Transfer Portal w IU Interest

[str8baller]

9 minutes ago, Shooter said:

Do you have it somewhere that IU is not top 25 in basketball NIL? That would be surprising to me.

We’ll almost assuredly be top 25 in total roster spend…again. Whether that nets a top 25 roster is another story.
 

We’ll be paying top dollar while other teams merely have to retain their best players, or get guys on friendly deal because they want to play for a proven commodity, or get a keen Euro scout. We won’t get the benefit of 1 or 2 and after last year I wouldn’t count on 3 unless Carr comes up big. So basically our money might not go as far as some other teams. 

[RaceToTheTop]

6 minutes ago, BtownStrength said:

Haven't seen much of Estrella, would he be able to coexist with Fru? Or are their skill sets too overlapping? 

It would be pretty difficult to play them together IMO.  

[Home Jersey]

8 minutes ago, RaceToTheTop said:

There is something noteworthy as well when looking at some of the 'big names':  I think as fans we tend to over or under value players.  Burton is ranked 17th in the portal on 247, Fru is ranked 24th, and Estrella is ranked 26th.  Haralson is ranked 40th.  

At the end of the day, Haralson is a big name because of what he was expected to do at Notre Dame.  At the end of the day, the fact that he has no perimeter game is a huge wart.

 

Especially with the price tag he supposedly wants. 

9 minutes ago, BtownStrength said:

Haven't seen much of Estrella, would he be able to coexist with Fru? Or are their skill sets too overlapping? 

Good question, not sure... I didn't catch many UT games this year. 

I do like the idea of having 3 guys that are practically 7' if we get both and keep Andrej. I think Estrella is probably more likely than Fru

[AH1971]

1 hour ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

So, in summary, we won’t spend big on the biggest fish.  
 

Our 3 top (highest) paid realistic targets are Burton, Fru, Estrella. 
 

Bidunga dreams are over.  
 

Vaaks, Juke, Haralson as the long shot targets that aren’t likely but hope isn’t totally dashed.  
 

And we’ve landed a South Alabama 4 that doesn’t rebound or defend but can shoot it.    
 

Tune in tomorrow for the next Episode of As the Portal Turns.  

That’s your conclusion not even 12 hours into this thing being officially open? On the other hand I’m not surprised either. 
 

A backcourt of Burton, Brumbaugh, and maybe someone like Mustaf would be massive upgrades from last year. So would adding Estrella and/or Fru. Throw in the South Alabama kid and another backup C with some size and your 1-8 is decidedly better than last year. 

[IndianaSconnie90]

34 minutes ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

I don’t want this to be about me.

14 million needed for 5 spots is the quote. We have 12-14 million max for the whole team. Portal is too expensive for us to do ultimate damage, imo.

1. Top 25?  We all know that’s unlikely.  That’s more upsetting to me than others. acknowledged. 

2. Outsmart the scouts?  That’s our best option and maybe only option.  If you don’t get pick of the litter, youve got to see something others don’t. We failed miserably at this last season.  There is hope Carr/others can help with that his year. This is where hope lies if we aren’t outbidding on competition for the most coveted.  

Why do you seem to think the this athletic department is short on money? This sentiment is very confusing. I have no doubt that the financials are robust. You can't look at the money they're throwing at the football team and think they dont have enough lettuce to put IU basketball at the top as far as money goes

[RaceToTheTop]

39 minutes ago, Home Jersey said:

It's an interesting thought exercise. I don't hate the idea of spending on two bigs. I'd also like if our big 3 was spent on a guard / guard / big ... we will really need to nail the eval for the non spendy players too.

Positional size across the board is pretty much the one constant of the NIL era champions. Very curious how the roster for year 2 differs from year 1

If you are going to pay big for 2 bigs, they have to be able to coexist together.  Estrella or Fru and Sherrill IMO can coexist -- Sherrill has a very respectable perimeter game.  If you sign Estrella and Fru, IMO you are just going to have two players splitting 40 minutes at the 5.

[IU Prof]

2 hours ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

So, in summary, we won’t spend big on the biggest fish.  
 

Our 3 top (highest) paid realistic targets are Burton, Fru, Estrella. 
 

Bidunga dreams are over.  
 

Vaaks, Juke, Haralson as the long shot targets that aren’t likely but hope isn’t totally dashed.  
 

And we’ve landed a South Alabama 4 that doesn’t rebound or defend but can shoot it.    
 

Tune in tomorrow for the next Episode of As the Portal Turns.  

Huh? We've been tied to Juke Harris and Blackwell, currently #2 and #3, respectively, in the On3 rankings, just in the last 24 hours.

[IU Prof]

48 minutes ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

I don’t want this to be about me.

14 million needed for 5 spots is the quote. We have 12-14 million max for the whole team. Portal is too expensive for us to do ultimate damage, imo.

You have no idea what the budget is, or whether there is room to expand it.

Whenever a report fits your narrative you give it full weight. When a report cuts against your narrative, you trivialize it.

Just chill, dude, and see how things play out.

[newcastle12]

36 minutes ago, Shooter said:

I've seen random dollar amounts thrown around. Do you have it somewhere that IU is not top 25 in basketball NIL? That would be surprising to me.

Talking about 3 top 30 guys is certainly a good sign that we're going to be spenders. We'll see who we ultimately land though.

IU is going to be somewhere between 11-14 in total revenue share and NIL together.  Last year we were probably around 10.  So the high side will be if a certain donor quits throwing his hissy fit over the coaching change, and probably slightly higher if they do not.

