February General CBB Discussion Thread

[Waquoit]

Should I be ashamed that I played AAU in middle school, varsity NEPSAC in highschool, and walked-on at a NESCAC school, with a new pair of Jordan’s every season?

 

[HW611]

It’s been 1 year and we were very close to that number, can’t see why we wouldn’t be able to join them. Even then, only 2 of those teams are definitively better than us across the season.

Dusty May & Michigan are what we call an outlier. In the past few years, the best teams, including this year, have typically been teams that combine talent, retention and the portal. The fact that a mercenary team happens to be the most successful is more than likely coincidental, I would not use his recruiting philosophy as the baseline for roster-building.

Besides, Silas didn’t come here for cheap

It will also be interesting to see if May continues to build his team through the portal or start bringing in HS talent.

It makes sense to utilize the portal as a new coach to bring in quick talent and your own guys.

 

[RuffRuff]

It will also be interesting to see if May continues to build his team through the portal or start bringing in HS talent.

It makes sense to utilize the portal as a new coach to bring in quick talent and your own guys.

He’s got McKinney first off the bench. Looks to be recruiting in the 20s, buying into PT and second year starting. Lloyd has Aristolde same thing. Scheyer had Ngongba, Evans.
These are all top kids, not 70 plus. So you get great frosh to be instant impact and then 20-30s off the bench as second year starters.

 

[HW611]

He’s got McKinney first off the bench. Looks to be recruiting in the 20s, buying into PT and second year starting. Lloyd has Aristolde same thing. Scheyer had Ngongba, Evans.
These are all top kids, not 70 plus. So you get great frosh to be instant impact and then 20-30s off the bench as second year starters.

LJ Carson was a recruit who got minutes for them last year and he’s continuing to play a solid role for them this year.

He wasn’t even ranked. It’s not about rankings as much as it’s about having good evaluations.

They have a top 4 class this year with two top 50ish commits at both forward spots to complement those guards it seems. Will be interesting to see how they get inserted into the lineup.

 

[RuffRuff]

LJ Carson was a recruit who got minutes for them last year and he’s continuing to play a solid role for them this year.

He wasn’t even ranked. It’s not about rankings as much as it’s about having good evaluations.

They have a top 4 class this year with two top 50ish commits at both forward spots to complement those guards it seems. Will be interesting to see how they get inserted into the lineup.

He’ll stick them on the bench for a year, may/may not pull them into rotation and let them develop for a year and see what he has. That while he goes back to the portal to get the best starting talent he can.

You should really become a Golden Eagles fan.

 

[aceboon]

UConn needs to get in on this with how dry the Big East schedule is after the non-conf

 

[aceboon]

Cronin's tone here tells me the higher ups got his (bleep) together behind the scenes

 

[BFieldHusky]

I think Cronin leaves for another job this spring.

 

[Excalibur]

It’s been 1 year and we were very close to that number, can’t see why we wouldn’t be able to join them. Even then, only 2 of those teams are definitively better than us across the season.

Dusty May & Michigan are what we call an outlier. In the past few years, the best teams, including this year, have typically been teams that combine talent, retention and the portal. The fact that a mercenary team happens to be the most successful is more than likely coincidental, I would not use his recruiting philosophy as the baseline for roster-building.

Besides, Silas didn’t come here for cheap

The rumor is that we're in the next tier down (about $8 million total). Those numbers will only continue to ratchet up.

 

[Excalibur]

I think Cronin leaves for another job this spring.

He's coming back to the East/Midwest.

 

[auror]

Cronin's tone here tells me the higher ups got his (bleep) together behind the scenes

Or maybe his agent is telling him that nobody will want to hire him post-UCLA if he's too toxic.

 

[RuffRuff]

The rumor is that we're in the next tier down (about $8 million total). Those numbers will only continue to ratchet up.

That's basically one big ticket player. The difference between us getting a Yaxel, or not.

The question then becomes, what is better, one core stud out of the portal, or hanging onto guys like Stew/Ross/Solo? BYU went all in on three players and it hasn't worked well.

I know they're not all disclosed, but it would be interesting to see a chart that shows NIL ROI in college. Who is playing above their NIL and below.

 

[BFieldHusky]

That's basically one big ticket player. The difference between us getting a Yaxel, or not.

The question then becomes, what is better, one core stud out of the portal, or hanging onto guys like Stew/Ross/Solo? BYU went all in on three players and it hasn't worked well.

I know they're not all disclosed, but it would be interesting to see a chart that shows NIL ROI in college. Who is playing above their NIL and below.

Remember last year was essentially still free agency. Now we have the House settlement with a cap on spending. How's that enforced we will see...

 

[RuffRuff]

Remember last year was essentially still free agency. Now we have the House settlement with a cap on spending. How's that enforced we will see...

I'm still not fully clear on the framework around caps and how it will be managed.

 

[FightOnCT]

That's basically one big ticket player. The difference between us getting a Yaxel, or not.

The question then becomes, what is better, one core stud out of the portal, or hanging onto guys like Stew/Ross/Solo? BYU went all in on three players and it hasn't worked well.

