College Bball Thread

[Demo]

Ladies and Gentlemen, your preseason #1.

[Demo]

https://www.fanduel.com/research/jon-rothstein-45-2026-offseason-edition-college-basketball-rankings
 

Rothstein’s latest. IU at 25.

[WayneFleekHoosier]

1 hour ago, Demo said:

Ladies and Gentlemen, your preseason #1.

I think so.  Duke’s roster is crazy. Illinois is loaded. 
Michigans top 5 is unreal.  Bench comes into question. I have more questions about UConn than most. Very curious if Mullins jumps or gets a little exposed.  
 

Happy we are in the top 25 conversation.  We were one more star and 1 good depth piece away from being top 10 projection.  Which for me is always the hope. But getting near the top 25 is a start.  Hoping we can build.  Then retain and add to make the next jump.  

[ronzo4IU]

24 minutes ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

Happy we are in the top 25 conversation.  We were one more star and 1 good depth piece away from being top 10 projection.  Which for me is always the hope. But getting near the top 25 is a start.  Hoping we can build.  Then retain and add to make the next jump.  

I wish the mens program wasn't so tight lipped and something would leak out about the next move or not....inquiring minds need to know..

[Stuhoo]

43 minutes ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

I think so.  Duke’s roster is crazy. Illinois is loaded. 
Michigans top 5 is unreal.  Bench comes into question. I have more questions about UConn than most. Very curious if Mullins jumps or gets a little exposed.  
 

Happy we are in the top 25 conversation.  We were one more star and 1 good depth piece away from being top 10 projection.  Which for me is always the hope. But getting near the top 25 is a start.  Hoping we can build.  Then retain and add to make the next jump.  

The best case for optimism with this year's IU team? 

Every single one of them are multi-year players, and will be joined by Branham.

So let's get us in the tourney and trending upward, and rollin 2027-28.

[str8baller]

1 hour ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

I think so.  Duke’s roster is crazy. Illinois is loaded. 
Michigans top 5 is unreal.  Bench comes into question. I have more questions about UConn than most. Very curious if Mullins jumps or gets a little exposed.  
 

Happy we are in the top 25 conversation.  We were one more star and 1 good depth piece away from being top 10 projection.  Which for me is always the hope. But getting near the top 25 is a start.  Hoping we can build.  Then retain and add to make the next jump.  

I don’t like Michigans roster as much as last year. And I think Waggler might be harder to replace for Illinois than people think.

[Stuhoo]

41 minutes ago, str8baller said:

I don’t like Michigans roster as much as last year. And I think Waggler might be harder to replace for Illinois than people think.

Boswell is going to be hard to replace too. That kid was/is a Sampson-style hard @$$ ball player.

[Demo]

This is pretty annoying. The absolute best high school players in the country(and that is Branham in there at the beginning) and Dusty May getting to pull the K move and getting to coach, scout and relationship build. 

[Demo]

https://www.si.com/college-basketball/new-ncaa-eligibility-requirements-could-impact-top-international-players
 

Haven’t read it yet, but if it pulls the plug on 23 year old guys who were playing La Liga A or such last year, I’m down. 

[Pagoda]

I don’t know all the details here, but it appears Louisville is really yolo’ing it with the bball and fball teams — running huge annual athletic dept deficits and now even funneling money from the hospital system.  Embarrassing.

If you’re not in the B1G/SEC and decent at football, it’s rough out there.  But this is a pretty trash solution.

 

[Stuhoo]

34 minutes ago, Demo said:

https://www.si.com/college-basketball/new-ncaa-eligibility-requirements-could-impact-top-international-players
 

Haven’t read it yet, but if it pulls the plug on 23 year old guys who were playing La Liga A or such last year, I’m down. 

Let's just call it "The Will Wade Rule:"

Student-athletes who “entered an agreement with, competed on or received compensation from a team that participates in a league with minimum compensation that exceeds actual and necessary expenses” will not have their college eligibility reinstated. The document lists MLB, NBA, NFL, Premier League and WNBA as examples of such leagues, but other top basketball leagues globally could also qualify. 

“Actual and necessary expenses continue to be a factor in a prospect’s eligibility, but as part of that broader effort to update preenrollment rules, the NCAA also identified several international leagues in which participation by a prospect is likely to result in violations of NCAA rules and a loss of eligibility. The Association is modernizing the rule book in several ways to ensure college sports are played by college athletes and not used as a fallback for professional athletes, and the age-based eligibility model now under consideration is designed to address many member schools’ concerns regarding eligibility.”

[str8baller]

1 hour ago, Stuhoo said:

Let's just call it "The Will Wade Rule:"

Student-athletes who “entered an agreement with, competed on or received compensation from a team that participates in a league with minimum compensation that exceeds actual and necessary expenses” will not have their college eligibility reinstated. The document lists MLB, NBA, NFL, Premier League and WNBA as examples of such leagues, but other top basketball leagues globally could also qualify. 

