Stuhoo

Wilkerson interview: Oh yeah? Tucker is a better shooter than me.

That's hand rubbing; not hand wringing. Do better, Lamar.

The first couple of months of the CDD era were most certainly not a cluster f. Head coaches and staffs don't suddenly 'figure things out'. There was always a plan and a mindset that was in action, both for good days and bad days; it's just that some (not most) fans were impatient because they didn't see the public results immediately.

A healthy Mendoza is about as much of a guarantee as a new QB can be, for two reasons: As Lebowski stated, every single starting QB for Cig has been outstanding, and In a lesser P4 system Mendoza has already been really, really good, with his best attribute having been his accuracy. 6'5" guys with a big arm and accuracy are destined for success.

As they said long ago about Reggie Jackson, this man will be 'The Straw that Stirs the Drink.'

Think "Xavier Johnson without the fast car and weed."

If that were the case, realism would be running smack dab into optimism.

That whole album pops. Great stuff.

Love the wing span. May redshirt to develop. High ceiling. Seems like a 13th roster spot perfect fit.

Sometimes the truth is happy sunshine (and sometimes it's tricky). Re: Alexis; he never had a stretch at UF where he played badly - pretty much the opposite - he was solid. And that was until he got hurt, and on a top ten team. By the time he got healthy again they were so over-loaded with bigs (and would have been again this year) that the rotation was established and he was left out. That doesn't preclude him from being really good for IU, though he is still fairly unproven at the P5 level, even with one P5 year under his belt.

It's a little more complicated: Handlogten, the starting five from the prior year, was planning on taking a redshirt year because he was destined to miss over half the season recovering from a bad leg break, and would've been behind Condon, Chinyelou, and Hough. So Alexis was the fourth big. Then both Condon and Alexis got hurt in February and Handlogten decided to forego the redshirt and play as the primary backup big. By the tournament Alexis was again cleared, but with Condon and Handlogten back he was the fifth big and out of the rotation. And with Condon, Chinelou, Handlogten, and Hough all returning to UF this year, Alexis saw himself as the likely fifth big, so he portalled.

Up to #17 (5 star) composite ranking.

It's a good listen. My one disagreement with Dauster? (and agreement with Goodman): I'm not sure what the basis is for thinking that Alexis will be a rim protector. Alexis is an experienced, undersized post with good efficiency near the rim - he's a good player to have and will be rotation-worthy. But he's only 6'9" and isn't that long or explosive. Yes, he had a very good block rate at UT Chatt. At Florida his block rate was above average but not extraordinary. Alexis lost his backup big minutes at UF to Micah Handlogten. So for UF's championship run, he was behind Condon, Hough, Chinyelou, and Handlogten in their big rotation. He should be a piece to the puzzle if this season goes well, but I'm not sure he's not the long, tall defensive presence that Dauster believes he can be.

Thought we’d start a special thread for our senior ahead of her senior night. Here’s to Grace Berger, leader of the Hoosiers and in my humble opinion the single most outstanding basketball player in the history of Indiana Women’s Basketball. As an alum and a proud Hoosier fan, it is a pleasure and a true honor to watch her play for the glory of old IU.

And a whole lotta faith in Billy Napier at UF. Cause Billy Napier sucks eggs.

Or… Show me your money. How much money will you give me.

There’s a BTB Hurley fan club? Sign me up! Great coach, great motivator, great skill developer, great recruiter. The guy is the shizzit.

Please, please let Ball State beat Puredoo on a last minute punter to long snapper touchdown pass.

"But honey, that pop-up is because of the Serbian basketball link. I swear!"

FWIW -- WayneFleek has deemed me a lovable but unshakable sunshine pumper. Will much appreciate if the two of you get together to decide whether I am irrationally optimistic or pessimistic. Maybe I'm simply "irrationally irrational!" :)

Prediction: There will be a Serbian-based link that we will glom onto.

I like that we can have as many as seven returnees in year two of the Devries era. It appears that we clearly will need to up the talent level when filling the last five slots for our year two roster.

19 years old. Bosnian/Herzegovina basketball is... really pretty good! Almost on par with FIBA teams like France and Serbia. So starting and succeeding on their U-19 team seems like that's a real accomplishment. Seems as though he wasn't nearly as successful on their U-18 team, so hopefully he's a late developer that has recently found a new level. For that senior level Bosnian pro team? In 23 minutes per game he averaged 17.5 pts and 2.3 turnovers. For a big that's a lot of turnovers. Averaged about 15 fg attempts and ten fts per 40 minutes on the pro team. He's clearly not shy when he's on the court. ____________________________________________________________________ This is a young player who will be the 13th on the roster. 100% a developmental get. At this point that is what should be expected. He needs to be a developmental get with an excellent attitude and upside.

Thought I'd prompt a discussion during a slow month for IU sports. Our outstanding IU Football squad has a 2025 schedule as follows: 2025 Indiana Football Schedule Saturday Aug. 30 Old Dominion MonarchsMemorial Stadium, Bloomington, IN 2:30pm ETFS1 Buy Tickets Saturday Sep. 6 Kennesaw State OwlsMemorial Stadium, Bloomington, IN 12:00pm ETFS1 Buy Tickets Friday Sep. 12 Indiana State SycamoresMemorial Stadium, Bloomington, IN 6:30pm ETBTN Buy Tickets Saturday Sep. 20 11 Illinois Fighting IlliniMemorial Stadium, Bloomington, IN Time TBA ETTV TBA Buy Tickets Saturday Sep. 27 at Iowa HawkeyesKinnick Stadium, Iowa City, IA 12:00-4:00pm ETTV TBA Buy Tickets Saturday Oct. 4 OFF Saturday Oct. 11 at 8 Oregon DucksAutzen Stadium, Eugene, OR Time TBA ETTV TBA Buy Tickets Saturday Oct. 18 Michigan State Spartans (HC)Memorial Stadium, Bloomington, IN 12:00-4:00pm ETTV TBA Buy Tickets Saturday Oct. 25 UCLA BruinsMemorial Stadium, Bloomington, IN Time TBA ETTV TBA Buy Tickets Saturday Nov. 1 at Maryland TerrapinsSECU Stadium, College Park, MD Time TBA ETTV TBA Buy Tickets Saturday Nov. 8 at 1 Penn State Nittany LionsBeaver Stadium, University Park, PA Time TBA ETTV TBA Buy Tickets Saturday Nov. 15 Wisconsin BadgersMemorial Stadium, Bloomington, IN Time TBA ETTV TBA Buy Tickets Saturday Nov. 22 OFF Friday Nov. 28 at Purdue BoilermakersRoss-Ade Stadium, West Lafayette, IN 7:30pm ETNBC/Peacock

There’s a logical theme. Woody is an NBA lifer with NBA schemes. When you gave him an NBA level talent he put the player in a good situation. But Kaleb Banks-type development? Not so much.