Kansas freshmen drawing praise

By Gary Bedore     Aug 1, 2015

Mike Yoder
Kansas forward Carlton Bragg, left, hits the floor for a loose ball with Canada guard Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson in the first-half of a Team USA exhibition game against Canada Tuesday, June 23, at the Sprint Center in K.C., MO.

Sports Illustrated has great expectations for two of Kansas University’s incoming freshmen basketball players.

SI.com included forwards Carlton Bragg and Cheick Diallo in a piece commenting on how the top 25 incoming college rookies fit in with their new teams.

Bragg, 6-9 from Cleveland, was deemed the 22nd best player in the Class of 2015 by writer Chris Johnson.

“Bragg will join Perry Ellis and Cheick Diallo to form one of the top frontcourts in the country,” writes Johnson. “Whereas Ellis is a refined post scorer and Diallo excels as a shot blocker and rebounder, Bragg is highly regarded for his offensive versatility and ability to stretch defenses by knocking down jump shots.

“Still, it’s not clear how much playing time Bragg will earn in a rotation that — in addition to adding Diallo and bringing back Ellis — returns veterans Hunter Mickelson, Landen Lucas and Jamari Traylor. Kansas has so much depth that Bragg may play only limited minutes in his first season.”

Diallo, 6-9 from Mali, was ranked No. 6 freshman by Johnson. “The addition of Diallo pushed Kansas into the national title conversation and deprived Iowa State, Kentucky, Pittsburgh and St. John’s — his four other listed finalists — of one of the top frontcourt prospects in this class,” Johnson writes.

“The 6-9, 218-pounder is an active shot blocker and rebounder, but he distinguishes himself from other big men with his work rate and intensity. Diallo should fit well in Kansas’s frontcourt. Whereas Ellis is a skilled post scorer with limited explosiveness and shot-blocking ability, Diallo is a top-notch athlete who will chase rebounds on both ends, swat plenty of shots and deter opposing ball handlers from driving to the rim. The Jayhawks won’t need Diallo to put up big scoring numbers because, in addition to Ellis and the offensively-skilled Bragg, they return a deep perimeter rotation that includes point guards Frank Mason III and Devonté Graham, and wings Wayne Selden Jr., Brannen Greene and Svi Mykhailiuk.”

LSU player Ben Simmons was listed as SI’s top incoming player in college basketball.

Homestate school struggling: Recent developments at Arkansas do not figure to help the Razorbacks in the recruitment of prep phenom Malik Monk of Bentonville.

UA’s Anton Beard, Jacorey Williams and Dustin Thomas were recently arrested in a forgery investigation — i.e. passing counterfeit money. According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Thomas passed two counterfeit 20 dollar bills, Williams one and Beard four and exchanged six 50 dollar bills for three 100s.

Williams also is being investigated in a pair of alleged assaults, the Democrat-Gazette reports.

As far as the roster, UA lost Bobby Portis to the NBA Draft. Michael Qualls, who decided to leave after averaging 15.9 points a game his junior year, went undrafted.

The 6-3 Monk, who is ranked No. 6 nationally by Rivals.com, reportedly has been favoring Arkansas and Kentucky over KU, North Carolina, Oregon, Oklahoma State, Baylor, Florida State and others.

His brother, Marcus, played football at Arkansas. His cousin, Ky Madden, started at point guard for UA last season.

“I gave the school (Arkansas) four years. They got four years from the Monk family already,” Marcus Monk told SBnation.com. “So there’s no pressure on me. And I keep telling Malik there’s no pressure on him. I know he probably gets hit (by Razorback fans) more than me.”

Monk reportedly wants to be assured he’ll be allowed to play point guard instead of shooting guard in college.

Kentucky loaded again: Kentucky keeps adding reinforcements to a team that will visit Allen Fieldhouse on Jan. 30. Highly touted Jamal Murray, a 6-4 freshman guard from Canada, reclassified from the Class of 2016 to 2015 in June and promptly signed with Kentucky. Murray scored 30 points against the U.S. at the Nike Hoop Summit.

“I had so many people call me to tell me how unbelievable he was,” UK coach John Calipari said of last year’s No. 18-rated player nationally by Rivals.com

Now, UK is on the verge of adding Isaac Humphries, a 7-foot, 260-pounder from Australia who is on UK’s campus this weekend. Rivals.com’s No. 35-rated player in the Class of 2016 is thinking about moving from the Class of ’16 to ’15.

UK is also bringing in the country’s top-rated player, Skal Labissiere, 6-11 from Haiti, and No. 10 Isaiah Briscoe, 6-3 from Roselle Catholic in Newark, New Jersey.

Aztecs player tears ACL: San Diego State’s basketball team, which plays host to KU on Dec. 22, will be without fourth-year junior Matt Shrigley, who recently tore the ACL in his right knee playing in a pick-up game.

Long-range bomber Shrigley, who averaged 5.1 ppg last season, hitting 41 of 126 threes (.325) was expected to compete for a starting spot at shooting guard with Trey Kell (5.6 ppg). The Aztecs, who went 27-9 a year ago (16-1 at home), return senior forward Winston Shepard (team-leading 11.1 ppg). Also back are 6-10 soph Malik Pope (5.1 ppg) and 6-9 senior Angelo Chol (4.4 ppg).

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