Hardwood83

I don't think any of us really know where this road leads. A lot of variables and undiscovered exploitations still to hash out. Might be in a few years some players have to take a pay cut in the NBA.

California bill to create "profit sharing" for athletes in NCAA football and men's & women's basketball: California bill would create revenue-sharing agreement with college athletes (worldnewsera.com) Whatever you think about these developments (transfer portal, NIL and this proposal), it seems pretty clear that big-time "college" sports aren't gonna be recognizable in a few years.

I didn't forget, I thought it was because of injury. Either way, perfect example of why more big guys should R/S. Freakin Wisconsin has made a killing red-shirting guys that no one had heard of, that emerge for their last couple seasons.

I'm a huge proponent of using the RS, especially for big men. Other than for injury I can't recall the last IU red-shirt though. The #12-13 players should always be a candidate, IMO.

Seems to be a pattern there, doesn't it? MSU basketball definitely has a culture and it's not just rebounding and hard-nosed defense........

That is an encouraging perspective since I want to be wrong. As for high-level freshmen "contributing" I guess the fact that several of those listed above were on mediocre teams diminishes their performance in my memory.

Not sure about ranking, but W/O TJD I don't think IU is anywhere close to a top 25 team. They have some nice pieces, but I would expect it to look a lot like some recent vintage teams that didn't have many weapons. XJ, Kopp, Race and Jordan are all known quantities, and none are really "carry the team" type guys, IMO. We can certainly hope for a leap from Bates and whoever else, but how often does that actually happen? I'm not counting on a freshman, ANY freshman to come in a be a major, consistent contributor. So not buying hype on Hood &/or Reneau until I'm proven wrong. Race isn't a starting Center but even if he pulls it off, who backs him up? An undersized freshman? An inexperienced Sophomore? Who scores? The poor shooters we already have? Without TJD I see IU as very easy to guard, much easier to score against INSIDE and not really having an identity.....certainly on offense. I understand other teams have pulled it off with similar type of (under-sized) rosters, BUT that is with some knock-down shooters I don't see here. With TJD IU is still flawed, but has a lot of potential if one or two things go right. Without him, they are very flawed and virtually everything has to go right. Consider me skeptical that happens.

Hard to argue with any of that....but if you cherry pick some high-lights from his resume (Final Four, #1 ranking, high draft picks) it will likely still entice some other school that doesn't prioritize b-ball, like Georgia, that doesn't have much to lose.

That is an excellent idea....so it will never happen! Would be nice to have a recurring game in Indy though.

No reason to quibble about his rankings since there is still so much unknown, but interesting there are only 2 B1G teams on there!

I would like to subscribe to your newsletter!

Also, regarding that TJD jumper video, it's certainly positive to see him expanding his game, but from a strictly IU perspective, Trayce not taking/hitting 15ft jumpers is WAYYYYYYYYYYYY down the list as far as problems that need to be fixed. I put that squarely in the "nice to have" column, because if we had a couple other guys consistently hitting 15-20ft shots, he'd do even better staying in the paint, I think. So, if TJD stays, I'd rather see Kopp, Bates and Jordan working on their outside game.

To be fair, it's not just sports. Over the last few years I've learned there are vast numbers of virologists that are also experts in economics and recently found out they are geniuses in geo-politics too! Having the means (social media) to broadcast an opinion is a powerful draw.....but hey that is why we're all here, pooling our ignorance, am I right!?

I am only interested if he's replacing Kopp. That appears less likely every day.

It feels like it definitely could be. Either of those scenarios would likely be the end of it for me though. I haven't watched the NBA in years because both the on-court product isn't appealing and the entire organization (owners & players) are distasteful to me. I'm not interested in an "NBA, Jr" league masquerading as college sports. Nigel Pack took the best package offered him- $400k and a new car. That is completely understandable FOR HIM, I am a consumer that makes my own decisions and I can choose to participate in that process (watching games, buying tickets & merchandise) or not, too. Eventually a fair question will be "what is the point of having 'College' sports at all?" Why should state educational institutions be in the business of offering pro sport opportunities? If they are just another pro league, then fold them into the existing leagues and remove the pretense. I don't know exactly where that line is, but it's getting awfully fuzzy and once it's crossed it might have some permanent ramifications.