Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Could Bo Aldridge be the Kansas Jayhawks Last Roster Move & Why is KU Playing in Mexico City?

Starting point is 00:00:00 On today's Locked on Jayhawks, there's a new name that KU might be recruiting. Just visited KU. That would be Bo Aldridge. Let's talk about him, what he'd bring to the table, what KU's gunning for there, and how he could possibly fit in with the team for this or next year. Also, we're going to finish up with a little bit on the KU-Houston game in Mexico City. Kind of an odd thing that's happening, so we'll discuss on today's edition with Locked on Jayhawks. You are Locked on Jayhawks,

Starting point is 00:00:29 your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. On today's Locked on Jayhawks, we're going to be talking about Bo Aldridge and the KU Houston event in Mexico City. I'm Derek Johnson. You can hear me as well, Monday through Friday from 3 to 6 p.m. on KLWN in Lawrence

Starting point is 00:00:59 with Rock Chalk Sports Talk. Thanks for making Locked on Jayhawks, though, your first listen each and every day. We are free and available wherever you get any of your podcasts. You can find us, like and subscribe to us on YouTube also. And on today's edition of the show, we're talking about everything you can see in the graphic. If you're watching on YouTube, yeah, with Bo Aldridge and KU Houston. Obviously, the Rock Chalk Rumble Classic Weekend continues on.

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Starting point is 00:01:46 order so let's start things off bo aldridge uh the the first name is actually i think catrilius i don't know if it's catrilius but um awesome first name however you pronounce it he goes by bo though i'd love to hear the story on why but uh nonetheless he is somebody who just kind of popped out that okay well here comes kansas like is this who bill self is referring to he was just at a golf event uh like some you know sort of event that was happening for uh auto schnellbacher the former great ku football player uh that they do this golf classic in topeka and um he he spoke to the media and said something about you know that there's something that they could have golf classic in Topeka. And he spoke to the media and said something about, you know, that there's something that they could have in the works,

Starting point is 00:02:28 and they're hoping that, you know, that could be something that pops up soon. Is this possibly what he's talking about? Is it something else? I don't totally know. He is a local kid, though, from Highland Park, which I believe is a 5A school in the Topeka area. I believe they made the state semifinals this past year, so had a good season.

Starting point is 00:02:44 He grew up a KU fan, obviously being an in-state kid and being around somebody who has been kind of a late riser in the recruiting ranks. He picked up his first Division II offer last spring. Then the D1 offers started coming in during the summer of last year. Then he picked up his first Power 5 offers, eventually coming a bit more recently. To this point, haven't seen a KU offer officially extended out, at least as of time of recording, but maybe that is something that could come about. on Wednesday. It's Jeremy Case who's doing the lead recruiting for him and Case has done a really good job in the recruiting ranks so far this offseason and since he's kind of become a assistant coach for KU. Now the interesting part about Bo Aldridge is he is a three-star combo guard that can be in the class of 2023 or he can be in the class of 2024. Technically, he has just pushed back into being 2024 with the idea there he could possibly play a year of prep ball at maybe like Sunrise Christian or some of these other different prep schools that give you an extra year, basically. And then you move on to the college level and you're a year older, you're a little bit more ready, you have that kind of extra year of getting ready for what it's like in college a little bit of that stuff so he has that opportunity or he could just reclass back into his original class here in 2023 and

Starting point is 00:04:12 then he would be good from that point uh this was from ksnt which is a tv station in topeka that um has been talking to him a couple times and they according to them he is eyeing a potential july commitment potentially at the adidas 3ssb circuit in South Carolina so you're looking at a decision possibly coming in a month I think part of the discussion here you have to get to and I'll get into the scouting report here in a second is what is the exact what is the exact plan for KU on how they're approaching this right like is this something where they are viewing this as, hey, this is a perfect replacement for losing Chris Johnson. We're trying to get to 11th scholarship.

Starting point is 00:04:51 I don't know how much Chris Johnson would have played or been part of the rotation this year. Theoretically, we just want another guard to give us more depth and who can be a developmental player that we can, you know, basically isn't going to cause problems for us if they're not part of the rotation, but that maybe has good potential that in a year or two down the road, you get them into the program, they can impact something to your game. Is that what it is? Is he a top option? Because that's exactly what you're going for. Or are you going for an

Starting point is 00:05:23 impact transfer who can impact things right away to where this would be a either backup option in case you can't land that transfer, a secondary option to where you'd play with 12 scholarship players, or just to get a couple early visits out of the way for somebody who you might be interested for the class of 2024. There are a lot of different directions that you can go with all this over an interesting player. Now, as far as the scouting report for Bo Aldridge, he is, as I mentioned, a three-star combo guard.

