I absolutely LOVE this strategy on the part of the Duke coaching staff: keep Bolden from revealing his choice such that Kentucky will actually think they have a chance at him. THEN, Yurtseven and Allen will decide elsewhere and Kentucky ends up with none of them! Brilliant!
Bolden trending for Duke
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I just came from corupp rafters and they never cease to amaze me. all I can say is WOW. I've never seen a board where there are nothing but a bunch of idiot UK fans arguing with other idiot UK fans at that. I don't dare post there, I just read what they say. One idiot said that Bolden coming to UK is a matter of life and death for them because it's the key to unlocking number 9. I guess they don't even know how to have a sensible conversation about basketball among their own fan base.
Sounds like if they had the room, he'd prefer UK and Cal. I don't think it matters to him. He just wants the best draft position. This kind of thing puts academics in an awkward position. He clearly doesn't care about the education or school loyalty, nor should he. But what about other students in his dorm and his professors? They can't be expected to treat him as a normal student. And what about fan perception?
The NBA 19 year old cap is effectively forcing the blue chip kids to "pretend" to be college students. Sure they could go play elsewhere, but everyone knows college ball is the best TV exposure in the world. They need to let 17-18 year olds get drafted, and just require them to be 19 to play. Teams can afford to train these young guys for a year in some "futures camp". The whole system needs a revamp.
The NBA 19 year old cap is effectively forcing the blue chip kids to "pretend" to be college students. Sure they could go play elsewhere, but everyone knows college ball is the best TV exposure in the world. They need to let 17-18 year olds get drafted, and just require them to be 19 to play. Teams can afford to train these young guys for a year in some "futures camp". The whole system needs a revamp.
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Agreed, and there's nothing wrong with that. The system is set up for him to be a student until he's able to get drafted. If that means bolting school in March, then so be it. I personally would want the full experience and course credits, but then again, I'm not 6'10, 265 with the opportunity to make millions playing a very fun game.
Or they think they have a chance with Yurtseven and get him to commit and bring him to UK from overseas only to find out it is another Enes Kanter situation and he can't play. That would be hilarious!!!!!
Bolden would be a great get. I'm still a bit weary of Giles long term knee health with him tearing both his ACLs in the last 3 years. Even if he's healthy for next season I'm not fully convinced he's going to have the same level of explosive athleticism as he showed before. Obviously Bolden isn't the same position as Giles but would be a good insurance policy and another talented big in the mix regardless.
Any chance DeLaurier would redshirt next season if Bolden comes? With Giles, Jeter, Jefferson and Bolden taking up all the minutes inside I'm not sure why he wouldn't.
Any chance DeLaurier would redshirt next season if Bolden comes? With Giles, Jeter, Jefferson and Bolden taking up all the minutes inside I'm not sure why he wouldn't.
As long as he goes to class and passes his course the entire time he is at Duke. OFC
Something tells me he won't be bringing the ball up and will probably try on defense also
Quite a strange comment for some one strongly considering Duke.
I 100% disagree. Bolden is not even labeled as a "sure 1-and done." Nbadraft.net does not even have him on there 2017 mock draft board.
I assume the kid does want the best basketball situation though, and definitely does not intend on staying at a school for 4 years. To him, a school's basketball program is more important than the academic program. Can you blame him???
I think the opposite Will. He is a quiet kid who is weighing his options very carefully. He is also keeping his business quiet and not looking for a lot of attention like so many look for nowadays. I think he certainly has to look out for his best interests, like Simmons, but Bolden wants to play at a program and win. Simmons wanted to go somewhere he could get skate by for a year and do whatever he wanted. Winning and his academics meant very little. (which is why the OAD rule is dumb)
Denn, I agree. Bolden knows where he is going and he's doing it the right way by going through the process quietly. Not that I buy into the "crystal ball" thing but it keeps trending for Duke (it's not 62% Duke & 38% Kentucky). There's a reason for that. I would not be shocked if an announcement came or if a leak surfaced before April 17.
I agree, the Ben Simmons comment is just not accurate. The day they lost he left campus. Bolden isn't like that and cannot afford to be- he wants to make the best decision for himself. UK is going to be log jam city at his positions. Duke has playing time ready and available to him. Also consider that his parents have wanted duke from day 1- that should tell you something about their priorities for him if basketball were for some reason not workout.
And also how much the crystal ball changed drastically in a few hours. Monday morning I got up looked at it and it was UK:60% Duke:35%. By Monday afternoon it was Duke: 52% UK:48%.
Now we get to yesterday when the crystal ball says Duke:62% UK:38%. My point is there has to be major chattering going on in Duke's favor for it to change on a dime like it did.
I don't think anyone knows what's going to happen.
For months everyone said his parents liked Duke but he liked UK.
