Hardwood83

Absolutely. I'd put him as the #1 target from a "need" perspective. He's the coveted '3 level scorer' IU has been missing since....AJ Guyton? (slight exaggeration) No idea on his defense, but he is bigger and a MUCH more efficient scorer than Love.

Speaking of Purdoo- I believe they are the only Big Ten team without someone in the portal. Hopefully Edey bolts to the NBA or his home planet or whatever.

Fantastic news- getting X back AND Love moving on. No matter what else happens, NOT getting Love is the biggest win of the off-season.

I expect Wisconsin to be better too.... *spits* Mich, Iowa, Penn St, Illinois should all take a step (or two) back though. Agreed, they might be better than this past season, but losing two of their best players.

You are correct and to complicate it further, the landscape is changing, so the old paradigm may not fit as well. I wouldn't put too much stock in a single tourney, but FAU & SDSU just made their first Final Four. If it hadn't been SDSU it would have been Creighton, also their first FF. Baylor came out of nowhere a few years ago....lots of moving pieces. IU has some real advantages (they've squandered for 20yrs), but the rules are changing.

Izzo is putting together a pretty good couple of classes for '23 & '24. Last hurrah?

RE: Love Depends on your perspective. I see it as dodging a bullet (if that is in fact what happens- fingers crossed!)

Timberlake. He was thought a UNC lock, then apparently pulled back.

Absolutely, having a devisive and/or selfish player can destroy a team. Is that Love? I think so but obviously Woody & the gang think otherwise.

Some really smart, insightful and good-looking posters have been saying exactly this for the last several days.....who could they be? Think, THINK! :)

He sure looks like a Big Ten player. Kind of guy MSU or OSU always seem to have, does a little of everything. Doesn't appear super athletic, but soild skills and patient & controlled. Gives me a 'more polished Reneau' vibe. While he looks capable on the wing, he doesn't appear to be a perimeter player to me. Hard to imagine him, Battle & Reneau on the same team. Lots of overlap.

Me too. Unlike many, I am fine with a traditional center (Sparks) but am interested to see an athletic/defense first/garbage man type too. Been a while since IU had that...Leach? This requires IU to put some scorers around him of course, so a dynamic wing would really be a bonus.

I'd factor relevance into it as well, not only NC's. For instance MSU has only won 2 titles, but they have been the face of the B1G and had numnerous tourney runs in the last 20+ years. I hate cheating POS Kansas, but they have been consistently very good for over 30yrs. Even without a couple of titles, that matters and is an example of an elite program, imo.

And that might be accurate. Realisticallty, what are they gonna say? "My kids a selfish nightmare and ruined the season." Ultimately the coach IS responsible, but that doesn't give the players a pass. UNC had a lot of experience and was coming off a NC game run. Plenty of blame to go around.

Timberlake first, second and third. Hey, you asked.

talk about going from one extreme to the other! Young Isaac will have to forget about that defense and remember how to shoot the ball!

Interesting how many bigs IU is still pursuing. I know nothing is for sure (just look at Shedricks cut-down list!) but even with Sparks in the fold we're clearly looking for more bodies in the post. A dynamic wing is next on my wish-list.

Swanson MVP, Bellinger come back player of the year, Stroman Cy Young.

That vermin needs to go away. He already looks like he's dead.

IU had a first-team All-American as a 4th year Senior. A 5 star Freshman was backing him up, along with another 5 star PG that is likely a first round draft pick. Also a 6th yr & 5th year Senior starters. So they had experience and talent this past season.....what were they missing to be 'elite'? Not very athletic on the wing. Not much bench production. Not prolific 3pt shooters (high % but on low volume).....what else? Harder to define elite this year. I don't like to compare them strictly to the teams successful in the NCAA's, since it's pretty obvious this season's Final Four sucks. Much like UNC last season, Miami & UConn are solid teams that caught fire at the right time. SDSU? Nice defensive team that benefited from a wrecked bracket, basically only having to beat Bama and a favorable call against Creighton.

So about that, I thought a player only got 1 immediate transfer? Does a coaching change make a difference?

Mostly agree. I have my preferences for style, but I want IU to win and win BIG. If that is with 3-4 guard sets, ok. If it's with a traditional line-up, that's fine too. Get the best players you can and make it work- I'll get over my distaste as the wins pile up.

3 (TJD, Reneau, Duncomb) I really like the idea of adding Shedrick, will allow IU to match-up with the hulking monstrosities of Purdoo but also go more up-tempo. B1G could still have a lot of good centers next season (Edey, Dickinson, Dane, Crowl....)

Ok, I'll let it go for now, clearly I'm on a tangent and swimming up-stream on this subject. I see Love as Devonte Green with a quicker first-step and a worse attitude. If that somehow equates to making IU a better basketball team, then terrific, but I'm extrememly skeptical. I prefer he take his journey of self-discovery (and his 35% FG shooting) somewhere/anywhere else.