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Topic: 2023 Transfer Portal
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FJC31
6/12/2023 12:59 PM
Bobcat1998 wrote:expand_more
Lots players out there. Transfer process is crazy. Ohio has a lot to offer. Money might not be it, but education and a chance to play for a winning program.
Unfortunately, I don’t think the latter two matter as much in this landscape. If that were the case; I think one of Foster (Illinois State — I do like what Ryan Pedon is building), Javonte Brown (Western Michigan), Isaiah Carr (Denver), and Alimamy Koroma (Portland) would have landed here since none of their destinations are coming off winning seasons.
Yup...it's all about the Benjamins now...especially for any competent big man that is 6'8 or taller. Not sure what our strategy will be after this summer moving forward with recruiting bigs. We have a wide open position for somebody that can play 28-31 minutes per game in the paint and all they have to simply do is catch the ball, rebound and set a legal screen. And we can't find this in the portal before June 12th? Does Boals and company after this summer commit moving forward to finding bigs on the HS level? That hasn't been prosperous either with this staff. I don't have the answers to this one. We are simply getting outbid at this level and losing bigs that we want to Western Michigan just ain't good.
I agree. It looks like we need to come to grips with the fact that we will have the best group of wings in the league: AJ Brown, Elmore James, Jaylin Hunter, Shereef Mitchell, Ike Cornish and Miles Brown with a sprinkling of salvageable but less-than-illustrious bigs: AJ Clayton, IJ Ezuma, Gabe Wiznitzer and Aidan Hadaway.
+1 to both. It’s about money for sure; but, to Fear’s point — the strategy needs to change if we’re losing out on guys to lesser programs because of monetary prioritization. It should also be noted that Tj Nesmith (D2) landed at Redford and appeared to be an adequate big. I do wonder if a HS level big who’s being put on hold for the portal that we couldn’t normally land is a realistic option moving forward.

I’d also like to see us dip into the JUCO pool; but, we that just doesn’t seem to be a strategy for our staff.

Bobcat1998 could be right. Although I hope it’s not the case; but, what the roster is now might be what it is when the season starts. Haven’t seen anything on us in awhile and any new player followings recently have consisted of HS 24-26 classes.
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shabamon
6/12/2023 2:04 PM
At one point we had extended multiple offers to 2023 high school bigs, but by the end of June last year, all but one had committed. We seemed to put a bunch of eggs in the Jaylen Carey basket, but he committed to JMU who, ironically, we may see in the home opener. There apparently was no other high school prospect we were aware of and/or had interest in at that point

I don't know what's realistically left in the transfer portal, but I'd be very much against using it on any warm body. If you can't find someone with the potential to make an impact and help the program at some point, I'd rather sit on the scholly for a year UNLESS it's someone entering their final year of eligibility. The JUCO market doesn't seem like one we've tapped into much, but if the plan was to redshirt Ezuma so to not overload one class with a post player, getting a JUCO would likely throw that plan away unless you get someone with three years of eligibility left.
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M.D.W.S.T
6/12/2023 2:22 PM
shabamon wrote:expand_more
I don't know what's realistically left in the transfer portal, but I'd be very much against using it on any warm body. If you can't find someone with the potential to make an impact and help the program at some point, I'd rather sit on the scholly for a year
I mean, we honestly might just need a warm body.

Wiz and JC are gonna have to play 35 minutes otherwise.

Even if Wiz was an elite NBA prospect, we would be in a bad spot right now.

With a 4 guard offense, best case scenario Wiz/JC/Hadaway can create one decent player for an entire game, and that is running Ike at PF the entire game.

We're gonna need some prolific jumps from a lot of people over 6'5" this year.
Last Edited: 6/12/2023 2:23:51 PM by M.D.W.S.T
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FJC31
6/12/2023 5:45 PM
M.D.W.S.T wrote:expand_more
I don't know what's realistically left in the transfer portal, but I'd be very much against using it on any warm body. If you can't find someone with the potential to make an impact and help the program at some point, I'd rather sit on the scholly for a year
I mean, we honestly might just need a warm body.

