Let’s talk Roster! 2026/2027

[BGleas]

10 minutes ago, AH1971 said:

 

Put Dorn in a competent lineup and those worries aren’t greatly exaggerated. Every team has a guy that shoots 3’s on offense and guards the opposing teams worst perimeter player. 

Again, I agree with you on the vast majority of this conversation, just not Dorn.  

He was bad at basically everything except spot-up shooting (which he was really only average at). 

Can't imagine Dorn starting and/or playing 20+ mpg on a good or even upper-middle of the pack Big Ten Team. 

Maybe he proves me wrong at Miami, but the ACC isn't the Big Ten.  

[Home Jersey]

9 minutes ago, ronzo4IU said:

How do we know Dorn wasn’t asking more than we paid Harris?

We don't but one can make an educated guess based on a few things, considering that it's more expensive to acquire talent in the portal than retain it, the market went up again this cycle even compared to last cycle, Dorn is probably deeper on the bench for Miami than Harris is for IU, and (I could be mistaken) we locked up Harris before he went on his UVA visit, so the number must've been good enough that the trip was no longer worthwhile 

[BGleas]

1 minute ago, AH1971 said:

Because he ended up at Miami where he’s their 4th or 5th guard.

With you on what could have been done with Harris' money if you're saying Dorn is kept as our 9th-10th guy (which would be 4th or 5th guard). 

Just not as a starter or 6th man playing 20+ mpg. 

[BGleas]

Complete apples to oranges comparison here, so almost even irrelevant numbers, but Harris' numbers last year at Duke would have ranked him on IU:

1st in DRtg

3rd in ORtg

[ronzo4IU]

57 minutes ago, Home Jersey said:

We don't but one can make an educated guess based on a few things, considering that it's more expensive to acquire talent in the portal than retain it, the market went up again this cycle even compared to last cycle, Dorn is probably deeper on the bench for Miami than Harris is for IU, and (I could be mistaken) we locked up Harris before he went on his UVA visit, so the number must've been good enough that the trip was no longer worthwhile 

I could see that, but I could also see it be fairly comparable too… maybe not but I can’t imagine we would pay that much for a player with quite a few limitations.

[AH1971]

2 hours ago, BGleas said:

Complete apples to oranges comparison here, so almost even irrelevant numbers, but Harris' numbers last year at Duke would have ranked him on IU:

1st in DRtg

3rd in ORtg

 

2 hours ago, BGleas said:

Complete apples to oranges comparison here, so almost even irrelevant numbers, but Harris' numbers last year at Duke would have ranked him on IU:

1st in DRtg

3rd in ORtg

DRtg factors almost entirely into the lineup around you. It’s extremely tough to have a poor DRtg when the entire team has a strong DRtg.

[AH1971]

3 hours ago, Home Jersey said:

We don't but one can make an educated guess based on a few things, considering that it's more expensive to acquire talent in the portal than retain it, the market went up again this cycle even compared to last cycle, Dorn is probably deeper on the bench for Miami than Harris is for IU, and (I could be mistaken) we locked up Harris before he went on his UVA visit, so the number must've been good enough that the trip was no longer worthwhile 

Yes. Both Harris and Mustaf had deep, prior connections to Kenny Johnson as he recruited both hard while at Georgetown. Staff wasn’t going to take a chance of getting the run around like last cycle and both players committed without taking other visits. Both were paid and paid well as we seemingly ran out of money after 6 players. We needed 7 or 8.

[Uspshoosier]

It’s only a poorly constructed roster if they stink.   If they win and make a run in March no one will remember or care that they didn’t spend more on a bench.   If an injury happens then that’s part of it and he can get ripped for not spending on a bench.     Only my opinion but even if they had the money I don’t think they spend it to make the freshman 11,12 and 13 on the roster.    His plan is 3 or 4 freshman a year and only use portal for holes.   You bring in 3 freshman and put them at the end of the bench and they are not named Sisley then those kids are bouncing.   Put those kids 7,8 and 9 with playing time and you have a better chance to retain and build the way you want to build especially with a stud pg  coming in 2027.  His construction seems to be to build for the long haul instead of trying to build the best roster for only next year.    Who knows all I can do is watch and see how it all plays out.  It will either work out or it won’t 

[Home Jersey]

For me it's not that the roster construction is so terrible, it's that the margin for error is extremely thin. Would've hoped to have more of a foundation to build on after Y1. It could prove to be the best choice possible to move on from everyone but Sisley and we could wind up hitting our stride in Y3 with a real core in place and Branham coming. IUBB needs to stop building a new roster every year. Hopefully this is a path to stability and we can roll from there. 

