Bball Transfer Portal

I know it was a highlight reel, but I did not see much in the way of distributing the ball. Good 3 point shooter. And I presume a very good FT shooter.

 

I don’t expect Shulga at this point to be a gator, but I do expect some good news coming our way soon.

 

Like Gatorrick 1 stated, TOS indicates we're in really good shape for G Alijah Martin from FAU.

 

If we take Martin, then it sounds like the staff thinks Clayton can be, at least in tandem with Aberdeen and Kublickas.

 

I think the staff thinks exactly that, Martin was a huge priority get for our staff. I would also say this our roster is a moving target in a way. I don’t think it’s a 100% guarantee we know who is back and who isn’t. I think most likely scenario is both Richard and Clayton are back, but it’s not 100% certain. So let’s say Clayton were to keep name in draft Martin would be an ideal replacement there too.

With all that said, the most likely roster included the guards you mentioned, Richard, Brown, and the bigs we know about already. Handy is wild card in terms of whether or not he can go and how effective he can be. If he was ready it would open up the chance for Haugh to practice at the 3 which would give him a chance to actually play some minutes at the 3 but to me that’s a pretty big if.

I also don’t think we are done with the portal. I know we would love a bigger 3 who is ready to go and I could see us adding another guard if there was someone we liked who didn’t cost us too much with NIL. Ofcourse I am getting a little ahead of myself. Martin hasn’t committed quite yet but I think we will have his answer very soon.

 

I sincerely hope Dusty May builds a monster and dominates the Big 10-or-so. If they actually put 2 quality 7-footers on the roster they'd be scary.

 

look out for UConn with Goldin.

 

I'm glad you mentioned Kublickas; he tends to be overlooked, but he showed some exceptional passing ability and a fundamentally-sound, soft shooting touch in the scant few minutes he got as a freshman. He just wasn't ready for the physicality, size, and speed of high-D1 basketball as a freshman, after missing all of the 2023 summer strength and conditioning program. I'll be paying attention to the news that leaks out of camp this summer and preseason, and how he looks in the early games. He hasn't entered the portal so he believes he'll be in the mix for minutes. That says a lot.

 

I’ll take the shooter every time lol

 

Martin has committed to us. Created a separate thread to talk about what I think he brings and what challenges there might be.

 

Any crystal ball predictions for targets to watch for the last 2 spots? Any chance we get one of these newly entered in portal "true" point guards like the guy from Wisconsin?

 

Some money leftover from the Pitino days

 

TG said he wanted to leverage his connections to Europe in his recruiting strategy. Any chance we can land this WV transfer from Estonia?
https://247sports.com/Player/Kerr-Kriisa-46101235/
"Skilled point guard with good size and average length. Plenty of room to fill into his frame. Very good three-point shooter off bounce who can hit tough/contested shots. Could improve efficiency off catch and middle game. Can finish with both hands at rim. Outstanding vision/creative passer. Ambidextrous one-hand passer off live dribble. Competitive spirit and motor help overcome physical tools on defense. Projects as high major starter."
And shot 45% from 3 last season....

 

Alright now that Im not limited by my phone keyboard, I can type out my thoughts about recent developments
Absolutely monster pickup by TG. IMO completes the class, assuming Richard and Clayton come back. Everything else now is gravy/house money/insurance runs for a deep tourney run. Team as it sits now is definitely a top 4 seedline (So top 16 seeds) and FF contender. Nothing is for sure, ask Auburn, but the horses are in place.
With that said, as I mentioned in the other thread I would still like us to take a true PG that we know can initiate the offense, cerebral and is a great passer, as I said there a freshman Scottie Wilbekin type that is maybe average/underdeveloped offensively and, as such, doesn't command much/any NIL money. I say this because the lack of a true PG is the one knock I can make on this team, the one nagging doubt I have. Ive seen too many teams that would be great/elite be average because they don't have a play who can coordinate/initiate the offense and everyone tries playing iso ball.
With the last spot on the roster, I would offer the best remaining PG in the portal, the best remaining wing, and Rutgers C Omoruyi whatever we have left in the brinks truck of NIL money and whoever commits first gets the spot.

 

Long time ago I was on the faculty of a MAC school. Tied for conference title and 4 starters back, including 2 first team all-conference forwards. Only one gone was our all-conference point guard. No adequate replacement and we finished 6th

 

Lol, luv it! But we have 2 spots left? If it was me.. get Shymchyk back as a stretch 5 soph (Played big in 2022 under against BIGS at 250 and Supposedly a great 3 point shooter) and Riley Kugel back as 3/wing. National championship lineup. Kansas has already recruited over Riley bringing in 3 other transfer guards(PG/SG) in transfer portal and are bringing in two 5/4 star guards as freshmen. That puts Riley as the 6th guard at Kansas? At Florida... he can go off for 20+ at the 3? And he has 2 more years... I know sounds crazy and broken relationships but a guy can dream!!!

 

Our 1995 team had four returning starters (only Craig Brown left from the final four team) and was a bubble team the next year. It happens for sure. But we have more depth than that team had too, a lot more combos to try if things aren’t working.