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4 guys who made All Big Ten this season were small school transfers. Lendeborg (POY), Stirtz, Boyd, Wilkerson. On top of that, plenty more were important contributors on tourney teams. Too many to list. Evaluate each player on their own merits, not just where they come from

Just for a point of reference, a 95.0 ratings is where transfer portal players rated 35 through 50 were last year on 247 rankings.

Reed Baily kept his 2pt FG% inordinately high by turning it over before he could miss a shot near the rim.

If rumors are true, it sounds like Ryan Carr hit the ground running. Was told he was doing some nice work already. Person didn't name names but said Carr had several high-major players interested in IU, with a couple ready to sign. Time will tell if that is true or not.

Not sure it has been discussed thoroughly just how bad Todd Golden's defensive decisions were for the possession of Iowa's winning score last weekend. Iowa inbounds down two with 8.9 seconds remaining. Golden has three.. yes THREE defenders in the backcourt. One on them is guarding the in-bounder! Guarding the in-bounder is a 6'4" backup guard, when Florida has Reuben Chinyelu, a 6'10" national defensive player of the year candidate parked on the bench. Florida Guard Xavian Lee is tightly guarding Iowa 6'7" freshman forward Sage, who Florida should very much want to catch the ball. Fland is guarding Stirtz; Iowa clearly wants to get the ball to Stirtz, not Sage. 2. Stirtz, as expected, curls toward Sage to pick up a screen. Fland goes under the screen, thereby not putting himself between Stirtz and the basket. As Fland gets beaten, Lee does not switch; he lets Stirtz fly by: Which allows Stirtz to catch on the dead run just past the backcourt three point line. AND? it's on. A three on two fast break for Iowa: Haugh and Condon on Florida are guarding three players. Haugh steps up to Stirtz; with the ball and the best shooter of the three. Stirtz makes the easiest pass ever to the near corner. For the widest of wide open threes imaginable. Game over. This is insanely horrifically bad scheme and strategy every step of the way. Golden's explanation? UF was trying to foul in the backcourt to force Iowa to tie the game from the line. NO YOU WEREN'T - Todd Golden is lying, because fouling up two when the other team is in the double bonus would be (if possible) even worse strategy. Aye. Caramba.

God, we really, really need the portal to get going.

*Update*: Bowel movement - back to 190.

The basketball program has hired two Carrs. Cig is driving the pace car. I think our athletic programs are off and running.

Chol Machot College of Charleston is one that is believed to be entering the portal. CofC has become a second team of mine as I've had a few grandchildren attend. CAA DPOY and elite shot blocker. Has off the chart per 40 minute numbers defensively and has NBA size and athleticism. Originally committed to Miss St before attending JUCO in Florida two years ago.

Our rumored new assistant Thomas Carr is very connected with Team Loaded so probably worth keeping an eye on any of their former players

I'll try to add a little silver lining to the IU offensive potential under Devries: It was extremely frustrating all friggin year long to watch Conor Enright make a decisive move off of good offense, get in the lane, and thereafter have pretty much zero ability to do anything. Felt like there were tons of good shots that ended with Enright driving back out of the lane or passing out to shooters whose man never needed to leave them. I am a fan of Enright; he played his tail off and would have been an excellent third/fourth guard on a tournament team, but having him as the 30 mpg point guard on offense was a severe limitation on the team. I am hopeful that we get a guard or two that has the confidence and ability to take advantage of what the offense creates.

I do not buy this at all. That maybe the story that he is telling. But in no way shape or form did Brownell turn down the job. I doubt he was even offered the job.

Luckily, money and playing time are two of the three biggest parts of the equation for most players. I think you can see a pretty good pitch for guards between Javon Small and Wilkerson / the green light from 3. I think the pitch for a C is all about how that was the missing piece on this years team and the difference between making or missing the tournament. Then you just need to find guys willing to buy that pitch. Easier said than done. But that's where the money should help. The premier players will almost certainly want more of a sure thing. But there's no shortage of talented players who would buy those pitches IMO. Just have to scout them correctly.

