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Transfer Portal w IU Interest

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2 hours ago, Hoosier Roots said:

Doubt anyone significantly better is coming here to possibly ride the bench 

Yep, this is where I'm at right now. First of all, let me assure you, I have no bias here (wink wink to a few of you) 

My initial reaction to an Essegian transfer was totally unmoved. If he couldn't crack the rotation at Wiscy, why should we want him. To a degree I still think there's a tiny bit of merit in that. At the same time, we're talking about someone who'd be playing 8 or 9th man. So what was he able to achieve playing in the same conference as us?

  • Big 10 All Freshman team honors. 
  • 27 MIN, 11.7 PTS, 3.7 REB, 0.7 AST, 40% FG, 36% 3PT as a freshman

Would have loved to land Hickman, who is a hometown kid, as 3rd/4th guard in the rotation but it was probably never gonna happen because he wants to play bigger of a role than we could give him. Essegian is realistically probably the best you could hope for in that part of your rotation IMO... if he's willing to accept having a relatively limited, but very clearly defined role, with modest potential to earn more minutes in exchange for the other benefits that come along with being at Indiana.

I assume all these guys want to play and/or have a very clearly defined role, with the goal of playing professional basketball. I also assume that, to varying degrees, people and their circles are realistic with themselves about how likely that is / what they need to get there + do what's best for their immediate financial interest.

The pitch was probably fairly different for Hickman, but not what he ultimately wanted. Essegian's situation has some pretty important differences, though. 1) Coming off a season he fell out of the rotation 2) He's not transferring "up" a conference if he comes here (or down) 3) Multiple years of eligibility left. 

For a kid like Essegian, who's best bet at the NBA (no matter where he goes IMO) is probably being an UDFA and catching on with a team that's willing to have a cup of coffee with you ... can't imagine there's a better coach than Woody.

Even if that ultimately doesn't work out, he's got two years of being paid handsomely at his home state's flagship university while being developed by a former NBA coach who will make a referral to get you a shot with a team. All you can ask for as a player. And by staying in the B10, his overseas prospects would probably look better than transferring down, where he'd have more tape, but against worse competition and presumably lesser development in the eyes of foreign leagues. 

For a guy like Hickman, he's coming from a smaller school/conference and needs tape against high level competition to have an outside shot at playing professionally here/in the higher level leagues overseas. So for him, the math is a little different. 

At the end of the day, they're two different people so they'll prioritize things differently.

TL;DR: If we can sell Essegian on a very clearly defined role because he places enough value on all the other factors IU has to offer, that would be ideal, because you're unlikely to find a better end of the rotation player willing to take on limited minutes, but capable of playing more and doing so at a level that earned freshman all-conference honors.

Great shooter, fills a huge need skillset wise, and you're not asking too much of him... so he's unlikely to single handedly lose you games, but can very readily contribute to winning, and any big performances are just gravy. Sign me up. IMO close to a homerun pick up in that sort of role.

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Chris007
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Sounds like were in good shape with Conwell. I think we get him today, and Dix tonight or tomorrow. 

ap2345
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Wilkerson a Hoosier 

Chris007
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Let’s get excited about Lamar Wilkerson. Hopefully he’s next. 

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@Home Jersey I don't really think it's IU that needs selling on Essegian but rather Essegian needing selling on IU.  From his standpoint, is a small defined role better than what he could find elsewhere?  He can start at mid majors and compete for a starting job (might not win one) at a lower P5.  He will have other places he can get more minutes.  More $?  Maybe not.

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7 minutes ago, RaceToTheTop said:

@Home Jersey I don't really think it's IU that needs selling on Essegian but rather Essegian needing selling on IU.  From his standpoint, is a small defined role better than what he could find elsewhere?  He can start at mid majors and compete for a starting job (might not win one) at a lower P5.  He will have other places he can get more minutes.  More $?  Maybe not.

I think on Peegs it was said he wants to stay high major, for what it’s worth.

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22 minutes ago, RaceToTheTop said:

@Home Jersey I don't really think it's IU that needs selling on Essegian but rather Essegian needing selling on IU.  From his standpoint, is a small defined role better than what he could find elsewhere?  He can start at mid majors and compete for a starting job (might not win one) at a lower P5.  He will have other places he can get more minutes.  More $?  Maybe not.

I agree, my post was more geared toward fans that are not excited by the idea of adding Essegian. I think the staff pretty clearly values him based on the timing of the visit/smoke of things going well. In my post I mentioned a few reasons why I think he'd be sold on IU whereas a comparable role/pitch that we made to Hickman was not enough for him. 

IMO, more minutes would not necessarily benefit Essegian. No matter what level he plays at professionally, it's going to be in a sharpshooting role and he's probably never going to get significantly better on defense because of his limited athleticism/measurables. He's better off playing the politics of basketball by playing for a coach like Woody who is super connected and able to play him in the same role he would play professionally. If Essegian can play it at a high level and contribute to winning, all the better and he'll eventually have an opportunity to play more minutes. Go somewhere else trying to be the man/play in a featured role then not performing well, just harms his stock with pro teams/overseas leagues. Yes he's a competitor and wants to bet on himself but IMO if he's smart enough to make the right bet and position himself for the NBA, coming here makes the most sense. Because I don't think he's ever going to play himself into being an NBA draft pick and regardless of how much he plays or how well he does, if he works hard for a coach like Woody, he will get an invite to a Summer League team just like Race Thompson did or Miller Kopp did and the rest is in his hands. He can't get that at most other P5 schools. And he can also get paid probably more to do it here than elsewhere. 

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