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We land a top 5 transfer portal class but we're clutching pearls about probably not finding a diamond in the rough at spot 12 who's capable of stepping in for Markus Burton but also willing to sit on the end of the bench all season waiting for everyone to get hurt. Classic.

I guess I'm just confused on how we thought this would go. We thought the FR would be spots 11-13? Like we actually thought that? 2 kids rated top 100--- just won't see the floor at all/shouldn't be relied upon to offer depth? But, if we go from the issues we had last year to worrying about our 7th-9th spots--- that's measurable growth. Enright vs Burton Wilkerson vs Lindsay Dorn vs Mustaf DeVries vs Sherrell Alexis vs Yigi we're going to sit here and act like that isn't significant? Bench Conerway, Bailey, FR Sisley, Miles Bench SO Sisley, Harris, 3 FR Granted if you played a game bench vs bench--- it's probably relatively even--- but, it's not like we are taking out all 5 starters namely Sherrell/Yigi (both) ever. The bench wasn't near the issue as our top end talent was last season, specifically at the 1/5. people are going to question and pretend they know s*** know matter what lol.. it's easy to do on a computer with no skin in the game. I've not really mentioned an issue with that, though. I think realistically, we've added near the best we could... I really like the idea that all these guys can be back next year... I do hope we find another guy that's more 7th-11th... and not a clear 12th, 13th, as the last two are...

Been following the transfer portal since it opened and was writing down names of potential post players. Came up with probably 25 guys and now down to 1- Emeka Opurum is still on Mike Schuman's latest list of guys we have contacted. Pro's-7'0", athletic, rim runner, rebounder and shotblocker Cons-Not much of an offensive threat, set out last year at Auburn due to some sort of heart condition but has been cleared to play Did a deep dive in to the Euro big men available and feel like most are probably a pipe dream due to cost or NBA aspirations or other schools involved. However I did come across one fun fact: our recent addition Clemens Sokolof has the same agent as Serbian 7 footer Lazar Gacic who played for Mega Superbet (the team we played in Puerto Rico last year). Gacic is skinny but skilled and might be able to provide 10-15 minutes per game as a depth piece. Have no idea if we are in contact but thought it interesting that he has the same agent(Misko Raznatovic) as our new guy.

Who is clutching pearls? I think the discussion is mainly about the fact that, while our portal class is highly rated, we have no proven depth on our bench. No team can afford to lose their best players to injury. Many teams do, in fact, have back ups that are more proven than 10mpg that Harris and Sisley gave last year or 3 freshmen or 3 practice players. We could have a great season next year! Or we could have another one like last year. The possibilities are endless and the board is where we discuss them.

Burton- Lindsay- Moody Lindsay- Harris-Moody Mustaf- Harris-Karvela-Sisley Sherrell-Sisley-Manhertz Yigi-Sherrell-Sokolov I would prefer another 4. I don't see any mins available 1-3. Did we actually think we were going to achieve that? I'm not convinced many teams, especially outside of the top 10, do have what you mentioned-- Harris, Sisley, and 3 FR-- backups wise. Why can't Sisley improve as LJ Cason did? Trent played about 50 mins more as a FR than LJ did. I think this team clearly body bags our group we had last year.

Not having any depth whatsoever is a major concern, especially when your point guard missed significant time each of the last two season due to injury.

With the portal and Cignetti’s success in it, my interest/concern level with high school recruiting is at an all-time low. With rare exceptions, a 19 year kid isn’t going to come in and be the difference maker year 1. Of course, you always want depth and to have a stockpile of young talent you can develop, but if a kid doesn’t want to come to IU I’m not worried about it. We’re the national champs and have the best coach/staff in college football. If that doesn’t sell a kid enough to pick us over friggin Kansas, that’s fine with me.

FCS, right? I will say-- for all the complaints of the OOC last year--- Old Dominion finished ahead of a whole HOST of P4 schools-- Purdue, Northwestern, Wake Forest, Cinci, Arkansas, NC State, Miss St, Kansas, AZ ST, Florida, Boise St, Kentucky, Minnesota, Baylor, Rutgers, Maryland, Cal, UCF, Mich St, Wisconsin, UNC, WVU, BC, UCLA, Stanford, OK ST, Colorado, VT, Syracuse... Kennesaw St finished ahead of Purdue, UNC, WVU, Colorado, BC, UCLA, VT, Syracuse, Stanford, OKST.... If we would have came into last season with..... NC State+Virginia Tech-- on our schedule instead of OD+KS people would have been singing our praises, when in REALITY... the teams we played were BETTER, albeit, don't have national recognition. Sportswriters that have no clue, mostly.

