Transfer Portal w IU Interest

[RaceToTheTop 31,197]

50 minutes ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

Seems my goal of getting into the top 25 preseason on hype and roster assessment is a long shot now.  Hopfullly DeVries can surpass expectations and we start to be considered a top 25 program again at some point.  

Top 25 programs right now are built on names that voters know and not necessarily on actual roster talent.

Production over potential seemed to be motto of a successful football coach last year.

[RaceToTheTop 31,197]

Sinceire Harris is a player who played as a freshman at Illinois and wasn't good enough to play as a sophomore so they redshirted him.  To think that DeVries' defensive system didn't have anything to do with Harris' success is false.

[8bucks 7,561]

20 minutes ago, RaceToTheTop said:

Sinceire Harris is a player who played as a freshman at Illinois and wasn't good enough to play as a sophomore so they redshirted him.  To think that DeVries' defensive system didn't have anything to do with Harris' success is false.

I was thinking along the same lines.  

[Dhop 495]

We ran the ole 3/2 packed box triangle zone back in the day.  Packed box portion was the most difficult part to coach up.

OK, who we getting to finish out this roster?

[tyappleg 8,191]

2 hours ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

Seems my goal of getting into the top 25 preseason on hype and roster assessment is a long shot now.  Hopfullly DeVries can surpass expectations and we start to be considered a top 25 program again at some point.  

Here you go.  I think you would like this roster. 

[IUCrazy2 2,978]

https://x.com/DarrenHeitner/status/1917273709678616939

Anybody know who this guy represented?  A few other people in the comments complimenting Indiana as well.  Won't hurt to get a reputation with agents to be on the up and up with the athletes.

[WayneFleekHoosier 51,465]

You guys can mock all you want. I’ve had a realistic approach to my fandom all along and have been more accurate in my assessments than most.  
 

I’m optimistic with a new coach and systems and style and for that alone im happy.  

but we tout a top 10 Nil budget supposedly but didn’t act like we have one.  
 

we are pumping up mid major guys of varying degrees of clout, talent, and success that we hope will translate.  (It might work-it certainly might not)  

We clown our team last season as a reason you don’t want a good portal class but forget our coach is the major reason that class stunk.  Give me that roster with a legitimate coach and a better SG than Carlyle (that I never liked) and that team could have done some things.  Should have.   
 

I look at a lot of college basketball rosters and I’m envious.  I REALLY like DeVries and Wilkerson.  I have varying degrees of thoughts on the rest of the roster. I like Bailey a lot offensively but I wonder if his game will work against better, more athletic bigs.  I could go player by player.

 

To me, it’s just a total wait and see roster and doesn’t justify anywhere near top 10 NIL.  I’d rather spend big and get 8 dudes and pay pennies for the rest of the roster.  Top8 wins  our top 8 is top 30-45 good to me.  
 

Im allowed to be unimpressed.  

 

[IUCrazy2 2,978]

Just now, WayneFleekHoosier said:

You guys can mock all you want. I’ve had a realistic approach to my fandom all along and have been more accurate in my assessments than most.  
 

I’m optimistic with a new coach and systems and style and for that alone im happy.  

but we tout a top 10 Nil budget supposedly but didn’t act like we have one.  
 

we are pumping up mid major guys of varying degrees of clout, talent, and success that we hope will translate.  (It might work-it certainly might not)  

We clown our team last season as a reason you don’t want a good portal class but forget our coach is the major reason that class stunk.  Give me that roster with a legitimate coach and a better SG than Carlyle (that I never liked) and that team could have done some things.  Should have.   
 

I look at a lot of college basketball rosters and I’m envious.  I REALLY like DeVries and Wilkerson.  I have varying degrees of thoughts on the rest of the roster. I like Bailey a lot offensively but I wonder if his game will work against better, more athletic bigs.  I could go player by player.

 

To me, it’s just a total wait and see roster and doesn’t justify anywhere near top 10 NIL.  I’d rather spend big and get 8 dudes and pay pennies for the rest of the roster.  Top8 wins  our top 8 is top 30-45 good to me.  
 

Im allowed to be unimpressed.  

 

I think it is fair to wait for the results to be in.  That being said, there were a bunch of teams last year that on paper didn't look super impressive coming out of portal season and by the end looked better than our highly thought of guys.  Yes, some of that is coaching but I think some is attributable to the attitude those guys came with.

