2021 Men's Basketball Recruiting Thread

[DavidBenAkiva]

Nick may have been correct in his speculation. If PBJ had chosen Duke then UMW was going to fire his dad!! This was the only way for his dad to continue coaching at UMW for one more year.

A number of players have committed to Duke "out of the blue," including Paolo and Jeremy Roach. But yes, towards the end of a long recruiting process, you do tend to see the crystal balls move in one direction if it is going to be Duke. That happened with Trevor Keels and many others.

I am a little shocked in a way. PBJ was the first sophomore to ever receive an offer from Duke. I suppose the staff knew they were going to have to work hard to get him away from Milwaukee. In the end, it wasn't to be.

I really like Duke's roster next season. Paolo is as talented a player as we have seen in a Duke uniform in recent years. AJ is also a very talented and versatile player and Keels provides toughness and skills as well. If we get the normal kind of summer we hope to see and growth from Jeremy, Wendell, Mark, and others, I think this team can bring Duke back to the top of college basketball. I am excited to see what they look like in November.

[scottdude8]

Works out better for us. Our starting line-up is perfect as is.

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.

[azzefkram]

It would have been nice if he committed to Duke but you can't fault someone for wanting to play for their dad in college. I'd imagine that is a pretty rare opportunity.

That being said, I have to admit being a bit Jelly that PBJ didn't pick Duke.

[cbarry]

That being said, I have to admit being a bit Jelly that PBJ didn't pick Duke.

I’m glad we can finally quit talking about this guy. I always got hungry for a sandwich when I saw his initials.

[Natty_B]

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.

Agree. Sometimes less is more. Or in this case less is Moore.

[VA_BDevil]

I’m glad we can finally quit talking about this guy. I always got hungry for a sandwich when I saw his initials.

Well, it's a good thing we have a Baker on the team.

[gumbomoop]

Maybe Samba Kane was the crystal ball.

Backup center for San Fran Dons who transferred to Milwaukee yesterday.

If the transfer portal is open until July 1, we might expect Milwaukee to pick up another player or two.

[miramar]

I don't worry about individual decisions much since we don't know if we are getting a Zion/Kyrie/Jabari guy who goes by his first name, or a Joey Beard or Jalen Johnson type who can't wait to bail. It was different 15 years ago when Coach K was getting left at the altar more often than not, but that was then and this is now.

The kid has given his father a lifeline, which is commendable, but it is unfortunate that he is giving up Duke-Coach K-Cameron-ACC for UWM-dad-Panther Arena-Horizon League.

Best of luck to him in college and the NBA.

[proelitedota]

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.

To me, PBJ's impact on the team would have been similar to Jalen Johnson's to this year's team. He is obviously one of the five best players (practice only) to begin the season, but we had to play him at the 5 so our lineup as a whole is compromised. If Jalen was not on the team we would have been forced to start Mark at 5 or Wendell at 4, and I think either option would have yield equal or better results on the court.

[sagegrouse]

It would have been nice if he committed to Duke but you can't fault someone for wanting to play for their dad in college. I'd imagine that is a pretty rare opportunity.

That being said, I have to admit being a bit Jelly that PBJ didn't pick Duke.

I could fault him, under other circumstances, but it appears he may have saved his Dad's job. That's important.

[CrazyNotCrazie]

I’m glad we can finally quit talking about this guy. I always got hungry for a sandwich when I saw his initials.

Agreed. I had this video teed up in case we signed him - for some reason my kids love this song and it is very catchy - so I will play it anyway.

I wish Patrick the best of luck. I would have liked him at Duke, but we will be fine without him. And I prefer him in Milwaukee to UNC, Kentucky, etc.

[AtlDuke72]

I could fault him, under other circumstances, but it appears he may have saved his Dad's job. That's important.

It is not his responsibility to save his Dad’s job. If his father forced this I think he did a real disservice to his son since he should be playing against the top competition.

[SkyBrickey]

To me, PBJ's impact on the team would have been similar to Jalen Johnson's to this year's team. He is obviously one of the five best players (practice only) to begin the season, but we had to play him at the 5 so our lineup as a whole is compromised. If Jalen was not on the team we would have been forced to start Mark at 5 or Wendell at 4, and I think either option would have yield equal or better results on the court.

I agree with this - nobody playing out of position and plenty of shots to go around for our top 8/9.

I expect us to have the best front court in the country. Jeremy's development and 3-point shooting are the big things to watch.

I wouldn't trade rosters with anyone. Should be a fun year.

[arnie]

Agree. Sometimes less is more. Or in this case less is Moore.

Completely agree and now don’t think we lose anyone else to transfer portal.

[Owen Meany]

Wow! Good luck to the young man and his family. It's possible his 3 point shooting could be missed next year, but I'm glad to see that Moore, Baker and Keels will likely see increased minutes and opportunities. After Brakefield and Johnson transferred and Baldwin to Duke talk suddenly changed, I had an irrational concern he would unexpectedly sign with Kentucky or UNC. I would have liked to have seen him at Northwestern to possibly save Collins while playing in a major conference, but it is unlikely he will hurt Duke at UWM (although if both teams make the tournament I wouldn't be surprised to see them in the same bracket).

[Utley]

There was some noise about Marcus Bagley looking at transferring if he doesn’t go pro and we missed out on PBJ.
Has that ship sailed as well? A full season of PBJ references (and Huevos Banchero) could have been fun.

[gumbomoop]

I agree with this - nobody playing out of position and plenty of shots to go around for our top 8/9.

I expect us to have the best front court in the country. Jeremy's development and 3-point shooting are the big things to watch.

I wouldn't trade rosters with anyone. Should be a fun year.

I like this as a good summary and would think this would be pretty close to a consensus agreement among posters on EK (minor miracle if so).

One more big thing to watch, no pun intended here: will Mark Williams be the dominant force he was in final game v. UL?

[dukelifer]

It would have been nice if he committed to Duke but you can't fault someone for wanting to play for their dad in college. I'd imagine that is a pretty rare opportunity.

That being said, I have to admit being a bit Jelly that PBJ didn't pick Duke.

Or their granddad.PBJ is a good player and you cannot have enough of them- but someone was going to be very unhappy. The current team has good balance - and more experience than last years in some key positions. I suspect Moore will be a much better player next season- maybe a Nolan Smith level jump. I still am waiting for Baker to shine- his jumper is too nice not to be more consistent from deep. Mark Williams is the X factor. He might have even grown over the last few months. That is scary.

[CDu]

There was some noise about Marcus Bagley looking at transferring if he doesn’t go pro and we missed out on PBJ.
Has that ship sailed as well? A full season of PBJ references (and Huevos Banchero) could have been fun.

I can't imagine Bagley choosing to come to Duke to come off the bench. For a guy looking to go the NBA, transferring into a backup role seems like an odd choice.

[camion]

It is not his responsibility to save his Dad’s job. If his father forced this I think he did a real disservice to his son since he should be playing against the top competition.

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.