Payne Visiting Senegal Africa

[shadow force]

On Thursday, Payne was nearly 4,500 miles across the world — in Saly, Senegal at the NBA Academy Africa, looking for impactful players to add to his team for next season.

The mid-season addition of African forward Emmanuel Okorafor to the U of L roster in January opened the door for Payne at the Academy. He’s not finished looking for more guys eager and determined to journey to America and succeed.

"I’m working on an upgrade in talent," Payne said. "I want guys with character as well as a passion to win."

https://www.wdrb.com/sports/bozich-...cle_f6b9ce34-d4a1-11ed-ae91-3b3172ba01ea.html

 

[CardX]

Maybe he'll stay there.

 

[rh62531]

Seems to be a desperate action as he has not added grads or transfers. What kind of competition is played there? Appears to be weak AAU play

 

[shadow force]

Seems to be a desperate action as he has not added grads or transfers. What kind of competition is played there? Appears to be weak AAU play

Seems Payne is trying to make sure he gets Churchill Abass, who is currently playing there. Other than that not sure who else he's looking at.

 

[CARDSAgainstHumanity]

If he doesn’t land Abass, this trip is going to really take criticism.

 

[Cardiac Red]

Damn portal is full of players and he's going to frigging Africa to find players ??
If I had time I'd make a list of players in the portal as of today that he could be trying to get and then see how they do on their team next year as opposed to who he's after in Africa. Hell last year he didn't have time to go to Spain to watch Wagner. WTF !

 

[OldhamCard335]

Reeks of desperation! Does he not have anything brewing in the portal at all?

 

[glassmanJ]

Seems to be a desperate action as he has not added grads or transfers. What kind of competition is played there? Appears to be weak AAU play

i heard coach walz say on the radio a week or so ago that he traveled to japan to see a recruit, guess he's desperate too

 

[Cardiac Red]

i heard coach walz say on the radio a week or so ago that he traveled to japan to see a recruit, guess he's desperate too

Absolutely no comparison between Jeff Walz and Kenny Pain.

 

[OldhamCard335]

Absolutely no comparison between Jeff Walz and Kenny Pain.

Nope! Zero. None. Nada. Zip!

 

[Thecycle27]

There is talent in NBA Africa. There is nothing wrong or desperate about becoming involved in NBA Africa. It isn’t like he was the only college coach over there. Duke had people there as well. Arizona is heavy on international players.

He has 3 spots to fill and he has time. He has a Top 5 class already. Going to Africa during the dead period seems logical. On top of that most of the initial conversations with transfer guys is on the phone or whatever platform they use.

Let’s see how this plays out before making silly statements. Remember he got roasted for not going to Spain last summer to watch Wagner now he is desperate. When you are 4-28 all he can do is win games to stop this kind of reaction.

 

[Cardiac Red]

Going to Africa during the dead period seems logical. On top of that most of the initial conversations with transfer guys is on the phone or whatever pl

There is not a dead period where coaches cannot have contact with recruits. The only restriction is coaches initiating in person contact. They can have phone, email, or social media contact just not in person and recruits can contact coaches at anytime they wish during so called "dead periods"..

 

[OldhamCard335]

I’m thrilled with the recruits we have so far…for the most part. I hope we get even more and especially some help from the portal.

But….this coaching staff have to look each other in the eye and ask, “what do we need to do differently from last year to ensure our kids are understanding and executing what we are asking from them?” If their only answer is “recruit better players”, we are in deep trouble.

 

[glassmanJ]

Absolutely no comparison between Jeff Walz and Kenny Pain.

"Nope! Zero. None. Nada. Zip!"

btw Walz has zero freshman high school players coming in next year and expects to be up to three scholly's short meaning he can't recruit for shit right now. funny how the comparison is being dominated by KP at the moment with a top 5 incoming class.

btw, how'd gorgui get here? don't rip kp for traveling when every other coach does it. the best player in the world not in the nba right now plays in france. the greatest bball player in the world is from greece. and of the approximately 450 players in the nba (30 teams x up to 15 players) at the start of the 2023 season, there were a record 120 foreign born players among them.

dang facts hurt.

 

[BPGhost]

"Nope! Zero. None. Nada. Zip!"

btw Walz has zero freshman high school players coming in next year and expects to be up to three scholly's short meaning he can't recruit for shit right now. funny how the comparison is being dominated by KP at the moment with a top 5 incoming class.

btw, how'd gorgui get here? don't rip kp for traveling when every other coach does it. the best player in the world not in the nba right now plays in france. the greatest bball player in the world is from greece. and of the approximately 450 players in the nba (30 teams x up to 15 players) at the start of the 2023 season, there were a record 120 foreign born players among them.

dang facts hurt.