We will have to see how it plays out.

[PartyintheVillas 1,050]

7 minutes ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

You guys can mock all you want. I’ve had a realistic approach to my fandom all along and have been more accurate in my assessments than most.  
 

I’m optimistic with a new coach and systems and style and for that alone im happy.  

but we tout a top 10 Nil budget supposedly but didn’t act like we have one.  
 

we are pumping up mid major guys of varying degrees of clout, talent, and success that we hope will translate.  (It might work-it certainly might not)  

We clown our team last season as a reason you don’t want a good portal class but forget our coach is the major reason that class stunk.  Give me that roster with a legitimate coach and a better SG than Carlyle (that I never liked) and that team could have done some things.  Should have.   
 

I look at a lot of college basketball rosters and I’m envious.  I REALLY like DeVries and Wilkerson.  I have varying degrees of thoughts on the rest of the roster. I like Bailey a lot offensively but I wonder if his game will work against better, more athletic bigs.  I could go player by player.

 

To me, it’s just a total wait and see roster and doesn’t justify anywhere near top 10 NIL.  I’d rather spend big and get 8 dudes and pay pennies for the rest of the roster.  Top8 wins  our top 8 is top 30-45 good to me.  
 

Im allowed to be unimpressed.  

 

Do you have any idea how much they spent and on who or are you just projecting?

[tyappleg 8,191]

6 minutes ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

You guys can mock all you want. I’ve had a realistic approach to my fandom all along and have been more accurate in my assessments than most.  
 

I’m optimistic with a new coach and systems and style and for that alone im happy.  

but we tout a top 10 Nil budget supposedly but didn’t act like we have one.  
 

we are pumping up mid major guys of varying degrees of clout, talent, and success that we hope will translate.  (It might work-it certainly might not)  

We clown our team last season as a reason you don’t want a good portal class but forget our coach is the major reason that class stunk.  Give me that roster with a legitimate coach and a better SG than Carlyle (that I never liked) and that team could have done some things.  Should have.   
 

I look at a lot of college basketball rosters and I’m envious.  I REALLY like DeVries and Wilkerson.  I have varying degrees of thoughts on the rest of the roster. I like Bailey a lot offensively but I wonder if his game will work against better, more athletic bigs.  I could go player by player.

 

To me, it’s just a total wait and see roster and doesn’t justify anywhere near top 10 NIL.  I’d rather spend big and get 8 dudes and pay pennies for the rest of the roster.  Top8 wins  our top 8 is top 30-45 good to me.  
 

Im allowed to be unimpressed.  

 

Who has said we dont want a good portal class?

We have a good portal class, btw. 

I have no idea how this roster will turn out and you're allowed to be unimpressed.  But caring about being preseason top 25 this year is, frankly, and with all due respect... stupid. 

[Home Jersey 16,215]

12 minutes ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

You guys can mock all you want. I’ve had a realistic approach to my fandom all along and have been more accurate in my assessments than most.  

I’m optimistic with a new coach and systems and style and for that alone im happy.  
but we tout a top 10 Nil budget supposedly but didn’t act like we have one.  

we are pumping up mid major guys of varying degrees of clout, talent, and success that we hope will translate.  (It might work-it certainly might not)  

 We clown our team last season as a reason you don’t want a good portal class but forget our coach is the major reason that class stunk.  Give me that roster with a legitimate coach and a better SG than Carlyle (that I never liked) and that team could have done some things.  Should have.   

 I look at a lot of college basketball rosters and I’m envious.  I REALLY like DeVries and Wilkerson.  I have varying degrees of thoughts on the rest of the roster. I like Bailey a lot offensively but I wonder if his game will work against better, more athletic bigs.  I could go player by player.

To me, it’s just a total wait and see roster and doesn’t justify anywhere near top 10 NIL.  I’d rather spend big and get 8 dudes and pay pennies for the rest of the roster.  Top8 wins  our top 8 is top 30-45 good to me.  

Im allowed to be unimpressed.  

You're totally allowed to be unimpressed, I also have some skepticism but trying to focus on the positives during the offseason. I think there is a lot to like about the roster / staff and it's ranked #8 currently by 247. The #4 SF, #9 SG, #10 PF. Three other guys in the top 115 (over 2,700 players in the portal) ...  

