I’m not in the poll-taking business. I’m not going to pick up the phone and ask for opinions to compile a straw vote.
I know what the answer will be.
David Padgett.
Of all the Kansas University basketball players who would be eligible to play for the Jayhawks this season if they hadn’t pulled up stakes, the 6-foot-11 Padgett stands front and center.
I saw Padgett on the tube the other day. He was wearing a Louisville University uniform, and I thought he performed at a high level, exhibiting nifty inside moves with each hand, in a road loss to Kentucky.
Padgett was in early foul trouble, however. No surprise there. Foul woes were a bugaboo when Padgett was a KU freshman two seasons back, but I suspect he’ll overcome that tendency in time. Padgett reminds me somewhat of Nick Collison, who eventually learned how to avoid foul trouble and evolved into an All-American.
Padgett clearly ranks No. 1 in this coulda-woulda category, but it’s more difficult to select a No. 2 from among remaining candidates J.R. Giddens, Nick Bahe and Alex Galindo.
I never was much of a Giddens fan. Giddens is athletic but lacks rudimentary basketball skills. He basically is a stand-still three-point shooter and a dunker. Giddens can jump, but he isn’t a proficient rebounder. He can run, yet he doesn’t possess the quick feet to play sound defense.
Still, the NBA scouts considered Giddens the best pro prospect on last year’s KU team based on his athleticism. The pros like athletes. They care less about skills. That’s why Wayne Simien went so low in the first round. Simien can rebound and he can shoot, but he has never wowed anybody with athletic moves.
It’s not likely, however, we’ll be hearing much talk about Giddens turning pro before he completes his two remaining college seasons at New Mexico because, frankly, the pro scouts have seen enough to know Giddens has too many warts – on the court and off – to project as a first-rounder.
Meanwhile, I liked Galindo for what he was – someone who could come off the bench and make something happen. However, it soon became obvious Galindo was uncomfortable in a structured format and that he would never be more than a sixth or seventh man in a high-level program.
It would seem Galindo, a native of Puerto Rico, has found his comfort level at Florida International, a Sun Belt Conference school coached by an Hispanic (Sergio Rouco). Like Giddens, Galindo will be eligible next season, as will Bahe at Creighton.
Of those three, the one I think the Jayhawks miss most is Bahe. That’s right. Bahe, the walk-on guard who spent two seasons riding the bench.
But, oh, how he rode the bench. Surely, KU has had players with more energy and enthusiasm than Bahe, but I can’t think of any. Bahe always was the first guy off the bench – about a half-second ahead of Stephen Vinson – when a timeout was called.
Moreover, Bahe always was the first to greet a teammate coming off the floor for a breather. He made the KU cheerleaders look like tree sloths.
Now that Vinson is seeing more court time than anyone expected, I suspect Bahe would have played more, too. I can understand the voice that led to Bahe’s choice, but it may have been hasty.
