Transfer Portal w IU Interest

[Napleshoosier]

Uve the Blabbster!

[HoosierHoopster]

1 hour ago, RaceToTheTop said:

But it also hurts other individual players and REALLY hurts high school recruits.  There are winners and losers here outside of the money aspect.

We don’t disagree but that cat’s out of the bag. I don’t like that HS players now have to compete for spots with vet college transfers, but DI isn’t going back to pre-NIL. The problem of the impact of NIL on mid-majors, which I’ve mentioned bf, is not so much a money problem as an impact on the college game as a whole problem. That’s a problem that at least conceivably can be addressed by regulation, limiting the number of transfers or similar regs might help the impact on HS players, but that’s harder to address with NIL out of the bag

[Hoosierfanyuh]

1 hour ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

I am also saying we are one Ballo injury away from a very limited ceiling as a team. People that think sliding Reneau to the 5 is best isn’t the fix they think.  Doesn’t rebound well.  Doesn’t rim protect well.  Give me an athletic freak that can’t dribble as a backup five. Then run him with 4 guards. New guy is gonna get eaten alive by the athelticism/size of Power 5. 

No one is going to sign to sit bench to Ballo with limited minutes that is super good. Thats an unrealistic ask. If anyone’s starting center gets hurt that hampers anyone’s ceiling, not just IUs. Hatton knows his role. Hopefully there’s no major injuries and we don’t need to deal with that.

[RaceToTheTop]

56 minutes ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

Not every athletic big is Perea.  You’d rather have this dude over Onyensu from Kentucky or something similar?  Or Somto Cyril?  Or some guy like that.  Or Fidunga off the bench like KU will have. It’s going to be a weak spot in this team this year.  Give me an athletic freak over a limited guy that isn’t athletic enough to compete in the first place like Sparks. 

so you are asking if I’d rather have Onyensu — the best post left in the portal — or Somto Cyril — the best available uncommitted high school post — or another post who a McDonald’s all-American who is off the board already instead of Hatton?  Seems like a pretty loaded question.  
 

it’s not Madden.  You don’t get to just put a guy on your team.  I mean, cool, let’s just add one of the guys you listed.  Heck, let’s add two of them.  Or we can deal with the fact that one of the three you listed is committed elsewhere and the other two aren’t looking to come in and get not as many minutes as they will get elsewhere to go along with $.

[RaceToTheTop]

1 hour ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

I don’t even know what this sentence means. It’s usually freshman BiGs on the bench. Sometimes you get an Edey sometimes you get a Logan Duncomb.  Also this isn’t pre-Nil so this argument has no relation.  But I’d rather have Bidunga on the bench if that’s my option. Or a Xavier Booker even.  

why do you keep bringing Bidunga up as if he were an option?  And now Xavier Booker?

They aren’t options.  And now you are bringing up Edey and Duncomb — neither of which meet the criteria that wanted in a backup big which was being an athletic freak.  Edey was a 300ish ranked player with no foot speed….and regardless of what he actually did in college, you would NOT have been happy coming into freshman year as our backup big.

[Stuhoo]

Young Mr. Hatton fits.

We’re not putting together a fantasy football roster of as many high ceiling prospects as possible. We’re trying to build a roster that can gel and win. No guarantees, but I fully believe that this is a round peg in a round hole.

[Home Jersey]

Hatton would be a nice pick up especially given the available options, seems like he'd be serviceable in a limited role.

I agree with @WayneFleekHoosier 100% though in that we are just one injury away in the front court from being in the same position as this past year with the backcourt. That's just factual - in fact, it would be worse than losing XJ for an extended period IMO and frankly I don't see how that's debatable. Malik as your 5 for extended periods will have you on the wrong end of a scoring run, and then he'll get in foul trouble. How long will it take? Then it will be Hatton or Mack and 4 guards. Hope we don't end up asking him to do too much.