As far as log jam at his position at UK, we don't have a true center or a incoming freshman at his position. And all the incoming freshman are trying to get him to come to UK. Including Bam.
I don't know what he'll do. But, if he doesn't want competition then that makes me skeptical.
I'd love to have him at UK but if he's worried about competition then I wonder about his confidence level.
For months everyone said his parents liked Duke but he liked UK.
As far as log jam at his position at UK, we don't have a true center or a incoming freshman at his position. And all the incoming freshman are trying to get him to come to UK. Including Bam.
I don't know what he'll do. But, if he doesn't want competition then that makes me skeptical.
I'd love to have him at UK but if he's worried about competition then I wonder about his confidence level.
Short?!? Carlos Boozer, Shelden Williams, and Elton Brand say hi. Best big men we've ever had ALL listed at 6'9"
Bolden is at least 6'10 or 6'11. The mcd AA he was towering over Bam and Killeya-jones. He has a very long wingspan that makes him a great defense present inside. That's why he would fit beside Harry Giles because he is more of a True Center.
Yes, I'm not sure about the word "towering" when describing his height relation to Killeya-Jone -- but Bolden certainly looked every bit of 6'10. He was clearly a little taller than Bam and appeared to be about as tall as every center out there. He also looked to have long arms, and used that length to make some pretty impressive blocks / quick dunks. I've been a bit skeptical of Bolden from what I had seen in highlight tapes, but his movement, size, activity impressed me. He looked way further along in the McD AA game than Jeter did last year.
Amile, by contrast, is not only not 6'10, but I've personally never bought him being listed at 6'9. When you see him standing next to teammates over the years (e.g., Jabari Parker, Rodney Hood, Ingram), Jefferson looks to be 6'8 at most --- and with Jefferson, part of the problem early in his career was weight. Now, as I've said before, I bet Jefferson starts either way. But I do think there's clearly a noticeable size difference between Jefferson and Bolden.
Yes bolden is a legit 6'10 and Amile is certainly closer to 6'8. Interesting how/why they report measurements the way they do. They put Vrank at 7'0 and he's 6'11, and they put Marshall at 7'0, but I swear he's closer to 7'1....
Not sure it impacts it a ton. As long as Bolden is reasonably productive (e.g., 8 & 7 in 22 min. per), I think his height / size / athleticism likely makes him a top 20-25 pick at a minimum -- and, from what I've heard from him, I doubt he's back for 2017 if the NBA is a viable option. Unlike last year's group, our recruits for next year + Bolden are way better NBA prospects. IMO, the person who may be most impacted by Bolden is Jeter. Do have to worry that Jeter may look at transferring pre-Christman if Bolden jumped Jeter and we hit on a couple top 5 kids from 2017.
Obviously a sidebar but Grayson Allen and Luke Kennard are both listed as 6-5. But it you saw them standing side-by-side, Kennard looked two inches taller.
And Plumlee is definitely taller than Vrankovic.
My favorite is DeMarcus Nelson, who as a senior somehow became 6-4. That really fooled the NBA into thinking he could play the 2.
If he's 6'5 then I'm 6'4 (I'm really 6'2). No way Grayson is 6'5.
respect you JC but how would him coming to Duke mean that he is scared of competition.K 's system is based on competition,If you do not compete in practice you do not play at Duke
According to a thread at Rupp Rafters there's a rumor that a shoe company named True Blue Customs is supposedly going to be making Bolden a custom pair of shoes with UK on them for the Jordan Brand Classic
Yea there was a rumor on there a few days ago saying there were Duke custom shoes being made. It sounds like he is doing a show ceremony. According to a KSR( Kentucky sports radio) reporter he was 100 % Duke a month ago. Makes me wonder if he hasn't already committed to Duke and is just waiting to formally announce it.
I can't remember where I read it at but I remember reading awhile back that he wanted to make his announcement before a tournament started to get his announcement out of the way so that he could focus on the tournament he was going to be playing in and if I'm remembering correctly I believe that he was going to be making his announcement before April 9th, if that's the case then we should find out in the next week
He had initially stated at one time that he wanted to be committed before the Nike hoops summit which is on April 9. As of recently he wants to be committed by April 17 which is his birthday I believe.
If what he says holds true, he will make a decision before April 17. That's really the only concrete info we have. It could happen, or it could get until the 17th.
We haven't heard one thing pro-UK in nearly a month. Seems pretty clear to me that if he were to pick now, he'd go Duke.
I do think he'd play for us, and have a reasonable chance of starting, depending on who comes back, but his minutes would surely be cut thinner than almost anywhere else. So I wouldn't blame him at all for going to play at Duke.
I do think he'd play for us, and have a reasonable chance of starting, depending on who comes back, but his minutes would surely be cut thinner than almost anywhere else. So I wouldn't blame him at all for going to play at Duke.
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