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2025 recruiting....

There is going to be someone willing to pay that for a top 75 kid. The market has been set and these kids and their Agents know it. I won’t be surprised if someone pays him in that ballpark.
 
I don't mean to disparage the kid but I don't want us to pay that for a kid in that range. Just this summer we balked at paying a beefy 5 who we could have really used on this squad $1M.
 
This entire discussion nauseates me. So now we are wanting to miss on a recruit so we can bank the cash to possible use it on a superstar with no guarantee. Poor Hubert. If I were in his position I would be drinking heavily. Even more so than I do watching the NIL destroy college sports.
 
Denis reportedly wants $600,000…even if we can’t afford that, he’s not even worth 1/4 of that! That’s why Hubert backed off..I agree NIL is a problem right now, but a mid 4 star that might transfer after a year doesn’t deserve that!
I fully believe, have believed for months now, I expect Denis to commit to UNC today and when he does I will support him to the best of my ability, I am just not excited with the addition. I posted early today what I did with that very notion, not the guy I would take but it isn't my call.
 
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I fully believe, have believed for months now, I expect Denis to commit to UNC today and when he does I will support him to the best of my ability, I am just not excited with the addition. I posted early today what I did with that very notion, not the guy I would take but it isn't my call.
It certainly looks like that now. With guys not having to sit a year to transfer,if they aren’t playing and it isn’t working out they will just transfer. I don’t see it as a big deal.
 
He's been steadily climbing the rankings (now #47 on 247sports.) He's got long arms, good height, he's athletic, he's got a good 3pt shot, he has experience playing some point guard. I can't see why anyone would be down on this addition. Especially when we could literally lose most of our guards this spring.

We could easily have 8 or 9 scholarships we need to fill before next year, and as of this moment we have 1 commit.
 
I fully believe, have believed for months now, I expect Denis to commit to UNC today and when he does I will support him to the best of my ability, I am just not excited with the addition. I posted early today what I did with that very notion, not the guy I would take but it isn't my call.

Just a question. How excited were you when we signed RJ Davis? IIRC, he wasn’t that highly ranked, but he obviously had that it factor that he wouldn’t be denied. Not saying he does, but maybe Denis has some of those traits too? (Notice the 2 o’s when too means also, it’s not that hard to type that extra o).
 
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This entire discussion nauseates me. So now we are wanting to miss on a recruit so we can bank the cash to possible use it on a superstar with no guarantee. Poor Hubert. If I were in his position I would be drinking heavily. Even more so than I do watching the NIL destroy college sports.

Just a question. How excited were you when we signed RJ Davis? IIRC, he wasn’t that highly ranked, but he obviously had that it factor that he wouldn’t be denied. Not saying he does, but maybe Denis has some of those traits too? (Notice the 2 o’s when too means also, it’s not that hard to type that extra o).
Honestly, was not nearly as excited as I was about our getting Caleb. I did like that he was a NYC kid, those kids seem to have a little extra grit to them. Are you equating Denis to RJ Davis?

I was fine with EITHER Dixon or Denis, I preferred Dixon because I think he has a more college ready body, I do think they can both shoot some. I just think bringing in both of them is a mistake, my opinion. Since the day Dixon committed I felt that it was time to back away from Denis because I felt and still feel we had other more pressing needs. Gone are the days where you can take a guy like Denis, stash him on your bench and develop him over time in to a starter with the transfer portal being what it now is. It takes a rare kid now days to do what Tremble has done. Frankly, I will take a guy like Dixon or Denis and stash on the bench, same as James Brown, same as High, but taking 2 at the same position in the same class that are projects is to me a concern.

Now, I hope I have clearly answered the question you posed to me and noticed the spelling lesson you for some unknown reason felt compelled to add in. I would now like to ask you what the purpose of your question to me was?
 
- we currently have 2 unused scholarships being taken by walk-ons

- Davis, Withers, and Claude run out of eligibility at the end of the season

- Jackson is turning pro. It's as certain as Nas Little was.

