"I don’t like stepping on people’s toes," Carl says, "but I just know what I know. I watch them play, all the Kansas kids. I like all these kids, (Sherron) Collins, (Tyshawn Taylor), they’re good kids, man. But they’re not better than C.J."
-- Kansas City Star - "Getting to the pros the Henry family plan"
J. Brady's article caused quite a stir. It was going to no matter what, but instead of just instigating thousands of message board discussions and blog comments, it hit the subjects, the Henry family (particularly Carl), and they created a fuss about it. Maybe they weren't coming to Kansas, after all. But with that potential issue seemingly behind us now, given the handful of media sources claiming that, in fact, Xavier and C.J. are still coming to Lawrence, let's talk about what just might have been the most interesting aspect of the article.
The quote above.
It was preceded by the claim that Carl considers C.J. to be a "one-and-done player."
I'm not really sure how to take this. I mean, I suppose it's impossible to tell anyone that they will spend more than one year in college. It's his right to declare for the Draft. Lots of hopefuls declare every year that have no shot at getting drafted. But unless C.J. is way better than I figure him to be, then him declaring for the NBA after this year wouldn't be too intelligent.
But first, let's take a look at the depth chart. C.J. could probably play either the 1 or the 2, so we'll put him up for both positions. With that in mind, he's positively behind Sherron, almost assuredly behind Tyshawn and probably even slightly behind Elijah Johnson. His chance to capitalize on Elijah's injury, learning how to play with his teammates and such, gaining ground on Elijah has gone away as C.J. continues to work out with his brother in Oklahoma City. Opportunity wasted.
And that isn't even including Tyrel Reed and Brady Morningstar. Hell, Xavier could even see some time at the 2, taking away some more of the 80 minutes a game the two positions get. But, assuming that there are 5 minutes-or-so a game of three-guard alignment, we'll go with 90 minutes a game to divy up between Sherron, Tyshawn, Tyrel, Brady, Elijah and C.J. This is just a ballpark estimate, and the calendar just turned to July. So, lots of stuff can change.
- Sherron -- 30
- Tyshawn -- 25
- Elijah --15
- C.J. -- 15
- Brady/Tyrel -- 5
Damn. And that isn't even including Travis Releford, who I think should redshirt this season because of the sheer depth here. That is just ridiculous.
But back to the point. How is C.J., picking up something around 15 minutes a night, going to end up declaring for the Draft? Now, again, I've never seen C.J. play. No one really has, at least not since he was a high schooler. And that was a helluva long time ago. I don't doubt he has talent; there is a reason we were recruiting him heavily as a high school senior. But if he wants to pick up loads of playing time and make an early exit to the League, 2010-11 would be the better year to do it. Think about it. Sherron will be gone. Tyshawn probably will, too.
If C.J. is half as good as his dad thinks he is, he can beat out Travis and Tyrel and Brady for the starting gig along with Elijah. Ignoring incoming recruits, of course, but whatever. The point remains the same.
C.J. probably isn't a one-and-done player. At least, not if he plays at Kansas. If he stayed at Memphis or something. then yeah, maybe. But not in Lawerence. Too much talent. Way too much.