BASKETBALL grad transfer
- Thread starter SpaceRaider
- Start date
Memphis native, Memphis transfer to Alabama, now a grad transfer to MT
http://www.al.com/alabamabasketball/index.ssf/2015/04/nick_king_signs_alabama.html
http://www.al.com/alabamabasketball/index.ssf/2015/04/nick_king_signs_alabama.html
Battled a lung infection last season. This is huge. Kid can play. Pastner almost ruined him. Good kid and good family. Was a Top 50 player coming out of Memphis East.
Good to hear why he didn't play last year and also to some extent why he traveled so much. Hoping he can adjust to Davis quickly and show early buy-in.
Now, since we are oversigned how does this work out. I'm expecting we'll find that Sims' parents are paying for his red-shirt year but???
Now, since we are oversigned how does this work out. I'm expecting we'll find that Sims' parents are paying for his red-shirt year but???
I hope you are right... A little underwhelmed at this point...
Was hoping for a player that had been a more significant factor for his previous team...
Maybe it is just about finding the right fit for him. Dendy didn't have great numbers at Iowa St.
Both Dendy and Williams had the benefit of a redshirt year to learn Kermit's system and demands, to grow stronger, and become a part of the team. Something that King will not have the benefit of.
While no new player, recruit, or transfer is a lock to succeed, Kermit has a pretty good track record these last 6 years of with senior transfers i.e. Dendy & Williams. If I'm not mistaken, neither Dendy or Williams had stellar numbers at their prior stops before arriving at MT.
Edit: I was slow to click Post Reply and everyone else pretty much covered these points. I'm easily distracted.
Edit: I was slow to click Post Reply and everyone else pretty much covered these points. I'm easily distracted.
One big positive is he will be able to really hyper focus on basketball. He has already graduated. Guys like this are just looking for an opportunity to succeed in the sport. Denny and Williams were perfect examples of that. Mike dean and Thomas were 2 guys that had decent careers here as well. We have to take the "wait and see" approach. Heck, we have a better staff than Alabama anyway.
It looks like this summer's work and preparation will loom large for this young man and the upcoming season.
Hopefully Kermit has found another hungry talented player who has been overlooked or not fit in in previous stops. A guy coming in for one year would seem to have to know that he will have to work incredibly hard to succeed in Kermit's system. Hopefully the trend will continue of a transfer having a great year. Afterall, Brandon Walters is going to need some good support in the frontcourt.
It would be really nice if Gamble could have his breakout year this upcoming season. Gamble passes the eye test of big, strong, tall, lengthy, and athletic for a PF. Gamble appears to have the tools to be successful. It sure would seem that circumstances are in place for a few young and new forwards to step up and prove they are ready for some of that quality playing time that needs to be replaced.
Hopefully Kermit has found another hungry talented player who has been overlooked or not fit in in previous stops. A guy coming in for one year would seem to have to know that he will have to work incredibly hard to succeed in Kermit's system. Hopefully the trend will continue of a transfer having a great year. Afterall, Brandon Walters is going to need some good support in the frontcourt.
It would be really nice if Gamble could have his breakout year this upcoming season. Gamble passes the eye test of big, strong, tall, lengthy, and athletic for a PF. Gamble appears to have the tools to be successful. It sure would seem that circumstances are in place for a few young and new forwards to step up and prove they are ready for some of that quality playing time that needs to be replaced.
I could be wrong (please correct me if I am) but since the era of recruiting services, stars, and rankings it appears that King will be, out of high school, by far the highest rated player to ever don a Blue Raider uniform. We just don't get players rated 5 (Scout) and 4 (Rivals & ESPN) star who have such an impressive list of offers. UNC, Georgetown, and over half the $EC - You gotta be kidding me
Barring injury or problems with discipline or attitude King will play well for Davis if he works hard and accepts the attributes within the culture. (gotta believe players we get today know what to expect when signing on with MT)
I can't wait for practice to start to see all of the new players on the floor.
Barring injury or problems with discipline or attitude King will play well for Davis if he works hard and accepts the attributes within the culture. (gotta believe players we get today know what to expect when signing on with MT)
I can't wait for practice to start to see all of the new players on the floor.
It's an interesting question, and it certainly caught my eye. I would like to know if MT bball has ever had a 4 or 5 star player. Just curious. Admittedly, stars aren't everything. What was Reggie? Maybe 3 stars?? I think he proved to have a career reflective of a good 4 star player. Giddy Potts was a 2 star, right? He's proven to be a player consistent with at least 3 star if not 4 star caliber or expectations. When young players do get 4 or 5 stars, they have certainly caught the eyes of plenty knowledgeable basketball people as having some excellent skills and/or potential. Kinda nice nonetheless.
Out of HS, he looked legit with most ranking services having him in or near a top 50 national recruit. Dang impressive. One would think that he has the tools to be really good. There are certainly plenty of cases of top recruits not panning out when they arrive at bigtime team xyz. Clearly, it's not always the player's fault for those cases of lack of success or development. Sometimes it might just be a poor fit, or coaching instability. It could be a number of reasons. These recent years Kermit has demonstrated success in these situations. While there are no guarantees, I'm hopeful that this young man can have some good success with the Blue Raiders.
