A few things:
1. 3 of the 4 above happen all the time.
- Players getting injured is common in basketball
- Players redshirtting is also common too
- Since Coach L has been here , the following players have transferred out/left or been booted:
- Gilmore
- Palmer
- Lecomte
- Sherman
- Daniels
- Burnett
- J. Kelly
- Muhammad
- Wilson
That is more than ~1.125 ships gone per season. It should be expected, not just at Miami, that kids are going to leave before/during the season.
Please note that when you add Mack, the number increases to 1.25 ships gone per season.
Now the Dewan stuff is "fluky" but the other things are common and to be expected. Look at last season (2017-18), the following happened:
A. Redshirt #1: Gak
B. Redshirt #2: Wilson (due to transfer)
C. Serious Injury: Brown
A and B happened before the season started and these are reasons to fill the class. The goal is to mitigate and risk (the unknown) and filling the class is a way to do that.
2. There have been obvious roster management issues for awhile. Also, we're not really starting the season with 11 or 12 ships who are "active".
[Here is an older post I had]
We haven't filled our class (with recruits and transfers) in a long time. I don't remember the last time we went into the summer using all 13 scholarships. I think the last time we started a season with 11 "active" players was 2014-15.
(Active/Total Ships Used)
2018-19: 9/11 (McGusty is sitting out and Miller is redshirting)
2017-18: 10/12 (Wilson sat out and Gak redshirted)
2016-17: 9/11* (Gilmore sat out but was kicked out of school during the season)
2015-16: 10/11 (Muhammad sat out)
2014-15: 11/12 (Murphy sat out)
*Waardenburg sat out 2016-17 but arrived late. He is included in the numbers even though he sat and redshirted.
In addition, it isn't like everyone on scholarship is the best use of a scholarship. We've had kids do essentially nothing over their tenure. Perhaps we shouldn't keep a kid on scholarship that long if they're "useless". I understand that every kid won't be a great player for us and some may be depth. The problem is some of these kids shouldn't be on scholarship to begin with. Being inefficient hurts even more when you're using less than 13 ships to begin with.
3. This makes no sense...
It is better to have someone over no one as long as they're not cancerous.
That is why you do one of the following:
A. Look for fillers in the off-season. Instead of taking an Anthony Mack, take a player like Joe Thomas. Get a grad transfer who can actually play for 5-10 MPGs who will actually compete. Someone who is just happy to get burn and can play a little. There is no real risk in taking a player like this because they're gone after one season.
B. Take chances on more local prospects. Remember Neftali Alvarez? Local kid from Miami Christian HS.
http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/stats/_/id/4398075/neftali-alvarez
Neftali Alvarez joins the Fairfield University men's basketball program after last season at Miami Christian where he helped the school capture two state titles. In his junior season, Alvarez netted the game-winning three pointer in the first of those titles. He averaged a double-double last season with 27 points and 11 assists per game which caused the Miami Herald to select him as the 5A-1A Player of the Year. He was one of nine finalists for Florida's Mr. Basketball award, an honor bestowed to the top player in the state. He also garnered All-State honors both as a junior and as a senior.
Instead of going for Anthony Mack, take the local kid. Maybe you can convince him to redshirt. Maybe he just wants to compete.
