Kofi Cockburn

[djct1999]

As you say, a lot of this is down to Duke. Once they started going with the 'UK strategy', they started beating out Cal for the top recruits. K is K, and their bag men (like Capel) are always 'safe'.

The effect of Penny is real. He took some top guys from right under Cal's nose.

FBI investigation has some affect. Cal now saying he's an 'overrated' recruiter. Maybe his money supply chain has dried up.



Duke will never be investigated, unless the FBI turns up something egregious. But I think they are smarter than that.

Depends. Will still don't know the end game for the FBI. I doubt it ends here. It does seem that the money trail at Kentucky has dried a bit. Why?

 

[CL82]

Duke will never be investigated, unless the FBI turns up something egregious. But I think they are smarter than that.

Then again 'pride goeth before a fall.'

 

[Chief00]

Apparently, Akok is serious about going pro. As Americans we sometimes forget or are unable to acknowledge cultural differences. Coming from the Sudan it’s very important to him for a young man to work and contribute to the support of his family. That is the expectation on him.
Chief is still hoping for common sense and wisdom to triumph and UConn leads other schools.

 

[BackAftaThis]

Apparently, Akok is serious about going pro. As Americans we sometimes forget or are unable to acknowledge cultural differences. Coming from the Sudan it’s very important to him for a young man to work and contribute to the support of his family. That is the expectation on him.
Chief is still hoping for common sense and wisdom to triumph and UConn leads other schools.

That may be but also important to make sure you’re making the right decision for the long term. If he doesn’t get drafted vs waiting a year or two and going first round the difference in family support is extraordinary. More power to him for exercising all options.

 

[intlzncster]

That may be but also important to make sure you’re making the right decision for the long term. If he doesn’t get drafted vs waiting a year or two and going first round the difference in family support is extraordinary. More power to him for exercising all options.

A lot of times, with these Sudanese guys, the family and tribal elders sit around and discuss what the future of the 'child' shall be. If they want him to go pro, he's going pro, whether it's the NBA, G League, Europe, or the local pro am. It's really not even the kid's decision. Same thing happened with Majok, and it's why he went pro after 1 year in college.

 

[Chief00]

A lot of times, with these Sudanese guys, the family and tribal elders sit around and discuss what the future of the 'child' shall be. If they want him to go pro, he's going pro, whether it's the NBA, G League, Europe, or the local pro am. It's really not even the kid's decision. Same thing happened with Majok, and it's why he went pro after 1 year in college.

Good point. Recruiting can be very complicated. We tend to focus on the OV, fit with team and relationship with the coach. In some instances these things can be overwhelmed by something else that’s not nefarious.

 

[businesslawyer]

Good point. Recruiting can be very complicated. We tend to focus on the OV, fit with team and relationship with the coach. In some instances these things can be overwhelmed by something else that’s not nefarious.

Who's "we" here? Does Chief go from bold statements of "Chief" -- instead of using "I" -- when he thinks he's on to something to the royal "we" when he's starting to think he made a mistake?

 

[Chief00]

Who's "we" here? Does Chief go from bold statements of "Chief" -- instead of using "I" -- when he thinks he's on to something to the royal "we" when he's starting to think he made a mistake?

Chief is included in the “we” although Chief was not one of the posters who said he had committed to UConn. The Akok pro thing just wasn’t on Chief’s radar screen, based on basketball evaluations. My point in this thread is the Sudan family cultural aspect should not be underestimated.
As stated - Chief believes UConn still leads all options - but if others dismissed the pro thing as silly - Chief is saying take it seriously. At least one school that was in the hunt has recently backed off since the pro option changes the cost/ benefit calculation of recruiting time and effort with little upside of committing for that particular school.
Note: For BY purposes, there is no distinction between “I” and “Chief”.

 

[BackAftaThis]

Chief is included in the “we” although Chief was not one of the posters who said he had committed to UConn. The Akok pro thing just wasn’t on Chief’s radar screen, based on basketball evaluations. My point in this thread is the Sudan family cultural aspect should not be underestimated.
As stated - Chief believes UConn still leads all options - but if others dismissed the pro thing as silly - Chief is saying take it seriously. At least one school that was in the hunt has recently backed off since the pro option changes the cost/ benefit calculation of recruiting time and effort with little upside of committing for that particular school.
Note: For BY purposes, there is no distinction between “I” and “Chief”.

Well fortunately we have proximity on our side when it comes to Akok. We don’t have to waste money on planes to go see him. Just based on looking from the top down it would appear it’s UConn or NBA at this point. Im optimistic of our chances. He’s a top recruit with very realistic chances of being a future first round pick. He mentions the term NBA not generically saying pro basketball. That leads me to conclude he’s turning pro only with realistic shot at being in the big time. This isn’t some Majok scenario where the guy is just a big man from Sudan who migrated over to the US. Even if he goes one and done the amount of development this coaching staff (including Coach Sal) would pay huge dividends.

