2026-27 Roster/Portal/how to fix the roster?

[CSP]

24 minutes ago, Shooter said:

If our team of mid major players was Boyd, Wilkerson, Lendeborg, Devries, Cluff - plus Alexis, Dorn, some other mid major guard off the bench - that would have been an excellent team.

I wouldn't throw out mid major transfers just because some of ours this season stunk, just like I wouldn't throw out high major transfers because of how bad Kanaan Carlyle was.

Cluff sucks. He's only decent because the rest of that team is excellent, but I do agree... that team is very solid. 

 

35 minutes ago, str8baller said:

You got to, to even be interested the next three years. For my sanity, I’m breaking the odds down thusly: 

1-1.5% chance Devries pulls an Underwood/Hurley/Golden and goes from zero to hero. 
 

75% chance that with Carr and our NIL we’ll field average tourney teams for 3 years before either moving on to the next guy or entering the spiral of hell by offering an extension.  
 

23.5-24% chance we’re entering the Archie Experience 2.0

Ehhh.. nahhhh

Plus... "fielding decent tourney teams" would be suuuuuch a step above where we have been for 10 years. 

[Shooter]

10 minutes ago, Uspshoosier said:

For sure but not sure they would have had the money to pay all those top  players on the same team.  IU isn’t Kentucky and have 22 mil to spend  

Do you think Boyd or Cluff cost that much? I doubt either was more than Reed Bailey.

Lendeborg sure, but replace him with some other decent wing and that's still a tourney team

[Artie86]

...you have to admit,.... Pre - NIL,........

all players had was what they brought to a team, the desire to play for "that coach" or "that school" and the hopes that a great season/seasons will get you noticed and closer to the NBA.

Current - NIL,.......It's a double edge sword! Money changes everything no matter what you say or think. Yes it can bring in unlikely players who normally wouldn't come and help change the direction of that university. IMO, It also might cloud/soften certain players desire and will to play to their highest potential.  I say this, because of quite possibly, the large amount of money these players are paid sometimes creates a false security as if they have "finally made it". All this being said, I can see some players thinking this way, especially at the end of their college playing career.

[Five Prime]

The roster deficiencies were obvious from the start of the season. If someone wanted to waste a lot of time, skimming the game threads from some of the pre-conference games against P4 teams would surely reveal thematic concerns. Concerns centered around athleticism, perimeter defense, and rebounding. On the plus side, the shooting was better than recent seasons. 

[Pagoda]

1 hour ago, pumpfake said:

The above bolded is the key, IMO. It's Cig's secret power.

I understand that CDD was late to shop the portal, but wasn't he and his staff at WV scouring & scouting it throughout last season? Some act as if he was dropped into the position out of thin air.  Also, knowing Woodson was a lame duck, why didn't Dolson have someone on board to bridge the gap like Matta was supposed to have been or Carr is supposed to be?

Feb/Mar last year was a clusterhump in retrospect.

IMO, the bold/underline is a fair counter-point the late to the portal narrative.  It worries me a bit.

As for a Carr-like person to bridge the gap last year, that would have been good, however that seems like it would have been a tricky hire.  You want the head coach as part of that hiring decision, but the head coach hasn't been hired yet.  And the Carr-like person would want to know who the head coach was before joining.  Plus Woody was a combative @$$ that made IU unappealing until he left.  I don't know -- just thinking out loud.  Maybe I'm wrong.

On the topic of Carr, I am kinda worried CDD struggled with his scouting and we're really pinning our hopes on Carr.  Not sure we're gonna make it if CDD struggles with player selection, though to be clear it's still TBD if it's an issue.  With IUFB, the staff does a lot recruiting work, but Cig is very involved with player selection and at the end of the day he more or less handpicks the whole roster.

Anyways, a clusterhump (good term) indeed.

[Home Jersey]

1 minute ago, Pagoda said:

IMO, the bold/underline is a fair counter-point the late to the portal narrative.  It worries me a bit.