In an ideal world we'd have a sophomore/junior/senior already on the roster who could rebound well and defend the post. I'd even take a senior Jordan Geronimo with Hatton as the final piece to the roster, and I know people will roast me for that take lol.

Yes we're not going to add someone better than Hatton most likely at this point in the cycle... that doesn't mean front court depth isn't a valid concern. 

[WayneFleekHoosier]

why do you keep bringing Bidunga up as if he were an option?  And now Xavier Booker?
They aren’t options.  And now you are bringing up Edey and Duncomb — neither of which meet the criteria that wanted in a backup big which was being an athletic freak.  Edey was a 300ish ranked player with no foot speed….and regardless of what he actually did in college, you would NOT have been happy coming into freshman year as our backup big.

Because Bidunga IS the backup 5 for Kansas because they secured him early and were able to keep him committed. (Kansas method better than IU in this scenario). I bring up Booker because they secured him early and he ended up being 3rd string this year.

My point is, Indiana might need to revisit this backup big situation. This is 2 seasons in a row we are filling the spot with an unqualified moderately successful player from a low major with major athletic limitations and severely capping our total roster ceiling in the process. To only have that player leave after one year. This is a staff flaw imo, that I’m identifying early and hope it’s considered in future roster builds.

I KNOW this isn’t madden. But many other schools have back up bigs that fit the program they are at. At least give me a guy to mold, build, that has tangible assets to the current team.

UConn has Tarris Reed as it’s backup big from the portal for example. There are numerous examples. Arrington Page could be a guy. So many….




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[WayneFleekHoosier]

No one is going to sign to sit bench to Ballo with limited minutes that is super good. Thats an unrealistic ask. If anyone’s starting center gets hurt that hampers anyone’s ceiling, not just IUs. Hatton knows his role. Hopefully there’s no major injuries and we don’t need to deal with that.

Kansas has Bidunga
Duke has Ngongba
UConn has Tarris Reed
Tenn has Okpara/Mikicic
Alabama has Nelson/Omoruyi/Sherrell
Michigan has Goldin/Wolf

I think I can list a lot of guys. I’d just rather have a higher upside guy that might be able to handle Power 5 ball. I guarantee there are some Freshman/Sophomores out there that aren’t street names that become solid players on rosters unheard because they’ve developed and got a chance. Which of the 3 Purdue bigs is it this year that blossoms?



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[RaceToTheTop]

10 minutes ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

 

Because Bidunga IS the backup 5 for Kansas because they secured him early and were able to keep him committed. (Kansas method better than IU in this scenario). I bring up Booker because they secured him early and he ended up being 3rd string this year.

My point is, Indiana might need to revisit this backup big situation. This is 2 seasons in a row we are filling the spot with an unqualified moderately successful player from a low major with major athletic limitations and severely capping our total roster ceiling in the process. To only have that player leave after one year. This is a staff flaw imo, that I’m identifying early and hope it’s considered in future roster builds.

I KNOW this isn’t madden. But many other schools have back up bigs that fit the program they are at. At least give me a guy to mold, build, that has tangible assets to the current team.

UConn has Tarris Reed as it’s backup big from the portal for example. There are numerous examples. Arrington Page could be a guy. So many….




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The young guys you are talking about ‘molding’ are top 50 recruits, some even McDonald’s All American’s.

Tarris Reed, at worst will be splitting even minutes with U Conn’s Johnson. And I’m willing to bet he plays more than Johnson.

Arrington Page?  I like him.  But he’s also off the board.  Committed to Cincinnati where he will likely get what IU can’t give him — tons of PT.

[Stuhoo]

24 minutes ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

Kansas has Bidunga
Duke has Ngongba
UConn has Tarris Reed
Tenn has Okpara/Mikicic
Alabama has Nelson/Omoruyi/Sherrell
Michigan has Goldin/Wolf

I think I can list a lot of guys. I’d just rather have a higher upside guy that might be able to handle Power 5 ball. I guarantee there are some Freshman/Sophomores out there that aren’t street names that become solid players on rosters unheard because they’ve developed and got a chance. Which of the 3 Purdue bigs is it this year that blossoms?



