2025 Men's Basketball Recruiting

SkyBrickey said:
At the very beginning of the year, there were some murmurings on social media that Bailey could overtake Flagg as the #1 pick. I guess those people have disappeared back into the shadows.
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It wasn't/isn't an unreasonable discussion. Bailey was an absolute stud in high school, and is in theory the better option as a go-to scorer (the big question mark for Flagg remains whether he is a higher-end Andrei Kirilenko or whether he can be a true go-to scorer). So depending on team need, I could see a case back in the summer for Bailey over Flagg.

But so far, Bailey hasn't shown the scoring efficiency to warrant jumping Flagg in the draft. Still a lot of time for both players to revise their resumes. At this time in his freshman year (and frankly for several weeks more), Jayson Tatum wasn't looking like a top-3 pick either.
 
CDu said:
It wasn't/isn't an unreasonable discussion. Bailey was an absolute stud in high school, and is in theory the better option as a go-to scorer (the big question mark for Flagg remains whether he is a higher-end Andrei Kirilenko or whether he can be a true go-to scorer). So depending on team need, I could see a case back in the summer for Bailey over Flagg.

But so far, Bailey hasn't shown the scoring efficiency to warrant jumping Flagg in the draft. Still a lot of time for both players to revise their resumes. At this time in his freshman year (and frankly for several weeks more), Jayson Tatum wasn't looking like a top-3 pick either.
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What's really intriguing about Cooper is that he can get any shot he wants, more so than Tatum and Banchero at this age IMO.

He doesn't have their touch yet on his shot, but if he can develop that, he's an NBA MVP. Besides the shooting touch, he does everything else better than Tatum and Banchero.

But the shooting touch is a fickle thing. It will develop, but it may never get to the level of a great shooter. To me that's the difference between AllStar and MVP for Cooper.
 
SkyBrickey said:
What's really intriguing about Cooper is that he can get any shot he wants, more so than Tatum and Banchero at this age IMO.

He doesn't have their touch yet on his shot, but if he can develop that, he's an NBA MVP. Besides the shooting touch, he does everything else better than Tatum and Banchero.

But the shooting touch is a fickle thing. It will develop, but it may never get to the level of a great shooter. To me that's the difference between AllStar and MVP for Cooper.
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I think you're underselling Banchero, at least in terms of his ability to get whatever shot he wanted. Flagg does everything not scoring related better than Banchero, but Banchero was every bit able to get whatever shot he wanted (and is a more advanced shooter).

But that's getting into the weeds. To your main point I agree: the degree to which Flagg can make shots, and make good decisions on his shot selection, will be the difference between very good player and generational player at the next level.
 
CDu said:
I think you're underselling Banchero, at least in terms of his ability to get whatever shot he wanted. Flagg does everything not scoring related better than Banchero, but Banchero was every bit able to get whatever shot he wanted (and is a more advanced shooter).

But that's getting into the weeds. To your main point I agree: the degree to which Flagg can make shots, and make good decisions on his shot selection, will be the difference between very good player and generational player at the next level.
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You may be right about Banchero. I remember him getting whatever he wanted in the midrange but not being as explosive to rim as Flagg. But Banchero got a lot of buckets inside too - strength plus great footwork.
 
SkyBrickey said:
You may be right about Banchero. I remember him getting whatever he wanted in the midrange but not being as explosive to rim as Flagg. But Banchero got a lot of buckets inside too - strength plus great footwork.
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Yeah, Banchero did it differently for sure. He isn’t as quick/explosive, but like you said he is strong and has great balance/footwork.
 
MChambers said:
This article says that BYU, Alabama, and UNCheat all offered $5 million. https://www.cbssports.com/college-b...ch-nil-money-the-no-1-recruit-is-set-to-make/
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Also says that UNC tried to point to Zion’s success at Duke as a reason Dybantsa should go to UNC: “They referenced how Zion Williamson's net worth skyrocketed by choosing to play at Duke instead of Clemson, laying out what one season at a blue blood did for his career in advance of being drafted by the New Orleans Pelicans, including a shoe deal worth upward of $50 million before ever playing an NBA game.”

Gee, I wonder why that pitch didn’t work? 😊
 
MChambers said:
Also says that UNC tried to point to Zion’s success at Duke as a reason Dybantsa should go to UNC: “They referenced how Zion Williamson's net worth skyrocketed by choosing to play at Duke instead of Clemson, laying out what one season at a blue blood did for his career in advance of being drafted by the New Orleans Pelicans, including a shoe deal worth upward of $50 million before ever playing an NBA game.”

