Top 3 for PBJ?
Milwaukee
Northwestern
Wisconsin
I think his top 3 will include Duke. My guess,
Milwaukee
Duke
Northwestern
Wisconsin would probably be apart of his top 5/6 if he decided to cut a few more teams before the fall. FINGERS CROSSED!!!!
I wouldn't spend
too much time worrying/fantasizing about the possibilities. He's made it pretty clear that he's probably making his commitment in October, so you just hope he looks at the facts and possibilities:
- The NBA scouts are going to have no problem finding him at Milwaukee. His games are literally two blocks away from the Forum. They certainly had no trouble finding mid-major players like Steph Curry, Damian Lillard, Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, Paul Millsap, Gordon Hayward, CJ McCollum, George HIll, Kent Bazemore...you get the idea.
- Let's assume he's going to consider the best decision for himself long-term. Let's also assume that one of these elite schools is going to offer him a pile of cash to come hoop for a year. Let's say it's roughly what Cam Newton got at Auburn, and round it up to $200k. He will have cash in his pocket right away, sure, but it's in his long-term interest for his father's career to succeed as well.
- Go to Duke, UNC or some other elite high-major, and he's still going to the NBA. He's still going to make it to the NBA. Go to Milwaukee, he's still going to make it to the NBA. But if he plays here, he helps his dad's career. Bring along some more talent, you're talking about Milwaukee maybe equaling their best finish ever. That will give PB Sr. some sway, whether in negotiating a pay raise and contract extension, or taking a higher profile job.
- By committing before the season, PB&Jr would be able to talk with fellow highly-touted recruits of 2021 to try and talk them into forming a mid-major super team. Maybe it's the dream and he pulls 1-2 other top 25 kids with him, and they're all headed to the NBA but playing with him and being a second or third star gets them time with the ball in their hands they may not get at an elite school, but also the opportunity to play on a beast of a team with no real road blocks to the tournament and a strong seed.
- As far as coaching is concerned, none of us here can act like his dad is in the same hemisphere as Coach K, Calipari or any of the guys who helm elite high-majors. But by picking another school, he may unintentionally hurt his dad's future career prospects. Say we don't get him and the team doesn't come close to ever finishing in the "Top 3/Top 100" metric Braun set when firing Jeter, you'd have to expect she'd be pressured to make a change after the 2021-22 season, possibly next spring. With PB&Jr already committed/playing elsewhere, Sr doesn't have a strong chip to play. Back to Northwestern's staff? He'd definitely land an assistant job, but look at the facts - Rob Jeter went to two NCAA Tournaments, is the program's all-time D-I winningest coach, had postseason appearances in about half of his time as the head coach, and it took him four years to get another head coaching job...at Western Illinois. Pat Sr would probably be done as a head coach in D-I.
- He will be an important cog in a wheel at any school he goes to. At Milwaukee, he's the absolute star. He gets every opportunity he needs to improve his game and prove his value with the ball in his hands or not. When he leaves for the NBA, he will always be
The Man on campus. He'd be this program's Dwyane Wade. We'd have bobblehead nights every other year for the guy. His NBA jersey would be all over campus - one thing we knew long ago is even if students don't really go to games, they still identify with the hoops program and will wear the clothes.
- At the elites, he's definitely a B.M.O.C. while he's there, but is anyone at Duke going to look at him like he's super special 10 years after he leaves? This likely doesn't matter to him, I'm just trying to lay it all out there.
- If he comes here, he's home. His family is a 15-minute drive. He sees his dad pretty much every day, but in a capacity that isn't father-son.
- He would get more individual attention than he'd get anywhere else. His dad, who already works with him, would be able to give him every bit of attention he requires. The coaches could gear it all to getting him ready for the draft. Not really a coincidence that this will also make the team better, but it's important because his professional development will be less of a focus at the elite schools.
- Because of that, they can tailor the offense to work around him. That's something no other serious contender will be able to say, save for maybe Northwestern.
- This will allow him to put up godly numbers. Average 18 and 10 at Duke and you'll look good. Average 28 and 15 at Milwaukee and you're looking at records. Players who put up insane numbers get bumps in the draft. Would it for him? Probably not. But he's gonna have a lot more fun.
- By being the focus of opposing defenses, he'll be forced to develop his game in distribution and playing off the ball as well. He may be a more rounded player just by being the #1, #2 and #3 focus of every opposing defense.
There's absolutely some drawbacks, to be sure, but I think there's enough benefit to playing here that he will seriously consider it.