International F Declan Duru commits to Texas (Wednesday, 12:53 p.m.)

[Jordan91]

9 hours ago, harveycmd said:

I didn't see what I would consider NBA upside. Looks more like a rotational piece to me. Perhaps the raw development tools are there if he has the work ethic and determination.

 

Definitely rotational. He has multiple years left. I would have preferred another guard for depth. Somebody always seems to miss a lot of time each year. Mark was playing injured for a long time. Weaver missed a lot of games as well. 

[Jordan91]

8 hours ago, Gerry Hamilton said:

He didn’t decide to come over until later.  He had a lot of interest if he had made the decision earlier (Baylor, Illinois, etc…) 

What will hurt him in year one is not getting to Austin until August.

You act like everyone doesn’t have any development left as a player sometimes. Blows my mind to be honest.

I have said multiple times Weaver can be a very good player because I have no doubt he will put the work in. Blows my mind that’s what you got from what I said. I simply stated that, as you stated he is starting late, if he comes out playing more minutes than Codie it means Codie didn’t develop as much as Texas would have liked. Are you saying it means Codie really developed but this guy developed more? I said multiple times last year that I really liked how Pryor was developing. I hated losing him, but I certainly understand why it happened. You don’t have the time to read everybody’s post but, if you did, you would find those comments. I am waiting to see how this looks on the floor this year. 

[Sundancekid]

 Physically mature for his age. Significant international experience with German national 19- and Real Madrid. Nice stroke. Good hops. Handles the ball and passes well. 39 inch running verical jump. Recruited by Baylor, Illinois, Oklahoma and others.

  Sounds like a solid foundation to work with. We aren’t going to find Kobe Bryants in July for the upcoming season. With strength and conditioning, good coaching and development against good competition… I think this guy could ascend if he is patient. Great name.

[harveycmd]

1 hour ago, Gerry Hamilton said:

Totally agree that basketball is a quickness sport in terms of movements for guards and wings. I would just say there are a lot of players in the NBA without elite athletic ability. And there are a lot with very good athletic ability, and some with slightly above average athletic ability that just know how to play and maximize every ounce of ability. There are a lot of players making a boat load of money in the league that aren't elite athletes, but those guys have developed skill and playing the game the right way at such a high clip

We are a little different on Duru ... I see a high-level athlete with length on the court as a developing 18 year old ... His whole key will be the ability to shoot the ball long term IMO. He shot 36.5-37% from international three (college line) in recent tournaments. That's quality for his size/age as a floor spacing four. If he becomes a 38-40% three-point shooter, he will likely be on the board as a potential/likely NBA draft pick after 2-3 years in college.

 

If you're playing behind the pansy three point line, you need to be quick. You can't stand and take two literal seconds to shoot while you put the ball down to your waist and then hoist it from your shoulder the next day. No quickness no nothing. Unless this guy speeds up, he has no chance. Don't pretend otherwise. 

Edited 7 hours ago by harveycmd

[Gerry Hamilton]

1 hour ago, harveycmd said:

If you're playing behind the pansy three point line, you need to be quick. You can't stand and take two literal seconds to shoot while you put the ball down to your waist and then hoist it from your shoulder the next day. No quickness no nothing. Unless this guy speeds up, he has no chance. Don't pretend otherwise. 

Haha

[ZTG1895]

@Gerry HamiltonQuestion on how this last roster spot went down. Was the money aspect similar for Duru as it would have been for Ben Henshall? So it just came down to Miller preferring another power-forward type player as opposed to another combo guard? 

[Gerry Hamilton]

2 minutes ago, ZTG1895 said:

@Gerry HamiltonQuestion on how this last roster spot went down. Was the money aspect similar for Duru as it would have been for Ben Henshall? So it just came down to Miller preferring another power-forward type player as opposed to another combo guard? 

No. Ben Henshall was in the NBA draft and pulled out ... his ask was over 1mill ... but at the end of the day Henshall told colleges he doesn't really want to do the school thing. We shall see if that changes, but he may opt for overseas big contract and then to the NBA. 

The Texas staff preferred another big over a guard after having the guys in workouts. Especially a multi-year guy

[ZTG1895]

2 minutes ago, Gerry Hamilton said:

No. Ben Henshall was in the NBA draft and pulled out ... his ask was over 1mill ... but at the end of the day Henshall told colleges he doesn't really want to do the school thing. We shall see if that changes, but he may opt for overseas big contract and then to the NBA. 

