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Portal 24-25 transfers (Basketball)

At this rate, we may end up with zero players who played meaningful minutes back. Total restock.
 
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casualcane said:
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Just how I feel:
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Just some quick thoughts watching some tape on guys we’ve supposedly reached out to.

Dia - Good size, and has a good shooting stroke. Athleticism worries me, and he doesn’t really take jumpers, it’s just a set shot. Not sure how well that translates.

Dinkins - This guy and Bethea and possibly Pack would be FUN. Has range similar to Pack, DEEP threes and a lot off the dribble. Extremely comfortable as the handler in ball screen action. Better size than Dean, less twitchy imo but I think the size and shooting would be a better fit. This one would excite me.

Brown-Jones - Shades of Omier with how he carves out room underneath as an undersized big. Not as strong, but more refined. More natural shooter. Him and Omier at the 4/5 would be great for what we like to do. I’m not as big on the true big as a lot here, especially with Omier at the 4, so another switchable guy like this would be my preference.

Amari Williams - This is the one I need to watch the most full game film on. Some moments I was underwhelmed with his athleticism, and then I see a clip of him going coast to coast and yamming one. Need to find some full games of him matched up with someone that is similar in size. Solid short floater with both hands, and looks comfortable passing off the low block and from the nail.

Initial thoughts, Dinkins and Brown-Jones are the two I’d most want to see the staff bring in. Obviously there will be a ton more entries but I’d rather move quickly than get left in the cold.
 
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Da_Lucky_One said:
Explain to me how a coaching staff can watch and recruit a kid for 2+ years, get a commitment from the kid then the kid arrives on campus then you realize the kid cannot play.
There is an issue within the coaching staff, either player evaluation or skill development or both.
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You have no clue what their work ethic is. Jordan Miller--hard worker got better. Norchad Omier--hard worker and really upgraded his mid tier game.

I think the lessons learned for Jim is with the portal you can no longer take a high school kid who needs to be developed and expect him to be around.

I think you are going to see a big change in philosophy. The years of Jekiri and Izundu are over. Nwoko just blew that up. With hard work in the off season, he was going to start next fall for us.
 


Need to dig in to see how they’re coming, but did have 5 games with 4+ steals this year. 11 double doubles this season.

Doesn’t look to be a plus athlete, and I’m not buying that he’s 6’8, but he can shoot it. Another deep range guy. Flashes some solid footwork on the block.
 
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TwentySix said:


Need to dig in to see how they’re coming, but did have 5 games with 4+ steals this year. 11 double doubles this season.

Doesn’t look to be a plus athlete, and I’m not buying that he’s 6’8, but he can shoot it. Another deep range guy. Flashes some solid footwork on the block.
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Going after a guy like Johnson leads me to wonder if Cleveland is coming back. Or maybe we are trying to move Cleveland to his more natural position, the 3.
 
Gables Canes said:
Going after a guy like Johnson leads me to wonder if Cleveland is coming back. Or maybe we are trying to move Cleveland to his more natural position, the 3.
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It sounded based on Larranaga's comments that they are going to build the roster and not wait around for decisions to be made. That said, I would be intrigued with Cleveland back at the 3 and think that best suits him.
 
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Outside of Pack and Omier, I don’t think anyone on the roster has earned not being recruited over or at least to the level of to have to compete. Bring guys in, whoever wants to stay and compete, great, but I’m not losing sleep over anyone that decides to bolt other than those two.
 
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Circling back on Amari Williams, the Drexel big. I personally have never been a fan of the traditional big, I think they are too easy to get in mismatches with the way the game is played today and I absolutely do not think Omier and a non-stretch 5 can play together. That being said, if Larranaga feels like this team needs that kind of size, this guy could be the goods.

ELITE defensive instincts and timing on shot block attempts. I don't know what his wingspan is, but he's long as ****. I just watched Drexel's game against Villanova from this year and his presence defensively was obvious. Won the game with a block at the buzzer. Nova was hesitant every time they got around the basket. Didn't look extremely comfortable getting out to contest behind the line, he was matched up on Eric Dixon a lot who shoots a lot of 3s, and Williams just wasn't close enough for good contests imo. Dixon didn't have a great night shooting but had more open looks than you'd want to see.

Offensively, more there than I expected from initial viewing. I said he looked comfortable passing, but he actually had moments where they put him at the nail or on the low block and ran sets for him to facilitate. Some legitimately good passes, bounce passes in traffic, cross court skip passes to shooters, just good stuff. His guards did him absolutely no favors when he established good position, just didn't even try to get him to him repeatedly, but when they did he showed pretty good touch around the basket. He's not going to be like Omier where you give him the ball at the top of the key and want him to iso, but he does have enough of a handle and coordination where when the D pressed up he was able to get by them a few times and drive.

Biggest issue for me other than just the given limitations of a guy of this archetype, he is not a strong rebounder. Someone of his size, length, and athleticism should be much better in this aspect than he showed. Got his hands on a few but didn't secure them, and often times just didn't get good positioning or show much effort to get the board.

Anyway. Probably more than anyone wants to read but it's late and I'm bored so figured I'd take a closer look at him.
 
@Andrew @DMoney please consider moving this thread back to the basketball board. There is so much football action this thread will get lost and it helps keep the basketball forum going in the offseason.
 
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