“Actual and necessary expenses continue to be a factor in a prospect’s eligibility, but as part of that broader effort to update preenrollment rules, the NCAA also identified several international leagues in which participation by a prospect is likely to result in violations of NCAA rules and a loss of eligibility. The Association is modernizing the rule book in several ways to ensure college sports are played by college athletes and not used as a fallback for professional athletes, and the age-based eligibility model now under consideration is designed to address many member schools’ concerns regarding eligibility.”

That’s an interesting way to do it. I’m not privy to their legal strategy, but I don’t hate it the practical framework. I don’t particularly love it either. They seem to be desperately clinging to the antiquated notion of amateurism even though they themselves are obviously going to have two sports with highly compensated players. In essence, it’s ok if we pay you millions but if anyone else has, you’re not eligible. That’s the path to just becoming another minor league. 
 

I still maintain their best angle is the age/education one. And that’s exactly what seems to be unfolding in the political process. 

[mike vannice]

4 hours ago, Demo said:

https://www.si.com/college-basketball/new-ncaa-eligibility-requirements-could-impact-top-international-players
 

Haven’t read it yet, but if it pulls the plug on 23 year old guys who were playing La Liga A or such last year, I’m down. 

Well I guess that pulls the plug on my scenario where we sign an international big who withdraws from the draft. Wonder if Clemens Sokolof will be affected by this ruling? Wonder if Will Wade will be able to field a team?

Guess we have to hope the 5 for 5 rule is retroactive and we can talk big Sam into playing another year.

[IUHoosierJoe]

1 hour ago, mike vannice said:

Well I guess that pulls the plug on my scenario where we sign an international big who withdraws from the draft. Wonder if Clemens Sokolof will be affected by this ruling? Wonder if Will Wade will be able to field a team?

Guess we have to hope the 5 for 5 rule is retroactive and we can talk big Sam into playing another year.

Even if Sam were to get another year, I don’t think he’d come back to IU. 

[ronzo4IU]

12 hours ago, IUHoosierJoe said:

Even if Sam were to get another year, I don’t think he’d come back to IU. 

Why not?  If we had the money, I can't imagine why he wouldn't.  He developed nicely in this system, even with a flawed team.  He could do great things this upcoming season with a better supporting cast imo.

[mike vannice]

21 hours ago, Stuhoo said:

Let's just call it "The Will Wade Rule:"

Student-athletes who “entered an agreement with, competed on or received compensation from a team that participates in a league with minimum compensation that exceeds actual and necessary expenses” will not have their college eligibility reinstated. The document lists MLB, NBA, NFL, Premier League and WNBA as examples of such leagues, but other top basketball leagues globally could also qualify. 

“Actual and necessary expenses continue to be a factor in a prospect’s eligibility, but as part of that broader effort to update preenrollment rules, the NCAA also identified several international leagues in which participation by a prospect is likely to result in violations of NCAA rules and a loss of eligibility. The Association is modernizing the rule book in several ways to ensure college sports are played by college athletes and not used as a fallback for professional athletes, and the age-based eligibility model now under consideration is designed to address many member schools’ concerns regarding eligibility.”

So when does this rule take effect? Will it be in place for the 2026/27 season?

[Demo]

https://www.abqjournal.com/sports/back-in-burque-former-lobo-donovan-dent-is-done-playing-and-ready-to-teach-the-game-he-loves/3049091
 

This is pretty wild. Dent quitting playing and taking his own path, though a fairly giant NIL payout probably greases the skids a little bit.

[Demo]

https://www.fanduel.com/research/jon-rothstein-45-2026-offseason-edition-college-basketball-rankings
 

Rothstein’s latest. IU remains at #25. Now that rosters are basically 100% this becomes a bit more interesting. Duke is 3rd and obviously really good, but look at their bench. As deep a roster as I’ve ever seen. Just nuts.

[WayneFleekHoosier]

3 hours ago, Demo said:

https://www.fanduel.com/research/jon-rothstein-45-2026-offseason-edition-college-basketball-rankings
 

Rothstein’s latest. IU remains at #25. Now that rosters are basically 100% this becomes a bit more interesting. Duke is 3rd and obviously really good, but look at their bench. As deep a roster as I’ve ever seen. Just nuts.

No doubt. The talent is college hoops is as good as it’s ever been. Duke is crazy.  Florida is crazy.  The next 10-12 are loaded too. 

[str8baller]

4 hours ago, Demo said:

https://www.fanduel.com/research/jon-rothstein-45-2026-offseason-edition-college-basketball-rankings
 

Rothstein’s latest. IU remains at #25. Now that rosters are basically 100% this becomes a bit more interesting. Duke is 3rd and obviously really good, but look at their bench. As deep a roster as I’ve ever seen. Just nuts.

Duke adding Blackwell at the end on top of everything else is ridiculous. Bringing Boozer pt duex off the bench another year is equally ridiculous, imo, because I would’ve guessed he could’ve gotten a lot on the open market.