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Traore update

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. --
Yohan Traore has played his recruitment close to the vest for its entity, but as we start to head down the back stretch, things are taking shape publicly. Memphis seems to be among the leaders to land the five-star big, but Kentuckyhas recently started kicking the tires. Below, Glendale (Ariz.) Dream City Christian star discusses where things stand.

ON THE SCHOOLS STILL IN PLAY
“I just started talking to Kentucky, so I guess it’s between Memphis, Kansas, Texas Tech, Michigan and Kentucky, if they offer.”
ON KENTUCKY’S INVOLVEMENT
“We just started talking, you know? I’ve been talking to coach Jai Lucas, and we're just building a relationship.”
ON HOW CLOSE A KENTUCKY OFFER COULD BE
“I hope they’re close to offering. I’ll go visit. If they offer, they become one of the frontrunners. I’m now sure when the visit will be. I guess whenever the offer comes. It would have to be soon.”
ON VISITS
“I’m done other than the Kentucky visit. I’ve taken them all.”
ON TEXAS TECH
“With Texas Tech, I have a great relationship with the coaches. I like the environment. I feel like it’s a big family, and I like that.”
ON MEMPHIS
“Memphis has a lot of the same things as Texas Tech. I really like Penny [Hardaway]. All those coaches are great. With Penny, Rasheed Wallaceand Larry Brown. It’s a really great staff.”
ON MICHIGAN
“I know
Moussa Diabaté. He’s from France, too. We talk and he says it’s a great program and that it’s a great place to go. I have a great relationship with Juwan Howard, too. He’s going to help me and push me every day to my goal.”

ON KANSAS
Bill Self is a great coach. I like the environment there and I like the way they play. They play through their bigs and that’s nice to see. The arena has a great atmosphere, too.”

RIVALS REACTION: Traore’s excitement has been hard to read at times, but Memphis seems to be a constant. That said, it’ll be interesting to see what shakes should Kentucky make things official with an offer. It’s easy to get the feeling that the next two weeks or so will be critical on that front. The Tigers may hold a slight edge as things stand, but Traore’s recruitment is as fluid as it’s always been.
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Concerns about KU Football Recruiting - Are we detailed?

First of all, I was always all for Leipold in the search process. He checked all of the boxes for me from the beginning and he has not disappointed. My one concern was whether he could land the talent we need at Kansas. I had no doubt he could identify and coach them.

I am slightly concerned about lack of attention to detail by the staff on recruits visiting KU or our assistants when doing in person visits. This is based on things I have heard from coaches, recruits, and things I have read here and elsewhere.

Concerns are:
1. I am not seeing comments from recruits about the KU experience. By this I mean meeting the other players and experiencing the brotherhood, KU and Lawrence, and maybe even the academics. The visit updates read mostly about the coaches and the system. If this is correct and we are not selling the experience and pairing recruits with players they will mesh with, it is a mistake because we have gotten good / great players with bad/ great coaches partly by making this an emphasis.
2. When we had something like 50-100 players in for I believe the KSU game (mostly local), it was fairly cheaply done. Mangino days would have included breakfast for all invites and had enough staff to at least make it seem organized. It leaves and left a bad impression of being disorganized.
3. Overall, I expected us to be much more organized with our visits. This feels super shot gun in who we are bringing in and what lead up to that. It feels like we are behind when at KU you need to be ahead and already building the relationships.

I knew it might take some time with LL to get KU running like a big time, polished, program. I am a little disappointed in Ianello because we are paying him alot of money and he was supposed be watching details regarding player personnel and recruiting.

Perhaps my snapshot is not accurate but I have short term concerns. I do not have long term ones as LL will get this right.
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