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With you on what could have been done with Harris' money if you're saying Dorn is kept as our 9th-10th guy (which would be 4th or 5th guard). Just not as a starter or 6th man playing 20+ mpg.

We don't but one can make an educated guess based on a few things, considering that it's more expensive to acquire talent in the portal than retain it, the market went up again this cycle even compared to last cycle, Dorn is probably deeper on the bench for Miami than Harris is for IU, and (I could be mistaken) we locked up Harris before he went on his UVA visit, so the number must've been good enough that the trip was no longer worthwhile

Again, I agree with you on the vast majority of this conversation, just not Dorn. He was bad at basically everything except spot-up shooting (which he was really only average at). Can't imagine Dorn starting and/or playing 20+ mpg on a good or even upper-middle of the pack Big Ten Team. Maybe he proves me wrong at Miami, but the ACC isn't the Big Ten.

Because he ended up at Miami where he’s their 4th or 5th guard.

How do we know Dorn wasn’t asking more than we paid Harris?

Put Dorn in a competent lineup and those worries aren’t greatly exaggerated. Every team has a guy that shoots 3’s on offense and guards the opposing teams worst perimeter player.

Listed at 7'0" attends St. Francis HS in La Canada Flintridge, CA. He's a Compton Magic 17U teammate of '27 Darius Wabbington. 247 https://thehooppost.com/2026/05/meet-the-biggest-stock-riser-in-high-school-basketball-why-71-center-yann-kamagate-is-exploding-nationally/ https://www.dstrktdigital.com/high-school-insider/yann-kamagates-rapid-rise-how-the-7-foot-1-compton-magic-big-became-one-of-the-hottest-names-in-the-2028-class Yann Kamagate '28 - Compton Magic Date Gms Pts FGM FGA 3PM 3PA FTM FTA Reb Ast Stl Blk Sessions I and II 8 13.9 47 71 1 3 16 26 10.4 0.3 0.6 2.9 Count/Avg 8 13.9 66% 33% 62% 10.4 0.3 0.6 2.9

Sorry for pushing this, more just having a slow, relaxing weekend so figured it would be fun to chat on this. With that said, I'd argue that Dorn is so bad that having him playing 20+ minutes per game would significantly lower our ceiling next season. We had 9 rotation guys last season and he ranked 6th or worse per 100 possessions in nearly every category except for 3pt shooting and turnovers (mainly because he doesn't handle at all). He was our worst defender and second worst rebounder (slightly better than Enright). I don't see how one of our worst players last season would help next year's team as a starter (or 6th man) playing 20+ minutes. Like I said, fully agree with being skeptical of Harris and wondering what else we could have done with that money. I'm with you there. Just can't understand advocating for Dorn as part of that.

Who cares? Again, we aren’t looking for an all-conference player for Dorn’s role. A 20-22 mpg 5th starter/6th man that shoots volume 3’s at a more than respectable clip is more than suffice, especially when it’s only a mid 6 figure pay day. There’s one player on next years team that averages 2+ made 3’s a game for their career. Dorn is at 2.5. More importantly, Dorn’s price tag allows you to get at least one more quality bench player, if not 2.

What other things does he provide? He was 6th out of 9 rotation players in offensive rating, 8 out of 9 in rebounding per 100 possessions and 9th in defensive rating. He does almost nothing beyond streaky spot-up shooting (34% outside of that 3 game stretch). He's an awful defender.

Miles ended up at Loyola Marymount and Dorn joined a preseason top 25 team. Dorn provides something next years team lacks (along with other things) and that’s perimeter shooting.

And we shall see if Harris is any better at those things than Dorn. Or Jasai Miles for that matter. Hopefully the staff knew what they were doing this time. Then we will all be happy.

He was pretty terrible expect for 3 games, you're right. Surprised to see any discussion about him at all. Can't dribble, pass, defend, or rebound.

I’ve read he peaked very early in high school and was way ahead of everybody. Duke had a starting guard get hurt for a significant stretch this season and he didn’t see an uptick in minutes. Think he had a great relationship with Kenny Johnson more than anything else.

Is he making a decision without any official visits that’s how it looks on 247

That’s interesting, I guess he was ranked so high coming out of high school based on his shooting ability.

Duke fans said he likely couldn't get on the court because he is not good at moving laterally and struggled on defense because of it

Again, I'm with you on your Harris stance, but we're never going to agree on Dorn. He was bad last season. Honestly, I would have taken Jasai Miles back in that spot before Dorn. At least Miles can defend and rebound his position, and then the staff could have had him making 300-500 spot-up 3s a day in the off-season to try and get him serviceable as a shooter. Much easier to improve a players shooting.

You can hide Dorn in a lineup that features Sherrell and Samet in the front court as they offer rebounding and rim protection that didn’t exist last year with DeVries and Bailey/Alexis.

No, he's an awful defender. Like, really bad. He provides one thing and one thing only, streaky spot-up shooting. You're only focusing on points and 3pt shooting percentage. Dorn killed us defensively. Not saying he's the only reason, but it's not a coincidence that our defense went down the drain the back half of the season when our worst defender started getting more minutes. There's more to the game than just spot-up shooting. I get it's not fair to remove his 3-4 game heater, but outside of that he was very average at the one thing he's supposed to provide.

The “cost” could be valued in what the staff thinks the difference between a top 40 prospect ceiling is vs Dorn possibly being maxed out on potential.

Dorn is “bad” strictly if you look at him as scoring option #2 or #3. As a mid 6 figures player averaging 8 and shooting 38% from 3 on volume in the 5th starter/6th man role…he’s a bargain. What’s the consensus on Harris going to be when he averages 8 ppg in ~22 min shooting 35% from 3 on less volume than Dorn? A waste of money.

I'm not really backing Harris in some big way here, I have no idea if he'll make a leap with more playing time at IU. He could be really good, he could be really bad. It's a risk the staff is taking. My thing in this discussion is that we know Dorn is bad. Yeah, he had a few games where he got hot from 3 and no disputing his shooting was key to those big wins. But, he was basically terrible at everything else, and outside that hot shooting streak he was basically average at best at his one skill. He's a terrible defender (9th in defensive rating out of our 9 rotation guys) and a very limited offensive player. I have no issue with questioning whether we should have tried to spend Harris' NIL money elsewhere. Can completely buy that line of thinking. But the idea we should have kept Dorn instead, and especially as a starter. I can't get onboard with that. Dorn was bad last season.

I agree, and hopefully so. What part of Harris athleticism do you see as a challenge?

Harris may ultimately prove to be the “better” overall player than Dorn, probably incrementally, but who cares? It’s about at what cost? You can’t tell me with a straight face that Harris and Dorn are commanding the same amount of money. We told Dorn to take a pay cut for a lesser role to acquire Harris, that’s pretty obvious. Did we sacrifice depth reaching for Harris and to an extent Mustaf? Time will tell, but we’re an injury away from being awful once again. Staff can’t afford that this year.