Fru to Mu

[The Sultan]

He had a bad half.   He had a good half. 
The other game I watched most of he was solid throughout.

Huh. Imagine that.

[Jockey]

Minessaleb would start over all those players except maybe Adrien.

They may offer?

Minessale led the Tommies is assists and had an assist rate of 25.9% which was 179th in the nation last season. He can run the point.

Maybe we could get a waiver and re-sign Vander Blue.

[MuggsyB]

The staff has offered Minessale. He's better than anyone we have at the 3, and he can play the 1 for the 8-10 minutes we'll need in place of Nigel.

This is where I'm at and I essentially agree with Brew's analysis. 

[Tha Hound]

In one of his games that I watched, he ran the point.  Completely ineffective.  Moved him off the ball in the second half, let the other back up PG run the show, NM had a great half.

My concerns remain.

Our best player is our point guard. He is going to play 30 minutes every game. We only need someone competent to handle the remaining minutes. NM should be more than capable to contribute there.

Maybe we should form our thoughts on two full seasons worth of stats rather than a single half of basketball, but that could be asking too much.

[Zog from Margo]

I think Fru and Minessale are very good additions. At this stage, however, I still see the roster as short on three point shooters and a physical rebounder /defender in the rotation at the 4/5.

[Tha Hound]

I think Fru and Minessale are very good additions. At this stage, however, I still see the roster as short on three point shooters and a physical rebounder /defender in the rotation at the 4/5.

Well we only have 1 more spot open, and Fru is the physical rebounder and defender in rotation at 4/5.

Agreed that we could still use one more guard, and it would be nice if they could hit 3s at a decent clip.

[K1 Lover]

I get the concern, but I think it's pretty unfounded. I used to look at similar when it came to low/mid majors playing against kenpom Tier A+B competition. When I saw those guys who were great 90% of the time but seemed to really struggle against better teams, I questioned how they'd do moving up a level.

Then I watched guys like Tristen Newton, Baylor Scheierman, RJ Luis, even our own Andrew Rowsey & Tyler Kolek have poor Tier A+B splits elsewhere then come to the Big East and be awesome.

I think a lot of the time, the guys good enough to go up get most of the defensive focus in those games, which can raise the "are they really ready for this level" question, but when they get to this level and they're no longer the clear best player on the team, that defensive focus diminishes and they get more freedom to show why they were so highly regarded in the first place.

Totally understand where you're coming from, but I got a lot of evals wrong because I zeroed in on what guys did 10% of the time when they their team as a whole was overmatched and not the 90% of the time they were proving they belonged at a higher level.

Great points and I fully agree. While I didn't mention it, I did think of noting that those four game stats might not even be relevant anyway since it's a new team and Shaka will surely have him prepared to play in the Big East. Similar to how Fru will be a different player than he was at Louisville, I expect Minessale will be the same (if we ever get his commitment announcement).

[The Sultan]

Well we only have 1 more spot open, and Fru is the physical rebounder and defender in rotation at 4/5.

Agreed that we could still use one more guard, and it would be nice if they could hit 3s at a decent clip.

Yeah I can't see us adding more size with Fru, Royce, Sheek...and dare I say Caedin and Josh on the roster.

I do think a guard/wing is what should be added. But do they want to add a player who will be around multiple years like Odih? Or would they prefer a senior who can give them a year. No idea who that player would be though.

[muwarrior69]

We are in need of a 3pt shooter, period!

[MU82]

Great post, brew.

Also, now that we got our 5, I agree with tower about guards. Ideally, we'd land both Minessale and someone like Malachi Smith, who left a starting gig at Dayton to become a valuable 16 mpg backup PG for UConn.

UConn also had Ball, Mullins, Demary and Ross to play guard. Why in the world did they need Smith? Well, in addition to giving UConn good guard play when others (especially Demary) needed a rest, he was called on to start 2 NCAA Tournament games when Demary was injured. Pretty sure Hurley was damn glad to have brought him to UConn.

Even with Minessale, next season's Marquette team will have three guards on the roster - only one of whom has been a starting PG - and a bunch of wings. Fingers crossed, maybe Nash, if healthy, can play a little point?

Perhaps a Malachi Smith type doesn't exist in this year's portal. Or if he does, he's too expensive or doesn't want to be a backup for Marquette. But I know I'd feel a lot better with a player like that on the roster.

[tower912]

Our best player is our point guard. He is going to play 30 minutes every game. We only need someone competent to handle the remaining minutes. NM should be more than capable to contribute there.

Maybe we should form our thoughts on two full seasons worth of stats rather than a single half of basketball, but that could be asking too much.

