What a week-and-a-half it’s been in Husky hoops! First, a teary goodbye to Elston Turner. Then, a we-hardly-knew-ya farewell to Clarence Trent. And, in the midst of it all, enough recruiting drama to fill the pool outside of Melrose Place.
Staff writer Craig Yamada takes a look at where the last 10 or so days have left the Huskies when it comes to their two most prized targets remaining on the board: Terrence Ross and Terrence Jones.
by Craig Yamada – Staff Writer
In case you missed this past week, let me get you caught up on the roller coaster known as UW recruiting:
- 4/14: UW signs Aziz N’Diaye for the 2010 class
- 4/15: Elston Turner Transfers, opening 1 scholarship for UW
- 4/17: Josh Selby chooses Kansas
- 4/17: Doron Lamb chooses Kentucky
- 4/17: Terrence Jones drops 18 in a win for the West in the Jordan Brand Classic
- 4/17: Terrence Jones claims he is visiting Kansas for an official visit
- 4/18: Mike Anderson just says NO to UO coaching position opening
- 4/19: CJ Leslie cancels his recruiting trip to Florida
- 4/19: Rumors are spread about TJ’s mom claiming Kansas is not in the hunt
- 4/19: Romar gets a 10-year extension on his contract
- 4/20: Romar has an in-home visit with 6’7″ French forward Remi Barry in Los Angeles
- 4/21: Coach Calipari cancels his trip to visit Ross and Jones to go visit a UK 2011 recruit
- 4/21 (10:40AM): Clarence Trent Transfers to Seattle U, leaving two open scholarships for UW
- 4/21 (11:00 AM): Terrence Ross announces on FB “he knows where he’s going to college.”
- 4/21 (11:02 AM): Terrence Ross says he will announce on Sunday, 4/25
- 4/21 (11:51 PM): Terrence Ross says he will announce on Monday, 4/26 instead
- 4/22: Terrence Jones announced on Twitter he is announcing on Friday, 4/30
Out of breath reading this yet? No? Ok I’ll go on…
The first of many recruiting dominoes have already fallen. At the end of the day, these are the facts: UW has two scholarships available and Jones/Ross need two scholarships to play together.
Twitter me this, twitter me that. I have drafted this tweet for all of Dawg Nation, pending your approval of course.
@Terrence Jones/Terrence Ross – Can we book our tickets to Houston in 2011 or not?
The Final Four is 11 months away and I am holding my tickets on standby until I see some signed LOI’s. Let’s take a look on how we stand with each:
Terrence Ross – ESPN’s #30-ranked 2010 prospect
The Facts: Facebook is a wondrous invention and it proved so when Terrence Ross, the highly touted 6-5 guard from Portland, stated that he knows now where he is going to college. His status update read: “Ima announce in On Sunday…” This breaking update came just moments after the news of the Clarence Trent transfer and through the entire WWW (Washington Wide Web) into a blogging frenzy.
Analysis: Coincidence? Perhaps? He has been reported to be visiting UW on Saturday and will make his final decision on Monday. The Trent transfer may have been the missing piece to the puzzle that Ross may have been waiting for.
Best Guess: He’s A Dawg. (And this encouraging article from earlier today only makes me more confident!)
Terrence Jones – ESPN’s #9-ranked 2010 prospect
The Facts: He is still maintaining that Oregon, Oklahoma, Kentucky, UCLA and Washington are his final five. He has stated that he wants to visit Kansas to see what it is like on his last official visit. Josh Selby is using the classic peer pressure move to try and recruit Jones over to KU. CJ Leslie is still rumored to be leaning heavily toward UK which will have large implications on TJ if he decides to attend UK. TJ’s High School Coach, Pat Strickland, claims that Terrence Jones is “all over the place” in regards to his decision and “is not telling anyone.”
Several publications have suggested that Terrence is a UW lean and several have suggested he is a UK lean. Coach Calipari was scheduled to have a meeting with Jones and Ross today, but cancelled suddenly as he was hot on the trail on his way to talk to Marquis Teague, a 2011 recruit, before he announces his decision on Thursday. Terrence will be playing the waiting game as he is announcing next Friday.
