Julius Randle

The term "Melo-ize" a program I think was coined by a Kansas recruit... Malik Hairston when he chose to go to Oregon instead of KU and sunsequently faded away into near oblivion.   It has been used many times since and Randle mentioned something similar on twitter recently that he thought he could turn Texas around the way Kevin Durant did.   While his example is inaccurate since UT was better before and after KD the idea remains the same so I'm certainly not counting the Longhorns out of the race by any stretch.

Only problem (for Texas) is if Texas sucks bad enough that Barnes and the coaching staff that are recruiting Randle get fired, which is a very real possibility. They are not a good team and will need a miracle turnaround to get to the tourney.

I saw someone said recently Randle would like to go to TX and do what Durant did and make them a winner. But someone pointed out that Tx was actually good when Durant got there and he just elevated them. Personally I am nervous about getting him but in the end I feel like with what we have to offer and both Greene and Selden recruitng pretty hard with them being friends that we will get him.

"I saw someone said recently Randle would like to go to TX and do what Durant did and make them a winner. But someone pointed out that Tx was actually good when Durant got there and he just elevated them."

To review:

2005-06 (before Durant): #9 in the nation, #2 seed, Elite Eight

2006-07 (WITH Durant): #15 in the nation, #4 seed, 2nd Round

2007-08 (after Durant): #9 in the nation, #2 seed, Elite Eight

What exactly did Durant do for Texas other than win some individual honors? Maybe put them a little more on the radar of future recruits, but he did NOTHING for them as far as actual results.

If Randle wants to be an integral part of a championship contender, he will come to Kansas. If he wants to play for a coach that may or may not be getting FIRED soon, he will go to Texas. If he wants to be part of a team full of elite youngsters, he will go to Kentucky. I like our chances.

Any new news here?

He loved his visit to NC State (they crushed UNC) and he has a couple buddies on that team.  He will make final visits to Texas and Kansas (gameday vs UT) and then decide.   He specifically said the NC State visit trumped his visit to Kentucky for what that is worth. 

When is he going to make his decision ?

Randle is visiting UT today. 'Horns losing 29 -22 at the half to Okkie State. Crowd is dead, hopefully he's not impressed.

If he chooses UT over us then Im gonna just take it to mean we never really had a chance.  It would have to be because he either doesnt want to be too far from home or he wants to ensure that he can shoot the ball whenever, wherever he wants.   Their arena is half full we sell out every game.    They have Rick Barnes we have Bill Self.   They have some talent next year and we will have a roster full of talented, young players.  They will play for a tournament birth we will play for the conference title and Final Four.

Isn't Randle visiting AFH this Saturday while the College Game Day crew is there? 

Yes, Randle will be at AFH for the College Game Day game against Texas. He was at Texas last Saturday for their lackluster loss to Oklahoma State.

For what it's worth, Randle does a blog for USA Today and blogged immediately after his good visit to NC State. He has yet to post anything after his trip to Texas. My guess is that he wasn't very impressed. I hope KU rolls out the red carpet for him as he HAS to be our prime target right now. Ku really needs to land this young man for next year.

Indeed, he needs to be the prime target! You'd have to think with the banners hung, the trophies, Gameday on hand, etc, that if we're able to steam-role Texas, we have a very good chance to come out of Saturday as the front-runner.  Do we know when he's expected to make a decision? Does he still have visits after this one?

What position? I want an elite pg....that combined with Connor will be deadly.

"What position? I want an elite pg....that combined with Connor will be deadly."

There aren't any more elite PGs on the KU radar to my knowledge as they are all committted elsewhere. On another note, KU big man commit Joel Embiid is now ranked #28 in the ESPN Top 100. He started the year unranked and skyrocketed this year. 2013 class now includes:

#12 Wayne Selden
#28 Joel Embiid
#43 Brannen Greene
#47 Connor Frankamp

If we sign randle, KU will have a monster season. I agree we will still be so-so at the PG position, but Tharpe will start, Adams will play and Frankamp will help out. Incoming 3 star PG Frank Mason will also be available in some role.

If we sign randle, KU will have a monster season. I agree we will still be so-so at the PG position, but Tharpe will start, Adams will play and Frankamp will help out. Incoming 3 star PG Frank Mason will also be available in some role.


Also Selden can help out in emergency situations according to Self. If we need to he can help bring it up, he posted a trible double earlier this year and according to his high school coach has played some point and just about every other postion on the team so he is extremely versatile.

I am really excited to see Selden play. I have heard great things about him.

I am getting VERY excited about this Saturday, not only to see KU play again after the long week but to see the spetacle of the game and the crowd with Randle there and the ceremony for Chalmers number. I hope that some of it is shown on TV. The Morris twins, Nick Collison and Thomas Robinson have all stated that they will be attending the game as well, so the KU family should be putting the full court press on the Randle family.

I hope Ku can come out and play with the type of energy and enthusiasm they showed Monday night against K-State. KU will definitely have a crazed crowd from opening tip so I hope that fuels them. Should be a GREAT atmosphere!

Selden is big, fast, athletic, and pretty much everything you could ask for from a guy at his position. In all the videos i've seen him in he is awesome. I'm really excited to see him play next year.

Myck Kabongo is now back for the Longhorns, and though they lost on Wednesday, Kabongo is a legitimate threat to score, so let's all hope he doesn't have his season breakout game against the Jayhawks. Let's deal with the game at hand, then worry if Randle will sign with KU.  We should hold our breath and hope the funk is gone and that it doesn't return this season

AFH was rocking for gameday and when Randle walked in with coach Self there was a huge cheer. There were several "We Want Randle" cheers and he smiled just about every time the first time wwe started I dont he noticed and coach Self kida of nudged him like this is for you and he got a big smile on his face. After gameday he was walking around the Booth Hall of Fame with Ben with many people following and watching the two. So we seem to be off to a good start.