I find myself forgetting that Devon Baker is even on the team sometimes. That's a combination of him only having one year left as well as his just-average production. In my mind, Miles, AJ, and Elmore are the shooting guards on this team.

I find it hard getting invested in freshmen, too. For several years, I've hoped we'd see a year where our starting lineup is all seniors who began their eligibility at Ohio. That could have happened with the class that came in 09 (Cooper, Kinney, Horne, Baltic, Keely) or 2015 (Dartis, Gollon, Block, Dozier, Taylor). With Ezuma redshirting, there's a possibility of a Sheldon, Brown, James, Hadaway, and Ezuma senior class in three years. I'm probably dreaming though - attrition and injuries are inevitable.

When will be the next time we have a first team all-MAC caliber player that completes all of his college eligibility at Ohio*? Will we have another Jason Preston, Tony Campbell, or DJ Cooper any time soon?

Yes, I feel your pain. I find it's more of an effort to keep track of the players, and I keep wondering in the back of my mind who will be back next year -- who is going to be loyal to OHIO and who is going to bolt because they are not getting enough PT, or because they think their route to the NBA is through a P6 school. That's one reason I'm finding myself more interested in the women's team, even though they are having a horrendous season. There seems to be a lot less portal turmoil on the distaff side.

I get that there are a lot of new faces. And understand the sentiment. Though, I suspect if we were good people would be embracing the new guys.

Also, if you look at who we lost last season it only really seems tangentially related to the "new transfer era."

Ben Vander Plas gave us 4 seasons and if it weren't for the abnormality of Covid wouldn't have had remaining eligibility. Lunden McDay, whose departure was unrelated to the transfer portal. Jason Carter after his 18th year in college basketball and a single year transfer in Schmock -- both transfers themselves. And Towns and Granger who didn't crack the rotation in a meaningful way.

Only Sears' transfer is representative of the new era of college basketball, unless I'm missing something.

I find myself needing a scorecard where in the past I didn't. For example, is Baker #12 or is Hunter. Which of the two transfer guards is from Old Dominion and which is from Tulane?

I've always been derided by others for looking too far in the future. For example, if my team had a strong group of underclassmen in 2002, I would expect a better season in 2003 and an even better one in 2004. This heralded freshman class Boals brought in would typically have me excited for the next few years. Of course, I have to temper this moving forward. You don't know what the roster will look like one year from now, let alone 2 or 3 years.

This, in my opinion, is not a good thing for college sports. Loyalty is not a bad thing.

Not sure just Sears. One other example in the old world of transfers...there is a chance Sam Towns would still be here and Wiz would not (although based on Sam giving his former teammates and coaches the bird maybe not). Perhaps Granger stays, perhaps Hunter stays for his final year at ODU, etc.

But yeah we were going to have a huge turnover on the roster regardless this year, not entirely a product of the new era.

To answer your question, I hate it. I would still prefer to favor Freshmen in recruiting and minimize use of the portal and this discussion with various fans saying it makes them lose interest only solidifies that. If we can have more roster stability than others maybe we can keep our fan base more engaged than others.

I 100% agree with this. One of the fun things about being a hoops fan is seeing a recruit come in that might flash some talent as a freshman and then see them develop over their time with us to be strong players and leaders. I think of Cooper and Nick Kellogg as examples but there are many that fit that mold over their four year careers.

I am having a hard time connecting or being excited about this team. And the large freshmen class (instead of bringing me excitement for their growth) has me thinking about who will actually stick around beyond this season. I used to feel like I couldnt miss a game when the Bobcats were on, but now, its more of a "meh" feeling.

I’m not sure what happened between Towns and staff. So I won’t disagree on the potential domino effect of him staying. Which again, it brings me back to the point of if Baker, Wiz, and Hunter are consistently positive contributors are we bothered by the new era? It’s early, but they feel like misses right now so I can appreciate not liking the portal.

However, I still like it. If 2-3 guys are added from it each year, I don’t see it being an issue. It has to be the right guys. I look back to guys like Offutt, Jon Smith, Kaminski, and DW3 being the right pieces at the right time.

That’s on the coaching staff to identify the correct fits while maintaining as much of the current roster as it can. Unfortunately in our case, it looks like we didn’t do that this time around. The caveat is there’s an opportunity for a “do-over” as soon as the season ends. Would it be ideal to move on from Hunter and/or Wiz after one season? No, but it isn’t unheard of this day and age and allows for the staff an opportunity to right the ship for 23-24.

To minimize the blow moving forward, I agree prioritizing guys seen as the next core is pivotal. Again, that’s on Boals and staff. Perhaps that’s why minutes are so wonky this year, he’s trying to win now and maintain a future roster. Maybe he didn’t expect so many guys to leave? We’ll never know. Just have to adapt and hit on transfers.

That's what will happen to any mid-major that makes the Sweet 16 for the rest of eternity. Leagues like the MAC and MAAC are the farm system of the Power conferences for both coaches and players.

Ohio's feeling the same pain this season without the joy of a run last season. The whole enterprise gets less appealing every year.

I should have included Simmons on that list. However, I’m not seeing the correlation between having to sit a year then and being able to identify the right pieces/players in the portal as a staff. Most would argue Bean wasn’t a fit. Kadeem Green? Hardly contributed for a season. Both sat for a year.

I know it’s a loose term but I don’t see any mid-majors other than St. Peter’s last year in the Sweet 16. Providence? Houston? The #1 seed Gonzaga?

I just passed OCF at a framing store here in Athens. He had this last post matted and framed.

Agree