Recruiting as of 5/15/24

[avid1010]

With 6 underclass men back this year and next, I do not understand what Shaka is doing?  Add Lowery and it will be 7.  He talks about building relationships, should some of those 6 be looking over their shoulder?  I know you recruit 24/7 but he is recruiting like he has another 5 open scholarships? Interesting

How many MU players are leaving?  Is MU over-signed/committed?

[genious expert]

How many MU players are leaving?  Is MU over-signed/committed?

Nobody leaving as of now.  Currently have 1 scholarship "open" but it probably belongs to Justin if he decides to return.
If they sign another player then either Justin is staying in the draft or someone is getting asked to leave.

[jfp61]

For the start of 2023. If Norman happens to commit to Marquette. We would be at 13 guys. At the scholarship limit. Shaka is still likely recruiting a 23’ forward after Norman. That’s why I said he’s acting like 1 extra person may leave within the next two summers.

Shaka has all the time in the world.

[Uncle Rico]

Nobody leaving as of now.  Currently have 1 scholarship "open" but it probably belongs to Justin if he decides to return.
If they sign another player then either Justin is staying in the draft or someone is getting asked to leave.

Shaka needs to run Kam and Stevie off the roster, so hopefully this is part of that plan

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

For the start of 2023. If Norman happens to commit to Marquette. We would be at 13 guys. At the scholarship limit. Shaka is still likely recruiting a 23’ forward after Norman. That’s why I said he’s acting like 1 extra person may leave within the next two summers.

Shaka has all the time in the world.

I get the numbers and expect Shaka to sign 3 in the fall.  I'm a little curious about recruiting another guard, unless the guard is simply too good to pass up.  I would be targeting a 6-7 F (Roberts, Royal, Swain, etc) and a 6-9+ player (Amadou, Estrella).

Looking at the projected 2023 roster:

Sean Jones
Stevie Mitchell
Tyler Kolek
Kam Jones
Emarion Ellis
Chase Ross
Zaide Lowery

That's 7 guards.  Even if one transfers, as I expect, there are still 6 guards on the roster.  That would be enough, IMO.

If two guards transfer next year, then securing a Norman commitment looks a little better from a numbers perspective.

But it looks like Shaka is hot after Norman and he's a much higher priority than I first expected.  I will have to keep learning more about this prospect.

[GoldenEagles03]

Shaka needs to run Kam and Stevie off the roster, so hopefully this is part of that plan

What?

[genious expert]

I get the numbers and expect Shaka to sign 3 in the fall.  I'm a little curious about recruiting another guard, unless the guard is simply too good to pass up.  I would be targeting a 6-7 F (Roberts, Royal, Swain, etc) and a 6-9+ player (Amadou, Estrella).

Looking at the projected 2023 roster:

Sean Jones
Stevie Mitchell
Tyler Kolek
Kam Jones
Emarion Ellis
Chase Ross
Zaide Lowery

That's 7 guards.  Even if one transfers, as I expect, there are still 6 guards on the roster.  That would be enough, IMO.

If two guards transfer next year, then securing a Norman commitment looks a little better from a numbers perspective.

But it looks like Shaka is hot after Norman and he's a much higher priority than I first expected.  I will have to keep learning more about this prospect.

Here's a 21min interview with Tre from March 30th.

https://youtu.be/Y-83Tt1T5x8

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

What?

Remember, Uncle Rico is all in on satirical trolling.

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

Here's a 21min interview with Tre from March 30th.

https://youtu.be/Y-83Tt1T5x8

Thanks.

[JTJ3]

If Shaka wants to get back to playing 3 or 4 guards at all times, 8 guards and then 5 bigs/forwards to cover the 4/5 spots sounds about right.

You will never hear me complain about having too many guards, who can handle and shoot, at any level of basketball.

[We R Final Four]

If Shaka wants to get back to playing 3 or 4 guards at all times, 8 guards and then 5 bigs/forwards to cover the 4/5 spots sounds about right.

You will never hear me complain about having too many guards, who can handle and shoot, at any level of basketball.

Yes—agreed. Tyler, Kam, Darryl, and even Stevie played the one last year. A lot of guards who can do a lot of different things and several athletic bigs seems to be Shaka’s approach.

[BCHoopster]

I am not sold on the 2 centers we have the next year so I think One Scholy has to be for Al Amadeu or Roberts, even Milo at Pewaukee so it will still be very interesting!  And the kid from Ohio is very interested, so one leaving I see more

[Newsdreams]

What?

We don't want Woj dudes

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

If Shaka wants to get back to playing 3 or 4 guards at all times, 8 guards and then 5 bigs/forwards to cover the 4/5 spots sounds about right.

You will never hear me complain about having too many guards, who can handle and shoot, at any level of basketball.