Starting point is 00:05:54 He can be either the class of 2023 or 24, currently in the class of 24. On 24-7 sports, he is listed as the number 27 combo guard. He is the number three recruit in the state of Kansas. I've seen a couple different sites, some that have enlisted at 6'3", some have enlisted at 6'4". We'll call it 6'4", about 190 pounds. He is a lefty. I don't know, lefty shooting stroke, something about him.

Starting point is 00:06:16 They look even more smooth than the right-handed side, so never complain about that. As I mentioned, the offer list and the offer sheet, the team's offering just continue to kind of pick up for this kid. UT Arlington, Tulsa, SEMO, SIUE, Sam Houston State, Eastern Kentucky. And then the real big offers started coming in. Ole Miss, Oklahoma, and Mississippi State. Now, if you notice, those three are all of interest

Starting point is 00:06:43 because they are power five obviously beyond that though there's something i find very very interesting about those last three schools that offered him old miss oklahoma mississippi or i don't know if they're the last three chronologically but the three power fives that offered him i guess i should say what do all of those have in common chris beard the head coach of old miss porter mosier the head coach of oklahoma and chris jans the head coach of mississippi state obviously chris beard has the the off the court stuff so uh we don't need to get further into that because you probably know about it by now but just in terms of the on the court uh coaching perspective of this right what

Starting point is 00:07:18 do we know about those three coaches well chris beard demands defense and he always has elite defenses porter mosier demands defense you go always has elite defenses. Porter Mosier demands defense. You go back to his Loyola Chicago days, you look back to some of his Oklahoma teams, he's had really good defenses. Mississippi State with Chris Janz. When he was at New Mexico State and then coming to Mississippi State, that's a team who can be a bit of a slog offensively, but they demand excellent defense and they play physically and they play tough. And that is the case for all three of these coaches that offered him. They want athletes who can play good defense and are physical and can play tough.

Starting point is 00:07:51 That is all three of those schools and all three of those coaches. What does that tell you? I can't tell you that I've seen Bo Aldridge play in person. I didn't get to call one of Highland Park's games against, you know, one of the Lawrence schools this year. I can't tell you that there's a bunch of scouting reports out there on Bo Aldridge. I can tell you a little bit from some stuff that I've picked up from,

Starting point is 00:08:10 from surfing around, but I can tell you this much. If you're getting offered by all three of those schools, you have those traits, or at least you have the ability inside of you to get to those traits. And because of that, I think it becomes a very interesting type player one because bill self loves tough players he loves players who are going to defend he loves good athletes right those are those are never a bad thing but those are also traits that used to

Starting point is 00:08:34 usually lead to meaning you're a hard worker and that eventually you would hope the offensive game can develop and that you're going to work hard enough to maximize whatever development level you can get to so it doesn't necessarily guarantee those things but it kind of hints at it which is obviously a nice thing now some other strengths that come out here athleticism um you watch some of the highlights i watched some of the highlight videos of this kid very good athlete running up and down the court pressures the ball really well he'll go up there and whether it's throwing down a dunk himself or catching an alley-oop lob and throwing it down uh national prospect id has him at a 38 inch vertical i would honestly buy that

Starting point is 00:09:10 from watching some of the highlight videos it's never a bad thing to get a kid who's ultra athletic works hard and wants to be in your program from in the state right like um we've seen enough of those work out even just recently look what christian brown's been doing in the nba finals uh ochag baji and i'm not going to say that oh Bo Aldridge is going to automatically be those those guys were first round picks that that's insane to put that uh tear on someone especially someone who you know he's not McDonald's All-American or something like that but it has worked out for you a lot of times that these guys who do want to work hard and do have some athleticism uh but maybe just haven't been showcased at the highest level that it would make sense in some areas he also

Starting point is 00:09:49 has some point guard skills and backcourt versatility rivals lists him as a point guard which he played some in high school um i think at the collegiate level you're looking at him more of a two guard but that one can uh handle the ball bring the ball up the floor, initiate the offense, kind of your combo guard type. And maybe in time, if he is closer to being a true 6'4", with the athleticism, maybe in time you add some weight to his body, he can play up to the three, right? So you're getting backcourt versatility from that perspective, which is a good thing. This is also from an On3 article about him being a keeper from session one of the 2022 Under Armour Circuit, in which he got first team from On3 for his total performance. The swagger pops immediately for Catrelius Aldridge,

Starting point is 00:10:35 a lefty, he's comfortable on the ball, both initiating the offense or creating from the wing. He has a shifty handle. He has, with a great pace slash change of directions and a quick burst his all arkansas red team lined aldridge up all over the floor throughout the game he made plays from the high post and in the dunker spot against his own has a high level pop there's defensive upside and the capability to create offense he made three threes in the first game

Starting point is 00:10:58 we watched of him this also from a 24-7 sports article about him being a top 10 performer at the rumble in the plex. Aldridge has a strong frame, great burst off the bounce and an exciting handle on the ball. He plays with great confidence on both ends of the floor and has translatable weapons to be a reliable scoring option in the right system. So a lot of good things there. As far as the weaknesses, I haven't been able to really find much.

