Unexpectedflash

To still be viewed as a top 10 job is still pretty impressive to me with how bad we've been the last 20 years. I think if we have some success in the future we jump into that tier 1. I still don't know how good Duke will be after Coach K retires.

I still get confused how so many people called Mike a terrible hire but then turned around and said Tommy Lloyd was a home run hire.

I think Brooks would be a really good get. I know it probably doesn't mean much at this point but subtracting him from Kentucky's roster on Bart Torvik makes them fall from 14 to 31 next year. I think he could be an elite defender next year and I have more faith in Woody to help develop his jumpshot than Cal at this point. I'd probably like him as a fit next to Trayce more than Race but that's just my opinion.

I still think he starts by the middle of the year. He fits next to XJ better than anyone on the roster as a secondary ballhandler and elite shooter.

Love to see he's an 88% ft shooter. With Bates, Kopp, Johnson, and Stewart all being plus ft shooters I should no longer want to pull my hair out after every miss.

Anyone know anything about his defense? I know we're all excited about the shooting but he won't play if he can't guard anyone.

I think something went very wrong if Jordan is our backup center next year

Our practices are going to be so competitive now which should only make us better

If Kopp can regain his shooting form from two years ago I love this. Surrounding TJD with 3 40% 3 pt shooters in Bates, Stewart, and Kopp has me salivating.

I think finding bigs to fit what we want to do on defense will be harder than offense. If we’re switching everything then you need someone with good mobility like Race and Trayce. Brunk obviously didn’t fit that. Hopefully we see more double teams in the post next year for harder to guard big men. That’s something that Archie rarely did but could help out if Trayce is the 5.

I'm honestly fine with how our roster is right now. I think in today's game a dominant big man isn't as important as it once was. Trayce is better than anyone on Baylor's team this year and UVA's team two years ago. We have to develop players also to be successful so my hope is that Geronimo can emerge in that stretch four role. Duncomb for 8 minutes a game is fine for me backing up Trayce. I think that's a reasonable expectation for a top 70 recruit.

"I want to be the loudest guy and the loudest team in the gym.” I absolutely love this guy already.

I'm so excited to get Bates. I think he's a stud on the court but these are the top of guys you need off the court to build the culture we want. This is going to be one of our favorite players and a true leader that I think we've been missing the last few years. We have a bunch of great kids but I love hearing about the fire Tamar and Xavier are going to bring.

I am probably way too optimistic but that's the fun of the offseason. I think we're a top 15 team next year. I absolutely love Bates and think he'll be an instant contributor. The learning curve for him should be less than some other recruits since he went to IMG. We finally have talent at every position that fits well together. Our player development should hopefully be a lot better than the last 5 years and I think we'll see a lot of improvement from some of our players that disappointed last year. Bart Torvik has us at 22 right now.

Comparing our hire of Woodson to UNC and Arizona’s hire now I feel like we did really well for ourselves. It seems as if less coaches are willing to jump to “better” jobs.