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ESPN now has Keldon Johnson at #7

Is Johnson a UK lean? I have read he really liked UK but that seemed to be older news. I know Cal is on him now but is their a commitment possible? Soon?
 
BBUK said:
Is Johnson a UK lean? I have read he really liked UK but that seemed to be older news. I know Cal is on him now but is their a commitment possible? Soon?
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WRaSz.gif
 
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the stat man said:
If he mentioned Duke was a favorite school he would automatically move to # 2 or # 3
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Lotta truth to this. Same used to be true with UNC signees. Remember the Wear twins getting to play in the McDonalds game while they were ranked in the 50's I believe. UK is a proven NBA factory. You come here and you give yourself the best possible chance to not only make the league but be productive.
 
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YouKay said:
Sorry I don't have a link, saw it posted on Twitter this morning in a tweet mentioning how many of the top 12 players are still uncommitted.

Also saw a tweet mentioning that 24/7 Crystall Ball now has Zion to UK.

Good news all around.
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Talented player who will only get better.
 
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Double Oaked Juice said:
It's between us and Maryland, but I think it's pretty obvious that Cal will end up closing KJ for the Cats.
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When did Maryland jump in the main picture? It's long been a battle between UK and Texas, hasn't it? Yeah, I know there's been a few Maryland votes, but with the commitment of Ayala and Wiggins, I think that removes Maryland.
 
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the stat man said:
If he mentioned Duke was a favorite school he would automatically move to # 2 or # 3
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Take off your tinfoil hat! That's crazy talk! It makes our whole fanbase look silly when we say stuff like that. Everyone knows that ESPN's rankings are completely fair and unbiased.

Last Ranking (as of August 1st/Pre-Duke commitment)
E8oQjY6.png


New Ranking (as of today/post Duke commitment):
OdrNidj.png


And anyway...even if ESPN really was doing that, it's not like we would see the same thing happening recruiting class after recruiting class! :rolleyes:
 
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Mr_GG said:
Take off your tinfoil hat! That's crazy talk! It makes our whole fanbase look silly when we say stuff like that. Everyone knows that ESPN's rankings are completely fair and unbiased.

Last Ranking (as of August 1st/Pre-Duke commitment)
E8oQjY6.png


New Ranking (as of today/post Duke commitment):
OdrNidj.png


And anyway...even if ESPN really was doing that, it's not like we would see the same thing happening recruiting class after recruiting class! :rolleyes:
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Truly unbelievable.
 
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Cowtown Cat said:
Truly unbelievable.
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It makes me madder than it should lol. I'd like to use the wayback machine (a website that allows you to view websites on certain dates/what I used to find that old screenshot) and make a compilation of all the ranking bumps that Duke commits get.
 
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Mr_GG said:
It makes me madder than it should lol. I'd like to use the wayback machine (a website that allows you to view websites on certain dates/what I used to find that old screenshot) and make a compilation of all the ranking bumps that Duke commits get.
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I wonder how far KJ will drop when he commits to UK? It's gonna happen, especially if Barrett goes elsewhere.
 
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Cowtown Cat said:
I wonder how far KJ will drop when he commits to UK? It's gonna happen, especially if Barrett goes elsewhere.
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Gilchrist was almost unanimously considered the #1 player in 2011. After he committed to UK and Austin Rivers committed to Duke, suddenly Rivers was #1 with no question (until Davis came out of nowhere and made it indisputably obvious he was the #1 player). There was a big debate in HS basketball as to who was the better recruit in 2013: Jabari Parker or Julius Randle. Randle fell out of that conversation after Parker went to Puke. Okafor was the next coming of Shaq and Towns was ranked 9th. De'Aaron Fox (pre-UK commitment) had a huge summer before his senior HS year. He was ranked 4th in the class behind Giles, Jackson, and Tatum. Some were questioning whether he might be the #1 player in the class after that summer. Later that fall, he committed to UK. New ranking came out, Dennis Smith Jr. was suddenly the #1 Point Guard. Smith Jr. tore his ACL a few days after that, so I thought "Ok, well ESPN can't possibly not rank him the #1 point guard now." The next ranking that came out, Lonzo Ball was suddenly the #1 point guard (and he had never been in that conversation).

I know there are a lot of examples I'm forgetting, but ESPN rankings matter to me simply because their announcers will not shut up about them the whole season no matter if it was blatantly obvious that their evaluations were inaccurate. Does it really matter? No, but I just hate having to listen to their same story line for the entire season.
 
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Mr_GG said:
Take off your tinfoil hat! That's crazy talk! It makes our whole fanbase look silly when we say stuff like that. Everyone knows that ESPN's rankings are completely fair and unbiased.

Last Ranking (as of August 1st/Pre-Duke commitment)
E8oQjY6.png


New Ranking (as of today/post Duke commitment):
OdrNidj.png


And anyway...even if ESPN really was doing that, it's not like we would see the same thing happening recruiting class after recruiting class! :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Jones had one of the best summer AAU seasons out of all the players on the circuit.
 
Mr_GG said:
Every Duke recruit seems to have one of the best AAU seasons, high school seasons, or all star game showings after they commit to Duke. Nothing is given to them, and everything is earned.
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Not really true. His brother Tyus fell in most rankings by the time he finished high school.

Julius Randle who you mentioned above actually finished ahead of Jabari in composite rankings after Jabari was #1 at one point.

It's a case by case thing.
 
#ESPNSUCKS
It looks like LaMello Yellow Ball jumped up in next years class, also. The last time that I looked he was at #17. ESPN now has him at #7!!!!! LOL [roll]
#LAMELLOYELLOWSUCKS
 
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BlueBlood66 said:
Not really true. His brother Tyus fell in most rankings by the time he finished high school.

