MuchMany

The fact that Sullinger stayed in the MAC this year and didn't go MVC or something surprised me. Especially after the success of a guys Sears and Dennis at P5 schools.

I'd say he's a solid rotational player on a average/bad team imo. He's really not much more than a volume rebounder without the bulk to seriously guard opponent's bigs. Offense really isn't there to be more than that.

Eh, they were picking from leftovers last year having to start recruiting in April. There was no way to get highly rated recruits at that point. Whitesell didn't have anything incoming either. This year's class is unique, with guys outside the traditional circuits/rankings. Like Tee4 said, Jackson is highly regarded in Canada even though he hasn't broken through into American rankings. We have no reputation leftover from the "Golden Years" to recruit off of and no NIL to give out. Outside-the-box recruiting is going to be our norm for a while, gotta hope our staff can pick some gems and hold them.

Even the best NBA factory in the world gets a little clogged up when there are five 5-stars and one 4-star incoming. Maybe the most historic class ever. I'd do backflips if UB ever sniffs a 4-star like Jeenathan again. Sigh.

Former Ohio and current Alabama guard Mark Sears named Second-Team AP All-American. That's incredibly impressive.

So another Duke example that I think shows Adams and Smith are going to count against the 13. Ryan Young played three years at Northwestern, including the Covid waiver year as a Soph. He transferred to Duke for his fourth year and is now in his fifth and final year. He is counting against the 13 scholarships this year. So he technically didn't transfer for his extra year, but he counts still. I'm going with we're at one open scholarship unless I hear otherwise.

I have no idea tbh. But based on the bolded, wouldn't Adams and Smith be regarded as having transferred elsewhere (here) for their fifth year since they aren't at the same school they were at for the covid season? I'm a lifer Duke fan and they have a scholarship crunch coming with an insane six-man class incoming. Jeremy Roach may return for his fifth (covid) year, but I haven't seen any discussion of him being exempted from the 13 count.

Only one scholarship available currently, call it the unused one from this year (along with the 3 in/3 out balancing each other). I feel like we need size just as much as a PG. Jo, Zaakir, and an unknown freshman from England is a precarious frontcourt after losing Sy. In an ideal world for me, Graham would leave (he looked utterly broken this year) as well as McVeigh. Then bring in a vet PG, vet big, and a HS/JUCO shooter.

Yep. And Famakinde is a question mark, either a rising sophomore or a departure.

From Lyons Rochester I see (victims of mine on the way to states in '03🫡) He'd fit our collection of misfit 6'5-6'8 toys. Can he run a little point?

Can you tell us anything more about him? Seems to have had a very down year. Injuries?

Blocker was a nothing player in 51% of minutes for a bottom 5 team in the country this year. Closest comp here to his season is a worse Boldin (but two years older so less potential).

Yeah I imagine he's looking to go AAC/MVC if not Big East. Unfortunately we're going to be looking at guys needing second chances/resets. Graham is an example. This upcoming season is the last of the bulk of extra covid year guys. We should be able to find some 5th year guys looking for one last shot at PT if that's what the staff is seeking.

Greg Gordon in the portal at Iona. GH3 tried to get him here last summer, but I imagine he's looking to go up a level after a strong season. Greg Gordon, 6-5, G, Jr., Iona (16.0 ppg, 7.3 rpg)

Probably best for both sides. Personally I never liked his game and we need his scholarship slot freed to revamp things. One of the strangest jump shots I've ever seen, landing about three feet in front of where he took off. Hope he finds a good spot to finish his education.

https://www.instagram.com/stories/samuel.akot/3325854081921612575?utm_source=ig_story_item_share&igsh=cjh1NWduOTIzY3R0

Good for Zid. He was always a very talented player who would have benefitted from playing here under a more disciplined coach who ran an actual offense.

Cage still pumps his tires on social nedia. Could be something there based on their relationship.

All my ranting and raving about recruiting Canada is being rewarded. Let's see if the staff or I know what the hell we're doing and if these guys are any good! Family is from South Sudan. Came to Canada in 2000 before Sam was born. (Again - Sabol, Boldin, McVeigh, Wilson all follow the kid immediately) https://www.themapleminute.com/post/tony-house-s-canada-top-flight-program-primed-for-success-in-upcoming-season Sam Akot – 6'7, 2024 W Akot, with interest from Division 1 schools like Stonehill, Marshall, and Pepperdine, is a talented wing player. With his athleticism and versatility, he is set to make a significant impact on the team this season. He will be coming off an impressive season with Red Rush during the AAU circuit. I had the chance to see Sam play in person at the Ball Don't Stop High School Showcase game at the Toronto Pan-Am Centre earlier this month & he thoroughly impressed by my standards. I can't help but draw a recency bias comparison to the newest member of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Leonard Miller. The frame and the way he moves on the court reminded me a lot of the G-League standout. I think Sam Akot could be a dark horse to compete for a spot in the top 10 in the country when the 2024 season concludes.

Tod should bail. Wonder if he could get Indiana State.

Nice pickup. Presutti and GH3 get the shoutout on his IG announcement. Plus all our freshmen are all over his post with positive stuff, so it looks like they're still invested here after a bad season. Also Gavin Doty liked Oboh's post. I think we're in good shape with him. If I had to guess our freshman class will be Jackson, Oboh, and Doty, with the other 3-4 spots filled by transfers/JUCOs.

Brought this over from the future of MBB thread so as not to derail it. The fact that Alnutt, Whitesell, and Mo sat on their hands for two years while NIL was becoming the reality of D1 is such a dereliction of duty. It blows my mind that UB is at the back of the pack with this stuff, as a wealthy state's flagship university coming off excellent/elite runs in both basketball and football. The timing would have been perfect to hit the ground running to maintain the level we had reached, but instead we were flat-footed and seemingly uninterested. People say it's not the AD or coaches' place to handle NIL, but it didn't just happen out of thin air everywhere else. Have some dinners, make some calls, connect the right people - do your job with urgency and foresight. I get that ADs are by nature conservative and the legal/procedural landscape of NIL is shifting quickly, but we pay you the big bucks to be agile wrt this stuff. It's not easy to figure out, but the winners will.

Definitely, Ann Arbor has the best of both worlds when it comes to academics and athletics/fun. So does Madison. I was wondering more about the academic vs party reputation of UB relative to a place like JMU.

I wish someone had laid out this math earlier. There's been a lot of discussion about why we can't seem to enter the same athletic "weight class" with our flagship peers in size and quality. This math is why. Now the question is, do students pay less here for athletics because they don't care, or do they not care because they pay less? How does such a lack of interest get passed down year after year to fresh student bodies? JMU gets accurately described as a party school, but is UB more similar to that or to Austin/Ann Arbor? When sitting in Alumni pondering empty student sections, I've felt like UB gets mostly two kinds of kids - commuters who lack interest in "the college experience" and nerds/internationals with the same lack of interest. The missing middle of average kids who like sports and aren't too cool to wear school colors is what I'm curious about.

I hear ya, I'm not particularly optimistic either. But the A's can't swap out 50-75% of their roster before the season like UB can as a transfer-era CBB team. I'm not as worried about the other challenges listed. Recruiting is what matters. Until we have better players, the rest is deck chairs on the Titanic. I was saying the same thing the last few years of JW. Watching other good teams in mid-major conference tournaments, it's clear that we don't have the athletes, we don't have the shooters, we don't have the size, and we don't have the ball handling. That needs to change. The good news is that it can, quickly.