Well, Jeff, Hubert wants to continue as head coach, which indicates he actually did want this job. That... and he took the job.

He just had a big breakfast - up to 192 lbs.

Kansas has been stale. We just won the football national championship with the Heisman winner and presumptive #1 draft pick. If there’s ever a time Adidas could get off their lazy butts and send us some high profile recruits, it would be now. I’m not sure whose job that is but somebody needs to pick up the phone.

Alexis led the conference in 2pt FG%. But he was only getting 5 attempts per game. In fact, our entire team was top 10 nationally in 2pt FG% and bottom 10 in attempts. There was a serious imbalance in our offense. It was actually almost the bizzaro Woody offense from ‘23 where we were one of the best 3pt shooting teams better never shot them. I get that the staff is looking to recruit better to what they want to do and that should help. But they have to be better at adjusting to what’s happening. Teams were sitting on our 3pt shooters and giving us high percentage shots inside the arc and we weren’t taking nearly enough advantage of that.

Whoa he moves way better than you’d expect from a guy his size. You need three bigs in the big 10 as shown by this year and this guy being one of them would be really interesting. Only a sophomore also so hopefully some room for growth

Player Original College AAU Branch Portal Status Jamie Kaiser Jr. Butler Team Loaded VA Officially Entered Tyler Lundblade Belmont Adidas 3SSB Intends to Enter Samson Aletan Mississippi State Adidas 3SSB Officially Entered Lundblade can really really shoot it; over 40% from three on volume and 93.4% from the line. And he's been coached up at Belmont. Hope we get involved and get him.

The way, way, way too early top portal entries so far (as rated by 247): 1. Stefan Vaaks, Providence, 95.0 2. Drew Scharnowski, Belmont, 94.0 3. Tyler Lundblade, Belmont, 94.0 4. Kwame Evans, Oregon, 93.0 5. DeSean Goode, Robert Morris, 92.0

What about a Sam Houston State transfer? Haha

St Mary’s PF Paulius Murauskas entering the portal. Fair to assume he’s following Bennett to ASU but if he’s actually available, man, that dude really knows how to play.

You have it backwards. The only one drooling was Golden over the co-eds.

Florida isn’t necessarily outbidding us or UK or whomever. If he’s going to UF it’s because they have an opening on a ready made team with a coach whom he thinks can improve his draft stock. Yes, guys are getting paid but the better players still want to get to the league and are looking for opportunity plus fit/style. I think one of the frustrating things about last year, is nobody really knows what we have to “sell” in that regard. We just have money right now.

No way that is true. We are the only one with "toxic" fans.

I so hope they keep him around for another season and he does just good enough to not get fired again. Either that or they take so long making up their minds that it really hurts them as far as hiring and putting together a team for next season. Basically, I'm hoping they pull an IU.

Jackson Shelsted in portal. I joked about this when he was in town for the game. But MAYBE???? I know he’s a west coast kid but who knows. He would be exciting.

Two Carr Garage

100% Yes. This is one of my pet peeves. We signed our current Adidas pre-football getting good. Now everything has changed. I really want to see an announcement of a new deal given the exposure IU now provides. More money and more priority in FB and MBB. I see some other schools getting flashy Adidas deals and that should be us gosh darn it. We are the champs of CFB dag nabbit.

Over five blocks per 40 minutes. Conference defensive player of the year in only 19.8 minutes per game. That's crazy. Tons of turnovers and fouls, but clearly a talented kid. Intriguing, especially if Thomas Carr was a primary recruiter for him.

Watching even the first 4 games i was struck how legitimately untalented our roster last year was. Texas and NC st had multiple guys on the court that could get their own shot at any time. We were pretty good in what appears to be the best conference in the country. Obviously talent acquisition is probably the most important part of the job but hopefully that is rectified this offseason and we can see what Devries can do with a team that has the talent to match the rest of the big 10

Always feels a bit "too many cooks in the kitchen" to me. But I know there are a lot of off the court things going on.

