Post by mountainmutt on Aug 5, 2022 9:21:57 GMT -5
We briefly discussed Kingsley in another post, but because he reclassified to the 22 class, his real potential is not reflected in the 2022 rankings where he is rated from 18 to 39 in the four major recruiting service rankings (On3s, Scout, ESPN, and 247).
I am quite confident the wide range observed in his national ranking, from service to service, is based on two factors: 1)He played his first game in the US in January 2022, therefore most of the recruiting gurus did not get a chance to see him play and 2) he did not get a chance to "show his stuff" at the big AAU events which is really where players are evaluated since only elite players are invited to play in these events. These events are also highly funded and televised which provides players with broad exposure to the talent evaluating services.
After watching a 20 minutes of tape on Kingsley and reading four different scouting reports written by professional NBA scouts, I immediately thought to my self that he was a far better prospect than his 2023 ranking reflects. He is a man child that appears to be at least 6-11 and a chiseled 235 plus pounds. He has a 7 1/2 foot wingspan, runs the floor like a gazelle, has an impressive vertical (my guess 38 to 40 inches), a natural ability to block shots with absolutely elite timing, excellent lateral quickness, a nose for the ball as a rebounder, is an excellent passer off rebounds and from the pivot area to complement his extraordinarily good defensive instincts.
Other than his passing skills, he is clearly not a polished offensive player, but he has a feathery soft touch around the basket and good form on his jump shot, which are both good indicators that he has a high potential to develop into a good scorer. Currently, his newness to the sport is clearly evident as he lacks the post savvy needed to position himself on the floor to take advantage of the best shooting angles or for that matter the art of playing with his back to the basket at all.
At this point he tends to score from the pivot area on 12 to 15 ft jumpers, offensive rebounds and lob dunks in transition. I did not see his high school coach run a single play that was designed to get the ball to Kingsley with his back to the basket. I suspect that is due to the fact that Kingsley has only been playing basketball for two years, prior to that , like Oscar, he was a soccer goally which is likely where he developed his excellent footwork, lateral quickness and instincts to locate the ball.
At UK he will be be drilled every day on how to position himself for jump hooks and short turn around bank shots. With his natural touch, once he develops even the most basic post positioning skills, he will projects to be a good scorer.
After coming to the conclusion that he was highly under rated as a prospect, I started looking at where the various recruiting services had him ranked in the 2023 rankings. The paragraph below is from On3 by a writer that had actually scouted Kingsley in person. As you can discern from his words, the On3 writer shares my view on Kingsley, he is an elite prospect and should be a top 10 guy in the 2023 rankings.
From On3-" Ugonna Kingsley is On3’s No. 5 player in the 2023 player rankings. I have gone on record saying he is the best defensive high school big we have seen in the last five years. How he can dictate the outcome of a game without needing the ball is the most impressive part of his game. "
I think Kentucky got lucky with Kingsley, got on him early and never really had any competition in his recruitment. Oscar (who came to the US through the same African NBA Academy as Kingsley) likely passed the word from his former academy coach to the UK staff about the potential that Kingsley processed.
Mutt has missed with his assessment on a few players, but not many. I think Kingsley is clearly an elite NBA prospect. I also think, that despite Cal's sand bagging about a possible red shirt or how little he expects to play Kingsley this year, by mid January, Kingsley will be in the primary rotation.
IMO he is too good especially as a defender and rebounder, not to play, unless he pulls a "Twat Sharpe" move, soaks up 6 figures in NIL money, uses UK as his personally NBA training facility and clearly had no desire to ever play college basketball.
Unfortunately, like Twat Sharpe, Kinsley will be eligible for next years draft age wise. I hope Kingsley has higher ethics and is surrounded by a group of handler's that are significantly more ethical than the "Thug Is US" gangbangers that Twat Sharpe had handling his affairs.
Time will tell, but if Kingsley is good enough to help the team win a championship but refuses to play, Cal is obligated to send the young man packing. Twat fooled Cal, that "con job" should have taught Cal that
there is a subset of recruits in today's NIL environment that are out to: defraud the NIL money, take advantage of tax payer funded elite training facilities and coaching, while knowing from day one that they have no intention of ever playing college ball.
Twat was not alone in his crime, the big kid that Memphis recruited away from Cal pulled the same stunt and there was a lot of speculation about Zion's desire to finish the season at Duke after a minor injury in early January. Several football players have decided not to participate in bowl games because they feared an injury that would lessen their draft prospects. These hoodlums and their possy's of gang banging street thugs are a growing element in college sports due to both the NIL and the legalization of college sports wagering.