Cannot fathom being from New Palestine and wanting to play football at Kansas instead of Indiana right now. Pretty sure the only time Kansas has ever been any good was when they had that coach who looked like somebody on My 600 Pound Life.

Sometime in July, he's still got officials to Bama, OSU, and Miami. I think Wiltfong put ~60% confidence on this prediction. So, we've got a ways to go, but we've got a decent shot here...

I could see Yigi playing the 2 ahead of Monden

This is IU basketball. For me, they have become close to what IU football used to be: I expect meh until proven wrong. It looks like they're out of money. I don't think the last few roster spots will really make a difference but I would think if they just want practice players someone better than that guard they just landed would be good. How much do bad players really help in practice? It is what it is. I guess we'll see when the season begins.

You seem to be missing the point that we have virtually no depth. We're a serious injury away from crashing and burning... and don't get me started on foul trouble. We have many "single points of failure" (more correctly "single points of success") with this roster.

The difference is that UConn had Malachi Smith coming off the bench. Smith was a 3 year starter at Dayton. We literally don't have a backup PG. That's the problem.

As cool as this is, it won’t be over until it’s over. Makes getting excited for football recruits a challenge. (For me)

I just did... at the 1&5 we are absurdly better than we were last year, and at PG.... I think it's the best we've been since Yogi... I'm just happy to have the concerns we have now vs what we saw in games again P4 last season. I don't play the prediction/expectation game. I except to be able to compete in every game, make the tourney, as a 9 or better seed. That would be the floor. Realistically-- you thought we were pulling in PROVEN guys for spots 6-9? What world do you guys live in?

All this misdirection that people are concerned about 11-13 lol. People are commenting on 6-9. People have their own ideas about depth and top end talent. Or what to expect from freshmen. So everyone minimizing concerns others have, what is your expectation for the Big 10 W/L record next year?

Now do 1 & 5...that is the issue. We have no other PG on the roster and 2 Centers, that both will be starting. After that it gets awfully thin. There is no world where either Sherrell or the big Turk play 30+ mins game. So I agree IU has some depth, but it all appears to be at 2-4.

Collin had to do that because HP couldn't stay out of trouble and Emmitt Holt hit Devan Davis with a car. But.. people sliding over is in fact depth because you can insert Sisley at the 4, Harris at the 2/3. It's considerably than what we were doing last season lol

I’ll say. Very long game.

If we are counting on Karvala to be productive in the Big Ten as a freshman, I suppose that's possible. Staff knows better than me so just going to hope they are right and wait and see. In the meanwhile people will question things that are obviously questionable from a staff that has not yet earned the benefit of the doubt. Would be nice if that changes after this year

I would argue we only had 1 true starting caliber BIG player in Wilkerson last year. Our 1-5 have now all meaningfully contributed at power conference schools. So going to fully disagree that you could easily make that argument.

I was told I was pessimistic for saying the team could go 12-8 in the Big Ten next year lol. I don't think anything is ensured

Career averages for our 6th and 7th players next year Harris 8.4 mpg 2.8 ppg Sisley 13.2 mpg 4.4 ppg That's not good. Not to mention there isn't a primary ballhandler or a serviceable big man on the bench. Agree that the overall talent level has gotten better, but you could easily make the case this roster is constructed worse this year than last year.

I sure hope so, is that the only goal? A lot riding on Sisley and Harris taking big steps forward. Hopefully it works out. Depth is still an obvious question mark right now

You have two primary ballhandlers on the team, Burton and Monden. One is injury prone and the other statistically was one of the worst 50 players in all of college basketball last year. Lindsay playing 38 minutes at PG next year in the event of injury next year. If one of Samet or Sherrell go down next year, your front court is Sisley and Sokolov. That's horrendous.

These games are sometimes still flexible if we want to make a change there is just a cost. But I agree. I like our strategy. We already have a tough game scheduled for 2030 so cream puffs await. That being said I wouldn’t mind screwing Notre Dame and backing out

No I totally agree with you. Yes it’s probably very difficult to get a good player to come in for limited minutes at point. I am only saying he comes in off injury and who knows how he holds up. I believe he’s my biggest concern about next years team. I think we have two guys who can play the post. I think he’s the most be we can least afford to win.

Cig probably had the 2021 IU/W Kentucky game behind him to watch. The interview was good for the first half then it turned into the old SNL Chris Farley interview sketch. Remember that time Coach when you were at Alabama....that was awesome. Its amazing what you've done here in just two years but remember when you coached under Saban...man you worked for Nick Saban.

