HoosierX

Don't forget Tucker.

Just curious why you think Newton needs to play? If Carlyle comes, I think the top 7 would be Oumar, Malik, MM, Bryson Tucker, TG, Rice, and Carlyle. I also think Cupps would generally get some minutes as a backup PG and Leal as well will see some time because he brings shooting to the table. Obviously, Newton is a major unknown, and I could be totally wrong, but not sure I see him getting much run.

I don't disagree with that, there are likely some that may come in large part due to Woodson. I just think it will be hard to say Woodson is "landing guys" when we are the highest bidder.

It was a little over top that people felt we weren't going to get any portal players. The simple reality is that we're going to be the best offer for a lot of these kids. So I'm not sure how much credit Woodson should get when we land them. I'm not saying no credit, but I also doubt many of these kids will be coming because he is the coach.

Eat crow about his ability to get portal players or eat crow about his ability to be successful here?

Ummm no, it showed the gap between Purdue and one of the most dominant teams in NCAA tournament history.

I don't think it's particularly close. ESPN is projecting them as #4 next season without projecting them to have a single returning starter.

Ok, I'm not sure how that relates to my ultimate point though. How does someone prove they want to play at IU vs. getting paid? If they want to play at IU but insist on getting paid fair value, what difference is there really? If that person wouldn't take 5% less to play at IU, does that mean they only care about money?

OK, fair, can't judge the ROI of Ware and Mgbako in a vacuum. However, what I was trying to refer to was the overall ROI of our team. I'm willing to bet we were top 10 in NIL and our team was...not that. I couldn't care less that we're paying Bryson Tucker, and happy we landed him. But I'm understanding of people who don't think it necessarily means anything. If your only point is that people shouldn't complain about us paying players, then yeah I agree with you.

Probably because it's a nuance that's ultimately meaningless in the modern age of college basketball. The only way you could objectively qualify as the former is by taking less to play at IU than you could make somewhere else.

I'm with you, we should absolutely be using the advantages we have. I have no problem with these players getting paid. I think part of the frustration is that Woody had this same advantage last year, and he did very little with it. A lot of people, me included, gave Woody a ton of credit for landing Mgbako and Ware last year. In reality, we probably paid them more than they would have made anywhere else. Again, I have no problem with it, but where is the ROI? I'm glad we're landing some players, but I'm not sure Woody should get all the credit for it. In reality, the credit probably belongs just as much to the fans he has maligned.

What do any of our assistants give us? If Kenya had any actual coaching chops, he would have gotten a shot to be a HC by now. And he’s not exactly pulling in the recruits either.

I honestly don’t think that’s true. He’s already lost the fanbase, and it’s going to get really ugly next year if he doesn’t right the ship, which everyone knows he won’t.

Pretty sure we would get one. It’s in the tournament’s best interest for IU to play.

Speaking of that, what a riveting interview by Katz. How you feeling? I’m fine. End of interview.