Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Kansas Jayhawks Basketball Transfer Portal Target Deep Dive: Oklahoma Sooners Wing Kaden Cooper

Starting point is 00:00:00 On today's Locked on Jayhawks, deep dive into a possible transfer portal target for KU, Caden Cooper. You are Locked on Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. I'm Derek Johnson. You can find me on Twitter at D Johnson radio, and you can check out our show anywhere. You get your podcasts, including on our YouTube page where you can like and subscribe to the show. And on today's edition of locked on Jayhawks,

Starting point is 00:00:35 we're doing another player deep dive because now that NBA draft decisions have happened, Kansas still has scholarship openings. So time to talk about more options, more players for KU to go out there and possibly look into. We're going to be talking to Caden Cooper in that regard today and the latest on the offseason. So we'll get into Cooper, scouting report on him, potential fit with Kansas and more. First, this episode of the show is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook.

Starting point is 00:00:57 Make every moment more. Right now, new customers get $150 in bonus bets with any winning $5 bet. That's $150 with any winning $5 bet. That's $150 with any winning $5 bet. Visit Fanduel.com slash locked on to get started. So we're going to start with some info on who is Caden Cooper, some of his stats, scouting report, and then how exactly he would fit in with KU. Cooper is a 6'5", 190-pound guard slash wing who spent one season at Oklahoma in the big 12th. Kansas

Starting point is 00:01:28 actually offered him out of high school. And I don't know to what extent, you know, we've talked about this before with certain guys. Like, I think this was the case with Ryland Griffin that not all offers are the same. Like sometimes it's an offer on, Hey, we'll offer you this, but it's dependent on what happens with this other guy. You know, maybe you're recruiting a McDonald's All-American and you're not sure if you're going to get them or not. You offer somebody else and you say, well, we'd like to have you, but it's dependent on this or that. Or maybe you say, hey, we're offering you this right now, but if you don't commit right now, we're going to look at

Starting point is 00:02:01 other options and we're going to kind of put the press on you because we want to know, like, do you want to be here or not? Right. And so there are different levels of offering. So I don't know where that was for KU if it was like, hey, we offered, but we wanted this person instead. And who knows exactly, but point being, they did clearly have some interest to at least offer the scholarship. There hasn't been, I don't believe any reported interest so far this off season, but you would think that those connections, those tie-ins have maybe already been made that, you know, certainly this would be one that maybe would make some sense, especially if you're looking at the 12th scholarship

Starting point is 00:02:34 that they'd be filling here as maybe more of a developmental one, as opposed to one who's going to come in and, you know, be a player like a Jackson Robinson or Uga Poplar who you expect to play, you know, be a player like a Jackson Robinson or Uga Poplar, who you expect to play, you know, solid minutes on the team. So Cooper came into Norman as a top 70 prospect in the country that was by both 24-7 sports and on the 24-7 composite. So, you know, one of the better recruits in the country, which is why Kansas offered him out of high school. Here is the scouting report from Adam Finkelstein of 24-7 Sports on him. This isn't everything, but reading a couple, I guess, excerpts from it. Long athletic wing with broad shoulders,

Starting point is 00:03:11 cut up frame that pops at first glance, extremely long, explosive leaper and powerful. He takes pride in the defensive end of the floor and has a chance to become one of the best overall defenders in this national class. Skill set is a work in progress, trending in the right direction, only shot 29% behind the three-point line in Adidas play, but has shown long-term shooting potential, 73% at the foul line. And ultimately, Cooper is older for his grade. He's nonetheless a prospect to his clear untapped potential. So very good athlete, potential to be an elite defender that you heard there.

Starting point is 00:03:48 At 6'5", you can play him at the 2, the 3, right, and kind of get a bunch of different versatile options there. And there's at least potential with the shooting, even if it's not all the way quite there right now. And I think the athleticism part is what really intrigues me. Bill Self is always looking to improve his athleticism and having guys who can play athlete or who can be athletes play defense, you know, dunk on someone and change the momentum of a game. Like, certainly that is a lot of fun to have on your team.