 

[BackAftaThis]

Per Andrew Slater he is going on an OV to Illinois 12/28-12/30

 

[UconnU]

Per Andrew Slater he is going on an OV to Illinois 12/28-12/30

Strange considering they have 2 freshman centers and have another already committed for 2019.

 

[SirHypeAlot]

Underwood is a great coach. good visit for him.

 

[bendm]

pleasantly surprised kofi is even bothering with the likes of pitt and illinois...assumed he was holding out for the blue bloods

now he'll only have 2 officials left come january...but that still leaves room for kansas and kentucky

 

[Beachampion]

Bottom line, come to Uconn play hard and win the state will love you forever!!

 

[Stainmaster]

Underwood is a great coach. good visit for him.

He's gotta do better in the earlier period/with IL kids going forward though. I believe 6/7 of their '18 signees came on board in the spring -- even for someone who's only been on the job a year, that's not a good sign.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Strange considering they have 2 freshman centers and have another already committed for 2019.

I don't think any of those guys scare someone like Kofi off.

 

[businesslawyer]

He's gotta do better in the earlier period/with IL kids going forward though. I believe 6/7 of their '18 signees came on board in the spring -- even for someone who's only been on the job a year, that's not a good sign.

I don't understand. Why doesn't it only matter if you get them or not? Why do you get extra credit if they sign early?

 

[Stainmaster]

I don't understand. Why doesn't it only matter if you get them or not? Why do you get extra credit if they sign early?

I don't have the numbers in front of me, but if you compared the collective talent level of recruits available in the fall to those still unsigned in the spring, my guess is that the former group would be much more formidable.

Also, there are exceptions, but I feel like spring signees also tend to be Plan B/C/D/E after a coach's first choice goes elsewhere. Out of those 7 kids Illinois signed this past year, only 2 had offers before late February.

 

[the Q]

pleasantly surprised kofi is even bothering with the likes of pitt and illinois...assumed he was holding out for the blue bloods

now he'll only have 2 officials left come january...but that still leaves room for kansas and kentucky

And a very real possibility that Lawson and big Az both turn pro. And de Souza probably will have to go pro. So that’s 3 front court scholarships that could be open.

 

[Chief00]

I don't understand. Why doesn't it only matter if you get them or not? Why do you get extra credit if they sign early?

If one of your top targets waits, it takes you down a decision making tree path. Do you take plan B and maybe scare off plan A and so on. In your example, Plan A signs but in real life you don’t know that’s going to happen until it happens. Sometimes there is an opportunity cost in waiting especially if available scholarships are limited.

 

[UconnU]

If one of your top targets waits, it takes you down a decision making tree path. Do you take plan B and maybe scare off plan A and so on. In your example, Plan A signs but in real life you don’t know that’s going to happen until it happens. Sometimes there is an opportunity cost in waiting especially if available scholarships are limited.

Hurley’s plan seems to be be realistic as far as who you can land but offer less kids. 4 stars regionally, 5 stars in the immediate area and put all your resources into every kid offered. As opposed to Ollie who would offer a much larger number of kids nationally, see who shows the most interest and go from there, gradually offer more kids if none of the high profile kids show interest. I prefer Hurleys strategy although I wouldn’t mind him taking shots at international upside kids like JC did.

 

[intlzncster]

If one of your top targets waits, it takes you down a decision making tree path. Do you take plan B and maybe scare off plan A and so on. In your example, Plan A signs but in real life you don’t know that’s going to happen until it happens. Sometimes there is an opportunity cost in waiting especially if available scholarships are limited.

And these days, if you sign Plan A in the fall, you have to keep recruiting him until he shows up on campus. You even have to keep relationships up with guys who would have been Plan B, in case Plan A falls through after committing. The game never sleeps.

 

[Chief00]

And these days, if you sign Plan A in the fall, you have to keep recruiting him until he shows up on campus. You even have to keep relationships up with guys who would have been Plan B, in case Plan A falls through after committing. The game never sleeps.

All true too.

 

[UConnStats]

Per Andrew Slater he is going on an OV to Illinois 12/28-12/30

Weird considering that they just got a commit from Antwan January, a big center who would never be able to play alongside Kofi. Wouldn't think Illinois has much of a chance here.

 

[pj]

Weird considering that they just got a commit from Antwan January, a big center who would never be able to play alongside Kofi. Wouldn't think Illinois has much of a chance here.

Maybe he wants to see the cornfields.