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2021 5* UNC Transfer C Walker Kessler (4/12/21: Commits To AU!)


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1 minute ago, GwillMac6 said:

It was great for us that Claxton left. Besides Anthony Edwards it seems the team is still pretty barren of talent outside of him right?

I was so sick of seeing Claxton. Very glad he's gone. Just looked it up looks like UGA brought in 5 top 100 players including Edwards. They're improving pretty fast it seems.

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1 minute ago, Tiger said:

I was so sick of seeing Claxton. Very glad he's gone. Just looked it up looks like UGA brought in 5 top 100 players including Edwards. They're improving pretty fast it seems.

WOW!!! I did not know that. Holy ish bro! I do not like that at all. 

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UGA signed Christian Brown, who was a 5 star top 20 player last summer. Not sure why he dropped so much. But he was a heavy AU target and visited a lot before AU got Okoro committed. Jaykwon Walton was another dude they signed that Bruce was high on until Alan Flannigan took his spot. UGA will be young but they signed some dudes that were skilled and handsome enough to play for Bruce 

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21 minutes ago, Gene Loblaw said:

UGA signed Christian Brown, who was a 5 star top 20 player last summer. Not sure why he dropped so much. But he was a heavy AU target and visited a lot before AU got Okoro committed. Jaykwon Walton was another dude they signed that Bruce was high on until Alan Flannigan took his spot. UGA will be young but they signed some dudes that were skilled and handsome enough to play for Bruce 

Georgia signing all that talent.....time for the NCAA to look into things and see what's going on.....

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6 hours ago, AU64 said:

Georgia signing all that talent.....time for the NCAA to look into things and see what's going on.....

That's just Tom Crean, he's an ace recruiter

However, they'll be saying the same thing about us after this class, so you're free to get your shots in before them 

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10 hours ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

That's just Tom Crean, he's an ace recruiter

 

Did not think that was the case when he was at Indiana and got fired...

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3 hours ago, AU64 said:

Did not think that was the case when he was at Indiana and got fired...

Couldnt get basketball recruits to IU but he can to thuga?  That's not suspicious at all.

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Guy had really good talent at IU. A. That’s a more competitive conference to recruit in B. You’re speaking of the tail end of his career there and not his prime lol C. You can be an ace recruiter and fail on the other side of coaching and get axed

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Kessler seems to be an AU-Duke battle. Let's get back to him & table talk about UGA's coach til we are in a recruiting battle with them.

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45 minutes ago, ellitor said:

Kessler seems to be an AU-Duke battle. Let's get back to him & table talk about UGA's coach til we are in a recruiting battle with them.

With AU leading at this moment......but things could change in a heart beat

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Crean

Anyway, logic would dictate that since Duke outpaced UGA, they’d be more important opposition, but I feel like with all that Auburn had to do to take Kessler out of the “UGA by blood” boat, taking them out was a crazy feat. If they could do that, it should be a breeze, relatively speaking 

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8 minutes ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

Crean

Anyway, logic would dictate that since Duke outpaced UGA, they’d be more important opposition, but I feel like with all that Auburn had to do to take Kessler out of the “UGA by blood” boat, taking them out was a crazy feat. If they could do that, it should be a breeze, relatively speaking 

Beating Duke for a recruit they want is never a breeze Not even relatively speaking, especially when the school is not a traditional blueblood.

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3 minutes ago, ellitor said:

Beating Duke for a recruit they want is never a breeze Not even relatively speaking, especially when the school is not a traditional blueblood.

Disagree to agree 

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8 hours ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

Disagree to agree 

There you go making no sense again. lol

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UGA is not in Kessler's top 5 so it looks like the legacy school pull is pretty much a non factor.

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47 minutes ago, ellitor said:

UGA is not in Kessler's top 5 so it looks like the legacy school pull is pretty much a non factor.

New article on Kessler’s top 5.

 

Quote

 

Fives-star center Walker Kessler eyeing five schools

By Evan Daniels

POWDER SPRINGS, Ga. – Five-star center Walker Kessler put together an inspiring effort on the second day of the NCAA Georgia high school live event.

Despite playing against inferior competition, the 7-footer out of Fairburn (Ga.) Woodward Academy played an efficient and dominant brand of basketball on both ends of the court. He was effective in the post, facing the rim and as a rim protector and rebounder.

