Everything is coming up Kansas these days. A week after landing 2013′s prize recruit, Bill Self appears to have landed the nation’s most talked about transfer in Tarik Black, who was also considering Duke, Georgetown and Oregon.
My feeling is, Black saw two things at Kansas that he had to have liked.
First, with Andrew Wiggins there, the team, along with Black, will get a ton of exposure by the media and NBA scouts.
Second, the Jayhawks are young, so Black obvious saw a chance to start.
Now one thing the coaching staff desperately needed was an experienced body in the paint, but it remains to be seen if he can start. First, there are reasons why Black was benched in Memphis. Second, the players Kansas has now may be younger, but they are probably more talented than Black.
Wiggins should hold down the small forward spot, while sophomore Perry Ellis is slated for the power spot. It appears Black will be competing with Joel Embiid, the 2nd rated center coming out of high school for the starting spot at center. My money is on Embiid winning that battle eventually, thus I actually think Black might be making a bad decision here.
Anyhow, it’s not a tragic loss for Duke, but Black certainly could have helped. He would have fit nicely in the paint, the one weak spot Duke has going into the 2013-14 season. With him, I would have penciled in the Blue Devils as the favorite to win the ACC.
Without him, then I have to wonder what Coach K will do when they are facing true big men. I just can’t see 6-8 Josh Hairtson and 6-8 Amile Jefferson being effective. Marshall Plumlee has the body to bang in the paint, but he’s not healthy right now and that has to be killing his development.
I would say that Duke remains one of the favorites in the ACC, but I wouldn’t bump them ahead of either Syracuse or North Carolina right now.