As for a Carr-like person to bridge the gap last year, that would have been good, however that seems like it would have been a tricky hire.  You want the head coach as part of that hiring decision, but the head coach hasn't been hired yet.  And the Carr-like person would want to know who the head coach was before joining.  Plus Woody was a combative @$$ that made IU unappealing until he left.  I don't know -- just thinking out loud.  Maybe I'm wrong.

On the topic of Carr, I am kinda worried CDD struggled with his scouting and we're really pinning our hopes on Carr.  Not sure we're gonna make it if CDD struggles with player selection, though to be clear it's still TBD if it's an issue.  As we know Cig is very involved with player selection and at the end of the day more or less handpicks the whole roster.

Anyways, a clusterhump (good term) indeed.

I don't normally read too much into body language stuff on TV but that game couldn't end soon enough for DDV. He hasn't been a HC for 10 years total on any level in his entire life yet. That's still pretty green as far as being a HC imo.

You could see it show up in the way we had 3 different starting lineups this year, let alone all the mismanagement of the portal process. Delegating tasks is a lot different from doing them hands on. You can be a great assistant, learn how to set up a program, and just not be able to run the show yourself. You've gotta cut your teeth for a while to form an identity and optimize around it.

I hate comparing across sports, but maybe an optimistic path would be like Marcus Freeman. Certainly not apples to apples in that ND was already in good shape and he was an internal hire, but he was a flat out bad in game coach his first year. He has steadily improved year over year. DDV hasn't shown that from WVU to IU record wise, so hopefully we see it next year or his seat will be hot IMO. I do wonder if when it's all said and done, DDV won't think he made a bad career move leaving WVU after a year and upsetting his assistants and players.

Hopefully we get wowed by the portal haul. 

[Loaded Chicken Sandwich]

Justin Kirby will probably transfer from Miami(OH). 

Treyson Anderson from North Dakota State(my guess is Nebraska robs him).

Pharrel Payne will likely have another year left. 

Maybe Washington breaks apart. Desmond Claude, Zoom Diallo and Hannes Steinbach could be available. 

Kwame Evans anybody? Jackson Shelstad?

How would Purdue fans feel if we grabbed Will Berg? 

Camren Hunter from Central Arkansas could have another year left. 

Need a few more 7 footers. Need guards that are aggressive offensively and can actually get downhill and attack defenses. 

[Pagoda]

2 minutes ago, Home Jersey said:

I don't normally read too much into body language stuff on TV but that game couldn't end soon enough for DDV. He hasn't been a HC for 10 years total on any level in his entire life yet. That's still pretty green as far as being a HC imo.

You could see it show up in the way we had 3 different starting lineups this year, let alone all the mismanagement of the portal process. Delegating tasks is a lot different from doing them hands on. You can be a great assistant, learn how to set up a program, and just not be able to run the show yourself. You've gotta cut your teeth for a while to form an identity and optimize around it.

I hate comparing across sports, but maybe an optimistic path would be like Marcus Freeman. Certainly not apples to apples in that ND was already in good shape and he was an internal hire, but he was a flat out bad in game coach his first year. He has steadily improved year over year. DDV hasn't shown that from WVU to IU record wise, so hopefully we see it next year or his seat will be hot IMO. I do wonder if when it's all said and done, DDV won't think he made a bad career move leaving WVU after a year and upsetting his assistants and players.

Hopefully we get wowed by the portal haul. 

On the body language topic, I'd add that his press conferences are less than convincing.

We definitely need CDD to be a fast learner/adapter.  Fingers crossed.

[str8baller]

12 minutes ago, CSP said:

Plus... "fielding decent tourney teams" would be suuuuuch a step above where we have been for 10 years.

I know everyone hates Woody here, and he mostly deserves it. But he had a team that earned a 4 seed in tourney. 
 

In over 30 years…THIRTY…we’ve had exactly 3 teams that were a 4 seed or higher: the two Zeller teams and the Jeffries team.  
 