Starting point is 00:11:20 I don't know. Is he like an inconsistent shooter? There has to be a reason. He's a three star, not a five star, right? Is it the level of competition played where you just don't know how he's going to play up? You're playing in 5A in the state of Kansas. Is it because it's going to take you some extra time to develop? Is it because you are 6'3", 6'4", as opposed to being 6'6", 6'7", and maybe your athleticism leads you more to being a wing? I don't know the answers to that,

Starting point is 00:11:42 but clearly there is something that makes him not a perfect prospect, which is why he is a three-star recruit. We're going to continue on here with Locked on Jayhawks in just a moment and get on to some of the stuff on the KU Houston game in Mexico City and also exactly how Aldridge would fit in for KU and what they'd be going for

Starting point is 00:12:04 if they do eventually land him. First, of this ep of locked on Jayhawks is brought to you by bird dogs. I'm wearing bird dogs right now. I don't know if you can see me. Maybe I can stand up, right? If you're watching on YouTube, I'm wearing shorts,

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Starting point is 00:13:01 So LOCKEDONCOLLEGE for a free Tumblr with every purchase. BirdDogdogs.com slash locked on college okay uh how exactly would beau aldridge work into ku's plans i guess so to speak so it kind of depends obviously this goes back to the conversation about would he reclassify would he not now from kansas perspective you're looking at adding another player are they going to look around in the transfer portal and try to get a more impact player who would be ready to maybe play starter level minutes right off the bat possibly if not and you're viewing it as well chris johnson might not have been a big part of the rotation anyway let's just bring in somebody

Starting point is 00:13:40 to give us added depth who can be a developmental player in case of an injury right and then down the road they can be good and somebody who wants to be here longer term then boom then that would make sense for 2023 but it's it's i i wonder if this is one of those things where it's like well we're going to try to bring in this transfer and if that happens we have interest in you for 2024 but if this transfer ends up going elsewhere or doesn't want to come here then at that point let's just reclassify you and have you come in in 2023 and then what you can even do if you're kansas is redshirt him in year one now obviously there are depth questions and um in theory you could be like

Starting point is 00:14:27 well if you're just going to redshirt him why not just have him join in 2024 and then you save the scholarship with the self-imposed sanctions well here's why it gives you just one extra piece of mind where you can plan on redshirting him but worst case if there is an injury to someone because you would have a more thin roster you do the ochag baji thing where it's like okay well now we have these injuries and we didn't have that many scholarship players we're gonna have to burn it and it's unfortunate you have to do that but in this day and age you're not seeing guys stick around for four years anyway really so uh you know it's not the best thing to do but also like it's something that would give you more depth at the end of the

Starting point is 00:15:07 day, if you're able to make it through the season with 10 scholarship players, then you would have redshirted him all year. You would have developed him a year in the program. He would have a year being coached by Bill self and refining his game a little bit and getting shots up and everything that would certainly help out. And then I think you'd be looking at it as, as him being someone who, because of the athleticism, you get him in the program,

Starting point is 00:15:27 you develop him in ways that you have developed these other, you know, non top 100 recruits, so to speak, that KU has had and had really good success rate doing it from your Frank Masons to your Devante grams, to your Christian Browns, your Ocha Agbajes.

Starting point is 00:15:41 Maybe he could be somebody who'd be, you know, fringe rotation player by year two. Maybe he's part of the rotation by year three. Maybe he's a starter and breaks out by year four, or maybe even things get moved up a little bit on that timeline. But he's certainly somebody that I am very interested by. And it seems like KU is, he had a couple of visits last week. So I think if KU would have offered, he probably is accepting the offer at this point in time. So it tells me that because that hasn't come out yet, that it is one of those things where it's kind of a wait and see to how exactly we could possibly need you on board here.

Starting point is 00:16:17 All right, let's finish up with Locked on Jayhawks, the KU Houston game that's going to be played in Mexico City for basketball. Back with Locked on Jayhawks, Kansas Houston are going to be playing each other in Mexico City. I think when it first came out, the thought was it was going to be in the conference season of this upcoming basketball season. So the 2023 to 24 season, it's actually going to be played in the 2024 to 2025 season, but it is going to be played in the calendar year of 2024 the plan is for it to be played in December of 2024 uh KU Houston it's going to be I they said they're going to play both the men's and women's teams out there I kind of take that as it'll be

