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Men's Basketball

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Ottawa prep Semi Ojeleye picks Duke

By Gary Bedore

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Semi Ojeleye, a 6-foot-6 senior forward from Ottawa High, orally committed to play basketball at Duke during Sunday’s in-home visit with Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski.

Ojeleye, who is ranked No. 30 in the Class of 2013 by Rivals.com, also had Indiana, Stanford and Oregon on his list. Kansas University did not have Ojeleye on its recruiting list.

KU coach Bill Self had a pair of in-home visits scheduled Sunday. He visited with 6-foot Wichita North commit Conner Frankamp in the morning and was slated to visit with Chris Jones, a 5-11 point guard from Northwest Florida State College, in the evening.

New name

KU is now recruiting Joel Embid, a 7-foot senior from Montverde (Fla.) Academy, ESPN.com reports. The unranked player also has Florida, Louisville, Texas, UCLA and others on his list.

Bill on Billy

Self tells ESPN he has not spoken to embattled Texas Tech coach Billy Gillispie for about a month. Gillispie is under fire at Texas Tech for allegedly practicing more hours than the NCAA allows and mistreatment of injured players.

“I do know that Billy is tough. I know that he only knows one way to do it, and that’s to be tougher, harder and more prepared than his opponent, period,” Self told ESPN.com. “To be honest with you, it’s a pretty successful method that a lot of coaches use. Billy’s different. He has his own motivating tactics.

“With Billy, you’re talking about a guy that’s gone from six wins to 24 wins (at UTEP). You’ve got a guy that has gone from zero conference wins (at Texas A&M) to the Sweet 16 in a short amount of time,” Self added. “He does have some experience doing it his way and doing it big. His way works.”

Self added ...

“Mistreatment of players should never occur, but there are also two sides to every story. That certainly appears to be the case here, because after hearing from his enemies early, now we’ve heard from guys who say, ‘Oh, man, he was so hard on me, but I’m a better man for it.’ Including players in his current program. As far as making guys practice and play when they’re hurt, it’s unfathomable to me that the guy that I know would put anyone out there in harm’s way intentionally. I have a hard time believing he would do that.”

Of the practice-time issue, Self said: “When did it happen? Did it happen over Thanksgiving break? Or did it happen when class was in session? If it happened over a break, then there’s absolutely no issue, because it’s totally legal. I do know that my players here think we practice a lot longer than we actually do. All players do. You could have a practice plan out there that says ‘96 minutes,’ and the players think, ‘Oh God, we’re going two-and-a-half hours today.’ Sometimes you stay on schedule, sometimes you don’t. But in their minds, everyone practices too long.”

Comments

jsatt3 8 months, 2 weeks ago

Success comes at a high price, and no I'm not talking about John CaliPaypal. But I think Self is basically saying that if these guys at TT wanted to be as successful as they "thought" they did, then they would've sucked it up and practiced for as long as the rules allowed them too. You gotta believe that while those players were under Pat Knight they developed a level of complacency and laziness, but when Billy got there he pushed the crap outta them until they pushed back. My dad (who's an A&M alum) told me stories about how when Gillespie came to A&M, Acie Law IV wanted transfer and if not for his mother forcing him to stay would have. And we all know what Law did to us at the fieldhouse a few years later. Billy is a craaaazzzy coach....more of Bob Knight kind of guy than Pat Knight will ever be.

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BayHawkaholic 8 months, 2 weeks ago

Ojeleye: Puzzling. Stanford, Duke, Oregon (???), and Indiana. Sounds like a bright kid, who maybe wanted the experience of being far away from home. Hopefully, diamonds are not a Semi best friend.

Self's grasp of teens/young adults and human nature > many.

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iamakufan 8 months, 1 week ago

He apparently was not on Kansas' list but was that Kansas' choice of the kid's choice? Maybe he said he's not interested in an in-state school. There's no mention of Kansas State or Wichita State or any other Kansas school showing interest in him.

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Brock 8 months, 2 weeks ago

No. KU just needs bigs and a PG.

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jhawk7782 8 months, 1 week ago

Willie Cauley is 6'10" We scouted him but made no offer. I hate seeing coaches come into Kansas and walkaway with some of the states best talent.

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rockchalk_dpu 8 months, 1 week ago

I can understand the frustration, but I trust that Self and staff have evaluated these players and know whether they will be a good fit for the program. Cauley might be a good player, but if Self feels like he can't push him to be great or something else, then there is a chance he would rather move on and find a great player somewhere else that will fit into his system and the team concept.

Remember, Kansas isn't a program that has to rely on in-state kids to build a competitive team. As a nationally recognized program with deep history and lots of media coverage, they can recruit all corners of the country. If they lose an occasional player or two from in-state, I trust that Self will have a player that will contribute at a greater level. Not something to worry about.

