Daily Drop: 3 Concerns about UNC's 5 Portal Newcomers
On Thursday, our Daily Drop focused on 3 positives about the five portal newcomers into North Carolina’s basketball
Daily Drop: 3 Concerns about UNC's 5 Portal Newcomers
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I was one of several here who thought you said we had $700 left in the collective pot. If that's not correct, can you update us on how much money we do have to work with? AND (perhaps more importantly) whether we are actually looking for any more players.
I don't think I'm the only one here (including some know-it-alls) to remain confused about the different pots of money and who's in charge of them.
Edited to clarify: $700K not $700. I assumed everybody understood that, but maybe not.
I don't think I'm the only one here (including some know-it-alls) to remain confused about the different pots of money and who's in charge of them.
Edited to clarify: $700K not $700. I assumed everybody understood that, but maybe not.
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Y'know, I REALLY hope folks here take this segment to heart --- but more importantly, memory banks --- as an attentive listen pretty much sums up what I've been trying (often in vain) to get across here.
Allow me to summarize:
1. Whatever the exact amount in the "collective" at any given time, that is NOT some hard limit on what we can offer. There are outside sources that can and have been called upon to put together attractive packages.
2. Losing Cadeau, Jackson and Powell had NOTHING to do with money --- and failing to lure our most coveted targets (even most recently Stojakovic) had NOTHING to do with money. In fact, we've been turned down despite being the "highest bidder" and having the best branding ops. Oh, and for those here with selective reading comprehension problems, as I said from day-1, Drake's reserved package had NOTHING to do with what we can offer now.
3. Fact is, our failure to lure said coveted targets has EVERYTHING to do with why we lost the players mentioned above in the first place, with the lynchpin being EC.
4. Carrying that further, scaring off legit PGs has thus trickled down to making us less attractive to transfers playing other positions.
Thus, AJ's transfer concerns --- and I'll add a bigger and more obvious one --- no legit PG.
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OK, so I don't like sharing things from the premium side here on Radar but I felt it was the right thing to do when I shared what I did concerning the Oppps message we are getting on the older threads. I will share this as well because again, simply feel it is the right thing to do. AJ is on a well deserved mini va-ca with his family. I hope that while he is that he does not feel the need to access these boards, enjoy your down time sir, you need it, your family needs it with you, be greedy for just this once!
I will try to clarify this if I can, what AJ has consistently said is that currently we have about $700,000 in the NIL fund, the $7,000 number was an ooops. When Lubin entered the portal the money allocated for him from the NIL fund was moved back in to the NIL fund, where it remains.
Now UNC, like most every other program out there pitches to perspective players financial arrangements from different sources yet it tends to get publicly spoken of as if it all comes from the NIL fund and with some players it may all come from the NIL fund but that is not true of all players. Some of it comes from commercial endorcement deals, like the deal Bacot had with Jimmy's Seafood for example. While most of these deals are conditional to a specific school, meaning they will get the deal only if they commit to a specific school, some do not have this condition but many, in fact maybe most now days do. Yet another example if the former tenn QB, a lot of his "compensation package" was from commercial deals where he had to do commercials and attend gatherings to promote product, as well reported he skipped many of those things because he wanted the money and did not feel he needed to do anything extra for it.
Less well known as a source of money for some guys is a private collective of wealthy boosters that band together, that pool together money that on their approval can be added to any other $$$ source to form a lump sum amount offered. As example, the recent expose on a group of duke supporters that was formed a few years back for just this reason, maybe well before it was allowed to pay guys to play. IT was clear back then that some how a LOT of money was going to some big time duke players, even thou it was against NCAA guidelines. You really think that money that paid for players like Zion just magically appeared out of the blue or that those paying the way suddenly stopped the day the NCAA began allowing money for play? LOL No, they just came out of the dark room and continued on as usual. UNC has at least 1 such group that has formed that is kind of former player led, other groups may as well form or be in the process of forming.
Point in all of this is that the money is not limited to just the NIL funds, there are other pots that can be drawn from, some most, maybe even all will retain the right of approval of who the money is offered to, they should have a say in how their money is allocated, such was thge case with the group that was wiloing to pay up if Drake were to have come back.
