2022 Transfer Portal Thread

[JTJ3]

David Skogman could be a solid backup 5 for us.  Pretty mobile, Shaka seems to prefer that. Announced he's transferring from Buffalo.

[JWags85]

David Skogman could be a solid backup 5 for us.  Pretty mobile, Shaka seems to prefer that. Announced he's transferring from Buffalo.

Actually hits a decent clip from outside too.  He’d be a solid backup for sure

[jfp61]

KJ Williams of Murray State to the Portal.

Per Jeff Borzello

OVC Player of the Year KJ Williams is in the portal. Averaged 18.0 points and 8.4 rebounds. 6-foot-10 big man went for at least 30 points on four occasions. Career 35% 3-point shooter.

MONSTER addition to the Portal.

He is following his coach to LSU

[GoldenEagles03]

He is following his coach to LSU

Are they going to get slapped with sanctions?

Also they just signed transfer Kendal Coleman who averaged 15 and 11.  Not enough minutes for those 2.

[brewcity77]

He is following his coach to LSU

He wants to go to the NBA, following McMahon probably isn't the best way to do that.

[mubb3434]

KJ Williams of Murray State to the Portal.

Per Jeff Borzello

OVC Player of the Year KJ Williams is in the portal. Averaged 18.0 points and 8.4 rebounds. 6-foot-10 big man went for at least 30 points on four occasions. Career 35% 3-point shooter.

MONSTER addition to the Portal.

This has Kentucky written all over it

[brewcity77]

This has Kentucky written all over it

If they end up in need of a big, there's speculation they will grab the guy from Morehead State (who isn't in the portal yet).

[jfp61]

If they end up in need of a big, there's speculation they will grab the guy from Morehead State (who isn't in the portal yet).

Oscar could still return, and likely will. My guess is they'll end up going young in the transfer market for a big.

[Viper]

David Skogman could be a solid backup 5 for us.  Pretty mobile, Shaka seems to prefer that. Announced he's transferring from Buffalo.

agree. Local kid from Waukesha. Oates recruited him for Buffalo. Wondering if ‘bama is calling.

[MUBurrow]

I'd take Curbello.

Me too. I think a part of his struggle this year is that he was an odd fit with Cockburn. I’m a little bummed he’s leaving, I thought he and Coleman Hawkins we’re gonna be a ton of fun together next year.  I understand why someone wouldn’t want him on their team, but I don’t think you leave his kind of ability on the table even if you aren’t totally sure how you’ll harness it.

[TedBaxter]

The fact remains.  Marquette has one scholarship available right now, that we know of, and the need is an inside guy who can tandem with Osa and Keeyan Itejere. 

Will Justin Lewis opt for professional basketball?

Will any other current players opt for the portal?

I know this is a message board and you can speculate all you want, but I think it's comical when people say they'll take this player and they'll take that player when probably nobody on this board actually knows if Shaka will have more than 1 scholarship to work with and what position Shaka will need for an additional player at if he has more to give.

The other issue is that if they fill the available scholarship with a non-senior, Shaka doesn't have a clear 2023 opening unless someone else leaves.  You can say that Justin Lewis, if he doesn't leave this spring, may only play one more year at MU, but that is only one scholarship.

I'm not going to stop the speculation and it can be fun to think about.  It's just that there are so many factors that you have think about as a coaching staff, especially a staff that is in it's second year of building the program.

[wadesworld]

The fact remains.  Marquette has one scholarship available right now, that we know of, and the need is an inside guy who can tandem with Osa and Keeyan Itejere. 

Will Justin Lewis opt for professional basketball?

Will any other current players opt for the portal?

I know this is a message board and you can speculate all you want, but I think it's comical when people say they'll take this player and they'll take that player when probably nobody on this board actually knows if Shaka will have more than 1 scholarship to work with and what position Shaka will need for an additional player at if he has more to give.

The other issue is that if they fill the available scholarship with a non-senior, Shaka doesn't have a clear 2023 opening unless someone else leaves.  You can say that Justin Lewis, if he doesn't leave this spring, may only play one more year at MU, but that is only one scholarship.

I'm not going to stop the speculation and it can be fun to think about.  It's just that there are so many factors that you have think about as a coaching staff, especially a staff that is in it's second year of building the program.

The coaching staff has reached out to a number of guys who have entered the transfer portal, so it seems that they'll have at least one opening worth speculating about.  And probably more.

[IrwinFletcher]

While true, it certainly isn't typically true to this year's extent. I do think this year was an outlier. Offensive rebounding, this was more than 100 spots worse than his previous worst season. In his 12 years as a head coach, his teams were top-150 8 times and never worse than 218 (325 this year).

