Recruiting as of 4/15/25

[The Sultan]

I'd have liked to have had Aidoo as Oso's understudy and for use in an occasional twin-towers look against Big opponents, and as a rotational piece this season so Shaka could have gone with the hot hand. Maybe Aidoo would have gotten more PT than Gold, and maybe he wouldn't have.

Or maybe Oso would have transferred had Aidoo stayed. Or maybe Gold wouldn't have signed here. Or maybe Aidoo would not have accepted anything but a guarantee that Shaka didn't feel he could give him.

We don't know everything that went on here re Aidoo. I, for one, was thrilled with Oso the last two seasons.

Not much to know. Justin Gainey was his primary recruiter and followed him to Tennessee.

[Spaniel with a Short Tail]

Does he have a brother?

[JTJ3]

https://youtu.be/vwri3uCPN9U?si=nJ4qB7C9DqB3H-yf

Can tell he's been in the weightroom already.  The release on his jumper is much higher than over the summer too, which is great to see.  It needed to happen to eventually be an impact shooter at this level.

[BCHoopster]

https://youtu.be/vwri3uCPN9U?si=nJ4qB7C9DqB3H-yf

Can tell he's been in the weightroom already.  The release on his jumper is much higher than over the summer too, which is great to see.  It needed to happen to eventually be an impact shooter at this level.

Has a mid range jumper, like it! That video shows he has many ways to score, have to like it!

[Big Papi]

Has a mid range jumper, like it! That video shows he has many ways to score, have to like it!

He reminds me a little bit of Momcilovic from Iowa St.  Needs to get stronger.

[Viper]

Shaka as quoted in JSOnline, after being asked about losing Kam, Jop, Stevie and recruiting via the portal...
"It's definitely going to stress-test our way of doing things. I tend to err on the side of really, really pouring into the guys we have and focusing on them. There's a lot of reasons behind that that, again, we don't necessarily have time to get into now. So, yes, we believe in our way of doing things."

[HutchwasClutch]

Shaka as quoted in JSOnline, after being asked about losing Kam, Jop, Stevie and recruiting via the portal...
"It's definitely going to stress-test our way of doing things. I tend to err on the side of really, really pouring into the guys we have and focusing on them. There's a lot of reasons behind that that, again, we don't necessarily have time to get into now. So, yes, we believe in our way of doing things."

Sounds like business as usual while acknowledging very difficult task lies ahead. 

[brewcity77]

His offer would have been the second highest on the team. One of many reasons he went to Duke was becuase they could give him what Kam got.

If Kon was going for money, he wouldn't have gone to Duke. NIL isn't the reason he didn't come to Marquette.

[willie warrior]

Shaka as quoted in JSOnline, after being asked about losing Kam, Jop, Stevie and recruiting via the portal...
"It's definitely going to stress-test our way of doing things. I tend to err on the side of really, really pouring into the guys we have and focusing on them. There's a lot of reasons behind that that, again, we don't necessarily have time to get into now. So, yes, we believe in our way of doing things."

OK. He has spoken. He officially owns the performance of the program. All the players are his, all the strategy is his, the recruiting process which he rock hard defends is his...so he owns it all. Hope the big boy pants he wears do not fall down. Giddyup Shaka. And BTW, Good Luck. We are all hoping your way is the high way.

[Hards Alumni]

OK. He has spoken. He officially owns the performance of the program. All the players are his, all the strategy is his, the recruiting process which he rock hard defends is his...so he owns it all. Hope the big boy pants he wears do not fall down. Giddyup Shaka. And BTW, Good Luck. We are all hoping your way is the high way.

I think everyone already knew that.  lmao

[Zog from Margo]

I actually thought this was the more interesting Shaka quote:

"We were not poised enough to win an NCAA tournament game tonight. We just weren't. We also weren't tough enough around the baskets."

The lack of toughness on the glass and in attacking the hoop offensively were big weaknesses. Defensive rebounding has been a big problem. Boxing out seemed optional on this team. Also, when Kam and Chase drove, they didn't get to the line because they faded to avoid contact rather than try to finish through it. Stevie struggled to finish strong in traffic as well.

MU also needs to get the center to be a threat inside. Gold was 6'10" on defense and 6' on offense. If he gets inside and plays strong, he could get to the line.

[MUJunkie]

Shaka as quoted in JSOnline, after being asked about losing Kam, Jop, Stevie and recruiting via the portal...
"It's definitely going to stress-test our way of doing things. I tend to err on the side of really, really pouring into the guys we have and focusing on them. There's a lot of reasons behind that that, again, we don't necessarily have time to get into now. So, yes, we believe in our way of doing things."

If we consistently recruited top 25-75 guys then this strategy would probably work a lot better. Recruiting classes have been decent, but imo he needs to buckle down a bit if he wants to keep with the strategy. Just a thought...but with most teams going after transfers our classes should have improved from top 75-150 guys to top 25-75.

[NickelDimer]

These quotes were during his postgame PC immediately after their season ended. Idk I tend to think Shaka hasn't decided every single move he wants to make and any decisions he has maybe made weren't going to be aired in that moment

[cheebs09]

These quotes were during his postgame PC immediately after their season ended. Idk I tend to think Shaka hasn't decided every single move he wants to make and any decisions he has maybe made weren't going to be aired in that moment

Yeah. Doubt that's the right time to say, "yeah, we don't have the horses in that locker room, so I'm going shopping in the portal."

[MuMark]

https://x.com/jakelieberman2/status/1903990659201073567?s=61&t=6XPB8f4sAKmJIzxgMcsCjw

[JakeBarnes]

https://x.com/jakelieberman2/status/1903990659201073567?s=61&t=6XPB8f4sAKmJIzxgMcsCjw

Oh my. That dude is a beast

[MuMark]

Blankson? No it couldn't be........

[JTJ3]

Umm... is his dad who we're all thinking?

[MUEng92]

What does the O stand for?

[tower912]

'OJ' can't be Odartey Junior, can it?

[Pakuni]

Same kid?
Burbank (5-17 overall, 1-7 in league) has received a tremendous boost in recent weeks thanks to the addition of 6-foot-6 junior guard Odartey Blankson, who transferred to Burbank after the season started from DNA Prep Academy in Chatsworth.

Blankson, whose father who is also named Odartey, is originally from the Las Vegas area and his father played in college at UNLV.
He finished with a game-high 38 points.


https://myburbank.com/burroughs-stings-burbank-in-boys-basketball-thriller/

[Daniel]

Wow would be nice to have an Odartey Blankson back! 

[MuMark]

Full circle moments are cool.......that would be a nice story

[tower912]

Rumors are fun.

[MuMark]

Rumors are fun.

Lieberman is a legit guy........obviously who knows if he ends up here or not but this isn't some random twitter guy posting it.