Analysis: No one really has an accurate gauge of his interest. The Twitter universe is adding more fuel to speculation that he is becoming more of a UW lean as the days go by. Rock Chalk… I think not. In my opinion, Jones will not land at KU because he had already previously removed KU from his list months ago. Selby is a great player and could “do great things” with TJ, but KU already has enough personnel at TJ’s size and position. He would have to battle mightily with the Morris twins for playing time.
Best Guess: He’s a Dawg.
Thanks for coming! And now, we want your opinion!
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Tags: Craig Yamada
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Hard to think that all the rumors that the Terrances were a package deal and suddenly we have two open scholarship spots is a coincidence. They would be nearby so family could come to games. Jones has stated that he likes the “family atmosphere” at UW. There’s the picture of Jones and his family praying so if religion is important, especially to his mother, Romar’s got everyone beat. Yes the other schools get more national coverage but this year we have a much better non-conference schedule w/ the Maui invitational and if we do some damage there, taking out Michigan State and Kentucky, we will get a whole lot of attention that will probably last all year unless we implode after. I just hope we don’t have to play Tony Bennet’s Cavaliers, I hate their style of play.
As a bonus if we sign Jones and there is a lockout we get him for at least 2 years.
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We’ve got both of them…you can certainly book your tickets to Houston Craig!
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Jones’ mom basically said Kansas isn’t a contender, so I wouldn’t worry about them.
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A starting five of Gaddy, IT, Ross, Jones, MBA, with Aziz, Suggs, Wilcox, Breshers, and of course Venoy off the bench, we are almost too loaded. It may work out better if Ross has to go to prep school for a year, and I wonder if Simmons is gonna redshirt. Anyway, it’s gonna be a great year with or without the two Terrences.
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Kobe, way not to mention Holiday who many believe was the reason for our turn around by puting him in the starting line up. It would be Gaddy, IT, HOLIDAY, Jones, and MBA.
By mentioning 10 players in your post without Holiday in there is rediculous. So I’m assuming you dont know what you are talking about. You may be right about Ross and prep school tho.
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Umm, you ever heard of a guy named Justin Holiday, kobe berg?
My prediction:
Starters–Gaddy, Thomas, Holiday, Jones, MBA.
Top reserves (in order)–Overton, N’diaye, Wilcox, Gant.
Deep reserves (in order)–Ross, Breshers, Suggs, Sherrer, Simmons.
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Venoying – A lockout would be swell if we have TJ. The only bad news if that happens is that UK would be insane with their current team and their 2011 recruits.
Kobe Berg – You can never be too loaded. It’s a problem I would love to continue to have.
Dawgie Daddy – I like your line up. It should be interesting to see how Ross would fit in. At 6’5″, he could easily be J-Holiday’s back up off the bench at the three spot to give us a legit threat beyond the arc but also has the threat to slash. Romar can really get creative with his line ups now.
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Chill everybody. Totally my bad on Holiday. He is gonna have a monster senior year, 13 and 6 with a couple dimes, steals and blocks. Being loaded is a good problem to have, not complaining, just saying.
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Dan, you shouldn’t be so quick to lash out. It was a simple mistake, I’ve watched every UDub game that was on TV for the last 5 years. So I think I have some useful perspective. Romar takes his time developing a rotation, with 11 useful guys, it will be tougher than usual.
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Kobe Berg, sorry buddy. Didn’t mean to get mad. Holiday has become invaluable to our team so i guess when i didnt see his name i lost it a little. We’re both Dawgs and thats what matters. Apologies.
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No worries Kobe it’s easy to forget a guy when we run so deep.
Just Imagine the possible combinations since we have guys that can play multiple spots.
1- Gaddy, Overton, IT
2- IT, Wilcox, Suggs, Ross
3- Holiday, Jones, Simmons, Ross, Gant,
4 – MBA, Jones, Gant, Breshers
5 – N’diaye, MBAMy starting 5 Overton(if he can learn to be aggressive as a starter), IT, Holiday, Jones, MBA
Is it basketball season yet?
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Let me throw out a possible starting five of IT, Holiday, MBA, Jones, and Aziz. Somewhat possible, imo, that IT becomes a real point. He showed flashes of brilliance last year with some games with line scores like 12-17 points, 5-8 assists and very low turnovers.
This would mean that Gaddy does not move up with his production which IS a possibility. It would also require an adjustment in our style of play but would be an incredible defensive and rebounding team.
Ready for the slings and arrows.
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I wouldn’t totally dismiss that line up. The beauty of the depth of our future team is that we can throw different line ups every game. I wouldnt think it would be an every game scenario, but I hear you on IT showing signs of PG stardom. The line up you mention looks like something we would put up against a big team (USC and WVU’s of the world).
IMO, my everyday starters (counting Jones… still trying not to count my chickens before they hatch):
1 – Gaddy
2 – IT
3. Holiday
4. Jones
5. MBAI can see Aziz taking a starting role once he gets healthy as well, but I don’t think Romar will ever replace Gaddy at the 1. And I wouldnt either. I hear he is working with Ryan Appleby on his shot this offseason. He could be more of a threat on offense next year.
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If Ross signs and gets in he is going to play. The guy is going to play long minutes because he is a great shooter, scorer and all around player.
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Just for the sake of a good discussion I will disagree with ‘Romar will ever replace Gaddy’. I’m fairly certain, barring injury, that Gaddy will begin the next campaign as our starting pg. I hope the bigger front line will play into his strengths and also think this likely. However continued play at the 2009-2010 level would eventually result in a loss of the starting role just as it did for Venoy.
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If the Terrances are projected to be Dawgs, here’s my starting 5
1. Overton
2. Thomas
3. Holiday
4. Jones
5. MBAFirst off the bench: Gaddy, Ross, Suggs, Gant
Deep Bench: Breshers, Wilcox, N’diaye, Sherrer
Likely to redshirt: SimmonsRomar will play his Seniors…..at least to start with. Gaddy won’t crack the lineup until he shows he can take over a game. Ross won’t start all year but will get significant minutes because of his skill-level. Wilcox and Suggs will have the same role (shooter off the bench)….but Suggs will initially get most of the playing time. I’ve seen quotes here and there that project N’diaye to only play 10 minutes or so a game next year…which makes sense given his recent injury. That means Gant / Breshers will pick up and fight for the rest of the minutes at the 4 & 5 spot. Simmons is talented….but I put him in the same boat as Wilcox last year.
And you can’t forget the Human Victory Cigar….Brandon Sherrer.
Go Dawgs!
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I wouldnt slot Aziz into the starting lineup until he shows he his fully recovered from his knee injury. I think he will be great, but we have enough guys to let him fully heal before he is forced into action.
If we get the Terrences:
Gaddy/Overton
IT/Ross
Holiday/Suggs/Wilcox
Jones/Gant/Breshers
MBA/Aziz -
percy allen is reporting ross will be at u dub on monday the 26th. ross also said he will be announcing on the 26th? if both these stories are true i hardly think he’d come to montlake to announce he’s going to kentucky.
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Let’s not pop the cork on Jones just yet. We have to make it through an official visit to KU first:
http://www2.kusports.com/news/2010/apr/23/terrence-jones-tak
Someone do a tornado dance tonight in hopes of cancelling his flight please.
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my bad… heres the whole link:
http://www2.kusports.com/news/2010/apr/23/terrence-jones-take-official-visit-ku-sunday/
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Insider, your line-up is pretty similar to mine, except for three differences:
1) Overton and Gaddy’s roles are reversed. This could easily happen, and in fact it will, if Gaddy’s game is not much improved next year. I think it will be, and I also think that Venoy, with his speed and defensive intensity, is perfectly suited to the sixth man role. He’ll play starter’s minutes either way.
2) Ross is in the regular rotation in place of Wilcox. This also is very possible. After all, we’re really talking about two unknowns here. I’m just giving Wilcox the edge because of his year in the system, and because of premium that will be placed on three-ballers w/ Turner’s departure. Then again, I understand that Ross can also really stroke it. It’s possible that both could crack the rotation and Gant could be left out, but I like Darnell’s size, athleticism, D and versitility for the last spot. But it will be a tight battle, no doubt.
3) Suggs is in instead of N’diaye. Not a snowball’s chance in hell. Let’s see…a 4-star JC 7-foot, 250-pounder who can run, rebound and swat; or a skinny fourth wing who has shown little other than catch-and-shoot ability, in his first two years? I can see where you’re coming from w/ the rest of your picks, but Suggs is way too high and N’diaye is WAY too low.
