I don't know much about Goodman, but maybe he got Abu mixed up with the Fartin twins or something. I just find it unlikely that Abu literally told "ESPN" verbatim: "I'm seriously considering transferring or hiring an agent." Reporters want to be the first to break some story, so they'll often tweet erroneous stuff, that's all I think it was. I mean he works for ESPN but it's fucking twitter.

5/27/2016 2:22:18 PM

well i'm sure Goodman is the guy that reached out to Abu, not Abu reaching out to Goodman. Goodman is from Boston. Abu is from that area. it would stand to reason that Goodman is probably well-connected to Abu or at least well connected to Abu's people. it's pure speculation, but i'd guess that maybe one of Abu's "handlers" or whatever back home may have said that to Goodman. but whatever, it doesn't matter...Abu's back and we're gonna win the Natty next year.





[Edited on May 27, 2016 at 3:34 PM. Reason : v]

5/27/2016 3:15:35 PM

Newman's father quoted here.

http://www.clarionledger.com/story/sports/college/mississippi-state/2016/05/24/malik-newman-withdraws-nba-draft-may-look-transfer/84890910/

Apparently Ben Howland is a problem for them.

[Edited on May 27, 2016 at 3:54 PM. Reason : I personally don't get how Howland constantly recruits well.]

5/27/2016 3:53:35 PM

Quote :

"Seems like it was down to us and MSU for Newman"

where did you see that? I remember seeing a top 5 that didnt mention us and he didnt visit. 247 showed UK, KU and LSU as the top 4

Quote :

"Abu himself said at the press conference where he announced that he was coming back that the transfer rumors were bullshit"

he did? i never read that

[Edited on May 27, 2016 at 5:39 PM. Reason : a]

5/27/2016 5:35:15 PM

we were definitely in the mix with him, and i do recall him not ever visiting (or at least not taking an OV)...not sure if we were a "finalist" or not. but with him not taking an official here, i wouldn't be surprised if we weren't really a finalist.

5/27/2016 5:39:00 PM

ya not saying we werent "in the mix" just that we wernt one of final two.

5/27/2016 5:40:04 PM

yeah i think that bullshit where mark thomas was predicting that malik newman was gonna commit maybe made it seem like we were more of a finalist than we really were. just looked back in this thread, and there didn't seem to be any serious traction for us landing newman at the time...other than mark thomas predicting he would come here on twitter.

5/27/2016 5:42:58 PM

Quote :

"mark thomas "

He's the PigPen of twitter

5/27/2016 5:46:22 PM

Quote :

"he did? i never read that"

https://youtu.be/TvRg9shYuoc?t=1m26s

5/27/2016 5:52:53 PM

What ever happened to Mark Thomas morning show? And does anyone know if Newman had any mustard on the sidelines during his freshman year?

5/27/2016 9:38:37 PM

oh yeah, now I remember Newman.

5/27/2016 10:34:56 PM

^^maniscalco and lauren brownlow do it now without mark thomas.

5/28/2016 6:39:21 AM

What happened to Thomas?

5/28/2016 11:32:28 AM

dunno if he was canned or quit. but last i saw he was doing videos and stuff on GoPack dot com

5/28/2016 12:28:53 PM

http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2015/07/27/mark-thomas-espn-the-buzz-leaves-show.html

5/28/2016 1:16:06 PM

http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/acc/duke/article79182887.html

5/29/2016 12:43:29 PM

Not gonna say what you're linking to? Think "duke" in the link will draw us all in?

5/29/2016 2:22:00 PM

It's an article summarizing Duke, UNC, and State incoming recruits. Triangle has some great talent coming in the fall.

5/29/2016 3:04:47 PM

Quote :

"Malik Newman has asked for his release from Mississippi State and intends to transfer, sources told CBS Sports on Monday. He is expected to receive his release on Tuesday, one source said. Newman must sit out next season per NCAA rules and will have three years of eligibility remaining. A former five-star recruit, the 6-3 guard averaged 11.3 points last season as a freshman and never got on track after a toe injury forced him to miss the final two weeks of the preseason."

Not sure what impact this would have on Markell Johnson, but we'd have a hell of a backcourt in '17 if we could somehow get the two of them.

5/30/2016 2:27:50 PM

has johnson officially reclassified to 2016?

5/30/2016 2:50:28 PM

don't think so. it sounds like he's in a similar situation as Rowan where he needs to do some academic work over the summer to be eligible, so he probably won't be able to officially reclassify until July or August.

5/30/2016 3:02:46 PM

Have a strong feeling nc state will grab Newman and thus make Mark Thomas right afterall.

5/30/2016 3:57:03 PM

I think Johnson is a no-brainer take in 2016, if he switches to 2017 I imagine his recruitment will shift a bit and wonder how that effects our recruitment of him.

Sounds like we have intentions of reaching out to Newman, probably pitch him the Trevor Lacey role plus a season of practicing with DSJ.