Starting point is 00:04:16 You can't build a full roster with it because then you end up with a team who, you know, can't shoot. But if you have one of those guys who can kind of be that guy, like, I guess, think back to, you know, can't shoot. But if you have one of those guys who can kind of be that guy, like, I guess, think back to, you know, you have a team with, with Devon Dotson and Yudoka Azubuke and yeah, you have Marcus Garrett, who's not a great shooter, but he's just this dominant defender to play off of everybody. Now he wasn't quite maybe the athlete there in terms of the verticality, verticality and everything. But yeah, I mean, there's a lot of use for a player like that. And last season for Oklahoma, Cooper appeared in 15 games as a true freshman.

Starting point is 00:04:51 He only played four and a half minutes per game. He averaged 1.5 points per game, 0.9 rebounds per game. He had zero assists on the season to four turnovers. So you're sitting there going, okay, why would Kansas kick the tires on that, right? This is somebody who wasn't really playing for an Oklahoma team that was obviously worse than you in Big 12 play. He did go seven of 15 shooting, three of six from three, five eight on free throws. So actually those are solid numbers there, but that's such a small sample size

Starting point is 00:05:21 that you can't take anything away from that. He did only play in seven Big 12 games, but he did play 12 minutes in the Big 12 tournament loss. So I don't know if that was something that Oklahoma had some sort of injuries or something at the end of their season for their final game in the Big 12 tournament there, or if that had something to do with maybe he just improved and started to earn more minutes and played well in the minutes he got in that game and that earned him more minutes for the rest of the game. I don't know. But he had probably 12 minutes in the Big 12 tournament game,

Starting point is 00:05:50 which is encouraging. It was a loss to TCU. He had three points and four rebounds. But again, why would you bring on someone like this if they weren't exactly playing there? Well, I don't think the expectation would be if you bring on Caden Cooper that he's going to automatically be a starter in year one, that he's going to be playing 25 minutes per game for you when you bring him on.

Starting point is 00:06:08 I think the idea would be that you can bring him on and kind of develop him in the program. And maybe by his second year in the program, he can become a quality role player. Maybe by his third year in the program, he becomes a starter for your team, right? That he becomes your defensive stopper or something like that. The idea here would be bringing in more of a reserve type player who can develop into something more. And there's real arguments about, I think in today's day and age, the transfer portal where players can transfer as many times they want, not have to sit out. Is it worth using a scholarship on a player like that anymore? And it's impossible to tell because in some cases, yes, like it's great. And we've talked about this before.

Starting point is 00:06:51 Bill Self does best when he has players who have been in his program for multiple years, for several seasons, where they get to know everything that he wants and the system and everything that's demanded of them. And those are the best teams at KU under Bill Self. But the problem with that nowadays is so many kids transfer after not playing as much as they wanted to after a year. Now, some of the transfers we see from schools,

Starting point is 00:07:17 and this applies to Kansas and other schools across the country, aren't just the kid saying, hey, I want to go get more playing time elsewhere. It's maybe Bill Self or Kansas saying, hey, FYI, we recruited this guy coming in. We have this guy coming back. We went to the transfer portal to grab this guy. You're probably not going to play much. And so if you want to ride the bench here, that's fine. But if you want your best opportunity for yourself, you should go somewhere else. And it's kind of showing them the door, right? So that happens to, um, where it's not always about kids, but point being, it's almost impossible to me to expect.

Starting point is 00:07:48 It's one thing if you bring in a high school kid and he's ranked 120th in the country and your plans are, hey, let's redshirt him and then we'll have him develop for a few years. And then by the time he's a redshirt junior, he's going to be a rotation player. By the time he's a redshirt senior, he might be a starter, right?