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A lot of those pairs you list are going to start together. So in that spirit, IU has both Reneau and Ballo at the 5.

”But Reneau is going to be at the 4”

so are Nelson and Wolf.

[RaceToTheTop]

6 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

A lot of those pairs you list are going to start together. So in that spirit, IU has both Reneau and Ballo at the 5.

”But Reneau is going to be at the 4”

so are Nelson and Wolf.

Correct.  Nelson almost exclusively playing the 4 and Wolf likely spending half his time there (until, IMO, they find out he can't defend the 4 for any long stretches and his PT gets cut).  Should also be noted that Wolf goes completely against the definition of 'athletic big who can't dribble'.

In terms of 'which of the 3 Purdue bigs will blossom'....I do have a question for Wayne:  which of those three would you want to IU's backup big next year?  Burgess, the 137th ranked recruit, Jacobsen, the 149th ranked recruit, or Will Berg, who redshirted his freshman year and only played 55 minutes last year?  It's a serious question, because the guy you pick would have to be the guy taking over for Ballo if he got hurt.  

[go iu bb]

55 minutes ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

 

Because Bidunga IS the backup 5 for Kansas because they secured him early and were able to keep him committed. (Kansas method better than IU in this scenario). I bring up Booker because they secured him early and he ended up being 3rd string this year.

My point is, Indiana might need to revisit this backup big situation. This is 2 seasons in a row we are filling the spot with an unqualified moderately successful player from a low major with major athletic limitations and severely capping our total roster ceiling in the process. To only have that player leave after one year. This is a staff flaw imo, that I’m identifying early and hope it’s considered in future roster builds.

I KNOW this isn’t madden. But many other schools have back up bigs that fit the program they are at. At least give me a guy to mold, build, that has tangible assets to the current team.

UConn has Tarris Reed as it’s backup big from the portal for example. There are numerous examples. Arrington Page could be a guy. So many….

 

 

That's what happens when you have no HS recruits and have to build a roster from the transfer portal.

[WayneFleekHoosier]

16 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

A lot of those pairs you list are going to start together. So in that spirit, IU has both Reneau and Ballo at the 5.

”But Reneau is going to be at the 4”

so are Nelson and Wolf.

Nah.  That’s why I named 3 Alabama bigs. 1 of them isn’t starting. Give be Sherrell as a bench piece every single day. 
 

Goldin and Wolf might start some games together but I doubt they go that way much. They are both 5’s. 
 

and no one else on that list start together. 

Edited May 10, 2024 by WayneFleekHoosier

[WayneFleekHoosier]

2 minutes ago, go iu bb said:

That's what happens when you have no HS recruits and have to build a roster from the transfer portal.

That’s partly my point. That’s why I mentioned Bidunga, Booker, and the plethora of Purdue bigs as examples.  Sherrell is another great example. 
 

Tarris Reed is the best transfer portal example but in general the backup 5 spot should probably come from the HS ranks. Because no matter the war chest IU has we aren’t getting a playable backup 5.  Sparks was unplayable last year. It took Woodson 25 games to figure that out.  
 

 

[RaceToTheTop]

Back to Hatton -- teams said to be recruiting him (this was a little while back) were Minnesota, Indiana, Ohio State, and Clemson.

Minnesota has since signed a big from Texas-SA;  today Clemson signed Christain Reeves.  Have no idea what has went wrong with him but in two seasons he's barely seen the court at all for Duke after coming out of high school with accoloades.  

So two of the schools in contention have recently signed bigs.  So in terms of PT available, IU and Ohio State would be Hatton's best opportunities on that list.  The Ohio State fit is a little tough to figure out -- they've had a lot of players in and out.  They brought in Aaron Bradshaw to be their starting center and Sean Stewart to start at power forward;  both have good upsides but underwhelming freshman seasons.  They are bringing back one power forward who was in their rotation last year and another combo forward plus a center who were freshman last year who were not in the rotation.  Some it would seem they would have room for a backup center.  They are down to one scholarship.