I will try to clarify this if I can, what AJ has consistently said is that currently we have about $700,000 in the NIL fund, the $7,000 number was an ooops. When Lubin entered the portal the money allocated for him from the NIL fund was moved back in to the NIL fund, where it remains.
Now UNC, like most every other program out there pitches to perspective players financial arrangements from different sources yet it tends to get publicly spoken of as if it all comes from the NIL fund and with some players it may all come from the NIL fund but that is not true of all players. Some of it comes from commercial endorcement deals, like the deal Bacot had with Jimmy's Seafood for example. While most of these deals are conditional to a specific school, meaning they will get the deal only if they commit to a specific school, some do not have this condition but many, in fact maybe most now days do. Yet another example if the former tenn QB, a lot of his "compensation package" was from commercial deals where he had to do commercials and attend gatherings to promote product, as well reported he skipped many of those things because he wanted the money and did not feel he needed to do anything extra for it.
Less well known as a source of money for some guys is a private collective of wealthy boosters that band together, that pool together money that on their approval can be added to any other $$$ source to form a lump sum amount offered. As example, the recent expose on a group of duke supporters that was formed a few years back for just this reason, maybe well before it was allowed to pay guys to play. IT was clear back then that some how a LOT of money was going to some big time duke players, even thou it was against NCAA guidelines. You really think that money that paid for players like Zion just magically appeared out of the blue or that those paying the way suddenly stopped the day the NCAA began allowing money for play? LOL No, they just came out of the dark room and continued on as usual. UNC has at least 1 such group that has formed that is kind of former player led, other groups may as well form or be in the process of forming.
Point in all of this is that the money is not limited to just the NIL funds, there are other pots that can be drawn from, some most, maybe even all will retain the right of approval of who the money is offered to, they should have a say in how their money is allocated, such was thge case with the group that was wiloing to pay up if Drake were to have come back.
I'm not really sure whether we are agreeing or disagreeing, so let me clarify my position.
AJ had a podcast where I thought he said we had spent $11.3 million from the collective pot and had $700K left.
I was later prompted to recheck and what he actually said was that we had $700K left of $11.3 million. So a total of $11.3 million in the collective pot; not a total of $12 million as I originally thought.
As a second issue it was pointed out that there was a different pot set aside for Drake. Not part of the collective. Which would not automatically become available if Drake stays in the draft. So it doesn't add to the $700K believed to be available at that time.
Finally, there had been a deal with Lubin, but then Lubin entered the portal. I have never heard if that money went back into the collective (or even if it originally came from the collective).
What AJ is trying to tell you is that it doesn't matter and money has NOT been the reason for the deficits in our roster. If we add another 1 or 2 players, the funds will be there, so let it go.
Your man crush on EC is blinding you, Evans is massively better defensively and as a shooter and an adequate distributor, especially with the new front court players. I believe the freshmen and the transfer backcourt players may surprise.
Lubin's money from the NIL fund was added back to the NIL fund, that is why there is still $700K in the fund today. Not sure which pod it was but AJ did address this, I know this because I had the very same question and he answered it with that pod cast. The only real question remaining for me is AJ as well shared that the money for Young did not reduce the NIL fund, I assume they arranged a commercial op for him but not for sure.
GMAB with that crap. I don't have "man crushes" on anybody, nor patience for such juvenile epithets.
Moreover, you literally just posted the opposite of the truth. EC is a legit plus defender --- a fact easily detectable by even a modicum of acumen (and eyes). Evans is not, and "adequate distributor"?... guess that depends on your definition. Objectively, he is a decent Combo who can shoot some. None of that is really arguable.
Speaking of factual, everything I posted ITT is exactly that. We were in fact turned down by at least 4 legit PG transfers, and in no case was it about money --- it was about what they (and the basketball world) witnessed in the mishandling of EC. I could give you gorier details if you'd like.
With that straight, the one hopeful thing you may have gotten right is for Dixon to maybe step up early.
Back to the original topic of this thread...
Concerns for the incoming players we now have, yes of course there are concerns, not sure I can recall a season we didn't have some concerns going in, this one will be no different. Let's not spin this in to something it ain't. This is about NEXT season.