The Texas staff preferred another big over a guard after having the guys in workouts. Especially a multi-year guy

Thanks, Gerry! You provide us with the best Texas hoops insight and info in the market by a country mile!

[Jordan91]

14 minutes ago, Gerry Hamilton said:

No. Ben Henshall was in the NBA draft and pulled out ... his ask was over 1mill ... but at the end of the day Henshall told colleges he doesn't really want to do the school thing. We shall see if that changes, but he may opt for overseas big contract and then to the NBA. 

The Texas staff preferred another big over a guard after having the guys in workouts. Especially a multi-year guy

Who replaces Mark if he is injured? 

[Sundancekid]

Pope/Weaver/ Wilcher?

[harveycmd]

Received a message this morning from an AI directory asking me to give a summary of my published writings on McCarthy's Blood Meridian or the Evening Redness in the West. I think that's because a movie based on the book is coming out in the not too distant future. Told them to contact Matthew here at OTF. I can't shorten what I wrote, but he knows.

[Jeff Howe]

Duru has signed his ASA with Texas. He’s officially a Longhorn.

 

[Jeff Howe]

The press release from UT on Duru:

Declan Duru Jr. has signed an Athletic Scholarship Agreement (ASA) to play basketball next season at The University of Texas, head coach Sean Miller announced Wednesday. Duru, who spent the last five years with Real Madrid in the program’s youth development system in Spain, will join the Longhorns as a true freshman for the upcoming 2025-26 season.

Duru (6-9, 225), a forward who is originally from Munich, Germany, played for Real Madrid B and the Real Madrid U19 team last season. He played in seven contests for Real Madrid U19 in 2024-25 and averaged 12.0 points and 5.4 rebounds in 25.0 minutes per game while converting 49.2-percent (29-59) from the floor, including a 41.9-percent mark (13-31) from three-point range. Duru also saw action in 17 games for Real Madrid B and averaged 7.5 points and 5.5 rebounds in 20.8 minutes per contest.

Duru recently helped his native Germany post a 6-1 record and earn a silver medal at the FIBA U19 World Cup in Lausanne, Switzerland (June 28-July 6). He reached double figures in scoring in six of the seven games and averaged 11.4 points and 5.1 rebounds in 28.6 minutes per contest while converting 52.4-percent (22-42) from the floor. The previous summer, Duru paced Germany to a 7-0 mark and the gold medal at the 2024 FIBA U18 EuroBasket Championship in Tampere, Finland.

During the 2023-24 season, Duru helped the Real Madrid U18 team win the Euroleague Basketball Next Generation Tournament. He also paced the Real Madrid U16 team to a pair of Spanish Championships in 2022-23 and helped the Real Madrid U14 squad claim the Spanish Championship in 2021.

[Jordan91]

5 hours ago, Sundancekid said:

 Physically mature for his age. Significant international experience with German national 19- and Real Madrid. Nice stroke. Good hops. Handles the ball and passes well. 39 inch running verical jump. Recruited by Baylor, Illinois, Oklahoma and others.

  Sounds like a solid foundation to work with. We aren’t going to find Kobe Bryants in July for the upcoming season. With strength and conditioning, good coaching and development against good competition… I think this guy could ascend if he is patient. Great name.

No Kobe Bryant’s no matter the time of year. I think he is talented and can provide some minutes. I just think it’s ridiculous to project what a player might become before he has played a game. And I have never understood why we talk about the other teams recruiting a player as proof that he can play. Other schools have missed on players too. Lots of schools wanted Will Baker too. A lot of player development is up to the player. There is only some much time the coaches are allowed to be around these players. They can show them how to improve, but it’s up to the player to put in the work. It was quite clear that Pryor had put in the work. Weaver puts in the work. I have pointed that out multiple times. Pryor started the second half of games when Mark was doing virtually nothing. I believe he started a game as well. 

[Jordan91]

7 hours ago, harveycmd said:

Raja Bell on the left here. 

 

Thanks for sharing. 

[Jordan91]

2 hours ago, Sundancekid said:

Pope/Weaver/ Wilcher?

My concern is none of those players can do what Mark does, when healthy. He really started finishing at the rim towards the end of the year. Weaver doesn’t have the height or skill that Mark brings. He can’t handle the ball like Mark. Wilcher is a question mark right now, because we don’t know how he will shoot. I am very confident in Pope’s shooting and ball handling, but his lateral movement is not that fast. He will struggle to keep quick guards in front of him. He will benefit a lot from Coach Miller on the offensive side of the ball though.