Class of 2017 G Hamidou Diallo (NY) to Kentucky

[PauliePeppas]

Lot of chatter on twitter that Hami could be enrolling at Uconn for second semester

 

[jdubs30]

Lot of chatter on twitter that Hami could be enrolling at Uconn for second semester

Interesting. I'd assume he'd declare after this season if that was the case. Even if we got Quade it seemed like Hami wasn't going to come here, and once we didn't get Quade, it was a lock. He would definitely help UConn this year with their lack of depth, but he still can't shoot so I'd be curious to see how he fits in there mid-way through the season. I imagine Vital would be the most effected, playing time wise. I'd rather see Hami go to UConn than to UK, if he goes to college.

 

[dan7800]

Is Syracuse still taking trips just to watch him?

 

[shandeezy7]

 

[Knicks411]

When they get guys like Tyler Ennis, Jerami Grant, Rakeem Christmas, and Michael Gbinije to the league, I'll give them credit. Most of their NBA guys only went to college because the rules stated that they had to. They would've been pros regardless of where they spent that one year.

That's true for a lot of guys, but Anthony Davis and Karl Anthony-Towns are probably 2 of the 4 or 5 best young players in the league? It's easy to say that anyone would turn those guys into pros, and that's almost certainly true, but I don't think it's a given those guys become immediate studs no matter what.

Anthony Davis was the top player in the class of 2011, but Austin Rivers was right behind him and he's not in the same league. Quincy Miller was #5, and hes not even in the league.

Karl Towns was the #4 player in his class, behind Stanley Johnson and Emmanual Mudiay, as well as Okafor. Remember Cliff Alexander? He was one spot behind Karl Anthony Towns.

Devin Booker was ranked behind Chris McCullough that year, Booker was a lotto pick after one year. Willie Cauley Stein was around #40 in RSCI his freshmen year, behind Rakeem Christmas and Tyler Ennis in their respective years, he was a lotto pick.

John Wall and Cousins, everyone knew they'd be studs, right? Well, they were 2 and 3 in their year, Derrick Favors was #1, but the guys right behind them were Avery Bradley, Xavier Henry, John Henson, and Renardi Sidney. Eric Bledsoe was a fringe top 50 freshmen who went 18th overall after a year. Jerami grant was ranked higher in his class and went 20 picks later in the draft.

Now granted, then you have the misses, I'm not saying it's perfect. But it's not like the mere fact that you are a high level pick means you're destined to be a star or a lotto pick in the NBA.

 

[longtimefan]

That's true for a lot of guys, but Anthony Davis and Karl Anthony-Towns are probably 2 of the 4 or 5 best young players in the league? It's easy to say that anyone would turn those guys into pros, and that's almost certainly true, but I don't think it's a given those guys become immediate studs no matter what.

Anthony Davis was the top player in the class of 2011, but Austin Rivers was right behind him and he's not in the same league. Quincy Miller was #5, and hes not even in the league.

Karl Towns was the #4 player in his class, behind Stanley Johnson and Emmanual Mudiay, as well as Okafor. Remember Cliff Alexander? He was one spot behind Karl Anthony Towns.

Devin Booker was ranked behind Chris McCullough that year, Booker was a lotto pick after one year. Willie Cauley Stein was around #40 in RSCI his freshmen year, behind Rakeem Christmas and Tyler Ennis in their respective years, he was a lotto pick.

Now granted, then you have the misses, I'm not saying it's perfect. But it's not like the mere fact that you are a high level pick means you're destined to be a star or a lotto pick in the NBA.

Some of this may just reflect the fact that Calipari (and other competent D-I coaches) is a better talent evaluator than the guys who run the high school recruiting sites.

 

[Knicks411]

Some of this may just reflect the fact that Calipari (and other competent D-I coaches) is a better talent evaluator than the guys who run the high school recruiting sites.

There is probably a lot of truth to this, I would trust Cal or K or insert high coach here over random recruiting analyst, which is funny because I also feel like a frequent complaint is that guys who commit to elite schools see their ranking inflated merely because of where they commit. (It's not necessarily coming from the same people, so it's not an inherent contradiction, just saying).

 

[OrangeDW]

Some of this may just reflect the fact that Calipari (and other competent D-I coaches) is a better talent evaluator than the guys who run the high school recruiting sites.

This^^^

 

[jordville]

 

[two3zone]

Glad he wasn't visiting the dome tonight.

 

[weedsportwarriors]

Glad he wasn't visiting the dome tonight.

I hope we didn't have any football or basketball recruits visiting last night.

 

[Fly Rodder]

This recruiting cycle has been a huge disappointment.

 

[orangefog]

This recruiting cycle has been a huge disappointment.

