🍏 Big plans in the Little Apple

Jerome Tang shares aspirations for Year 1, Duke gets a rare cold shoulder from a recruit, Manny Bates gets clearance from Butler, and more.

July 28, 2022

The summer doldrums can hit any time. Life slows down, news crawls and you’re hoping for fall. Well, it’ll be here soon enough. In the meantime, savor today’s Daily.

1. Jerome Tang’s thinking big

New Kansas State coach Jerome Tang isn’t wasting any time. He just signed the school’s highest-rated recruit (Dai Dai Ames) since 2009 and told C.J. Moore from The Athletic ($) that despite a mass exodus from Manhattan, the goal is to make the 2023 NCAA Tournament.

“At this school, it should be consistently going to the NCAA Tournament,” he told Moore, “and then making runs.”

K-State was 34-58 over the past three seasons. It notably lost All-Big 12 guard Nijel Pack to Miami. Yet Tang is walking the walk, bringing in better recruits and making a significant hire Wednesday in assistant coach Rodney Perry.

Perry’s an elite AAU coach — his MoKan Elite squad just won Peach Jam for the third time — and his ties to high-caliber recruits should pay immediate benefits for K-State. After all, Kansas just won a title with former MoKan players Ochai Agbaji, Christian Braun and DaJuan Harris. And don’t get me wrong, this is a significant recruiting boost, but also will help the program. Perry can coach.

Kansas State and Iowa State (see yesterday’s Daily) are recruiting better than ever. TCU has Top 25 aspirations, while West Virginia, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma should be NCAA Tournament-worthy this season. The top — Kansas, Baylor, Texas Tech and Texas — isn’t going anywhere.

This Big 12 basketball arms race should be fun to watch.

2. Duke denied by a top 2023 prospect

J.P. Estrella won’t visit Duke as planned this week. According to On3.com, he’s cooled on the Devils.

The 6-10 power forward — a fast riser in the last year due to a massive growth spurt — has taken visits to Marquette and Tennessee, and he will reportedly visit Iowa today, then Syracuse next week.

Duke isn’t hurting for impact players in its 2023 class. It has four 5-star prospects committed, including two power forwards, Mackenzie Mgbako and Sean Stewart. If Estrella’s looking for more opportunity, it’s probably not in Durham.

3. Manny Bates cleared for takeoff

Butler added some big pieces to its roster under new coach Thad Matta, perhaps none more notable than former N.C. State center Manny Bates.

Well, here’s a small piece of news for the big fella.

Bates missed most of last season with a shoulder injury. Whether he plays significant minutes during Butler’s exhibition trip through Italy and Greece remains to be seen, but expect Matta to test how he plays alongside fellow transfer Jalen Thomas. That duo makes a formidable Big East frontcourt, especially if Bates is anything close to the rim protector he was at N.C. State (first in the ACC in block rate in both 2020 and 2021, per KenPom).

4. Big Blue Blueprint

Here’s the imaginary conversation Kentucky had with Ugonna Kingsley Onyenso this week: “Ugonna, come to Lexington, practice against Oscar every day, get in some reps when it matters, by fall 2023, you’ll be the man in the middle.”

If that sounds like an updated version of the Shaedon Sharpe approach, it’s by design. This report indicates that the 6-11 center — who recently re-classified to the class of 2022 — is locked in on Lexington, and sold on the idea of coming in ready to learn, develop his footwork and get stronger.

He’s set to make his announcement Monday. Sure seems like Oscar Tshiebwe will have a student soon enough.

5. List making is an art

The latest weekly countdown from our social team is our best yet — at aggravating college hoops fans.

The top 25 players from the last 10 season (yes, that means Anthony Davis is ineligible) is an automatic argument starter. But our Twitter mentions have absolutely been crushed by people with this latest list.

Is there recency bias thus far? Maybe. But more than anything else, there’s a bias toward players who led their teams to titles. Will that remain the case as we dive into the Top 10? Follow us to find out.

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.

SUMMER READING

Summer reading assignments suck. Trying to absorb info when your brain just wants to zone out is like trying to outrebound Oscar Tshiebwe. Well, good news. We did the assignment. Every Tuesday and Thursday, Sean Paul gives Cliffs Notes on programs that aren’t Top 25 contenders but are worth knowing entering the 2022-23 season. So sit back, relax, and enjoy. 

Headline

The LSU synopsis: It’s transition time. Will Wade put LSU basketball on the map, reaching three NCAA Tournaments in five seasons and one Sweet Sixteen. However, he only coached them during one of those appearances — and his tenure ended before the 2022 tournament. In steps Matt McMahon, who won 31 games at Murray State last season and helped discover NBA superstar Ja Morant. McMahon won. A lot. But most coaches do at Murray State. How will he fare in the SEC? There’s a potential NCAA Tournament ban looming and he re-tooled the entire roster this offseason. The odds are stacked against the Tigers, but McMahon and the staff did their best in the talent department.

Main Characters: The trio of Juice Hill (Murray State transfer), KJ Williams (Murray State transfer) and Adam Miller should provide the brunt of the scoring. Williams is burly (6-10, 245 pounds) and can score from anywhere on the court. The Ohio Valley Player of the Year averaged 18.0 points, 8.4 rebounds and shot 53 percent from the floor. Hill ran McMahon’s offense and averaged 13.4 points, 5.1 assists and only 1.9 turnovers. The final piece is the wild card: Adam Miller, a former top-35 recruit and Illinois transfer who missed last season due to an ACL injury. His versatile scoring skillset should allow him to mesh well with the rest of the roster.

The conflict: I LOVE mid-major hoops. But … not all mid-major transfers can handle the jump. The same goes for coaches. McMahon and his staff added talent (despite having zero scholarship players in April), but the roster lacks continuity. Plus, Hill and Williams are the only proven scorers. Perhaps Montverde product Justice Williams or freshman Tyrell Ward could emerge as legitimate scoring options, but it’ll take time to figure out.

Spoiler alert! The Tigers have NCAA Tournament aspirations — unless an NCAA Tournament ban comes for this season. There’s enough talent to turn those hopes into reality with a talented core, experience and a good coaching staff.

THE FAST BREAK

Links as you debate Dwight Howard’s Hall of Fame credentials. (Though it really isn’t a debate.)