A scholarship definitely needs to open up. We all know what needs to be done there.

What rumors?

I wouldn't count on Dozier leaving this offseason, but I could definitely see it following next year. I assume he would have his degree at that point and then grad transfer out.

The group of Kirk, Dartis, Block, Gollon, Carter, and Taylor is a capable core. I've heard one person describe BVP as the middle ground between Carter and Kaminski. That would be really nice... but we absolutely must develop some depth. It would be great if we had 13 healthy, capable scholarship players, but I think we will be at 11 at best. I'm assuming a redshirt for Springs, and despite what I wrote above, I think we know what we have in Dozier

We will definitely be better next year, but I don’t think we will ever win the MAC tournament under SP.

I don't think Butler is as far behind as you seem to think. The talent is definitely there and so is the basketball acumen. He comes from a championship program so he can obviously play. The question is the drive and motivation to put in the work this offseason. With Mike being gone, that opens up more PT in the backcourt.

Like Saul said in one of his post games this year: "I didn't see anyone out there who proved to me they need more playing time."

That's exactly what needs to happen this offseason. Put in the work. Prove your worth. Get jumpers up. Get in the weightroom. Watch film. Improve ball handling. If Butler and his roommate Kirk can do that, the backcourt is going to be just fine.

And let's not give TK the right of passage here just because he got on the All Freshmen Team. Go back and look at some of his turnovers. He's got room for improvement as well. I don't have to question his drive though because we've seen how determined he is when he's on the floor.

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One thing we definitely won't have to question next year is how hungry this team is going to be. You think Jordy isn't ticked off about his nagging hip that keeps him off the floor? He'll come out guns blazing next year.

Think about how JC and BVP feel having to watch from the bench every single night, knowing they could help this team win.

It's going to be a long offseason for these guys to think about what just happened and how they can make themselves better and put this program back where it's supposed to be at the top of the league.

The shooting I can't explain, but him playing completely out of position most of the year didn't help. He was guarding the 4/5 post players some nights. That's another thing Jason, BVP and maybe one of the newcomers should help alleviate. Get Gavin back into his comfortable spot of the 3 swing man on both ends of the floor and I think he'll be better than what we saw this year. I agree with you though, his regression is troubling.

What this team could learn in the offseason is p-a-t-i-e-n-c-e. We got in trouble in the first half last night by chucking up threes that wouldn't go down. Came back in the 2nd half by working the ball to the hoop and getting twos and some and-ones. But then around the 7:00 mark we went back to chucking up threes.

According to the stats on the AD's website, we had a decent 3-pt percentage this season (36%) but we hit 48% from inside the arc. Kirk led the team in scoring, but shot only 40 threes all season long. And he shot 190 FTs -- a third of the entire team's total. (Laster was second with 75.) Lots of and-ones and two-shot fouls. I hope they look at the stats and realize they can be more productive with higher-percentage shots.

In regards to people possibly leaving or staying, Do you know or have an idea what players were going through such as injuries or other things ? Butler suffered a sprained AC joint in his left shoulder after it was separated 6-8 games ago and only missed 1 game even though he probably shouldn’t have played the rest of the season due to the pain and discomfort he’s been dealing with to go along with playing with streptococcus ( throat infection) since last Friday . So since you love to speculate on a players future know the truth or what’s going on . The staff at Ohio didn’t feel it was your business to know what players are battling everytime . The Butler kid will be fine and a major contributor for Ohio next season or somewhere else if he decides and wants to leave .There’s over 150-200 Division 1 schools that play basketball and he won’t be without several options even if you feel he’s not ready for prime time.

Good news if you're advocating/suggesting Butler could have a future elsewhere if he decides to transfer out: there are over 300 DI basketball schools.

We could probably beat Pitt.

Too funny! You made my day.

Some of the reason the staff isn't telling you about what certain players are battling has to do with privacy and HIPPA laws. They can't tell you every detail without the player's permission unless I'm mistaken. If I am, perhaps someone could enlighten me, and us, on the proper/normal procedures in this case.