Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Kansas Jayhawks Basketball Transfer Portal Target Deep Dive: Rice Owls Guard Noah Shelby

Starting point is 00:00:00 On today's Locked on Jayhawks, deep dive into Rice transfer former four-star recruit Noah Shelby. 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 DJohnsonRadio. Thanks for making Locked on Jayhawks your first listen every day. I'm Derek Johnson. You can find me on Twitter at D Johnson radio. Thanks for making locked on Jayhawks. Your first listen every day. We are free and available anywhere. You get your podcast,

Starting point is 00:00:30 including finding us on our YouTube page where you can watch our video as well. Like, and subscribe to the show certainly helps on our end of things. Happy mother's day to anybody celebrating yesterday. And on today's episode of the show, we're talking Noah Shelby, deep dive into the rice transfer who had an unofficial visit with KU, his fit with KU, and the latest in the portal and around KU hoops.

Starting point is 00:00:52 First, today's episode of the show, though, is brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs. These days, every new potential hire can feel like a high-stakes wager for your small business. That's why LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the right people for your team faster and for free. Post your job for free at linkedin.com slash lockedoncollegetermsandconditions. Apply. So we're going to be talking Noah Shelby on today's episode of the show. We're going to get into who he is, some information on him, and how he would fit in with KU, what exactly would be what you're trying to do by adding Noah Shelby here and the latest with Kansas. Let's start with Noah Shelby. Who is he? What's up? Well, let's start here. Noah

Starting point is 00:01:31 Shelby is a six foot three, 185 pound guard, originally from McKinney, Texas. He, I believe, played prep level, I don't know if it was high school or AAU ball, with Ryland Griffin, who was the transfer you brought on from Alabama. And he was most recently at Rice, and he had an unofficial visit last week with the University of Kansas. So basically came on and visited and clearly some sort of, I don't know, reciprocating interest both ways. There was that, and I'm blanking on the kid's name, Bo something who was a local kid in like Topeka last year,

Starting point is 00:02:11 who was kind of a last second recruit. They thought about adding and that didn't work out. But that kind of similar to possibly the situation here. We'll get into more of that in a second. This is a kid who was a very highly recruited player. He was a four-star recruit out of high school. That was when he was the number 18 point guard in the country and the number 112 overall prospect in the 24-7 sports class of 2022.

Starting point is 00:02:37 So you're talking about somebody who, I mean, Kansas has had a lot of success with guards in that range, in that 80 to 120, 150 150 range who stick around for several years and then by the time their upperclassmen become really good players for kansas um ku did offer him out of high school i don't know you know sometimes you have offers that are dependent on hey we're offering you but it's dependent on this other player right like we talked about this with rylan griffin okayU offered him out of high school, but they only had a limited amount of scholarships and they took MJ Rice and Grady

Starting point is 00:03:10 Dick instead of him, right? Obviously that didn't work out with Griffin over Rice, but sometimes that's how the recruiting game goes. So who knows? Obviously they offered him, but how, what was it dependent on, so to speak? He ended up going to Vanderbilt his first year in the SEC, and he played 14 games as a true freshman, and he averaged 3.7 points per game, which, you know, freshman in a power-level conference, 3.7 points per game. Like, you transfer down to Rice the next season,

Starting point is 00:03:36 you kind of expect a big year in year two where it's like, okay, you were, you know, right around the top 100 recruit, and, you know, you're at the power level, and you showed some flashes. You had a little bit of production as a freshman. Maybe by year two know you're at the power level and you showed some flashes you had a little bit of production as a freshman maybe by year two you're averaging double digger digits at a lower level but ended up going to rice and he only went up to 3.9 points per game the games played did go up he went from 14 games played at vanderbilt to 30 games played in his one year at rice and 12

