Demo

Anyone who puts value in being a MCDAA or not being one really needs to look at Baye Fall. He was there on the strength of a couple of good camps and that he was an elite run/jump athlete who could really change direction. But he straight up hated contact and he was a glacially slow mental processor. When IU showed some interest in Baye Ndongo I found a couple of games they played against each other and there was simply no question who the better player was. Ndongo flat handled him.

Also read some post that I can’t find anymore that the kid just got in the country in August and the 2nd half of their season his stat line averages was something like 13/13/5blks.

Yeah, that’s right. The JUCO years not counting anymore is gonna take me a while to get used to.

I get that, though scouting stat lines can be pretty sketchy, particularly in the JUCO world, and if you were recruiting to Woody’s system with the plan to play through him he’s probably not ready for that. But as a rim runner/PnR finisher /rim protector who’s a rotation piece with a matchup specific role and has 3 years of eligibility to develop him, I see the value in that.

Yeah, I think the theory behind taking a 22yo to the track and the reality of doing it may not align that well. My 22yo self would have been over that in about 15 mins.

I think that guy has a pretty decent feel for the value of message board discussion, ya know, since he created this board and all, but I think the issue may be the snowball effect of a segment of folks playing can you top this over and over and over all day, every day, with their heightening negativity when literally nothing new has happened. Example: Wilkerson said he was gonna take all his visits, flat out said it, yet some folks are having a collective aneurysm that he’s actually doing it. It’s Lord of the Flies $hit and it’s absurd and soul-sucking.

But we still get to say to each other, right?

The kid’s visiting Auburn today. But, you know, Pearl’s a pretty bad judge of talent along with being desperate and all, so he’ll take any warm body he can get. I wouldn’t put much stock in that.

How many did he offer? The only 1 I know for sure is Braydon Hawthorne and IU was on his list as of 10 days or so ago, though I don’t believe he’s started taking visits yet. Given that he’s a West Virginia kid it’s entirely possible that he’ll do a Sisley and stay home for any coach.

My wife’s sister and our brother in law lived there 2005-2010 and hated every single day of it. Wouldn’t even let us visit. Would visit us as an excuse to get out of town. Weather, traffic, pick something, never said a nice word about it other than the opera company was ok.

Visiting Auburn tomorrow. Apparently also has an offer from St John’s and had an Iowa offer from Fran, though I can’t imagine he’s McCollum’s kind of player.

https://www.insidethehall.com/2025/04/13/report-juco-7-footer-emeka-opurum-offered-by-indiana/ IU offers Butler CC big Emeka Opurum. His conference’s DPOY. Butler is where Bargen used to coach, though obviously he pre-dates the kid. 7 footer who averaged 2.6 blocks in 22 mins. Best case scenario there’s your rim protector. Worst case he’s 5 fouls. 3 years left.

This is a really good post. And that’s a good catch on Edwards. Wouldn’t think he’d be in on that job because he’s still so young, but an Asst job here would be a perfect next step.

St Louis is weird as hell. I can’t imagine there’s a more insular or provincial large city anywhere. Example: When we moved here I was told that people were gonna ask me where I went to high school. That that was a St Louis question. I was 51. And yeah, many, many times. Also, everything here is named the St Louis________. Panera is called The St Louis Bread Company here and here only. And the city’s sports culture of Cards/Blues/MLS couldn’t miss me any worse. People from here can’t imagine living elsewhere. Those of us who aren’t really, really can. Because it’s an organic old River town it’s very poorly land planned and incredibly hard to get around in. Has most of the good stuff and bad stuff of large cities with 1 notable exception: Home prices are shockingly good and there are some spectacular and very affordable areas to live in. On the whole I wouldn’t recommend it, and I’ll be happy as hell if/when I can move, but if you really, really do your homework there are very good options.

Yeah, but everybody knows that the guys he signed can’t actually play and no one wanted them or they’d have gone somewhere else. Only the misses tell the real story. Btw: my sarcasm font key is inoperable in case there’s any question there. Jesus Christ, people, let the process play all the way out. I swear to God.