I don’t think that there is anything that prevents him not showing up at school regardless.
Even if Livers and Franz are both back, Todd would start and play major minutes IMO.
- kid’s an unbelievable talent
- there’s just no way Juwan isn’t going to play his first freshman signee major minutes. Future recruits will be told that they could be the next Isaiah Todd - he will get some spotlight
- I seem to remember a certain two year-returning starter senior at the 4 got moved to the bench for a talented freshman on the way to a title run not too long ago. Would be poetic
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From what I’ve seen and read I’d bet Todd goes overseas. To me though Dickinson and Williams would be more important recruits/signees for the future of the program than Todd whether he plays here or not.
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You really think there’s any chance that Livers isn’t starting next year if he’s on the roster? I guess nothing’s impossible, but man would I like to see the odds on that. That whole 2018 situation was quirky in general. Sure, Livers started, but he only played 36% of available minutes. If, and that’s a huge if, this is a factor at all I don’t think Todd would be swayed by a “starter in name only” title.
Referring to your previous point, I sure hope Juwan will play whoever deserves to play and not give Todd minutes over somebody just because he’s a highly ranked recruit. That would be super disappointing. I brought up Nassir Little because even with mega recruits sometimes something just never fully clicks and an established, great veteran like Livers is a better option. Nobody is a sure thing.
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I added the Duncan example mostly for irony purposes. Isaiah Livers as a senior would be a more valuable player than Duncan was that season in my opinion. But Isaiah Todd is also a completely different caliber of player. There are ways to get creative with lineups that get both on the floor for 30 minutes a game.
Roy Williams also strikes me as a coach who historically has not played freshmen major minutes unless there was a critical positional hole, even when he has had McDonald’s all American talent. Juwan does not strike me as a guy who won’t find major minutes for those players. I doubt we ever get to that point regardless, because someone will go pro, or transfer, or go overseas, and all those decisions might be made with an understanding that there will be ALOT of talent on next year’s roster one way or another
I have my doubts that Todd will be better than senior Livers as a college basketball player. If Livers returns, I don’t really care what Todd does. If Livers is gone it’s a big need
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Exactly my thoughts. I doubt he will ever be a first round pick but that seems to matter very little these days.
I also don’t think it has to be a Livers or Todd conversation. If the best 6 players on next year’s roster are: David DeJulius, Eli Brooks, Franz Wagner, Isaiah Livers, Isaiah Todd, Colin Castleton, I think theres 6 different starting lineups that are reasonably realistic. That team is positionally versatile, and getting the five best players on the floor should be the priority. And I think it’s probable that Todd would be one of those players.
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Franz, Livers, and Todd can’t all start. In that case Todd would have to be the 5 and that would be extremely tough for him.
If we’re going between Livers and Todd, Livers is an ultra efficient college player entering his senior year. Todd is a relatively inefficient high school player with a lot of upside, going into his freshman year (though much of that has to do with his usage). With that said, Livers over Todd is a no brainer if your goal is to win games.
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Isn’t it possible that Franz can be SG? If i recall he is or was listed as a Guard prior.
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Alright I’m happy to accept that I have differing views than the majority of this board on playing 5-star freshmen.
I don’t see why Brooks, Wagner, Livers, Todd, Castleton couldn’t be the lineup. If you don’t think Todd is a top 5 player on next year’s roster, I’d strongly disagree.
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Good point. In that case though, I wouldn’t be confident in our defense with a 6’9 SG guarding quicker players, or that no one would really be a ball handler other than our PG. Also, now you have Eli, DDJ, and Zeb all sharing minutes at the 1 which might be tough.
I think that ideally for the team, in the case that Todd and Livers are both on the team next year, would be to have Todd come off the bench. With a player who is looking to go one-and-done, that might not be ideal for him. In that case, I echo @kturnup 's sentiment that I don’t really care if Todd decommits if Livers comes back. I just don’t think he’ll be a major contributor to the team since he’s still quite raw.
This whole debate seems pretty silly. Howard’s biggest selling point is position less basketball. Those aren’t just empty words from him either - we had a 6’0” sophomore playing considerable time at the 3 earlier this year. I am sure Howard can figure this out. This isn’t a real problem
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I do believe that Todd would one of the top players on next year’s team.
However, freshmen don’t always have a positive impact on the team (See Cam Reddish last year), especially if they only plan on staying one year instead of developing into an efficient player for the program. As a result, I have worries that due to his hype and ranking, he’ll do more than he should and negatively affect the team. In some ways, this is already the case with his high school team.
Not to say that I wouldn’t want Todd whatsoever. I do, especially if Livers is gone, we absolutely need a playmaker in that position. However, if Livers stays, I would be more indifferent for the aforementioned reasoning.
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I think positionless basketball is more interpreted in the sense that all five guys in the game aren’t subjected to a defined role on the court based on position. I don’t think it’s interpreted as just throwing out whatever 5 guys on the court and making it work. It’s why you saw Nunez start in favor of Franz to start the year, instead of perhaps Johns or DeJulius or Castleton, despite the former being out of the rotation now.
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You’re saying that Cam Reddish didn’t have a positive impact for Duke last year?
Not all hot takes are great!
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Franz at SG?
That said, I don’t think that Livers coming back.
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Offensively he was a disaster but it wasn’t all his fault, their spacing was beyond awful. Overall I’d say he had a positive impact, but they also didn’t have anyone behind him that he was taking minutes from.
I’m all for 5* talent starting and playing a lot. I would just be concerned that that’s exactly what would happen in this very specific case. Livers is far better as a 4. If he has to play the 3 and thus Franz plays the 2 I think that is not utilizing 2 players to the best of their ability for the sake of putting one player in the best position (Todd). maybe it would work and I’m wrong. I’d certainly take him and see what happens.