Unless this guy is a head case, he is getting major minutes in D1 somewhere. Hopefully that will be at here.
UK has reached out to D2 standout
- Thread starter BassProCat
- Start date
Nah I wasn't mad. I was just stating that their roster like you stated had a stud D2 guy as well as several other D2 players / starters. maybe you quoted the wrong poster. I had stated they had D2 players ?
Not exactly. If they can play, there is no # beside their role on the team. hell, may even get a guy who ends up being your leading scorer. Not EVERY solid player has to come from major conference transfers, that has been proven over and over.
Take this years team for example, before injuries, the lower guys on the bench (10-13 guys you labeled) was Chandler a 4 star recruit and Noah, another 4 star recruit along with Travis Perry, a 4 star recruit.
He's outstanding. Nice catch for them.
You quoted me originally saying I needed to research more.... seems like you got me confused with someone else cause I'm in agreement with you lol. All good on my end BBN brother.
Now that Pope has reached out, Cal and the chicken funded porkers are about to walk through the door too.
Portal players could be a bigger gamble than Freshman is some instances. I think we’ll see that some highly ranked players don’t pan out
Johnell Davis was the overwhelming #1 player in the portal last year. He’s not a complete bust, but there are many that turned out better.
You can tell there’s tons of ability there on highlights. One thing though. A lot of isolation one on one stuff in video. Which will be much more difficult at next level. Can he play without the ball cutting and screening, and be a willing passer in Popes offense? Seems to be a kid well worth investing time into.
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You take this kid if you can get him. We need size on the wing.
Some of you guys make it sound like we don't get 15 scholarships next season.
Some of you guys make it sound like we don't get 15 scholarships next season.
My older brother went to LMU in the late 60's, and my cousin signed to play baseball there in the early 80's but tragically drowned while swimming with some friends in an abandoned old strip mind pond in Lee Co VA a month or so before he was enrolling. I've been on campus a few times for basketball games and used to stop at Oasis and eat pizza on the way back from UK games when we lived in East TN.
Sign me up for some of this. Very worst thing it could possibly be is an ingenious way to fill those 14th and 15th schollies without probably having to dip too deep into NIL
AND a 45% spot up three-point shooter for situational use.
People acting like D2 is leprousy.
Josh Harrelson was JUCO.
AND a 45% spot up three-point shooter for situational use.
People acting like D2 is leprousy.
Josh Harrelson was JUCO.
I’ll trust the staff, I mean look at Agbim, one year in D1 and he blows up. He was Juco but I’d say talent level is comparable that they face. I see their team is ranked #14, Drakes coach brought a large portion of his D2 roster and went 30-3 and were a top mid major all year.
Not to mention he could be very cheap in NIL.
Let him cook, he’s proven to have an eye for talent that fits his system, let him cook……………….
This. 68 teams are fighting to win a title. Not many of major worth is gonna be in the portal right now.
Hes not a bench player. Hee likely start if not play big minutes. He's a great get if we can on offense at least.
Fox, he is going to be expensive, because it is unusual to see that type of athleticism, shooting and finishing at the rim on the free market and has at least 2 years I believe.
Not sure about the rebounding and defense. But he has the tools to perform both. He is going to be a very wealthy man soon.
He’s not going to able to command the kind of money a big time D1 transfer will IMO. He is still an unknown quantity on this level.
It is like the NFL or NBA draft. Colleges know what he can do and will be willing to pay to get him on campus. So far, he is by far the best looking athlete/finisher I have seen mentioned in the portal and shooting the 3 over 40% at any game level is an achievement. He is going to get paid by someone. It may not be KY. But someone is going to pay the man. I will also say that he is one of the few that I have seen that might make losing both Wilson and Ament as palatable. A guy who looks to have everything needed to get to the NBA other than a good platform. We need those types of players.
I don’t know Elijah Freeman’s backstory or why he ended up at Lincoln Memorial University (a school just across the Kentucky border with historical Kentucky ties, which I think is a really good D2 basketball school). But he was a McDonald’s All-American nominee out of FL his senior year (and Florida had a ton of the top recruiting prospects vying for nomination, including Cooper Flagg, etc.) – although this is not something that means anything to me at this point, because I can watch him play real games against stronger, more mature, and just better competition than high school can provide.
Just looking at pictures and video of him as a high school senior (very boyish looking) you can see he looks more physically developed from even just one year of maturity. Basically, if you can’t watch the video of this kid and figure out he can probably play anywhere, then I figure you also likely laughed at the idea that senior Dalton Knecht would be a better SEC SF than freshman Justin Edwards (despite plenty of video and metrics to look at) and need to just keep relying on high school recruiting rankings for your opinions on who are the "best" players in college.
