AH1971

Spots 1-22 is a very talented roster, but any injuries to QB, WR, Tackle, interior DL, LB, and/or safety is going to be problematic. Last years team was pretty fortunate with the injury bug all things considered, need that luck to continue to match preseason expectations.

And this is why IU should materially be in a better spot next year with still one of the larger budgets in the country. Retain 5-6 guys from the previous years roster, bring in 3-4 recruits whose $$ market is different than the portal and then you still have several million to really hone in and supplement your roster with 3-4 impact guys.

Why wouldn’t Purdue be my example? They’re going to be the preseason #1 team in the country. What about Houston’s NIL spend? You seem to be operating under the premise that every single college basketball player marches into the coaches office at the end of the season, agent by his side, and demands a number or else he’s gone. I don’t believe that is how it works at all. Reality is that there are only a handful of players who can demand any number and an overwhelming majority of players are expendable if not outright replaceable. Basically they’re told, this is the number you’re getting, take it or leave it. At the end of the day, I still believe IU was one of the top spenders this offseason. Maybe not top 3-5, but closer to top 10, worst case top 15. As has been said, you get much more bang for your buck in the portal when you’re supplementing your roster, not building the entire thing from scratch. Unfortunately, IU was in the latter department this offseason.

I’m guessing Smith is making ~$2 million this year and TKR ~$1.5 million. They also signed one of the top transfer bigs in the portal and had to retain Loyer. I’m guessing those four alone account for close to 80% of Purdue’s entire budget which I would guess is somewhere between $6-7million. Smith and TKR alone would command that much as package deal on the opponent market.

Of course it’s a real thing. Purdue wouldn’t have been able to field a complete roster had Smith and TKR not taken massive discounts to stay there. And that’s just one example. You’ve provided names to 3 programs (not substantiated by the way) who allegedly spent more than IU, who are the other ~20 programs that spent more than IU’s $10 million?

Sure it does, especially when you're purposely being obtuse about it.

It does add up once you get your head out of the sand. As you've been repeatedly told, you get much more bang for your buck when you retain your own players rather than going out and buying and building a brand new roster from scratch.

We have a guy who was on last years title winning team. We have a guy who won Sun Belt POY last year and lead his team to the tournament (Louisville's best player last year was the reigning Sun Belt POY). Devries and Enright have been on some very good Drake teams. I fail to see the difference in my opinion.

Louisville was projected to finish 8th in an already bad ACC in the preseason last year. I'm not sure what separates Louisville's roster last year from IU's roster this year? Louisville had a ton of really good mid-major guys and a few good, but not stellar P5 guys. I'm just not sure how Snow can draw that comparison yet?

I believe next years roster has two all-conference caliber players in Devries and Wilkerson. I believe that Bailey can be elite on the offensive end the same way I believe Conerway and Alexis can be elite on the defensive end. If guys like Enright, Miles, and Harris can become competent B10-level role players, this team should be in good shape. I do share the same concerns as otherwise with our depth in the front court and lack of rim protection, but offensively we should be a nightmare for many teams. It's a two-way street.

I don't think Michigan and Louisville's rosters last year looked all that different from IU's this coming year. Worked out well for both of those programs. 23-24 year old mid-major all-stars won Florida a national title last year.

I think $160 is going to be a steal on game day. Autzen is a small stadium ~54k so guessing there really isn't a bad seat in the house. If IU is undefeated, you're looking at huge Game Day/Big Noon implications as both teams could potentially be in the top 5. Tickets would be a riot on the secondary market in that scenario.

Derkack and Allmond would be very good adds, especially if we can lock them up in the early Fall. Gives us the rest of the period to go all-in on one or two big fish.

Does anyone have a realistic pool of 26' targets? Feel like we've offered 50-60 guys in the last 2-3 months and it's tough to keep track of on the recruiting board. Prince Moody-Alexander is already on board and Latrell Almond seems like the next realistic get. What's an ideal class size for 2026?

Not every kid that plays college basketball is entering the portal demanding to be paid “fair market value” each and every season. I’m sure guys like Braden Smith and TKR (who have never entered the portal) are playing at significant discounts compared to their “fair market value” had they chose to enter the portal. When you’re literally building a roster from scratch, you’re going to have to overspend. It’s not that complicated.

Our NIL is fine...we had to overspend to assemble a brand new roster from scratch

In a paywalled article yesterday, Joe Tipton at On3 pretty much said IU was the team to beat here.

It’s July. The hype right now is for the start of football season…where it should be this time of year.

This current landscape just produced a National Champion that was projected to finish 7th in their conference featuring a bunch of mid-major transfers at guard and 2-3* recruits in the front court. Talk about unheralded.

I’m not sure what leads you to believe that? Roster retention is still an absolute necessity in today’s game and roster retention starts with…recruiting freshman. Recruit your core roster and then supplement your needs in the portal.

So it was a money/NIL issue, not a negligent, unprepared from day one issue? In a perfect world, Moibuko and Murphy accept on the spot, but that’s life and the way this industry works. Rod Clark is a better recruiter than Moibuko and pushing the same tier as Murphy.

Barnett took a HC job elsewhere and there wasn’t a chance in hell Chester Frazier was coming here. That leaves you with Tom Ostrom as the remaining guy who sat on his bench last year…yeah that Tom Ostrom. We didn’t lose a year because DeVries didn’t panic. Pure nonsense.

Yeah don't understand the issue. I would have held out till August if it meant hiring Rod Clark. To most, this is marathon, not a sprint. Getting the right staff in place no matter the timeline is much more paramount to long term success although I understand you can't please everyone.

We know

Wonder if Rod Clark's connections to Sunrise Christian helps or hurts here?