For the record, St Louis just promised around 12 to keep their coach.  So our NIL is ok, but it's probably top 25.  It's at best in the mid teens 15 or a bit lower.  

[IU Prof]

 

1 minute ago, newcastle12 said:

IU is going to be somewhere between 11-14 in total revenue share and NIL together.  Last year we were probably around 10.  So the high side will be if a certain donor quits throwing his hissy fit over the coaching change, and probably slightly higher if they do not.

For the record, St Louis just promised around 12 to keep their coach.  So our NIL is ok, but it's probably top 25.  It's at best in the mid teens 15 or a bit lower.  

Unless you work in the AD or are a big donor, no one here has any actual clue what the NIL is. It's all just second hand info.

[newcastle12]

9 minutes ago, IU Prof said:

Huh? We've been tied to Juke Harris and Blackwell, currently #2 and #3, respectively, in the On3 rankings, just in the last 24 hours.

I doubt we are in serious with Juke or Blackwell.  I doubt we are in serious with anyone making much more than 3 million.

[newcastle12]

1 minute ago, IU Prof said:

 

Unless you work in the AD or are a big donor, no one here has any actual clue what the NIL is. It's all just second hand info.

Yep, but it was obvious we weren't a big top spender last year.   Because you could watch basketball and see who other teams had vs. us.  

[8bucks]

7 minutes ago, IndianaSconnie90 said:

Why do you seem to think the this athletic department is short on money? This sentiment is very confusing. I have no doubt that the financials are robust. You can't look at the money they're throwing at the football team and think they dont have enough lettuce to put IU basketball at the top as far as money goes

Heard Rabby explain this pretty well.  When you have to go deep into the portal for a lot of players you will have to over pay vs if you were just increasing a current kids pay. He shared an example from a coach who said they estimated that a couple of current kids could command a 50% increase if they hit the portal. The coach offered them 15% (willing to go to 20%) and both accepted the 15%.  
 

Secondly, Woody turned off a lot of agents who would not send kids to IU. This is turning around now so that is good but combine this with having a less successful program than most top 25-30 schools we have to pay more than schools we want to compete with to land a player. 
 

Lastly, he was asked what he thought IU needed to spend based on where IU is now in order to field a team that could make a run and he said $18 million.  He was then asked what he thought they would spend and that was around $14 million.  The $14 million, combined with how much we spend on coaches and the overall program, should be enough to build a team that makes it into the tournament safely but probably is not enough to make any noise. 
 

His point, which I share, is that in order to make up lost ground we have to spend more than other programs for a year or 2. It seems that IU may not have the $18 million but hopefully they do or get kids to outperform their ranking. 

[WayneFleekHoosier]

13 minutes ago, IU Prof said:

Huh? We've been tied to Juke Harris and Blackwell, currently #2 and #3, respectively, in the On3 rankings, just in the last 24 hours.

I’ve talked to people. Harris isn’t a thing. Blackwell isn’t a thing. And Vaaks isn’t a thing. People can be mad at me as the bearer of bad news but that’s why my slant is less optimistic than you all.  

[IU Prof]

3 minutes ago, newcastle12 said:

I doubt we are in serious with Juke or Blackwell.  I doubt we are in serious with anyone making much more than 3 million.

Well, national reporters listed IU as one of 3 or 4 teams to watch for both players, just today. I'll take their word over Debbie Downer speculation.

[IU Prof]

Just now, WayneFleekHoosier said:

I’ve talked to people. Harris isn’t a thing. Blackwell isn’t a thing. And Vaaks isn’t a thing. People can be mad at me as the bearer of bad news but that’s why my slant is less optimistic than you all.  

Jamie Shaw and Travis Branham say otherwise. No offense, but I trust their sources more than yours.

[IU Prof]

Gotta love people who discount every report tying IU to top portal talent, only to then be angry that IU isn't serious about signing top talent. All on Day 1 of the portal...

I swear, some of you would find a way to complain about free ice cream...

[WayneFleekHoosier]

4 minutes ago, newcastle12 said:

Yep, but it was obvious we weren't a big top spender last year.   Because you could watch basketball and see who other teams had vs. us.  

People don’t like the reality of Indiana basketball around here. It’s easy to set the narrative. It’s not hard to make it clear what your intentions are. 
 

For example. Louisville will host Bidunga and Shelstad. That makes a statement regardless of if they get those guys or not. 
 

Indiana is doing the opposite of this. It’ not hard to figure out. Plus I’ve got a few X people talk to giving me scoop. 

[WayneFleekHoosier]

4 minutes ago, IU Prof said:

Well, national reporters listed IU as one of 3 or 4 teams to watch for both players, just today. I'll take their word over Debbie Downer speculation.

It’s ok.  I view myself as a realist. I’ve talked to people I trust. We aren’t getting Juke Harris or Blackwell.  We did get the South Alabama kid though if that makes ya feel better. 

[IU Prof]

1 minute ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

People don’t like the reality of Indiana basketball around here. It’s easy to set the narrative. It’s not hard to make it clear what your intentions are. 
 

For example. Louisville will host Bidunga and Shelstad. That makes a statement regardless of if they get those guys or not. 
 

Indiana is doing the opposite of this. It’ not hard to figure out. Plus I’ve got a few X people talk to giving me scoop. 

So when UL strikes out on Bidunga and Shelstad, you'll give them credit for the effort.

But if IU hosts a top target and misses, something tells me you won't be so generous.