Good news as we will potentially still be lottery bound. I wonder if Wemby thinks differently
of Houston now.
Good news as we will potentially still be lottery bound. I wonder if Wemby thinks differently
of Houston now.
Dybantsa is gonna force his way to the Spurs like Kobe did with the Lakers.
The Boozer Twins, Bryce James, and Oscar Wembanyama will all be eligible for this draft as well. It'll be interesting.
going to BYU, don't draft, already poor judgement
Apparently they offered him more than 6 million.
I think he made a good choice, set for life if he can manage the money even if he suffers a career ending injury.
It's fascinating to see how NIL money has changed the landscape of what Universities want to become players in sports. Colorado with Deion, Billichick being hired by UNC, BYU dishing out NIL money for Egor and now AJ, Rutgers signing the #2 and #3 best prospects in the country this year in Harper and Bailey, etc.
College sports is almost becoming unrecognizable for a mid-40s guy like me... not saying that's a bad thing either. It's just... different.
Bryce is nowhere near as good a prospect as Bronny was in HS, I wouldn't get too excited about him tbh.
It absolutely is a bad thing.
There shouldn't be so much money in college sports, it's taking away from the game.
And kids shouldn't be moving across the country just because of basketball. Have them play for their at least somewhat local universities.
That mormon money long
The money was always there,it’s just that the kids are getting their slice now.
Your locality screed sounds very boomerish/old man shouting at cloud. Lew Alcindor/KAJ left NY to go play for John Wooden at UCLA in the late 60s, so it’s not some new phenomenon. Players have always gone where their future looked best.
My actual opinion is that college system is not good for young players if they're not going to spend at least three years there. Maybe two, but one and done shouldn't be a thing.
Either enter the draft from high school or commit to two college seasons.
Strongly disagree.
Kids move across the country for college for non-athletic reasons... I don't see why athletics should be any different. Just like going to Harvard of Stanford may best set a kid from San Antonio up for his career, so might a basketball player from Washington going to Duke (and this was already happening anyway).
And the money has always been there in college sports, it just been funneled to the people who aren't actually creating the product (the players). People watch sports for the athletes, not the coaches and athletic directors.
I actually agree with that, but that's the NBA's doing - not the colleges or the kids.
I don't like the "kids" characterization, as if 19 y/o one-and-done NBA rookies are somehow exponentially more mature than 18 y/o college freshmen. There's a gap but it isn't enormous.
Most don't seem to have a problem with a 19 y/o draft prospect trying to maximize their earnings. Why begrudge a 18 y/o top recruit who does the same thing?
One big impact of NIL and the portal is that the coach's personal touch in recruiting is much less important now, especially for one-and-dones. It's just straight up free agency.
Yeah, we don't hear much about him anymore these days.
It was funny the big social media blitz that one month or two in the summer of 2023 and how much hype that generated (I bought into it too lol). He looked great on a mixtape but then again I remember when Austin Rivers looked like the next Dame on his HS mixtapes. I don't think Bryce was even a starter on his HS team through his junior season though.
Was the new Space Jam a do entary? Maybe Bryce just wants to design video games
I've not heard of this kid, and maybe Givoni and Woo are just trolling... but they have something called Darryn Peterson as their #1 prospect ahead of AJ and Boozer.
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Link to the article for those with ESPN+
https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/sto...spects-emerges
Early read is looking like another "Top 4 or Bust" class
The depth of the 2026 class remains to be determined. We're likely looking at one of the weakest classes of European prospects in quite some time. And outside of the four players mentioned above, the rest of the incoming freshmen class does not appear to be especially strong, leaving question marks regarding the strength of the class as a whole.
And here are some more selective snippets for those of you without ESPN+
Peterson has been on another level all season for Napa, California-based Prolific Prep (22-2), scoring 30.4 points with 7.1 assists per game, shooting 44% for 3. Two wins in head-to-head Grind Session league matchups against Dybantsa and Utah Prep in December and February made the case quite convincingly for him as the best prospect in the high school game, scoring 61 points in 36 minutes and hitting the game-winning 3-pointer in the second outing between the two, in what will likely go down as a legendary performance for the Kansas commit.
Drawing some comparisons from NBA scouts to a bigger Damian Lillard (who measured 6-foot-3 in shoes and189 pounds with a 6-8 wingspan just prior to turning 22 at the NBA draft combine in 2012), Peterson is the best shot creator in the class. He is able to get anywhere he wants on the court with an explosive first step, the ability to change speeds powerfully and has exquisite ballhandling, pace and body control. He generates paint touches at will, finishes skillfully with both hands and from difficult vantage points in and around the paint, and lives at the free throw line.
Yeah I wouldn’t be surprised if Peterson ends up #1 over Dybantsa. His Kansas team will also likely be better than BYU and he’ll be able to show he’s a winning player, not just putting up numbers. Still, Dybantsa’s tools are amazing. Boozer is a distant 3rd imo.
Boozer was wrecking the common compe ion that the Thompson twins were sleepwalking through in 22-23. They were scoring like 20, and he was scoring like 35. They were 20 years old, and he was 15.
I also DGAF about what schools they each go to. Players are drafted on individual future potential, not how they did in college. Dybantsa had offers from everywhere, but chose BYU and that Utah based prep school based on NIL money.
Dybantsa and Boozer have been 1-2 for a while. It seems like a hot take to displace them before anyone has even played a game at the next level.
BYU has been quietly pretty good this year and they got a good coach. A lot of success for college teams depends on the quality of transfer students and juniors and seniors. BYU has been pretty good at getting transfers. The Big 12 is stacked now. Heck, Kansas has not been that great this year.
Don't know if it's coincidental with my reading of this article, or because the algorithm has found me, but seeing a lot more people talking about Peterson now. The hype is definitely amping up.
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