OT: Kentucky “none-and-done” Hamidou Diallo will likely go up against Wednesday’s deadline before dec

[The Funster]

While you're not wrong, HD is not just some athletic dude. He's preternaturally athletic. It's not like there's guys like this in every draft.

Gave you a "like" for using preternaturally. Damn good word, IMO.

 

[nyhuskies13]

If Diallo does pull out and return to UK (surprising), I wouldn't be surprised for him to have a formal press conference.

Announcement coming on ESPN during a 1hr special titled "The Decision 2"

He'll have a Kentucky hat, and an NBA hat on the table

"Sources" confirm for his next trick, if he pulls his name from the draft, he's debating either playing in Europe for a year or coming back to Kentucky... everyone stay on the edge of your seats....

 

[Tampahusky]

Hope everything works out for Diallo, love his game and has a lot of potential. Hope my Knicks pick him up early in 2nd round.

 

[HooperScooper]

Hope everything works out for Diallo, love his game and has a lot of potential. Hope my Knicks pick him up early in 2nd round.

He cancelled his workout with the Knicks today. Does that mean he has a first round promise from someone? Or does that mean he's withdrawing from the draft?

http://kentucky.247sports.com/Bolt/Diallo-cancels-workout-with-Knicks-52887617

 

[Tampahusky]

He cancelled his workout with the Knicks today. Does that mean he has a first round promise from someone? Or does that mean he's withdrawing from the draft?

http://kentucky.247sports.com/Bolt/Diallo-cancels-workout-with-Knicks-52887617

Wouldn't surprise me if Portland took him w one of their 3 first round picks.

 

[gtcam]

I've never seen a prospect have the body control, agility, explosiveness, speed, and hands bundled up with his insane leaping ability. Not to mention he's a long 6'5".

I don't care if he can't shoot or dribble the guy will sell tickets for the dunks he throws down. The worst case scenario is a Gerald Green type guy.

He should definitely go if a first round selection is guaranteed.

Gerald Green can flat out shoot - maybe streaky at times but when he's on..........wow plus he is like 6'9"
I can't see that comparison
Ham is an athlete - no doubt
But I don't give a rats arse where he goes or does

 

[BaZZnBOAT]

Wouldn't surprise me if Portland took him w one of their 3 first round picks.

Or the Nets. Two late picks, they could use a home run.

 

[auror]

Diallo withdraws.

 

[auror]

The blatant guarantee-fishing didn't quite get there.

 

[huskymedic]

Ha - this guy called it yesterday - I admit I was suspicious but he nailed it.

 

[BUConn10]

Just got the Yahoo sports breaking news notification about Diallo. Yay! National coverage!

 

[Kembacity]

Hope he sucks!

 

[UconnFanNVa]

If he had a realistic shot at being a 1st round pick (which I really think he did) he's stupid for going to Kentucky. If he spends the season bricking jumpshots his stock is going to plummet. And you dont want to be a sophomore at UK with other one and dones coming for your PT (especially if you aspire for an NBA career). He better be working on his jumpshot.

 

[nyhuskies13]

"Diallo wouldn't have sniffed the lottery this year, though, and reports are that no team gave him a guarantee that he would be selected in the first round. " - CBS Sports

my source's sources allegedly heard reports

hope he works on that awful jumper... when you're 6'5 w/ a 44inch vertical and a 7ft wingspan, you can dunk at will on a 6'2, 17yr old power forward in scholastic hoops

that doesnt fly in college, and certainly wont turn into an NBA career

 

[pj]

His handlers were stupid. He should have enrolled in college last September, gotten a year of experience. This wasted year essentially delayed his NBA earnings by a year. His effort to avoid competition has also left a permanent black mark on his reputation.

 

[UConnSportsGuy]

Yes, his handlers really ducked this up.

I figured there was a 0% chance he would play in college after what they did with him the past year and a 1/2. I cannot believe he is actually coming back to Kensucky.

If there was any chance he was going to play college next year, he should have been on the court this past year. He/they really screwed this one up.

It may work out for him, but I have sneaking suspicion that this is going to be a cautionary tale for how not to handle the HS/prep/college/NBA path for top recruits going forward.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

This will be Calipari's youngest team possibly ever:

4: Gabriel (soph), Washington (fresh), Killeya-Jones (soph)

3: Knox (fresh), Vanderbilt (fresh)

5: Richards (fresh), Wynyard (soph)

2: Diallo (fresh), Baker (fresh)

1: Green (fresh), Gilgeous-Alexander (fresh)

 

[pj]

This just plays up what a lousy recruiting job Ollie and Miller did. A coach has to become a little bit of a father to a player, has to love him, prove that he has the player's best interests at heart, and be able to give him sound guidance. They should have made a major push last summer to persuade him that an August enrollment was best for his future.