[RaceToTheTop]

9 minutes ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

That’s partly my point. That’s why I mentioned Bidunga, Booker, and the plethora of Purdue bigs as examples.  Sherrell is another great example. 
 

Tarris Reed is the best transfer portal example but in general the backup 5 spot should probably come from the HS ranks. Because no matter the war chest IU has we aren’t getting a playable backup 5.  Sparks was unplayable last year. It took Woodson 25 games to figure that out.  
 

 

My point is simply that you can't retroactively change the issue of not having a HS recruit in the past and all the staff can do right now is deal with what is in the portal.  None of the players you have brought up -- other than Onyenso and Cyril -- are currently available.  Onyenso IMO isn't a realistic option because he will be able to latch on somewhere playing big minutes and getting paid -- we can't provide the big minutes -- and my assumption is Cyril is a option that most schools touched base with and he's already narrowed his list.

There have been a couple of bigs that Woodson has gotten commitments from (or at least kept the commitments from Miller) -- Logan Duncomb and Kaleb Banks (whom I would classify as a 4).  Neither worked out.  

[Demo]

33 minutes ago, RaceToTheTop said:

 

In terms of 'which of the 3 Purdue bigs will blossom'....I do have a question for Wayne:  which of those three would you want to IU's backup big next year?  Burgess, the 137th ranked recruit, Jacobsen, the 149th ranked recruit, or Will Berg, who redshirted his freshman year and only played 55 minutes last year?  It's a serious question, because the guy you pick would have to be the guy taking over for Ballo if he got hurt.  

I agree with your point here, but I gotta say this, I love Burgess and assuming he’s back 100% from the broken leg I’d take that kid in a New York second. 

[RaceToTheTop]

19 minutes ago, Demo said:

I agree with your point here, but I gotta say this, I love Burgess and assuming he’s back 100% from the broken leg I’d take that kid in a New York second. 

But would you take him as your backup big next year?  Would you be comfortable playing him 10 to 15 minutes per game?

Personally, I will go on record as saying that Burgess and Peterson will neither see the court much and I would not be surprised if Peterson redshirts.  Of the three players I listed, I will go on record as saying that none average 15 minutes per game and the only one who might average 10 is Berg.  I fully expect that Kaufman-Renn and Furst will be getting the lion's share for Purdue at the five.  Painter likes his bigs but Purdue's talent is mostly at the 4 position next year and Furst not leaving IMO says he's going to be getting an uptick in minutes.  Painter is going to want Catchings on the floor which means I think you see Kaufman-Renn and Furst at the 5 when then can do so.

[Demo]

1 hour ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

 

UConn has Tarris Reed as it’s backup big from the portal for example. There are numerous examples. Arrington Page could be a guy. So many….




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I get the point you’re making here, but there is zero chance that Hurley’s pitch to Reed was to come back up Samson Johnson. It’s completely different then selling a high end kid on coming to Bloomington where Ballo is going to get 30 mins and it’s entirely likely that your leading returning scorer is going to get the 10-12 mins Ballo’s sitting. I get the desire to have a young big with upside. I wanted Queen as much as anyone. That’s not how that worked out. There were a couple of young bigs in the portal I liked, but the staff clearly prioritized a physically and emotionally mature veteran kid to fill a niche. That’s not the direction I would have gone but it’s completely defensible. Sparks didn’t work because he was simply skill deficient. Assuming that it does turn out to be Hatton he has skill elements that would play and he checks an awful lot of boxes. And 1 element he possesses that a lot of kids don’t, and I don’t usually put my thumb on the scale for local kids, is that he walks in with a clearer understanding of the expectations surrounding IUBB than a kid like Konstantynovskyi or even a high major kid from elsewhere is likely to have, and that’s not nothin’.