Kristian Sjolund class of 2018 and others

[Shadowlight]

Hope I am not getting too obscure here but just read a scouting report on this 6-8" SF from Norway but plays college ball in Houston. Not often you hear scouts talk up the athleticism of young white athletes but this kid must have mad hops. They say he is very raw and lacks strength at this stage but Michigan and Virginia are looking at him and his long range potential is sky high based on his play at recent NBA Without Borders Europe edition.
Two other players from that event worth mentioning.
Onuralp Bitim 6-6" who played at prep school here in states and was heading to college but I guess he is back in Turkey so college ball may be out which is a shame. Very good rangy athlete.
Phillip Herkenhoff is a German big man who is very quick.

 

[Jack Lambert]

Not at all, Shadowlight!! European and Australian players are fast becoming much bigger parts of the college game; personally I'm glad more and more Euro players are electing to play college basketball. For one, it keeps the sport whiter, and two, it shows that they can play against all of the future NBA players.

A freshman this year to watch is Germany's Richard Freudenberg, a 6'8 190 lb small forward who'll be suiting up for St. John's. People have said he's a young Gordon Hayward, so he should be a great player for the Red Storm.

 

[Jack Lambert]

It looks like the NBA is going to try and make more of these "development academies" around the world to get people to play college basketball. I would normally say this is a good thing, but here's the kicker:

"
The global academies could significantly increase the pool of eligible athletes for college basketball. The NBA will identify potential prospects early, and place them into educational structures to prepare them to meet NCAA academic guidelines.

Elite prospects could feel less compelled to sign with professional agents and enter into contracts with professional basketball teams overseas, which is a common practice now. Under the new system, amateur statuses can be preserved.

Especially in Africa, the NBA academies promise to expand options for young players turning 18 years old. This could dramatically transform the landscape of college basketball."

Read the last line. Out of all the great places for basketball, of course, they pick the absolute worst spot for basketball: Africa. It's the NBA, so why would I think that Aussies and Euro players would be their focus?

http://collegebasketball.nbcsports....broad-is-a-good-thing-for-college-basketball/

 

[celticdb15]

It looks like the NBA is going to try and make more of these "development academies" around the world to get people to play college basketball. I would normally say this is a good thing, but here's the kicker:

"
The global academies could significantly increase the pool of eligible athletes for college basketball. The NBA will identify potential prospects early, and place them into educational structures to prepare them to meet NCAA academic guidelines.

Elite prospects could feel less compelled to sign with professional agents and enter into contracts with professional basketball teams overseas, which is a common practice now. Under the new system, amateur statuses can be preserved.

Especially in Africa, the NBA academies promise to expand options for young players turning 18 years old. This could dramatically transform the landscape of college basketball."

Read the last line. Out of all the great places for basketball, of course, they pick the absolute worst spot for basketball: Africa. It's the NBA, so why would I think that Aussies and Euro players would be their focus?

http://collegebasketball.nbcsports....broad-is-a-good-thing-for-college-basketball/

Sounds like another way to get 3rd world refugees into America to me.

 

[Jack Lambert]

I found another one of those European prospects playing at US High/Prep schools. This is 7'2 Dutch center Matt Haarms. He's a sweet-shooting big man with some athleticism to boot. Haarms just committed to Purdue. For now, it looks like this "Basketball without borders" business will result in more and more European prospects coming over to the US to play HS and college ball.

Here's Haarms:

These are only his highlights from 2015, so I imagine he's improved since then.

 

[Jack Lambert]

Shadowlight started this thread with the mention of Norwegian combo forward Kristian Sjolund. Well, Sjolund is now generating interest from a lot of big time programs! He plans to play AAU ball over the summer, so he should see his offers sky-rocket. Given the programs that are interested, I hope he'd go to Michigan, Creighton, Gonzaga, or Virginia, as all of them have white-friendly teams, or fairly recent white friendly teams.

http://www.scout.com/college/basket...-norwegian-kristian-sjolund-emerging-in-texas

 

[Jack Lambert]

I've been reading a bit on Euro prospects, and it sounds like more and more elite players are wanting to come over to the US and play college ball. This is a great trend, especially with the slight uptick in white American players the next few years. Couple that with the fact that more Aussies are wanting to play in the US, college basketball may actually be a bit more white-friendly than college football, especially with how the previews have been so far this year. My preliminary readings of the teams I'm writing up confirm this for the most part with a couple of exceptions.

Scout had three articles today on three such prospects in the 2018 class.

The first is 2018 6'10 Estonian center Matthias Tass, who's got interest from programs like St. Mary's, Stanford, and Ole Miss.

http://scout.com/college/basketball...-college-has-heavy-interest-in-Davi-105726899

The 2nd is forward Luka Brajkovic, a 6'9 Austrian post, also in the 2018 class. He's likely going to be going to Davidson if he decides to come over.

http://scout.com/college/basketball...-college-has-heavy-interest-in-Davi-105726899

The 3rd guy is 2019 prospect Luka Samanic, who's not as much of a lock as the other two. Samanic, a 6'9 versatile forward from Croatia, has got interest from Gonzaga, Ole Miss, Florida, Stanford, and Purdue, among others. He plays for Barcelona's junior team, but it sounds like he wants to play college ball if "he's good enough." From what I've heard of him, I think he's definitely good enough to play for any of those teams.

http://scout.com/college/basketball...on-for-Croatia-native-Luka-Samanic--105712290

Another guy who I found already playing in the United States is Filip Petrusev, a 6'10 class of 2018 power forward. He recently decommitted from Hartford, which was a great decision. Petrusev is playing for basketball factory Montverde Academy in his last year of HS. Many caste pundits have said that Petrusev will have high majors knocking on his door, and will easily be able to play for a high-powered team.

http://247sports.com/player/filip-petrusev-46041501

 

[Vanilla_Sky]

With the rate that Ole Miss is showing interest and recruiting this European basketball prospects, their starting 5 on the court is going to feature more white than their starting 22 on the field. And that's literally not a joke.