A Closer Look at Best Available Big Men in the Portal
- Thread starter andrew jones
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So Georgetown this past weekend. Kansas State on Wednesday. Alabama this coming weekend.
Still no mention of a UNC visit.
Still no mention of a UNC visit.
If I'm reading between the lines correctly, some schools are offering portal kids CASH and also pointing them toward generous NIL opportunities; whereas UNC is only pointing them toward NIL opportunities.
Is that actually what's going on?
Is that the difference between last year and this year? Last year we got kids who wanted to be here and also liked their NIL chances. But this year some programs have decided to hire players outright - and they still get NIL chances on top of that?
If so, how much of a disadvantage is that? How many players - even those who really want to play for us - are going to turn their backs on up-front riches?
Is that actually what's going on?
Is that the difference between last year and this year? Last year we got kids who wanted to be here and also liked their NIL chances. But this year some programs have decided to hire players outright - and they still get NIL chances on top of that?
If so, how much of a disadvantage is that? How many players - even those who really want to play for us - are going to turn their backs on up-front riches?
Someone in the Omoruyi/UNC relationship clearly isn't interested.
Bummer. He's my favorite to man our 5
Bummer. He's my favorite to man our 5
Oh, so you have a gary problem? Have you discussed your view to him of what HE said? What has your panties in a wad was actually gary discussing that Jalen should be the default guy the starting 5 spot went to IF we are not able to get a more ready starter from the portal. It is really cute that you want to take a snippet of what someone says and spin it out of context. It is extra cute how you decided to give some kind of post number rather than simply using the quote function to use the exact post you take issues with, on a thread that has now what 7 full pages of discussion?
Your prayer to God for help is a great first step, it really is. I would as well suggest that you gather up your courage and discuss what issues you haver with what gary posted with him. I mean I understand, it is hard, I get it, you are triggered, I get it you may not be in your safe place, I get it but it is going to be alright, the mean ole gary will not hurt you, well other than your feelings but if you really try you can GET OVER IT! LOL And that is my sincere wish for you huskyman, GET OVER IT! LOL
You have serious issues. You keep beating a dead horse. I have no idea what your goal is. It’s pretty clear you are a total loser.
Hopefully my concern is premature, but our portal recruiting and 2025 hs recruiting is concerning at the moment.
If JWash starts we will be great! If JWash comes off the bench at 4 and 5 we will be great! Either way it will be because our excellent coaching staff has determined that it would be in the best interest of the team! It will be determined based on development, practice, and who is on the team so.......any poster who thinks they know more NOW than our coaching staff will know THEN is most likely self-delusional!
What I don’t know is Unc openly offering lump sums to recruits and portal players to come? That’s seems to be the norm in the NIL landscape
Talked to a power-5 head volleyball coach who said the basketball coach at his school is basically meeting with boosters to get NIL 5 days a week & if the boosters don’t like what you are doing they can stop payments anytime they want. He said the coach would have never chosen to be a head coach if he knew the current environment would be the way it is.
He also mentioned a friends son that was a freshman football player that had a better than expected season and all of sudden was getting calls talking about packages and offers to transfer despite not being in the portal..
It just seems with the current landscape of college athletics if you aren’t bending the rules it hard to attract the talent you need to since a lot kids don’t really care about a schools legacy anymore.
The staff thought starting Pete Nance at the 4 and having Puff/Leaky back him up was the right decision. It was not. We certainly weren't great that season.
Based on the portal news, we can see the staff wants a portal player to start at the 5. We can take that to mean they do not feel good about starting JWash.
Things have indeed gotten more difficult, and will continue to get worse as long as myopic state legislators keep sticking their clueless noses into it. The NCAA actually has a president now who is trying restore some semblance of order, but that is a difficult and unenviable task since his predecessor let it get out of hand.
In other words, if NIL is generated organically (as it is supposed to be), then advantage UNC because of the high profile we offer players. If, however, schools can just hand out money bags, then advantage every school with rogue boosters, who can just now do their old shenanigans legally.
And guys --- I personally know of three local instances in which HS underclassmen and AAU kids are getting offered packages from other programs at those levels.
That is not a correct interpretation. Nance's situation has zero to do with now.
The staff is currently looking for someone with complementary skills to Wash. As I understand it, the kid from Rutgers is target #1, but there are sketchy programs (one of which you pointed out) throwing money at him.
I have never been enamoured with Aidoo, but he appears to be a fallback, as we have recently done an in-home.
There is not a Big in the entire portal with anything approaching JWash's offensive skillset. We are thus looking for someone who does better at the more physical side of things.
Last time I looked, that is known as "complementary".
Why that is somehow a radical thought is puzzling, to say the least.
This is the question I have, too.
Everything said here is too squishy or just plain opinion. Would we know the true answers if we had a paid subscription?
Suffice to say there's a lot up in the air right now, the knowledge of which has little to do with subscription status.