Defensive rebounding is less encouraging. This wasn't his worst (313 this year, 330 in 2020) but the 200-250 range is probably a bit more of a normal expectation. Still not great, though.

I wish Ben Steele or someone would ask him about this.  Is it philosophical and if so, how does his philosophy off-set the average to bad rebounding.

[brewcity77]

I wish Ben Steele or someone would ask him about this.  Is it philosophical and if so, how does his philosophy off-set the average to bad rebounding.

It's been asked a few times. Nevada Smith on the Golden Breakdown podcast talked about how it was largely personnel related and it was something they weren't going to fix this season, inferring there would be more of a focus on rebounding improvement through future recruiting. I believe it was Broeker who talked on Twitter about how they charted turnovers vs offensive rebounds, which would indicate a focus on net possessions and that if you could create a turnover, it essentially offset an offensive rebound and that was how they planned to mitigate the defensive rebounding deficiencies.

What really frustrated me just as much though was the offensive rebounding on our end. We were elite at scoring after offensive rebounds, which makes it that much more frustrating that we were so bad at it. In addition, Justin, O-Max, and Kur all saw their offensive rebounding percentages take significant dips this year. I understand the theory that going for offensive rebounds can hurt your transition defense because guys are at the rim instead of getting back on defense, but the numbers don't really bear out that reality. There is a stronger correlation that teams that pursue offensive rebounds actually have better transition defense, likely because they are in position to slow the break at its inception and when they get the board and convert it allows the defense to be better set, limiting transition opportunities.

Coming back to the subject of the thread, I do think they are trying to fix this. Aimaq, Gainey, Washington, and Coleman are all excellent rebounders. On paper, Wrightsil fits that mold as well. Depending on the available scholarships, I think we'll see at least one big that can bang down low and another that they'll want to get to the boards and stretch the floor. I think in their perfect world, they add a stretch 4 and a 5.

[jfp61]

It's been asked a few times. Nevada Smith on the Golden Breakdown podcast talked about how it was largely personnel related and it was something they weren't going to fix this season, inferring there would be more of a focus on rebounding improvement through future recruiting. I believe it was Broeker who talked on Twitter about how they charted turnovers vs offensive rebounds, which would indicate a focus on net possessions and that if you could create a turnover, it essentially offset an offensive rebound and that was how they planned to mitigate the defensive rebounding deficiencies.

What really frustrated me just as much though was the offensive rebounding on our end. We were elite at scoring after offensive rebounds, which makes it that much more frustrating that we were so bad at it. In addition, Justin, O-Max, and Kur all saw their offensive rebounding percentages take significant dips this year. I understand the theory that going for offensive rebounds can hurt your transition defense because guys are at the rim instead of getting back on defense, but the numbers don't really bear out that reality. There is a stronger correlation that teams that pursue offensive rebounds actually have better transition defense, likely because they are in position to slow the break at its inception and when they get the board and convert it allows the defense to be better set, limiting transition opportunities.

Coming back to the subject of the thread, I do think they are trying to fix this. Aimaq, Gainey, Washington, and Coleman are all excellent rebounders. On paper, Wrightsil fits that mold as well. Depending on the available scholarships, I think we'll see at least one big that can bang down low and another that they'll want to get to the boards and stretch the floor. I think in their perfect world, they add a stretch 4 and a 5.

4's Noah Carter and Zach Wrightsil
5's Jaylan Gainey, Mohamed Wague, Luke Northweather (2022 freshman)

These are the guys that feel most likely.

[TallTitan34]

Manny Bates has entered.

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/4395662/manny-bates

[bradforster]

It's been asked a few times. Nevada Smith on the Golden Breakdown podcast talked about how it was largely personnel related and it was something they weren't going to fix this season, inferring there would be more of a focus on rebounding improvement through future recruiting. I believe it was Broeker who talked on Twitter about how they charted turnovers vs offensive rebounds, which would indicate a focus on net possessions and that if you could create a turnover, it essentially offset an offensive rebound and that was how they planned to mitigate the defensive rebounding deficiencies.

What really frustrated me just as much though was the offensive rebounding on our end. We were elite at scoring after offensive rebounds, which makes it that much more frustrating that we were so bad at it. In addition, Justin, O-Max, and Kur all saw their offensive rebounding percentages take significant dips this year. I understand the theory that going for offensive rebounds can hurt your transition defense because guys are at the rim instead of getting back on defense, but the numbers don't really bear out that reality. There is a stronger correlation that teams that pursue offensive rebounds actually have better transition defense, likely because they are in position to slow the break at its inception and when they get the board and convert it allows the defense to be better set, limiting transition opportunities.