Gee, I wonder why that pitch didn’t work? 😊
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I would propose that the shade of blue blood matters. Darker is better.
 
nmduke2001 said:
I think this is just the beginning of the experiment for BYU. Reportedly, the LDS church has $265 billion in investments. They send $1-$2 billion to the various BYU campuses annually. Recently they renamed Rick's College into BYU Idaho and have put more money into their Hawaii campus. As you might know, the LDS church is aggressive with their mission work. I can see a scenario in which they believe that spending tens of millions on basketball and football players to create a powerhouse athletic program will further the church's mission. Winning championships in basketball and football puts millions of eyes on the Mormon faith. That's a much greater reach than any missionary could hope to accomplish. Heck, I could see them having their own network like Texas used to have.
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LOL! 🤣 Ricks College became BYU-Idaho almost a quarter of a century ago. I guess it depends on how old you are whether you consider that a 'recent' development.
 
rsvman said:
LOL! 🤣 Ricks College became BYU-Idaho almost a quarter of a century ago. I guess it depends on how old you are whether you consider that a 'recent' development.
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Clearly the C of JC of LDS are playing a long game...

-jk
 
Interesting story on the Dybantsa recruiting, with some NIL details:

"Alabama and North Carolina both really wanted Dybantsa and both backed up their years-long courtships by providing paperwork to prove they could match the ~$5 million asking price, sources said. The difference is North Carolina and Alabama had to pull from three pools of money: 1) school NIL collectives, 2) projected revenue sharing from the athletic department for the 2024-25 fiscal year, and 3) significant additional future NIL money that would be paid up front by a marketing firm."

www.cbssports.com

The Court Report: How Bill Belichick's hiring at North Carolina could potentially impact Tar Heels basketball

Matt Norlander's insider notebook has more on AJ Dybantsa, plus some revealing nuggets on under-the-radar teams and players
www.cbssports.com www.cbssports.com
 
nmduke2001 said:
I think this is just the beginning of the experiment for BYU. Reportedly, the LDS church has $265 billion in investments. They send $1-$2 billion to the various BYU campuses annually. Recently they renamed Rick's College into BYU Idaho and have put more money into their Hawaii campus. As you might know, the LDS church is aggressive with their mission work. I can see a scenario in which they believe that spending tens of millions on basketball and football players to create a powerhouse athletic program will further the church's mission. Winning championships in basketball and football puts millions of eyes on the Mormon faith. That's a much greater reach than any missionary could hope to accomplish. Heck, I could see them having their own network like Texas used to have.
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Not to digress but how do they have $265 billion of investments?
 
Dropped in to watch Nate Ament play last night in our old hometown. Lo and behold, in walked Rick Barnes with two of his assistants. Ament plays pretty good defense for a high schooler and although he can barely weigh 200 lbs when soaking wet, he can take some hits. Good passing, selfless player. I said hi, good luck, etc., nice young man.
How serious is Duke about him?
 
weezie said:
Dropped in to watch Nate Ament play last night in our old hometown. Lo and behold, in walked Rick Barnes with two of his assistants. Ament plays pretty good defense for a high schooler and although he can barely weigh 200 lbs when soaking wet, he can take some hits. Good passing, selfless player. I said hi, good luck, etc., nice young man.
How serious is Duke about him?
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Duke should be very serious. Despite his size at 6'8", I see him as a shooting guard. Decent handle, high motor, very good shooting form. He would be a great addition to the Duke team.
 
weezie said:
Dropped in to watch Nate Ament play last night in our old hometown. Lo and behold, in walked Rick Barnes with two of his assistants. Ament plays pretty good defense for a high schooler and although he can barely weigh 200 lbs when soaking wet, he can take some hits. Good passing, selfless player. I said hi, good luck, etc., nice young man.
How serious is Duke about him?
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I believe On3 reported Ament will take an official visit to Duke in the spring. He's made at least 3 other unofficial visits if my memory is correct, including Countdown to Craziness. Interest seems mutual. As far as I know, he is the only remaining high school senior being recruited by Duke.
 
weezie said:
Dropped in to watch Nate Ament play last night in our old hometown. Lo and behold, in walked Rick Barnes with two of his assistants. Ament plays pretty good defense for a high schooler and although he can barely weigh 200 lbs when soaking wet, he can take some hits. Good passing, selfless player. I said hi, good luck, etc., nice young man.
How serious is Duke about him?
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as serious as me with a pork chop bone.
 
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