A basketball fans outlook

Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday

Still waiting

The top prospect in the Class of 2026 Tyran Stokes has not announced his destination. It was believed Kansas and Kentucky were in the lead with Kansas supposedly slightly ahead. Now we hear from a couple of new teams that made their presence known, they are Gonzaga and Oregon. Stokes is a 6-foot 7 230 pound forward, until there is an official announcement we have no idea which school he decides to attend.

In other college basketball news shot blocker extraordinaire 6-foot 10 Flory Bidunga is entering the NBA draft and transfer portal at the same time, we must wait to see how this turns out. There is no news regarding the other name at Kansas Darryn Peterson….is he going or is he staying? This is pure speculation however I could be wrong but I have no idea why he’d remain at Kansas versus an NBA payout. BYU’s AJ Dybansta indicates he’s made no decision whether he remains in school or heads for the NBA. I repeat for him my statement regarding Peterson. The transfer portal opens on Tuesday April 7, it will close on April 21, that’s a 15-day window for teams to make the necessary changes for their program.

It’s vast 

The Grand Canyon is one of the great wonders of the world, this immense canyon in the western United States is a sight to behold. Memory says I’ve flown over it at the very least three times, I have never seen it at ground level. Everyone indicates it’s a gigantic distance wall to wall and that is the lead into the report of the Thursday night game. The Thunder smoked my Lakers 139-96, there is no method to sugarcoat what is an embarrassing loss. In addition to that Luka Doncic didn’t finish the game suffering a left hamstring injury which caused him to leave the game.

An MRI will be done to determine the extent, with the playoffs upcoming the timing couldn’t have been worst for the Lakers. Everyone on the Lakers healthy I believe (and still do) they can compete successfully with any team in the NBA however there are exceptions. The Spurs and Thunder scare me, can they be beaten….of course they can, however, to win a series a team must play it’s A game to win. As this is written there’s no update on Luka or any other Laker for that matter. As for the playoffs we’ll see what we see when we arrive. I am disappointed based on the outcome however I intend to remain a loyal faithful member of Laker Nation.

He returns

On Thursday came the official word, Bill Self would be returning for year 24 to lead the Kansas men’s basketball team next season. Many of the Jayhawk faithful have been literally holding their breath in anticipation of receiving news that the coach had decided to retire. Self once said he wouldn’t coach past 60 yet here he is at 63 years of age returning to lead the basketball program. With his health issues plus age I believe a timeline of 3-5 years coaching this team probably exists going forward.

If that appears to be a negative that’s not the intent it’s a fact. Already in the Naismith Hall of Fame there is no doubt anytime there is a discussion of Kansas basketball coaches Self is at the top of the list. His name ranks above that of every former coach including Dr. James A. Naismith the inventor of the game of basketball and Forrest “Phog” Allen” who coached Kansas basketball for 39 seasons. Perhaps even more mind boggling is this fact. Consider since 1898 when Naismith first began coaching Kansas basketball there have been only 8 coaches including Self at the head of this program, that’s amazing. 

Basketball “Factories”

Upon reading the headline, some may initially perceive this as a negative account: however, that is not the intention here. The term “factories” is used to highlight how certain prep schools have produced a remarkable number of players who have gone on to play in the NBA and other professional leagues. Reading the headline one might assume this is a negative account, that is not the case. I decided to use the term factories due to the fact that a number of these prep schools have sent large numbers of players to the NBA and other professional leagues.

A co-worker understanding what I intended to write said; “What about public high schools?” There was no intent to ignore public schools it seems a significant amount of these basketball factories have continued to grow. I received conflicting information so my statement will indicate a tie, Montverde and Oak Hill both have sent over 30 players into the NBA over the years. What about others and where are they located, first this list should not be considered complete. Additionally, the official websites for these institutions emphasize their commitment to education alongside their athletic achievements. A brief look of several prep schools and their location, if your school was overlooked it was strictly due to space and length of time in completion of this account.

Montverde Academy-Montverde, Florida

Oak Hill Academy-Mouth of Wilson, Virginia

Bishop Gorman High School-Las Vegas, Nevada

IMG Academy-Bradenton, Florida

Link Academy-Branson, Missouri

Sunrise Christian Academy-Wichita, Kansas

Putnam Science Academy-Putnam, Connecticut

Brewster Academy-Wolfeboro, New Hampshire

Iowa United Basketball-Des Moines, Iowa

TPH Academy-Overland Park, Kansas

Dynamic Prep-Carrollton, Texas