Asha’man

More importantly, know when to walk away, know when to run.

I think having that staff settled and be able to work on deals now will help. We were behind the 8 ball last year imo. To me there is no excuses this portal. I’m feeling confident that we can have a top 25 team next year. They just have to get the pieces together. They have the resources. I want to see IU ranked all year again, it’s been so long since being ranked was just a foregone conclusion.

I agree with this. I think there needs to be a profile for each position on the court they are trying to land. Then go land the pieces that fit this. It’s what Painter does, Dusty May is great at talent evaluation and how it fits the team, Wisconsin does this well. I learned but need to verify still that IU will be the 2nd team with a GM for basketball in the Big Ten. The other team is Michigan. As of a week or 2 ago all the top 5 teams in the country had GM’s. The rest of the ranked teams didn’t. The conclusion that was made was elite teams are operating at a new/higher level in this era bc they have the correct structure. Some programs have NBA players as ceremonial GM’s. Those shouldn’t count. Steph Curry isn’t scouting and singing players at Davidson but is their GM. LOL. Duke has had a GM for several years, same with Florida, Arizona, and I think UCONN.

I think we have enough money I’d rather them try and land 2 elite players, PG and SG/Wing. Then get a defensive athletic center. Fill the rest with capable big ten caliber bench players. Won’t be ideal but I don’t think we see ideal for a couple more years yet. After listening to the Ryan Carr interview from a week or so ago, I’m very encouraged by his addition and role. I think he has the right mindset. High school recruiting is like the draft and the portal is free agency. You typically over spend in free agency. So we need to over spend for a few years until our high school recruits get to be upperclassmen. I don’t think we are targeting the 5 star 1 and dones. I keep hearing about this sweet spot of 30-100 range in ranking. Guys with big upside and skill but will stick around 3-4 years. They come in cheaper and then when they are more developed you pay them more.

To add to that, if the rumors are true, the NIL budget is increased for next year to 12.5 from 10. So we will have roughly 9.5 million for 5 portals and the 3 freshmen. The 3 freshmen using ChatGPT to get some averages for freshmen nil expectations based on rankings will collectively be around 1.2. Leaving Carr and DeVries an estimated 8.3 million for the portal.

I got YouTube tv a couple years ago and love the multi view for college football and basketball.

My hope is Drake can be a serviceable backup. Need some of these guys to pan out a little.

Was the plan for them just a lotto ticket or were they seen as development players that can come off the bench next year? It would be nice to have a RS Freshman Center to be a Big Ten capable backup on mid major money.

You would think between Kenny Johnson and Rod Clark that they should have connections to plenty of talent that could become available. Hopefully talks start happening soon. I’d rather them give Carr a few days to review some tape on the current squad and formulate a plan for the roster before starting to wheel and deal in the background pre portal.

What do we have in Jason Drake? His stats are decent. I haven’t watched any film on him but expect solid backup just by looking at his numbers.

The other 8 are already getting paid. Who knows what the freshmen are getting. They are elite 5 star one and dones. So they shouldn’t be breaking the bank. So say 2.5-3 for the other 8. Ristic and Acimovic can’t get NIL so they are freebies. Unless the rules have changed about foreign players and NIL. if the rule hasn’t change it’s smart to go get some high end Serbians that only get the profit sharing. Then the NIL can be concentrated on getting even better talent than otherwise would be available.

Our seniors are making more than that imo. 2.5-3 for Tucker, 2.5 for Wilkerson, 1.5 Bailey. That’s 6.5 before we count Enright and Conorway. Probably closer to 8 mil. Plus the rumored extra 2.5 for the portal this year and we should have 10 mil + in NIL money add to the roster. Go get 5 players at 2.5 mil each and let’s roll.

You’re higher on Dorn than me. If it’s not a corner 3 he isn’t making it and he can’t play D at this level. Maybe a healthy offseason to work on explosiveness and overall athleticism can help. But he is a bench player on a good team at this level, as his ceiling. Good for a game or 2 where he blows up off the bench. I wouldn’t give up on Sisley either. Freshman coming in, rated lower than all 3 of the ones next year, and he gave solid effort. I believe he hit a wall and will improve bc of it. He is athletic enough and he brings some size. He looks all of 6’8-9” to me when he is out there. That’s good height for a PF in college.

To me they were just taking a talented player. Vision for the long term it’s a good pickup. But it’s also why we need a GM. I don’t think the current staff know how to operate effectively in this new era. I think they have the desire but it’s a new game now. Which is why Carr has to be the guy.

I think maybe we spend on athletic bigs for defense and rebounding. Then focus the big spending on PG and a couple wing scorers. I think Moody can be a backup wing and be fine. Karvala possibly can contribute as a backup as a freshman. Manhertz has a high ceiling but is so slight. If he can’t pack on like 15lbs before next year then he may need to redshirt. I think/hope Drake can be a decent backup PG. Carr will have to do a thorough self scout to start. He has zero ties to this current roster and can make objective decisions.