Just looking at pictures and video of him as a high school senior (very boyish looking) you can see he looks more physically developed from even just one year of maturity. Basically, if you can’t watch the video of this kid and figure out he can probably play anywhere, then I figure you also likely laughed at the idea that senior Dalton Knecht would be a better SEC SF than freshman Justin Edwards (despite plenty of video and metrics to look at) and need to just keep relying on high school recruiting rankings for your opinions on who are the "best" players in college.
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Give me some examples of D2 guys that have made an impact on a top contending team….I’ll wait
Bennett Stirtz from Drake...
He played at D2 last season, and now is the top player in 11 seed Drake, he averages almost 20 pts per game...
His performance in this year shows he can make impact on any top contending team...
Been some pretty good D2 guys go on to have very good NBA careers. Pippen, Ben Wallace, and Dennis Rodman to name a few. This kid looks like the goods to me. If you can ball, you can ball against most anyone. I'd like to have him here for sure. Forget the comp and just look at the tape.
A 6 ft 8 inch forward performing like this at a high school in Lexington would get interest from the staff but then performing like this at a higher level is even more interesting.
Jaylen Wells, a former Division II player, transferred to Washington State (a Pac-12 school), where he became the team's best player. Last season immediately, Washington State earned a No. 7 seed in the NCAA tournament. Now in the NBA, Wells is already making an impact, averaging 10 points per game. Wells is former D2 player with NBA talent.
Also, if that Drake guy enters the portal, he will become main player in top seed teams.
Moreover, a team's seed only reflects its overall strength and cannot be used to assess individual talent. Individual evaluations about talent should still be done case-by-case.
You know nothing about basketball...
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I don't put much stock in the McD's "nominee". I'd guess there are several hundred "nominees" every year. As a high school junior, he averaged 5 ppg, and as a senior, 15 ppg. He was also listed as 6'6, so he's grown a couple of inches. Freeman appears to be a late bloomer. It happens. IMO he's got a high ceiling and a high floor that at least would see him as a nice contributor off the bench.
It’s obvious that Elijah Freeman has all the physical tools and skills to play at UK and any other Div. I program, and maybe be really good. As you said "just look at the tape." Whether he would be a good fit for UK next season (or beyond) is something Pope and his staff would have to figure out. But the protestation because he played Div. II last season is basketball ignorance. Other examples of guys going from Div. II to the NBA include George Gervin, Earl “The Pearl” Monroe, Manute Bol, Charles Oakley, and Phil Jackson. And there's plenty of active guys in the NBA now that came from Div. II - including one from the same school as Freeman.
My daughter attends LMU. I’ve watched Freeman play all year. Very smooth player on offense. Just an OK three point shooter but can get to the rim. Similar to Oweh. Above average athleticism but will need to get stronger. I think he can be a capable defender but LMU didn’t want him to get into foul trouble.
LMU is a perennial top 10 D2 school. Plays up and down. Got knocked out of the Regional D2 and let their HC go! 🤔 very high expectations at LMU. I guarantee they could have beaten several low D1 programs.
LMU also had the SAC conference POY in Wes Enis who also entered the portal. Both Enis and Freeman will play P5 next year.
FYI…Houston Rockets just sent a scout to watch Freeman. He had an average game. Pretty sure they told him to go play against higher competition. Freeman averaged about 25 ppg after that meeting.
LMU is a perennial top 10 D2 school. Plays up and down. Got knocked out of the Regional D2 and let their HC go! 🤔 very high expectations at LMU. I guarantee they could have beaten several low D1 programs.
LMU also had the SAC conference POY in Wes Enis who also entered the portal. Both Enis and Freeman will play P5 next year.
FYI…Houston Rockets just sent a scout to watch Freeman. He had an average game. Pretty sure they told him to go play against higher competition. Freeman averaged about 25 ppg after that meeting.
Impossible. Can’t be true. Posters on this board have said D2 means scrub…why would the Rockets waste their time and resources to watch a scrub….
appreciate your feedback, but I have a question regarding your stating he's only an ok 3pt shooter...
for the season, he is shooting over 45% from 3pt range...with that in mind, why do you think he is only an ok shooter?
does he only take them when he is wide open? something else?
Kid should absolutely enter the draft.
If he does he will a get a combine invite just because he's some what unknown.
One good session could get him drafted as age is on his side.
I read that he was like AD and grew from less than 6' to 6'8" between his sophomore to senior year so he has a lot of guard skills in a PF body. Apparently that was part of the reason he didn't have a lot of major D1 offers.
Sounds like a young McGrady.
He's from the Miami area so I'm sure Jai Lucas has made contact. Probably all the Florida schools.
That's another aspect of the portal other than money.
It gives a kid like Freeman a second chance to go where he would have liked but didn't have the opportunity l.
I'd love to know the backstory on how a south Florida kid got to Harrogate TN to play basketball.
