Claude is a coward
Kareem Stagg and Sadiq White.
Also a non zero shot we see Cole Cloer and Jalen Shelley round 2.
Think we have the guards and centers already on our team. Maybe Trent Perry from UCLA and a Euro Center tbd
Izzo (age), Self (heart), and Drew (call to god/hard fall off), would free up a few targets
Keep in mind in terms of need and holes:
Out of eligibility: Anya, de Ridder, and Adekunle
Draft risk: GrĂĽnloh - 69th on NBADraftRoom, Lewis - Woo has him 54th
Others return-eligible:
Incoming 2027: C Landoure
Ball Handler, Wings, and maybe a starting center
Guys Im keeping an eye on that come to mind:
Young guards with 3 years left:
Omari Witherspoon
(George Washington, Transferred down from Pitt)
Madden Collins
(American, his brother is the 5 star we offered Mason Collins and Dawn Staley is his god mother)
Jonathan Sanderson
(Notre Dame, 4 years left after this year but I imagine he will end up wherever his dad ends up. His dad was the long time athletic trainer for Michigan basketball before he and Juwan Howard got at it)
Kaden Magwood
(Murray St. Transferred down from Auburn. I was really impressed with him in HS at Oak Hill and even Auburn fans wants him to play more/showed flashes when given a longer leash)
Ishan Sharma
(St Louis, his familiarity with UVA and play style make a lot of sense for Odom).
Wings with 2-3 years left:
Tyrone Riley
(Oregon, Dana Altman just retired so its a lame duck season there)
Sadiq White
(Syracuse, early returns are Syracuse might not be good but way way too early. Was secretly hoping he would be one to follow his ex coach here)
Caleb Williams
(Georgetown, assuming this is the last season of the staff there)
Jacob Wilkins
(Cal, Isaiah ditched him for the NBA job)
Forwards with 2-3 years left
Kareem Stagg
(Georgia, Mike White’s last year there? Also saw his dad passed away recently which really sucks. If he does portal I imagine a move closer to home?)
Dwayne Aristode
(Oregon. Lame duck szn there. Tony Bennett told him he was a 4 and he wanted to be a 3. Some humility now? He also seems to know Johann GrĂĽnloh from overseas shenanigans)
Bryson Tiller
(Mizzou, One of the last 5 stars Tony Bennett was linked with. Was at Kansas last year and is now at Mizzou. Still think he has good upside even after injuries)
Jacob Cofie
(Southern Cal. Real chance they miss the tournament once more and Cofie maybe wants to find a team that will let him play in March Madness if he doesn’t go pro?).
Centers
Christian Gurdak
(Rutgers, still remember for an entire year his photo on 247 profile was him and Tony Bennett on his visit here and then we never recruited him lol. He seems to be really good. Has been killing it for Rutgers in their two exhibition and blocking shots after showing flashes with the Hokies)
In terms of portal pickings Im also keeping an eye out on Barnes Izzo, Self, Few, Sampson. Names like Terrence Hill Jr, Juke Harris, Arafan Diane, and Jordan Scott might pop up if they don’t go pro.
Oh I forgot the Obvious one:
Latrell Almond
Oklahoma St.
Jordan Watford. Queens somehow held onto him, but he’s got the makings of a really interesting rim pressure guard.
I believe Auburn was tampering really hard all year to get him to transfer out of Queens but he decided to stick
Sebastian Wilkins, Bryson Howard, and Cam Williams from Duke all potential portal kids but tbd still early.
Boozer also probably a portal kid with Rippey Jr taking his starting spot eventually if he isn’t a one and done but he’ll probably go to Miami.
Low key there is a chance UNC is so bad this year Matt Able decides to portal again.
Derrion Reid, we were pretty close to landing him last year. Became a lot more versatile offensively this past season.
Amani Hansberry, cause fuck it why not. Gonna need someone to replace Thijs and I think there’s a real chance this is Young’s swan song at VT. We also pursued him last year IIRC.
Brandon Jennings, likely stays at VCU but maybe we could offer him a bigger role this go-around. Would be a good fit alongside Chance.
Jake West, underrated player who should take a second year leap. Odom recruited him out of HS.
Jake Hall, probably a pipe dream but he’s awesome. We were on that giant list of teams mentioned with him when he was briefly in the portal.
Luca Foster, will depend on how much PT he gets and if he’s willing to wait his turn at Gonzaga. Big fan though.
Pretty much all of these are reaches, but there’s at least a tiny amount of logic for each of them.
Aziz Olajuwon at Stanford, Bryson Howard at Duke, and center Evan Taylor at Michigan St added to my watch list. All 3 kids Odom offered. the Former will be the best player on a really really bad Stanford team. The later 2 are looking at minimal playing time.
Oswin Erhunmwunse who is now at Creighton.
Oklahoma state figures to be pretty bad going off their 2 exhibitions which its still too early. I do imagine if Latrell Allmond does transfer, a school like VCU will offer him a bag. But he would make a lot of sense at the 3/4.
Arafan Diane who we were in his top cut and he visited UVA. Had one exhibition where he looked real good and this game where he was unplayable and the mobility concerns rung true
https://x.com/onballcreator/status/2114475238331171110
Might not be a good fit for Sampson’s hard hedge/blitzing on screens but maybe he’s a better fit for Odom’s drop coverage
4 fouls in 6 mins lol
Feels like Cadeau has been playing for 7 years
Houston is probably a good place for him development wise if he’s patient. Bigs play a lot there and he’s gonna have to move his feet at the next level. But man, I bet most fanbases would be a little antsy if their #1 HS center was 4th in their big man rotation behind a MAC transfer and a Southland transfer.
Latrell Allmond has been pretty ass in the exhibitions okie st has had vs power 5. That and they are going to be bad this year.
Completely forgot Villanova landed adam oumiddoch who we were briefly linked with. He started for Villanova but was yanked early to never be seen again after a horrendous plus minus in his minutes. Potential portal?
Man HS recruiting is important but hs kids also suck
Except Chance Mallory.
Have always loved Allmond’s game and wished we would’ve paid for his services. Want to see how Landoure progresses as there’s a world in which those two guys are probably too overlapping to have both of them.
Allmond would need to be more of a 4 in college, right? Best case is that he develops his outside shot and his ball skills, and then the post stuff becomes a nice secondary option to punish mismatches. Looking at box scores, turnovers have been an issue in the preseason. But at least he’s somewhere where he can get minutes.