Starting point is 00:08:03 How often does that happen anymore? After the first year when he redshirts, how often does that kid just transfer? Let alone after the second year. We see that all the time. So as much as it would be a good thing, I think, you do have to keep that in the back of your mind that it's not so easy just to say, hey, this 12th scholarship player for KU, let's bring on somebody who can develop for you. Because who knows? After a year of development, he might go, huh, I didn't really play much on last year's team. And even if the whole idea was to play more in year two, he might go, ah, but I see all these other guys who were better than me last year. I'm out. I'm transferring. And then it's like that whole year of development and using that scholarship there was pointless.

Starting point is 00:08:41 So then at that point, do you just say, well, let's just use it on the best player we can get each and every year, knowing that there will be another good player we can bring in with that same scholarship the next year in the portal. And that's kind of a philosophical thing. Anyway, more stuff here on Cooper, not a ton of synergy notes because so low in terms of the number of possessions and shot volume. So I don't want to really take any of that, but I will say he did rank in the 92nd percentile defensively. Again, very low sample size, but that backs up the scouting report we just heard about him having the potential to be one of the best defenders in the class. So that's a way to get on the court with Bill Self, right? And if you think about it with Oklahoma, Porter Mosier, typically his teams, yes, when you go back to his Loyola Chicago days, like they had great defenses.

Starting point is 00:09:28 But the one thing through his time at Loyola Chicago in Oklahoma, he wants guys who can, I guess, kind of, I don't know, pass, dribble, shoot. I guess maybe would be the way of putting it that you have guys who can cut and stuff like that. Like we haven't seen as many of the defensive stopper types beyond Oklahoma so to speak like it's it's more so I don't know maybe that's unfair but maybe it would be a better fit with Bill Self who does value that defense in such another way so you know obviously what makes Cooper interesting here is his potential and someone who could take take a leap this year or maybe in a few years. He's a potential play. He's a future play if you bring him in. But that's not a bad thought

Starting point is 00:10:10 either with how the competition and the rotation might already be. So even though there are my worries about nowadays, how much can you really bring on kids on your roster that are going to be developmental players? Because half the time you don't actually get to see the fruits of your labor there. But with how competitive the rotation might already be, it might not hurt if it's your 12 scholarship player is more of a future player, as long as everybody can kind of get on the same page there. All right, let's talk about the fit with KU potentially on this episode of Locked on Jayhawks. First, this episode is brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs. When you're hiring for your small business,

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Starting point is 00:11:44 Terms and conditions apply. All right, continuing on on this episode of LockedOnJayhawks with a potential fit conversation with Caden Cooper, the Oklahoma transfer who is in the portal here, and then we'll finish up with the latest in the portal for KU. So I think when you're looking at fit, he would be somebody who would play the two or the three. At 190 pounds, you're not going to be playing the four.

Starting point is 00:12:15 I mean, even at 6'5", you're kind of stretching it there. It's hard to say without knowing the wingspan specifically how that works. But yeah, probably not as much a point guard either. So you're looking at somebody who can come in and be the 2-3. And that would make sense if you're losing, if you view this scholarship as, hey, this was the lost Riley Kugel scholarship. That's kind of what he was going to be able to play. And I think you could argue that you would have a competition for if you are going to

Starting point is 00:12:41 play a nine-man rotation. Because again, going back to the idea of, to me, like six, I guess seven in a way feels set in that like, and even with, I don't know, Marco Jackson, like to be eight. If you're going to play a ninth man, to me, it probably would come down to a competition between Rakeese Passmore and then if you brought on Caden Cooper. And so the competition would be interesting because they're both guys who were ranked pretty similarly, pass more, a little bit higher for his class, but Cooper would have a year of college under his belt. Now, neither would have a year in the system at KU, but I think that would be the competition for maybe getting that ninth man spot, which maybe Bill Self expands the rotation a little bit. There've been some years, we'll do an episode on that later where they have gotten that deep or it's just more often spot minutes sometimes is what the ninth man role