Devries has a lot of work to do to put out a team to earn a top 4 seed. But I mostly agree with you: if he strings together two years of a 10 seed or better most fans will feel good about him. I think…

[Five Prime]

6 minutes ago, Loaded Chicken Sandwich said:

Justin Kirby will probably transfer from Miami(OH). 

Treyson Anderson from North Dakota State(my guess is Nebraska robs him).

Pharrel Payne will likely have another year left. 

Maybe Washington breaks apart. Desmond Claude, Zoom Diallo and Hannes Steinbach could be available. 

Kwame Evans anybody? Jackson Shelstad?

How would Purdue fans feel if we grabbed Will Berg? 

Camren Hunter from Central Arkansas could have another year left. 

Need a few more 7 footers. Need guards that are aggressive offensively and can actually get downhill and attack defenses. 

If Wes Miller gets fired, throw out an offer Thiam can't refuse

[IUHoosier5]

Dorn, Miles, Harris, Drake, the two foreign freshman, and Sisley are who I would bring back to have some continuity, but I would be recruiting over them… so an entirely new starting 5. Ideally, 2 of the 5 are legit NBA prospects. 

[Loaded Chicken Sandwich]

15 minutes ago, Five Prime said:

If Wes Miller gets fired, throw out an offer Thiam can't refuse

Donnie Freeman from Cuse probably gonna be available too. I bet Buzz will go pretty hard after him. Maryland likely to be pretty good next year anyways.

 

James Nnaji anyone? 

[Stuhoo]

22 minutes ago, Loaded Chicken Sandwich said:

How would Purdue fans feel if we grabbed Will Berg? 

Purdue fans would be fine with it, but Wichita State fans would be pissed.

[Home Jersey]

11 minutes ago, IUHoosier5 said:

Dorn, Miles, Harris, Drake, the two foreign freshman, and Sisley are who I would bring back to have some continuity, but I would be recruiting over them… so an entirely new starting 5. Ideally, 2 of the 5 are legit NBA prospects. 

Those are all the guys we can possibly return from this year haha. + the 3 freshmen, that's 10 spots. I think the roster limit is 13?

So to get an entire new starting 5, you need 2 of those guys to transfer

[Stuhoo]

6 minutes ago, Home Jersey said:

Those are all the guys we can possibly return from this year haha. + the 3 freshmen, that's 10 spots. I think the roster limit is 13?

So to get an entire new starting 5, you need 2 of those guys to transfer

No worries with two needing to transfer—that’s one thing that’s easily achievable.

[Home Jersey]

1 minute ago, Stuhoo said:

No worries with two needing to transfer—that’s one thing that’s easily achievable.

For sure.

2 seems like the minimum? Maybe the best from a budget perspective. But boy, we can use all the help we can get. 

[Golfman25]

1 hour ago, pumpfake said:

The above bolded is the key, IMO. It's Cig's secret power.

I understand that CDD was late to shop the portal, but wasn't he and his staff at WV scouring & scouting it throughout last season? Some act as if he was dropped into the position out of thin air.  Also, knowing Woodson was a lame duck, why didn't Dolson have someone on board to bridge the gap like Matta was supposed to have been or Carr is supposed to be?

Feb/Mar last year was a clusterhump in retrospect.

Exactly.  He already should have had a short list of players.  Seems like he was caught totally off guard, which isn't a good sign.  

[Stuhoo]

4 minutes ago, Home Jersey said:

For sure.

2 seems like the minimum? Maybe the best from a budget perspective. But boy, we can use all the help we can get. 

Ultimately, the buck stops with the evaluations and judgment of the staff. They know these players best, and if they’re wrong? They getting the Archie/Woody treatment.

[Uspshoosier]

55 minutes ago, Shooter said:

Do you think Boyd or Cluff cost that much?

Yes I think Cluff a top 40 transfer and 6th  rated center cost that much.  I know Purdue paid a lot to get him.   Boyd was a guard that has played in the national title game so yeah I think he cost some money as well 

[Loaded Chicken Sandwich]

23 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

Purdue fans would be fine with it, but Wichita State fans would be pissed.

Go get Berg and steal Jacobsen. It'd be kind of hilarious.