Starting point is 00:16:59 a double header I could be wrong with that Maybe they'll have two separate trips or something, but like, I feel like they would be like, all right, we're going to have the men's game at six and the woman's game at eight or the woman's game at six and the men's game a day or whatever it is. Right. Um, and they're going to play both those games out there. Um, so it's kind of interesting. And on one hand, um, I'll say this, I, uh, have been very hesitant with the whole brett your mark thing i think there's a lot of great things that brett your mark is doing and has done and and a lot of things that i really appreciate i i love the aggressiveness in conference realignment i love the um idea of not sitting back and and trying new things to a certain standpoint. I was happy to hear his comments the other day about, you know,

Starting point is 00:17:47 talking about keeping like the big 12 tournament in Kansas city, for instance, right? Like there are certain things. I think it's smart that he constantly repeats, you know, kind of talking about the big 12 being the premier basketball conference because the big 12 at this point is never going to be better than the big 10 in the sec, as long as none of those schools like left for the big 12 in football. So if you're going to max out at number three in football as a conference, be the best you can at basketball. Right. And so it's smart to kind of double down on that. And it's a way to, you know,

Starting point is 00:18:23 add some stuff. There are certain times though, when I'm like, okay, okay, wait, what? Where it's smart to kind of double down on that. And it's a way to, you know, add some stuff. There are certain times, though, when I'm like, OK, OK, wait, what? Where it's like with Brett Yormark, where it's like, OK, yeah, I'm falling along. I'm falling along. No, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Can we go back? What'd you just say? Right. And whether it's the having the games in like Germany, which I love Germany.

Starting point is 00:18:40 I just went to Germany last summer. Absolutely loved it. Not sure why we're playing college basketball games or that's the idea there um there was some talk during the big 12 tournament that uh there were some higher ups uh maybe brett yormark wanted to like move the big 12 tournament to like in new york or las vegas and you're like well doing the i don't know there's just like certain things there where it's like well did we go too far with that this feels like one of those to me what is the purpose of this why are we doing this um i understand the idea of you know growing the game and stuff that's one thing for the nba

Starting point is 00:19:11 where it's like you are the best product in your specific sport or the nfl right and you're trying to grow uh the game worldwide to where people are tuning into your professional sport do we ever think that people in mexico city or in me Mexico are going to be super interested in American college basketball? You know what I mean? Like, what is this providing? Are we going to eventually add a university in Mexico to join the Big 12? Would that even work? I don't know.

Starting point is 00:19:36 Like, what is the purpose here, right? A lot of times the NFL is playing games in London, and there's always been the rumors about, oh, well, they want to establish a market. Maybe eventually there will be a team in London. We're going to do that with Mexico City. What exactly are we doing here? And do we think that there's like this huge, you know, like KU has alumni pipelines in Chicago and Dallas and Phoenix and, you know, some of these other cities, LA. Does Houston just have some big like alumni pipeline in Mexico City that I'm unaware of?

Starting point is 00:20:03 And then at the bottom of the big 12 release it was like well we have all these texas schools houston baylor tcu texas etc that are within 400 miles of mexico that is so misleading man that is so misleading because if you actually look how long it takes to get from houston to mexico city mexico city's further south than you think it's like a 17 hour drive what are we doing here this feels like just a waste of space and then you have the added part of this where it's going to be a non-conference game in december so you're gonna have two conference opponents playing a non-conference game in mexico city why are we doing this this feels like a waste of time a waste of energy

Starting point is 00:20:40 and just going to kind of go on on i don't know deaf ears so to speak so um i don't know i'm not really a fan of it i'd rather just play the game at one of the two teams home arenas and get that college basketball good environment i feel like this is just doing too much for the sake of doing too much and i feel like sometimes there needs to be more people in the big 12 office saying no we probably shouldn't do that um and this isn't like the worst thing in the world like this doesn't harm anyone it's it's not going to have like some huge negative impact i just don't really see the benefits of it to be completely honest so i i it'll be cool because it'll be like a standalone thing where you know espn or fox or whoever's doing the

Starting point is 00:21:19 game will certainly talk about it more because it will be an event and i guess that is a positive to come out of it. And, you know, they'll make it their primetime game for the night for both the women's team and the men's team. So that is a positive. But I don't know. The rest feels kind of a little dumb to me nonetheless. But all right, that'll do it for this episode of the show. We'll be back next week.

Starting point is 00:21:37 I don't know what we'll talk about yet. Maybe in a drama, Deongo deep dive. We've been teasing that for a bit. If that's still possibly at play for KU, we'll talk some some more, I don't know, maybe season rehashes for some of the players. We'll get into football here coming up here in a couple of weeks and how pivotal this recruiting class with the transfer portal is going to be for KU moving forward from an expectation perspective. But all that to come later in the upcoming shows and weeks of Locked on Jayhawks.

Starting point is 00:22:03 You can find us wherever you get any of your podcasts. You can also like and subscribe to the show on YouTube. Have a good rest of your day. See you next time. Have a good weekend.

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Could Bo Aldridge be the Kansas Jayhawks Last Roster Move & Why is KU Playing in Mexico City?

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