Wiz and JC are gonna have to play 35 minutes otherwise.

Even if Wiz was an elite NBA prospect, we would be in a bad spot right now.

With a 4 guard offense, best case scenario Wiz/JC/Hadaway can create one decent player for an entire game, and that is running Ike at PF the entire game.

We're gonna need some prolific jumps from a lot of people over 6'5" this year.
I see both sides. Don’t want to use a scholly on someone just because; however, we feel incomplete (still very good) with so much uncertainty in the paint or at least another option.

I agree with Shabamon about it being used in a grad transfer or 1 year eligibility player at this point. I just feel like that isn’t of interest to our staff. There’s a grad transfer named Justin Steers who follows a number of our staff members, but no one follows back and we haven’t been listed as a school of interest.

He’s only 6’7 and played at Coppin State, but had a 21pt 12rb game against Georgetown. Recently reopened his recruitment. I’d take 9ppg and 5rpg at this stage.
Last Edited: 6/12/2023 5:52:00 PM by FJC31
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M.D.W.S.T
6/13/2023 10:28 AM
FJC31 wrote:expand_more
I don't know what's realistically left in the transfer portal, but I'd be very much against using it on any warm body. If you can't find someone with the potential to make an impact and help the program at some point, I'd rather sit on the scholly for a year
I mean, we honestly might just need a warm body.

Wiz and JC are gonna have to play 35 minutes otherwise.

Even if Wiz was an elite NBA prospect, we would be in a bad spot right now.

With a 4 guard offense, best case scenario Wiz/JC/Hadaway can create one decent player for an entire game, and that is running Ike at PF the entire game.

We're gonna need some prolific jumps from a lot of people over 6'5" this year.
I see both sides. Don’t want to use a scholly on someone just because; however, we feel incomplete (still very good) with so much uncertainty in the paint or at least another option.

I agree with Shabamon about it being used in a grad transfer or 1 year eligibility player at this point. I just feel like that isn’t of interest to our staff. There’s a grad transfer named Justin Steers who follows a number of our staff members, but no one follows back and we haven’t been listed as a school of interest.

He’s only 6’7 and played at Coppin State, but had a 21pt 12rb game against Georgetown. Recently reopened his recruitment. I’d take 9ppg and 5rpg at this stage.

He's listed as a guard though.

At this point I'm not sure we're in a place to be nit-picky, but at least hes shown he's willing to rebound. 4.5 rebounds per game. Clayton was 2nd on the team with 4.7.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/justin-steer...
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SBH
6/13/2023 10:51 AM
FearLeon wrote:expand_more
We are simply getting outbid at this level and losing bigs that we want to Western Michigan just ain't good.
WMU Athletics received a $50 million gift last year. That should help.

Additionally, they had fewer players in the program who had to be retained with NIL funds. I'm guessing Boals used a decent amount of available monies to re-recruit his returning players.
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FJC31
6/13/2023 11:30 AM
M.D.W.S.T wrote:expand_more
I don't know what's realistically left in the transfer portal, but I'd be very much against using it on any warm body. If you can't find someone with the potential to make an impact and help the program at some point, I'd rather sit on the scholly for a year
I mean, we honestly might just need a warm body.

Wiz and JC are gonna have to play 35 minutes otherwise.

Even if Wiz was an elite NBA prospect, we would be in a bad spot right now.

With a 4 guard offense, best case scenario Wiz/JC/Hadaway can create one decent player for an entire game, and that is running Ike at PF the entire game.

We're gonna need some prolific jumps from a lot of people over 6'5" this year.
I see both sides. Don’t want to use a scholly on someone just because; however, we feel incomplete (still very good) with so much uncertainty in the paint or at least another option.

