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

[Neil Leininger]

3 hours ago, Gerry Hamilton said:

Texas 2025-26 roster...
Tramon Mark, CG, 6-6, Gr. (10.6 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists)

Simeon Wilcher, CG, 6-4, junior (8.0 points, 1.9 rebounds, 1.4 assists) 

Jordan Pope, CG, 6-0, senior (11.0 points, 2.0 rebounds, 1.7 assists)

Chendall Weaver, G, 6-3, senior (6.9 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.4 assists)

Dailyn Swain, F/G, 6-8, junior (11.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.6 steals at Xavier)

Camden Heide, F, 6-7, junior (4.7 points, 3.6 rebounds, 39.2% from three at Purdue) 

Matas Vokietaitas, C, 7-0, sophomore (10.2 points, 5.4 rebounds at FAU)

Lassina Traore, C, 6-10, senior (11.9 points, 10.3 rebounds, 1.2 assists in 2023-24 at LBSU) 

Declan Duru, PF, 6-9, freshman 

Nic Codie, PF,  6-9, sophomore

John Clark, PF, 6-8.5, freshman

Lewis Obiorah, C, 7-1, freshman 

This team is so freaking tall. If they can defend the perimeter with this length, good luck trying to score.

[Robbin Antono]

@Gerry Hamilton are we still waiting for 6’4” combo guard coming in?

[Rocky P]

3 hours ago, HenryJames said:

How does he compare to Kylian Mbappe?

Wrong sport but I like it.  Kylian can score more goals on the pitch, but I don't think he stands a chance on the court.

[Gerry Hamilton]

16 minutes ago, Robbin Antono said:

@Gerry Hamilton are we still waiting for 6’4” combo guard coming in?

No. Roster is complete 

[Gerry Hamilton]

On Duru … where he begins at Texas and possible impact he could make year one out of the gate will come down to Codie and John Clark … where they are at by August. 

They should be well ahead to start 

[Gerry Hamilton]

https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/page/bracketology/ncaa-bracketology-2026-march-madness-men-field-predictions

[harveycmd]

After watching some Duru film, I was a little disappointed. Open set shots and plodding drives. Didn't see any signs of elite athleticism. Hope he has it.

[Jordan91]

10 minutes ago, harveycmd said:

After watching some Duru film, I was a little disappointed. Open set shots and plodding drives. Didn't see any signs of elite athleticism. Hope he has it.

That’s what you will find this late. OU and Colorado were the competition. It’s not like Duke was after him. He has a slow shot release from the perimeter too. If he ends up getting more minutes than Codie it means there wasn’t much development over the summer from Codie. 

[harveycmd]

7 minutes ago, Jordan91 said:

That’s what you will find this late. OU and Colorado were the competition. It’s not like Duke was after him. He has a slow shot release from the perimeter too. If he ends up getting more minutes than Codie it means there wasn’t much development over the summer from Codie. 

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.

 

[Gerry Hamilton]

58 minutes ago, Jordan91 said:

That’s what you will find this late. OU and Colorado were the competition. It’s not like Duke was after him. He has a slow shot release from the perimeter too. If he ends up getting more minutes than Codie it means there wasn’t much development over the summer from Codie. 

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.

[Gerry Hamilton]

50 minutes ago, harveycmd said:

1 hour ago, harveycmd said:

After watching some Duru film, I was a little disappointed. Open set shots and plodding drives. Didn't see any signs of elite athleticism. Hope he has  it. 

How many elite athletes did the National Champion Florida Gators have last year in your opinion? 

 

[Gerry Hamilton]

13 hours ago, Gerry Hamilton said:

Future NBA draft pick level pickup IMO ...

From NBAdraft.net

Notes: Measured: 6’8″ (w/o shoes), 8’8.25″ standing reach, 223 lbs, 7’0″ wingspan, 31.5″ standing vert, and a 38.5″ max vert at the 2024 Basketball Without Borders Europe …

For the athleticism convo … this was Duru’s vert testing numbers as a 17-18 year old 

…

This was NBA Combine numbers this year for all forwards in the draft in standing vert and max vert 

[harveycmd]

1 minute ago, Gerry Hamilton said:

How many elite athletes did the National Champion Florida Gators have last year in your opinion? 

 

I'd say four. Clayton had elite skill. Condon and Chenyilu played above the rim in the post, especially on defense. Richard could get up, shoot, and power his was to the basket with quickness. 

Maybe Duru can do something like that. I just didn't see it. I didn't see a single jump shot. Didn't see him go above rim level for a rebound. Didn't see any kind of burst or ball quickness. I sure hope he has some of it.

