Matt Jones' recent comments about Jamal Murray

[George]

I'll make this brief. In a "UK Chatter" KSR post, Jones mentioned Murray's invitation to play with the Canadian national team and the complications that come with that invitation. While he said this is "VERY UNLIKELY," Jones mentioned that Murray could choose to commit to the national team and forego his upcoming season at UK all together.

Thoughts?

[JFCats22]

Not buying it. Haven't heard that thought from anyone I have spoken to. Doubt he doesn't come to UK.

However, if it still stays quiet in regards to the date he will be on campus 2 or so weeks from now, well then I may start to worry a little bit.

[Joneslab]

IIRC they said during the Pan-Am coverage that the qualifying thing would end in September. Not sure why he'd have to forego an entire year of play for a month of qualifying with the Canadian team.

The only possibility I can see is that his family thinks the Pan-Am stuff and his play during the Olympic qualifying might be better for him in the long-term than playing at UK. You get him out there in the Pan-Am Games, he blows up, people are saying he'll be a top five pick...and then you hide him until the draft.

There's some logic in that. I don't think that's the way they'll go, because I think it would end up backfiring as players slid past him and his decision to not play at UK became a negative. But he's definitely made himself a lot of money this summer and needs UK a lot less than he did (assuming the NBA is his main goal, and I'm assuming it is).

[George]

IIRC they said during the Pan-Am coverage that the qualifying thing would end in September. Not sure why he'd have to forego an entire year of play for a month of qualifying with the Canadian team.

The only possibility I can see is that his family thinks the Pan-Am stuff and his play during the Olympic qualifying might be better for him in the long-term than playing at UK. You get him out there in the Pan-Am Games, he blows up, people are saying he'll be a top five pick...and then you hide him until the draft.

There's some logic in that. I don't think that's the way they'll go, because I think it would end up backfiring as players slid past him and his decision to not play at UK became a negative. But he's definitely made himself a lot of money this summer and needs UK a lot less than he did (assuming the NBA is his main goal, and I'm assuming it is).

There's some overlap between the game schedule and the beginning of the semester, and somewhere in the middle of all that is a firm date by which Murray must be on campus.

[GOCAT15]

This article shows the important dates, etc..

http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/08/10/kentucky-freshman-jamal-murray-makes-training-camp-roster-for-canada-fiba-americas-team/

Classes begin August 26th, tryouts are from August 14th-20th, so obviously if he doesn't make the team it is a non-issue. FIBA is from August 31st to September 12th.

If I remember correctly I thought Cal made a remark that Murray could miss two weeks of class and still be ok, but that would mean he would have to be on campus by September 9th.

I mean I know Murray is a good player, but he is the only college player that is invited to the training camp, so he's going up against NBA players so who knows if he will make the team.

Also I have no idea how the FIBA bracket works, but I guess it's just as possible that Canada could get knocked out pretty quickly and not play for that whole time period?

A lot of variables out there, but I am hoping he picks UK over Canada.

[Spiritof96]

Unless he can make a tackle, I'm not worried about him until November.

[KevinHall]

If he plays really well in this qualifying tournament I could see his parents and anyone else affiliated with him saying, He's shown enough to be a high draft pick. No need to expose him at UK and taking a chance he doesn't do well. IMO that's a real possibility. Just another pitfall of recruiting high level players that have many other agendas beside going to UK.

[KevinHall]

This article shows the important dates, etc..

http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/08/10/kentucky-freshman-jamal-murray-makes-training-camp-roster-for-canada-fiba-americas-team/

Classes begin August 26th, tryouts are from August 14th-20th, so obviously if he doesn't make the team it is a non-issue. FIBA is from August 31st to September 12th.

If I remember correctly I thought Cal made a remark that Murray could miss two weeks of class and still be ok, but that would mean he would have to be on campus by September 9th.

I mean I know Murray is a good player, but he is the only college player that is invited to the training camp, so he's going up against NBA players so who knows if he will make the team.

Also I have no idea how the FIBA bracket works, but I guess it's just as possible that Canada could get knocked out pretty quickly and not play for that whole time period?

A lot of variables out there, but I am hoping he picks UK over Canada.

Canada has to place one or two in this tournamet to qualify for the Olympics. If they should lose a couple of games early then most likely they would not place that high. So yea if they get off to a bad start Murray could drop off.

[JFCats22]

If he plays really well in this qualifying tournament I could see his parents and anyone else affiliated with him saying, He's shown enough to be a high draft pick. No need to expose him at UK and taking a chance he doesn't do well. IMO that's a real possibility. Just another pitfall of recruiting high level players that have many other agendas beside going to UK.

True...it backfired on Emmanuel Mudiay though. Was a consensus top 3-4 pick then went to China and others (Russell, WCS, etc..) passed him by. He only feel to #8 but still was a drop.

[GOCAT15]

True...it backfired on Emmanuel Mudiay though. Was a consensus top 3-4 pick then went to China and others (Russell, WCS, etc..) passed him by. He only feel to #8 but still was a drop.

Great point....if he would have went to a top program that gets a lot of airtime, I bet he would've been top 3. Not a huge difference, but would've definitely made a difference in his bank account.

[Matt Dillon]

How much money did he make for the time he spent in China?

[JFCats22]

How much money did he make for the time he spent in China?

His contract (I believe) was $1 million.

#3 pick in 2015 draft gets 2 year guaranteed deal for $7.8 milllion, #8 pick gets $4.8 million guaranteed.

[Joneslab]

Mudiay wouldn't have done it the way he did had he had a choice.

Going to play overseas is not a bad decision in a vacuum. With college basketball still (by far) the best avenue, it's a flawed decision. Which is why nobody does it if they help it.

These families get a lot of...um...perks from the colleges, and at UK they move virtually the entire operation to Lexington. You go to a UK practice and you see extended family, cousins, brothers, uncles all sitting there watching. You can either spend a year at UK or Duke or Kansas and have this incredible, freakish spotlight on you...or disappear in China. The end result either way is you being a millionaire, so the European way is really a major step down unless you just can't get eligible, as Mudiay wasn't going to.

[DA#23]

This thread has me more nervous than a Will Lavender faced with removing a bat from the basement.

[JFCats22]

Starting to think this is going to become an issue.

http://kentuckysportsradio.com/basketball-2/team-canada-actively-trying-to-keep-murray-for-fiba-championship/