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bjejayhawk69 8 months, 1 week ago

Similar situation. Cauley would have wanted KU if KU wanted him. They didn't recruit him because he not a great player. Heard it directly from guys who played with him. He is not a big loss. We will see if every sees the floor at UK.

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jhawk7782 8 months, 1 week ago

Nicely stated. I think he will get some experience this year but won't start getting significant minutes until either his sophomore or junior year. I've also heard the rumors that there was some type of issue between him and Kansas but haven't found any source. If you heard it directly, then I'm more inclined to believe it.

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Solomon 8 months, 1 week ago

Self wanted a whole Ojeleye, not half.

7

REHawk 8 months, 2 weeks ago

Currently, we appear to be well stocked with players in Semi's size range, with our pressing needs to exist at the center and point positions. I never captured a sense that Semi was ever much interested in KU. Maybe early on in his high school career he became miffed that our coaching staff did not beat a path to his door? Didn't I once read that his family was more enthusiastic about K State athletics than they were about the Jayhawks?

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702Hawk 8 months, 1 week ago

His brother played at K-State.

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lonestar_jayhawk 8 months, 1 week ago

Plus if Cat comes with a 6'6" handcuff of Troy Williams, we have another #3

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jc1306 8 months, 2 weeks ago

Semi was a Missouri Valley Eclipse AAU guy. We don't get involved with those guys for political recruiting reasons. The same reason we didn't recruit Willie Cauley just down the road.

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melrank 8 months, 2 weeks ago

I'm not famaliar with MVE AAU - will you elaborate on "political recruiting reasons"?

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jc1306 8 months, 2 weeks ago

MVE is a Kansas City based AAU program, a really good one. I don't have any details but have heard that there is a tif between them and KU. You could speculate many reasons. Maybe something happened previously in recruiting MVE didn't like involving KU, maybe their AAU program is funded by some former KSU Alumni, etc... There could be a ton of reasons. KU just doesn't get MVE kids (not that there have been a ton of ones we want). That's a 5 star kid and and 4 star kid 25 minutes away that we don't even show interest because they know it's a waste of time.

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KUMatt2001 8 months, 1 week ago

Interesting. Are Missouri Valley Eclipse and Mo-Kan Elite the same program?

If so, Alec Burks (from KC, the surprise talent at Colorado a few years ago) played for them too. Always wondered why we never recruited him.

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BPSkelly 8 months, 1 week ago

I cant vouch for the specifics that jc alludes to. That said, here in St. Louis there is definitely 'lines drawn' with the AAU programs. It seems all 3 "big" recruiting schools (Mizzou, Illinois, SLU) rarely go after the same guys from the same programs. Part of that's perceived 'level', part of thats penetration of the schools into the AAU programs. Knowing what I do know those issues are far more pronounced in KC than here. But they still exist.

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MrMario15 8 months, 2 weeks ago

This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.

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GoHawkYourself 8 months, 1 week ago

Sounds like you must know him pretty well

0

jayhawkerjoel 8 months, 1 week ago

Billy Clyde and Self go back a long way and are very good friends. I thought Self's statements were fine. He didn't defend any actions, he reasonably said, we need to see the whole picture before making judgement. Unless you have first hand knowledge, how can you criticize that?

1

Ross 8 months, 2 weeks ago

I suspect Coach Self had no interest in the young man, but it rankles to have Duke come to Kansas to take good talent out of the state.

1

konkeyDong 8 months, 1 week ago

So to head off the question of why Self didn't recruit Semi here's the answer:

Andrew White

Ben McLemore

Brannen Greene

No slight to Semi, but when we have three players who are more talented/experienced playing his position (2/3), we aren't gaining anything by adding a fourth. What we want to round out this class is a quality big and a strong ball handler. That means 1s, 4s, or 5s. It was just poor timing. Any other year and I have no doubt Self would have been all over local talent.

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HighEliteMajor 8 months, 1 week ago

Exactly .. Self clearly targeted Greene in the 2013, and got the commit. But he obviously wasn't recruiting him before that. There may have been some other things going on. The reality is that "just because" he's from Kansas doesn't mean we have to recruit him.

The MU football team may need to "close it's borders" in recruiting, but KU basketball doesn't. Recruiting the top Kansas kids is nice and should be done when it works .. we've done that with Frankamp and Ellis.

I've never had any issue with the top talent that Self targets. He truly knows exactly what this team needs when making those choices. We can question "why" we didn't go after this kid, but rest assured, there is a good answer -- and we have to trust our coach on that one.

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lonestar_jayhawk 8 months, 1 week ago

Plus if we are adding another #3, it might be Troy Williams handcuffed to Cat Barber.

