Keonte Kennedy Reportedly Going To Memphis

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Keonte Kennedy Reportedly Going To Memphis

Post by quasidiehardvandyfan »

Huge bummer if true. Don't know if this is confirmed, but when there's smoke...



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Re: Keonte Kennedy Reportedly Going To Memphis

Post by frstev17 »

Ugh. Not good news, not at all.
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Re: Keonte Kennedy Reportedly Going To Memphis

Post by MrMemorial »

As long as the PG that transferred shows up on campus, we will be fine regardless what this guys does.

There are still guards from place like Stanford and Georgetown in the portal.
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Re: Keonte Kennedy Reportedly Going To Memphis

Post by VUaskew »

not to mention Shane Dezonie (who I am secretly pulling for to come back) and Peyton Daniels.
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Re: Keonte Kennedy Reportedly Going To Memphis

Post by Minoadoc »

"My word is stronger than oak"
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Re: Keonte Kennedy Reportedly Going To Memphis

Post by OldDude »

Who cares anymore. The lunatics are running the asylum.
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Re: Keonte Kennedy Reportedly Going To Memphis

Post by MrMemorial »

Minoadoc wrote: Mon Jun 20, 2022 9:53 am "My word is stronger than oak"
While I'm still sort of moved by your "stronger than oak" thing.
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Re: Keonte Kennedy Reportedly Going To Memphis

Post by MrMemorial »

VUaskew wrote: Mon Jun 20, 2022 9:48 am not to mention Shane Dezonie (who I am secretly pulling for to come back) and Peyton Daniels.
Something makes me think we've seen the last of PD on West End.
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Re: Keonte Kennedy Reportedly Going To Memphis

Post by Jason94 »

MrMemorial wrote: Mon Jun 20, 2022 7:54 am As long as the PG that transferred shows up on campus, we will be fine regardless what this guys does.

There are still guards from place like Stanford and Georgetown in the portal.
I couldn't see anyone from either school who actually played at all this past season. This is a pretty big loss, as we will be relying upon someone who isn't proven to start at the SG position playing along side a 5'-11" point who hasn't faced anywhere near as difficult competition as he will this season in the SEC.

Unless something surprising comes up, there isn't much left on the board in the portal. Kennedy would have been a athletic, experienced solution at the position - will have to hope someone like Lawrence has a massive breakthrough.
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Re: Keonte Kennedy Reportedly Going To Memphis

Post by AuricGoldfinger »

I'm all for players' rights, and perhaps there are extenuating circumstances here. But if not, this just shows the insanity of not having any kind of deadline by which rosters can be finalized. We've all been thinking for the last 6 weeks Kennedy is coming to Nashville. Maybe CJS and the staff weren't as convinced as we were, and they've known this was a possibility. (I don't think the AD ever issued a release announcing his transfer, so maybe this is all on us.) But at some point, for the sake of the program and the coaches in charge of it, shouldn't there be some deadline other than the start of classes in the fall?
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Re: Keonte Kennedy Reportedly Going To Memphis

Post by MrMemorial »

Jason94 wrote: Mon Jun 20, 2022 1:36 pm - will have to hope someone like Lawrence has a massive breakthrough.
Things to keep in mind about Lawrence:
1) He only played 7 games his first year which is pretty much like being redshirted
2) He had offers from other major D-1 programs including Gonzaga
3) At 6-4/200 he has the size and athletic ability WHEN UNIJURED to make that breakthrough

Misc: Noah Shelby other offers included:
Auburn
Kansas
Arizona
Texas
Arkansas
Baylor
Memphis


More misc: Verbal Commits portal still shows Kennedy to Vanderbilt
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Re: Keonte Kennedy Reportedly Going To Memphis

Post by Go Vandy! »

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Re: Keonte Kennedy Reportedly Going To Memphis

Post by MrMemorial »

quote from 2019:
Xavier freshman Keonte Kennedy is taking time off for personal reasons. He will not practice or play in games during this period, according to the school.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Let me see... if you include TCU and Vandy where he was supposed to be transferring during various years...plus Xavier and UTEP... plus wherever he really ends up this time... that would be a total of 5 places?

Five schools. If I added wrong, let me know.
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Re: Keonte Kennedy Reportedly Going To Memphis

Post by cc11316 »

Like it or not ... this is what College Basketball is today. TBH, I don't hate this system of allowing players to make money and transfer if they aren't happy or choose to go somewhere else for a better deal. It isn't really college sports the way traditionalists and the schools would like but you can still cheer for the jerseys and next year cheer for 10 different players wearing those jerseys.
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Re: Keonte Kennedy Reportedly Going To Memphis

Post by UltimateVUFan »

Well, this certainly diminishes the overall roster depth for next season. Though, FWIW, we don’t know the whole story. For all we know, admissions may have played a role, which would explain the lack of an official announcement by the AD, which auric noted above.
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Re: Keonte Kennedy Reportedly Going To Memphis

Post by underdog74 »

