Karl Towns to Announce Dec. 4

[brewcity77]

I'm guessing most people don't know who Karl Towns Jr. is yet, but the expectation was that 2 years from now, he would be the most coveted high school player in the nation. We're all familiar with Diamond Stone, generally considered the #2 recruit in the nation for 2015. Towns is the guy who's ranked #1, and he's announcing his college decision in about 3 weeks.

So why do we care? Towns doesn't have Marquette on his list. But Towns does have Kentucky on his list. They are widely considered the favorite as Towns played for Calipari and Orlando Antigua already on the Puerto Rican national team. If the 6'11" big-body picks Kentucky, it seems likely that Stone will want to head somewhere else.

This may not accelerate his timetable, but if Kentucky isn't solidly in the running for Diamond Stone, that is a HUGE obstacle out of the way. Let's be honest, Calipari is the 800-pound gorilla in the room for every recruitment. His presence is the equivalent of the Yankees pursuing a free agent or Manchester City bidding for a player. The difficulty level to get that guy suddenly goes up a notch. While Duke, UNC, Kansas, and all the other heavyweights will still be difficult to go up against in trying to keep Diamond at home, none of them have the current cache of Kentucky.

Here's hoping Towns picks UK, leaving that door open for Stone to wear the Blue and Gold.

http://zagsblog.com/articles/karl-towns-to-announce-dec-4/

[NickelDimer]

You know, it was hard enough tempering the anticipation and hope that Embiid would sign for the last couple months only to once again be let down.  And he actually seemed like a very real possibility!

I don't know about anyone else, but I refuse to get caught in the same old trap with Stone.  I'm pretty much approaching his recruitment as us having zero chance of landing him.  

[tower912]

Nickeldimer, you are on the path to enlightenment.    The key to happiness is low expectations.    That way you are never disappointed and frequently pleasantly surprised. 

[Brewtown Andy]

I'm supposed to put a lot of stock into what a sophomore says he's going to do about college when he can't sign any paperwork committing him to said college for two more years?

No thank you.

[frozena pizza]

The connection seems pretty attenuated.

[Dawson Rental]

You know, it was hard enough tempering the anticipation and hope that Embiid would sign for the last couple months only to once again be let down.  And he actually seemed like a very real possibility!

I don't know about anyone else, but I refuse to get caught in the same old trap with Stone.  I'm pretty much approaching his recruitment as us having zero chance of landing him.  

I'll jump into that trap with any player once they show a serious interest in MU.  For an out of town player that means that they agree to an official visit.  While I know that Looney and Stone are out there, I'm won't think much about them unless and until they start to limit the number of teams to seven or under and MU is on the list.

[Marqus Howard]

I'm not sure this will exclude Kentucky from recruiting Stone. Despite his size, Towns plays more like a 4 - he's got a pretty good jumper and draws a lot of comparisons to Dirk Nowitzki. Kentucky could easily play a lineup that features Towns at the 4 and Stone at the 5.

I hope Towns' decision takes them out of the running for Stone, but I wouldn't bet on it.

[mr.MUskie]

Nickeldimer, you are on the path to enlightenment.    The key to happiness is low expectations.    That way you are never disappointed and frequently   rarely  pleasantly surprised. 

fixed.

[Ellenson Guerrero]

According to Twitter, Townes is reclassifying to 2014 per his hs AD. Maybe this takes a spot at Kentucky away from Looney??? Lol