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FWIW, TD "predicted" Tucker to IU just a few minutes ago. Obviously take with a grain of salt. Because I agree, if no more visits scheduled... I'd think the staff was pressing hard for a commitment before he left. Maybe that happened privately, and they're just waiting for April until the check clears. That does leave a window for something to change. You'd think for all the talk of increased NIL resources, we'd basically be ready to have payment in "cold hard cash" (not literally cash) ready to go.

I know we see things the same way, so I'm not saying this in a combative way. RE: your last sentence, so true. With pretty much a blank slate roster for next year except for a few key players, not sure what exactly is realistic. I know what I expect. I know for all the talk about how talent was an issue this year... and the staff's chosen approach of waiting for the portal to build their roster... they better get as much talent as they can. Don't care how they sell these guys on it, just get them here. Let's see that NIL war chest put to good use. Ultimately I think we're expecting the same thing, which will be probably 2 or 3 impact players and then maybe 3 or 4 role players.

Obviously just speculation because we're filling in blanks based on reports, and haven't actually landed anyone yet... but for the sake of conversation, I'm squinting really hard to envision an outline for the roster and what a best case scenario would look like... Retain Mgbako. In the backcourt, land: Conwell, Perkins, Hickman (who knows if possible to get all 3? I tend to doubt it but would love to be pleasantly surprised). Play Gallo heavily in the rotation, with Leal and Cupps playing spot minutes. On the wing, add Bryson Tucker - hopefully without overcommitting on playing time. I'd like to see him get similar minutes to Malik's first year, not that they are similar players, but I'd anticipate a similar level of impact from him as a freshman, albeit done differently on the court. From the little bit I've seen (ie, I could be very wrong - not a professional basketball scout), I'd be surprised if he is an instant starter type of freshman. Have Newton and Tucker compete for minutes on the wing alongside/behind MM. Find a role playing 5 that can help protect the rim and you're comfortable playing up to 25-30mpg based on match ups (I'm sure easier said than done but of the thousands of players in the portal, there have to be some out there... Bradshaw and Booker come to mind). Conway, Perkins, Hickman, Gallo, Leal, Cupps, Newton, MM, BT, MR, AB or XB would be eleven. Two spots to fill... ideal to find a sharpshooting wing and a back up big... hard for any program to fill a roster with 13 players who could come in and instantly contribute though. I will reiterate - that's a "best case" scenario, not what I think is necessarily likely at all. Your top 8 would probably Conway, Perkins, Hickman, Gallo, MM, MR, the portal 5 and IMO either Tucker, portal wing/big. I'm hoping for the best but expecting the worst when it comes to Newton's recovery from his knee surgeries. Not sure how that roster would stack up in the CBB landscape, but it would look much improved from this year. Here's to hoping the #TrueFanClub has something to be happy about soon. Be careful though... if you said anything negative on Twitter, NGW and his buddies have let everyone know they're "keeping receipts" for when you "switch up" lmao. Gimme a break

Wondering how a Clingan vs. Edey match up would go. I tend to think Clingan would hold his own while UConn would have a gameplan that works better overall. Let's hope it doesn't come to that.

Some utterly funny behavior out of NGW on Twitter today. Tweeting out a gif like he is Trilly Donovan and scolding the Sheriff Woody account for posting an eyes emoji and screenshots of Bryson Tucker's 247 profile saying "you don't get to post **** like this after your meltdown" (ie wanting Bruce Pearl). I just can't get over what a superiority complex this guy has... it's brutal

It's honestly unlike anything you'd ever imagine for a Big East school. That is why they mostly play at the Prudential Center... Walsh Gymnasium is way less nice/impressive than a lot of high school gyms. Probably every HS gym in Indiana lol. It's extremely dated, but space is hard to come by in their city and it's a relatively small school, so very unlikely they'll get investment to make serious upgrades. That said, it's a really fun place to watch a game. You're basically right on top of the action, similar to Cameron Indoor in that sense (but way smaller). Plus, tickets were cheap - $20/pop usually, not sure about for the NIT games. NIL is very challenged there too. Tough job to be successful in, especially in this era. I think Shaheen will get them back to the tournament but could see him moving on to bigger and better things after a certain point.

Yeah, all good points. My big concern with Malik at the 5 is that he does not rebound well enough right now. Mgbako I think can be a good rebounder at the 4, but he is also not a high level/consistent rebounder as of now, and he will likely still play at the 3 IMO for at least a good amount of time if he does in fact stay. That said, I think Malik showed a lot of improvement this year and if he makes a similar jump next year, I could see him playing some time at the 5 and it working well... plus, Mack will be a great sophomore if we're able to keep him. My "sunshine pumping" hot take is that I'm hopeful Gallo shoots better next year (I'd take 33% on low-ish volume... just enough to keep defenses honest.). In 2022-2023, he shot 46%, I'm sure the volume was low and his 3PT/FG%s have been low otherwise. But in his last year of eligibility and with a hopefully more focused role, I'm hoping he can be more efficient.

Yeah, was speaking somewhat tongue in cheek. If I'm going to get excited about anything, it probably won't be until January if they're playing well.