- Powell is currently in some top 10 mock drafts. If his draft stock remains high, he has to go and Hubert has to push him.

- Trimble's big brother turned pro after his junior year despite having basically no draft chance. Trimble almost left the program once already. Now he's back, he's starting, and he's looking like he may be our 2nd leading scorer. We should probably prepare ourselves for him turning pro in the spring.

- Cadeau had great draft stock in high school. That draft stock cratered because of his shooting as a freshman. If his shot returns to form as a sophomore, he becomes an early entrant candidate again.

- I'll be shocked if both Washington and Lubin return to UNC for their senior seasons. Both are centers. Only one can start. Whoever isn't projected to start as a senior has a high likelihood to end up in the portal. Best case scenario is Washington plays himself into a draft pick this season, and Lubin returns thinking the spot is his.


Suffice to say, we have a lot of spots we're going to need to fill. Even if a couple of the guys I listed do return, we'd still have a lot of spots to fill. And we saw this past summer we can not count on the transfer portal to give us what we need as long as our NIL is lagging.
 
I fully believe, have believed for months now, I expect Denis to commit to UNC today and when he does I will support him to the best of my ability, I am just not excited with the addition. I posted early today what I did with that very notion, not the guy I would take but it isn't my call.
I like Denis, and I have stated that I compare him to a young Hunter Salis. If you remember Salis was no where near ready to contribute much as a Freshman at Gonzaga, so I don't expect a large role for Denis in year one. I think he and Dixon will be competing for (a role) in year one.
I like both players as 3-4 year players, but with the portal, every team is year to year.
So if we get Isiah Denis today.....that makes two 4* guards and lines still in tge water up front. We can at least take a breath, for a day.😉
 
Honestly, was not nearly as excited as I was about our getting Caleb. I did like that he was a NYC kid, those kids seem to have a little extra grit to them. Are you equating Denis to RJ Davis?

I was fine with EITHER Dixon or Denis, I preferred Dixon because I think he has a more college ready body, I do think they can both shoot some. I just think bringing in both of them is a mistake, my opinion. Since the day Dixon committed I felt that it was time to back away from Denis because I felt and still feel we had other more pressing needs. Gone are the days where you can take a guy like Denis, stash him on your bench and develop him over time in to a starter with the transfer portal being what it now is. It takes a rare kid now days to do what Tremble has done. Frankly, I will take a guy like Dixon or Denis and stash on the bench, same as James Brown, same as High, but taking 2 at the same position in the same class that are projects is to me a concern.

Now, I hope I have clearly answered the question you posed to me and noticed the spelling lesson you for some unknown reason felt compelled to add in. I would now like to ask you what the purpose of your question to me was?

My question to you isn’t all that hard to decipher. You say you are not excited with the addition of Denis (provided he picks UNC), were you excited with the addition of Davis? I am certainly not comparing a high schooler Denis to an ACC POY Davis, but we had no idea Davis would become that when he was a freshman or even a sophomore. Isn’t there a chance Denis could surprise us & be way better that we think now? Couldn’t we be saying in 3 years, damn I’m glad we ponied up the NIL money he was looking for? & yes, my apologies, but as a retired educator of 36 years, your spelling & grammar drive me crazy.
 
And Dook gets another 5 star in the 2025 class. Scheyer does not even have to recruit. Nike executive on staff,Jai Lucas and $$$$$. It’s that easy.
 
My question to you isn’t all that hard to decipher. You say you are not excited with the addition of Denis (provided he picks UNC), were you excited with the addition of Davis? I am certainly not comparing a high schooler Denis to an ACC POY Davis, but we had no idea Davis would become that when he was a freshman or even a sophomore. Isn’t there a chance Denis could surprise us & be way better that we think now? Couldn’t we be saying in 3 years, damn I’m glad we ponied up the NIL money he was looking for? & yes, my apologies, but as a retired educator of 36 years, your spelling & grammar drive me crazy.
First, about the spelling and grammar that drive you crazy, hate it for you but I come here to discuss, I am not doing this for income nor am I writing a formal paper. I VERY rarely proof read what I share before posting it. What you get from me is at times raw and most often off the cuff, I do not apologize for that, I offer it to explain. In no way am I looking to be rude or negative toward you in my saying this.