[ziggyiu]

All this talk about a lack of depth makes sense. It should also call into doubt that we actually spent $20M on this roster.

I don't think IU is withholding funds. I think they spent what was available. I don't think they spend unwisely either. They spent well for their budget. 

The choice was made to spend more on higher end, starter-caliber talent -- knowing the bench would need to consist of more unproven players: Harris, Sisley, German dude, freshman, and players willing to come here just for a scholarship. 

Every choice is a gamble. I'm excited to see how this works out. 

[WayneFleekHoosier]

1 hour ago, Uspshoosier said:

It’s only a poorly constructed roster if they stink.   If they win and make a run in March no one will remember or care that they didn’t spend more on a bench.   If an injury happens then that’s part of it and he can get ripped for not spending on a bench.     Only my opinion but even if they had the money I don’t think they spend it to make the freshman 11,12 and 13 on the roster.    His plan is 3 or 4 freshman a year and only use portal for holes.   You bring in 3 freshman and put them at the end of the bench and they are not named Sisley then those kids are bouncing.   Put those kids 7,8 and 9 with playing time and you have a better chance to retain and build the way you want to build especially with a stud pg  coming in 2027.  His construction seems to be to build for the long haul instead of trying to build the best roster for only next year.    Who knows all I can do is watch and see how it all plays out.  It will either work out or it won’t 

The difference to me is the freshman not having any actual competition for playing time.  That lowers the ceiling significantly because the spots are given.  If we had pieces at 8-12 that were competing for time that would mean the better ones win out.  The ones that aren’t as good, they have to choose to leave or stay and develop.  Either choice benefits us. 

[Stuhoo]

8 minutes ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

The difference to me is the freshman not having any actual competition for playing time.  That lowers the ceiling significantly because the spots are given.  If we had pieces at 8-12 that were competing for time that would mean the better ones win out.  The ones that aren’t as good, they have to choose to leave or stay and develop.  Either choice benefits us. 

Sure, but I'm not seeing the larger point. This is not a situation of "unlimited funds and get as much as you can."

Instead it's a 'limited resources-spending priorities decision model', and we decided to spend for the top of the roster, especially with Sherrel and Burton.

Are you saying you would have preferred two players of the Sam Alexis variety for the price of Sherrell? That didn't work, and Sam was a really good get for the $1-1.5 million we likely needed to pay him. For the price of Burton we could have had two more Lindsays or Conerways.

[AH1971]

37 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

Sure, but I'm not seeing the larger point. This is not a situation of "unlimited funds and get as much as you can."

Instead it's a 'limited resources-spending priorities decision model', and we decided to spend for the top of the roster, especially with Sherrel and Burton.

Are you saying you would have preferred two players of the Sam Alexis variety for the price of Sherrell? That didn't work, and Sam was a really good get for the $1-1.5 million we likely needed to pay him. For the price of Burton we could have had two more Lindsays or Conerways.

Based on what I believe we spent on our portal haul, I think for the price of Harris/Mustaf you could have retained Dorn as a ~20mpg 5th starter (~$750k), added Del Jones as an experienced combo guard off the bench for a ~20 mpg role (~$500k), and added Aaron Bradshaw or someone similar (~$1.5m) as a 16-18 mpg big off the bench. A core rotation of:

Samet 23 mpg

Sherrell 26 mpg

Dorn 22 mpg

Lindsay 30 mpg

Burton 34 mpg

Bench:

Del Jones 20 mpg

Aaron Bradshaw 17 mpg

Sisley 15 mpg

Moody 13 mpg

A haul similar to this would have still allowed you to sign a highly talented core while maintaining some level competency and experience off the bench. I would feel much better about next year if this was our actual roster or something close to it. If freshman Karvala or Manhertz are good enough to eat into those minutes, great, if not...no sweat. Redshirt them and let them grow into their bodies.

[WayneFleekHoosier]

39 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

Sure, but I'm not seeing the larger point. This is not a situation of "unlimited funds and get as much as you can."

Instead it's a 'limited resources-spending priorities decision model', and we decided to spend for the top of the roster, especially with Sherrel and Burton.

Are you saying you would have preferred two players of the Sam Alexis variety for the price of Sherrell? That didn't work, and Sam was a really good get for the $1-1.5 million we likely needed to pay him. For the price of Burton we could have had two more Lindsays or Conerways.

I’m happy at the top (for the most part).  Freshman or inexpensive younger guys that will push the freshman compared to literal non playable guys.  Even mid major seniors that can push.  Maybe slot a 500k for 2 guys like that. 500k is nothing compared to the situation we could be in with injuries.  What would Josh Harris, Jasai Miles, or Dorn had cost us to keep?

