I mean do we even need anyone from the portal if everyone that can come back does come back? we definitely don’t need any bigs, so guard is the only thing to look at. But we have Urban who I think plays well and will be even better next year. Denzel will be better. Brown played good in his limited time. Plus recruits
Will be interesting to watch. If they don't go to Nova (hard to say what their relationship is with Willard now), I think Gillespie, at least, might be on the table. Not the biggest guy in the world, but a terrific shooter, distributor, and ballhandler, was their best background defender, and has legit experience at a high level. We were on him last time, but Tennessee is already targeting him. Hopefully he holds off.
If you want a chance at this run again you absolutely have to go find a Point Guard and Wing. Running it back with just freshman will be a step back.
What do you guys think about Tre Donaldson? He had a good year at Michigan. Played at Auburn before this year. We tried to get him out of high school, I think mostly for football. He was 63 of 168 from 3 pt land = 37.5% this year. In comparison, Will Richard was 76 of 213 = 35.7%, Alijah Martin was 76 of 217 = 35.0% and WCJ was 111 of 288 = 38.5%. He is listed as a junior...I think he has 1 year left.
Take this with a grain of salt...a TOS poster said today that we may be interested in Miami PG Nijel Pack, if he can get a medical redshirt. He was hurt most of the year (played in 9 games this year...I looked it up). He would be very sought after if he gets a medical redshirt...I believe he was the#1 transfer portal player 3 years ago, if I remember correctly.
Maybe, but I would guess UF ‘s run would add weight to TG saying to whomever he has eyes on to be patient and not make Any rash decisions. Being in the FINAL FOUR is huge for him..and us.
That’s want vs need though. I’m not saying we shouldn’t get someone that absolutely fits. But, if we happen to miss out on people because of the timing of the portal and our deep run I’m fine with that too. We thought the same thing when we lost Pullin, yet Clayton delivered for a SG playing point. The team is gonna take a step back no matter how you look at it with these 3 guards leaving but I think if all the bigs return we are in a really good spot and let the offense run through them. You also have all the returning guards with one more year older in the program getting better every day. So in my eyes it’s not the end of the world if we don’t go out and get a starting PG
These are the guys you want to root for, wanting to live the dream, American Athlete style. Has size, needs work at the correct level to move forward.
There will be new rules, just not what you want. Next step is multi-year contracts, cutting players, a commissioner, and a players union. It is what it is.
Methinks Butch Jones had taken a bunch of "Life Champions" rings with him when he spent time there. Perhaps he accidently left them and the administration found them.
Odds are pretty good we take a step back anyway. This was one of the best seasons in our program’s history, and now we lose 3 senior guards and our top offensive and defensive assistants. I don’t think the staff plans on playing either Ingram or Lloyd massive minutes next year. Both need time. I do think they are banking on continued development from Aberdeen, Klavzar, and Brown. They have brought in multiple transfers every year, so we will obviously be active in the portal, at least for a lead guard/primary ball handler, but it’s hard to imagine us replacing the experience, maturity, and competitiveness of this group of guards.
Next season: Seniors (3): Denzel Aberdeen Sam Alexis Micah Handlogten Juniors (5): Thomas Haugh Alex Condon Kajus Kublickas Rueben Chinyelu Urban Klavzar Sophomores (2): Isaiah Brown Viktor Mikic Freshmen (2): Alex Lloyd CJ Ingram That's 12 eligible to return - so 3 spots open currently. Without getting into guessing games or naming players, I could see us losing 1-3 players to the portal and possibly another to the League. So, worst case we're left at 8. Best case, 12. Either way - we're bringing in some portal help and you know that's gonna be backcourt heavy given this years departures. We'll have only one proven ball handler in the backcourt otherwise.
We lose our entire starting backcourt. That’s a tall order, esp with the unique scoring talent Clayton brings. Obviously most probably pencil in Aberdeen as getting promoted to starting PG, but common sense would have us going after a proven scorer to run with him. Klavzar should be a reliable shooter, and Brown passes the eyeball test as an athlete but we have no way of knowing his consistency in games. You assume those guys would have year 2 sophomore leaps, but I’m still sure they’d ideally want to add a proven scorer at this level. The front court obviously depends on if everyone is back or not. If everyone is back, it’s 100% set. If someone leaves, then I guess you look at a portal front court addition.