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Alohahawk 8 months, 1 week ago

I would add one more name to that list, konkeyDong: Jabari Parker. He might be a long shot but I really think KU is in his top 3 - 4. And I could see Self holding a spot open for him, just in case. He may be 6' 7", but he's more of a SF than he is a PF. There's a very good chance that Self gets one of the three PG's (Barber, Jackson or Jones), and if Parker would chose KU, he would be the icing on the cake for this recruiting class. Conceivably, if Parker came, that could help draw one of the top bigs as well (Shepherd, Lawrence, Lee, or even Randle).

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jhawk7782 8 months, 1 week ago

More experience? They are all still in high school. At most, there is a one-year difference.

As far as talent, pretty hard to say without knowing their AAU backgrounds and the talent of the schools they played against.

The only way that I can judge their talent level is how they are ranked at rivals.com and all are fairly close in the rankings.

So I still don't understand why they never recruited him.

But HCBS was still recruiting Andrew White and the rest without showing any interest in Semi Ojeleye. The decision not to recruit him came before all but Ben McLemore committed to Kansas.

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OakvilleJHawk 8 months, 1 week ago

Reasons Kansas Passed on Semi;

  • We already have a Traylor.

  • No one could pronounce his name.

  • Well, even if it was Rat Face, at least it wasn't Uncle Roy or Calicheatothecowscomehome.

  • The next 6'-6" guy we recruit better be a guard.

  • KU thought it was Ottawa, Canada and suspected eligibility and visa issues.

  • Semi felt the color, Crimson clashed with his eyes.

  • Too much traffic on the daily commute.

2

jayhawkinATL 8 months, 1 week ago

Guess we'll get to see Ojeleye firsthand next year in the Champions Classic in Chicago.

1

phogphan2000 8 months, 1 week ago

Any thoughts on when tickets will go on sale for this year in Atlanta?

0

jayhawkinATL 8 months, 1 week ago

I believe they went on sale to the general public already. I know the deadline for Williams Fund folks was Sept. 4th. Also try checking out the Georgia Jayhawks page on Facebook. There was some info on there within the past week or so.

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phogphan2000 8 months, 1 week ago

Great, just for alumni huh, have to call my brother just to have him buy me a ticket, no thanks organizers. Things like this make it hard for a lifelong KU fan to continue to give a sh*t.

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kansas25 8 months, 1 week ago

Semi is a big K-State fan, but I think education and a really good program won out here. He's a good kid and a great player, but KU didn't need him. Unfortunately for KSU, they did.

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HighEliteMajor 8 months, 1 week ago

This is the only thing that really matters in this article going forward:

"KU is now recruiting Joel Embid, a 7-foot senior from Montverde (Fla.) Academy, ESPN.com reports. The unranked player also has Florida, Louisville, Texas, UCLA and others on his list."

Seems ok if he's the 2nd post player in this class behind one of the top 50 guys we're going after for 2013; however, not ok if he's the top post player in this class.

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JayDogger 8 months, 1 week ago

Pretty much what I thought. Sounds like a project without any immediate impact. I read he's from Cameroon and has only been playing for a couple of years. More of a shot blocker than scorer. A possible diamond in the rough that pans out after a couple of years.

Shepherd is still the best post player that we have the best shot at getting.

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jhawk7782 8 months, 1 week ago

Self is either looking for a 4 yr player or isn't confident of signing a top tier player.

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konkeyDong 8 months, 1 week ago

Looking at Embid may simply be a nod to the fact that there are no great true footers in the class of 2013 and don't appear to be many in 2014 either. It's difficult to evaluate foreign players who've only been in the US a short time unless they make a big splash on the AAU scene.

I'm not so worried about signing a top post guy as we'll have all of the minutes necessary to offer top tier talent, and we're on plenty of great guys:

Karviar Shepherd

Jermaine Lawrence

Marcus Lee

Julius Randle

Tyler Roberson

Aaron Gordon

Beejay Anya

Jabari Parker

There's just too many top tier 6'8"+ guys available to strike out on all of them. Even if we don't pick up a guy from the top tier of the top tier (Randle, Gordon, Parker), we're still reasonably positioned with the next set of players (Lawrence, Lee), and if we scrape the bottom of the barrel in that group, you're still talking about top 50 players (Shepherd, Roberson, Anya).

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mvjayhawk 8 months, 1 week ago

in regards to Semi: HCBS wasn't recruiting him...we didn't even offer. so it's a moot point that he went to Duke. Basically, everyone else in the area is at a loss...KSU, MU, Illinois...because they were actively recruiting him. this is only a story since he lives in Ottawa KS.

in regards to Billy Gillispie, Coach Self knows him about as well as anyone. if anybody gets to comment on this, as a third party, it's Bill Self. He was on his staff at two different programs......the two talked, when they were coaching other programs, at least once a week. This isn't a guy who is an acquaintence of the subject...he KNOWS him....maybe sometimes, even better than Billy himself. So Self should be respected in all of his comments on this.

all of this being said, Gillispie should have never left aTm for UK. he was beloved in College Station....he totally had that program going...his way. at UK, his personality didn't fit at all. he felt the backlash, and then he couldn't handle it. and he hasn't been the same since.