I agree with Shabamon about it being used in a grad transfer or 1 year eligibility player at this point. I just feel like that isn’t of interest to our staff. There’s a grad transfer named Justin Steers who follows a number of our staff members, but no one follows back and we haven’t been listed as a school of interest.

He’s only 6’7 and played at Coppin State, but had a 21pt 12rb game against Georgetown. Recently reopened his recruitment. I’d take 9ppg and 5rpg at this stage.

He's listed as a guard though.

At this point I'm not sure we're in a place to be nit-picky, but at least hes shown he's willing to rebound. 4.5 rebounds per game. Clayton was 2nd on the team with 4.7.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/justin-steer...
Interesting, he’s referenced as a forward on the portal sites. Looks like he plays more like a big, only took two 3-pointers.
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FJC31
6/13/2023 11:35 AM
SBH wrote:expand_more
We are simply getting outbid at this level and losing bigs that we want to Western Michigan just ain't good.
WMU Athletics received a $50 million gift last year. That should help.

Additionally, they had fewer players in the program who had to be retained with NIL funds. I'm guessing Boals used a decent amount of available monies to re-recruit his returning players.
Yea, that’ll do it and what I suspected happened. WMU had more to allocate towards someone like Brown after we added Ike and Shereef.

Question for all - would you trade having Shereef or Ike for a Foster/Brown and take a lesser PG/wing transfer? Seems to be more of the latter available still than the former.
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Bobcat1998
6/14/2023 7:47 AM
FJC31 wrote:expand_more
We are simply getting outbid at this level and losing bigs that we want to Western Michigan just ain't good.
WMU Athletics received a $50 million gift last year. That should help.

Additionally, they had fewer players in the program who had to be retained with NIL funds. I'm guessing Boals used a decent amount of available monies to re-recruit his returning players.
Yea, that’ll do it and what I suspected happened. WMU had more to allocate towards someone like Brown after we added Ike and Shereef.

Question for all - would you trade having Shereef or Ike for a Foster/Brown and take a lesser PG/wing transfer? Seems to be more of the latter available still than the former.
Heck no...you win with guards. Would I have liked to have had Foster? Yes. But we don't know what he would have done. I am pretty certain Shereef Mitchell is going to blow up for us. And a guy like Cornish who was highly ranked but did not pan out at Maryland, still has the physical tools and skills and I really do trust Jeff Boals and Lamar Thornton to get the most out of him. Give me AJ Brown, Jaylin Hunter, Shereef Mitchell, Miles Brown, Elmore James and Ike Cornish with any of our bigs or a combo of our bigs averaging 10 ppg and 10 rpg and I am content.
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FJC31
6/14/2023 2:39 PM
List of some remaining portal players.

https://twitter.com/portal_updates/status/166903420474147...
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shabamon
6/14/2023 3:29 PM
Surprised we apparently didn't get in the mix for Malcolm Dandridge from Memphis. Saw him in the tourney in Columbus and he would be plenty serviceable for us. He's taking visits with SLU and WKU, so in the price ra... oh, money?
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The Optimist
6/14/2023 5:38 PM
Guards and wings sure seem like a better ROI in this odd world of "college" hoops we have entered. I am pleased we aren't wasting resources chasing after overpriced luxury items.
Last Edited: 6/14/2023 5:39:03 PM by The Optimist
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FJC31
6/15/2023 8:22 AM
shabamon wrote:expand_more
Surprised we apparently didn't get in the mix for Malcolm Dandridge from Memphis. Saw him in the tourney in Columbus and he would be plenty serviceable for us. He's taking visits with SLU and WKU, so in the price ra... oh, money?
There’s number of guys in surprised we haven’t been in the mix for but I think you nailed it with the cost/price associated with them. Maybe those drop in due time like professional free agency? What a time to be alive in college sports.

Lamar started following Peyton Williams of Florida A&M yesterday. I noticed Williams had been following most of our staff a few weeks back. Lesser program with not much stat-wise, but intriguing at 6’7/6’8. Listed as a wing. A few solid games against P5 competition.

https://twitter.com/theportalreport/status/16684115025530...
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FearLeon
6/15/2023 8:53 AM
FearLeon wrote:expand_more
Best guesses on when we learn when we land a portal big?

