lillurk

I like Jason Drake because I think the offensive profile will play as a bench guard, AND the scheduled St. John’s visit tells me he’ll defend and play hard. Good combination.

See THIS would actually be useful, usually this guy is posting vague gifs that seem to reflect things we already know if we’re here.

I’d add that hoop-explorer.com has us about 37th overall but 13th in the B1G. If we’re 37th overall, which seems fair but modest, I doubt we’re 13th in conference.

My guess is that being close to home and/or an existing relationship with Chester Frazier is about the biggest thing for Hawthorne’s decision. So VT, WVU, Pitt, and DMV schools may all be reasonable places for him to consider depending.

Very interesting, and Norlander’s piece was a good read. The one I don’t get is Louisville: two years ago they stuck with Kenny Payne after he’d already proved to be, arguably, the worst high major head coach in modern history by leaps and bounds, and the rumored reason was they couldn’t foot the bill to fire him!

Didn’t know the name “Lamar Wilkerson” when I posted this but feel vindicated.

I was surprised too. As far as I can tell they were similar defensive playmakers, had a similar offensive rating despite getting there much differently, and both assist% and TO% were close.

Yeah, the talent was there. We started the year 32nd, rose to 28, fell as far as 68 twice, and finished 50th.

The B1G player-season most comparable to Conerway’s 2025? Tyson Walker’s 2024, per Torvik.

Too early for what I’m about to do, but using Torvik’s rostercast, this squad projects about where last year’s Marquette or Baylor finished the year. Add Goode and they slide up slightly to about where Oregon was.

FWIW I believe CoC has some real money. Not sure how much of it Hickman got but they’re certainly capable of a serious mid major roster

Seems reasonable to assume this quintet will play at least a few minutes together this year. Which is not significant except I might see them and think, those were the fist five DDV Hoosiers.

It seems so, yeah. I will say, I was encouraging patience, but there are only so many Wilkerson-level players in the portal and even fewer of them are as sure of a thing as he is. So even for me, it really makes a difference to actually get someone at this level (Tucker DeVries qualifies too). Also, scoring efficiently is the one of the highest premium skills.

Has some guard skills — can shoot, good handle for his size, some pick and roll reps as a handler. Probably a 3/4 who can slide to some 2 or defend opposing guards.

Would agree broadly with these thoughts. Just to add: using Torvik’s roster tool, IU with just the guys onboard projects to be about as good as Northwestern was this year. Given that it’s only 5 dudes, that’s good. Add Goode and they’re at about the Xavier/Ohio State level, ~top 40.

I don’t think that’s crazy if you have some budget and don’t love your options. Gotta feel pretty good with your team on paper but the chance a grad transfer pops after summer term is enticing. Presumably coaches know more about what’s possible in this regard than we do.

He’s also following senior IU walkon Jaden Bobbett… not sure I’d make much of it yet.

He also hasn’t posted any hype video from UK. Meaningless, yes, but interesting, since he did with IU.

One other note from almost everybody statistical profile: they’re not really after any high volume “other 2” guys. Plenty of rim, plenty of 3s, and you’d think they might take a swing at someone who they thought could help but who had taken more middies under a different coach. Pretty much no! IU is, blissfully, gonna play MUCH different next year.

Haven’t put on the tape but the measurements and statistical profile scream of bench versatility at the B1G level.

Absent other info I would not assume Jasai Miles is a scramble to fill the Wilkerson spot, these visits don’t just get set up overnight

That’s probably what just about everybody should do in their last year of eligibility, all else being equal.

Ok so ranking, stats, Bossi, and Demo agree: clearly a high major PG and potentially an impact frosh.

Not sure this has been discussed much but Wilkerson had the second best year of anyone in the portal based on Torvik’s all-in-one metric (behind only Darling). If you’re gonna spend big, that’s the guy to spend on.

Pretty sure @Demo mentioned Overton weeks back.