I don’t think anyone is saying not to evaluate mid major players. But don’t go after just average or above average mid major players and expect a “step up.” If you’re looking at a mid major guy, he has to be dominant at that level. Otherwise it’s a big risk.

The whole "we shouldn't go after anymore mid major players" argument is lazy and nonsense. There are countless examples of mid major players succeeding at P5 schools. It's as simple as the coaching staff (and now Ryan Carr) hitting on their evaluations. Each player is a different case and shouldn't be grouped in based on their conference. I don't know enough about this Robert Morris player to make an argument one way or another but I feel like we're capable of digging a little deeper before we write players off.

It never ends lol. Dude who hit the game winning shot for Iowa to beat the defending national champions was a transfer from…..Robert Morris.

I played D2 and it can be easier at that level, depending on how the school supports it program. I know nothing about the school McCollum was at, but I can tell in the conference I played in the scholarship money was extremely uneven. Some schools had a roster of full scholarship guys and other schools might have 2-3 full ride guys and then have to disperse the rest amongst the roster. It's a huge advantage. The top teams in each conference would almost always have 2-3 D1 transfers. My senior year the best team in our conference had 3 D1 transfers, one of which was a 6'9 250lb center who was Newcomer of the Year in his D1 conference the year before. Got into some trouble and had to transfer down. If you have a financially supported D2 program, it can be like having the most NIL money at the D1 level. You can stack your roster and almost walk into the D2 Tournament each year. Again, I don't know how McCollum's program was supported. I'd guess pretty well. I'm also not suggesting his D2 National Titles were easy and not impressive.

You’ve been missed, Chris. This is what I’m talking about! Here’s hoping what you heard is true.

Ya BYU did that this year and all it took was one injury and they looked terrible after. I honestly don’t mind what we did last year in terms of money. We just spent it on terrible players. Get 2 studs and then 6 other people that you can reliably count on

Sounds like a lot of these guys entering the portal already have a good idea where they are going. Let's hope DeVries has been doing a lot of tampering the past couple months.

1) it's been said about a million times this isn't what happened with Conwell. 2) 7-10mil? US Dollars?

He’s pretty slick. Not a rebounder but can do a lot for his size. Trilly has Indicated Indiana involved.

With all the coaches, special assistants, and GM's we have as many non-players as we do players. Hard to keep up.

Long-lost cousin of Ryan Carr.

From that group I like Stefan Vaaks and Desean Goode. I am just not seeing any point guards that move the needle yet The Iowa State-Kentucky game perfectly illustrates the importance of having a stud/dawg point guard. With Tamin Lipsey running the show the Cyclones were a well oiled machine. Kentucky on the other hand had Aberdeen playing out of position trying to run things and could not make it work. We need a quality point guard to make everyone else better. Someone who can defend, distribute and score. It is early and so hopefully that guy enters the portal at some point but I don't see anyone now Not sold on Colby Garland or Jalen Haralsen. Maybe we go the international route but I have no clue who is available there. Center is obviously another position of need and it appears there may be several options there if rumors are true. Guys like Flory Bidunga, Owen Freeman, Mustapha Thiam. Massamba Diop and the internationals Luigi Suigo and Sayon Keita. Throw a bag at one of those guys and we are set at a position of real need. Time will tell. If more coaching changes occur like Jaylen Carey and Amari Evans from Tennessee and Adlan Elamin from Utah State. Anyone know what happened with the decommit from Wake Forrest, Quinten Coleman is he still in play? For me it is a hard pass on Kwame Evans and Miika Murriinen. Finally I am still really intriqued by Daquan Davis who has entered the portal from Providence That kid is a dawg and a leader and would be a long shot to fill the point guard role. Kenny has to know him and he might come cheap.

While I agree with your sentiment. I would like to see some guys from power conference programs too. More importantly to me does the athletic profile translate?

I would assume he would have to play the 4. 6'8", 230. Can shoot from three (36 of 63 this year....57%, wow....and 54 for 113 over two seasons).

They said the same about Ware. Somebody dust off the golf cart and wine glasses. The king may be coming back!