akhosrof

I'm going to defend Zander once again for people who say he's not a B1G starting caliber QB. The sad fact is that Zander should have never even seen the field his first two years. I feel bad that he was not given a redshirt. In a perfect world we should have no game film to judge him on. However, he's been forced into playing time due to injuries and it hasn't always been pretty. Even still, I think it's unfair we are judging him on that body of work. How many QBs are ready to play their true freshmen and sophomore years? With that said, this will be a make or break training camp for Zander. This should be the year in his development (22 years-old) where he has put on the weight, and his arm strength is at its full potential. If he still struggles to throw the deep ball this summer, then yes, I feel like we have legitimate concern should he be our starter. However, I think we'll see a much physically stronger Zander this year. The ideal situation is that Lagow plays to his hype, takes every snap and Zander finally gets his redshirt year saving his two years of eligibility. If that is the case, it also wouldn't surprise me to see a smart kid like Zander graduate in three years and consider taking his last two years of eligibility elsewhere if Lagow is etched in as the starter for 2017. However, that is all forward thinking. I am just hoping for a FIERCE and friendly QB competition!

Wow you guys are hard on Troy. As bhaggard89 said, Troy has great potential to be a "3 and D" player in the pro's, and excelling in transition. Everyone is criticizing his shot. I think he gets a bad rep because he forces shots. If he worked within a system and focused on the corner three, he could be quite effective. His form isn't bad and he has a high release point. Europe would do Troy good. Coaches over there don't put up with guys who won't play in a system. He'd either conform or fail doing things his way. Europe is probably his best path to the NBA IMO. Troy has very solid potential to be the first or second guy off the bench. Athletic wings that can shoot corner threes, defend and run in transition are getting paid very well in the NBA. Teams can't have enough of these types of players. Troy has that skill set.

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I agree with you that having a strong armed QB is very important to our offense. Without a doubt I want to see Lagow be the guy because Cobbs, Jones and crew are best when they can stretch the defense. However, Zander has struggled because he's had to come in relief midseason the past two years. Zander doesn't have the skill set to run the same game plan that Nate ran (or Lagow will run). Unfortunately, it's very difficult to change these things in season. If Zander wins the starting job over the summer, I guarantee you CKW will have offensive game plans much more suited for Zander's skill set. Worst case scenario would be both guys do poorly over the summer and we have a game of musical chairs at the QB spot. I have a feeling Zander will come into camp bigger and stronger. Combine that with his high football IQ and this will not be an easy QB competition.

With Lagow it will be all mental. If he knows the play book he will be just fine given his physical talent. We saw a nice preview in the spring game, he is a big play QB. I worry about him versus a pass rush however, he doesn't have Nate's pocket presence at this time. If Lagow isn't comfortable with the playbook, Zander will win the job. Zander knows the playbook like the back of his hand and is not going down in this QB competition without a fight. I am not worried about QB, we have two guys who are more than capable and will push each other.

Here is an article with more detail on the FieldTurf Revolution 360. Seems like a major upgrade which is catching on around the country. I wonder if our turf has the CoolPlay feature - anyway to find out? http://www.txstatebobcats.com/news/2016/6/15/general-bobcat-stadium-undergoes-turf-renovations.aspx

http://indy.st/24W2azf Renderings still look to be preliminary. Nonetheless the new stadium entrance looks great.

I'm super pumped! He's an exert from a recent ESPN Insider article that got me excited. http://espn.go.com/college-football/insider/story/_/id/15938469/what-big-ten-coaches-say-conference-given-anonymity

Good find, the project sounds incredible! I remember hearing a couple of our guys in the pro's have comeback and said how good IU's facilities are. This will take it to another level and should be a game changer for recruits. Very cool there will be two video boards.

The path to victory is three wins out of conference, then conference wins against Maryland, Rutgers and Purdue. Anything above that is a bonus IMO. However, I would hope we could pull an upset from one of the six remaining conference games. PSU at home is the most winnable out of those remaining games. I have no doubt the defense will be better. The quality and level of investment in coaching is on a completely different level than anything CKW has ever had. Talent wise the secondary has more depth, talent and experience than last year. We have some guys upfront we will have to replace but I'm confident Coach Allen's scheme will use the guys we have to their best talents. Honestly, this season comes down to QB play. If we cannot get good QB play, even wins against the out of conference schools will be difficult to come by. I am very encouraged by the spring game that we will have a dangerous downfield passing game.

The kid has a monster frame! He's going to be a enormous once he starts to fill out after a couple of years in a B1G weight room!

