on offense. Concerned about 3pt shooting, but this feels like a top 10, borderline top 5, team. Having PBJ would have been special, but we have the makings of a team that can contend for a 6th title. And now we can finally kick off a minutes discussion.

[DevilYouKnow]

He was a luxury recruit, which is not to say he wouldn't have been a huge get for Duke, just that our roster for next year already looked very, very nice and there's a possibility that the resulting glut in talent would have produced some friction.

Barring some total collapse, he'll play in the NBA regardless of his college choice and I can't fault him for supporting his Dad, even if his Dad's career needs more than just one elite recruit. Then again, PBJ gets a phat contract and Dad can tell UWM where to stick it.

[Dukehky]

Bagley is another obvious example of a late commitment who kept everyone in suspense until the ESPN announcement. If I recall correctly, Bolden is another one. Brandon Ingram kept things tight until he started letting his coaching suitors know he wouldn't be joining them. There are plenty of examples where the crystal ball is scattered among 2-5 schools with some fraction of projections when the final decision is announced. It isn't as though all of us are 100% certain in advance of a Duke commitment, and if we're not, the kid is going elsewhere.

Bagley reclassified and announced for Duke very soon after he made the re-class, and Duke literally hand held him the entire way through the reclassification process. He did not keep everyone in suspense, even though he committed close to the season.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Good luck to him.

Next play. LGD GTHcGTH!

[weezie]

Maybe he will stay four years and save his dad’s job. I don’t think one year will do it. Lots of laughs from the front page suggesting that both teams may be destined to play each other in the NCAAs. Pigs will fly before Milwaukee makes the tournament.

This.

[English]

Bagley reclassified and announced for Duke very soon after he made the re-class, and Duke literally hand held him the entire way through the reclassification process. He did not keep everyone in suspense, even though he committed close to the season.

A bit of revisionist history here, but sure. Plenty of quality posters around here had him pegged for USC as late at an hour before he committed (which was, incidentally, at midnight EST, an odd time to commit to an east coast school). He got a very late day-of-commitment switch from a USC insider to Duke, putting him at 88% Duke in the crystal ball, which last I checked, isn't 100%. Funny to visualize Coach K literally holding Marvin's hand as he walked through the NCAA Clearinghouse offices and through the Duke registrar's office, too, so thanks for that.

[CrazyNotCrazie]

A bit of revisionist history here, but sure. Plenty of quality posters around here had him pegged for USC as late at an hour before he committed (which was, incidentally, at midnight EST, an odd time to commit to an east coast school). He got a very late day-of-commitment switch from a USC insider to Duke, putting him at 88% Duke in the crystal ball, which last I checked, isn't 100%. Funny to visualize Coach K literally holding Marvin's hand as he walked through the NCAA Clearinghouse offices and through the Duke registrar's office, too, so thanks for that.

I think the delay was him negotiating to have a retired jersey number. Sorry, that still does not sit will with me at all - talk about chutzpah.

[Messimorgan17]

I think the delay was him negotiating to have a retired jersey number. Sorry, that still does not sit will with me at all - talk about chutzpah.

Hmmm maybe PBJ wanted his HS jersey no. worn by LBJ AND MJ which is also a retired jersey at Duke.

[sagegrouse]

Hmmm maybe PBJ wanted his HS jersey no. worn by LBJ AND MJ which is also a retired jersey at Duke.

Shelden Williams, to complete the thought

[Dukehky]

A bit of revisionist history here, but sure. Plenty of quality posters around here had him pegged for USC as late at an hour before he committed (which was, incidentally, at midnight EST, an odd time to commit to an east coast school). He got a very late day-of-commitment switch from a USC insider to Duke, putting him at 88% Duke in the crystal ball, which last I checked, isn't 100%. Funny to visualize Coach K literally holding Marvin's hand as he walked through the NCAA Clearinghouse offices and through the Duke registrar's office, too, so thanks for that.

He committed in the LA sportscenter studio, which means it was 8:30 his time--not that weird. He committed in July and the Duke insiders had him predicted to go to Duke in early June once they heard of the reclass discussions. In fact, it was announced he was reclassifying and going to Duke in July 2017. https://www.si.com/college/2017/08/1...-duke-usc-ucla

So, maybe Bagley was originally slotted for USC, but once any discussion of him reclassing to join the 2017 class happened, it was all Duke--no waiting like we did for Bolden or Baldwin or Jefferson or Thomas.

It's apples and oranges.

[beach rev]

TyTy Washington to Kentucky:

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...tucky-wildcats

[cato]

If he did it because he loved his father and saw a chance to help then kudos to him. Family does matter.

With his talent, pro basketball will be there in his future.

This is probably a dream come true for both of them. I’m sure next year will be a year to live to the fullest and always remember. As you say, the next level will be there.

[JasonEvans]

TyTy Washington to Kentucky:

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...tucky-wildcats

This is why Nolan Hickman decommitted from Kentucky.

Speaking of which, I believe Hickman is now the only top 40 player left who is uncommitted and not taking the GLeague route. 247 has zero crystal ball predictions on Hickman.

[53n206]

Hate myself for bring up Baldwin one more time, but perhaps the long drawn out time to decide was a planned scheme to draw attention to his father's program, thus getting publicity for recruiting purposes. Otherwise who in hell would be aware of Univ. of Wisconsin at Milwaukee?

[SilkyJ]

Probably sounds like sour grapes but I truly didn’t want him to commit. I know shooting is a need but I don’t want Wendell playing point guard or on the bench. We need some experience out there directing traffic on defense. There is only one ball. Duke is stacked. Let’s play.

Unless you posted previously that you didn’t want him here, then not only does it sound like sour grapes—it IS sour grapes.

A top 5 multi-positional prospect, potential top-5 pick with a sweet stroke...or Wendell Moore who probably has no NBA future. If you prefer more Moore then you don’t know how to win basketball games.

[revmel53]

He was a luxury recruit, which is not to say he wouldn't have been a huge get for Duke, just that our roster for next year already looked very, very nice and there's a possibility that the resulting glut in talent would have produced some friction.

Barring some total collapse, he'll play in the NBA regardless of his college choice and I can't fault him for supporting his Dad, even if his Dad's career needs more than just one elite recruit. Then again, PBJ gets a phat contract and Dad can tell UWM where to stick it.

I too believe that while he would have been a good get, we have enough good players competing for minutes. Best of luck to him, especially if it helped save his Dad's job.