FTR - I’m glad that the staff is looking in all areas for players as they should. With that said, even as shoddy as your reading comprehension skills are typically, you understand that the comparison made between KP and JW weren’t about the current state of recruiting.

Any rational or even semi-rational person with the slightest familiarity with the two individuals in question, would come to the conclusion that JW is a dramatically better HC than KP. That’s simply objective fact and one that your agenda cannot overcome.

 

[Cardiac Red]

"Nope! Zero. None. Nada. Zip!"

btw Walz has zero freshman high school players coming in next year and expects to be up to three scholly's short meaning he can't recruit for shit right now. funny how the comparison is being dominated by KP at the moment with a top 5 incoming class.

btw, how'd gorgui get here? don't rip kp for traveling when every other coach does it. the best player in the world not in the nba right now plays in france. the greatest bball player in the world is from greece. and of the approximately 450 players in the nba (30 teams x up to 15 players) at the start of the 2023 season, there were a record 120 foreign born players among them.

dang facts hurt.

Lol... GTFOH.. Jeff Walz has multiple final four and final 8 appearances, multiple conference championships, recruited several players that he developed and put in the women's League, not to mention a nearly 80% winning percentage at UofL.

Meanwhile

Kenny Pain has 4-28.

As you said, dang facts hurt. !

 

[OldhamCard335]

"Nope! Zero. None. Nada. Zip!"

btw Walz has zero freshman high school players coming in next year and expects to be up to three scholly's short meaning he can't recruit for shit right now. funny how the comparison is being dominated by KP at the moment with a top 5 incoming class.

btw, how'd gorgui get here? don't rip kp for traveling when every other coach does it. the best player in the world not in the nba right now plays in france. the greatest bball player in the world is from greece. and of the approximately 450 players in the nba (30 teams x up to 15 players) at the start of the 2023 season, there were a record 120 foreign born players among them.

dang facts hurt.

Please get back to us when KP has five straight elite eight appearances.
Yep….damn those facts!

 

[Thecycle27]

There is not a dead period where coaches cannot have contact with recruits. The only restriction is coaches initiating in person contact. They can have phone, email, or social media contact just not in person and recruits can contact coaches at anytime they wish during so called "dead periods"..

The point is most of these discussion are occurring over the phone or zoom meetings. That is when everything is being discussed. Evans recruitment was done before he even took a visit.

I want him turning over every rock if that means going to Africa, China, or Austrian why do we care. Transfers aren’t the end all be all. The right transfers can make an impact. Going to Africa didn’t impact his ability to recruit those guys at all. What impacted transfers is players like Clark, Flowers, Williams, Glynn and Evans. Getting legit playing time is a issue.

Will the roster he is putting together work? Boy that is a really good question. He sure thinks it will and only time will tell.

 

[shadow force]

I give Payne a lot of credit for the recruiting he has done so far. After last year though it is apparent that the team can't have just one true ball handling guard.

Don't know if Flowers or Davis can actually help out there and defend those positions as well but we'll see. Just feel the Cards have to have another PG on the roster for depth in case Skyy gets injured or foul trouble in a big game. Oh and in case any player feels like not giving effort, they need to know they will get pulled and to do that you need depth at every position.

 

[shadow force]

Also after seeing so many guys play out of position last season, it makes me really want to see a fully staffed roster and not guys forced into guard or other roles they are not equipped to handle.

It was frustrating seeing no one but Ellis able to confidently bring the ball up or handle it in tight situations.

Remember Payne said we were fine at guard position before last season started and that, to the surprise of almost no one, turned out to be horribly untrue.

 

[Mike'sMarbles]

"Nope! Zero. None. Nada. Zip!"

btw Walz has zero freshman high school players coming in next year and expects to be up to three scholly's short meaning he can't recruit for shit right now. funny how the comparison is being dominated by KP at the moment with a top 5 incoming class.

I don't follow women's recruiting but I did see a tweet from Eric Crawford recently where I believe he suggested our women's NIL investment isn't up to the standards of other top programs. Definitely food for thought, thanks for posting.

 

[Thecycle27]

I give Payne a lot of credit for the recruiting he has done so far. After last year though it is apparent that the team can't have just one true ball handling guard.

Don't know if Flowers or Davis can actually help out there and defend those positions as well but we'll see. Just feel the Cards have to have another PG on the roster for depth in case Skyy gets injured or foul trouble in a big game. Oh and in case any player feels like not giving effort, they need to know they will get pulled and to do that you need depth at every position.

What KP has said is he wants switch everything and challenge everything at the rim. In theory close outs are more effective with length. The ability to switch everything simplifies all the rotations. Now it becomes all about knowing when and how to help.

Can they defend the straight line drives? This is the problem with size on the perimeter. Not sure that will work. That creates rotations and really good help from others.

Can they defend the post? I tend not to worry a bunch about the post because that is a lost skill but certain players-teams could be a match up problem.