I’m not picking on you because I’ve literally seen about everyone mention this. But, a couple of counterpoints for the board: 1) That’s true of every team. You can’t have a suitable near all-conference pg just sitting on the bench in case of injury. Any backup we bring in will be a huge drop off from Burton. At any point last year if Stirtz, Smith, Thornton, Fears, etc.. went out those teams were in a no-win situation. 2) Lindsey. I will say I didn’t watch much Villanova last year and don’t have a good read on him. But he was second on the team in assists and 2nd in USG rate. You have to think the staff has him pegged as our emergency PG if Burton goes down. 3) Sherrell. What are we paying this guy 4-5 million dollars for if he can’t be the focal point of the offense for a few game stretch if Burton would have to miss a couple games with an injury?

As always from you, that's a great comp and a major compliment in the eyes of anyone older than about 18. You're probably arguing with online draft dudes that were in diapers when Love was averaging 18+ pts and 10+ rebs and changing how teams got out on the break with his passing.

This is not a hot take. Hoover is the best QB transferring into IUFB compared to the two previous NFL drafted QBs. I'm not saying that translates into a Heisman like season but today, during the spring, he's better than both of them were during the spring. He's also perfect for this offense. I have a feeling we're in for a treat folks.

Not sure I agree. It’s a huge jump for freshman in general. Relying on players ranked outside the top 25-50 is a wildcard. Getting them on campus and slowly adjusted the game is what id expect as Normal at a program trying to compete and win at the top. Where I do agree, is there are Fragers, and Waglers out there that can be good as a freshman and not highly ranked. Indiana has historically been awful at identifying these types of players. Really, really hoping for this to change.

We need a 4/5, not a 5.

Who stated we don't have holes? You make s*** up to argue lol No one has misrepresented your viewpoint. It was just.... silly the entire time.

The kids ranked around our incoming freshmen are largely either going to be fringe rotation guys at P5 like Sisley last year or play more at schools like VCU and Dayton. Basketball is played with 5 guys on the court and we bought a potentially pretty to very good group of starters. We still need to get something out of our bench. All teams need to worry about staying healthy. Especially us. Hopefully we go 12-8 in the Big Ten or better and have a core to retain for the first time in what feels like forever for IUBB. This program has no culture to attract or retain guys. That's probably what I found most disappointing about year 1 and why going into year 2 we again had to spend absurd amounts of money to flip the entire roster. Hopefully allocated better this time around. All we can do is hope since absolutely nothing is ensured when you compete at this level.

I will say that my niece went to a school 5 hours away and it was hard for my sister and husband to travel to see her often. They did get to as many as they could but there is something to being accessible to your athlete especially because as I said it's not as easy as it looks to be an athlete in college today regardless of the $$ and all that goes with it. There's alot of pressure and much less time for anything beyond online classes and practice. My niece had a close friend transfer closer to home because her parents never came and it took its toll on the girl. Kids don't think about all of that though when making decisions. It's money and what can you do for me now.

He doesn't. Ahhhh... yeah, I mean, if they allow SRs into that, then yes, he would. I didn't think they were going to.

Guess it all depends on how that 5th year thing they are planning on announcing. He played in one game and didn’t burn a year in 2023. Are they going to retroactively say that yes he did indeed burn a year?

It’s also possible Cigs interest was soft and we weren’t willing to fight for him

We are loaded in the TE room with young talented guys.

We'll get him in the portal in 2 years after 2 miserable years at Kansas.

The PG we signed is very similar to Alec Millender at UConn, in that both will end the season with 0 significant minutes played. I don't get the hand-wringing over spots 10-13 (not referring to you in particular here). None of those dudes are going to play. Our bench (guys 6-9) is very unproven, so that's absolutely a fair critique. Our resources are finite, and we clearly chose to spend them on our top guys. We will see how it works out.

Deciding May 23. Indications are he won't end up here. On3 says Kansas.

Doubter Pate has now found himself traveling up to IU to interview Cig.

I'm high on Karvala. I see some Davis Fogle similarities. He has a pretty jumper, albeit streaky and he has a lot more bounce. I think if anyone of the 3/4 freshmen crack the rotation it will be him. Manhertz will need to show up shooting lights out to overcome the physical disadvantages he has. Moody could be a sleeper.

....It's posts like this, that I hope players like Justin Monden, read and lights a fire under their hind end.

Winning 12 big 10 games with this group is going to be an achievement. That'd be tied for our best conference record over the last decade so I'm not saying that in a disparaging way. 12-8 was the fifth best conference W/L record last year (not good for fifth in conference standings because of ties), fourth the year before that, third the year before that, and second the year before that. I just want to see IUBB win 20+ games and a first round tournament game for a change of pace.

That's an excellent long form piece. I didn’t know the longer background with Cig. I wasn't around for '75-'76. I always wondered what that was like, especially since that sort of athletics success at IU seemed very unlikely to occur again. I can't believe I got to experience something even more amazing. And IUFB likely isn't done being very good. Thanks Curt!