Bragg is leaving
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Kansas sophomore forward Carlton Bragg Jr. will transfer from KU, Jayhawks men’s basketball coach Bill Self said Thursday.
“We appreciate Carlton’s efforts the last two years at Kansas,” Self said. “We certainly respect his decision to pursue other opportunities. We wish him nothing but the very best and hope he is able to reach his dreams and goals.”
“I really enjoyed my time here at Kansas,” Bragg said. “Kansas has the best fans and I do love the program. This past year didn’t go as well as I thought it would and it’s in my best interest to get a fresh start. I want to thank my teammates, coaches and the fans for all their support these past two years. I will always cheer for the Jayhawks.”
Bragg averaged 5.4 points and 4.1 rebounds in for Kansas in 2016-17. The 6-foot-10, 240-pound Cleveland native started the first five games of the season and had five games of 10 or more points his sophomore campaign. He scored a career-high 15 points twice against Siena (Nov. 18) and against TCU (Feb. 22). He posted his lone double-double of his career with 11 rebounds in the Siena contest.
As a freshman in 2015-16, Bragg averaged 3.8 points and 2.5 rebounds for KU. He had two games of 10-plus points and six contests with five more rebounds his rookie year.
KUAthletics.com: The official online source for Kansas Athletics, Williams Education Fund contributions, tickets, merchandise, multimedia, photos and much, much more.
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The above is a press release from KU, not authored by me.
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Not going to lie, I teared up a little realizing I won’t get to see that goofy smile next season.
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Absolutely no surprise. Another blackhole for post recruiting…
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Sad to see him go because of his potential but glad the off court issues with him and JJ are not our problem. Best of luck to him.
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Making room for two guards and Juiston?
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So will we be thin on bigs next year? Doke off an injury, lightfoot needing to be locked in a weight room, Coleby to get his explosion back and freshman Preston.
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Just pointing out.
Alexander- Mickey D- ineligible to end his one average Season.
Bragg- Mickey D- Suspended twice, gone after Soph Season.
Diallo- Mickey D- ineligible to start the season, left after barely playing 1 year
Doke- Mickey D- Injured after 11 games. Seems to be the exception
Preston- Mickey D- lots of ineligibly questions following him.
Hmm should Bill be choosing his Mickey D bigs better?
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@Kcmatt7 Ya I hear ya, I am not going to lie either - -was really hoping he would come back, but just as I had said the off the court issues was probably just a little. to much. I think he still has a lot of potential, But we will never know either and not trying to stir anything but simply saying and I certainly hope and pray that there might still be more trouble ahead for Carlton from this years off court problems - -could still be some things that hasn’t come out to the public with legal issues - -I certainly hope not I really like the kid. - -Just sad to see him go - -but anyways best of luck buddy wherever you land hope nothing but the best for you. - -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY
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@BeddieKU23 Mickey D Big Macs with Geez.
I’m sad about this one but think it makes sense for Carlton to start over. Coming back from last year’s issues is hard anywhere and especially at Kansas.
I will not be surprised if he still turns into a beast by senior year.
Wish him the best. Will root for him wherever save at the axis of evil (Andrew White was an exception)
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@BeddieKU23 said:
Just pointing out.
Alexander- Mickey D- ineligible to end his one average Season.
Bragg- Mickey D- Suspended twice, gone after Soph Season.
Diallo- Mickey D- ineligible to start the season, left after barely playing 1 year
Doke- Mickey D- Injured after 11 games. Seems to be the exception
Preston- Mickey D- lots of ineligibly questions following him.
Hmm should Bill be choosing his Mickey D bigs better?
Suggesting he can choose. @jaybate-1.0 has it figured out, Self takes who he can.
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Oh and Shakur Juiston come on down!
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@BShark said:
Suggesting he can choose. @jaybate-1.0 has it figured out, Self takes who he can.
Exactly. Picking up the scraps left by UK and Duke. Sucks.
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Well as predicted by many. I had held out hope that he might stay and develop. Probably is for the best. Fresh start will be good. I still believe he will be a good player. Will be interesting to see where he ends up. OSU? Another big 10?
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@Hawk8086 Fully agree that it is for the best. The best for KU and the best for Bragg. He had a horrible year on and off the basketball court. I assume it was the worst year of his life. A clean slate will be great for him and for the KU program.
Seems like playing time will be available in the Kansas post. Should be interesting to see how it all shakes out.