[Gerry Hamilton]

8 hours ago, harveycmd said:

I'd say four. Clayton had elite skill. Condon and Chenyilu played above the rim in the post, especially on defense. Richard could get up, shoot, and power his was to the basket with quickness. 

Maybe Duru can do something like that. I just didn't see it. I didn't see a single jump shot. Didn't see him go above rim level for a rebound. Didn't see any kind of burst or ball quickness. I sure hope he has some of it.

You said elite athleticism … 

In terms of elite athleticism… Florida Gators had zero 

Clayton is a plus lateral movement athlete, but not pro elite in terms of vertical ability or quickness. 1st rounder 

Alijah Martin … not a pro elite athlete when compared to others in agility and vertical pop. Second round pick 

None of the Gators bigs will turn in pro elite athleticism testing numbers, but Condon will be drafted for sure and Hough likely will be 

IMO, knowing how to play is just as important. And the ability to create floor spacing through range in the current game 

[harveycmd]

18 minutes ago, Gerry Hamilton said:

You said elite athleticism … 

In terms of elite athleticism… Florida Gators had zero 

Clayton is a plus lateral movement athlete, but not pro elite in terms of vertical ability or quickness. 1st rounder 

Alijah Martin … not a pro elite athlete when compared to others in agility of vertical pop. Second round pick 

None of the Gators bigs will turn in pro elite athleticism testing numbers, but Condo will be drafted for sure and Hough likely will be 

IMO, knowing how to play is just as important. And the ability to create floor spacing through range in the current game 

You may be right. I consider elite lateral quickness and skill to be a pretty big deal in basketball. I didn't mention Martin. I said Richard. Further, an elite trait or two won't guarantee NBA success, but it's sure hard to get to the NBA without something elite. Again, I didn't see Duru elevate and shoot from the perimeter. All set shots. Didn't see him go over the rim fighting for the ball. Didn't see him shoot or drive quickly. He could be a decent college player without that. 

[harveycmd]

Up studying the market. Reminds me of talking to Canadians and Frenchies about Cormac McCarthy in the early days of the internet in 1996.  French Canadians: "The judge is purely satirical." "The judge is the god of universe, goobers. Doesn't matter that you don't like it."

[Califashorn75]

Weaver plays bigger than his height. I hope his ball handling continues to improve. Who, on this roster, is a true point guard? 

[harveycmd]

This isn't exactly fair, but it's the NBA. Gerry, next time you talk to Raja Bell, ask him if Kobe had lateral quickness. Could he elevate and shoot from the perimeter? Was he technically skilled? Could he shoot quickly? Could he ball fake and move quickly? Could he beat guys who were six inches taller than him for the ball over rim? Could he face up in the post? Could he play back to the basket in the post? Could he face up or play back to the basket anywhere on the court? Could he do these things at 6'6" 210? With guys much taller and stronger than him? 

[harveycmd]

Raja Bell on the left here. 

 

[harveycmd]

I never knew Kobe wanted to kick Tim Thomas' ass because Thomas was ranked higher than him in high school before this. Better than I ever knew. Mofos can't compare. 

 

[harveycmd]

Gerry, next time you talk to Raja Bell, ask him if he thinks Kobe had lateral quickness, could he elevate and shoot from the perimeter, could he get over the rim and contest guys six inches taller than him for the ball.

[Gerry Hamilton]

7 hours ago, harveycmd said:

You may be right. I consider elite lateral quickness and skill to be a pretty big deal in basketball. I didn't mention Martin. I said Richard. Further, an elite trait or two won't guarantee NBA success, but it's sure hard to get to the NBA without something elite. Again, I didn't see Duru elevate and shoot from the perimeter. All set shots. Didn't see him go over the rim fighting for the ball. Didn't see him shoot or drive quickly. He could be a decent college player without that. 

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.

 

[Gerry Hamilton]

5 hours ago, Califashorn75 said:

Weaver plays bigger than his height. I hope his ball handling continues to improve. Who, on this roster, is a true point guard? 

Sean Miller is going to be more position less basketball, team runner in year one. Tramon Mark is the team runner. He's actually good at it in a quality system IMO

Simeon Wilcher and Jordan Pope are more CG's. 

Texas will run some offense through Dailyn Swain at times too. He's really good at making reads and plays. 

There are a lot of teams playing and ascending without the old school PG types. Florida just won an NC without a true PG. Houston was in the NC game with team runners more than a pure PG. 

Sean Miller will sign more of a true PG/elite team runner at Texas too in the future IMO. 

[Gerry Hamilton]

 

[Gerry Hamilton]

Rothstein has Texas at No. 24 to start