Julius Randle who you mentioned above actually finished ahead of Jabari in composite rankings after Jabari was #1 at one point.

It's a case by case thing.
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I was talking about ESPN rankings (where yes, it is true).

Tyus Jones finished 4th on ESPN's rankings. Parker finished above Randle in ESPN's rankings. The only reason Parker didn't finish #1 on ESPN's rankings was because Wiggins reclassified.

I agree it's a case by case thing on some rankings. However, there's no question ESPN has a pro-Duke bias.
 
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BlueBlood66 said:
Not really true. His brother Tyus fell in most rankings by the time he finished high school.

Julius Randle who you mentioned above actually finished ahead of Jabari in composite rankings after Jabari was #1 at one point.

It's a case by case thing.
Click to expand...


Tyus was #1 PG in his class in every single recruiting service. However, Ullis was the better if the 2. This was ok for His season....championship game was his best all season. Good player
 
Mr_GG said:
Every Duke recruit seems to have one of the best AAU seasons, high school seasons, or all star game showings after they commit to Duke. Nothing is given to them, and everything is earned.
Click to expand...
Jones in EYBL play:

20.4 ppg, 52% shooting, 7.3 apg.

Some of this stuff with Duke/ESPN stuff just gets flat stupid. Jones's 247 composite ranking is 6, which, last I checked, is higher than the 10 that ESPN gave him. So if there's a Duke Effect going on with him, it's worse at places besides ESPN.
 
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mj2k10 said:
Jones in EYBL play:

20.4 ppg, 52% shooting, 7.3 apg.

Some of this stuff with Duke/ESPN stuff just gets flat stupid. Jones's 247 composite ranking is 6, which, last I checked, is higher than the 10 that ESPN gave him. So if there's a Duke Effect going on with him, it's worse at places besides ESPN.
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It would be 4 higher than ESPN's rankings. Maybe it is a different case with Jones, but more often than not, there is a clear bias with Duke. Also with him, I have some personal bias about his play just based off the eye test (similar to how I think Gary Trent Jr. is wildly overrated by ESPN's rankings).
 
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Mr_GG said:
Gilchrist was almost unanimously considered the #1 player in 2011. After he committed to UK and Austin Rivers committed to Duke, suddenly Rivers was #1 with no question (until Davis came out of nowhere and made it indisputably obvious he was the #1 player). There was a big debate in HS basketball as to who was the better recruit in 2013: Jabari Parker or Julius Randle. Randle fell out of that conversation after Parker went to Puke. Okafor was the next coming of Shaq and Towns was ranked 9th. De'Aaron Fox (pre-UK commitment) had a huge summer before his senior HS year. He was ranked 4th in the class behind Giles, Jackson, and Tatum. Some were questioning whether he might be the #1 player in the class after that summer. Later that fall, he committed to UK. New ranking came out, Dennis Smith Jr. was suddenly the #1 Point Guard. Smith Jr. tore his ACL a few days after that, so I thought "Ok, well ESPN can't possibly not rank him the #1 point guard now." The next ranking that came out, Lonzo Ball was suddenly the #1 point guard (and he had never been in that conversation).

I know there are a lot of examples I'm forgetting, but ESPN rankings matter to me simply because their announcers will not shut up about them the whole season no matter if it was blatantly obvious that their evaluations were inaccurate. Does it really matter? No, but I just hate having to listen to their same story line for the entire season.
Click to expand...

Yep, ESPN consistently has UK recruits lower than the other services, and usually has Duke recruits higher.
 
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SilentsAreGolden said:
Yep, ESPN consistently has UK recruits lower than the other services, and usually has Duke recruits higher.
Click to expand...
Easily tested theory:
17
Knox: RSCI 10, ESPN 10
Vanderbilt: RSCI 13, ESPN 19
Washington: RSCI 14, ESPN 12
Richards: RSCI 18, ESPN 17
Green: RSCI 23, ESPN 24
SGA: RSCI 30, ESPN 35
Baker: RSCI 72, ESPN 66

16
Fox: RSCI 6, ESPN 6
Bam: RSCI 8, ESPN 5
Monk: RSCI 9, ESPN 9
Wenyen: RSCI 13, ESPN 14
SKJ: RSCI 21, ESPN 24

Not much of a pattern there.
 
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Mr_GG said:
It would be 4 higher than ESPN's rankings. Maybe it is a different case with Jones, but more often than not, there is a clear bias with Duke. Also with him, I have some personal bias about his play just based off the eye test (similar to how I think Gary Trent Jr. is wildly overrated by ESPN's rankings).
Click to expand...
Agree. Been saying for months that Trent is vastly overrated.
 
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calamitybone said:
I know it's been noted ad nauseam but Wall was #5 on ESPN's high school rankings and was the best player in college the following year. They are the Bleacher Report of recruiting.
Click to expand...
That’s really what it comes down to. Bias or not, they’re simply not as good as the other services at evaluating high school talent.
 
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Jones did have a great AAU season. Many say he was the best PG on the circuit. Going into the season, he was barely Top 40.

As a matter of fact, Jones probably had a better Summer than Duke would have liked him to have, because I think the plan as of this Spring was to recruit Garland as their No. 1 PG, Reddish as SF, with Tre being the multi-year PG that would backup Garland and eventually start as a Jr or Sr. All you heard going into the season was about how much those guys wanted to play together.

After Jones out-performed even Garland this Summer, those plans went out the door, and the question became if Garland could or would play 2 to Jones' 1. When Barrett reclassified and became their top priority however, they dropped Garland like a hot rock.
 
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