Starting point is 00:13:29 kind of ends up being. But I think that would be the competition. Maybe you end up red shirting or something like that, right? And then you can develop for another year. And I think that's kind of the point here, whether it is ninth man, eighth man, or not really playing or red shirting. And it is more about developing for a year and then getting you ready for the 2025 to 2026 season. Because you fast forward a year and KU would be losing DeJuan Harris. KU would be losing KJ Adams, Hunter Dickinson, Zeke Mayo, right? And that doesn't even count anybody that would go pro or would transfer into the portal, right? And so when you're looking at the possible 2025 to 2026 roster, well, you could have a junior era, Marco Jackson and a senior Ryland Griffin and a senior AJ Store and

Starting point is 00:14:18 redshirt seniors at Clemens, sophomore Flory Badunga and a sophomore Rakees Passmore and a junior redshirt sophomore Jamari McDowell at that point. You know, there's a lot of opportunities open at that point. There's there's a possible opportunity that that would open up on the wing to be a starting position. Right. Because if you're just looking at the potential starters for KU, if you're going to count DeJuan, Hunter and KJ as starters, that's three starters gone. And even if you're assuming Storr and Griffin would be back for another year after this one, which, again, one of them could go pro after the year, you probably are moving Storr down to the four at that point. And you have one wing spot open to be a starter. And boom, like, again, there goes that competition with Peace Passmore or Caden Cooper at that point.

Starting point is 00:14:57 Right. So this would be more of a future play, an developmental play at that. And I think I mentioned this with Noah Shelby when he committed and when we were doing the deep dive on the Rice transfer, Noah Shelby. But I think it applies even more so here when you're talking about Caden Cooper. He is a former top 70 prospect. He's a former really, well, he is a really good athlete, was well known for being a super athletic recruit. This would almost be like buying in early at a lower cost. And it doesn't guarantee that you're going to get your money's worth out of it necessarily. But the idea here is with Cooper, okay, maybe it's by year two, year three, year four, who knows?

Starting point is 00:15:46 At some point in time, if you hit your potential, if you turn into this, you know, shut down defender who is a super good athlete and can really work hard in transition, which we know KU has a lot of good teams where they have really good transition play, the ceiling on that, you're able to kind of buy low in now. And what I mean by buy low is both in terms of the competition you have for the transfer and probably in terms of NIL money. Now, theoretically, the better a player gets in your program with NIL, maybe they're demanding more NIL money.

Starting point is 00:16:19 I don't entirely know how that works or if there's some sort of reward system or whatever. But basically put it this way, let's say Caden Cooper goes to another school and breaks out this season and then enters the transfer portal again. All of a sudden, the bidding that you're going to have to do to bring him in with NIL, all of a sudden, the role you're going to have to probably talk to him about possibly having with your team, all of a sudden, the competition, the other teams that are interested in him in the portal are going to make it a little bit tougher to bring him in, a little bit tougher in terms of the competition. So it's a little bit of buying low that if you do that and

Starting point is 00:16:52 you just have him in the program the whole time, then it certainly works out. So I think this is a take for me because I would certainly get it, but I still, under my guise and because of the idea that I almost do feel like there is almost like a 50-50 chance with every recruit, every high school kid, every transfer portal kid you bring in to be a developmental kid will actually be here after a year. I feel like that's like 50-50 at this point. Because of that, I almost would just say, just go get the best player you can and figure out the rotation later. So Uga Poplar would still be at the top of the list for me at this point in time. But I would certainly understand this. And I think this would be a nice move to bring on a kid who has a very high ceiling that you could try to develop for a year or two. And I would say this is a take no matter what in terms of, OK, if this ends up being your 12th player and you play with 12 scholarship guys, cool, that's great.

Starting point is 00:17:43 Or you take him and let's say Poplar still wants to come. Then you just have your 13th guy basically in this sense, reverse chronologically being more of a developmental guy too. So yeah, I would say take with Ken Cooper. We'll get to some more player deep dives coming, whether it's the rest of this week coming in the upcoming weeks here on locked on Jayhawks.