Conceptually how he is building the roster makes sense. Yes they have to get another PG. The scoring guard in covered but getting a pure shooter in that spot would be nice.

 

[glassmanJ]

Please get back to us when KP has five straight elite eight appearances.
Yep….damn those facts!

if we were in a court of law, you'd lose and i win. the original statement by cardiac was- "Absolutely no comparison between Jeff Walz and Kenny Pain." to which you replied "Nope! Zero. None. Nada. Zip!" and in a court of law, your reply and his statement means that there is absolutely no comparison, zero, none, no chance,. well i simply provided simple proof of a comparison where KP is dominating JW. and you both chose to ignore it but in a court of law my simple statement of proof, that walz will be short players, not even have enough to fill out a roster and has no HS players signed, only transfers, while KP has a top 10 class coming in, which means by simple language an idiot could understand that if i made a comparison, then there must be a comparison that exists, and the comparison that exists is one where the facts show KP is out recruiting JW for next years team.

any judge or jury would laugh their asses off at you. and your reply was one that a woman would use, you tried to say that since jw has accomplished something in the past that there can be no comparison now, you ignored what i told you but that still doesn't mean it's not true. so go bury your head in the sand, you lost the argument. you point was 100% wrong, incorrect, false, untrue.

THERE IS A COMPARISON AND KP IS DOMINATING JW IN RECRUITING.
sad you can't admit that next years team may actually be good as we have a top 5 class coming in and the foundation is now set for KP to be here for life. so again when you say there is absolutely no comparison you and everyone who liked you post are wrong and would be found wrong in a court of law. FACTS, FACTS, FACTS!!!! but hey, the facts prove I'm right again and I'm here to educate those who cannot educate themselves. so grwo up and learn when you are wrong and please admit you are wrong. there is a comparison, simple as that. but you won't. you'll try to deflect and come up with an insult or somethign like that btu it's okay, everyone who reads this will know the truth adn know the facts. again ouch, fact hurt!

MIC DROP!!!!!!

 

[glassmanJ]

The lesson to be learned is don't ever make statement of absolutely fact without wiggle room. saying nothing exists, nada, zilch none, when something actually does exist always makes you wrong. stick to statements you cannot be fully held accountable to. statement of absolute fact were made and disproven. what should have been said was in terms of coaching the team there's not much comparison between the two coaches but at the moment KP seems to be dominating the recruting trial which is awesome and I hope it turns out to be a good season. Instead absolute statements were made with no wiggle room. statements that turned out to be false and thus in a court of law all future statements must be weighed against your false statements. in the courts once you lie your statements can no longer be trusted. so in a court, all of your future statements will be taken with a grain fo salt and considered false, untrue and most likely just a dumb opinion no one should listen to. dang, betcha feel differently now, huh?

 

[achilles992000]

Churchill Abass said his parents locked him out of the house after basketball practice.
the parents think it is a waste of time to play ball. so KP going to Africa is smart. he is good with parents and can talk them into playing ball over here.

 

[OldhamCard335]

The lesson to be learned is don't ever make statement of absolutely fact without wiggle room. saying nothing exists, nada, zilch none, when something actually does exist always makes you wrong. stick to statements you cannot be fully held accountable to. statement of absolute fact were made and disproven. what should have been said was in terms of coaching the team there's not much comparison between the two coaches but at the moment KP seems to be dominating the recruting trial which is awesome and I hope it turns out to be a good season. Instead absolute statements were made with no wiggle room. statements that turned out to be false and thus in a court of law all future statements must be weighed against your false statements. in the courts once you lie your statements can no longer be trusted. so in a court, all of your future statements will be taken with a grain fo salt and considered false, untrue and most likely just a dumb opinion no one should listen to. dang, betcha feel differently now, huh?

Answer to your last question is a hard no. There is absolutely no comparison between Coach Walz and Kenny Payne. Nope, zero, none, nada zip. One is a proven Coach with a record and resume to prove it. The other has a 4-28 record. Like I said, get back to me when KP takes us to five straight elite eights. Signing players does not a good coach make. See: Calipari, John. Court adjourned!!!

 

[Thecycle27]

I think comparing a 1st coach to a 17 year veteran coach is crazy. There isn’t enough data on the 1st year coach.

People get way too caught up in their own perception of good and bad coaches. There is only one common denominator in winning a title. It is not coaches that are great with X and O’s it is dudes. Someone find me a title team without a 1st round pick on a roster. That means the 1st priority of being a coach is building a roster that is capable of winning a title. People get this backwards they ask is the coach capable of winning a title? No the question is can the coach build a roster that is capable of winning a title? We all would take that over trying to win with a roster of players that can’t win a title. We have seen those rosters the last 4 or 5 years.