You would know the true answers within 24 hours of when those with a paid subscription learned the answers ;-)
Truth WW is on 4Cs you will find a lot of opinion and speculation like we have here, David Sisk drops a lot of gems there that many times never makes it to this board, AJ as well. There are a couple guys that post there that don't post a lot but when they do I listen and one in particular is saying something I did not want to hear. Just my opinion there is more value in the premium side this time of the year than there is during a season because recruiting is always a hot topic and not everything actually filters over to Radar. I prefer to post on Radar because there are some posters here I enjoy exchanging thoughts with but there are more looking just to disrupt reasonable discussion on Radar as well, not as much of that on premium but there is some there as well.
Some schools are aligned with collectives. So the collective would guarantee X amount to a player and then generate NIL opportunities to match or surpass that amount, if the player doesn’t get the guaranteed amount through NIL the collective makes up the difference. I don’t believe this is legal in all states.
I guess it's just the word that is up to interpretation. When I see "complimentary" I think of a guy who plays alongside another, and compliments him. Like Brady Manek was a complimentary player to Bacot.
To me it looks like the staff wants a Center that will start in front of Washington, and provide all the things Washington struggles with.
Ahh... I understand.
So yes, I indeed meant complementary strengths rotating with each other, as opposed to playing side-by-side.
Now, with that said, it is not my understanding that the staff necessarily sees a need for a starter over JWash --- more like someone who is capable of competing with and rotating with him. Who would start remains to be seen.
Gary, why in the world would UNC hold a in home with a Baylor commit? Aidoo is a straight up Baylor commit, you know that, what more proof would anyone need than he got a crystal ball from a guru, I think he used Ms Cleo's old crystal ball because it has duck tape on it holding it together! Could you be suggesting that the reports of Aidoo to Baylor were a touch premature, that maybe that crystal ball is in need of a 1,000 view check up? LOL News flash Aidoo to Baylor is not a done deal, Hubert is still swinging and he hasn't stopped.
Now me and I think most want us to get a broad shoulders 7ft guy that dominates the defensive paint, grabs boards, and is not going to be physically moved around. 2 classic examples of this would be Ballo and Omouri, both HUGE guys, both bruisers, what a nice compliment to the more jump shooting Jalen. Bradshaw would give some of that in time, Raymound would have, Wolf seemed more of a tall 4. But what we have seen is Hubert looked in to most of these guys, call it kicked the tires, but rather quickly they fell off his radar, well before they fell off Radar's radar, LOL. That long list of who we must have has shrunk. But we have all been talking about who WE wanted, should have been talking about who Hubert wanted and frankly if we had we may have discovered his list has not shrunk.
I wrote a long post discussing Bacot's being a fixture in the paint forced the paint to be congested, even pulling our 4 to stretch. If Hubert really feels it is key for his offense to have more clean space in the paint, it means he isn't looking as hard for a Bacot type big man but more the guy that can play in the paint but is not stuck there, that rumored Baylor commit would fit that more than a Ballo type.
As for Jalen, when you say what you did above, certain posters take that as license to scream, but gary said Jalen was the done deal starter next season, which of course is not what you have said but that is what they run with, ask that husker ninny. You, like me, we realize that the Jalen was watched play this past season MUST improve by a lot to gain even the 16-22mins I want for him, much less start for us. But I, know you, know many do not look at what Jalen is now, we are looking at what we think he can get done this off season and by the time Nov rolls around we get a very improved player. You and I have already agreed on this point somewhere in this 260+ thread bundle of posts. Just want to re-make the point that for Jalen to start or even get near starter minutes he has to clearly develop this off season.
Careful now, saying there is no one else in the portal may classify Jalen as unique, as not a lot of folks with that kind of ability, may I say a unicorn? LOL
Jayden Quaintance's NIL asking price is so high that Kentucky and Arkansas just dropped out of his recruitment. $1.5 - 2 million. Louisville appears willing to pay it.
You know your head has gotten big when even Calipari says "damn, absolutely not"
Yup. The school he was committed to, and the coach he was committed to, both just said no. But if Louisville will pay it...
Looks like Jonas Aidoo will visit Arkansas. A result of Cal losing his big man recruit.
...and mark my words, some of these kids with the previously big credentials will price themselves out of playing for a program where they could actually develop and win. I want no part of mercenaries. College basketball is still a team sport.
College basketball is no longer a team sport or even a sport. It is a business with payments both under and over the table. It is such a shame, the destruction of what used to be the best sport on the planet. College football will be the next to implode if not already done. Universities are no longer the celebration of amateur sports but the breeding ground of hate and bigotry
David, right now Aidoo is a fallback. As I said, target #1 has been the Rutgers Big, but that might end up being a bidding situation (which we want no part of).
Also consider that we haven't seen the last Big enter the portal just yet --- the coming NBA deadlines could prove fruitful, IYKWIM.
Generally speaking, I feel fairly confident we will pick up a transfer 5, BUT... folks also need to know that the next Wilt Chamberlain ain't walking through the door --- in other words, there just aren't completed-product Bigs to be had.
That's OK though --- we've got an exceptionally skiled returner with a lot of upside (not to mention a rising Soph who just might come into his own this summer). What we need to add is a mature physical presence to the rotation.
