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WayneFleekHoosier

(2017) PF Deng Gak to Miami

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2 minutes ago, HoosierAloha said:

I think we get at least one wing in 2017. I would go with '17 wing, Morgan, and DD with McSwain and Gak backing up the 4-5. We might need to go to a 3 guard lineup with reserves if that's all we have on the wing and front court. If we get another wing and/or OG stays we'll be fine. I still don't see OG definitely leaving. Just my opinion though.

Wingy- (1 or 2 of) Tucker, Smith, Samuels, Randolph and Wilkes. I think IU gets OV's from the first three, Wilkes we talked about but they probably get one there and possibly Randolph. Some solid options there

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Gak as the back up plan to the back up plan is pretty solid. If he is our 17 BIG we need to hope DeRon Davis lives up to his potential.

Morgan is only 6'6" - 6'7'' ish. That isn't ideal but he is fundamentally sound so that helps.

As far as the Bamba "injuries". I don't always believe this with high rated recruits. They have little to gain and a lot to lose with playing excessively in the Summer circuit. He was also on UConn campus for a visit to end the summer.

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Gak as the back up plan to the back up plan is pretty solid. If he is our 17 BIG we need to hope DeRon Davis lives up to his potential.

Morgan is only 6'6" - 6'7'' ish. That isn't ideal but he is fundamentally sound so that helps.

As far as the Bamba "injuries". I don't always believe this with high rated recruits. They have little to gain and a lot to lose with playing excessively in the Summer circuit. He was also on UConn campus for a visit to end the summer.

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Depending on who returns and who commits we might not need DD or Gak to do much besides protect the rim, rebound, and get some garbage points. I see IU going from having a really good front line this upcoming year to being wing/guard dominant the year after. If OG stays and Wilkes commits we will have plenty of scoring punch from the wing (inside and outside).

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3 hours ago, hoosierpap said:

Watch that second video. I know it's a highlight video (can we just make this a thing so we don't have to say it every time:120:) but he has more to his game than dunks. He actually has some impressive footwork, post moves, and flashes of a decent (albeit slow) mid-range shot.

 

I was going to post something about the Scruggs thing but thought it may take on a life of it's own. No, IU would absolutely prefer a 48 hour OV and maaayyyy still get it. Same with Wilkes. But the reality is those two have been on campus since they were 13/14 years old. I'm not sure I can remember anyone visiting IU more than Paul Scruggs, actually. They're just really familiar with everything Indiana. It means, mostly nothing outside of the fact that the staff would like more time with them. Just was pointing out it's sorta interesting given all the prospects.

He is light years ahead of where I thought he would be.  He has good footwork and has the ability to finish with either hand around the rim.  The underrated thing about his game from those highlights is his willingness to lay the ball in.  It sounds like something little but instead of going for the Sportscenter Top 10 he simply made 2 points for his team.  If we land Gak as our only big and DD proves to be a serviceable big + stretch 4 I will be extremely happy. 

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From Evan Daniels:

 

Quote

Deng Gak and Matt Turner, the two most highly recruited Class of 2017 players at prestigious Blair (N.J.) Academy, have cut their lists and are planning to take visits.

The 6-foot-10 Gak, who runs with the PSA Cardinals, is down to five schools in Miami, Duke, Indiana, Florida and Kansas and will visit all of them, Blair coach Joe Mantegna told SNY.tv. No dates are set up.

"Deng is a late comer to the recruiting scene arriving in New Jersey as a junior," Mantegna said. "He hasn't even scratched the surface of what he will be as he transitions to a totally different culture and a very different style of basketball than he was used to previous. He has very little feel for the differences between these schools growing up in Australia, so the official visits will be a huge part of the process."

Gak is close with current Lakers and former Duke wing Luol Deng. Deng attended Blair and both Deng and Gak are of Dinka descent. Duke offered Gak last April. The Blue Devils have also offered PSA Cardinals 7-footer Mohamed Bamba and 6-foot point guard Quade Green.

"Coach [Jeff] Capel's been talking to me a lot, too, now, and coach [Jon] Scheyer," Deng said in June.

"They say they're offer to me has nothing to do with Luol Deng," Gak added. "They offered me purely because they think I would fit their system. They just try to stress to me that it wasn't because of [Deng]."

Duke remains in the mix for a slew of bigs in 2017, most notably Bamba and Wendell Carter Jr.

Miami is also strongly in the mix.

"Miami definitely is [recruiting me hard]," he said in June. "I was watching them play a lot last year and they had a really good year. I think that's why I started liking them, just the way they play. When they beat Duke that was a really big game.

As for Kansas: "Bill Self is one of the best coaches in college basketball. He always has his squad in contention for a national title. I also like the huge development that their players make in their individual games, e.g. Joel Embiid. Kansas is also really close to where the majority of my family lives (Kansas City, around that area)"

Indiana and Florida are also in the mix for Gak.

So...yeah.

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54 minutes ago, KB0 said:

I believe Duke has backed off a bit and Miami is the front-runner

Are we just not pursuing him hard or is the interest not as mutual? Seems like we should be able to get in there with the likes of Miami but I know recruiting can be a weird beast

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1 minute ago, VO5 said:

Are we just not pursuing him hard or is the interest not as mutual? Seems like we should be able to get in there with the likes of Miami but I know recruiting can be a weird beast

Miami did beat us out for a recruit last year

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Just now, Brass Cannon said:

Miami did beat us out for a recruit last year

Bruce Brown. All I'm saying is we should at least be able to be mentioned in the same breath instead of a passing reference.

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Didn't see the full article, but was he prompted on IU or just those schools? And IU is working more with PSA coaches than Deng I believe



The last sentence of the article said "Gak is also in touch with IU and Florida" lol.


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We could certainly do a whole lot worse than Gak.  His summer AAU stats weren't overly impressive until you see that he only averaged 12 min./game because he was playing behind Mo Bamba a Top 10 nationally ranked recruit.  247 has him as a 4-star and ranked 129th nationally and the 12th ranked center. 

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