10 players in the class total so far - a few lower ranked ones that may or may not translate. To your point, you might expect a slightly higher ranking with top 10 NIL... but the class is still ranked highly. It's just not super flashy on paper. Perhaps DDV is stockpiling some cash for year 2 and in year 1 focusing on getting players he thinks he can win with and build his culture without having to overpay for them and deal with all the dynamics that come with that. Total speculation obviously. 

I won't get too high or low until we see them on the court. Thankfully we'll get a preview in August. 

[WayneFleekHoosier 51,465]

Who has said we dont want a good portal class?
We have a good portal class, btw. 
I have no idea how this roster will turn out and you're allowed to be unimpressed.  But caring about being preseason top 25 this year is, frankly, and with all due respect... stupid. 

Really?

We like to say we have top 10 Nil. I’m not convinced we do.

Anyway, it’s not stupid to expect a top 10 Nil budget to put together a top 25 team. Everyone’s counter argument is Woody being ranked last season as a justification for why we don’t want to be ranked. That’s crazy. That’s on Woodson.

We should aspire to be viewed as a top team every single season. I understand it needs to be earned but we could have put together a portal class that would have landed us there.

At this point we don’t even have an obvious 5 starters. We have 3 maybe 4 that would project to start. We have a lot of guys who haven’t won at the mid major level. We have some productive guys from losing teams. It’s been an odd approach to me.

Look at last seasons top 25. It’s generally pretty accurate. Florida was 21. Houston, Duke near the top. Indiana, Rutgers, Cincinnati, UNC were misses. 2 or 3 of those are coaching malpractice.


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[WayneFleekHoosier 51,465]

You're totally allowed to be unimpressed, I also have some skepticism but trying to focus on the positives during the offseason. I think there is a lot to like about the roster / staff and it's ranked #8 currently by 247. The #4 SF, #9 SG, #10 PF. Three other guys in the top 115 (over 2,700 players in the portal) ...  
10 players in the class total so far - a few lower ranked ones that may or may not translate. To your point, you might expect a slightly higher ranking with top 10 NIL... but the class is still ranked highly. It's just not super flashy on paper. Perhaps DDV is stockpiling some cash for year 2 and in year 1 focusing on getting players he thinks he can win with and build his culture without having to overpay for them and deal with all the dynamics that come with that. Total speculation obviously. 
I won't get too high or low until we see them on the court. Thankfully we'll get a preview in August. 

I think this is fair and on point. Also unimpressive. If he wins at the levels he is expected to with this roster he will get all of my Kudos. I’m expecting bubble city. You know when mid majors play high majors they generally get wrecked for a reason. Don’t get me wrong, I love Wilkerson, I like Bailey a lot. But these guys will have a ton to prove. And then, the rankers are tasked with figuring out the High major/mid major gaps and we are where we are.

I know it’s not fair, but UConn’s roster, or Michigans roster, or St. John’s roster, or………….. I KNOW all the excuses but if you have the funds you build what you want.


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[WayneFleekHoosier 51,465]

I think this is fair and on point. Also still an unimpressive roster to me. If he wins at the levels he is expected to with this roster he will get all of my Kudos. I’m expecting bubble city. You know when mid majors play high majors they generally get wrecked for a reason. Don’t get me wrong, I love Wilkerson, I like Bailey a lot. But these guys will have a ton to prove. And then, the rankers are tasked with figuring out the High major/mid major gaps and we are where we are.

I know it’s not fair, but UConn’s roster, or Michigans roster, or St. John’s roster, or………….. I KNOW all the excuses but if you have the funds you build what you want.


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[Bowhunter 3,129]

44 minutes ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

You guys can mock all you want. I’ve had a realistic approach to my fandom all along and have been more accurate in my assessments than most.  
 

I’m optimistic with a new coach and systems and style and for that alone im happy.  

but we tout a top 10 Nil budget supposedly but didn’t act like we have one.  
 

we are pumping up mid major guys of varying degrees of clout, talent, and success that we hope will translate.  (It might work-it certainly might not)  

We clown our team last season as a reason you don’t want a good portal class but forget our coach is the major reason that class stunk.  Give me that roster with a legitimate coach and a better SG than Carlyle (that I never liked) and that team could have done some things.  Should have.   
 

