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I'd say the staff's scouting and addition of the top 3 portal class (so far) along with the 2026 recruiting class is part of their earning their keep (or not), but agree it's pretty clear they're looking for depth with supporting bench players who may outperform their rankings/perceived portal value. Do hope they add another on-ball player to go with another big or versatile wing, very interested to see how the portal class ultimately shapes up.

Pretty clear at this point we aren't adding any players that require a considerable pay day. Every year there are tons of guys from the portal who way outperform their ranking. We are looking for deep value at this stage, not a big name. This is where the staff's scouting / development chops will be tested and where they will earn their keep, or not.

I'm holding out hope that Momcilovic could be our late draft drop out.

PG, SF, C, and bench were far greater issues than Tucker, though.

I hope Memphis doesn’t test for grip strength.

Ja Morant and Reed Bailey partying in Memphis on a Saturday late night? Sign me up—I’m watching.

I will never have hurt feelings about losing an OL to Iowa. The place is a freakin' hoggy factory.

Transfer Portal Grade 2026 of C- drops to D+ currently based on transfers out vs transfers in.

You and shooter are correct. Landenborg was a wing—their starting “3”—who could slide down to a 4 when they went small. They also got lucky when he dropped out of the draft. Had he signed with UM first they would’ve had a lot harder time signing someone like Johnson as his agent would’ve looked at the roster and saw a similar but better player who would take any minutes from Johnson if they were forced to play small. As it is Johnson only played 25mpg but Dusty made it all work and I’m sure Johnson was happy to trade a slightly smaller role for a title.

If I had to guess there are probably a lot of differences between the two programs. The milage from home is different. Both offensive systems are different. I'm also assuming the time spent on the practice field are different. NIL payment might be different and could be the driving force here. I'm just speculating all this stuff. Regardless, Iowa has a solid track record and Coach Cig gave all kinds of flowers to them last season. Both he and his teammate Caleb Johnson are in a really good place and have to make difficult decisions. I wish him the best of luck and hope he stays only a few hours from his family. Selfishly, I hope both of them end up in 812.

The highlights were from when he was in high school.

A minute and a half highlight reel for a player who averaged less than 1 ppg. Must have every basket he made during the season.

Former Indiana 6-foot-11 forward Reed Bailey is working out for the Memphis Grizzlies today, per sources. Started 107 games (IU & Davidson), averaged 11.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists for his college career.

Karaban was such a perfect fit there. Cheat code. Could hold his own against most 4’s and then destroy them on the offensive end. Shame that Tucker wasn’t even a Temu Karaban for us

I am not going to lie until the one dunk I was thinking can this dude even dunk? lol

Doubt this will have any effect on her decision, but the longtime coach at Ojo's high school (about 10 minutes from where I live) has retired. Won over 700 game and 16 -- yes 16 -- state titles. Think the chances of her wearing cream & crimson are extremely slim anyway. https://www.pilotonline.com/2026/05/04/darnell-dozier-retires-after-guiding-princess-anne-to-record-16-girls-basketball-state-championships/

This is pretty funny.

Yes for sure. That's kind of what i meant when I initially posted. Iowa puts lineman in the league and has a great developmental program for them. There would be no dropoff in going there vs IU if that's where they want to go. I think the only difference at this point would be IUs CURRENT success going to CFP and winning the natty.

Iowa is a top 25 team and has fantastic offensive line development. Programs of that caliber (just like IU) are going to sell development and results, not guarantees of anything. Highly ranked, confident recruits largely want that; not any promises, because they think that they will rise to the top if allowed to compete for a role. So if this kid loves the vibe at Iowa and commits there? I get it. If he loves IU even more and commits to us? I get that too and think it would be the best decision he'll ever make.

Nowadays it might be able to make that promise and mean it to a 5 star. Because if you are paying them it will be hard to afford enough guys to knock them down the depth chart. I think you just frame it as “Currently we project you as a starter, if you come in and do the things we ask we fully expect you to start”. Anybody scared off by that I wouldn’t want anyway. But if Iowa projects this guy as a starter and we don’t their pitch could be more appealing. We can make that pitch to Brewster and Sales I think safely because it just one less stud we go get from the portal

So we've already got these roles covered: Yigi = Mara Sherrell = Morez Johnson Sisley = Tschetter Ben Winker = Yaxel Landenborg Winner.

For sure. Kids that want guaranteed playing time can go elsewhere. That's likely why we are having issues closing on more of these top recruits (5 star/high 4 star). They want more than we are willing to give. I would think most programs would have a hard time guaranteeing anything to freshman but I guess some will say/do anything to get the players they want.

He’s probably a top priority for Iowa. He might be a priority for us but we might not be willing to stroke his ego. Cig doesn’t promise playing time either. We are going to lose kids who aren’t a culture fit. That’s a good thing.

If it's IU and Iowa...Iowa just put a bunch of lineman in the NFL as well. If that's the ultimate goal vs winning or playing in CFP, then I guess no difference. Sucks we are still having issues closing with in state kids, but we seem to be in on many lineman so hopefully losing out on this one won't be as big of a loss.