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ccgeneral

(2016) PF T.J. Leaf to UCLA

By ccgeneral, in Indiana Basketball Recruiting Forum

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WilJos3390    284

WilJos3390
Posted
Anything is possible here... But I don't see him leaving west coast, if he does, then the furthest west he comes is Kansas IMO. I think we HAVE to get Davis.. Crean will find a way to land all the outside threats to compliment Davis (And hopefully T. Bryant) for next year.

I also agree that it says a lot that a coach who got you to come play for him, cut you from a team he is coaching. Albeit the national team... But isn't Leaf ranked top 10? Seems odd to me.

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HoosierD    504

HoosierD
Posted

Anything is possible here... But I don't see him leaving west coast, if he does, then the furthest west he comes is Kansas IMO. I think we HAVE to get Davis.. Crean will find a way to land all the outside threats to compliment Davis (And hopefully T. Bryant) for next year.

I also agree that it says a lot that a coach who got you to come play for him, cut you from a team he is coaching. Albeit the national team... But isn't Leaf ranked top 10? Seems odd to me.


It was the U19 team, so he would have been young compared to most of the team. I don't think it's that bad to cut him, that team was loaded.

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Class of '66 Old Fart    86,310

Class of '66 Old Fart
Posted

From Bruce Pascoe - Arizona Daily Star:

The day after a somewhat rare and puzzling decommitment under Sean Miller, the questions are naturally floating out there.

Did T.J. Leaf really decommit from the Arizona Wildcats because he was upset he didn't make the (Miller coached) USA U19 team? Could he really bail on college and go pro in Israel (where he was born and where his dad played professionally)? Do his ties to the (Adidas sponsored) Compton Magic travel club give (Adidas sponsored) UCLA a shot?

Tough to know for sure. But affirmative answers to the first two questions appear unlikely.

While I haven't been able to reach Magic coach/director Etop Udo-Ema by phone, he did send me a text to say Leaf is not considering leaving to play pro ball in Israel, although the Union-Tribune's Mark Zeigler had some interesting speculation on why he might be considering doing so.

Also, it's hard to believe the USA Basketball experience influenced Leaf's decision much, if at all. I was fortunate to attend the three days before the first cuts were made in Colorado Springs and Leaf did not appear to be one of the top 12 players in camp -- however, that could also be because Leaf arrived just after traveling from a tiring experience at Eurocamp in Italy.

While it is true that Tyler Dorsey also decommitted from UA after being cut by USA Basketball's predecessor U18 team last summer -- when Miller was an assistant coach -- that decision appeared to be somewhat mutual and allowed UA to add Allonzo Trier.

Besides, USA Basketball roster decisions are made by a committee headed by Syracuse's Jim Boeheim) along with the coaches and Miller had no more of a say than anybody else. There is a very high level of respect between the coaches on the court and those on the committee and it wouldn't surprise me if coaches even sometimes go out of their way not to show favoritism toward their own guys within committee meetings.

In any case, Leaf is now a free agent and he said via text he has no schools in mind. Many have him in mind, of course: UCLA, Kentucky, Kansas, Michigan, Indiana as well as (surprise) California and Oregon have also inquired, according to Scout.

UA, meanwhile, has no 2016 commitments remaining as things heat up for that class but has been making inroads with a number of top players, including Josh Jackson (whose mom told Zagsblog he will visit UA), Tucson-bred Mitch Lightfoot and Finnish forward Lauri Markkanen, among others.

Scout's Josh Gershon said it "isn't a desperate situation by any means" for Arizona but that decommitments in August hurt because a coaching staff no longer has the July open evaluation period to search for a replacement.

FWIW, by today's fluid recruiting standards, Miller has had few decommitments over the eight recruiting classes (2009-2016) he's been heavily involved with at UA. While Dorsey's move was not much of a surprise, here's a tribute link to one head-scratcher... 

Guard Markelle Fultz will visit Arizona on Monday, his trainer told Scout. He has visited Louisville and also plans to see Washington next week (subscription required for the link).

Andrew Jones is following a similar path, having visited Louisville with plans to visit Arizona on Monday.

And here's yet more possible evidence of the shoe influence in high-profile basketball: Harry Giles and Jayson Tatum aren't going to play in Under Armour's Elite 24 event and instead head for a Nike showcase in the Bahamas.

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Hovadipo    57,404

Hovadipo
Posted

... and take advantage of the free tuition for children of university employees. Isn't that a nice, tidy little bow on top of that package?


I'm wondering if there isn't an NCAA rule keeping them from doing that. It isn't like Alford couldn't afford it anyways if the rule does exist though.

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AZ Hoosier    8,165

AZ Hoosier
Posted

I'm wondering if there isn't an NCAA rule keeping them from doing that. It isn't like Alford couldn't afford it anyways if the rule does exist though.

 

That's an interesting thought, but wouldn't that be discriminatory against the coaching staff? What if Bryce was a football player or a science major?

 

There's no doubt that the NCAA rule book is way to thick and packed full of rules and regulations that are unnecessary, obsolete or out of touch with the state of athletics today.

 

But in the interest of full disclosure, I am not an NCAA rules wonk, don't play one on television and haven't been to a Holiday Inn Express in years.

hoosierpap, GloryDays and Bobman1 reacted to this

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Hovadipo    57,404

Hovadipo
Posted

That's an interesting thought, but wouldn't that be discriminatory against the coaching staff? What if Bryce was a football player or a science major?

There's no doubt that the NCAA rule book is way to thick and packed full of rules and regulations that are unnecessary, obsolete or out of touch with the state of athletics today.

But in the interest of full disclosure, I am not an NCAA rules wonk, don't play one on television and haven't been to a Holiday Inn Express in years.


Yeah I'm not sure either, just was throwing that out there as it wouldn't surprise me. The best bet would be to look at RJ Hunter at Georgia State I suppose, but I'm not sure where to look.

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AZ Hoosier    8,165

AZ Hoosier
Posted

Yeah I'm not sure either, just was throwing that out there as it wouldn't surprise me. The best bet would be to look at RJ Hunter at Georgia State I suppose, but I'm not sure where to look.

 

Don't forget our own RMK and Patrick. However, in that situation (and probably the Hunter one you cited), I don't think it was a "solution" to an over-signing situation.

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