You can say that again. I let myself believe in the dream class a couple of years ago. Because it was setting up that way. We were going to have the playing time, we had a number of top recruits in our strong recruiting areas and I thought that kids (especially one and done talents) would see an opportunity to come in and give a Hall of Fame coach a great send off. It is safe to say this now, but initially I thought Quade Green was our backup PG plan. We were hot after Trevon Duval, but then he moved away and his recruitment got "complicated". Then Quade blew up and we know how that played out. Nobody, besides Diallo really gave us more than a passing glance. Diallo isn't coming here without other top players. We were far and away the leader for Tucker, but he goofed up and we didn't want him after that. I like the guys that we have committed, but they were supposed to be the program players to compliment the super stars. It is all very frustrating.

 

[RF2044]

You can say that again. I let myself believe in the dream class a couple of years ago. Because it was setting up that way. We were going to have the playing time, we had a number of top recruits in our strong recruiting areas and I thought that kids (especially one and done talents) would see an opportunity to come in and give a Hall of Fame coach a great send off. It is safe to say this now, but initially I thought Quade Green was our backup PG plan. We were hot after Trevon Duval, but then he moved away and his recruitment got "complicated". Then Quade blew up and we know how that played out. Nobody, besides Diallo really gave us more than a passing glance. Diallo isn't coming here without other top players. We were far and away the leader for Tucker, but he goofed up and we didn't want him after that. I like the guys that we have committed, but they were supposed to be the program players to compliment the super stars. It is all very frustrating.

With our luck, we WILL land Diallo... only to have him jump to the NBA before setting foot on campus.

 

[shandeezy7]

With our luck, we WILL land Diallo... only to have him jump to the NBA before setting foot on campus.

Ha! A scenario that actually seems likely given our unfortunate luck the last several years.

 

[dan7800]

I hope we didn't have any football or basketball recruits visiting last night.

I heard last night was a big one for crew recruits.

 

[Whitey23]

So i guess Diallo enrolling at Uconn was a thing? I missed that, thankfully.

 

[jdubs30]

It will be interesting how it plays out - plenty of UConn people think he will enroll for the spring semester. But if he takes an official to UK, you can never count Calipari out. Hami was very similar to Quade for us - UConn was on him for a lot longer than everyone, and he's been on their campus a bunch more time than anyone elses.

UK has 4 5* recruits for 2017 but no SG yet...I'd guess the longer he hasn't committed, the worse it looks for UConn and the better it looks for UK/NBA

 

[Consigliere]

It will be interesting how it plays out - plenty of UConn people think he will enroll for the spring semester. But if he takes an official to UK, you can never count Calipari out. Hami was very similar to Quade for us - UConn was on him for a lot longer than everyone, and he's been on their campus a bunch more time than anyone elses.

UK has 4 5* recruits for 2017 but no SG yet...I'd guess the longer he hasn't committed, the worse it looks for UConn and the better it looks for UK/NBA

Logically I'm thinking enroll in January, play second semester and declare for draft in April. Pretty unique situation.

 

[longtimefan]

Logically I'm thinking enroll in January, play second semester and declare for draft in April. Pretty unique situation.

In that case, does he ever see the inside of a classroom?

 

[Francis03]

It will be interesting how it plays out - plenty of UConn people think he will enroll for the spring semester. But if he takes an official to UK, you can never count Calipari out. Hami was very similar to Quade for us - UConn was on him for a lot longer than everyone, and he's been on their campus a bunch more time than anyone elses.

UK has 4 5* recruits for 2017 but no SG yet...I'd guess the longer he hasn't committed, the worse it looks for UConn and the better it looks for UK/NBA

If he's enrolling in college early next month, then it'll most likely be at UConn. NBA folks are already telling him that he'll be a first rounder in June. So it'll be interesting to see what his next step is?

 

[pearl31]

If he's enrolling in college early next month, then it'll most likely be at UConn. NBA folks are already telling him that he'll be a first rounder in June. So it'll be interesting to see what his next step is?

if he wanted, he could do both though, right (enroll at ucon, first rounder in the draft)?
Or, wonder if there's any fear in his camp that college exposure could hurt his draft stock (lack of legit jump shot)

 

[Francis03]

if he wanted, he could do both though, right (enroll at ucon, first rounder in the draft)?
Or, wonder if there's any fear in his camp that college exposure could hurt his draft stock (lack of legit jump shot)

Funny thing is that he has shot well over the last few weeks in games that the NBA scouts have attended. Which is why his stock is rising in those circles to go along with his enormous potential and upside. If I was advising him, I would just tell him to stay in Prep School and pull a Thon Maker. Maker ended up going in the top 10 by staying hidden away in Prep School. Hami is going to kill it in during the draft process, so imo he has more to lose by struggling in college than he does now by staying put.

 

[SoBeCuse]

Funny thing is that he has shot well over the last few weeks in games that the NBA scouts have attended. Which is why his stock is rising in those circles to go along with his enormous potential and upside. If I was advising him, I would just tell him to stay in Prep School and pull a Thon Maker. Maker ended up going in the top 10 by staying hidden away in Prep School. Hami is going to kill it in during the draft process, so imo he has more to lose by struggling in college than he does now by staying put.

You got a comparison for Hami? DeRozan perhaps?

 

[Francis03]

You got a comparison for Hami? DeRozan perhaps?

Oladipo.