Edited May 18 by WayneFleekHoosier

[Stuhoo]

11 minutes ago, AH1971 said:

Based on what I believe we spent on our portal haul, I think for the price of Harris/Mustaf you could have retained Dorn as a ~20mpg 5th starter (~$750k), added Del Jones as an experienced combo guard off the bench for a ~20 mpg role (~$500k), and added Aaron Bradshaw or someone similar (~$1.5m) as a 16-18 mpg big off the bench. A core rotation of:

Samet 23 mpg

Sherrell 26 mpg

Dorn 22 mpg

Lindsay 30 mpg

Burton 34 mpg

Bench:

Del Jones 20 mpg

Aaron Bradshaw 17 mpg

Sisley 15 mpg

Moody 13 mpg

A haul similar to this would have still allowed you to sign a highly talented core while maintaining some level competency and experience off the bench. I would feel much better about next year if this was our actual roster or something close to it. If freshman Karvala or Manhertz are good enough to eat into those minutes, great, if not...no sweat. Redshirt them and let them grow into their bodies.

I'm guessing that Del Jones cost a whole lot more than $500k. The combination of Del Jones, Bradshaw (I think you're a little high on his price tag, and he kinda sucks) and Dorn instead of Harris and Mustaf would have been replicating last year's roster by bringing in three rotation players with very limited athleticism. And the three you mentioned likely would have cost about $1 million more than Mustaf, Harris, and Sokolov.

It's a reasonable comp, but I'm happier with who we have if those would have been the depth choices. 

9 minutes ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

I’m happy at the top (for the most part).  Freshman or inexpensive younger guys that will push the freshman compared to literal non playable guys.  Even mid major seniors that can push.  Maybe slot a 500k for 2 guys like that. 500k is nothing compared to the situation we could be in with injuries.  What would Josh Harris, Jasmine Miles, or Dorn had cost us to keep?

$500k for two players that are playable mid-major seniors? I do not believe that exists. I think that Monden is what you get for $250k.

[WayneFleekHoosier]

2 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

I'm guessing that Del Jones cost a whole lot more than $500k. The combination of Del Jones, Bradshaw (I think you're a little high on his price tag, and he kinda sucks) and Dorn instead of Harris and Mustaf would have been replicating last year's roster by bringing in three rotation players with very limited athleticism. And the three you mentioned likely would have cost about $1 million more than Mustaf, Harris, and Sokolov.

It's a reasonable comp, but I'm happier with who we have if those would have been the depth choices. 

$500k for two players that are playable mid-major seniors? I do not believe that exists. I think that Monden is what you get for $250k.

Monden is a top 50 worst D1 player.  Hes getting 250k.  I know the bar has changed significantly but I’ll admit I don’t know the true new levels. 
 

What’s funny is, just few years ago Galloway got a raise to 400-500 to run it back.  I feel like prices have almost tripled. But I don’t think Harris Is getting over 250. I’d be shocked if dorn is getting over 500- 750. Jasai Miles 100-200 Idk. Many think our freshmen are getting 300-500?  I don’t know what they are getting, but if so, I can see why we are trying to build with 75-100 ranked freshman.

 

[Pagoda]

Monden is on $250K?! 

These bball players cost a fortune.

[Jeff Flabjohns]

Aaron Bradshaw and Nick Dorn are just bad basketball players. Known quantities, bad. What are we even talking about here 

[AH1971]

Just now, Stuhoo said:

I'm guessing that Del Jones cost a whole lot more than $500k. The combination of Del Jones, Bradshaw (I think your'e a little high on his price tag, and he kinda sucks) and Dorn instead of Harris and Mustaf would have been replicating last year's roster by bringing in three rotation players with very limited athleticism. And the three you mentioned likely would have cost about $1 million more than Mustaf, Harris, and Sokolov.

It's a reasonable comp, but I'm happier with who we have if those would have been the depth choices. 

$500k for two players that are playable mid-major seniors? I do not believe that exists. I think that Monden is what you get for $250k.

Del Jones ended up at Seton Hall. Seton Hall might have one of the worst NIL spends of any P4 team in the country, nearly their entire team left because they couldn't pay anybody. Bradshaw doesn't "suck", he just clearly never lived up to his lofty high school ranking. He averaged 8 and 4 for Memphis last year in 18 mpg and can actually guard opposing 5's. Who is taking Samet's front court minutes in the event of an injury? Manhertz? Sokolov? Yikes. 

[Jeff Flabjohns]

The same Aaron Bradshaw that has been transferring down a level every year thus far?! UK fans despised his lack of motor/hands. Seems that his transfer journey supports that