Starting point is 00:18:02 Let's discuss the latest in the portal and KU off season news on this episode ofed on Jayhawks. Let's discuss the latest in the portal and KU off season news on this episode of Locked on Jayhawks. First, this episode of the show is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook. It's winner take all time in the NBA and NHL and FanDuel is giving you a shot to bring home a big win of your own. Right now, new customers get $150 in bonus bets with any winning $5 bet. That's $150 to bet on spreads, money lines, player props, and more. Right now, if you're interested in some KU lines, a little college football coming out. I saw the Lindy's Preseason Magazine came out at the

Starting point is 00:18:40 end of May. I already picked me up a copy of that, so you're getting ready for your preseason college football stuff. Well, Jalen Daniels is going off at 30-1 plus 3,000 to win the Heisman. Kansas, to make the college football playoff, is at 6-1, which that honestly is wild to me. I mean, those are still solid odds you can get on, but the fact that we are in a world right now where Kansas is only 6-1, they're single-digit odds to make the college football playoff. The over-under is eight and a half wins.

Starting point is 00:19:05 You can get in on any of those over at FanDuel. Just visit fanduel.com slash locked on and make every playoff shot count. FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook. Finishing things up here on Locked on Jayhawks

Starting point is 00:19:19 with the latest in the offseason. So I think since we last talked, Jackson Robinson, because he ended up not making his decision or he didn't make it publicly known what he was doing he had to have obviously you know submitted his paperwork and stuff like that um but he ended up withdrawing from the draft and picking Kentucky simultaneously so following Mark Pope to Kentucky so Kansas unable to pull that one in uh Jameer Watkins pulled out of the draft. That's somebody that we did a deep dive on last week. Every day is tuned into that one.

Starting point is 00:19:48 Maybe it was two weeks ago, whatever. And thank you for doing that. So maybe that's somebody that Kansas kind of circles back around to. And then there was news from over the weekend where Tobias Bass of the Athletic posted that since reentering the transfer portal, Duncan Powell has heard from the following schools, West Virginia, Florida State, Virginia Tech, Texas, NC State, and Kansas was on there. He averaged a little over 12 points and seven rebounds per game at Sacramento State last season. So again, this would be interesting to me because you're talking about a player who,

Starting point is 00:20:22 obviously, it's Sacramento State. That would be a a big jump up but what that would tell me was maybe Candice is could almost view it as hey if we bring in a 12th player maybe it doesn't have to be a developmental guy necessarily although I believe Powell still has multiple years um you know understanding the role a little bit more I I don't know it's a possibility but he had at least decent production there so maybe we'll uh do a deep dive on him as well coming up. But yeah, right now it seems like there hasn't been a ton of public rumors or connections with KU and some other players, which also I would just point out that usually means, well, no, I'll put it this way. There have been a lot of other years where I guess with the European market,

Starting point is 00:21:06 the international market, a better way of putting it, that stuff never gets like publicized until it happens. So like, I remember with Sfi, like it was like all of a sudden, nope, they got this commit from this kid from Ukraine. Like, who is this? Let's do some research. Oh, people think he's really good. Right. I don't remember there being like this giant lead up of, oh, they're going to bring, right. With Johnny Furphy, it was it was it was maybe what was there like a week or two of lead up after it was kind of reported about the interest and stuff because it was deciding whether he was going to reclass or not and you know do this or that after he kind of blew up but like that one just came out of nowhere so maybe it would even be an international kid at some point or maybe somebody

Starting point is 00:21:40 who would reclassify from the high scoring I don't know a lot of options you can go to but obviously I'd imagine if you're KU, you want to get it done sooner rather than later so that you can have the player join for, because a lot of the players stick around and have summer classes and they do all their, their summer scrimmages and camps and stuff like that. That'll do it for this episode though, of locked on Jayhawks. You can find our show anywhere you get your podcast,

Starting point is 00:22:01 including on our YouTube page where you can like and subscribe to the show. We'll see you next time with LOJ.

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Kansas Jayhawks Basketball Transfer Portal Target Deep Dive: Oklahoma Sooners Wing Kaden Cooper

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