I'm fine if that is Shaka's longterm approach, but then he needs some absolute glass eaters in the 4/5 spots.

Joplin, O-Max, and Oso are below average to average rebounders at best.  Gold and Itejere are unproven.  So I see a much bigger need for rebounders.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

nm

[MarquetteMike1977]

Happy birthday to future Golden Eagle Ben Gold

[Stretchdeltsig]

It's so good to have 7 footers!

[PJDunn]

Matt Painter agrees

[jfp61]

I'm fine if that is Shaka's longterm approach, but then he needs some absolute glass eaters in the 4/5 spots.

Joplin, O-Max, and Oso are below average to average rebounders at best.  Gold and Itejere are unproven.  So I see a much bigger need for rebounders.

The best Crean and Buzz teams rebounded worse defensivly than last years team.

[avid1010]

I am not sold on the 2 centers we have the next year so I think One Scholy has to be for Al Amadeu or Roberts, even Milo at Pewaukee so it will still be very interesting!  And the kid from Ohio is very interested, so one leaving I see more

you just made it sound like shaka wasn't practicing what he preaches...but he seems to get amazing results as far as getting players to stay.  i think we all expected to see more MU players in the portal at this stage...says something about how he builds relationships...don't think he's fake in those statements. 

[The Equalizer]

you just made it sound like shaka wasn't practicing what he preaches...but he seems to get amazing results as far as getting players to stay.  i think we all expected to see more MU players in the portal at this stage...says something about how he builds relationships...don't think he's fake in those statements.

Well, we did have 8 in the portal last year.

And I don't get the point about "we all expected to see more MU players in the portal at this stage". Who, besides Greg, did you expect to see in the portal this year?

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Well, we did have 8 in the portal last year.

And I don't get the point about "we all expected to see more MU players in the portal at this stage". Who, besides Greg, did you expect to see in the portal this year?

It certainly wasn't "we all" but there were a few posters who were convinced that there'd be mass transfers annually due to the free transfer rule

[avid1010]

Well, we did have 8 in the portal last year.

And I don't get the point about "we all expected to see more MU players in the portal at this stage". Who, besides Greg, did you expect to see in the portal this year?

Huh?  Last year's transfers indicate Shaka's abilty to instill a culture that keeps players at MU...and no one transferring this year is not an indicator of that?

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

Searched Twitter for opinions on Tre Norman. Some adjectives used to describe him:

Tough-nosed
DAWG
High-IQ
PTRW (plays the right way)

Here's an analysis from a couple years ago:


https://twitter.com/trenorman617/status/1518706456773767183?t=Hk8vqgL1elkRmpD9XAOepQ&s=19

[The Equalizer]

Huh?  Last year's transfers indicate Shaka's abilty to instill a culture that keeps players at MU.

You can say a lot of positive things about Shaka's culture, but the fact that 8 players transferred last year, and one more this year, suggests that retention ain't one of them.

..and no one transferring this year is not an indicator of that?

Well, Greg is transferring this year. That aside, the reason we don't have as many transfers this year as last year is that:
1. We don't have a coaching change
2. Players don't perceive an inability to crack the rotation for playing time
3. Shaka hasn't overrecurited anyone yet (I don't see any current players scared off by King, Jones or Ross).

I don't see any of the 8 returning players that would think at this point that they're unable to crack the lineup. Look at it player by player:

- Kam:  Got significant minutes last year, likely to be a big part of the upcoming season.  Shaka has already said he could be one of MU's all-time leading scorers.
- Kolek: Shaka's love for Tyler is obvious.
- Mitchell: Got a lot of playing time as a frosh, and emerged as one of the better defenders.
- Oso: Part of the main rotation, and no obvious challenger to send him to the bench.
- O-Max: Ditto
- Keeyan: Paid his dues as a redshirt and sees minutes available with Kur's departure and little roster competition for bigs. Plus, he practiced every day with tht team, so he knows where he stands relative to Oso and Kur.
- Joplin: Got decent minutes (and they increased toward the end of the year) and shows every sign that he'll get a lot of Lewis' minutes.
- Ellis: Paid dues as the last man on the bench, and sees a good chance to crack the lineup with Elliott and Morsell, leaving.   

And I don't think any of these guys view Gold, Chase, or Sean Jones as a long-term threat--they've all been freshmen--they know what the HS to D1 transition is like.  They've met these guys and probably played against them during the official (and unofficial) visits.  And to the extent that Wrightsil is a threat, he's only there for a single season.

So that leaves the question as to why would any of these guys transfer now, after spending a year learning the system and are all on the verge of substantial playing time or nobody coming in that could be perceived as an imminent threat? 

They're sticking around because they see dramatically improved chances at playing time--not because we have a "culture of retention." And based on the type of players Shaka is targeting, next year and in '24 we could see an entirely different situation.