He is a well put together kid, scored at three levels and did it all for his team.  I hope he comes to MU.  I want more guard depth. 

[Tha Hound]

He is a well put together kid, scored at three levels and did it all for his team.  I hope he comes to MU.  I want more guard depth. 

Agreed

[Jay Bee]

#NoMoreGuards

[PointWarrior]

but Tower is concerned...  the concern level maybe as high as MU not serving hot dogs at their scrimmages...

#NoMoreGuards

[MU82]

The Athletic's CJ Moore selected Fru as one of the five best transfer-portal "fits" into his new team's scheme, saying: "These are not necessarily the best prospects, but the players who fit a need and also went to programs where they're likely set up to excel. These five portal marriages should lead to happiness for both parties."

Of Fru to MU, he wrote:

Marquette's two best offensive years under Shaka Smart were when Smart unleashed center Oso Ighodaro as a playmaker.

Smart finally went portal shopping this year after a down year and found what could be his next Ighodaro in Fru, who shows the flashes on tape with similar athleticism and advanced numbers as Ighodaro before his junior year explosion.

Ighodaro had the freedom to bring the ball up because of his ballhandling. That's probably the biggest question mark with whether Fru can be used similarly, but there is proof of him looking capable of putting it on the floor.

Fru can make the type of passes that Ighodaro made for Marquette, whether it was feeding cutters or a quick-connecting dribble-handoff.

One of Smart's greatest strengths is empowering his players to grow their games. It's one reason he bet on development over hitting the portal every year. If he can pull off something similar with a portal player in Fru, then Marquette could find itself back in the NCAA Tournament.

The other four named were Ty'Reek Coleman (Iowa), David Punch (Texas), J.P. Estrella (Michigan) and Sam Orme (Nebraska).

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7263088/2026/05/08/college-basketball-transfer-portal-fits-analysis/

[JakeBarnes]

Gonna be a beast here

[NCMUFan]

The Athletic's CJ Moore selected Fru as one of the five best transfer-portal "fits" into his new team's scheme, saying: "These are not necessarily the best prospects, but the players who fit a need and also went to programs where they're likely set up to excel. These five portal marriages should lead to happiness for both parties."

Of Fru to MU, he wrote:

Marquette's two best offensive years under Shaka Smart were when Smart unleashed center Oso Ighodaro as a playmaker.

Smart finally went portal shopping this year after a down year and found what could be his next Ighodaro in Fru, who shows the flashes on tape with similar athleticism and advanced numbers as Ighodaro before his junior year explosion.

Ighodaro had the freedom to bring the ball up because of his ballhandling. That's probably the biggest question mark with whether Fru can be used similarly, but there is proof of him looking capable of putting it on the floor.

Fru can make the type of passes that Ighodaro made for Marquette, whether it was feeding cutters or a quick-connecting dribble-handoff.

One of Smart's greatest strengths is empowering his players to grow their games. It's one reason he bet on development over hitting the portal every year. If he can pull off something similar with a portal player in Fru, then Marquette could find itself back in the NCAA Tournament.

The other four named were Ty'Reek Coleman (Iowa), David Punch (Texas), J.P. Estrella (Michigan) and Sam Orme (Nebraska).

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7263088/2026/05/08/college-basketball-transfer-portal-fits-analysis/

Nigel James being the Kolek in the comparison?

[SchnitzelBoy]

Nigel James being the Kolek in the comparison?

Not saying this will be the case, but Nigel is on track to being even better than Kolek with that freshman season. Nigel was a solid distributor last season and should improve on his 4.9 assists per game. With Fru's impressive efficiency and Nigel becoming an even better passer, this duo could be as effective as Kolek/Ighodaro if everything falls into place.

The rest of the rotation of Royce, Adrien, Minessale, Owens, MPIII, and Alex could be as productive as Kam/Jop/Stevie/Chase/Gold. I'm not sure where the offensive production of Kam Jones would come from in that group (maybe Minessale?) but they will be considerably more athletic.

[MU82]

James and Kolek play PG differently. Each is/was great for Marquette in his own way. The exciting part is that James is now only entering his sophomore season and figures to get even better. Kolek arrived at MU for his sophomore season and faced a serious learning curve; it took him an entire year at the major-college level to become a great PG.

[SchnitzelBoy]

James and Kolek play PG differently. Each is/was great for Marquette in his own way. The exciting part is that James is now only entering his sophomore season and figures to get even better. Kolek arrived at MU for his sophomore season and faced a serious learning curve; it took him an entire year at the major-college level to become a great PG.

Totally. We won't know how they'll stack up until Nigel's time at MU is over (hopefully not for a few years) but him and Adrien are starting their upward trend earlier than most of Shaka's best players