Kolek planning to go pro
Now that these guys get paid, they can also get fined. I'd give Jop 100 dribbles for the season. If he exceeds that, or 10 per game, he loses $1000 of his NIL money per dribble.If this was in place last year, it would have either prevented many drives to nowhere, or he'd have been one of the university's largest donors.
I rarely drink. And I believe Ben is that skilled. He just needs confidence.
I think UCONN will still be more than competitive.
No one except some Scoop Eeyores will be picking MU 9th in the Big East.
Not just Ben, the whole team in my opinion. All teams have stinker games, but that sweet 16 stinker just smells to high heaven. That is not COLE, just an observation.
When you look at the turmoil and turnover in the other BEAST teams, it's hard to see how any of them will be better than MU. Of course, some of the new free agents will gel with their teams and perform well, and other coaches will somehow create a whole that's greater than the sum of the parts. I don't think any other team in the BEAST (the country???) has 8 guys returning and MU has 8 guys who got serious game minutes returning.
Lenny, I get the angst. However, this is the model that existed in college basketball for decades. Seniors leave, young guys step up. The circle of life. MU having 3 scholarship players in each year used to be the ideal. A little bit of Christmas morning in each new season as you are never 100% sure what you are going to get.Yes, the team has to fill two large holes. But MU is returning 3 proven starters and have two known quantities stepping in. The only real question is how quickly the young guys develop.
Trying to figure out which teams (Big East and elsewhere) will be better or worse next year (this far in advance, anyway) is impossible. The question that should concern MU fans is will we maintain the excellence of the last 2 years. Kam, Stevie and Ben improved this year - it’s fair to expect that to continue. Jop treaded water - was what we got this year all there is or is there another gear? How much do we get from Tre and Zaide? Amadou and Hamilton? The incoming freshmen? Can it all make up for the loss of Kolek and Oso?That will be a big hill to climb but I think we can get there or at least come close. If we do it will be proof that the program is at a point it hasn’t been since the late 70s.
I will guarantee you UConn will be worse without Clingan. That guy scared me more than any player I've ever seen MU go up against. I think with all the praises he's received he's still somehow underrated.
towerThe Shaka model has worked well and hopefully that continues. But I think there definitely is room to question how that model will work the further we go down the portal path. Shaka is running a program unlike any other top twenty program, and we all hope that he is correct. That said, maintaining a top tier program is going to take some luck under Shaka's approach.After MU lost to NC State, I started a thread about the next level of the program. I believe Shaka can keep MU as a top 25 program under his system and will likely have top ten years from time to time. I do not believe he can maintain the same level we have seen the last two years simply via recruiting HS kids and retaining players.I am all in for however Shaka wants to run this program and try not to second guess his decisions. That said, if he stays the path he is currently on, my expectations of MU having more top ten years than top 25 years drops a good deal. The only questions I have is, and they are big ones, if the NIL deals change to less wild west and how things look without guys having the covid years. Shaka's model may look very, very smart a couple of years down the road and programs will be scrambling to copy MU. I think we will have clearer view of things a year from now.
I do not have a problem with Shaka’s idea of building a program, but with 1700 kids in the portal there is not one kid that could make the team better? You have 13 scholarships so use them if you can.
BCI agree 100% that there has to be one player in the portal that fits the culture and could make the team better. There has to be a good number of former recruits in the portal, and he recruited them because they were guys that would fit his culture. I am surprised he has not brought in a former recruit via the portal.
Like who? I'm not being critical here, but who is a former Shaka recruit, who is in the portal, that meets an obvious need and would be an upgrade?The only one I can think of off the top of my head is Aidoo, but I don't think Shaka really recruited him outside of trying to retain him as a MU commit when he started.Down the line, perhaps Kon meets those criteria.
There may be……however with Shaka’s approach, I don’t think he is willing to overspend for someone that he hopes can come in here for 7-9 months., at the risk of upsetting what he’s laying down. I believe he would rather put that effort and energy into Zaide, for example, as opposed to telling a player like Zaide that he is being passed over/split time this year and to practice hard everyday and maybe by Junior/Senior year you will play alot more. What you are suggesting maybe a better approach….but its not Shaka’s.
No one will be picking MU 9th in the Big East. Some will be picking MU 9th in the country.
Marquette fans, 2005-2023: "God, the effing Badgers always have some guy come out of nowhere and they end up being good every year. Why can't we have that?"Some Marquette fans, 2022-present: "Sure some guys have developed and won a league title and got to a Sweet 16, but retaining and developing guys won't work. Gotta clear some room and hit the portal."