Monday, October 13, 2008

Orton commits to UK

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Daniel Orton, a 6-foot-11 senior center from Oklahoma City's McGuinness High, orally committed to play basketball at the University of Kentucky on Sunday at a press conference in the lobby of the Hyatt Regency in downtown Lexington.

"I decided about two nights ago when (Kansas) coach (Bill) Self let me know that they didn't have a scholarship for me anymore and that they were going to cease recruiting me," Orton told Rivals.com.

"Kentucky wasn't a backup plan or anything, but it just made my decision that much easier to go ahead and commit when he told me that."

KU stopped recruiting Orton after receiving a commitment from 6-foot-8 Thomas Robinson on Thursday night.

Comments

chuckberry32 (anonymous) says...

At least we now know he would have chosen KU. My faith is with the coach so if he's no longer interested so be it.

October 13, 2008 at 9:54 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

mbmerriman (anonymous) says...

Thomas is more selfs style, tough hard working smaller more mobile, bill is a genius its ok

October 13, 2008 at 4:28 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jross1972 (Johann Ross) says...

For the sake of full disclosure, I was wrong about Coach Self still going after Orton. Thats why none of us gets paid like he does.

October 13, 2008 at 4:37 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

msthompson37 (anonymous) says...

bad move. He must have some issues. this guy is a player. This will bite us down the road...

October 13, 2008 at 6:50 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jaybate (anonymous) says...

Focus on the shadow, miss the fire.

Self has at least one more scholie to give. He decided NOT to give it to a good pure center he could have had. Why? Who does he think he is going to give the other ride to?

Nobody turns down good 5s, just because they landed a 4. There has to be more.

To me this means:

1) Self has learned he will get one or two of Henry, Wall, Stephenson and Cheek; and
2) Self thinks Aldrich and Markieff will be here two years;

October 13, 2008 at 7:19 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jbrownjib (anonymous) says...

Markieff will be here two years because it takes bigs longer to develop. I'll bet that Wall and Henry sign. Its true that Robinson is a Self style player. Comments say that he has motor that never stops running and he is the best rebounder in his class. To me that spells defensive intensity and fast breaks. Imagine Robinson and Aldrich. I can hear the trash talk in the post now "We'll be here all day!"

October 13, 2008 at 7:59 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

rockchalk80 (anonymous) says...

Jaybate... based on Keegan's earlier article (inadvertently posted in the football section) , he thinks #1 is a strong possibility.

October 13, 2008 at 9:25 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jordan07n (anonymous) says...

that's a hit yes but it was a given when Robinson commited. He saw the future of all the good posts. Some say we needed another center but not necessarily due to markieff being able to play 4 and 5 to give Aldrich a break. we played at our best last year some with the electrifying athleticism of D.A. and D.J. What we do need is more players who can find their molds of the kind of team we had last year.

we need another Chalmers and i see him in Johnson and a little cheek. Cheek is more of a shooter than Chalmers but still has some of the same molds. I watched Taylor play a pick up game this summer and he was a young R. Robinson on that court and took charge automatically. Aldrich of course is going to be better than Kaun and i think he will stick around 4 years ( like Collision). Robinson has that drive and athleticism of Arthur he just needs so bulk and more post move variety. I believe markieff is in the same boat at least post wise we all know he likes to go out and shoot and i love that in a big man. i believe those two can be like our Darnell and Darrell combo in a few years. Mario Little is a stud already and when i watched him play in that pick up game in the volleyball courts he looked like a stronger rush ( the way rush played before his injury) he took the ball to the hoop more than he shoot but i shoot around with him after and saw he had amazing range as well as touch by the basket. I think he has every bit of potential rush had. I just am not sure about his defense being like his but it was only a pick up game. from what i have seen of Henry he would push little hard and definitely play over him. now that leaves Collins who i believe is gone after this year. I heard from a couple of the players and it seems this years is going to be a lot of on ball picks for him to get to the hole easier. I don't think we have another recruit like that for the '09 season. Maybe with a little luck Collins will stay.