Looks great! We desperately needed it. The old turf looked terrible on our nationally televised games against OSU and Michigan. On a side note I cannot wait for the south end enclosure. I'm always amazed how gorgeous the north end looks, tying in the south end will make the stadium look very nice.

See I believe the opposite to be true. Troy took a step back, or at least a side step, in his development his junior year from his sophomore year. IMO, many times last year we saw Troy playing to impress NBA scouts and straying away from team ball. I think the combine process is good for Troy: Keeps him in shape, he plays against top competition, and he gets professional feedback. If Troy comes back, I hope it is because the scouts told him he needs to play better team ball, and that will be motivation for him. Troy needs to focus on being a "3 and D" player to have a successful pro career. I also believe Troy knows he needs to cut down on the wild play and focus on his defense and outside shot. The question for Troy is whether he stands to see the most improvement in his game coming back to school, or by going pro and either getting minutes in the d-league or improving in a professional practice setting. If he comes back it will be because he's determined to refine his game to translate better to the pro's. Troy is not a guy who's going to be a top scoring option in the NBA. So the guidance he's receiving from scouts will certainly benefit us if he comes back and tries to apply that. No doubt in my mind we are a much better team if Troy comes back.

Between Gest and Enis I think we are going to be just fine at RB! CKW loves to play freshmen. Runningback U!

Suds is going to be a stud. After a year or two in an NFL film room and workout program he will be a beast. The big thing for Suds will be learning how to work from under center. Whether he is a third string QB or on a team's practice squad somewhere, he is going to see enormous margin improvements in his game his first two years.

I love this addition to the team. You can never have too many 6'6"-6'8" wings who can guard, crash the boards, and run the court. Depth has hurt us the past couple of seasons. Because of injuries last season our bench was depleted. Our starters got in foul trouble which takes away from the team's aggressiveness. This season we will have a deep bench. More fouls to give. More bodies to play defense, more shooters. Crean loves to use the athletic, long wing players. It depends on if the guys buy in. OG bought in and his impact on the game went well beyond the stat line. McSwain can have that same impact this season. Both OG and Morgan got significant minutes as freshmen. In the NCAA tournament we still could have used another athletic wing or two. No doubt McSwain will be in the rotation, even if Troy comes back. OG, Morgan and McSwain can all guard the wing, or play as a stretch four if we want to run the court. I'm excited to see all the different lineup combinations next season.

What makes you think that? Nike didn't even care enough to get Stephen Curry's name right for their presentation to retain him. We would be priority 500 with Nike. Not saying Adidas is better, but until we hang another championship banner or two no shoe company is going to do any favors for us. So until we start contending for championships on an annual basis, take the most money and run. By the way, I even agree with you on Adidas. The company has a terrible image problem, has overexposed and over expanded its brand, and has mismanaged some premium talent. They are definitely throwing money to tread water.

While somewhat on the topic of B1G media rights. There is a Michigan poster on Twitter, @bluevodreal, who is a supposed Michigan insider. He's has been posting for a month now that the B1G is trying to get FSU, G-Tech, UNC and UVA into the conference. He has said there is 60-40 chance of B1G expansion announced by the end of the summer. Anyone catch this?

UNLV really dropped the ball. Could have had an elite coaching staff at a discount.

Thanks. The more I think about the recovery time line, the more I'm convinced the ACL was badly sprained and the surgery was simply a scope to clean up the collateral cartilage damage and possibly give a platelet injection. A graft is not needed and the intact ACL heals on its own. Knee scopes can be exploratory surgeries so it makes sense that CKW didn't know how severe the injury was until after surgery. The MRI would have picked up damage if there was a significant tear. If this was a traditional ACL tear surgery that required a graft, no way it would be a 5-6 month recovery. Also, ACL tear surgeries usually do not occur until weeks after the actual injury for swelling to go down. So these are all good signs that Camion could be back in September/October.

I'm not a doctor, but from my understanding a partial tear is a severe sprain that can heal on its own without surgery. Whether it's a compete tear or not, if surgery is required the rehab is significant. I'm skeptical of the timeline given but I hope I'm wrong. Sounds like a similar situation to James Blackmon's partial ACL tear. We didn't know what the injury was for awhile but later found out it required surgery. ACL tears should be easy to diagnose.

5-6 months sounds awfully short for a torn ACL. I wonder if he'd qualify for a medical redshirt should he not be able to return this season?

Sorry if this has been touched upon, but is there any chance Troy decides to play his senior year at another school as a graduate transfer? Troy said something along the lines of "no matter what happens I'll always be a Hoosier." Maybe CTC has a hunch on this which is why he's offering a scholarship when one isn't currently open?

Some injury news, hopefully not serious: