Darius Bazley

[doc05]

Also -- let's not forget he also "screwed" (to a lesser degree) OSU. Him and (really) his team wanted nothing to do with any college once he became an "elite" prospect. They didn't handle it right from a PR perspective initially with announcing the day after the McDs game and the ridiculous G League trailblazing narrative. With that said, more power to him, but I am by no means a fan.

 

[cuseinseattle]

Where and when was he projected 14-18?

After he moved up in his class rankings and was still committed to Syracuse

 

[Cusefan0307]

After he moved up in his class rankings and was still committed to Syracuse

There's no direct correlation in the class rankings by recruiting services to what the NBA values. Naz Reid, Luguentz Dort, Louis King say hello.

 

[rrlbees]

After he moved up in his class rankings and was still committed to Syracuse

Who’s ranking was that? Kid was in high school.

 

[creatorsgam]

The best part of that thread is learning that Capt. Tuttle is on Twitter.

 

[djcon57]

He was projected to go in the 14-18 range and went 23. So he cost him self around 2m going to New Balance. I don't wish any ill will towards the kids but the idea that this shows he made the right decision cracks me up. I'm glad he got drafted and will make some money. I feel for these kids that are 18 years old and put in a position that it is very clear to them they need to get the money because they have siblings and parents living in poverty or near poverty.

It’s not about making “the right decision”.

It’s that it wasn’t “a terrible mistake” like the usual suspects were crying.

Just like Jerami Grant leaving wasn’t a terrible mistake. Or Mcw. Or Ennis. Or Lydon. Or McCollugh.

Yet EVERY YEAR we fight about same narrative. The idea if that a player just comes back to college for a year and automatically will get more interest is false. Battle just came back this year and I’d argue more exposure hurt him.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

He was projected to go in the 14-18 range and went 23. So he cost him self around 2m going to New Balance. I don't wish any ill will towards the kids but the idea that this shows he made the right decision cracks me up. I'm glad he got drafted and will make some money. I feel for these kids that are 18 years old and put in a position that it is very clear to them they need to get the money because they have siblings and parents living in poverty or near poverty.

Go back to the draft and line up the projected draft spot with the actual draft spot.
Total crap shoot.
Lots of guys get exposed in college: we just had 2 that went undrafted, after 5 years of college ball. Bazley never played, and went 1st round.

 

[Eric15]

It’s not about making “the right decision”.

It’s that it wasn’t “a terrible mistake” like the usual suspects were crying.

Just like Jerami Grant leaving wasn’t a terrible mistake. Or Mcw. Or Ennis. Or Lydon. Or McCollugh.

Yet EVERY YEAR we fight about same narrative. The idea if that a player just comes back to college for a year and automatically will get more interest is false. Battle just came back this year and I’d argue more exposure hurt him.

I feel like that would be an interesting dissertation for a PhD candidate. Look at every college player of the past 30 years or so, control for every possible variable, and ask the question "does coming back to school increase your chances of getting drafted?" My guess is that there is no meaningful correlation between those two things.

 

[jncuse]

After he moved up in his class rankings and was still committed to Syracuse

Its not like those rankings 12 months before the draft are anything close to accurate.

Maybe he moves up, or he moves down if he comes to Syracuse.

Kid and his advisors made a decision that ended up working out OK. If he wasn't sure what he was going to do, why wouldn't he also pick a college to go to in the interim.

The NCAA has controlled players for so long (no comp, transfer rules) that it has created a sense of entitlement in some fans that a kid should just bend over and accept things... things that he is not bound to accept.

 

[ForCuseSake]

I still can't believe not a single mod has deleted the post about Bazley "flipping burgers by age 30."

In fairness, Darius will probably have a pretty sick outdoor kitchen with a behemoth grill so flipping burgers by age 30 is probably 3-5 years off.

I'll go with closer to age 25 depending on how many nieces, nephews, cousins and other family he invites to cookouts at his suburban OKC mansion.

 

[HOFCeluck]

If Bazely came here the same people btching about what a horrible decision he made by decommitting would be btching about how he killed team chemistry when we inevitably didn’t live up to expectations.

 

[cuseinseattle]

There's no direct correlation in the class rankings by recruiting services to what the NBA values. Naz Reid, Luguentz Dort, Louis King say hello.

I never said they did. I was asked for a timeline and I gave it. The time period after he moved up the rankings and got attention and before he declared he was going to the G league I saw him in multiple mock drafts in the teens.

 

[Alsacs]

Can we just lock this up. This thread doesn't help the program at all. Congrats to Bazley for living his dream and getting drafted in the first round.
This kid didn't play a minute in college and went above Nassir Little who won the MVP in those HS allstar games Bazley played in.
He gambled on himself and won. No need to bash him or the program at all for losing him.

 

[cuseinseattle]

Its not like those rankings 12 months before the draft are anything close to accurate.

Maybe he moves up, or he moves down if he comes to Syracuse.

Kid and his advisors made a decision that ended up working out OK. If he wasn't sure what he was going to do, why wouldn't he also pick a college to go to in the interim.

The NCAA has controlled players for so long (no comp, transfer rules) that it has created a sense of entitlement in some fans that a kid should just bend over and accept things... things that he is not bound to accept.

I don't wish anything bad on the kid and he has the right to make whatever decision he wants. If you are asking me what the best path is for visibility and competition for kids I would say college. I think there were 7 kids that didn't play college basketball drafted and 53 that did. I could be off by 1 or 2. Also if you are mad kids can't go straight to the NBA that is on the NBA and not on college. The 1 and done rule is an NBA rule.

 

[HOFCeluck]

Can we just lock this up. This thread doesn't help the program at all. Congrats to Bazley for living his dream and getting drafted in the first round.
This kid didn't play a minute in college and went above Nassir Little who won the MVP in those HS allstar games Bazley played in.
He gambled on himself and won. No need to bash him or the program at all for losing him.

The H0T Takes get me through the day, so it does help me.

 

[Day2]

More players will be doing this. This is going to be a thing like once or twice a year now. In my opinion kind of crazy, because you only get one shot at playing this game in college. Playing this game in college is something unlike playing anywhere else. It’s something I would want to experience for sure no matter what status of player I was. But, some kids probably can’t imagine going to school for another year and want to get paid right away.

You could argue that R.J. Barrett and Cam Reddish should have gone this route. Barrett was projected #1 overall and Reddish was top five before the season started. Playing with Zion wound up hurting their draft stock.

If they both take a gap year, stay in shape, and perform well in workouts, do they go higher? Barrett probably still goes third, but I could see Reddish going 4th or 5th based on HS performance and potential.

 

[pfister1]

Where and when was he projected 14-18?

And when and where is it established that he wouldn’t have dropped further or out of the draft altogether if he had come to Cuse instead of doing the year off.

Bottom line is he ended up a 1st round pick, so he didn’t miscalculate too badly.

 

[HOFCeluck]

And when and where is it established that he wouldn’t have dropped further or out of the draft altogether if he had come to Cuse instead of doing the year off.

Bottom line is he ended up a 1st round pick, so he didn’t miscalculate too badly.

Can’t lose an argument if you keep moving the goalposts.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

Can’t lose an argument if you keep moving the goalposts.

In HS, Nassir was projected as high as 4th this year. His stock dropped much more by going to college than did Bazley's

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

I don't wish anything bad on the kid and he has the right to make whatever decision he wants. If you are asking me what the best path is for visibility and competition for kids I would say college. I think there were 7 kids that didn't play college basketball drafted and 53 that did. I could be off by 1 or 2. Also if you are mad kids can't go straight to the NBA that is on the NBA and not on college. The 1 and done rule is an NBA rule.

It's not about visibility or competition: it's about getting drafted as high as possible.
Also, Bazley made $1M last year.

 

[HOFCeluck]

It’s become increasingly difficult to try to make the argument that Bazely made a bad decision. But that’s good. It means that there’s a viable alternative to going through the motions of higher education for six months before cashing out.

 

[Day2]

It’s become increasingly difficult to try to make the argument that Bazely made a bad decision. But that’s good. It means that there’s a viable alternative to going through the motions of higher education for six months before cashing out.

^ This. It’s not about whether his decision helped or hurt his stock. His decision proved he didn’t need to play college ball.

If you’re a McDonald’s All-American, why even bother with this charade? Take your gap year and the NBA will still want you. That is, unless you really want the experience, but it’s not worth the injury risk.

 

[cuseinseattle]

It's not about visibility or competition: it's about getting drafted as high as possible.
Also, Bazley made $1M last year.

He made $200k

 

[HOFCeluck]

He made $200k

That’s...still good.

 

[cuseinseattle]

^ This. It’s not about whether his decision helped or hurt his stock. His decision proved he didn’t need to play college ball.

If you’re a McDonald’s All-American, why even bother with this charade? Take your gap year and the NBA will still want you. That is, unless you really want the experience, but it’s not worth the injury risk.

I have question. If we take the money out of it. Having to go to class but being able to party and have fun on a college campus while playing basketball and getting good exposure and being treated as I heard one person say like less than a god but more than a person. Or playing in the G league which is not glamorous. There was a post on twitter by Damon Stoudamire where he said that the thing he finds crazy is some of these kids have long odds to make the league and they would prefer the G league experience over a college experience. It blows my mind. What are your thoughts on that?