Heres my predictions for what happens to those final 8 recruits from my inside sources.
-Henry goes to Memphis but it wont be as easy as he thought after late night
-Wall is the only one i am not sure about he is very quiet about his recruiting but its a toss up from what i hear.
-Cheek has ties with Taylor and it sounds like hes a late night away from committing. He will probably wait till after his other visit later in the month.
-Stephenson will wait till late signing period and will probably go euro for a year unless Jennings fails.
-Snaer depends on the visit this weekend i think its a tossup of Kansas and UCLA. Mizzou might be a sleeper. If Cheek commits hes done but if cheek doesn't it might be interesting.
-Johnson is KU all the way i heard today he is heavily favoring us and cant wait till late night.

P.S. keep an eye on morningstar; he has been working his butt off and don't be surprised when he sees good minutes.

October 13, 2008 at 10:36 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

Strikewso (anonymous) says...

New bball tourney in Hawaii in '09. KU needs to get out here!

http://hawaiiathletics.com/news/2008/...

October 13, 2008 at 11:23 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

CBaller13 (anonymous) says...

FYI Lance Stephenson won't be at Late Night because he has a semifinal game for his summer league.

I'm getting the impression that Lance Stephenson thinks very highly of himself and that he might not be a player you want on your team. I think I'd take Snaer or Cheek over him.

October 13, 2008 at 11:48 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jross1972 (Johann Ross) says...

what I dont understand is why Coach wouldnt sign Orton. After all, he's been in the media always talking of oversigning. Why not oversign and land a real blue chipper in Orton? Guys will give up schollies...

October 13, 2008 at 11:51 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

CBaller13 (anonymous) says...

Orton looks fat and doesn't keep the ball high enough on his post moves. He also looks out of shape. I think Robinson is definately more of a Self type player.

October 13, 2008 at 11:54 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

kvskubball (anonymous) says...

jaybate,

You forgot to mention Johnson as one of your options in #1!

jross...

I have been thinking he was going to oversign too, even if CBaller is right about Orton being overweight, that would have been all the more reason to believe he would have stayed for more than one year! People said the same things about Cole when we were recruiting him. From what Orton said, he might still have been considering KU after TRobinson verballed. The only thing I can think is that Coach wanted to send a clear message to someone that he definitely had a scholie to give! Which supports jaybate's theory above.

October 14, 2008 at 12:04 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

CBaller13 (anonymous) says...

In 2009-2010 we have Cole, Markieff, Marcus, Robinson and Thomas in the front court. That's plenty of big bodies. We don't need some freshman who's going to come in and not play. Self clearly knows this and decided to tell Orton it's probably best he moves on. Now we can add a guard or two and be good to go. I think Self knows that Aldrich isn't leaving after this year.

October 14, 2008 at 12:08 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

kvskubball (anonymous) says...

CBall...

I hope you're right about Cole! He is the only one who is a true center, but in today's game, good 4's and 5's are often interchangeable! I am only concerned IF more than one of this year's Bigs move on! If they all stay, you are right we are covered!

October 14, 2008 at 12:51 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

cstevenday (anonymous) says...

I believe that if the right person cam along and BS wanted him, Mornngstar would "give" up his scholie. Lots of options here!

Also I hope Brady is working his butt off. That will only make the whole team better, but honestly...............He will not see any more than mop up minutes! He just doesn't fit into what Bill is doing!

October 14, 2008 at 7:01 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Lebowski (anonymous) says...

CBaller,

I completely agree with you on all 3 of your last assessments.

Stephenson is very impressive, but I have little desire to see him at Kansas. I see him doing something to really embarrass a program... worse than the many situations we've dealt with the last few years.

You summed up what I feel about Orton. The doughboy can't get up and down the court the way we're going to go. Most "highlight" videos always make someone look more impressive than they are... and the highlights I've seen of him don't even excite me.

And the 09-10 frontcourt situation will be a good one. Even if we have two leave (not likely), the rotation at the 4 and 5 will still be fine, it will just be a little smaller and play a little faster. We'll have to see that this year anyway whenever Cole is in foul trouble, which I'll bet is quite often. But I see Cole being the type to stick out his time here because he values the college experience as a once in a lifetime opportunity. The NBA will be waiting for him whenever he is ready.

October 14, 2008 at 10:33 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

robot (Robin Smith) says...

ATTN: Thomas Robinson is a 5 star blue chipper ranked #18 (Orton #20)

October 15, 2008 at 10:17 a.m. ( | suggest removal )