Kessler has tremendous touch for a guy his size, and he showed that knocking down all four of his three-point attempts, plus a 15-foot jumper. Kessler said he spent a lot of time working on his stroke while out with an ankle injury in the spring.

“When I hurt my ankle I was literally sitting in a chair for three weeks shooting a shot, getting my form right so my shot feels really good right now,” Kessler said.

While the offensive production was impressive, so was his mobility and the impact he made on the defensive end. Kessler is light on his feet and moves quite well, especially when you factor in his size. He was active in the paint and didn’t allow any free looks around the rim.

On Saturday, assistant coaches from Auburn and Michigan watched him play. They are two of the five schools that are heavily involved in his recruitment.

“Right now, I think I got a top five or top six,” Kessler said. “It’s more of schools that I feel like are heavily recruiting me: Michigan, Gonzaga, Auburn, Duke, UNC, I think that’s it.”

Of his list of five, Kessler has taken official visits to Auburn, Duke and Michigan. His most recent visit was to Auburn the weekend of June 1st.

“It was great,” Kessler said about the visit. “Auburn is close to home, it’s a great basketball program on the rise. Coach [Bruce] Pearl taking the team to the Final Four on a historic run, it was great.”

One of the next steps in his recruiting process is setting up fall official visits, and Kessler is planning to visit all five of the schools on his list.

“I’m going to take one to Gonzaga but I haven’t scheduled it yet but sometime soon,” Kessler said. “I’m going to take another one to Michigan to see the new coaching staff. I really like Coach [Juwan] Howard and the program there. Then I’m going to take another one to Duke and then to UNC. Auburn I will probably take an unofficial because it’s so close to home.”

Despite Michigan changing head coaches, Kessler said he still has strong interst in the Wolverines, and has been impressed with Howard thus far.

“The guy played 19-years in the NBA at my position during that big man stretch so you have to listen to him and he’s such a smart guy and I feel like he’s going to do great at Michigan,” he said.

What sticks out about the remaining three on his list?

Gonzaga: “With Gonzaga you have four or five big men that fit the bill at my place, a stretch big that can shoot the three and spread the floor and that’s really appealing.”

Duke:“Obviously it’s Duke, it’s a historic program. Coach K and the staff there are great, really a pro lifestyle getting you ready for the pros and they just prepare you for that.”

North Carolina: “They just started recruiting me recently because they thought I was going to reclassify to the 2019 class so they just started calling me about two weeks ago reinstating the offer and saying they would really love to have me on campus sometime and really interested so we will see how that goes.”

In terms of a decision timeline, Kessler doesn’t have a specific date but is tracking towards a decision near signing day.

“Sometime before my senior year but things can change, but probably like November,” he said.

Kessler currently ranks as the No. 15 overall prospect and No. 4 center in the 247Sports Composite Rankings.

 

 

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Cool seeing a big guy bring the ball up the floor and make good passes.

Too much to wish for.  

Keeping my fingers crossed.

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Jeffrey Lee of the AU Rivals site just futurecast picked Kessler to AU a few days ago. Doesn’t mean much since JLee is an unreliable hack but he doesn’t stick his neck out there on hoops crootin predictions unless he knows something 

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2 hours ago, Gene Loblaw said:

Jeffrey Lee of the AU Rivals site just futurecast picked Kessler to AU a few days ago. Doesn’t mean much since JLee is an unreliable hack but he doesn’t stick his neck out there on hoops crootin predictions unless he knows something 

And as much of a hack as he is he’s doing pretty good on his future cast pics right now. I think he’s 22 out of 23 so far in this class counting basketball and football.

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1 hour ago, ellitor said:

And as much of a hack as he is he’s doing pretty good on his future cast pics right now. I think he’s 22 out of 23 so far in this class counting basketball and football.

Hope he's 23 out of 24 soon! :)

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That would be a great pickup assuming everybody is right with us getting Sharife  we already have Powell in this class and looking good on some other top talent if all the players coming in this year stay we will be scary good combining the players coming in this year with the 2020 class. Chemistry is important but that is a lot of talent on the floor and would have a mixture of super talented players with a year or more of experience  and the 2020 class.We would have quality and depth. We would be approaching Blue Blood status with talent plus Pearl coaching.

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3 hours ago, steeleagle said:

Hope he's 23 out of 24 soon! :)

Probably add 2 or 3 more in the win column before Kessler commits. Mostly football.

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