Starting point is 00:04:01 minutes per game he was 23 of 69 good for 33 percent on three-point shots only 35 percent from the floor so he struggled from two but it was a lot more like he took a lot of threes and so your field goal percentage is going to compared to his you know overall shots is going to be more indicative of what the three-point shooting is obviously those numbers don't jump out at you um nor does the fact that he was on a Rice team with the Owls that was only 11-21 last season in the American Athletic Conference, which, yes, American Athletic Conference, definitely better than some of these low majors that are out there,

Starting point is 00:04:37 like, for instance, the Northeast Conference or something like that or the America East, but it's still not a power-level conference. And Rice finished 229th in the country on Ken pops. And the fact that you have a bad team, you didn't get like a ton of run for them or a ton of production. What does that mean? Why is Kansas kicking the tires here? And nor does this either Evan Miyakawa's site rated him as the 93rd best offensive player of 120 qualified by 500 plus possessions in the American by offensive BPR. And then 102nd of those 120 qualified in defensive BPR. Now do keep in mind, Evan Minacawa's website is heavily biased toward good and bad teams where like,

Starting point is 00:05:19 if you're an elite of the elite defense, like it's going to raise everybody's floor to where like, you might have what it says four of the 10 best defenders in your conference, when in reality, it's like, you really have the four of the 10 best it's possible. But you know, that is something to keep in mind. But still, that is interesting to bring up. And I think this comes around to the idea of you look at the unofficial visit part of this as well. To me, this rings of bringing on a guy's kind of a preferred walk-on right to where it's it's not going to cost you anything it's you know it's not using up a scholarship it's not using up one of your spots here at least that seems to be my guess maybe

Starting point is 00:05:55 that is something that would change uh seems to be you know i'd imagine maybe he's good friends with rylan griffin that can't hurt to have players you know come in and be able to make people feel more comfortable and to to make the locker room chemistry even better. That certainly can't hurt. He's a former near top 100 recruit, so clearly there's some talent potential in there, enough that Kansas offered him at one point in time. Maybe you can unlock that a little bit more with a couple years, maybe a redshirt year and then a couple years of seasoning.

Starting point is 00:06:20 We always like to, and I do this too, I'm, I'm, you know, I don't know, a bad proponent of, of doing this as well. But the idea that sometimes we'll get these walk-ons that come into the program that are like better than your normal walk-ons, better than the guys who are just going to come in and, Hey, they're going to try to shoot a three at the end of the game when they come in. But realistically, they're not going to be, you know, players. And there'll be the occasional walk on and comes in. It's like, no, that's actually a good high school player. Like maybe by his senior season, he could be a rotation player, be like a seventh, eighth man in the rotation. If he works up. Right. And we've seen it happen before with Bill self, we've seen it with Matt Kleinman. We've seen it with, I guess you could

Starting point is 00:06:59 say a Connor T hand eventually earned his scholarship, right? Like we've seen it before. I guess you could say Clay young at the beginning of that season, though that was probably a little bit different circumstances. But like we have seen it, but I do think we oversell that sometimes. And then it ends up just not really happening because guess what? The player isn't as good as those other guys, but this would be your best chance of doing that. It's a near top 100 recruit.

Starting point is 00:07:20 You know what I mean? The synergy numbers of notes for Noah Shelby, 46th percentile on defense last season. So basically around average 59th percentile. So, you know, about average, slightly above average on 85 jump shots, 64th percentile in spot up shooting. Now, more limited sample size in this stuff because he's playing 12 minutes per game. You're talking 14 of 39. That's 36 percent on spot up threes. But, you know, a good number number there 62nd percentile in catch and

Starting point is 00:07:47 shoot opportunities and that includes him going 19 of 54 which is good for 35 from three on a catch and shoot threes and he was 36 on catch and shoot guarded threes 34 and a half percent on catch and shoot unguarded three so he is a a solid shooter and a solid spot up shooter and catch and shoot shooter and that can be helpful in especially if he has a walk on in game prep in getting ready for other opponents and just having somebody can come off the bench and try to hit your three or kind of fills into that walk on roll and maybe you can develop in something more also 52nd percentile as a pick and roll ball handler. And then 76th percentile in handoffs. Both those, again, more limited volume,

Starting point is 00:08:27 but both numbers that are certainly good for what Kansas wants to do. So how exactly would he fit in on the walk-on stuff, on the scholarship stuff, if that were a possibility? Let's discuss both of those coming up in just a moment, and then the rest of the latest with Kansas in the transfer portal and in the offseason on this episode of Locked on Jayhawks. First, we are brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs. When you're hiring for your small business, you want to find quality professionals that are right for the role.