Your reply as well as your initial question is clearly asking a comparison of the INCOMING FRESHMAN RJ Davis to the potential incoming freshman Denis. The question of which would I prefer comes with the automatic question of why, it requires some level of comparison.

Clearly, none of us can know what level of player Denis will become (yes, there is absolutely a chance the kid could blow up in college). I strongly doubt anyone saw RJ Davis having the career he has had at UNC when he committed to us. What college coach would not have LOVED to have had Seth Curry or Ja Morant on their rosters but how many didn't even give them a look? We had fans right here say when Luke Maye committed to us that if Luke Maye EVER started for UNC we would be in a ton of trouble, ask Ky fans how that turned out! LOL
 
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And Dook gets another 5 star in the 2025 class. Scheyer does not even have to recruit. Nike executive on staff,Jai Lucas and $$$$$. It’s that easy.

UK or Dook? UK landed Lewis today whom we backed off of when Dixon committed.

Edit: I see now, Shelton Henderson.
 
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I like Denis, and I have stated that I compare him to a young Hunter Salis. If you remember Salis was no where near ready to contribute much as a Freshman at Gonzaga, so I don't expect a large role for Denis in year one. I think he and Dixon will be competing for (a role) in year one.
I like both players as 3-4 year players, but with the portal, every team is year to year.
So if we get Isiah Denis today.....that makes two 4* guards and lines still in tge water up front. We can at least take a breath, for a day.😉
Yeah, I get that, not so much that I disagree but more that I see Dixon and Denis as 2 guard projects, a bit of replication to have 2 off guards that are projects in the same class. I would prefer to farm the portal for 1 of those spots for a guy that is more ready to contribute early.
 
My question to you isn’t all that hard to decipher. You say you are not excited with the addition of Denis (provided he picks UNC), were you excited with the addition of Davis? I am certainly not comparing a high schooler Denis to an ACC POY Davis, but we had no idea Davis would become that when he was a freshman or even a sophomore. Isn’t there a chance Denis could surprise us & be way better that we think now? Couldn’t we be saying in 3 years, damn I’m glad we ponied up the NIL money he was looking for? & yes, my apologies, but as a retired educator of 36 years, your spelling & grammar drive me crazy.
I for one thought R.J was going to be a terrific scoring guard in college while he was in HS. I even said he would be a 1,500 plus scorer in college after watching him play early on. ( I since amended thst thought to 2,000 plus lol)
I for one think Denis will be a good player for all those reasons you listed, I especially like his size. I don't have the same feeling about him as R.J. in the same sense, but that is not a knock on Isiah Denis. I just always felt like R.J was going to be special.
 
Yeah, I get that, not so much that I disagree but more that I see Dixon and Denis as 2 guard projects, a bit of replication to have 2 off guards that are projects in the same class. I would prefer to farm the portal for 1 of those spots for a guy that is more ready to contribute early.
Oh, I agree with that. I contend our starting pg next season with either be Eliott Cadeau or a portal guy. I do think we need the numbers though. If Trimble blows up or Drake enters the draft, we will need multiple guys from the portal.
I personally think Trimble and Powell are Tar Heels again next year. I hold the right to change my mind though.
 
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Denis is ranked #47 on 247sports. Dixon is ranked #51.

Just for comparison using RSCI composite rankings:

Kennedy Meeks was #56. Brice Johnson was #40. Tokoto was #57. Joel James was #58. Seventh Woods was #40. Leaky was #64. RJ Davis was #43. Dontrez Styles was #60.
Seth Trimble was #36. Jalen Washington was #49.

So this ranking area has given us everything from stars and key starters on championship caliber teams, to backups and washouts. But when you have an absolute truckload of scholarships available, grabbing 2 guys in that area probably increases the odds that you'll get at least one guy who is a big contributor.
 
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