This kid still worries me, chemistry wise. Super talented guy, but sounds a lot like the deal with Rodney Purvis where everyone wanted him to play the 2 except him and his family. Newman's father has made it pretty apparent he wants Newman to get some time running the point wherever he lands.

5/31/2016 8:48:05 AM

it's not like we have a PG after Smith leaves.

5/31/2016 9:18:49 AM

^^ yeah I can't imagine we would pass on Johnson either year (it sounds like he is a combo guard and could play alongside Newman in '17, if he's here) but he may not want that

I agree somewhat on your last point, but hoping that a redshirt year would allow him to develop chemistry (and as a point guard) and mature

5/31/2016 10:21:35 AM

I think Ben Howland is problematic.

5/31/2016 10:25:18 AM

I think Johnson is talented enough to take in '17, but we actually have some highly rated PGs we've been on for a while in that class pitching them to take over for Smith Jr when he goes pro, so I'm not sure he'll be an automatic-take in the '17 class until we see what is happening with the other PGs.

We clearly could use Markell this year as a back-up and we could still pitch Smith Jr leaving and bringing in only 1 high-profile PG in the '17 class, but trying to bring in 2 PGs in the same class would be tough. Having a guy like Newman is very appealing. We could bring him in, let him redshirt and develop, and then still go after a high-profile PG for the '17 class to come in and play with Newman.

5/31/2016 11:47:21 AM

Take Newman and have him run as the scout team's point guard. Hopefully his PG skills will improve over the year going against DSJr every day. We just need to make sure we get a guy like Johnson just in case those PG skills never come through. Or maybe we'll be running Dorn at the point by then...who the fuck knows.

Regardless...you don't take skip on a guy like Newman. Especially when you have a sit-out year to figure out how he fits on the team.

5/31/2016 12:49:37 PM

Plus he is very charismatic. Imagine him hitting some clutch shots against UNC and then coming over to the bench for a big shot of mustard. It would drive Roy crazy and I would love it.

5/31/2016 8:02:56 PM

yo Beejay, where the fuck is my mustard at

5/31/2016 8:08:52 PM

Maybe he could also do something to piss off coach K and get him to tell him in the handshake line that he is too good of a player for that, then Coach K could deny it in the press conference.

5/31/2016 8:16:50 PM

Quote :

"Imagine him hitting some clutch shots against UNC and then coming over to the bench for a big shot of mustard. It would drive Roy crazy and I would love it."

i have no idea what "big shot of mustard" means but this is still very funny to me.

5/31/2016 8:37:20 PM

5/31/2016 8:54:59 PM

5/31/2016 8:56:30 PM

Oh we back?

5/31/2016 9:42:39 PM

I dunno if we back...but we need to re-live this shit, sons.

5/31/2016 9:56:11 PM

Kansas isn't in the running for Newman and IIRC, we were the next closest non-SEC to get him when he committed (although I don't think it's been announced yet whether he will be restricted from transferring within the conference). he and Gott have that mutual connection through Mo Williams.

also we made the "final 8" for Charles O'Bannon Jr. (4/5 star '17 wing) along with Arizona, Kansas, Oregon, Texas, UCLA, UNLV, Washington.. Gott was on staff for his dad's first two years at UCLA.

5/31/2016 11:36:33 PM

Quote :

"Performance Enhancing Mustard"

6/1/2016 8:20:50 AM

oh yeah i remember that mustard pic now. good shit. hahahaha

6/1/2016 8:32:06 AM

I don't think the SEC has conference restrictions on transfers, and I doubt Miss. St. wants the PR hit that blocking him would do.

Think Newman will be able to transfer anywhere he wants. We are definitely recruiting him, just not sure how interested he is.

Someone send him some highlights of Lorenzo, a guy we converted from SG to PG and got him drafted.

6/1/2016 8:45:50 AM

Quote :

"Kansas isn't in the running for Newman"

He is visiting Kansas this week

6/1/2016 12:35:45 PM

Looks like his father is squashing the visit rumors. Not visiting anyone this week.

Kansas will definitely be involved, they'll likely take one of him or Thornton.

6/1/2016 12:42:47 PM

^^^ yeah I meant Mississippi State putting restrictions on where he could transfer, but it doesn't sound like that's likely

one or two KU sources were tweeting yesterday that they weren't going to be pursuing him, so I just assumed that was accurate. oops

6/1/2016 4:51:48 PM

Did we get Hicks

6/3/2016 2:34:55 PM

wut?

6/3/2016 2:51:42 PM

yes, we have a guy named hicks

6/3/2016 3:08:14 PM

https://twitter.com/Lob_ItUp21/status/738786590122708992

I dont do twitter and hashtags, but does this mean he's commited?

6/3/2016 3:09:34 PM

Newman has an odd jump shot - weird kick out with his foot.

6/3/2016 3:09:45 PM

^^ committed like 2 days before Yurt7, so it got kinda overshadowed

6/3/2016 3:12:33 PM

committed on friday the 13th, page 509.

(You even commented "BOOM" after it happened)

[Edited on June 3, 2016 at 3:16 PM. Reason : ]

6/3/2016 3:15:46 PM