MrMemorial wrote: Mon Jun 20, 2022 3:04 pm
Jason94 wrote: Mon Jun 20, 2022 1:36 pm - will have to hope someone like Lawrence has a massive breakthrough.
Things to keep in mind about Lawrence:
1) He only played 7 games his first year which is pretty much like being redshirted
2) He had offers from other major D-1 programs including Gonzaga
3) At 6-4/200 he has the size and athletic ability WHEN UNIJURED to make that breakthrough

Misc: Noah Shelby other offers included:
Auburn
Kansas
Arizona
Texas
Arkansas
Baylor
Memphis


More misc: Verbal Commits portal still shows Kennedy to Vanderbilt
I am not trolling, but honestly, other offers a player has received does not translate into success on the court. Also, if the kid ends up in Memphis, let him bask in mediocrity and high expectations.
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Re: Keonte Kennedy Reportedly Going To Memphis

Post by buffy »

This may be CJS's undoing. He's assessing the talent, but not the person. Keonte has now been attached to 5 different schools. Why did we recruit him in the first place. I get someone that makes a bad first decision. That happens. But read the writing on the wall. I hope I'm wrong, but none of Stack's recruiting efforts will be fruitful if he's not going after high character, mature guys. Last year's freshman class doesn't exist. That's on Stack. Let's see how this new group responds. That said, Liam, Quentin and Rodney were definitely the kind of kids we want from the portal. And he recruited them.
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Re: Keonte Kennedy Reportedly Going To Memphis

Post by underdog74 »

buffy wrote: Tue Jun 21, 2022 9:24 am This may be CJS's undoing. He's assessing the talent, but not the person. Keonte has now been attached to 5 different schools. Why did we recruit him in the first place. I get someone that makes a bad first decision. That happens. But read the writing on the wall. I hope I'm wrong, but none of Stack's recruiting efforts will be fruitful if he's not going after high character, mature guys. Last year's freshman class doesn't exist. That's on Stack. Let's see how this new group responds. That said, Liam, Quentin and Rodney were definitely the kind of kids we want from the portal. And he recruited them.
Fair enough, but I think the new world order of college hoops is more to blame. With every player free to come and go on a whim, a coach has to continually rebuild their roster through the portal, and recruiting out of HS is not a guarantee that player will stick around. Integrity and character be damn. This isn't just a CJS problem as you know. A player like DeZonie is a great example. He was getting plenty of playing time and had a lot of promise to have a breakout second season, even getting a lot of love from fans and the media, transfers to St. John's (I think) and then backs out of that commitment. It's nuts. Every coach has a win now mentality and that has to be a challenge in today's revolving door of college basketball.
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Re: Keonte Kennedy Reportedly Going To Memphis

Post by VUaskew »

How is this CJS undoing? Pretty dramatic...
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Re: Keonte Kennedy Reportedly Going To Memphis

Post by Jason94 »

MrMemorial wrote: Mon Jun 20, 2022 3:04 pm
Jason94 wrote: Mon Jun 20, 2022 1:36 pm - will have to hope someone like Lawrence has a massive breakthrough.
Things to keep in mind about Lawrence:
1) He only played 7 games his first year which is pretty much like being redshirted
2) He had offers from other major D-1 programs including Gonzaga
3) At 6-4/200 he has the size and athletic ability WHEN UNIJURED to make that breakthrough

Misc: Noah Shelby other offers included:
Auburn
Kansas
Arizona
Texas
Arkansas
Baylor
Memphis


More misc: Verbal Commits portal still shows Kennedy to Vanderbilt
Using Offers out of HS to evaluate a rising RS sophomore is like looking at your HS GPA when evaluating how you will do in Finite Elements. Why use who he was three years ago when we can actually look at how he played against SEC level competition? We all know Lawrence is very highly recruited, but there are a lot of highly recruited players who never panned out, and we've had a number of them over the last few seasons - Terran Frank the most recent example. Last season Lawrence struggled to beat out Trey Thomas, a 5'-11" skinny guard who's only great attribute is the ability to shoot and he struggled to do so last season. Lawrence most definitely has the physical gifts, but his inability to hit shots makes him very guardable and he has not shown any ability to play the point.

I'm very hopeful with Shelby, but as I said, right now unless Kennedy does end up here we will be relying upon a player who has no proven track record of being able to be a starting 2 guard in the SEC. Maybe Shelby will be the guy but we don't know that he will yet. And I sure hope he is a great shooter regardless, because outside of Stute we only have Wright as the only somewhat proven shooter who will command significant playing time.

We've been operating on the assumption that CJS has been going after transfer guards because he has concluded that starting either Lawrence or Thomas in the 2 guard spot significantly lowers his chances of getting next year's team to the tournament. Based on what we've seen of those players this is a very reasonable assumption. I would further suggest that if we pair Manjon with a guard who defers offensively (like Lawrence did last season) that Manjon will struggle trying to create offense against the athleticism he will face in the SEC, especially without the ability to stretch the floor with a reliable three point shot.

I was very positive on the Kennedy move and felt that CJS had done a really good job of adding a player who would have complemented Manjon very well in the backcourt. If he is still coming I would be very high on our season. If not I would really hope that we could luck into another guard as insurance against all of the unknown rather than hope for a statistically unlikely improvement by one of our returners.
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