What AJ shares in this pod is legit, just as the positives he shared on the sister thread are as well legit. I think there are far FEWER questions about this group than we had going in to last season. I really like the players we got and I am not butt hurt at any players from last season are no longer on the team.
My remaining concern is wondering if Hubert will actually adjust his approaches to both ends of the court to fii the talents these new guys bring. I told you last season that if Hubert tried to use Jalen like he did Bacot, we were in for a major problem and what did we get, a back to the basket version of Jalen along with major problems.
So what I am telling you now is the structure of this team now is not one that will work well in that 4 around 1 nonsense. If you think we can simply post Jarin/Wilson/High outside as 3pt shooters, like we tried to with Nance/JWit or even Manek or Drake it is going to get UGLY. The sweet spot for Veesaar, Jarin, Wilson, and High is the mid range, clean mid range shots. You get those from ball movement, foot movement, and communication. We have called that for years the motion offense. It is the direct opposite of what Hubert seems to coach, the spread 4 and use your center to set screens, what you could call the anti-motion offense...
I do hold out small hope (very small) that last season taught Hubert a lesson he was slow to learn. He did finally accept the need for length in his front court. Maybe it was the influence of Tanner or maybe it was Bubba but this portal group seems fitted to the motion offense to nice for that not to be the plan. Maybe Hubert has opened his eyes and realizes that he cannot afford to waste this group of players in playing a style that does not fit them in any way. We can only wait and see.
Concerns for the incoming players we now have, yes of course there are concerns, not sure I can recall a season we didn't have some concerns going in, this one will be no different. Let's not spin this in to something it ain't. This is about NEXT season.
What AJ shares in this pod is legit, just as the positives he shared on the sister thread are as well legit. I think there are far FEWER questions about this group than we had going in to last season. I really like the players we got and I am not butt hurt at any players from last season are no longer on the team.
My remaining concern is wondering if Hubert will actually adjust his approaches to both ends of the court to fii the talents these new guys bring. I told you last season that if Hubert tried to use Jalen like he did Bacot, we were in for a major problem and what did we get, a back to the basket version of Jalen along with major problems.
So what I am telling you now is the structure of this team now is not one that will work well in that 4 around 1 nonsense. If you think we can simply post Jarin/Wilson/High outside as 3pt shooters, like we tried to with Nance/JWit or even Manek or Drake it is going to get UGLY. The sweet spot for Veesaar, Jarin, Wilson, and High is the mid range, clean mid range shots. You get those from ball movement, foot movement, and communication. We have called that for years the motion offense. It is the direct opposite of what Hubert seems to coach, the spread 4 and use your center to set screens, what you could call the anti-motion offense...
I do hold out small hope (very small) that last season taught Hubert a lesson he was slow to learn. He did finally accept the need for length in his front court. Maybe it was the influence of Tanner or maybe it was Bubba but this portal group seems fitted to the motion offense to nice for that not to be the plan. Maybe Hubert has opened his eyes and realizes that he cannot afford to waste this group of players in playing a style that does not fit them in any way. We can only wait and see.
You are more optimistic than I, and length won't cure what ailed us last season.
But yes, I too can only hold out hope that lessons were learned and some heads are extracted from posteriors on the staff. If not, they won't be here this time next year.
I disagree.
The preseason consensus last season went something like this . . .
Cadeau was going to be the guy we expected all along and was a cinch 2AD, maybe a lottery pick.
RJ was ACC POY and All America. 'Nuff said.
Seth was going to finally turn the corner, be confident, and no backslides. Probable 3AD.
Cade was the best outside shooter in the portal, filling a critical need.
Ian was a guaranteed OAD.
Drake was a probable OAD.
Withers was finally going to be the guy we expected.
JWash was going to tear it up.
Lubin was the experienced backup we needed and, if not, we had Claude and Brown.
What could possibly go wrong?
You MIGHT say much the same sort of things about the new team. But here's the caveat . . . we had already seen most of last year's players in Carolina blue. Whereas we have never seen most of the coming year's players in Carolina blue.
Wise choice.
As for last season, it's truly amazing what can kind of talent can be squandered if you try hard enough.
