That would be cool.
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No.
Ighodaro is 7’0 lol, think that would be a little unfair of a comparison for Barksdale.
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Nowhere near as bouncy as Oso. More below the rim like Maliq Brown and Jayden Gardner.
Also TJ Power never played in Peach Jam. Your daily reminder for those who use it as an argument against Peach Jam.
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If this doesn’t become one of the most used GIFs on this board, what are we even doing here, man?
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6’8"
“They can expect a strong presence in the paint. I’m going to attack the glass relentlessly and secure every rebound I can. I’ll bring energy, play hard, and do whatever it takes to help UVA win.”
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All Time Lowest number of comments for thread announcing the addition of a 4☆ recruit. The portal has ruined everything.
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Well I’d be more excited if his vertical jump was higher than Ty Jerome’s….
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If he was a plus athlete he’d be at Duke.
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Hes a project. Might be overranked. Even without portal hes most likely a redshirt
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Akil and Darion were plus athletes and were at UVA. There are plenty of plus athletes with raw skills who go to all levels. Not taking a shot at Barksdale, just addressing that point.
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Name a classic fruit spread and/or a HS hoops tourney where Ryan Odom will have to frantically convince 5-10 guys to skip senior year of HS and come play for us.
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Mamadi and Dunn come to mind as more recent examples as well
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Juwann Roberts of Houston is listed at 6’8". He was a beast inside last night. Barksdale has potential to be a good one!
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Random thought on Barksdale, or players like him who are top 100 coming out of high school but don’t seem like they will make an impact at the P5 level in their first year (and not trying to debate that premise; if you’re on the “Barksdale is going to contribute this year” train then just put him out of your mind and think of a generic player whose profile fits this description).
Assuming the goal is to maximize earnings in college (and also maybe to play professionally but you don’t expect your professional earnings to outpace your college earnings), wouldn’t it seem more valuable to intentionally go to a mid/low major?
You could play more early on, show your worth, and then make a push for an open market offer.
Conversely, a major school might have more funds initially - but how many of those are allocated to Freshmen recruits anyway (sounds like not many outside of early lottery type prospects)?
Then you either have to hope that your team is willing to pay to retain you what you could earn on an open market after playing (seems unlikely) or that your open market offer after a year on a major bench will surpass that from playing (possible based on pedigree, someone like Power who was a 5 Star and sat in a place like Duke and could have ruined his value by playing early - but that scenario seems rare) based on your reputation.
Of course, you can also make the argument that you’ll play better with continuity under the same system and can use that to maximize your later year payoffs - but you’ll still have to get on the floor regularly probably by year two for that to pay off, which is no guarantee - especially as major teams tend to recruit over players in the portal.
Meanwhile, an under-heralded HS player like Andrew Rohde can go to the Summit, win freshman of the year, and pivot into a high-profile role at a P5 school (albeit one that wasn’t paying as much compared to market at the time) despite not quite being ready for it in that second year.
It’s not really traditional, but it seems favorable for higher level recruits to use smaller programs more like farm systems to showcase themselves than to go the traditional high-major route - especially considering the recent comments Odom made about never seeing many of these incoming transfers play in person.
Of course, there’s also an argument for the facilities and level of competition in practice helping one’s development more - but is that really likely to be more important than a full-season’s worth of starter’s minutes at the collegiate level?
I don’t know. I think it’s an interesting conversation to have. If I was a 4-star recruit or advising one, I’d seriously consider trying to find a starter’s role on a smaller school rather than landing that P5 scholly and then probably waiting at least 2 years to play much - especially given I could probably still end up playing those final 2 years at a high-major anyway.
*Sorry, that post is a bit scattered, put together in many small intervals.
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It depends. I’d submit the median top 75-125 type guy would still be better off with the high major. More continuity, more resources for rev share, more resources for development, etc.
The top 75-125 high riser type, outside of a few programs who will make that path more of a priority (Marquette and others), are probably better going to a mid major and crushing it. Rewards being a big payday at a P5 spot in a year or two.
But it’s a risk, because if you go to a mid major and don’t crush it, or don’t show intriguing flashes, and are more of a slow burn kinda guy, then it’s more likely you get stuck at the mid major and lower your chances for resources and a chance at the tourney.
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There’s a reason Brandon Jennings elected to stay at VCU, figured it’s better to get real PT in a next-5 league than scrap for 10 mpg in the ACC.
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