I look at a lot of college basketball rosters and I’m envious.  I REALLY like DeVries and Wilkerson.  I have varying degrees of thoughts on the rest of the roster. I like Bailey a lot offensively but I wonder if his game will work against better, more athletic bigs.  I could go player by player.

 

To me, it’s just a total wait and see roster and doesn’t justify anywhere near top 10 NIL.  I’d rather spend big and get 8 dudes and pay pennies for the rest of the roster.  Top8 wins  our top 8 is top 30-45 good to me.  
 

Im allowed to be unimpressed.  

 

Wayne you are a good guy! Preach it brother. 
 

I’m right there with you on what we did with the money. DeVries and Wiketdon  A plus. The rest of the team is kind of underwhelming for the NIL budget we carry. 

[tyappleg 8,191]

23 minutes ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

Really?

We like to say we have top 10 Nil. I’m not convinced we do.

Anyway, it’s not stupid to expect a top 10 Nil budget to put together a top 25 team. Everyone’s counter argument is Woody being ranked last season as a justification for why we don’t want to be ranked. That’s crazy. That’s on Woodson.

We should aspire to be viewed as a top team every single season. I understand it needs to be earned but we could have put together a portal class that would have landed us there.

At this point we don’t even have an obvious 5 starters. We have 3 maybe 4 that would project to start. We have a lot of guys who haven’t won at the mid major level. We have some productive guys from losing teams. It’s been an odd approach to me.

Look at last seasons top 25. It’s generally pretty accurate. Florida was 21. Houston, Duke near the top. Indiana, Rutgers, Cincinnati, UNC were misses. 2 or 3 of those are coaching malpractice.


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Who has said they don't want to be in the top 25 because we were in the preseason top 25 last year? 

And yes, you should want to be top 25... when it matters.

Would it be great to be in the preseason top 25?  Sure... but nothing matters less than what a bunch of writers think before the season even tips off.

[Home Jersey 16,215]

56 minutes ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

Really?

We like to say we have top 10 Nil. I’m not convinced we do.

Anyway, it’s not stupid to expect a top 10 Nil budget to put together a top 25 team. Everyone’s counter argument is Woody being ranked last season as a justification for why we don’t want to be ranked. That’s crazy. That’s on Woodson.

We should aspire to be viewed as a top team every single season. I understand it needs to be earned but we could have put together a portal class that would have landed us there.

At this point we don’t even have an obvious 5 starters. We have 3 maybe 4 that would project to start. We have a lot of guys who haven’t won at the mid major level. We have some productive guys from losing teams. It’s been an odd approach to me.

Look at last seasons top 25. It’s generally pretty accurate. Florida was 21. Houston, Duke near the top. Indiana, Rutgers, Cincinnati, UNC were misses. 2 or 3 of those are coaching malpractice.

Agree up until the bold. I think we've got 5 clear starters - Conerway, Wilkerson, Dorn (maybe Miles?), TDV, Bailey. 

Not refuting your point about not winning at the mid-major level, but worth listing their accomplishments IMO: 

1. A former MVC ROY / All Freshman / MVC Tourney MVP / 2x MVC POY / 3x All-MVC
2. MVC All-Freshman
3. All A-10 / A-10 MIP 
4. 2x All Conference USA 
5. 2024-2025 Sun Belt POY / Tourney MVP
6. All A-Sun 
7. A-Sun All Freshman 
8. CAA All-Freshman 
9. 2024-2025 NCAA champion/2023-2024 All Southern / All Southern Defense

8 of the 11 players were double digit scorers last year. The one freshman was ranked #66 overall. So there's talent. 

You say below mid-majors generally get wrecked for a reason when they play high majors. Yes, but I think these guys were not generally the reason for that. I think they were the reason their teams were competitive at all. It's easy for serious talent to get overlooked and end up at a mid major or JuCo in this era where the politics of the game and money have run wild. The fact they've got a ton to prove is part of what makes me excited for next year. Good players want to win. These are good players who haven't had an opportunity to do a ton of that so I think they're going to play very hard and DDV is good enough to put them in position to win. We will see though. As for the preseason polls being a good indicator, yes, but... 

1985 Villanova, 2003 Syracuse, 2006 Florida, and 2011 and 2022-2023 UConn are the only teams to win it all while being unranked preseason since the expansion to 64 teams in 1985. However, in 2022-2023, 3/4 Final Four teams were unranked preseason. So pretty accurate, but by no means determinative. 