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Starting point is 00:09:57 All right, continuing on Noah Shelby, deep dive on him, how he would fit in with KU and the latest in the transfer portal for the Jayhawks. Well, this would obviously be a unique fit and would kind of be talking about, you know, the difference of is he a walk-on, is he on scholarship? Because I think those are two different avenues, right? And in a sense of like his role, what it would be with the team is kind of the same, but in terms of what it would mean for Kansas would be a little bit different there because if he does come on scholarship, I think that's basically you saying we're waving the but in terms of what it would mean for Kansas would be a little bit different there because if he does come on scholarship I think that's basically you saying we're waving the white flag

Starting point is 00:10:29 on the offseason at this point in terms of hey you're at 11 scholarship players not counting Furphy for if you would make it 12 and you're basically saying he'll be our 12th scholarship guy if Furphy decided to come back from the NBA draft then we'll play with 13 this year and be at 12 next year. If or if he doesn't decide to come back, we'll play at 12 this year and be at 13 the following year. And realistically, I mean, your rotation is going to only be, you know, eight guys deep, maybe a ninth. And then you might even like redshirt. The guys who are 11, 12, 13 on the roster realistically aren't really going to play that much, barring some a bunch of injuries or foul trouble or sickness or something like that that really going to play that much, barring a bunch of

Starting point is 00:11:05 injuries or foul trouble or sickness or something like that that's going to go on throughout the season. So I think that's totally fine if you viewed it that way. But again, my expectation would be that he would kind of come in as a walk-on. And if that's the case, there's no harm in doing it. And theoretically, he would be the most talented walk-on that KU has. Now, I do know they have the walk-on who is a scholarship player at Cal State Northridge, whatever it was season ago, I believe he redshirted this past season, right? Like he's more of a talented walk-on from what you've had. They had Justin Cross who was on like a really, really good JUCO team. He's more of a talented walk-on from, you know, what you've had with some of these other ones. So that would be building a very talented walk-on roster base from maybe some others

Starting point is 00:11:49 that you've had in, in years past. And maybe it's something where you do bring them in as a walk-on and it's like, Hey, um, maybe you can earn a scholarship in a year or two when we have more scholarships to give out, right? Like maybe that's the idea that this year, your walk-on NIL money is going to, cause even the walk-ons are getting NIL money at Kansas. NIL money is going to pay for your scholarship basically. And then by year two, we're going to go up one in scholarship.

Starting point is 00:12:11 And it's like, what's the biggest difference between adding a 12th guy and a 13th guy? Like I said, like realistically the 13th guy isn't going to play much. So at that point, could you get the scholarship? Sure. Right. Maybe that makes some sort of sense here. And maybe you even view this as like buying early on a guy, so to speak, because if you view it this way, he's a former

Starting point is 00:12:31 highly touted prospect, right? What are the chances that in year three, so like this upcoming season, what are the chances that in the 2024 to 2025 season that Noah Shelby, if you would have just stayed at Rice, a guy moving into year three, a guy in his second year at a program at a bit of a lower level after coming in as a just outside top 100 recruit, what are the chances that he would have blown up at Rice this season? He could have averaged, I don't know, 12, 13, 14, 15 points per game. There's a real chance that could have happened. You say, oh, former four-star recruit who's now at Rice ended up averaging 14 points per game in year three of college. Wouldn't shock anybody, right? And if you view it that way, then you fast forward a year into the off season, and then he enters the transfer portal. If you would have done that at

Starting point is 00:13:20 Rice, then maybe there's more competition for getting him. Then he's a scholarship player. Then there's all these things. And so it's almost buying in early on the kid and saying that, hey, we can get him in now and hope that over this next year, he improves so much. Maybe he even red shirts a year. You get a more experienced future role player possibly that you're buying in early on, hoping that it connects. And if it doesn't, like this is kind of a harsh way of saying things, but it's kind of the way things are now in college basketball. You kind of get shown the door at this point in time in college basketball. Like that's the counterbalance.