Twat Sharpe UK once, shame on Twat, Twat Sharpe UK twice, shame on Cal.
I am quite confident the wide range observed in his national ranking, from service to service, is based on two factors: 1)He played his first game in the US in January 2022, therefore most of the recruiting gurus did not get a chance to see him play and 2) he did not get a chance to "show his stuff" at the big AAU events which is really where players are evaluated since only elite players are invited to play in these events. These events are also highly funded and televised which provides players with broad exposure to the talent evaluating services.
After watching a 20 minutes of tape on Kingsley and reading four different scouting reports written by professional NBA scouts, I immediately thought to my self that he was a far better prospect than his 2023 ranking reflects. He is a man child that appears to be at least 6-11 and a chiseled 235 plus pounds. He has a 7 1/2 foot wingspan, runs the floor like a gazelle, has an impressive vertical (my guess 38 to 40 inches), a natural ability to block shots with absolutely elite timing, excellent lateral quickness, a nose for the ball as a rebounder, is an excellent passer off rebounds and from the pivot area to complement his extraordinarily good defensive instincts.
Other than his passing skills, he is clearly not a polished offensive player, but he has a feathery soft touch around the basket and good form on his jump shot, which are both good indicators that he has a high potential to develop into a good scorer. Currently, his newness to the sport is clearly evident as he lacks the post savvy needed to position himself on the floor to take advantage of the best shooting angles or for that matter the art of playing with his back to the basket at all.
At this point he tends to score from the pivot area on 12 to 15 ft jumpers, offensive rebounds and lob dunks in transition. I did not see his high school coach run a single play that was designed to get the ball to Kingsley with his back to the basket. I suspect that is due to the fact that Kingsley has only been playing basketball for two years, prior to that , like Oscar, he was a soccer goally which is likely where he developed his excellent footwork, lateral quickness and instincts to locate the ball.
At UK he will be be drilled every day on how to position himself for jump hooks and short turn around bank shots. With his natural touch, once he develops even the most basic post positioning skills, he will projects to be a good scorer.
After coming to the conclusion that he was highly under rated as a prospect, I started looking at where the various recruiting services had him ranked in the 2023 rankings. The paragraph below is from On3 by a writer that had actually scouted Kingsley in person. As you can discern from his words, the On3 writer shares my view on Kingsley, he is an elite prospect and should be a top 10 guy in the 2023 rankings.
From On3-" Ugonna Kingsley is On3’s No. 5 player in the 2023 player rankings. I have gone on record saying he is the best defensive high school big we have seen in the last five years. How he can dictate the outcome of a game without needing the ball is the most impressive part of his game. "
I think Kentucky got lucky with Kingsley, got on him early and never really had any competition in his recruitment. Oscar (who came to the US through the same African NBA Academy as Kingsley) likely passed the word from his former academy coach to the UK staff about the potential that Kingsley processed.
Mutt has missed with his assessment on a few players, but not many. I think Kingsley is clearly an elite NBA prospect. I also think, that despite Cal's sand bagging about a possible red shirt or how little he expects to play Kingsley this year, by mid January, Kingsley will be in the primary rotation.
IMO he is too good especially as a defender and rebounder, not to play, unless he pulls a "Twat Sharpe" move, soaks up 6 figures in NIL money, uses UK as his personally NBA training facility and clearly had no desire to ever play college basketball.
Unfortunately, like Twat Sharpe, Kinsley will be eligible for next years draft age wise. I hope Kingsley has higher ethics and is surrounded by a group of handler's that are significantly more ethical than the "Thug Is US" gangbangers that Twat Sharpe had handling his affairs.
Time will tell, but if Kingsley is good enough to help the team win a championship but refuses to play, Cal is obligated to send the young man packing. Twat fooled Cal, that "con job" should have taught Cal that
there is a subset of recruits in today's NIL environment that are out to: defraud the NIL money, take advantage of tax payer funded elite training facilities and coaching, while knowing from day one that they have no intention of ever playing college ball.
Twat was not alone in his crime, the big kid that Memphis recruited away from Cal pulled the same stunt and there was a lot of speculation about Zion's desire to finish the season at Duke after a minor injury in early January. Several football players have decided not to participate in bowl games because they feared an injury that would lessen their draft prospects. These hoodlums and their possy's of gang banging street thugs are a growing element in college sports due to both the NIL and the legalization of college sports wagering.
Twat Sharpe UK once, shame on Twat, Twat Sharpe UK twice, shame on Cal.