Man I hope Evans turns out to be a productive pg. I guess adequate distributor may describe him but honestly, I think UNC will miss EC. That is big loss.
long story short, money isn’t nor has ever been the issue. the issue is nobody wants to come play for Hubert. it’s a sinking ship and everybody knows it.
While there were certainly a few players on last year's roster that needed to take a jump from what they'd done in the past, on this year's team literally everyone needs to do so.
I worry that my previous answer to your comment could be misread.
I'm very optimistic about our 2025-26 team. Even if we are done adding players. BUT, I was even more optimistic last year, and look how that turned out. Nor was I alone in that optimism.
Point being that even though I am optimistic about the new team, I feel like we have MORE unanswered questions than we did last year.
As the summer unfolds and we start getting reports, I hope the questions get answered in the right ways. Time will tell.
When do the alumni show up and start teaching the new guys? When are the pickup games being broadcast?
Kidding aside, is there any reason why pickup games could not be broadcast (youtubed, or whatever)? As is or to raise a little money for charity?
More positive stuff today.
www.nytimes.com
Michael Jordan named ‘special contributor’ for NBC as network continues to lean into 90s nostalgia for NBA return
Michael Jordan named ‘special contributor’ for NBC as network continues to lean into 90s nostalgia for NBA return
The specifics of Jordan's role — and whether it goes beyond perfunctory appearances — will be detailed at a later date.
www.nytimes.com
I am equally optimistic about next year as I was last year! The reasons are different but the feeling of potential is the same! Both teams have/had easily identifiable flaws. BUT the lessons from last season have already driven change in our staff so why peeps refuse to credit it, I can't fathom! Hubs has changed his game and coaching style for his entire career, but peeps still can't see it. Length wouldn't fix what was wrong last season is a ridiculous idea! Yeah we lost more games than any of us wanted but you can't (with a straight face) really tell me that having a 7 footer in the lane (+ 6'11 + 6'10ish + way larger backcourt) wouldn't have helped us win a great many of them! How many times were we hoping for an altered shot; an offensive rebound; or a defensive rebound to end a game??? The horse is dead, it is OK not to beat it anymore! Hubs, Tanner, and the money backers SOLVED every single identified roster creation issue from last season but now we spend time so certain they won't do anything with said roster! SAD. If peeps couldn't stand the heat, I am ecstatic they left our kitchen! (even though as long as they throw no trash, they are still Family!) EC is very talented and could have been a multi-generational talent BUT he is also immature emotionally, small in stature, and has a mental block around shooting! If he can solve his mental block AND grow up to the point that a little physical play doesn't rattle him + learn his teammates enough to NOT throw passes some can't possibly catch-he will realize his otherworldly potential! BUT this doesn't mean that Hubs can't coach; it could simply mean he worked on his holistic game!
Go Tar Heels!
Go Tar Heels!
Certain? Absolutely not.
Concerned, yes.
| Everything Works and Fits Early On | Things Don't Work or Fit Early On | |
| Coaches Adjust Quickly and Effectively | Ideal | Acceptable |
| Coaches Don't Adjust Quickly and Effectively | This Works, Too, But not Ideal | Last Year |
WW, I am not getting in to trying to find out how many even minor questions we possibly could have come up with going in to last season or this season. What I am talking about is MAJOR concerns, concerns that really do not have any good answers, concerns that best case may have some minor work around but would not really get us to the level we expect.
Going in to last season, spin it however anyone wants, we simply did not have the length at any position to be what UNC fans expect from a UNC team. We had one of the smallest front courts in the entire NCAA and that was matched ONLY by the fact we had one of the smallest back courts in the NCAA. Most everything else you saw was in large or small ways is attributed to that one single problem, a complete and total lack of size for playing positions. That one problem dwarfs any other concern that may exist going in to this season or last season, frankly for any season in my memory. Frankly, to be as competitive as we were is a testament to those players.
The will this player or that players step up question comes along EVERY season but the question of starting a 6'6" 205 lbs freshman at the 4 and a 6'8" center should NEVER have to come up, it should NEVER happen, it is like putting 5 Leaky Black clones on the floor and asking why we struggle to score, it should never happen. We don't have questions like that for the coming season, finally we are back to the same old questions, can this or that guy step up, just as asked for so many years when a guy left us due to no remaining eligibility, same questions every basketball team has.
