Committed to Howard over UCLA, KY, and Memphis. Probably the start of a trend. Good luck, young man.
OFC
OFC
I'm all for it. Kenny Blakeney will do a good job to prepare him. Do you think he'd get better coaching from Calipari or Ole' Roy? And perhaps the educational and social experience is more important to him.
It will be interesting to watch his progress.
I also believe Tyler Thornton is on the staff. I saw someone give him a big shoutout for the recruitmentI must be going senile. It just now dawned on me that Blakeney is another branch on the Coach K coaching tree. Wow. OFC
I don’t know what I think about this yet..
On one hand.. it’s a really cool statement to make..
On the other hand.. he’s going to be playing with/against a bunch of unranked or very low ranked players.. there’s very little chance he can improve his game at that level of play.. I’m sure they have good coaching and facilities, but I doubt it is anywhere near the caliber needed for transitioning from NCAA basketball to the NBA..
Also, if he changes his mind and decides to go to the G-League or overseas, then he looks waaay worse than if he backs out from a power conference team.. it’ll look like he used the HBCU to get a pat on the back and had no intentions of really helping the school..
side note: I looked at the Howard roster and they have a 6’11” / 295 pound player (Cam Timmons).. shit.. Duke shoulda gave him a scholarship.. I don’t care if he can’t run to the other end of the court and back.. with NCAA basketball not having a defensive 3 second rule, I would let him camp out there for a few possessions.
I think his endorsement income will be just fine. He will be a very important symbol for the black community, as he deserves.Imo it will not hurt his NBA draft status.If u can play they will find you.Short term it will hurt his potential for endorsement income.It is hard to quantify how much the unlimited exposure at Duke makes a player.There is no way Zion gets 100 plus in endorsements without this exposure
I said short term endorsements could be affected.Imo the value of going to someplace like Duke or UK gives you a great initial head start in recognition.If he becomes a superstar in the NBA endorsements will be there James Harden is perfect example of this he did not hit the lottery in endorsements until he became a superstar.Lebron is the only one I can think of that cashed in on endorsements without coming from a big time school background.I think his endorsement income will be just fine. He will be a very important symbol for the black community, as he deserves.
OFC
You are probably right about the short term stuff. But an awful lot of guys did OK for themselves without going to Duke or UK or UCLA. Bird? Robinson? Parrish? Frazier? Monroe? Curry? Obviously the list could go on for a very long time. I'm not trying to be argumentative, just pointing out that Duke isn't automatically a trip to heaven. And I went there! Take care, my friend.I said short term endorsements could be affected.Imo the value of going to someplace like Duke or UK gives you a great initial head start in recognition.If he becomes a superstar in the NBA endorsements will be there James Harden is perfect example of this he did not hit the lottery in endorsements until he became a superstar.Lebron is the only one I can think of that cashed in on endorsements without coming from a big time school background.
Not trying to argue either an athlete has an extremely short shelf life.If this young man is good enough he will reap the rewards of his talent.I think it is admirable that he is following his heart in his choice of school.Realistically there are only a select few players who hit the big time endorsement lottery and I hope he is one of them.My point is that a big time program gives him a better chance initiallyYou are probably right about the short term stuff. But an awful lot of guys did OK for themselves without going to Duke or UK or UCLA. Bird? Robinson? Parrish? Frazier? Monroe? Curry? Obviously the list could go on for a very long time. I'm not trying to be argumentative, just pointing out that Duke isn't automatically a trip to heaven. And I went there! Take care, my friend.
OFC
Selfishly, I hope some top level hoopsters sign with Savannah State, since I'm in that neck of the woods for half the year.Bold move. Wish him well. Wouldn't be surprised if we see 1 or 2 top 50 guys sign with a HBCU on an annual basis. Sort of similar to top prospects playing in the G-League or overseas for a year. It's not going to be common, but I suspect a few will be committed to this cause.
Individually, this is not going to help him, however. Howard went 4-29 last year, 350th out of 353 teams on KenPom's rankings, and they lost two of their top three scorers. Also, Howard lost their only P5 game to Notre Dame - by 29 points. They're not just bad. They're egregiously bad. But, got to respect the initiative in leading the way for this movement.