I don’t see Besselink on the roster either. I think Parker Braun is going to have to be a major contributor. In the photos on instagram, impressed by Holt’s size. Appears to be a legit 6’9" and has put on quality weight from his high school film. Not sure if he will play much this year but he is not a bean pole.
Saw this photo from earlier this summer Hoops Photo
What the heck is going on? Besselink and Djuricic were two players I was really looking forward to watching. I wonder if the team will ever come out with an official statement to address this.
Looks like Besselink is leaving to pursue a professional career. It’s a bit disappointing he decided so late.
In relations to Jacob Holt, our strength and conditioning coach posted a picture on his story a while ago showing before and after photos of Holt and he stated that Holt started training camp at 191lbs and left at 222lbs. It’s starting to look like he will be a viable option at the five spot sooner rather than later.
The only optimism that I see out of the departure of Djuricic and Besselink is that Holt and Tongue will be getting a little more playing time to develop and hopefully get them to not transfer. Besselink seemed like the most ready to play in College out of our five recruits but now it looks like Carlos Stewart is that guy.
The Besselink news really sucks. Losing Djuricic was disappointing and maybe more critical for this upcoming season but we were only going to get 1 season out of him, whereas Besselink had the potential to be big contributor for 3 or 4 seasons.
Re: Holt, agree with 'Bob and Scocos8…I noticed as well in pics and summer practice video that he looked significantly bigger and stronger than his HS highlight vids which at the time of his recruitment was probably the biggest concern. Not sure about weighing 222lbs (roster just published this summer says 215lbs), besides, it is nearly physically impossible to put on 30lbs of quality weight (muscle) in 3 months, at least not legally. Regardless, not going to fret over the exact #, the important point is he is clearly much bigger and stronger. I don’t know if both Holt and Tongue will see notable, consistent PT but w/ Djuricic and now Besselink out of the picture there is probably opportunity for at least one of them.
Having a player drop from the roster in September is incredibly rare. And it has happened twice this year. One was apparently the also incredibly rare Harvard grad/antivaxxer combo.
This after last year’s unprecedented eviction from the county. Living in hotel and on limited practice time.
Just incredibly terrible luck.
Why do bad things happen to good people? Why doesn’t this crap happen to snakes like calipari or something?
I don’t even know else to say at this point. The front court is likely to be a problem now.
It’s life. Just have to deal with it.
If this were to happen to Calipari he’d have 2 new guys to add to the roster by weeks end. Hopefully Herb has a few options in his back pocket like any solid coach would.
Heck, a few more defectors and we won’t have to guess who the starting 5 will be.
Yeah, I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t. I think even Kentucky doesn’t let people join classes just whenever they want.
There are no back pocket options for this situation. Walkon is pretty much it but I somehow doubt open tryouts at scu would yield a heckuva lot.
I can’t blame besselink for wanting to be a pro and I can’t blame djuricic for being brainwashed. But I can’t blame the school or program either.
I just hope folks remember this when there’s foul trouble and some unready freshman big is pressed into service. Hope is about as far as I would go with that.
But I know things like this matter.
In the end the results matter… most everything else fades away.
Not that it makes any difference, but SCU just started school on Monday so it’s not like classes are going full steam.
Kentucky has been in school for a month.
Even filling out spots in late spring and summer with freshmen is fraught with peril. How you end up with players like Hudgens.
In late September? Well hardly anyone has ever even had to try. But I can’t imagine how that would work. Except that it wouldn’t. And if you value academic integrity, you shouldn’t want it to. Shouldn’t being admitted be at least somewhat of a qualification process?
I just can’t get over three 1 in a million (or 100,000, whatever, still unheard of) occurrences in 10 months.
Not sure anyone here cares anymore but I just noticed that on Oct. 1st, Djuricic tweeted a message of thanks to SCU and stated he’s turning pro…about 2 weeks after his departure was noted here.
The whole thing is still a headscratcher to me…SCU announced last April that they were instituting a vaccine mandate for the 2021/2022 school year starting in Sept. The mandate shouldn’t have been a surprise to anyone.
So did Sendek and staff not get the memo?
Did they mention or discuss the mandate with the transfers during their recruitment?
Were staff and Djuricic aware but planning/hoping for a religious exemption or for the mandate to be rescinded over the Summer?
Did Djuricic tell the staff he would get vaccinated then change his mind?
Djuricic spent the summer here practicing and working out with the team, living and eating on SCU’s dime, etc. Just strange how this all played out. Doubt we ever hear the full story.
That said…sh#% happens, no excuses, time to move on. Plenty of talent and experience on this squad to have a successful season.