2nd AAU live period

Yup. Was just about to mention them too.

I don’t think Reed Sheppard would be considered a miss. It would be a miss for UK if he goes elsewhere.

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I find the lack of offers to true big men to be the most compelling storyline.

Hopefully offers continue to flow. I think we’ve all developed hyper-analysis complexes given how few we’ve had to talk about in the past couple of years.

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I’m not worried about Taine’s ability and drive … only worried about how long his leash is this year and how many consistent minutes he gets. For me - this year’s team should be all about developing all the underclassmen to be starter level on a Final 4 capable team in 2022-23 and 2023-24. That means getting Reece, Taine, Carson, Armaan, Shedrick, Milicic a ton of minutes from opening tip through the very last game of the year. Of course Gardner will get a ton of minutes since he’s the only true 4.

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One thing we know about Cal, he’s always on to the next 5-star recruit. Seems players there either succeed in year 1 and then move to the NBA or don’t play or succeed in Year 1 and get recruited over and transfer. Long term development just isn’t a thing in Cal’s program. So if Reed Sheppard feels he can succeed in Year 1 amid all the other 5-stars, power to him. Otherwise, he’s going to end up like Juzang or like Henry Coleman over at the Semesterhood.

And I agree that if Reed goes elsewhere, the fan base is more likely to pin that on Cal than the kid.

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Yeah, I’m going to interpret that fact optimistically as the coaches are very satisfied with Shedrick and Caffaro and not worried about either having any more health issues.

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Both are gone by 2023 though. Moreso about the future.

Juzang and Coleman took their shot. Let’s not pretend that they didn’t know the situation they were joining. I low key hate that narrative.

So yeah not too many 2-3 year starting guards in Kentucky’s system. Either Cal needs to convince them that the approach is changing or Reed needs to feel confident he can beat out a 5-star year-in-year-out or be drafted in Year 1 or 2.

In my mind Kentucky is only a threat if he believes he has a realistic draft shot as unlikely as it might be for a 6’2" white boy (although Nico did it). Always the fallback to transfer out (if he’s comfortable with that).

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Shedrick will be a senior in 2023-24 - are you implying he will be too good by then to stay and will go pro?

Do you mean gone by the end of the 2023/2024 season for Shederick, which I think will be his r-SR year? Or do you think he will leave before then? Also, I’m not sure what moreso about the future means in this context if you want to explain further.

I think he showed flashes and he definitely could be a candidate to bounce in two years as a lanky mobile big with some range. Even if only on potential (Of course I am also really high on Kadin and think if he is healthy he has a higher ceiling than Mamadi or Huff). I have no idea what staff is actually expecting though.

Also just noticed this was Reed Sheppard’s twitter banner. Again Im pretty indifferent myself on faith and I don’t think it’s the only thing we recruit (Heck Tony was able to coach Mustapha Farrakhan with no problem). But I do think this banner and his comments in general bode well for Tony over Cal and the NIL LOL

If it weren’t for his parents this wouldn’t even be a recruitment (Tony all the way/Cal probably wouldn’t care anyways).

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That almost feels like a direct shot at Cal/UK

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Shedrick will be in the nba by what would be his RS Sr year. Please don’t interpret this as negativity about the 23-24 team.

I like the idea of this math equation, however I hope the number is higher as he is a good player. But I also understand all of the guards we have already plus if we get bond then it’s just more. But I see a JA and MB combo.

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I mean you can’t say Cal isn’t spiritual; he did give us my all time favorite tweet

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Like he stressed education when he wanted juzang , he’s going to become a man of the cloth if he wants a player who cares about religion

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Cal

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Shedrick starts hitting 3’s at a decent clip and he may be gone even before then. He’s very raw but honestly in what I saw of him last year he looked ahead of where Diakite was that time in his career

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I thought he was already hooking players up with NIL funds for years…

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The campus there is beautiful but the staff is what stands out to me the most.

My relationship with the head coach is the number one thing for me. After that, I will focus on how I fit their style of play. My relationship with the current players and other members of the staff will be important as well.

From 247 article posted today

Love that Traudt mentions coach relationship above all else. If you read his interviews he speaks more glowingly of Tony over any other coach. He mentions their relationship a lot and if we’re going off relationship with current players and staff then it’s also telling he’s following a few current players and has the relationship with McKneely already established.

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