OT - Hamidou Diallo testing Draft Waters

[intlzncster]

That logic makes no sense. Why would someone like waters want to showcase his skills with the goal of sitting out a year?

Because he wants to play for Duke/UK/KU. None of them are biting, but if he goes and puts up 20+ and 8ass at KSU, they'll take a good hard look.

If that's his plan, it's foolish. The top programs rarely take transfers in, because then they have to use 4 years of scholarship to get 3 years of player or 3 years of scholarship to get 2 years.

Kansas does. They've done it a fare bit in the past 8 years.
Heck, they've got 3 this year! Charlie Moore and the Lawson brothers. And then Malik Newman last year.

Duke and UK have some in the fold too.

Usually you're my guy, but can't say I agree here.

It's unfortunate. Most of these kids get led the wrong direction by their fathers (oriakhi, soon to be Vance) or the Ed Smiths of the world (ater). While they are certainly well intentioned parents, they fail to realize they have the most biased and non neutral opinions on the planet when evaluating their son.

I'm somebody's guy on here. That's kinda neat.

What I know is that he wants to play for Kansas/Duke/UK etc. He's not being offered. And perhaps he thinks this is a way to make it happen. To play in the big spotlight.

He's thinking about making the NBA, but probably realizes he doesn't have an ideal physical makeup. So I imagine he wants to be successful on the biggest stage possible.

jmo of course. I'm not even saying that's definitely what it is, just a possibility. You are right, he wants to play ASAP. The question is, why exactly?

 

[intlzncster]

If you're referring to Ater Majok and Alex O, it's based on Ed Smith gassing him up to declare before he was ready so he could cash in - only to have Ater flame out.

From what I know of Majok, it was mostly a tribal decision iirc. There's a group of Sudanese refugees in Oz, and they convene to decide kids futures, for a number of things. I thought it was determined Majok should go pro asap to start making money for this family and community.

That said, Ed Smith has been accused of being 'selfish' on a few occasions.

 

[Fishy]

Not what I meant. I was implying he wanted to go somewhere to be THE guy and showcase his skills. So that he could transfer to one of the big boy schools he really wants to go to. The idea being, they see how good he is, and sign him up.

You do better when you think less.

 

[upstater]

Diallo already knows how he stacks up against Kentucky level talent. If he is assured a 1st round selection, he may go if he already feels/knows the score at Kentucky. Practice should have been enlightening for him.

 

[Doctor Hoop]

I reserve most (read: all) of my dislike for Cal and the whole system. Diallo's a kid trying to maximize his chance to make money. Can't fault him much, if we don't know to what extent he was telling UConn he was coming. It wouldn't be the first time that staff got caught off guard.

I can fault him, only in that he should have been more up front with a team that wanted him for at least two years but for whom he didn't really even want to contribute one.

 

[TheChamps990411]

The biggest LIE in college athletics history.

"Part of what makes Kentucky so special is that it prepares you for the NBA better than anywhere else"

This is the biggest lie. Are kids getting more stupid or has it always been this way?

 

[TRest]

"Part of what makes Kentucky so special is that it prepares you for the NBA better than anywhere else"

This is the biggest lie. Are kids getting more stupid or has it always been this way?

It's part of the quid pro quo. Cal markets the kids to NBA teams, the kids market the program to other kids. Plus cash, of course. I've always been amazed by the "Cal knows the NBA" spin because he spent a couple of years with the Nets. One would hope KO has an answer to that.

 

[Kembacity]

If karma is a B, then are we hoping that teams give him a promise they'll take him in the teens and he sits on the board until mid second round? Probably not likely, but I'll be sending karma some well wishes if he stays in the draft

 

[pj]

"Part of what makes Kentucky so special is that it prepares you for the NBA better than anywhere else"

This is the biggest lie. Are kids getting more stupid or has it always been this way?

This is the kid marketing himself to the NBA, and Calipari marketing himself to recruits. You have to expect Calipari co-wrote anything he puts out to the public. To the NBA, the goal is to say, I was only here 3 months and didn't play in games, but I still got prepared for the NBA, i.e., I am now much better than I was when your scouts saw me playing at Putnam Science Academy. Calipari is trying to help him get drafted high so he can use him as a sales tool, and also having one more player re-affirm his message to recruits.

 

[Storrs South]

 

[JSM1970]

Diallo was pretty smart in hindsight. He has zero intentions of playing college BBall so why not get 2-3 months of practice with legit NBA prospects like Monk, Fox, Bam vs. Vital, VJ and Brimah, etc.

 

[auror]

Ah hahahhaha

 

[Marat]

And that's why he chose UK . Many of us were saying he wouldn't play in the NCAA.

 

[mauconnfan]

I am sure he went to all of his classes and Squids APR will be immaculate.

 

[FASTEDDY]

Please be True!

