Latest on Bolden?

[trevahoma]

I've seen several recent predictions of Bolden to Kentucky.

Also saw where he's not taking a 5th official visit.

Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, and Oklahoma.

With OU trending for Trae Young, does that help at all with Bolden?

Any insiders heard any more?

 

[CoachTalk]

Trending with Young?

Bolden and his camp are quiet! Ive got nothing to add.

 

[usedtobe1]

Coach K and his entire staff (including Capel) were at Bolden's game last Tuesday. They sat on the first row at mid-court.

Duke will be in to see McDonald's All-American Marques Bolden today (January 19th). The 6'11" star from DeSoto HS in the Dallas metroplex is the Blue Devils' top priority recruit. Bolden is coveted by the nation's best programs because of his skill in the low-post and very good shot-blocking ability. For Duke, Marques Bolden would represent the final piece to an excellent 2016 recruiting class. More importantly, the DeSoto big man would provide Duke with a traditional center to team up with the nation's top power forward, 6'10" Harry Giles.

Duke has been recruiting Marques Bolden for a while. Last June, Duke formally offered the five-star big man. While Bolden's strength is his shot-blocking and ability to defend either big man position, his offense made a noticeable improvement this past year on Nike's EYBL Circuit for ProSkills Academy. Bolden has two connections to the Blue Devils. The five-star big goes to the same high school, DeSoto, as Duke captain Matt Jones. Secondarily, his AAU coach, Jeff Webster, has a great relationship with Duke Associate Coach Jeff Capel. Marques Bolden, who has a game tonight, has lead DeSoto to a 22-1 record, which has the Eagles ranked in the MaxPreps Top 25 in the nation.

For Duke, if Marques Bolden were to join 6'10" dominating forward Harry Giles, 6'8" skilled wing Jayson Tatum, explosive 6'3" guard Frank Jackson, and 6'8" high-motor forward Javin DeLaurier, it would elevate the Blue Devils' class to the top-ranked in the country.

In September, Duke had an in-home visit with the Boldens. Later in the month, the Blue Devils hosted the Jordan All-American for an official visit. Duke seemed to be in the proverbial lead for his coveted services at the time. Now, however, they are in a war for Bolden against two other blue bloods of college basketball: the Kansas Jayhawks, who also were perceived to be a favorite at one point, and the Kentucky Wildcats, the current perceived leader. The 247Sports crystal ball currently has Kentucky leading in a plurality (48%) over Kansas (29%) and Duke (24%).

Here's an article showing them sitting at the game: Coach K at Bolden's game 1/19

 

[DenverSooner]

Surely OU has a better relationship with Webster than Capel.

 

[trevahoma]

I've read multiple reports on Trae Young in the past couple weeks that the Sooners are as strong of a contender as ever. His dad said we're definitely in the Top 2 or 3. He loves the way Lon lets his guards play which is exactly what Trae is looking for.

 

[DenverSooner]

It would be really nice to land Bolden and Young.

 

[BigTime]

Surely OU has a better relationship with Webster than Capel.

I dunno. Capel probably busted out the Jay Z...

 

[MercedeSooner]

I wrote this guy off months ago - doesn't seem that interested in us. All chips in the Trae Young sweepstakes.

 

[Leroy]

Rumor last weekend at basketball tournaments was Duke and Kentucky have backed off of Trae Young.

 

[Max Power]

Rumor last weekend at basketball tournaments was Duke and Kentucky have backed off of Trae Young.

So you're saying there's a chance

 

[bgrch1350]

Its hard to even think there is a chance when the competition for him is Duke, UK, and KU. When going down the wire for a top 25 recruit, You just see these kids pick a school with Blue in it.

The only shot we have is if he wants to start and get a bunch of minutes. The others right now don't offer that...except maybe Duke. He will have to compete against Jeter for starting b/c Giles is starting at the 4. And even starting for us isn't a for sure thing b/c Buford is starting to show progress.

 

[pnkranger]

So you're saying there's a chance

Maybe they know something we don't, i.e. Trae's heart is already set on OU.

 

[furge]

I wrote this guy off months ago - doesn't seem that interested in us. All chips in the Trae Young sweepstakes.

Well, he DID ask Kam McGusty why OU had backed off on him, and that restarted the push from Lon and Co. So I would say he's at least interested enough to get us back into his running PERSONALLY....

Bolden can punch his own ticket. He's one of the last McD boys left on the board. We're solid enough in the post with Lattin, Buford, a more developed Manyang, McNease, and (hopefully) Freeman next year that we can (and should) take a big swing. Trae Young is a bigger positional need going forward, but they're not mutually exclusive.

 

[hoopsaustin]

Rumor last weekend at basketball tournaments was Duke and Kentucky have backed off of Trae Young.

 

[skyvue]

We're solid enough in the post with Lattin, Buford, a more developed Manyang, McNease, and (hopefully) Freeman next year that we can (and should) take a big swing.

My concern about our post players going forward is that we're lacking the toughness that Spangler has brought -- the muscle, the rebounding. Manyang might develop enough to be a bruiser, but he's got just one more season to play. None of our other post players are that kind of player.

 

[Seymore Cox]

Surely OU has a better relationship with Webster than Capel.

Webster has a great business relationship with Duke and Kentucky.

 

[furge]

My concern about our post players going forward is that we're lacking the toughness that Spangler has brought -- the muscle, the rebounding. Manyang might develop enough to be a bruiser, but he's got just one more season to play. None of our other post players are that kind of player.

I think Lattin's still got room to fill out and tap into his mean streak. McNease very well could - he has the motor, but his skills aren't as refined. The conference is losing a lot of quality bigs to graduation this year - Niang, Ellis, Cam Ridley, Gathers and Prince* - so OU's current stable may be able to cope more easily with Spangler's absence.

*And Mitch Solomon to the draft. Obviously.

 

[sperry]

Lattin seems like a great worker. He has improved dramatically this year, and despite that improvement he's still only scratching the surface. Once he actually figures out how to play basketball he's going to be a monster. And given the year to year improvement we see out of kids in this program, I expect a big leap from soph to jr. year.