TP, I guess today is my day to piss everyone off, LOL! I agree with a lot of this but I very strongly disagree that Hubert has changed his approach. I hope he learned the need to match up size to positions, he did FINALLY move Drake to the 3 and JWit starting at the 4 very late season and it does appear that the lesson took in that he brought in good size for position. But when he did FINALLY start JWit at the 4 he STILL had him bombing away from the deep corner, fortunately JWit hit some of those but it was still that 4 around 1 featuring RJ taking BHOs near the top of the key and driving on a collapsing defense or taking yet another hard step back trey late in the shot clock, that is not a well structured offensive attack, that is more what you see on basically any black top in the country now days. It could not be further away from anything Dean or Roy taught.
Team is clearly bigger and longer throughout the roster and that's a goal Hubert had so good for him for accomplishing that. What remains to be seen is will the players develop into what they need to become and did Hubert and the staff get their talent evaluation correct.
I understand last year's team was small, but a gigantic part of last season's failure was the complete misevaluation of what Jalen Washington and Cade Tyson could be. We were told all offseason that the staff thought Washington was something he just wasn't. That's a failure of evaluating your talent. And the Cade Tyson stuff was obvious from almost day one where they messed up that evaluation.
So for this season, virtually every player who played college basketball last season needs to take a jump. Evans probably needs to score a bit more and take the next step as a PG. Trimble needs to score more and shoot it more efficiently. Veesaar needs to take a pretty significant leap in terms of minutes, which will hopefully lead to a jump in production. All remains to be seen. When it comes to developing players, Hubert's track record is pretty hit and miss, and it seems like he's better with an already made roster.
The big question for me is did the staff get their evaluation right or not?
Everything remains to be seen. I don't know if this staff has completely earned the benefit of the doubt, though. They'll have their opportunity to prove it. The horse is only dead if they prove it.
Severe miss evaluation of talent was yet another extreme question/concern going in to last season. No surprise that I was higher on Jalen's talent than most anyone else. But to hear that come from Hubert before our first scrimmage made me think that Hubert was finally going to use Jalen properly, as a face the basket 5 and maybe move him to the stretch 4, any thing but a back to the basket guy that basically does not do anything but screen and isn't actually good at that. But what did we get, some fake imitation of Bacot, simply shameful. How could you even consider putting all your eggs in that basket if you are not willing to allow him to play to the strength of his game? The way that kid was used was an insult to not just the kid but to the coaching profession, to the sport itself. Across the board it was a severe lack of even giving a care about talent evaluation, I am STILL EXTREMELY pissed off about that, not sure I can get over it. And it isn't just about Jalen, I wish it were
It seems this team could, on paper, be very competitive. However, in my opinion, besides the obvious questions around this new group, coaching is a greater unknown. I really hope HD can take what he has learned so far and coach this team to success this upcoming year. For starters, I guess success would be top 3 ACC, #5 seed or better and Sweet 16? 25+ wins? I'm really pulling for HD but I don't see it happening.
At this point, that is a bit optimistic, TBH.
At least as it stands now, this is a upper-mid-pack ACC roster --- somewhere around recent Wake Forest level, which of course means hoping for an ACC double-bye and NCAAT bid. Fortunately, even with its foibles, we have a better coaching staff than Wake.
Now, we could still add as many as 2 more players, with priority to a starting 3 man, which as of now is a BIG roster deficit (and barring something totally unforseen, Drake ain't coming back y'all).
If, and I mean IF we bring in a legit starter at the 3 (a legit 1 is too much to ask this season for reasons previously stated), your projection is possible... which might save Hubert's job.
What is this, the third primary objective that HD has had in "recruiting" so far? First it was all about shooters, then it was all about people who wanted to "unpack their bags", now it's all about length. I'm not a fan of how reactionary everything seems to be with him. Still don't know what he wants to accomplish, and if you're going to be that fluid it better at least mean you are willing to play to your roster's strengths which obviously didn't happen last year.
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