Sheek in the Portal?

[Jay Bee]

In theory he could come back like the BYU kid did correct?

Yes.

[willie warrior]

In seasons prior, Shaka waxed poetic about developing young guys and not bringing in players from the portal.  He gave reasons.  He went back on his philosophy and brought in a guy from the portal to play in front of Sheek.  Sheek left.  The causality really can't be clearer.   

College basketball, 2026.   The portal giveth, the portal taketh.

And, for talented young big men, there is always another big bag out there.

The wild wild west of college basketball. Another f up by Shaka Kahn.

[willie warrior]

No wonder why guys like Wright and Saban got the hell out. The craziness drove them from their sports. What a cluster NIL has become.

[Mu8891]

Rocky - You're right... in 2026 redshirting a guy makes no sense - let alone 3 guys as SS did this past year.  ( I would agree with an exception like Walker or an injury).

And ... yes, for the doubters, do you not think Sheek thought WTF ?!  You're playing Hamilton and not me ?

That said ... it's unfortunate, but now SS needs another one year rental big.

[Uncle Rico]

No wonder why guys like Wright and Saban got the hell out. The craziness drove them from their sports. What a cluster NIL has become.

Your check must not have cleared

[warriors141]

Do you think this will be more common with bigs in this day and age? Unless you are a one and done big, they usually take longer to develop. With portal you can get a better older player who can help you right now. I can see the younger guys moving around to find playing time and/or chase money. UConn lost their top reserve big too. Oh well I'd rather have to replace a bench guy who may or may not have been good than a starter

Agree on no more redshirts, last year was a waste of time and resources on Sheek

[JTJ3]

Sheek got PAID

Sucks for us, but good for him

[Stretchdeltsig]

Very disappointing to see this kid leave. Thought he would develop into a true warrior.

[tower912]

The wild wild west of college basketball. Another f up by Shaka Kahn.

And he is still 10s of thousands of f ups behind you.

[1SE]

Sure glad he redshirted

[The Sultan]

In theory he could come back like the BYU kid did correct?

Not happening. He's gone.

[GoldenEagles03]

No. Shaka kept his pride & joy who he played blindly last year. When it was clear tha player wasn't transferrring despite Fru and Sheek being on the roster, intelligent minds realized pride & joy was going to get minutes next year and Sheek found it ridiculous.

A choice between 18 and Sheek was effectively made. Not that surprising.

No.

Sheek got offered a lot of money by a team to leave.

[Shooter McGavin]

Shaka brought in a guy from the portal to play in front of a youngster anticipating big minutes.

Not that surprising.

But he would have had big minutes regardless (25 plus in his first year playing).  All about the money, likely.  Or Shaka's communication skills are terrible (and I don't think that is the case).

[Scoop Snoop]

Why did Sheek wait so long to enter the portal? I'm sure he knew Shaka's plan from the beginning of the offseason.

Money makes a lot more sense.

Yep. And IF Sultan's guess is correct that SLU will be his new team...back home in SL, playing for a coach who will likely be offered a HC position with a major team (and an opportunity to go with him), etc. I get it. Don't like it, but I get it.

[Elonsmusk]

Do you think he was going to get Starter big money here next year?  I think someone got in his ear on how much more he could make on the open market.  Only so many years for big money...nba is not a guarantee!

I agree with this analysis.  Hard to blame a kid, but pretty disappointing to see a guy leave who seemed to be really bought in to the culture/had good relationships with his fellow underclassmen. 

[The Sultan]

Yep. And IF Sultan's guess is correct that SLU will be his new team...back home in SL, playing for a coach who will likely be offered a HC position with a major team (and an opportunity to go with him), etc. I get it. Don't like it, but I get it.

And with a coach who also knows how to coach big men.

[Shooter McGavin]

In seasons prior, Shaka waxed poetic about developing young guys and not bringing in players from the portal.  He gave reasons.  He went back on his philosophy and brought in a guy from the portal to play in front of Sheek.  Sheek left.  The causality really can't be clearer. 

College basketball, 2026.  The portal giveth, the portal taketh.

And, for talented young big men, there is always another big bag out there.

Your last sentence is correct. 

[Zog from Margo]

And with a coach who also knows how to coach big men.

I thought that Shaka would be known for that coming from Texas.

[Badgerhater]

I will chalk up RS last year as a line of effort in Shaka's original strategy. 

Strategies change.

As the portal is now essentially a series of one-year contracts, paying someone to sit is an elevated gamble on an NIL investment.

College hoops now has a lot of similarity to the MLB free agent market, the teams with money buy the best players. But unlike the MLB, where teams retain control for awhile to recapture player development, the current NIL does not provide that protection.

[The Sultan]

I thought that Shaka would be known for that coming from Texas.

He is. But Schertz is no slouch. Look how he used Robbie Avila - and Sheek is way more talented than him.

[SchnitzelBoy]

Bummer! I hope there's still a path to him being retained. Maybe the staff can make a pitch and potentially outbid another team. I'm not sure what the market would be for a RS prospect so I doubt he's truly getting a HUGE bag.

[94Warrior]

This has happened to every team in the country.  The only reason we hadn't had our hearts broken by the portal, is because we havn't been playing this game for very long.

We snickered when UW lost Storr, Hepburn and Blackwell.  But, the portal also brought them Storr, Tonje and Boyd.

This is what the portal does: it giveth and it taketh away.  When one door opens another closes.  This is exactly why Shaka was reluctant to use it.  But, he had no choice after last season - this is what the fanbase demanded.

[MUbiz]

this is what the fanbase demanded.

This is what is needed to be competitive and avoid back to back losing seasons. That is college basketball in 2026.

If Shaka does not hit the portal this offseason, either he is gone and or NJ and the top players will be gone to teams that can pay more and be on a much better roster in 2027-2028.

[Galway Eagle]

This has happened to every team in the country.  The only reason we hadn't had our hearts broken by the portal, is because we havn't been playing this game for very long.

We snickered when UW lost Storr, Hepburn and Blackwell.  But, the portal also brought them Storr, Tonje and Boyd.

This is what the portal does: it giveth and it taketh away.  When one door opens another closes.  This is exactly why Shaka was reluctant to use it.  But, he had no choice after last season - this is what the fanbase demanded.

Eh Purdue and MSU seemed to have avoided the negative fallout while reaping the benefits. I think that's what the fanbase was imagining portal life would be like. But yes it always much more likely this would happen

[lawdog77]

Eh Purdue and MSU seemed to have avoided the negative fallout while reaping the benefits. I think that's what the fanbase was imagining portal life would be like. But yes it always much more likely this would happen

Purdue did lose Cam Heide, who may have been that missing piece to get them to the Final Four.