Starting point is 00:13:54 Players have been given so much more freedom with the transfer portal. The counterbalance to that has been coaches have been able to basically tell players like, Hey, you shouldn't come back. You ain't coming back here. Right now, if he's not on scholarship, then again, that conversation doesn't really matter as much. been able to basically tell players like, hey, you shouldn't come back. You ain't coming back here, right? Now, if he's not on scholarship, then again, that conversation doesn't really matter as much. But point being, this could be buying early on a guy that all signs would point to.

Starting point is 00:14:13 Again, even though the production hasn't been there the first two years, I would look at something like that and say, oh, you have a former four-star recruit who's going into year three, his second year in a program, and he's in the American Athletic Conference at a Rice team that hasn't been very good. why wouldn't he break out this year, right? Maybe it wouldn't happen. Maybe it does. But again, if it did, the commodity and the transfer portal will become a bit more appealing there. And again, if it's a walk-on, it doesn't hurt anything to add that anyway. So I think honestly, the biggest conversation here, if you did bring him in, whether it is a walk on or on scholarship would be the competition between him and Jamari McDowell, right?

Starting point is 00:14:51 And you're talking about kind of a future role playing guard, somebody who can maybe be a role player for your team come 2025 or maybe even 2026. I think Jamari McDowell is going to be in the conversation to probably redshirt this season. And if you bring on Noah Shelby, I think that conversation probably kind of the same thing, right? And maybe that's why, because the unofficial visit was last week and we still haven't heard anything from Noah Shelby. And who knows by the time, you know, this releases, maybe we have, but the fact that it's there, there's some time between, you know, some guys just take their time making a decision and, you know, more power to them because it's smart to take your time when you're making a big decision.

Starting point is 00:15:29 But maybe it's a little bit of, hey, let's see what other offers are out there. Like, is there a spot we can go that we're going to be put in a good situation where we're not going to have to do this? And then you kind of have to weigh, hey, would we rather be possible walk-on that maybe can earn a scholarship in year two at Kansas? Or would we rather be on scholarship at, gosh, I don't know, just name your random, an Elon or something, I don't know, Santa Clara, whatever, right? And those are kind of the questions that you kind of have to go through there. But I think, again, if you did come in, you're talking about McDowell and him as both being kind of these guards who are around 6'3", 6'4", who can shoot it a little bit, who you're hoping can be good defenders. And I think whoever loses out on that competition, whichever is the worst player of the two over the year that maybe both aren't playing much or maybe both are redshirting, the loser probably transfers.

Starting point is 00:16:21 Whereas the winner maybe goes of that competition, hey, maybe I have a future role on this team. You know, maybe I can be a rotation player as soon as the 2025 to 26 season and earn more playing time from there. So, I mean, if it's a walk on going to the take conversation, is this a take?

Starting point is 00:16:37 Is it not a take? Whatever. If it's a walk on, it's an obvious take because what does it hurt? I don't even think there is a limit on the walk ons in the NCAA. Maybe there is. I know there's a limit on like how much you can travel and how many can dress, how many can be on the bench.

Starting point is 00:16:49 Sometimes you'll see KU games where some of the walk-ons are sitting behind the bench and they're not in KU uniforms. That I know is a rule. But I don't know that there's actually a rule against how many you can have. There would be a certain limit for KU from a budgetary perspective of living in the dorms and food and travel and some of this different stuff. But at the end of the day, like if you're like, you know what, we usually only have three or four walk ons. Do we really need to have this fifth? It's like, well, you can make that work. It's not a big deal. So if it's a walk on, like I said, there's really no risk to doing it.