Sure, there's 6 teams in the NIT right now and the CBI tournament is wrapping up now, so that's 8 total. Probably a few more. My point still stands, and you are still pedantic as hell lol. Surprised people on your ignored users list can still quote you

Mack would fit more of what we need, but personally I'd opt for Perkins if we had to choose. Proven production in the B10... would love both though. So many roster holes, can't wait to start fillin em! #TrueFanClub

Por que no los dos? "Tyme" assured us our bankroll could buy whoever we want.

Believe he was going to play for G League Ignite which has since folded if I'm not mistaken

Yeah I feel the same way for the most part. How they start the season is going to matter a lot, for many reasons. There's just no way he's announcing before next season that it will be his last no matter what IMO.

Tucker fits the profile of one of Woodson's spring 5 star commitments. Looks likely, that's good. We just have to fill so many roster spots, I can't get excited about "our haul" yet, especially if Tucker and Perkins end up being the big gets.

The alternative is that... fans could root for the team they support... to win. I want Woodson gone too but if as you say we miraculously have a solid team with a good season, I'd hope half the fans could get behind the team even if they don't think the coach is what's best for the program. I just don't think it's realistic to hope that he makes any announcement about next season being his last no matter what before the season even starts.

Yeah, I could have worded my post better. I don't mind casting a wide net, but the fact they don't have a good track record of evaluating talent makes me think they don't actually know what they want/are looking for. Just someone rated highly who will say yes, because they trust their ability to put players in the best position to win. That's how the approach feels to me.

I think SLU is a much better situation than UL right now, tbh. It also sounds like he may have signed something with SLU (not an official contract) that would complicate a move to UL.

Yeah, it's not that missing out on Foster is so bad. It's that the approach to recruiting seems to be throwing **** at the wall and seeing what sticks. We rely on being more talented than other teams with this play style, and the staff has not done a good job of evaluating talent (on the roster or recruiting trail). We're casting a wide net and unlikely to land the talent we actually need. Instead we will out spend and overpay for, likely mediocre at best, results. I see on Twitter to "just wait" because "there are others still playing who have not hit the portal yet, we have to be picky, don't want to fill up too quickly" (lmao NGW). There are only 16 teams left. SURELY some of the players currently in the portal would be takes. Two teams currently playing in the tournament have already landed portal commitments. I guess getting the kids on campus is nice, definitely a step in the right direction. Does it inspire any confidence for me? Nope. It doesn't look like they know what they are doing. If they land 2 "studs" and some nice role players, I still won't be convinced they "know what they are doing." or that it's all part of some master plan... or that talent is the only issue here (its one of many). Edit: sorry mods, thought this was the FMW thread. I will not pile on from here.

He hung a banner for his CYO league at the local ymca.

I agree on the optics being bad, but man, at this point... if we could get a coach with a similar profile to Kelsey next year, I'd be happy. 12 years as a HC at Winthrop and CofC have been pretty darn good, record wise. Looks like a consistent winner on the surface, not familiar with his style of play and what not though. I have super low expectations/hopes for our next HC hire.

So hilarious "Hmmmm, almost like someone has been telling all of you to calm down, not believe the doom. To quit worrying. Now you are seeing ... some of it. More coming, chill." What exactly is it that we are "now seeing" because last I checked, we still have no recruits after our 5 star decommitted when we announced we were bringing our HC back. Dude is a complete and total joke, wannabe insider... he is 100% portraying himself that way. I used to like reading his posts but somewhere along the way he became way too combative. Sad to see his delusion spill over in so many ways... but he is sure pumped to have those 200 followers behind him! Hope he gets the help he needs.

College of Charleston coach Pat Kelsey to take UL per Goodman

Right. I too would like a jack of all trades, do it all kind of PG lol... not a lot of them in college basketball exist! On the whole I think Perkins would be a great add, though I don't think it's very likely (would be happy to be proven wrong). If our other additions can shoot well, I don't have any major concerns with picking him up

I've seen a few tweets that seem to indirectly reference you in pretty disparaging ways. Not with your username that I've seen (easily could have missed that because just saw the account yesterday for the first time). To say he's gone fully off the deep end is a complete and total understatement. Big yikes.

The most sickening thing to me about all these burners on Twitter is not that they are looking for reason to be hopeful (I do too, most fans do) but the fact they're genuinely giddy about everyone else being "proven wrong" when Woody lands recruits. Fielding a full roster is not making a statement or proving anyone wrong LOL and the fact they are so sure that everyone else is overreacting (as opposed to them doing mental gymnastics to justify everything), to the point of being downright combative... is unfortunate. I'm sure they'll say they are responding in kind, and I get that negativity can feel overwhelming at times, but you cannot escape reality even if you don't want to hear it. Hopefully they're enjoying constructing their own version of reality. Frankly unless we go to a F4 next year, they are the ones who will be dead wrong and ironically, the same people crapping over message board people and "blogger boys" will have been doing what they mock others for - getting their hopes up over a different group of people acting like "insiders" ... (Lord help whoever buys what NGW is selling). This is the same thing IUBB always does, because it's become a toxic relationship for a lot of fans and people are caught in that cycle. There is no way to ignore the fact Woodson poured an accelerant on the flames by being divisive with his "true fans" comment. A lot of fans on Twitter are acting like fielding a team in itself is a win or that we're just a few pieces away from winning it all. Celebrating the idea of recruiting wins in the portal is more exciting to them than getting it done on the court. People say it's never as great or as bad as it seems but IUBB feels like it is in a really, really awful place right now. A few good players next year does not change that.