 

[intlzncster]

Diallo was pretty smart in hindsight. He has zero intentions of playing college BBall so why not get 2-3 months of practice with legit NBA prospects like Monk, Fox, Bam vs. Vital, VJ and Brimah, etc.

Even better to get the UK cache. I think that's why he really did it

 

[intlzncster]

I am sure he went to all of his classes and Squids APR will be immaculate.

Hate on it all you want, but that's something I'm eternally pissed about vis a vis UCONN. Only major program to NOT game the system. WTF were they thinking

 

[HooperScooper]

For those still following Diallo's saga. Or more appropriately, those hoping Kentucky gets burned.

Prep coach confident Hamidou Diallo will return to Kentucky

 

[husky429]

For those still following Diallo's saga. Or more appropriately, those hoping Kentucky gets burned.

Prep coach confident Hamidou Diallo will return to Kentucky

Espinosa has no relationship with Diallo. He called him out after he went to UK about not coming to practice, suspending him from games, having a bad attidue, etc.

I doubt he has a clue.

 

[RayIsTheGOAT]

UConn basketball followed Diallo on Twitter though, so I'm still holding out hope he's coming.

 

[HooperScooper]

UConn basketball followed Diallo on Twitter though, so I'm still holding out hope he's coming.

That ain't happening. He'd have to sit out a season if he transferred. The kid wants to spend as little time in college as possible and now he would want to sit out another season before playing?

You might want to search for unicorns rather than hoping Diallo is coming to UConn. The time would be more well spent that way.

 

[RayIsTheGOAT]

That ain't happening. He'd have to sit out a season if he transferred. The kid wants to spend as little time in college as possible and now he would want to sit out another season before playing?

You might want to search for unicorns rather than hoping Diallo is coming to UConn. The time would be more well spent that way.

My post was intended to be a joke.

 

[HooperScooper]

My post was intended to be a joke.

I have trouble keeping up with who the crazy posters are here on the board and who the sane ones are.

 

[Chief00]

Espinosa has no relationship with Diallo. He called him out after he went to UK about not coming to practice, suspending him from games, having a bad attidue, etc.

I doubt he has a clue.

Agreed - he's the guy who kept Glen Miller's rosy colored glasses going - and we all know how that ended!

 

[80shusky]

 

[BUConn10]

UConn basketball followed Diallo on Twitter though, so I'm still holding out hope he's coming.

To this day one of the most foolish sources of confidence in a kids recruitment I've ever seen. Similar concepts get thrown around way too often in other recruiting threads too when Chill or KO follows a random kid.

Following someone on twitter these days is the equivalent of adding someone's phone number or address to your contacts booklet in the age of pre-internet and smartphones. It's in no way a statement of how close you are as friends, but more of a digital link between two accounts' networks, nothing more. Don't expose your age so much guys.

 

[c29328]

He's thinking what I am thinking. Some of these perennial winners won't get a shot at that physical talent in the draft. To get at 25 or so somebody will take a chance and lay out a gaurantee.

 

[JMick]

I really hope he stays in the draft. Would be a nice lesson on sunk costs for KO and I would get to laugh at all the UK fans on reddit who said he made a promise to cal that he would stay at Kentucky

 

[80shusky]

I really hope he stays in the draft. Would be a nice lesson on sunk costs for KO and I would get to laugh at all the UK fans on reddit who said he made a promise to cal that he would stay at Kentucky

I agree. Think how we would feel after the long recruitment and the emotional ups and downs if he had chosen UConn and then never played a game. Ugh. This is probably a stupid statement and I'm probably going to get criticized for it but I'm not sure chasing the 5* one and done guys is the best use of resources. You can build a real good college basketball team with 4* and even some 3* players and win. If the current model of all the 5* one and done type players going to Kentucky, Duke, and a couple of other schools holds than we might be better off setting our sights on the slightly lower ranked players who are likely to be around for 3 years, mature, and help build a program. Eventually you hope you have the right mix of experience and talent to hang banner #5.

 

[Walker11]

Hamidou has a pretty tough decision IMO but if he is going in the 20's, I think he has to go. The guaranteed money is just too much, especially for a guy who is all potential at this point. This is a guy who will have a 10 year career if he can become a 35% standstill 3 point shooter. I am not sure if that will be the case. His athleticism will definitely give him a good shot, just look at Derrick Jones. But NBA teams give up on their investments pretty easily nowadays. Going in the 20's and getting drafted by a good organization will do wonders for the kids career. He can not be expected to provide any impact until year 3. A kid like Dejounte Murray had his career saved by getting picked by the Spurs, as opposed to a team like the Nets.

The college experience is just so damn fun, and especially for a kid who would be a top prospect at UK. He is going to be drowning in co-eds and we know how much ESPN will slurp him. He will get tons of hype and end up on the highlight reels on a weekly basis. Being such a big shot must feel amazing. If he goes to the NBA and never learns how to shoot, he will never have a second in the limelight and will be forgotten from history like a Ndudi Ebi.