Starting point is 00:17:25 You might as well just do it. And if it is a scholarship, then it's not an immediate take. It's one where, like I said, it's only a take if, okay, you're sitting at 11 scholarships and Johnny Furphy stays in the draft and then Jackson Robinson stays in the draft, and then Jackson Robinson stays in the draft, and some of these other guys who are kind of borderline, if they can stay in the draft, they're staying in the portal, end up going to other schools or staying in the draft, and you're just sitting there like, well, we could give another scholarship to a player who we normally wouldn't take, but we might as well use the scholarship. At that point, just bring on the kid and try to develop him for a year

Starting point is 00:18:00 because at that point, it doesn't really hurt much if you're adding just a 12th scholarship player because it's not affecting the number that you're going to need for the NCAA stuff. So this is kind of a dependent take, but again, if he's a walk-on, it doesn't hurt anything. Might as well. Let's continue on here. Latest in the portal for KU on this episode of Locked on Jayhawks.

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Starting point is 00:19:16 So obviously we've been talking to Noah Shelby, who had the unofficial last week that I guess part of the latest. Also, this was according to Isaac Trotter of 24-7 Sports. Obviously, we've talked a little bit about Jackson Robinson, and he's in the NBA draft process and everything, which, by the way, the combine is this week for the NBA draft participants. So you're going to want to keep an eye on guys like Jackson Robinson. And there's some other players who I mentioned on one of the last couple episodes about that we haven't heard

Starting point is 00:19:45 KU contact with, but maybe it would make some sense. And also, there was some reporter out there that basically said he talked to a bunch of the people at the Combine and they were like, I have no idea what colleges I'm in the portal are talking to because I'm just letting my agent or my family or my handler or whoever handle it. So maybe we're not even getting all information, which is just a very weird way of working things that basically they're going to be like, Hey, you're coming back from the NBA. Okay, cool. You're going to play here. I signed you with this school. They're gonna be like, Oh, okay. I guess that, I don't know. I guess current state of, of everything here. But anyway, Isaac Trotter, 24 seven sports is basically saying in a recent article, he said,

Starting point is 00:20:19 KU has quote sniffed around and quote North Florida's Chaz Lanier, who's a really good scorer out of North Florida, obviously a lower-level kid, but kind of a wing scorer. And the word sniffed around makes you think that it's not one that KU's going hard after, but maybe it's like a backup plan for KU. So maybe we'll get to a deep dive on Chaz Lanier later this week because certainly that would be one of interest. But, yeah, keep an eye on the combine. Obviously, beyond the guys that are still in the portal,

Starting point is 00:20:46 Johnny Furphy, how he does, right? Is he going to do really well? I mean, he's a good athlete who shoots the ball well and set shots. You would think that's going to do well in this type of setting. Then again, if he does the scrimmages, maybe not being as experienced of a player

Starting point is 00:20:59 will hurt him in some of those settings against a lot of the guys who do the scrimmages or your four, five, six-year players in college basketball. Will basketball will that hurt him I don't know I think it's going to be really interesting to see and how that affects his draft stock because there was also some conversation on the ringer which this has been kind of counter to a lot of what's been said in other places about furphy so who knows what's what um that furphy, and this was again on the ringer with their kind of draft prep and draft information and stuff, that the thought was that he could go back to college, that he might be going back to college. But then again, you wonder if that's a leak from Johnny Furphy's party

Starting point is 00:21:37 to basically be like, hey, NBA teams, if you want him to stay in the draft, you better promise him he's going to be a first round pick. That could be the ploy there so that they're basically trying to get that guarantee. So there's a lot of things working, smoke screens that you never know this time of year, but certainly one to keep an eye on. All right, that'll do it for this episode of Locked on Jayhawks. You can find our show anywhere you get your podcast, 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: Rice Owls Guard Noah Shelby

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