 

[boog204]

"Diallo wouldn't have sniffed the lottery this year, though, and reports are that no team gave him a guarantee that he would be selected in the first round. " - CBS Sports

my source's sources allegedly heard reports

hope he works on that awful jumper... when you're 6'5 w/ a 44inch vertical and a 7ft wingspan, you can dunk at will on a 6'2, 17yr old power forward in scholastic hoops

that doesnt fly in college, and certainly wont turn into an NBA career

Yup, this is the concern... At his size, I really do not think it matters how athletic you are if you do not have the skills. If he was 2-3 inches taller, than he can get away with it. But everything I've heard is that he's not just a poor shooter, but as your "source" claimed, an awful one. His summer shooting stats from deep were consistently under 20% on far too many attempts.

I would never wish ill on any kid, but man, I think he should have stayed in to hope he gets that guaranteed $$ by being a late first rounder. I think his lack of two-guard skills is really going to be exposed.

 

[FartMan69]

This just plays up what a lousy recruiting job Ollie and Miller did. A coach has to become a little bit of a father to a player, has to love him, prove that he has the player's best interests at heart, and be able to give him sound guidance. They should have made a major push last summer to persuade him that an August enrollment was best for his future.

This players best interest is to get as much exposure as possible and get paid. What can UConn offer him that would beat Kentucky's pitch? Diallo rose to the level where he could be a lottery pick after 1 season and the main focus was exposure at which point he was already wearing Kentucky blue. I don't put not getting Diallo on Ollie, I might agree he should have seen the writing on the wall and not prioritized him over other potential recruits but he's not inside the players head so I can't really blame him on that either.

 

[pj]

This players best interest is to get as much exposure as possible and get paid. What can UConn offer him that would beat Kentucky's pitch? Diallo rose to the level where he could be a lottery pick after 1 season and the main focus was exposure at which point he was already wearing Kentucky blue. I don't put not getting Diallo on Ollie, I might agree he should have seen the writing on the wall and not prioritized him over other potential recruits but he's not inside the players head so I can't really blame him on that either.

If he had enrolled for September 2016 with the intention to play in 2016-17, he would have enrolled at UConn because he wouldn't have played behind Kentucky's players. And that was what was in his best interest.

Exposure is not what he needed, everybody knew about him, he needed playing experience and development, and that's what UConn would have provided and should have been pitching him on.

 

[UCweCONN]

This sucks. My dream scenario was he'd hire an agent and somehow go undrafted. Now we have to hear what a stud he is and see him play next season. I was hoping he'd end up in Europe or Asia never to be heard from on this board again.

 

[LStudfellow]

While you're not wrong, HD is not just some athletic dude. He's preternaturally athletic. It's not like there's guys like this in every draft.

Intlzncster - As it turns out, your take was right and mine was wrong (as we debated in the previous thread on Hami about a month ago). I figured Hami had it planned out that he was going right to the pros all along. I was definitely surprised by his decision to play at Kentucky for a year, particularly since his combine workout created even more positive buzz for him than was expected.

I will raise a glass to you sir at the end of my work day. Excellent read by you, not by me. A good reminder for me that you really do not know what kids are going to do, and often times they do not either, right up until they make the actual decision.

And as with everyone else, I wish the best for him (more in the NBA than at Kentucky, of course).

 

[intlzncster]

Intlzncster - As it turns out, your take was right and mine was wrong (as we debated in the previous thread on Hami about a month ago). I figured Hami had it planned out that he was going right to the pros all along. I was definitely surprised by his decision to play at Kentucky for a year, particularly since his combine workout created even more positive buzz for him than was expected.

I will raise a glass to you sir at the end of my work day. Excellent read by you, not by me. A good reminder for me that you really do not know what kids are going to do, and often times they do not either, right up until they make the actual decision.

And as with everyone else, I wish the best for him (more in the NBA than at Kentucky, of course).

Ha, I don't even remember the discussion man. But I'll take a glass being raised in my honor 100 times out of 100. Need all the positive brain waves I can get!

 

[Stainmaster]

His effort to avoid competition has also left a permanent black mark on his reputation.

Once again, I am not seeing this sentiment anywhere outside of bitter UConn fans. Are there anonymous quotes from front office personal floating out there that corroborate this, or something like that? I'm afraid that you are one of the few people who believes this.