I know they're not all disclosed, but it would be interesting to see a chart that shows NIL ROI in college. Who is playing above their NIL and below.

If I’m Hurley, I’d prioritize keeping the most impactful starters first, I wouldn’t put Solo in the same conversation as Ross and Stew, keeping him around was smart, just happened to regress sadly.

From there, I’d then prioritize a big portal splash. We don’t need a Yaxel, but at least the tier below, like Silas. This year, that will be the PF and it wasn’t gonna be Pierce.

Hurley’s issue isn’t the ability to land good players, it’s targeting guys that fit too similar an archetype. He fixed the PG issue, but needs to also address the athleticism deficit.

There’s no real “formula” for creating the perfect team, but most of the top teams even this year fall into this model. Teams like Duke last year and Michigan this year are unorthodox and happen to also be elite.

 

[Frenemy]

Should I be ashamed that I played AAU in middle school, varsity NEPSAC in highschool, and walked-on at a NESCAC school, with a new pair of Jordan’s every season

 

[superjohn]

If I’m Hurley, I’d prioritize keeping the most impactful starters first, I wouldn’t put Solo in the same conversation as Ross and Stew, keeping him around was smart, just happened to regress sadly.

From there, I’d then prioritize a big portal splash. We don’t need a Yaxel, but at least the tier below, like Silas. This year, that will be the PF and it wasn’t gonna be Pierce.

Hurley’s issue isn’t the ability to land good players, it’s targeting guys that fit too similar an archetype. He fixed the PG issue, but needs to also address the athleticism deficit.

There’s no real “formula” for creating the perfect team, but most of the top teams even this year fall into this model. Teams like Duke last year and Michigan this year are unorthodox and happen to also be elite.

We simply need to get a lot better and more physical/athletic at the 3 and 4. Alex will be gone and Hurley can't focus on replacing him with another slow guy who is an awesome connector. AK is unique, we'll just end up having another slow guy who doesn't bring all of AK's great intangibles. Jaylin and Ross simply haven't shown nearly enough to be considered starters next season.

You don't have to be athletic everywhere but you have to be athletic and intimidate people in some places. '24 wasn't overly athletic but Clingan intimidated everyone, Castle was a freak and Samson was good for some highlight reel dunks and blocks. '23 Clingan intimidated everyone in his minutes and Jackson was a freak.

We aren't intimidating anyone this year, we aren't getting out and running and we aren't dunking on people. That gives us very little room for error. We have to win by outexecuting the other team in the half court and lately we have to do that at such a high level because our defense has fallen apart.

As it stands now with the players we think we have coming back and the two freshmen coming in we will again be unathletic and unintimidating unless we bring in a couple of elite physical athletes.

 

[HooperScooper]

That's basically one big ticket player. The difference between us getting a Yaxel, or not.

I just can't see how teams next season and beyond are going to be able to spend that much on 1 player. Not even that total on 2 or 3 players. Unless of course they're cheating.

 

[HooperScooper]

I'm still not fully clear on the framework around caps and how it will be managed.

There's been like a million articles on this subject. You haven't read any of them? You remind me of one of my wife's friends who talks so much she never listens to a word we say. 😀

Here, read this one. This will give you enough to understand what is going on.

College basketball commitments plummet amid big changes in recruiting: 'Nobody knows what to do right now'

With only six of the top 50 Class of 2026 prospects committed to a school, coaches and agents are in a recruiting stalemate

www.cbssports.com

 

[MJ1]

There's been like a million articles on this subject. You haven't read any of them? You remind me of one of my wife's friends who talks so much she never listens to a word we say. 😀

Here, read this one. This will give you enough to understand what is going on.

College basketball commitments plummet amid big changes in recruiting: 'Nobody knows what to do right now'

With only six of the top 50 Class of 2026 prospects committed to a school, coaches and agents are in a recruiting stalemate

www.cbssports.com

Thanks for sharing, looks like there is some hope for the Big East moving forward if schools don’t screw it up. Clearly St. John’s will benefit the most.

 

[Excalibur]

Remember last year was essentially still free agency. Now we have the House settlement with a cap on spending. How's that enforced we will see...

It’s not a cap. Stop calling it a cap. There will be no cap on NIL. It applies only to the revenue share number.

 

[uconngb]

How exactly are these kids being paid and what deals is the NIL Clearinghouse accepting and rejecting? It sure seems like it's just loaded fans paying players. Why don't we ever see the deals? Why is there no transparency?

All we get is rumors.

Still waiting for the details from the “first hand knowledge”

 

[uconngb]

Ignore was the best decision ever. Every time I take a peek I regret it

I want to but I just can’t pull the trigger because it’s too easy to make him look like an idiot

 

[uconngb]

I'm still not fully clear on the framework around caps and how it will be managed.

But I thought you had first hand knowledge???

 

[aceboon]

Nowell buried deep in the VCU rotation, zero first half minutes in a big game vs St Louis for first place and VCU trying to play itself into the tournament. With Nyk Lewis only a freshman and the starter at PG another move in the offseason is probably on the way.