Coming back to the subject of the thread, I do think they are trying to fix this. Aimaq, Gainey, Washington, and Coleman are all excellent rebounders. On paper, Wrightsil fits that mold as well. Depending on the available scholarships, I think we'll see at least one big that can bang down low and another that they'll want to get to the boards and stretch the floor. I think in their perfect world, they add a stretch 4 and a 5.

I listen to Boston, Philly and NY sports radio.  Do you really think the Milwaukee market is willing to ask the tough questions or put any pressure on its local sports teams?  They didn't do it when I lived there.  Maybe it's changed.  Perhaps even you could interview Shaka!

[bradforster]

I listen to Boston, Philly and NY sports radio.  Do you really think the Milwaukee market is willing to ask the tough questions or put any pressure on its local sports teams?  They didn't do it when I lived there.  Maybe it's changed.  Perhaps you could interview Shaka!

[GB Warrior]

https://theathletic.com/3211734/2022/03/29/ranking-the-best-available-mens-college-basketball-transfers-and-high-school-recruits-for-2022-23?source=user-shared-article

[GoldenEagles03]

Ben Vander Plas from Ohio has entered the portal, from Ripon.

Circling back on this...

Vander Plas posted a 17, 5 and 4 line in the 13/4 upset last year against Virginia.  He was matched up with Sam Hauser and held him to 4/16 shooting.

[brewcity77]

I listen to Boston, Philly and NY sports radio.  Do you really think the Milwaukee market is willing to ask the tough questions or put any pressure on its local sports teams?  They didn't do it when I lived there.  Maybe it's changed.  Perhaps even you could interview Shaka!

It isn't the Milwaukee market that's the problem. I actually have been very impressed with Ben Steele's work to elevate his understanding of the types of metrics the staff uses and better explaining what's going on around the program in that regard. The problem is that the Milwaukee market isn't focused on Marquette basketball. The Packers still dominate sports talk conversation, then the Brewers, Bucks, and Badgers get the bulk of the leftover attention.

It's also who is given access. Homer has his weekly radio show with Shaka or one of the other staff members, but he's statistically illiterate and more often than not the radio show is the staff explaining to Homer how basketball works. It's informative, but Homer isn't knowledgeable enough to ask any meaningful questions because his head is usually spinning over concepts like eFG% or points per possession.

I would keep an eye on Paint Touches, if anyone has the relationships built up to get those interviews, they are the blog to do it.

[GoldenEagles03]

 "Understand Georgia basketball player Kario Oquendo is expected to enter the transfer portal. Oquendo led the Bulldogs with 15.2 points per game last season."

SG that had Marquette in his final 3 before choosing Georgia.   Big time athlete with a scorers mentality.

Had 22 points against Kentucky, 25 points against Auburn, 33 points against Texas A&M.

Some big time games against big time teams.  Shaka had Marquette in the running once already.

Some of the athleticism on display against Tennessee below⬇️

https://twitter.com/MarchMadnessMBB/status/1498814601634324480?t=RcdK_BM-sqJSmbU6iSchPw&s=19

[Its DJOver]

"Understand Georgia basketball player Kario Oquendo is expected to enter the transfer portal. Oquendo led the Bulldogs with 15.2 points per game last season."

SG that had Marquette in his final 3 before choosing Georgia.   Big time athlete with a scorers mentality.

Had 22 points against Kentucky, 25 points against Auburn, 33 points against Texas A&M.

Some big time games against big time teams.  Shaka had Marquette in the running once already.

Some of the athleticism on display against Tennessee below⬇️

https://twitter.com/MarchMadnessMBB/status/1498814601634324480?t=RcdK_BM-sqJSmbU6iSchPw&s=19

But he didn’t win games. Seems more like a Markus rather than a Jae so we should stay away.

[cheebs09]

I also think it’s just the media in general. Heck, you have Packers fans saying they wish their reporters would be tougher on LaFleur or Rodgers. Same with Stearns and the Brewers. I think the fans want to see people answer hard questions, but the media has to do it in a respectful way to not lose access.

Is the media in Milwaukee any “softer” than others? I doubt it. Maybe a little different than New York and Philly, but probably similar to the rest of the country.

I don’t think they are going to go too hard at a college basketball program when the extent of it is typically game recaps and maybe a few articles spotlighting players or how the season is going.

[GoldenEagles03]

But he didn’t win games. Seems more like a Markus rather than a Jae so we should stay away.

He's actually more like a Jae than a Markus.  He was a JUCO/D2 type transfer up to D1 similar to Jae with something to prove.

Also don't make it seem like Markus is some schlub. He was awesome.  Just not better than Jae in my opinion.