Count me in the pro Jalen crowd.
A few reasons.
Comparing his bench minutes under Hubert versus anyone that Roy coached is ludicrous. I think as coach Davis goes further in his career, he will understand the benefit of getting playing time for underclassmen to assist in growth for future years. I do believe that Jalen getting 12-15 minutes a game would have had a profound effect on his game going forward.
Defense. I think it was a big mistake to switch 1-5 like we did exclusively in the beginning of the year. I can live with mixing up switching 1-3 with fighting over screens and hedging. I personally would be offended not not be asked to fight over screens. Call it pride, but I think you man up a work your butt off to get over screens. This would minimize the issue of lateral speed. I would prefer my bigs near the paint where they can intimidate drives by swatting them instead if having our smaller than typical guards down there . Not to mention the effect on rebounding.
We do have a few people to point to with injuries or just working on their body being better the second half if their career. Exhibit 1 is Theo Pinson. His junior and senior year were much better than his first 2 years of injury and rehab. Kennedy Meeks was also better as he changed his body granted not due to injury.
It could be that Jalen is what he is. I just don't choose to believe that.
I personally think you need to be very careful with portal transfers. Not a great message to high school recruits when you are constantly recruiting over them. I would not be too thrilled reading this board if I was Ian Jackson. At some point you have to play guys to get experience. Ideally, I would like to see recruits come in, get good playing time to develop and get good enough to go pro to make it easier to recruit more high end high school players. Really need coach Davis to play guys to get experience. Felt at times like Roy did this even at the expense of losing a game. But one thing he knew is what they could do when tournament time came and what combinations worked. Wish Hubert was more like this but I believe he will get there. Might have to get burned to learn but he will. Kind of heard a little of it with Dontrez this week. You can argue he didn't have the talent. I think the truth is somewhere in the middle. Lucky Trimble came back. Think it wouldn't have been an issue if he knew Hubert would use his bench.
A few reasons.
Comparing his bench minutes under Hubert versus anyone that Roy coached is ludicrous. I think as coach Davis goes further in his career, he will understand the benefit of getting playing time for underclassmen to assist in growth for future years. I do believe that Jalen getting 12-15 minutes a game would have had a profound effect on his game going forward.
Defense. I think it was a big mistake to switch 1-5 like we did exclusively in the beginning of the year. I can live with mixing up switching 1-3 with fighting over screens and hedging. I personally would be offended not not be asked to fight over screens. Call it pride, but I think you man up a work your butt off to get over screens. This would minimize the issue of lateral speed. I would prefer my bigs near the paint where they can intimidate drives by swatting them instead if having our smaller than typical guards down there . Not to mention the effect on rebounding.
We do have a few people to point to with injuries or just working on their body being better the second half if their career. Exhibit 1 is Theo Pinson. His junior and senior year were much better than his first 2 years of injury and rehab. Kennedy Meeks was also better as he changed his body granted not due to injury.
It could be that Jalen is what he is. I just don't choose to believe that.
I personally think you need to be very careful with portal transfers. Not a great message to high school recruits when you are constantly recruiting over them. I would not be too thrilled reading this board if I was Ian Jackson. At some point you have to play guys to get experience. Ideally, I would like to see recruits come in, get good playing time to develop and get good enough to go pro to make it easier to recruit more high end high school players. Really need coach Davis to play guys to get experience. Felt at times like Roy did this even at the expense of losing a game. But one thing he knew is what they could do when tournament time came and what combinations worked. Wish Hubert was more like this but I believe he will get there. Might have to get burned to learn but he will. Kind of heard a little of it with Dontrez this week. You can argue he didn't have the talent. I think the truth is somewhere in the middle. Lucky Trimble came back. Think it wouldn't have been an issue if he knew Hubert would use his bench.
Defense (not meaning shot blocking) is the key. (Was for Dontrez, Puff, and Nickel as well in 2022-23.)
Gary, most of what I said was tongue in cheek and I absolutely want Aidoo as a fall back with Clifford as my clear #1 choice to be our starting center next season, because I can't trust Jalen will be completely there. I am not so sure Hubert is looking at this that way. I am choosing my words very carefully for a reason.
There are going to be some names dropped very soon that may change the game and put smiles on Tar Heel faces but these things have to just play out and we may frown before we smile, I am frowning a bit now. I am happy Seth and RJ are back, the Tyson thing I am fine no matter how that works out, the no news on that front feels a little like a maybe not. There may be a bidding war going on with Tyson, I think Hubert will pull the plug if that continues, when you have Drake and Ian already on the way do you really stay in a bidding war for another 3 spot guy? Would you have paid a million NIL to Ryan before you knew the leadership and defensive work he would bring, would you have paid that just for his jump shooting? Not sure I would have... Ryan struggled to shoot off the move, he was deadly when he got his feet squared and set, not sure Tyson is not that as well. Thus my question of is Tyson more Ryan or more Paxon, who was as well hyped as a big time shooter coming in.
I believe Graham Ike from gonzaga just hit the portal. He'd be a very potent option with our guards.
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