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@Hawk8086 Unlikely any of the Big 12 schools
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Amazing how some players develop and some don’t. Mason comes to mind. Nick Bradford an older example.
The brain is a powerful muscle.
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Also, speaking of losing guys I just read that Briscoe is leaving UK for the draft and is hiring an agent. Briscoe is a rock solid college player who gets to the hoop but he is only 6’2 and can’t shoot. What am I missing here as far as what the NBA likes? Hard to imagine being a UK fan with they way their program operates. Obviously KU has kids come in as OAD and we have the occasional transfer like AW3 and Bragg but can you imagine the entire team being new basically every year?
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Nothing to miss, Cal pushed him out.
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@BShark Good point! I had not thought of that. Man I really hate Kentucky.
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@betterfireE I doubt the brain strength overload was Carlton’s downfall. If he had muscular problems they were most likely hormonally driven.
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Next up, Juiston commits.
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Sorry to see him go, I was hoping he would come back a much improved player…oh well…
I think the kid has potential but maybe he needed a change of scenery and a place with less expectation/pressure where he can get a fresh start and leave his past issues behind. No question that wherever he ends up he likely will be the star player or at least a starter, something that at KU seemed unlikely with Preston coming in and apparently Bragg giving up on fighting for the position like Lucas, a player with much less potential, did.
Good luck to him wherever he goes, I will miss his piano playing at Late Night.
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@globaljaybird said:
@betterfireE I doubt the brain strength overload was Carlton’s downfall. If he had muscular problems they were most likely hormonally driven.
Well, it’s more about being conscientious. Bragg was more happy-go-lucky than self-critical, and so he never really developed his game. I read stories about how hard Mason worked on his game. Then I read a Mellinger tweet about him being a 3.
A 3 will move faster and dribble better. I saw neither of these things from Bragg. Nothing about being a big at Kansas precludes you from developing these aspects of your game on your own.
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Of course, no surprise at all.
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“Fully agree that this is best. Best for KU and best for Bragg.”
I respectfully disagree. I think what would be best is for him to get his head on straight, embrace his job like never before and prove that he can handle the adversity instead of running from it. If we believe that KU is the best at developing ball players, then it goes that his best shot is at KU. Sometimes starting over at the same place you’re at (aka the best basketball program in the nation) is better for both personal and athletic growth.
Unfortunately, we don’t know what conversations transpired during the season and what exactly led him to this point. At what point did he do irreversible damage to his athletic tenure at KU?
Basketball players are allowed to make mistakes, and we all know Bill Self is interested in mentoring these youngins through them. The players have to uphold their end of the bargain by working hard and being a good teammate. Will Bragg have solved all of his problems just by transferring? Will he start working harder and being a better teammate (staying out of trouble) at the next stop? We’ll see. Either way, best of luck. Wish you had made different decisions that would have made it easier for you to stay at KU.
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We really know little to nothing of whats transpires behind closed doors. Maybe some day we will know…the rest of the story…as Paul Harvey would have said.
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@globaljaybird Y ou know at one time I believe, pretty sure could of been changed by now but seems like along time ago if a kid transferred to a school WITHIN THE CONFERENCE then almost like being penalized seems like they lost TWO yrs of eligibility. For some reason that sticks out, I think it was to discourage them for doing just that, might be wrong but don’t know why that would stick out if it wasn’t so. - -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY
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@jayballer54 You are not dreaming, that was the rule.
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@BucknellJayhawk3 Agree, and again I’m not trying to stir anything but I just wonder if there STILL isn’t more on the legal issues that hasn’t come to the surface to public as of yet? - --I hope not. - -Probably not BUT one just never knows, if there are then could be just to much for him to handle here. - - ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY
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@Barney OH, ok -thanks a lot for that. – -I really wasn’t sure, it was just that it seemed like that was the case. - - So can you tell me, is it STILL that way? - -appreciate you confirming that for me. Big time penality it seems - -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY
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@jayballer54 It is still in effect I think for the Big XII. I think walk-ons have different rules.
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I haven’t read any posts so I don’t know if anyone has said this or not so this is just my $0.02.
It sucks for Bragg because of his potential, but this to me feels like another Greene, Frankamp, and Tharpe situation where the off court issues forced Self to make a move. I really don’t believe this is a voluntary transfer, I believe this was Self telling Bragg to find another place to play as a transfer or be booted from the program. We know Self likes to allow players to save face in these situations and transfer out, but I really do believe this is not a voluntary transfer.
