RaceToTheTop

Illinois' war chest didn't keep Coleman Hawkins around. Lots of programs have a war chests. I just don't see the fit from his viewpoint. IMO, Illinois' major need is for guards and this didn't help that. I think they are counting on the incoming shooting guard from Lithuania to hold down the shooting guard spot but if he can't I could see happening to them what happened to IU last year -- solid frontcourt but lacking in depth and scoring from the backcourt.

They needed to build an internal war storyline with Roman gone. Tomo Tonga is totally wasted now. Could have built a story on whether Jimmy Uso was going to stay in the bloodline or join Jey.

That’s one I don’t understand from Riley’s point of view. Illinois is loaded at the 3/4/5 positions and very weak in the backcourt. Riley is a 3 and his main are he needs for growth is size — he’s like 6’8”, 180. Not sure why he would reclassify and go to a program where he should be behind Tre White.

The Bloodline without Roman simply doesn’t work. Solo has zero mic skills and they never really built him up as a wrestler. that said, the competition from AEW now is nonexistent.

Prince Devitt era of Finn Balor was a pretty interesting era. He does have a pretty good moveset that WWE doesn't really utilize. His problem is he isn't good on the mic which is necessary for a wrestler his size.

I just don't get the Punk love. Meh wrestler who had one mic moment years ago. Absolute joke when he went and tried the UFC. It's no secret the number of guys that have worked with him that can't stand him. Always hurt and always pointing fingers at other people who actualy ARE showing up and performing week after week.

I don’t really agree that Priest is trash, but let’s see how Rollins/Priest plays out. personally I just hope they don’t put a strap on the trash human being that is CM Punk but you know at some point that if Punk can stay healthy for 7 days (which may be never) that they will.

Probably some backward place with little civilization….West Lafayette.

You don't get invited to too many parties, do you?

Just as a reminder, Wisconsin finished 5th in the Big Ten. So let's say Purdue didn't have Edey and were a Wisconsin type of team last season. Now, with Edey out of the equation, they are losing three players: Lance Jones, Mason Gillis, and Ethan Morton. If you are matching them up with Wisconsin, the best matches are Lance Jones = Max Klesmit, Mason Gillis = John Blackwell, and Ethan Morton = some back end rotation player. So let's say that Wisconsin returned everyone from last year's roster but lost Klesmit, Blackwell, and a back end rotation guy. Would anyone seriously consider that Wisconsin team a top 20 team?

Simple question: where do you think they would have finished in the Big Ten the past two seasons if Edey wasn't there?

You did forget A.J. Hammons in there who might have had the most true basketball and least interest in basketball of his recentish bigs. 2014-5: Haas' freshman year. Hammons was the established big there already and had started two years. 2017-18: Haarms' freshman year. Haas was now a senior and their established big. 2018-19: Williams' freshman year. Haarms was the starting big and had a year under his belt. 2020-21: Edey's freshman year. Williams was a junior and was the established dominant big. He has done well spacing the big men out so that the incoming freshman wouldn't have to shoulder the load. With the upcoming group he has Berg, Jacobsen, and Burgess......so no one really established in the post. Berg looks like a miss. So I do see a very important difference there. And they don't have an Ivey or a Carson Edwards who can carry the scoring load. I will say that I do REALLY like Brandon Smith's game but I can't see him being as successful without the easy dump off pass he had to Edey last year. Loyer I don't think all that much of because while his shooting numbers were good he also came up very small in some key moments and if he isn't shooting well there really isn't anything else he can do.

One thing I would say about the alleged Hawkins $2 million NIL is that a lot of those reported 'deals' aren't true. Have to say if Kansas State actually had that kind of money throw around they wouldn't have been holding on to it until June. Personally, I doubt that the two players who 'supposedly' received two million NIL deals -- Great Osobor and Hawkins -- actually did.

Or any of them could be gone if Purdue doesn't up their NIL game. It's starting to happen to even teams that do have good NIL money. Certainly happened to Duke this year. Fact is that Catchings likely decommitted in good part because of NIL.

