Oz (and other insiders) what are our chances with Mohamed Bamba?

[Afghusky15]

I know Ollie has watched him a couple of times and we got involved pretty early with Mo Bamba. Bamba also has a pinned tweet of a picture showing 4 colleges (with him dunking in the background). The four schools being: 1. UCONN, 2. Duke, 3. Kentucky, and 4)Arizona (BUT HE DID STATE THIS WAS NOT HIS FINAL LIST OF SCHOOLS). However even if it is not his list of final schools it would at least seem to indicate that UCONN is a legitimate player for a consensus top 3 c/o 2017 recruit.

There seems to be a general consensus amongst recruiting experts that Mo Bamba has the highest ceiling of any recruit in the class of 2017. His natural position is PF, and he along with a junior Steve Enoch (playing center) would be a force of a front court. I also would love to continue to run a pipeline of NYC talent to Storrs. Mo has talked about wanting to put NYC back on the map as place known for basketball talent. I can't think of a better way than for Mo to decide to play for NYC's college team, UCONN, while teaming up with other top tier NYC talent (Hamidou and Diarra)!

I really think we have a good shot with him, but I have no inside connection so I wanted to see how those who have some link to the coaching staff see our chances of landing him. Thanks in advance.

 

[Ozzie3178]

My man he is one of our top BIG man targets.

I like him. Saw him a couple times last year. Will see him again this year hopefully.

We definitely are high in his list but there are other BIGS we are also looking at... Ie Richards who I personally like.

 

[Dr.O1]

My man he is one of our top BIG man targets.

I like him. Saw him a couple times last year. Will see him again this year hopefully.

We definitely are high in his list but there are other BIGS we are also looking at... Ie Richards who I personally like.

Oz read richard has only been playing for 3 years. Love to get a guy with more experience.

 

[Ozzie3178]

Experience isn't a issue for big men. Develop at different stages.

 

[Dr.O1]

Experience isn't a issue for big men. Develop at different stages.

True.

 

[cgarrr]

I know Ollie has watched him a couple of times and we got involved pretty early with Mo Bamba. Bamba also has a pinned tweet of a picture showing 4 colleges (with him dunking in the background). The four schools being: 1. UCONN, 2. Duke, 3. Kentucky, and 4)Arizona (BUT HE DID STATE THIS WAS NOT HIS FINAL LIST OF SCHOOLS). However even if it is not his list of final schools it would at least seem to indicate that UCONN is a legitimate player for a consensus top 3 c/o 2017 recruit.

There seems to be a general consensus amongst recruiting experts that Mo Bamba has the highest ceiling of any recruit in the class of 2017. His natural position is PF, and he along with a junior Steve Enoch (playing center) would be a force of a front court. I also would love to continue to run a pipeline of NYC talent to Storrs. Mo has talked about wanting to put NYC back on the map as place known for basketball talent. I can't think of a better way than for Mo to decide to play for NYC's college team, UCONN, while teaming up with other top tier NYC talent (Hamidou and Diarra)!

I really think we have a good shot with him, but I have no inside connection so I wanted to see how those who have some link to the coaching staff see our chances of landing him. Thanks in advance.

That is a fake Twitter account. He is not on Twitter. He does have a Instagram: @therealmobamba_

 

[Afghusky15]

That is a fake Twitter account. He is not on Twitter. He does have a Instagram: @therealmobamba_

Ok thanks didn't know that. This explains why I didn't see it on your twitter page! Keep up the good work. For those who don't know by now @Cue_the_Music is a great follow for keeping up with UCONN recruiting.

 

[3uconn]

UConn's definitely recruiting him but from what I've heard is it will be very hard to pry him away from Duke or Kentucky. I would be very surprised to see him commit anywhere but one of those two schools down the line.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

It's very disturbing that recruiting is now "the Duke and Kentucky guys" and everyone else. A schism has been created whereby certain guys are deemed worthy of Duke and Kentucky scholarships, and those scholarships are deemed better and more worthy of acceptance, and those Duke and Kentucky guys basically cannot be recruited by anyone else. It shouldn't be that way, but that is what it has become. A few guys in the top 10 will go pro, a few like Simmons will trickle to other schools, and all the rest go to Duke and Kentucky.

 

[rta32]

Ok thanks didn't know that. This explains why I didn't see it on your twitter page! Keep up the good work. For those who don't know by now @Cue_the_Music is a great follow for keeping up with UCONN recruiting.

And cgarrr is cue the music.

 

[Huskymaniac]

Extremely well said.

I, unlike most people, don't assume that this situation occured cleanly. I think K is a great coach but I have always wondered about just how clean he was. There have been lots of rumors over the years and, where there is that much smoke, there is usually at least a little fire. And don't get me started about the squid. He is a decent coach, at best, and has been followed by a trail of thick black smoke his entire career. And UNC has been on this list of preferred schools over the years too and now we know why.

Having said all that, I think the only way the one and done system works is to go all in. You have to bring in an entire team all at once to avoid chemistry problems. Look what happened with Drummond. He is a sweet kid but even he was met with jealousy and hostility.

If you bring in a one and done kid he can't play over a kid that was a critical piece of the previous team or even a kid you think will be a critical piece down the road. He has to be a hired assassin to play over kids who accept they are role players. That is tough.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

I think there is some truth to being all in or out on one and dones. If they are brought in as groups of 3 or more it can work. With one guy who is one and done it will not work for reasons stated by Huskymaniac. There are always chemistry issues and rarely does a guy seemlessly slip into an open job. Drummond didn't work because he and Oriakhi were too similar. The guy who was really hurt most by the Drummond experiment is Oriakhi. Oriakhi was great the prior year. He was a monster defender and he occasionally had big games inside as in Maui. Drummond crowded him and shoved him aside. They got in each other's way. It was just a bad fit. That team had extraordinary talent on it. It's amazing to me that UConn was one and done with the talent it had on that team.