May 15
June 15
July 15
August 15

Saw Boals tweeting about Kurtis Rourke today. I hope soon he's tweeting about finding portal gold in the 6'8-6'10 range. #focus
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OhioCatFan
6/15/2023 11:28 AM
FJC31 wrote:expand_more
There’s number of guys in surprised we haven’t been in the mix for but I think you nailed it with the cost/price associated with them. . . .
Well, I'm sure NIL is part of it in many cases, but you also have to keep in mind that Boals has made it clear that he evaluates a player's character, and I'd bet some of these have been because we lost interest once Boals investigated and discovered that the player in question would be a liability off the court around campus, in the locker room, or the classroom.
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M.D.W.S.T
6/15/2023 11:50 AM
OhioCatFan wrote:expand_more
There’s number of guys in surprised we haven’t been in the mix for but I think you nailed it with the cost/price associated with them. . . .
Well, I'm sure NIL is part of it in many cases, but you also have to keep in mind that Boals has made it clear that he evaluates a player's character, and I'd bet some of these have been because we lost interest once Boals investigated and discovered that the player in question would be a liability off the court around campus, in the locker room, or the classroom.

Perhaps.

In this portal era, I think the "other stuff" is less of deal breaker.

In the past you were worried about messing with team chemistry, a knucklehead not going to class, in the portal era you're turning over half your team anyway.

We REALLY lucked out *this* year, but last year there were 8-9 new players? I expect a ton of turnover in 24.
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OhioCatFan
6/15/2023 12:18 PM
M.D.W.S.T wrote:expand_more
There’s number of guys in surprised we haven’t been in the mix for but I think you nailed it with the cost/price associated with them. . . .
Well, I'm sure NIL is part of it in many cases, but you also have to keep in mind that Boals has made it clear that he evaluates a player's character, and I'd bet some of these have been because we lost interest once Boals investigated and discovered that the player in question would be a liability off the court around campus, in the locker room, or the classroom.

Perhaps.

In this portal era, I think the "other stuff" is less of deal breaker.

In the past you were worried about messing with team chemistry, a knucklehead not going to class, in the portal era you're turning over half your team anyway.

We REALLY lucked out *this* year, but last year there were 8-9 new players? I expect a ton of turnover in 24.
I'm just going on the fact that I've heard Boals say this several times. And, if you look at the players he's recruited they all seem to be solid citizens.
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shabamon
6/15/2023 2:36 PM
Nebraska's Breidenbach to Washington.
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GraffZ06
6/15/2023 11:58 PM
shabamon wrote:expand_more
Nebraska's Breidenbach to Washington.
Rec specs is off the board.
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FearLeon
6/16/2023 10:25 AM
GraffZ06 wrote:expand_more
Nebraska's Breidenbach to Washington.
Rec specs is off the board.
For my sanity and the sanity of the board....this is probably for the best. A combo of specs and The Whiz would hot have done wonders for me.

It's June 16th....still no portal big man. Not in panic mode, but it's still amazing to me that we have a wide open position for somebody to come in and start and play 28 minutes per game and this staff hasn't found it yet. And all this 6'8 or taller dude has to do is catch the ball, rebound and not set a screen while moving their feet. It really shouldn't be this hard.

Pray for me.

Pray for The Whiz.
Last Edited: 6/16/2023 10:26:42 AM by FearLeon
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shabamon
6/16/2023 10:35 AM
FearLeon wrote:expand_more
It's June 16th....still no portal big man. Not in panic mode, but it's still amazing to me that we have a wide open position for somebody to come in and start and play 28 minutes per game and this staff hasn't found it yet. And all this 6'8 or taller dude has to do is catch the ball, rebound and not set a screen while moving their feet. It really shouldn't be this hard.
We're not the only one looking, by a large margin. That's why.
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FJC31
6/16/2023 11:13 AM
shabamon wrote:expand_more
It's June 16th....still no portal big man. Not in panic mode, but it's still amazing to me that we have a wide open position for somebody to come in and start and play 28 minutes per game and this staff hasn't found it yet. And all this 6'8 or taller dude has to do is catch the ball, rebound and not set a screen while moving their feet. It really shouldn't be this hard.
We're not the only one looking, by a large margin. That's why.
Yea. Just read that Dishon Jackson, former Wazzou big who recently decommitted from Charlotte; is visiting Texas Tech. The writer made a note how desperate Tech is for front court depth. It’s everyone.

Might be better served finding another wing at this point. Make the 24 recruiting (HS, JUCO, whatever) class all bigs because we might not find one in the portal (worth adding) this year without allocating more financial resources than we’d like.
Last Edited: 6/16/2023 11:16:34 AM by FJC31
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M.D.W.S.T
6/16/2023 11:23 AM
OhioCatFan wrote:expand_more
There’s number of guys in surprised we haven’t been in the mix for but I think you nailed it with the cost/price associated with them. . . .
Well, I'm sure NIL is part of it in many cases, but you also have to keep in mind that Boals has made it clear that he evaluates a player's character, and I'd bet some of these have been because we lost interest once Boals investigated and discovered that the player in question would be a liability off the court around campus, in the locker room, or the classroom.

Perhaps.

In this portal era, I think the "other stuff" is less of deal breaker.

In the past you were worried about messing with team chemistry, a knucklehead not going to class, in the portal era you're turning over half your team anyway.

We REALLY lucked out *this* year, but last year there were 8-9 new players? I expect a ton of turnover in 24.
I'm just going on the fact that I've heard Boals say this several times. And, if you look at the players he's recruited they all seem to be solid citizens.

I'm not discounting your many in-depth conversations with Boals pre portal era, I'm just saying it's 2023.
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GraffZ06
6/16/2023 11:05 PM
M.D.W.S.T wrote:expand_more
There’s number of guys in surprised we haven’t been in the mix for but I think you nailed it with the cost/price associated with them. . . .
Well, I'm sure NIL is part of it in many cases, but you also have to keep in mind that Boals has made it clear that he evaluates a player's character, and I'd bet some of these have been because we lost interest once Boals investigated and discovered that the player in question would be a liability off the court around campus, in the locker room, or the classroom.

Perhaps.

In this portal era, I think the "other stuff" is less of deal breaker.

In the past you were worried about messing with team chemistry, a knucklehead not going to class, in the portal era you're turning over half your team anyway.

We REALLY lucked out *this* year, but last year there were 8-9 new players? I expect a ton of turnover in 24.
I'm just going on the fact that I've heard Boals say this several times. And, if you look at the players he's recruited they all seem to be solid citizens.

I'm not discounting your many in-depth conversations with Boals pre portal era, I'm just saying it's 2023.
Character and discipline matter just as much in 2023 as they always have. You don't reward cancers and then try to claim respect for coaches, discipline in the classroom/weight room/practice court, cohesiveness amongst players all pulling for each other vs individuals looking out for number 1, or creating culture.

Even with roster turnover those are cultures that lead to program success and the minute you take shortcuts or let standards slip it all goes out the window.

Boals and Co aren't going to change course in this area and I applaud them.

There's more to life than winning at all costs (in this age of free agency quite literally)
Last Edited: 6/17/2023 10:56:19 AM by GraffZ06
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Bobcat1998
6/22/2023 7:44 AM
I think if they don't get anyone, bring Adelodun back. Dude is still out there for some reason. I just wish I knew what the knock against him was. He is athletic, looks strong, shoots the ball fairly well from what little sample size we have and played defense. Tell me he can't play for the Quinnipiacs of the world? So if we're sitting on a scholly anyways, bring him back. Seemed like a good character guy as well.
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