BB Recruit Kennard Committing Somewhere on Monday night

Submitted by StephenRKass on

Luke Kennard, a 6'6" forward from Franklin, Ohio and 2015 recruit, announced he is making a verbal commitment Monday night at 7:45pm.

Kennard just won 2014 Ohio Mr. Basketball (as a Junior.) He averaged 40 points a game. Kennard is considering Duke, Kentucky, Louisville, North Carolina, OSU, MSU, and Michigan.

LINK:  http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/sports/kennard-to-verbally-commit-to-play-hoop/nfJ6q/

While I think Kennard would be a great fit at Michigan, I have heard nothing suggesting he is coming this way. At least we were in the championship game last year, and are in the Sweet 16 this year, if not going further. For Michigan to be in the running for Kennard, considered in the top twenty players nationally, is a good thing. To begin regularly signing players in the top 20 would be even better.
 
EDIT:  I don't know how to embed tweets. However, Corey Albertson, a recruiting guy, put out the following in two tweets:
Luke Kennard just told me - "I think people will be surprised. I've been leaning this way for a while." Uh oh!
In a second tweet, Albertson said:
After some people I've talked to tonight, I'm now thinking that Luke Kennard might not be headed "that" far from home. Duke losing ground?
Duke & Kentucky have often been posited as the favorites. If he says it will be a surprise, and won't be that far from home, that would seem to bode well for Michigan. We'll all find out tomorrow.
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UMClassOf2018

March 24th, 2014 at 8:11 AM ^

Based on the timing of this, I think its Duke. He just visited there and apparently loved it, so it would be odd for him to just randomly decide to commit if it wasn't going to be to Duke, right after a visit there. That being said, I think Michigan would clearly be the best choice, not only because I'm a fan, but look at what Beilein has done with unheralded recruits such as Burke and Stauskas. Kennard should note that, look at the offense we play, and it should be a no-brainer in my mind

Joined: 11/25/2013

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ilah17

March 24th, 2014 at 7:21 PM ^

I was also thinking, isn't Duke the only team out of the tournament now? Is it common for a kid to commit to a school during the tournament, if the school is still playing? Seems to me like they should wait. But, maybe I'm overthinking it.

Someone on twitter said he's thinking Kennard will pick Michigan. I immediately said I would buy him Lions season tickets if he's right. But then I said just kidding, so everyone knows it's not a real bet. :)

Joined: 12/15/2011

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Bambi

March 24th, 2014 at 8:37 AM ^

From Franklin, OH - Lexington, Kentucky:

1 hr 55 min

To Columbus:

1 hr 23 min

To Ann Arbor:

3 hr 18 min

My guess is this is just another kid saying "I'm going to surprise everyone" when he really isn't just to build up drama.

Sure Columbus is the closest school, but Kentucky isn't "far from home" either. Maybe after their win over WSU, he was convinced that's the place to go and decided to make it official.

It's most likely Kentucky, and I'm not holding out much hope that it isn't.

 

Joined: 10/12/2013

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CRISPed in the DIAG

March 24th, 2014 at 9:40 AM ^

It's not uncommon for people in Ohio to identify Kentucky as their baskeball rooting interest.  UK is probably considered "close to home."  Louisville thinks they're close in proximity and culture to Cinci - not the other way around.  Coin flip between UK and OSU, IMHO.

Joined: 11/08/2010

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Champeen

March 24th, 2014 at 9:36 AM ^

whereever he goes he will be a star impact player.  IMO he is the best recruit in his entire class. 

This kid is NBA bound relatively early. 

Joined: 04/07/2011

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Ty Butterfield

March 24th, 2014 at 10:42 AM ^

Beilein is doing a great job finding talent that can thrive in his system. It would still be nice to see some elite players start to commit. (Yes, I know Chatman is close to a 5 star)

Joined: 09/07/2009

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ThWard

March 24th, 2014 at 11:50 AM ^

The "people will be surprised" or "I'm going to shock the world" language is boilerplate nonsense. I have no problem with kids doing it, and it's true in some sense (whenever there are 3 teams with massive fan bases hoping a kid will choose their school, I'm sure the recruit sees so many tweets/comments etc. from other fan bases that he does, in fact, think he'll be "surprising" a lot of people). But all it does is unwittingly help the myriad recruiting databases churn out more content and BS to sell subscriptions.

Which is why I really dug Josh Rosen's approach. Maybe it didn't help Rivals/Scout/247 generate "IS CA QB 'DREAMIN' ABOUT A NEW SCHOOL???" articles for a week, but who gives a shit. Checks out a school. Likes the school. But admits that it's probably not going to change his mind.

Joined: 07/10/2008

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lensch2

March 24th, 2014 at 12:16 PM ^

Look at his list, what do all of the schools outside of us and Louisville have in common?  Hint: It's the same thing that is shared with Kennard's AAU team, the King James something or other.

 

Yep, you guessed it, it's the swoosh.  He is a Nike recruit and will go to a Nike school.  It would be a shock if he doesn't choose the swoosh.  It's all about the sneaker money.

 

BTW, this is not an indictment against our Adidas contract, just an observation.

Joined: 04/27/2011

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ilah17

March 24th, 2014 at 8:03 PM ^

Twitter says it's Duke. Sigh.

Edit: yep, it's Duke. The effect of putting on your new team's hat is kind of lost on the radio. . .

Joined: 12/15/2011

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