Off court issues (drug suspension, crazy gf) + decreased PT including a DNP against the one program his skill set was needed agaisnt = voluntary transfer.
I wish Bragg the best and hope he can get his act together, but I do believe a fresh start at another school is the way to go about this to help Bragg out.
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No one said it since the transfer, but it was definitely posted before that he might be forced out. Agree with your take.
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@YellowBeak Yeah, the writing was on the wall. I personally am sad to see him go but lets be honest, it really wasn’t a great fit for B ragg
I mean, his game never really meshed with Bill Selfs system this year at all. At all at all.
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@BeddieKU23 Nooooo. Come on.
Shady. Cole Aldrich, Jeff Withey, Darnell Jackson, Sasha Kaun, the Twins, TRob, Joel Embiid, Landen Lucas. yah I put him there.
Shit happens and you cant always control what your guys do. It doesn’t mean Coach Self needs to alter his approach to recruiting one little bit
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Good luck, CB.
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@KUSTEVE Yep. I tweeted him, #jayhawk4ever
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I can’t help to think this all started at the hat thing during his announcement. It was all down hill from that point.
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@truehawk93 I seem to recall a freshman season in between that was pretty good!
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@Texas-Hawk-10 Have to agree. Like I was listening to on the local sports talk saying think it was pretty much a Mutual parting of the ways, - Carlton looking for a fresh start and Coach pretty much agreeing saying he thought it might be best if he try to continue else where. - -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY
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@Texas-Hawk-10 We can’t say “for sure”, but this all of the earmarks of the force out. Having your tail glued to the bench in the most important game of the season is a bit of a sign. This was Self making the call. And I sense/speculate that the Bong did Bragg in.
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Sad! Was hoping to see him back in pick-n-pop situations.
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@approxinfinity Absolutely. Bragg showed some great moments. He just couldn’t get right. You can tell when a player turns a corner because they find some consistency. Bragg just couldn’t turn that corner. I wanted him to succeed and gave him all the benefit of the doubt. But, HCBS also gave him plenty of opps but the latest incidents just sealed Bragg’s fate.
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Don’t look now, but HCBS and KTown has just moved KU up in the battle for TDuval. It may be a small increase, but it’s an increase. Dook is obviously holding at a solid position for Duval. My hope is that Self and Townsend are putting a full-court press on him over the next 5 days. If we can get to a 30-40% 24/7 chance, we MIGHT have a snowball’s chance in hell to get him.
If that happens. If the dook godfather slips that low, and Capel loses ground with Duval, dook will pull out the big guns. They will appeal to Duval’s NBA aspirations by brining in KYRIE IRVING. They believe Duval is better at distributing the ball than Irving. Coach Konsanants will stop at nothing to gain the recruits he needs. He doesn’t miss too many targets. By gawd, he’s not going to miss on Duval to KU. If Capel retains Duval, it can’t be because he’s a better recruiter than HOF Coach Bill Self.
Coach Kon is depending on his PUKE brand to reel Duval into the bizarre world of Puke bball.
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Bragg went from a guy that Bill Self was sky high on his freshman season to a guy that Self didn’t seem to want for much more than minimal rotation minutes after some events we don’t know much about.
Now KU issues a press release saying Bragg is leaving to pursue his dreams Self wishes him well, and Bragg expresses gratitude for his time at KU.
It will be interesting to see what happens to Bragg.
There seems to be two classes of early departures (excluding those to the pros) involving mutual well-wishing: well-wishing where Self reputedly helps a player relocate; and well-wishing where Self does not appear to.
Will Bragg be in the first, or second group?
It didn’t end pretty with the DNP, when he might have been helpful.
I hope Carlton is in the former group, but fear he is in the latter group.
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Hey, maybe Carlton can join Conner at WSU!!!
Just kidding, I hope.
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@jaybate-1.0 what’s wrong with you? Lol no crazy fictional stories come on!
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Yo, @kjayhawks Lol
D’jou mean sane, witty, entertainment?
Nah, not feeling very witty and entertaining.
Children getting gassed with Sarin shortly after Putin reputedly warned Israel not to meddle in Syria didn’t hit my funny bone.
Been waiting for you to entertain me.
Go ahead, make me laugh.
Rock Chalk!