Coaching matters but they have to have dudes. The more dudes the better.

 

[Cardiac Red]

if we were in a court of law, you'd lose and i win. the original statement by cardiac was- "Absolutely no comparison between Jeff Walz and Kenny Pain." to which you replied "Nope! Zero. None. Nada. Zip!" and in a court of law, your reply and his statement means that there is absolutely no comparison, zero, none, no chance,. well i simply provided simple proof of a comparison where KP is dominating JW. and you both chose to ignore it but in a court of law my simple statement of proof, that walz will be short players, not even have enough to fill out a roster and has no HS players signed, only transfers, while KP has a top 10 class coming in, which means by simple language an idiot could understand that if i made a comparison, then there must be a comparison that exists, and the comparison that exists is one where the facts show KP is out recruiting JW for next years team.

any judge or jury would laugh their asses off at you. and your reply was one that a woman would use, you tried to say that since jw has accomplished something in the past that there can be no comparison now, you ignored what i told you but that still doesn't mean it's not true. so go bury your head in the sand, you lost the argument. you point was 100% wrong, incorrect, false, untrue.

THERE IS A COMPARISON AND KP IS DOMINATING JW IN RECRUITING.
sad you can't admit that next years team may actually be good as we have a top 5 class coming in and the foundation is now set for KP to be here for life. so again when you say there is absolutely no comparison you and everyone who liked you post are wrong and would be found wrong in a court of law. FACTS, FACTS, FACTS!!!! but hey, the facts prove I'm right again and I'm here to educate those who cannot educate themselves. so grwo up and learn when you are wrong and please admit you are wrong. there is a comparison, simple as that. but you won't. you'll try to deflect and come up with an insult or somethign like that btu it's okay, everyone who reads this will know the truth adn know the facts. again ouch, fact hurt!

MIC DROP!!!!!!

1st of all we're not in a court of law we're just chatting on a message board about college basketball and speaking in general terms.. 2nd of all I'm glad my post and OldhamCard335's comment got in your head so much that you had to write 2 short stories in rebuttal.

But you're still wrong. I guess if you want to get me on a technicality that no comparison is still a comparison, I'll have to give you that. However, and more to the point, Jeff Walz has earned the right through past results to do things his way because he has a pretty damn good track record of success.

K Pain has a 4-28 record.

Has Pain recruited better this cycle ? Time will tell. Can he coach that talent to success ? Time will tell. We know for a fact he was a total failure last year, we know for a fact Jeff Walz has been a huge success.. One coach has been to multiple final Fours and Final Eights, won conference championships and put players in the league, and oh by the way has won nearly 80 % of his games. One has 4-28.

So yeah, on a technicality you're "kinda" right but in the general topic of conversation in comparing Jeff Walz coaching record and credibility to Kenny Pain's you lose in a total beat down.! Recruiting players doesn't mean jack squat until you win with them.. Jeff Walz has proven he can win, and Kenny Pain, well he has 4-28..

 

[bigloucards]

if we were in a court of law, you'd lose and i win. the original statement by cardiac was- "Absolutely no comparison between Jeff Walz and Kenny Pain." to which you replied "Nope! Zero. None. Nada. Zip!" and in a court of law, your reply and his statement means that there is absolutely no comparison, zero, none, no chance,. well i simply provided simple proof of a comparison where KP is dominating JW. and you both chose to ignore it but in a court of law my simple statement of proof, that walz will be short players, not even have enough to fill out a roster and has no HS players signed, only transfers, while KP has a top 10 class coming in, which means by simple language an idiot could understand that if i made a comparison, then there must be a comparison that exists, and the comparison that exists is one where the facts show KP is out recruiting JW for next years team.

any judge or jury would laugh their asses off at you. and your reply was one that a woman would use, you tried to say that since jw has accomplished something in the past that there can be no comparison now, you ignored what i told you but that still doesn't mean it's not true. so go bury your head in the sand, you lost the argument. you point was 100% wrong, incorrect, false, untrue.

THERE IS A COMPARISON AND KP IS DOMINATING JW IN RECRUITING.
sad you can't admit that next years team may actually be good as we have a top 5 class coming in and the foundation is now set for KP to be here for life. so again when you say there is absolutely no comparison you and everyone who liked you post are wrong and would be found wrong in a court of law. FACTS, FACTS, FACTS!!!! but hey, the facts prove I'm right again and I'm here to educate those who cannot educate themselves. so grwo up and learn when you are wrong and please admit you are wrong. there is a comparison, simple as that. but you won't. you'll try to deflect and come up with an insult or somethign like that btu it's okay, everyone who reads this will know the truth adn know the facts. again ouch, fact hurt!

MIC DROP!!!!!!

You start a comment on a message board with ”If we were in a court of law…” and then end it with “MIC DROP!!!!!”😂😂😂