LOL. Guess as long as a kid is tall, we might as well assume that he can do what a 2X NPOY can do. You can sell the kid as a 'Edey clone but with more range and athleticism' but I think I'll stay grounded here on planet Earth. His increase in ranking by 247 is pretty farcical. On May 8th of this year his ranking increased 43 spots....which, for the first time, put him in the top 150 at 149. Less than a month later on June 5th, he somehow magically climbed 97 spots to put him at 52. Pretty funny to see that rise when there was no reason for it. But check the composite ranking of all services -- which has very consistently put him near the same spot. Since last November he's been between 132 and 162 in every composite ranking and he is currently at 144. He just finished playing in the U18 America games and wasn't even in the US team's top five scorers. But he's going to step in and do what Edey did?

Four signings in the last few days, none Earth shattering. Dontaie Allen (Western Kentucky), 6'6" SF, signs with Wyoming. Averaged 8.2 points in 21 minutes at Western Kentucky last year. Spent two seasons at Kentucky before moving on to Western Kentucky. Top 100 recruit out of high school. Jonnivius Smith (Buffalo, 6'9" PF/C) transfers to Texas San-Antonio. Might have been looking to move up but didn't find a suitor. Started his career at Seton Hall but only played in ten games. Played at Buffalo the last two seasons. Steady but unspectular big. Good rebounder and efficient scorer on a low workload. 8 points and 8.3 rebounds last year; did make 15 of 42 from three.

Catchings visit list is apparently BYU, Florida State, and Tennessee.

Late get: Ken Evans, Jr (Jackson State), 6'5" guard/wing, commits to Florida Atlantic. Averaged 18.8 pts, 5.4 reb, and 2.9 assists. Shot 41/39/78. Against P5 competition last year, he scored 20 points against Missouri, 20 against Georgetown, 6 against Houston, and 23 against Northwestern. Throw in 25 points against Gonzaga and he scored 94 points in 5 against against high majors.

Wisconsin about to find out that their basketball NIL can't hang.

As a sophomore, TJD averaged 1.4 assists in 34 minutes per game. As a junior, he averaged 1.9 assists in 32 minutes per game. Last season -- his first as a starter -- Reneau averaged 2.7 assists. Have to realize that although we have lacked shooters, TJD had better shooters to kick out to than Reneau did last year. Although the ball stuck sometimes last year with him, that wasn't all his fault. When I'm looking at issues for next season, Reneau is way down on that list.

Florida State yes, but BYU? They don't strike me as big NIL. That said, he could be an immediate starter at either place. Florida State did not do well in the portal ins and outs and BYU lost Jaxson Robinson so the 3 spot is up for grabs.

Strange to call it this, but a Big Ten in-conference transfer today: Wesley Yates (Washington) transfers to USC. 6'4" combo guard. Ranked #53 in the class of 2023, missed his freshman year at Washington due to a leg injury. Will have all four years of eligibility left.

If he is looking for playing time, Kentucky and Illinois aren't going to offer as much playing time as he would have gotten at Purdue. Jaxson Robinson and Otega Oweh already man the spot where Catchings is most likely to get playing time and they are both P5 players who averaged 14 and 11 ppg last season. Illinois maybe but they do have a logjam and PF and SF -- four transfers including Tre White and Ben Humrichous and two freshman PF including the player ranked 29th. Notre Dame he certainly would get more court time but their basketball NIL is pretty low. If he's looking for both NIL and guaranteed decent court time, there probably aren't a whole lot of choices at this point.

Yacine Toumi (Evansville), 6'10" F/C, 10.5 pts, 6.5 reb, commits to Seton Hall. We are at a time in the portal where those signings will will be among the biggest of the week.

Last post in the Purdue rivals forum before Catchings decommitted (someone had compared Catchings to Glenn Robinson): I have seen both in HS I've never considered this Question and it's a good one. GR was an in-your-face warrior with a real man's body. IMO the better comparison would be E'Twaun they both are smooth as silk. Kanon is a cerebral player who exploits every weakness like a plastic surgeon he will carve you up! Their skill sets are similar Kanon is the better ball handler. Kanon is no Glen Robinson! But he's a damn good Kanon Catchings. Good post. -------- The posts since he decommitted seem to be all about him 'not being good enough to get big minutes' or 'it's a good thing because now his minutes can just be split up among all the talent we have'.