I have no inside information, but my gut says if you asked Boals and staff who their starting 5 was right now - absent the final roster spot (portal or freshman) - they'd say Wiz is working his tail off, has tons of potential and will likely see good minutes with improved play. But, the starter today would be IJ Ezuma.

He has the size and athleticism, assuming he's recovered from injury, and already flashed his abilities to rebound and play defense. He needs to bring his fouls per minute down for sure...and if he doesn't then enter Wiz's minutes.

Remember that discussion of former bigs from the MAC and the traits they should have? I think that fits a healthy Ezuma to a T.

No, he didn't show much on the offensive side yet, but he was only a freshman. And - with the offensive firepower from the 4 guards/wings we're likely (hopefully) going to surround our big with he won't need to score much anyway. Just set screens, gobble rebounds and play good defense/be a rim protector against other bigs.

Yes, I also still want another big, I just think people are entirely sleeping on the possibility Ezuma is the answer already.

Ummmm……I guess I’ll break the news to him. IJ redshirted and sat out this past season.

WIznitzer and Clayton comments preceding this comment.

The offense was entirely geared around Dwight Wilson. His replacement had to try to play the Wilson game. There is not enough time in practice to gear offenses towards the big men on the floor. WIznitzer was not very effective in the DW3 role at the offensive end.

Now that there is no longer a DW3 to gear for, the offense will get a new look. Dominated by guards doing their thing. Break the defense down with pass and dribble penetration. In the Dance there were several teams that the bigs rarely received passes except when their man stepped over into help defense after penetration by guards and wings. The big could shoot or zip it to the corner where there was always a safety outlet for him. Looking at Wiznitzer's high school tape, it appeared he made most of his points on slams--just what he can try to do at OHIO in a guard geared offense. Look at Kent, they had no Jimmy Hall to dominate down low but their bigs were effective in an offense where Sincere Carry was breaking things down or launching a bomb.

As for Clayton, some say he wouldn't have lost his starting role if he had followed Boals instructions. There is another possibility, perhaps he followed the instructions but was simply not effective and lost his time to others who would be more beneficial to the game's outcomes. Clayton needs to find a spot beyond the arc where he can nail a shot at 50% off the catch and shoot and knock down open threes from other locations at a reasonable clip.

Referring to the discussion a page or two back in this thread about alternatives to a BigManz, what if a Spud Webb-type player was available? Just curious the thoughts on the board about a small dynamo type player. Personally, I still want a BigManz, but a thought of the opposite alternative crossed my mind. Those of you who follow the recruiting wars closely might know if any such players are available now. I suspect not, since a Spud Webb is kind a rare entity, but I thought it a question worth asking, if for no other reason that this is the off season, and we need to have something to talk about to extend this thread to perhaps the longest in BA history.

Will Shaver 6'10 Sophomore PF from UNC just decommitted from Belmont and re-opened his portal journey.

Dare to dream. I know will probably give some on this board PTSD because he is ACC but would also be a big pickup.

Agreed. I would go as far as saying Clayton's off-season improvement is probably the single biggest variable to how good we are next year. If he improves his 3-point shooting, we may not have to worry too much about defense as we will be outscoring everyone.

I wonder if he backed off from Belmont because Nashville is starting to rather suck as a place to live? After all it pretty much is Columbus plus tourists.

Did we ever find out the reason why he redshirted? If so I don't recall.

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

I think we land someone this month. I’ll be surprised if this goes into June.

I'd imagine this is closer to reality re: AJ Clayton than anything else discussed in this thread. Also agree with Optimist -- Clayton taking strides could perhaps be among the most important components to the team taking strides to being a MAC contender.