Kermit publicly spoke of the in depth vetting they gave Williams before he came to MT to play for one year. It struck me as impressive that Kermit and the athletic dept would take the time and effort to really check a potential transfer out. While I have no real way of knowing of this situation, I'm guessing both Kermit and the player know what they are getting into.
In the end, it comes back to what many have already mentioned. Will the transfer continue to remain dedicated to hard work within the team system? That is, hard work, toughness, effort, extra effort on defense and rebounding, and working on developing overall offensive ball playing skills. And maybe in that order! If this new young man is willing and does the hard work, Kermit has demonstrated that he can help bring a talented player with potential to have an outstanding if not incredible final season.
Kerry Hammonds Sr was too early, but I suspect he would have a four star. Based on Street and Smith's magazine before Sleepy Taylor's freshman season (1974-75) naming him one of their 15 Freshmen of Influence, I am thinking that he would have been a five star. Sleepy chose MT over his home state NCState who had just won the NCAA Championship (Monte Towe, Steve Burleson, David Thompson, etc)
I think a lot of this could be contributed to the system that we run. In high school these guys were good, but ended up going to universities that didn't run their style of game just because it was a big name. So they get to a big time university and figure this out and try to change their game to fit the teams. This might not always work and when it doesn't, Kermit finds them.
I do trust Kermit on his selection of players, and maybe the all the high school rankings were right, but the guy has not done anything to back that up so far in college. Maybe he'll come in determined to prove that all the high school rankings were not complete and total bullsh*t.
I think this guy is probably unfairly being compared to Dendy and Williams and the expectation by some that he's going to POY material.
Even if he turns out to be just a role player, being from Memphis might help get more attention from prep stars if CKD approaches them. I believe his high school does have a couple of highly touted 2018 class players.
I think this guy is probably unfairly being compared to Dendy and Williams and the expectation by some that he's going to POY material.
Even if he turns out to be just a role player, being from Memphis might help get more attention from prep stars if CKD approaches them. I believe his high school does have a couple of highly touted 2018 class players.
With both forward positions open, I wouldn't be surprised to see him crack the starting line up sooner rather than later. From reading the Memphis boards, it sounds like he's kind of a garbage man type of player. Won't have many double digit stats but consistently might get us 8 pts, 8 rebs, few assists and maybe a block. Kermit has been great at developing transfers and if he was such a highly rated recruit he must have insane athletic ability, so I suspect Kermit will put his ass to work on the defensive end which should be great with his athleticism. Memphis message boards make it sound like his father is a diva. Will be interesting to see how that plays out.
With the guard position stacked, we needed another forward for the 2017 season and that's what we got. Kermit did a great job here filling a need and grabbing probably the best player available out there. I think our staff hit a homerun here even though the player might not be a CUSA first teamer.
With the guard position stacked, we needed another forward for the 2017 season and that's what we got. Kermit did a great job here filling a need and grabbing probably the best player available out there. I think our staff hit a homerun here even though the player might not be a CUSA first teamer.
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Roy Williams rarely offers players who are duds. VU offered out of high school and King is graduating at Bama after four years in college so he is obviously college material academically. I'm more than willing to trust the staff has done due diligence on this with both the player and his parents. It appears King can play at the 3 and along with freshman Shelton-Szmidt we will have some much needed size on the perimeter. I'll be very surprised if King isn't making a major contribution by the time conference play begins.
When I was on the hunt trying to figure out who this mysterious transfer was, a source told me that KD and his staff viewed this player as better than Reggie and JaCorey. More complete. That obviously made me say whoa..
Without naming names, let's just say I believe what this person told me (in terms of KD's thought process).
Should be exciting to watch him play.
Without naming names, let's just say I believe what this person told me (in terms of KD's thought process).
Should be exciting to watch him play.
Space, excellent history of MT bball. You're always reliable for many of the years before I ever arrived at MT.
It seemed fairly apparent that U of Memphis had a few off years and coaching changes which is the time frame this young man would have been trying to play.
Let's face it, playing for Kermit takes a lot of hard work, discipline, and/or maturity. I'm sure in this day and age when highly talented star players who don't even have to try to be good in high school, the prospect of playing in a system like Kermit's is not always appealing to a lot of players.
Kermit, the Blue Raiders, and certain players have been fortunate to find each other before those players' careers were over. It seems Kermit has found a few over the years who have not thrived elsewhere even though they remain hungry. With that hunger and a few years of maturity, a few players have found that they are willing to go the grueling extra work distance to finish their college career successfully.
Again, that level of success for most of these players really ends up depending on their willingness to put in the old fashioned extra effort and hard work. That and not having some crazy injury or illness etc.
Let's face it, playing for Kermit takes a lot of hard work, discipline, and/or maturity. I'm sure in this day and age when highly talented star players who don't even have to try to be good in high school, the prospect of playing in a system like Kermit's is not always appealing to a lot of players.
Kermit, the Blue Raiders, and certain players have been fortunate to find each other before those players' careers were over. It seems Kermit has found a few over the years who have not thrived elsewhere even though they remain hungry. With that hunger and a few years of maturity, a few players have found that they are willing to go the grueling extra work distance to finish their college career successfully.
Again, that level of success for most of these players really ends up depending on their willingness to put in the old fashioned extra effort and hard work. That and not having some crazy injury or illness etc.
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