Of course all of this is in a perfect world. Ross and Jones both commit to UW, everyone gets in and stays eligible, and no one gets hurt. I’ll be thrilled if all 14 of these guys are options next year. And I’m done w/ hypothetical line-ups at least until these last two kids sign the papers.
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I like this line-up:
1. Gaddy starting, Venoy playing long minutes off the bench and likely finishing games.
2. Isaiah starting and playing 25-35 minutes, Ross coming off the bench
3. Holiday backed by either Suggs, Wilcox or Ross (depending on who is hitting threes)
4. Jones, backed by Darnell or Breshers (depending on match-ups)
5. MBA backed by Aziz.
If UW doesn’t get Jones, I like Matt and Aziz to start and for UW to be one scary team anyway. I think Jones will go to UW, but that’s only if I had to choose one. I don’t think that Jones is any kind of KU lock for taking that visit, but in my opinion Kansas (adidas) is really dirty. Kentucly (Nike, Lebron, WWW, etc.) are also world class sleaze too in my opinion.
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I like the idea of starting all of the seniors. Not only does it make for a pretty good lineup, but it sends a great message: If you stick with the program, you will be rewarded. We’ve lost a couple players lately, and neither one was about to be a senior. At the same time, the Huskies have sent a few seniors to the NBA, or pretty close to it. It’s hard for me to think of a player that would have done better in a different system. It’s really easy for me to see borderline NBA players (like Pondexter and Brockman) who were rewarded for sticking with it. There are also players (like Oliver and Nelson) who probably would have been better staying here. By giving the seniors lots of minutes, you send a good message to any recruit.
With Overton, the big thing he needs to do is cut down on the turnovers. Even some of the fast break turnovers are OK, but the half court ones are ridiculous. It’s one thing to screw up a pass that would have lead to a slam dunk, but it’s quite another to have an ordinary play turn into a turnover.
The other thing I expect and hope to see next season is Holiday in the 2 spot. If he has any hopes of landing in the NBA (and I assume he does) then this would be his natural position. To a certain extent, the Huskies play this way anyway (with three guards) but it would be nice to see Holiday matching up with the other team’s shooting guard (both on offense and defense). If he proves that he shoot over a smaller guard, or drive past one, then it improves his draft chances immensely. I would expect the Huskies to “go big” a lot next season. Such a lineup would not only combat our biggest weakness last year, but help the seniors from an NBA standpoint.
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I agree with Ross re Holiday starting at the 2 but it does create a problem. If Gaddy is our point then that would make IT or Gaddy a 3 on defense(don’t want to get stuck on #s) and that’s not going to happen.
Holiday ended the season at a respectable 42%+ from the field and that number was higher the second half of the season. He also finished at 33% from beyond the arc after being under 10% early in the year.
What all this means in my book is that Gaddy will have to earn the starting pg role in the 2010-2011 season. The likely resolution will be the Maui tourney. Big time teams will show us who’s ready and who’s not.
Only 212 days til Maui tipoff!
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Book it fellas. Ross just put this on his FB:
” I have a BIG suprise for the skool im taken a visit to..”
Let’s hope the surprise is that his ACT scores are through the roof and Terrence Jones is coming with him.
MBA commented on his post as well if thats telling at all too. Ross is a Dawg.
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Craig!!!! I LOVE YOU! I need more facebook friends like you. Great news, man. Where’s the party on Saturday when the Terrence Wonder Twins unite? Duchess? See you there.
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AHHHHHHHH TOO MUCH WAITING!!!!!!!! I want them both to sign right now!!!!!
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Ross committed.
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yep, Ross is a commit! Just need Jones now
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Ross should be all good… the formal announcement should come on Friday with T Jones
In other news, Gary Bell just committed to the Zags?
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Friday is shaping up to be a big day for us:
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Husky Digest… I see on your site that you say both Terrences will sign with UW. How much do you trust your sources on this information? What is the likelihood that they do not?
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I’m not changing anything. If I do there is going to be a really good reason, like Calipari gave T-Jones a car and I have the license plate.
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Time to take a break from the recruiting talk. This could be better than the dancin dawgs video. The UW Basketball team raps:
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