Let's keep this thread up to date on previews as they come in. I'm reading the Blue Ribbon preview which is now available as a digital download. Print ships later this month. Nuggets from Blue Ribbon.

-AJ Clayton is on the NBA's radar. Scouts are approaching Boals. He's up to 245 pounds.

-Paveletzke should fit right in. More physical than we might think. Can get in the lane. A better shooter than Jaylin Hunter.

-AJB the X-factor. Some MAC coaches think he's the league's best NBA prospect right now. Finally getting back into 5v5 action.

-Hadaway up to 210. "Filled the void (from AJB injury) and didn't look back."

-Elmore probably came back from injury too early, but he's healthy now. Will compete with AJB for a starting wing spot.

-Searls was 4th in the nation in D2 for FG%, despite being double and triple teamed "all the time".

-Nicol will be a backup 4.

-The crew of Pavaletzke, AJB, Elmore, Mitchell, Clayton, Hadaway, Searls, Sheldon, and Nicol is probably the initial core rotation. Anything they get from freshmen will be a bonus, though Boals "really likes" all of them. He prefaced that with saying "this might sound crazy, but..." so he's trying to make it not sound so much like coach-speak. Not sure when Ayden Evans will help. Kuany will redshirt.

Personally, I'm very bullish on Paveletzke. Seems like an assertive offensive player that can score at multiple levels. With AJB back, I think we could actually see a net better backcourt despite losing a very, very good lead guard.

Great updates from that preview, but I can't get over the first thing. Clayton? On NBA radars? What? I don't think he's quick enough for that.

Buttttt, he could make a really good living as a 3 and D type player. I also didn't realize how much he improved his overall FG and 3PT percentages last year. His FT percentage took a hit, but a kid his size who still shoots around 80% from the stripe is never a bad thing.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/aj-clayton-1...

For advanced stat heads:

-his Win Share total ballooned to 4.1 (tied for 3rd in MAC with Jaylin Hunter)

-had the highest offensive rating in the MAC last year at 127 (almost a full 3 points ahead of Akron's Enrique Freeman)

-4th in the MAC in PER (player efficiency rating).

I'm curious to see what he'll do now that Searls could take away some of the action he was seeing in the paint. If he's less concerned about being a "big man" maybe he'll be even more efficient at what seems to be a natural stretch 4 or even big 3 position.

Yeah, my thought is that NBA scouts aren't doing their job if they're not asking about a first team all conference guy. I suspect that's pretty much the standard across every conference in the country.

But it's gonna be a tough path for him with the NBA, because he would be forced to switch positions. Even in a 3 and D role, he'd be asked to guard wings in a way he hasn't in college. He's got decent athleticism for his size though, so it wouldn't surprise me if teams could see a shooting specialist who isn't a massive liability on D if they squint hard enough.

You could just see the confidence grow with Hadaway last year. By the end of the year he was our engine and our glue guy. He played some of the most minutes and always found a way to contribute. If he had 2 points, he would have 9 rebounds. If he had 10 points, he'd also have 4 assists or a key loose ball grab. Dude didn't ever disappear. I think that's what Boals has put together, a team that if one guy is off, he can step up in other ways. I think Searls is going to piss a lot of MAC bigs off with his old school game and I think Paveletzke is going to make opposing fans angry because they'll think he's a walk-on by how he looks but when it comes time for the game, he will be driving to the hole, dishing dimes and hitting treys.

Always the keyword for this team. Maybe it's recency bias, but I feel like we've been hammered with injuries with this crew more than previous years.


AJB should be MAC POY candidate.

Elmore is a SG body in a linebackers body.

A lot of good shooters on this team. If Jackson and Reek can distribute... Hadaway + AJC + Searls + Ayden can hold it down inside...

Big things coming.

That would really surprise me.

I think we need to temper our expectations of AJB. I would trade a full year of 10 ppg, 3 rpg, 2 apg of AJB for 5 games of 20 ppg. I don't think AJ will need to be a superstar on this team. I am really excited because I feel like we have four legitimate "stars" on this team in Mitchell, AJ Clayton, AJ Brown and Paveletzke and we also have a slew of guys I could see hitting for 20 points in any given game in EJ4, Hadaway and even Searls. And...to make matters better, I even feel like our talent level with young guys is good enough to fill injury gaps with Sheldon, Nichol, Elliott, Evans and even Burris who I think is going to be the "quiet gem" of this class.

Media Day is Tuesday so we'll see the coaches poll and preseason teams then.

There was a time when the MAC was good that being #68 just would have been a good season. If we could do that now I'd be quite happy.

Even though this preview has been out for a while, I don't think anyone has posted it.

https://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/23049

It’s gonna take a lot more than 12 points and 4 boards to win POY.

I’m still holding out, hoping AJB goes absolutely nuts this year. Way too good to not be a 20ppg player.

I think we should temper OUr expectations of AJB. The best thing Boals can do is keep his minutes to a minimum to start the year. He should only be playing 15 minutes or less a game. Put him in to start and let him loose and then do the same in the second half. Dude has shown he can't stay healthy so I see no reason to believe he will stay healthy through 25 minutes a game right now. We have the depth for Boals to be able to do that. Just like AJC and Hadaway, they don't need to play 35 minutes a night because I truly believe Searls is going to be more reliable than The Wiz. And for my final point, AJB isn't even going to be our leading scorer. Paveletzke or Reef are going to lead us in scoring with 15 ppg but there is a world where we have 5 guys at 10 to 15 ppg and two more at 8 to 10 ppg. Let's celebrate the depth and the talent rather than worry about AJB being an All-American. One tourney game explosion two years ago does not a MAC POY make.

Healthy is the key word. If he’s not, expectations are tempered. If he is — we’ve seen what he can do and his presence does raise the ceiling.

That three game stretch between the 22/23 Ball state game and last years season opener before re-aggravating his shoulder, his average was 22ppg.

That said, I don’t think he’s averaging those numbers, but even a healthy AJB putting up 12/13ppg still makes the ceiling that much higher for this season. Just having him as a scoring threat does so much for the depth we already have.