46 minutes ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

I think this is fair and on point. Also unimpressive. If he wins at the levels he is expected to with this roster he will get all of my Kudos. I’m expecting bubble city. You know when mid majors play high majors they generally get wrecked for a reason. Don’t get me wrong, I love Wilkerson, I like Bailey a lot. But these guys will have a ton to prove. And then, the rankers are tasked with figuring out the High major/mid major gaps and we are where we are.

I know it’s not fair, but UConn’s roster, or Michigans roster, or St. John’s roster, or………….. I KNOW all the excuses but if you have the funds you build what you want.

I don't think having top 10 NIL funds necessarily equates to being able to build whatever you want however you want. We will probably agree though there's no excuse with the resources at his disposal to not be able to build a roster capable of playing his preferred style and winning at the expected level. This team may or may not be able to do that... thankfully we get a preview in August. 

My biggest concern at the moment is defense but I am willing to trust DDV at this point. Cautiously optimistic over here. 

[Dave from Dayton 4,036]

6 minutes ago, Bowhunter said:

Wayne you are a good guy! Preach it brother. 
 

I’m right there with you on what we did with the money. DeVries and Wiketdon  A plus. The rest of the team is kind of underwhelming for the NIL budget we carry. 

I perceive that the coach knows how to build a program.  Does he really try to get ballers and shooters that think that the team is more important than individual players?  Does he think that basketball IQ and effort means and sharing the ball is more important than a 41" vertical jump?  Are guards going to get the ball in play and steal more balls than a front court?  Do the number of stars mean more than everything else?  Well, I don't know but he may be on to something.  

I wondered about Archie  stepping up.  But he did very well in Dayton.  I knew that Crean was full of hype and was unsure about him winning without Wade.  Sampson is a winner but was risky and IU didn't handle it well at all.  No comment on Mike Davis who was too unseasoned.  And IU, again didn't handle RMK's last decade.  What a fiasco.  

I will give CDD the benefit of the doubt.  But, I just don't know.  I like the guards and the shooters and those that try harder.

[8bucks 7,561]

50 minutes ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

I think this is fair and on point. Also unimpressive. If he wins at the levels he is expected to with this roster he will get all of my Kudos. I’m expecting bubble city. You know when mid majors play high majors they generally get wrecked for a reason. Don’t get me wrong, I love Wilkerson, I like Bailey a lot. But these guys will have a ton to prove. And then, the rankers are tasked with figuring out the High major/mid major gaps and we are where we are.

I know it’s not fair, but UConn’s roster, or Michigans roster, or St. John’s roster, or………….. I KNOW all the excuses but if you have the funds you build what you want.


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I think the evidence suggests we may have a large NIL but maybe not as big we thought. A lot of schools showed up with big NIL signings who were supposed to have struggled with NIL. Then you have programs like BYU show they may be a big player here too. 

I think we all saw last year that attracting kids with NIL primarily does not lead to success. DD hopefully will end up being a very good coach but it isn’t like he has had years of success at the P5 level. So when recruits consider us they can see a little bit of his vision in action but not enough to know we will be a top 20 team. So would we rather attract kids who want to play for a winner (we are unproven here), yes, but since we can’t prove that we can only offer hope and money.  

I kind of like this top midmajor kid approach. Hopefully these kids want to prove themselves and work as if they have that chip on their shoulders.  

Some schools had instant success. Michigan for example. I think a lot of that is attributed to a good coach sure but also really had kids outperform their portal ranking. Wolf for one. No reason to know we will have this too. Hoping we eithe get a few kids that do exceed their expectations and lead us to a big year or we have a gritty tough team that helps DD show what could be and next year we add more pieces and take another step forward.

We all wanted a coach that would grind and work. We may have to do the same as fans and let DD build this. Not panic as he builds even if slowly. 

[HoosierInParadise 1,679]

Anyone who is confident that this team will be good is kidding themselves. Woodson proved to all of us that getting some of the "top talent" in the portal doesn't mean jack regarding winning results. Coach Cig showed us that a collection of decent players with a vision and energy around a program can make for a magical season. The transfer portal has only proven one thing....if you are going to rely heavily on the portal for your core group of players, you should be anything but confident that winning will necessarily follow. I am going to wait and see what happens....I do like who we have gotten in the portal if they work their tails off to play as a freaking team.