Great listen. Jay didn’t hold anything back on the SKJ drama. 
Knew u would like that…wonder where skj is now
Finally locked in this podcast about 1/4 way through and it’s great. I’m with my boy @DFresh11 I totally forgot about didn’t know who SKJ was, but remembered all that after a quick Google search.
Another thing I wanted to say and this came to mind after the Kihei podcast as well. I’m someone who will be brutally honest when I break down film and access players and Jay is one of those guys who’s caught heat from me plenty of times. But hearing from Jay and his family, its helpful to humanize some of these characters and put some perspective on the work they’re putting in on a regular basis. IT’s far too easy to get removed from the human aspect of it all in this internet driven world.
I still have no idea who SKJ is ha. Great family there. Love seeing the parents talking with and about our Hoos
Lol it took me a minute on that one. I had no idea who that was off the top.
The family aspect is a totally new one for me. I feel like it’s something you don’t see unless it’s one of those families where its explicitly out there, like the Balls or Tiger Woods and his dad.
It’s really cool to see the players and their parents interact and to hear the parents talk about their kids.
Appreciate the feedback @BDragon. We were worried people may not want this much info as it may ruin the fan experience a bit, when you humanize it. Harder to bitch about someone, which is part of the experience…
I can get that but I like it. It adds to the whole community/family aspect.
Sport can use some more civility
Loved the Clark & Huff podcasts. Here is my memory of SKJ. We had 5 scholarships and 3 commits (Kyle, Ty & SKJ). We’re looking for 2 more front court players and were thought to lead for Diakite (who had a handler so there was some mystery involved) and the other spot was up for grabs. We got involved with Huff and I think he visited and committed fairly quickly. I was kind of surprised because I thought they would be bringing in a traditional forward but I figured if someone you like wants to come you take him and figure it out later. Then there were rumors that SKJ’s Mom was upset about the Huff commitment. I thought that it was kind of strange because SKJ was rated higher and shouldn’t have been threatened by Jay (who needed strength and development) on the team. So eventually I figured that he was blowing up and too good for UVa and looking for a better deal. If Jay and SKJ didn’t get along in AAU it all kind of makes since now. Worked out for us when Hunter took the extra spot later
Also, I found it interesting listening to Jay talk about coming in knowing he needed strength and development and being willing to wait his turn. So many of the top players see college as only a pit stop to the pros. Thought it was cool to hear Jay talk about how much he loved his overall UVA experience. Our big guys in recent years have been willing to redshirt and improve the bodies and skills over a number of years with a great attitude. Four of the last five (other than Jack) have been 4 star recruits and heavily sought by other big programs but they have been patient and we have seen it pay off with Diakite and Huff and hopefully in they future with Caffaro and Shedrick. I wonder as we recruit higher ranked big guys like Reid if they will have the same patience or will they listen to other programs promises of instant playing time and stardom that might not happen.
Two great takes @dbfromnva It feels like there was/is a lot going on behind the scenes with SKJ especially with him being essentially out of basketball now. All of that seems like there may be several moving parts.
That’s a great observation about the UVa bigs and makes me raise another questions moving forward. In the past UVa bigs while 4stars all game in knowing they needed work. Huff may have been the closest to being able to make a quick jump and that was basically on his height alone. But both him and Mamadi needed work in building their body’s and their game and it appears both knew that from the get. My point is UVA found a niche in grabbing high level bigs that were unpolished and knew they were unpolished and needed work.
Now, fast forward to recruiting a player like Reid. He’s a more finished product, build and game is a most closer to complete player than basically anything the Hoos have brought it. With that, there are different expectations from players and coaches. Does that type of player fit the current culture? What shifts will the coaching staff need to make?
Reid is the highest ranked bid TB has ever recruited. He is highly skilled and has a ton of potential but in my opinion he still needs a lot of work to get there. I’m glad he is going to IMG. It should help him a lot. Dont think he was ready this year
I was so fired up when he committed. I saw it as a twitter notification pretty late at night and woke my wife telling her we got Sascha Jones. Oh well. They come and they go.
good on a goat?
Based on commitment, decommitment, draft declaration and transfer declaration dates, to me it looked like Hunter got Stith’s scholarship and Nichols got SKJ’s. I can’t remember the timing, but Diakite may have been able to reclassify because Anderson declared too.
I never saw Sacha Killeya-Jones play, but from what I read, he grew up in Chapel Hill, NC, but played for a private high school in Lynchburg, Virginia. He was a late-bloomer because he was late growing, but supposedly he reached 6-11 as a senior and instead of accepting a UVa early offer, and although his high school coach was Curtis Staples, he took a late offer to Kentucky, where he was kind of a practice player for 2 years(?), so he left Kentucky, and transferred to N.C. State, but he left before the season(?) and he was supposedly going to play pro ball in a foreign country, and his Wikipedia page says that he is playing “for MKS Dąbrowa Górnicza of the Polish Basketball League.”
This is one of my most favorite tweets ever
Yes, Sacha Killeya-Jones has had a nice pro career, so his career moves have helped others, and have been sensible ones for him.
And it says that his net worth is $1 million! (but it may be as low as $100,000.)
Still he’s just 22.