This year, we lose Horace Spencer, Bryce Brown and Malik Dunbar to graduation. Oh yeah, and Cole Blackstock. I fully expect Jared Harper and Chuma Let's Have a Kiki to test the waters. The great, or maybe the sensible thing about the NCAA in round hoops is they can do just that. Test the waters and see what their value is, then come back if it doesn't look like a big payday is in the near future.
Harper has the talent, no doubt. Obviously, it's size that matters. Certainly, a 6 footer can make it in the NBA but there's only a handful that stick around and have any real impact. Okeke may be a different story. He has the size, skillz and has definitely shown he can knock it down from long range. The very selfish part of me hopes he's told he's not ready. Needs more work on his game. I have a feeling that won't be the case.
However, what if everyone returns? This will be a junior/senior dominated team with all the experience you could ever want. And after this Friday and consecutive dates with blue-bloods, Kansas and UNC, that experience level will only skyrocket. Who knows after Friday? Losing Bryce will hurt. He's that pure shooter that can almost take over a game and forces defenses to respect the perimeter. I think he'll have a place in the NBA, possibly in that 6th man role.
We have 5 recruits signed, 3 of which are 4-star guys. #17 ranked class in the nation. Pretty solid. Some size ranging from 6'5" to 6'8", but isn't that Pearl's M.O.? Allen Flanigan may be the steal of the class. If most of these guys return and they're able to work all these freshmen into the mix, this bunch looks to be on solid ground for quite a while.
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