Somewhat skeptical of portal success

[Galway Eagle]

There must have been a basis for Fetch though, right?!   Why would they have pushed it so hard?

Because there wasn't another option and we wanted to believe that we had coached him up enough to be a high major starter

[tower912]

I think the OP makes a great point.  Some of the board is going to be disappointed.

[SchnitzelBoy]

I'll feel a lot better (or worse) after our first signing lol

That complete whiff of a junior class (Zaide, Tre, Al Amadou, Caedin) has completely upended so much momentum for this program that I think over-skewed people's opinion on Shaka as a coach. He has hit on so many recruits, and although the seniors weren't great, they've been so mangled by injuries that their development was derailed entirely.

Nigel, Adrien, MPIII, Royce, Damarius aare either hits or could still could hit while Kam, Stevie, Jop, Tyler, Oso, Omax, Kur Kuath, Morsell, and Lewis were recruiting, portal, or retention wins. I'm keeping the faith!

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Given his pedigree, Wrightsil was always more likely to be a miss than a hit. We'll never know for sure, of course.

His teammate was a productive high major starter. Wrightsil was considered the better of the two.  Doesn't mean he was going to succeed here,  but i don't think we can say he was more likely to be a miss.

[Pakuni]

His teammate was a productive high major starter. Wrightsil was considered the better of the two.  Doesn't mean he was going to succeed here,  but i don't think we can say he was more likely to be a miss.

I'm guessing you mean Myles Burnes, who was bad (44.5 eFG%, 18.8% from three) on a terrible Ole Miss team.
If Wrightsil matched Burnes' numbers at MU, nobody would have considered him a hit.

[Pakuni]

I don't know if that's completely true, NPOY in any division is someone who can definitely play. Not saying he was going to be setting the world on fire.

Not exactly a murderer's row.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NABC_Player_of_the_Year#NAIA

[hawk]

What is the goal of the portal this seaason?  Perhaps more to the point the question might be, how do you want to use the portal as a tool?  Since Shaka wants to promote the RGV brand I don't thnk you will ever see him do a Michigan move,where all the starters come from the portal or a DePaul move where you get rid of everybody and start over.  Looking at next year you have 3 studs coming back as a junior and 2 sophamores. The wing or 3 spot seems pretty crowded already with Owens,Philips,Miletic and Egbouno.  Walker looks like a natural to back up Stevens. All of these guys are young developing players and Shaka is not going to recruit over them.  So you need a starting center and a backup point guard.  I assume both will be seniors. Replacing Gold's numbers should not be a heavy lift but the replacement for Jones could be interesting given that James is a sophamore.  What kind of senior wants to get hired as a backup looking at 10 to 15 minutes per game? Beyond that the question could be asked what do uyou do with the 3rd portal opneing?  Do you get another center, another point guard or a power forward who only wants to play 15 minutes behind Parham?  As I asee it the problem for Shaka is the balance between what you think you have and what you know you need at a gven point in time.  15 players is a lot of players and they can't all play so you don't want all to be of starting quality.  The problem for fans is to try to appreciate the complexity of the situation and deal with almost never being satisfied wth the product no matter how successful it may become.

[Vander Blue Man Group]

What is the goal of the portal this seaason?  Perhaps more to the point the question might be, how do you want to use the portal as a tool?  Since Shaka wants to promote the RGV brand I don't thnk you will ever see him do a Michigan move,where all the starters come from the portal or a DePaul move where you get rid of everybody and start over.  Looking at next year you have 3 studs coming back as a junior and 2 sophamores. The wing or 3 spot seems pretty crowded already with Owens,Philips,Miletic and Egbouno.  Walker looks like a natural to back up Stevens. All of these guys are young developing players and Shaka is not going to recruit over them.  So you need a starting center and a backup point guard.  I assume both will be seniors. Replacing Gold's numbers should not be a heavy lift but the replacement for Jones could be interesting given that James is a sophamore.  What kind of senior wants to get hired as a backup looking at 10 to 15 minutes per game? Beyond that the question could be asked what do uyou do with the 3rd portal opneing?  Do you get another center, another point guard or a power forward who only wants to play 15 minutes behind Parham?  As I asee it the problem for Shaka is the balance between what you think you have and what you know you need at a gven point in time.  15 players is a lot of players and they can't all play so you don't want all to be of starting quality.  The problem for fans is to try to appreciate the complexity of the situation and deal with almost never being satisfied wth the product no matter how successful it may become.

Paragraphs are your friend. Sheesh.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I'm guessing you mean Myles Burnes, who was bad (44.5 eFG%, 18.8% from three) on a terrible Ole Miss team.
If Wrightsil matched Burnes' numbers at MU, nobody would have considered him a hit.

Only if you think shooting is the only thing that matters.

Burnes was 4th in the whole country in steal% and averaged 2.4 a game. He was top 200 in OR%. Evan Miya ranked him as a top 150 defender and the 397th best player in D1 that year.  Compared to MUs roster that year, he would've been our second best defender after Oso and 6th best player,  between Stevie and Jop.

Burnes was definitely a hit. Doesnt mean Wrightsill was also going to be a hit,  but he was considered the much better get of the two.

[hawk]

Sorry teacher, stream of consciousness.  Any grade on content?