1

LTCUSARet 8 months, 1 week ago

As both a Jayhawk (first and always, thought it so nice I graduated twice) and an Aggie (the Army paid for it, so why not, it's an excellent school), I totally agree with all your comments on Gillispie. I've been saddened and mystified by what has happened with him since he left A&M. I wish him well, but if all the charges being leveled have foundation, his days at Tech are probably numbered.

1

ralster 8 months, 1 week ago

LTCmdr+mvjayhawk have said exactly my feelings on Gillispie. Self's words were properly chosen as well. Agree with feeling that Billy G. had aTm humming along and competetive, wish he had stayed there.

0

lonestar_jayhawk 8 months, 1 week ago

How do you turn down Kentucky?

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ralster 8 months, 1 week ago

lonestar, Yes, my point was more for selfish, better Big12 competition by keeping Gillispie at aTm...but from a coach climbing upwards, Kentucky is a royalty-level program: If offered the job, I expect most coaches to accept it. But alas, his persona and style didnt fit with Kentucky. Let me quote Bill Self regarding Kansas fanbase: "We have the most realistic unrealistic fans". And my point with that quote is over at Kentucky, I think they are worse in their expectations--and Billy G sufferred that. The sinister thing is the rabid, impatient fanbase that is also big $ donors: their opinion has clout to an AD. Although I think we have our share of fair-weather whiners (as evidenced by these boards), I think KY has had a pretty rabid, desparate fan base (until 2012), although that is my gut feeling. These fans can absolutely crucify a player or coach (which is partly why I defend our coaches&players pretty routinely on these boards). The nice side of that coin is that Calipari has now created his own "toughest act to follow". KY will be lucky to get to the Elite8. Lets see what the KY fans do to Calisleazy.

0

konkeyDong 8 months, 1 week ago

Perhaps more pertinent to KU's recruiting efforts is that we've missed on Freeman:

http://www.zagsblog.com/2012/09/08/al-freeman-to-ucla/

I wish this was the news we'd got out of the Barber visit. Just another example of why you wanna be first. Of course, why report on someone KU was actually targeting?

0

BayHawkaholic 8 months, 1 week ago

I don't know whether Freeman had seen the campus or coeds before - but both absolutely gorgeous, coupled with win over nebraska, and promise of new chapter at ucla. Just wish he'd given Late Night a chance . . .

0

bennybob 8 months, 1 week ago

Fellow Jayhawk fans i have a funny story i would like to share with you:

My brother texted me today to tell me that John Callipari was at his school (apple valley highschool in Minnesota) to recruit Tyus Jones (#1 PG in '14 class).

Being a loyal jayhawk he asked me what he should do. I replied he should walk up to Callipari and say "Tyus is going to cost a lot more than the 250k you paid Anthony Davis"

I'm going to pick my brother up from the after school detention he got for that comment in a hour.

We both feel it was well worth it!

Rock Chalk!

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Alohahawk 8 months, 1 week ago

ROFLMAO!!!! Buy your brother a keg!! BTW. I'd love to know how Cal Lie Pari responded. And keep an eye out for anyone with "WWW" on their license plates.

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bennybob 8 months, 1 week ago

Apparently Callipari was getting a tour of the school from the principal when my brother approached him. My Bro wasn't really able to guage a reaction because the principal sent him to detention immediately.

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ralster 8 months, 1 week ago

benny, That is hilarious! Your brother actually said that to Ca-lie-pari...awesome. I will help pay for his pizza! It took Calipari's fab frosh+2 key returnees (Doron Lamb...) to beat us. To me there is no question Calipari's alternate "system" on the court works (worked at Memphis, worked at KY), if the players are raw-talented enough, its just his methods to acquire such players that has infuriated college bball purists. And maddening if you find out a player wasnt even eligible to play...Self does better with slightly less talented guys, but that is a balancing act with enough talent + enough developed guys to all come together as a team. I'll keep Self for sure, but I keep a wary eye on John Calipari. Self's system does flat out beat Roy's, imho...although Roy gave us great years/memories also.

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BBall2012 8 months, 1 week ago

Question re: " its just his methods to acquire such players that has infuriated college bball purists."

What are his methods that infuriates college bball purists?

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bennybob 8 months, 1 week ago

Roy Williams and Tom Izzo are scheduled to visit next week. Anybody got any suggestions on what to do?

I like Izzo, don't really have anything negative to say to him.

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