i mean, i think i remember there being commentary (not here, but i believed it) when eugene omuruyi transferred that it was especially bad for rutgers because “they’d recruited his cousin to make him happy, and then he leaves anyway.” i definitely did not realize they weren’t related until well into his freshman year
some whispers from more than one person in AAU circles that Mgbako will end up at St. John’s,Memphis or Rutgers.
What is the deal with this guy? No offense to Rutgers, but who decommits from Duke to then has this be his list of schools?
I guess St. John’s is now a Pitino school (though I still can’t imagine St. John’s boosters have the deepest pockets) and Memphis has been a bag school with Penny so it makes a little sense, but a strange recruitment.
Filipowski coming back makes it tougher to be a one-and-done. At one point he was on the NY Rens AAU team and Memphis hired Andy Borman who was the executive director of that team and has deep ties to some NY/NJ guys. And Pitino is Pitino.
As for Rutgers, this is really going down the tinfoil hat message board rumor rabbit hole but some have been speculating that some (relatively) deep pockets are opening up to support the basketball team. It’s not the collectives – we have two and both are not dipping into those waters – but other private donors stepping up or switching their support from football to basketball. Not that we’re about to turn into Arkansas or Miami but I’m starting to believe it with the way the 2024 class is coming together.
FWIW I’ve also heard UNC and Louisville are heavily in too.
Louisville and UNC are the main ones I’ve heard.
BQ already touting the company line about Booker not being nba ready
Don’t think he is NBA ready from what I gather. NBA ready isn’t a thing that matters though. I do think it is a kind of boom or bust situation if he’s just going to replace Joey Hauser’s shots.
Feels like a bust or bust situation if that’s what they’re counting on.
I mean there’s obviously some upside. He’s a first-round talent. Just has to put it together.
Hall can have a good year as a 3/4 combo.
Just seems like they need one more wing to me.
I know very little about his game, but in 2023 a kid who’s 6-10 and can shoot while being ranked #9 overall is a OAD barring a bad freshman year. Now MSU tends to be the type of situation that may keep him another year, but guys like that tend to be thinking OAD barring a disaster.
Todd, Diabate, JJJ…athletic tall guys who can shoot are draft picks. Maybe he has a modest year and they throw NIL at him…but if I were an MSU fan I wouldn’t count in a second year. (Granted…I am scarred as a Michigan fan since our five star guys leave ASAP)
Yeah, I believe the comment on the pod was that he is not going to show up NBA ready but that doesn’t mean he won’t be a OAD. That’s why I said “NBA ready” isn’t a thing that matters.
The point is that he’s very raw and needs to improve his game. Very perimeter oriented.
I see what you’re saying to maximize their roster, but if you’re Izzo wouldn’t you just try to keep everyone so Hoggard is your guard and Akins fills your wing needs? I know we think it is best for Akins if he becomes the 2 and we aren’t fans of Hoggard necessarily…but I don’t see how trading Hoggard for some up transfer wing from the portal is better for anyone other than Akins.
I would add a shooting wing regardless of what Hoggard/Akins do I think … Not sure they will but as we said on the pod … they basically lived off of Hauser’s 3pt shooting and don’t have a ton of wing shooting to replace it.
I guess I just mean I know where I’m putting my money on that one. MSU will be a good team next year, but having Booker replace Hauser’s shots isn’t some avenue to expect major improvement. Maybe he’s an effective player in his own right by February though.
Seemed really into Storr @umhoops. Surprised you think he should be option 1 for Wisconsin’s action. If you’re Juwan, would you prefer Storr over Love and/or Burnett on Michigan?
It’s more just that I’m not really into whatever Wisconsin’s offense was last season.
Don’t know that what I was saying really relates to what he’d potentially be in a Michigan context, but I think Storr is probably a more promising offensive player next year than Burnett.
Anything that reduces the number of pointless Tyler Wahl post-ups is very much to Wisconsin’s benefit…which means I hope they don’t do it!
I was surprised by your Storr talk as well cause to me it seems like he’s gonna be off ball. Essegian is the guy that needs to take Wahl’s possessions
I was going to build on this Dylan. Finally got through the full pod this morning on the commute. I heard you say pretty darn positive things about the portal adds for a lot of schools - NW, Illinois, Wisconsin, Rutgers, Nebraska… Meanwhile it feels like we’re dissecting the adds here for Michigan and pointing out all of their flaws and how we really need to find 2-3 better portal adds beyond what we have.
So here’s my question - given your positivity around the adds elsewhere, which incoming B10 portal additions would you rather Michigan have signed than either where they went or the guys we have?
I think I generally like all of Michigan’s adds, but the roster dictates that they still need more players pretty clearly.
Someone like Wisconsin can add one guy that seems like a nice fit and not need more because they return Chucky, Klesmit, Essegian, Wahl, Crowl, etc.
I don’t think saying wow, Brice Williams is a fun fit for Nebraska is the same as saying Michigan should have gone balls to the wall to sign Brice Williams. Different fits, different situations.
Also different context all around for someone like Nebraska vs Michigan, etc.
That’s Nebraska. What about the NW and ILL guys?
I see what your saying - easier to like an add or two that fills one need versus getting guys to replace all-league players up and down the roster. But Illinois is in the same boat as us and you seemed pretty positive about everything they did (pending a PG). Would you rather have any of their guys?