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I saw on Twitter that tomorrow night's game is a Black Out. While we've been calling for a Block Out we are getting a Black Out. I don't think fan attire is going to get us many rebounds but I could be wrong.

A TU basketball fan, bemoaning the empty seats for their afternoon home game on Super Bowl Sunday, observed: "It looks like we're having another Blue Out today."

Eagleman I just woke up and realized I was dreaming but just maybe

This has been a really interesting year to watch ORU men's basketball to say the least. Here is my hope: let's see what happened to the KC Chiefs happen to our Eagles. I would say 95% of the Chiefs fans including my self probably gave up on them being in or making the super bowl when their regular season was marred by numerous dropped passes, excessive costly penalties etc. Then somehow someway they enter the playoffs and play their best football. Can this happen to the Eagles? Perhaps a long shot but with our talent level it is possible. If we can start peaking these last 3 games and enter an extreme confidence zone going into the conference tournament and string 3 games together we are back in the Big Dance! Just like the Chiefs had key players that had been there before we have key players that have been there and know how to win. I really hope and expect our guys to step up, dig deep and get the job done!

I'm pleased to report that both the ORU Athletics website and MidCo Sports indicate the opening series vs Evansville will be streamed on the Summit League Network. My productivity will be lower than usual late Friday afternoon!

I've been going back and forth on this topic quite a bit. Is the lack of recruiting news cause for concern or not? Below is the breakdown of what is going on in the Summit League and how ORU stacks up to our conference foes. ORU- We have 9 open offers with no commitments. 2 Juco and 1 high school SR for 2024, 6 offers for the class of 2025. We know for sure we are losing Kareem and DJ. Mcbride and Phipps are seniors but I think they can technically play one more Covid year. Omaha- Also 9 offers with no commitments. 3 juco, 1 HS class of 24, 5 offers to class of 2025. 1 senior (Nick Davis). Denver- 1 offer to a HS senior, 3 high school commitments for 2024 (all guards). They have 3 seniors ( Brenchly, Bruner, Addo-Ankrah). No known offers for the class of 2025 and beyond. Kansas City- 3 HS senior signings and 2 juco guards signed for next year. Somewhere around 25 existing offers for a mix of juco, 24, 25, and 2026 recruits. (they have 4 senior players) Who knows what they are doing there.... St Thomas- 4 signings, all HS seniors. No other offers for any other years. They have 7 seniors. South Dakota- 2 signings both HS seniors. 2 graduating seniors on the team. 1 other offer for a recruit in 2026. South Dakota state- They have 4 high school senior signings. 6 or 7 offers for players in 2025 and 3 seniors on the roster. (Mims, Easly, and Appel) I think those guys have been playing since 2014... North Dakota- No signings for next year, 6 or 7 offers for 2024 and 2025. 3 seniors but I believe Ihenacho will be back on a Covid year. North Dakota state- 3 high school SR signings for next year, no other offers at all. Only 1 Sr on the roster (Skunberg) So, what does this tell us about the state of ORU basketball? Are we gambling on the transfer portal instead of signing high schoolers? Will we work the JUCO angle harder as our first signing (Bedford) has been a success? Our Summit League foes still seem to be keeping things the same and signing HS's during the early signing period. Are they behind the times or are they doing it the right way? Technically ORU is in the bottom third of signings for the future along with North Dakota and Omaha. I don't have answers to any of those questions but I have some thoughts. I think ORU is uniquely situated geographically, institutionally, and maybe even spiritually for transfers from other schools. The Dakota schools probably aren't a popular option for transfers outside of those kids who grew up in that region. Almost all of the transfers that did go to the Dakota schools were originally from cold weather states. ORU's 3 transfers from last year were from Texas, Tennessee, and Maryland, geography doesn't appear to play into it at all. Another consideration, does Springmann find it more valuable to sign players who redshirted or played sparingly as freshman on Power 5 teams to be further ahead in their development than a high school senior? Are JUCO players more interested in just having a shot to show that they can play then chasing high NIL deals? I'd be interested to hear all of your thoughts. Ultimately, wherever we are recruiting from, the coaches need to develop them into whole players or none of it really matters.

Like the players, TheEagleman has just seen a lot of his passion/drive for this season melt away in the past week....those losses at St. Thomas and SDSU last week were both very painful....not sure what to expect from the Good Guys tomorrow night but overall we have played decently at Mabee Center and hoping that continues....ORU badly needs a win and TheEagleman badly needs some positive waves.....

On the coaches show, Adam talked about that exact same idea. How KC turned the team around and won the Super Bowl. Of course, they have one of the best quarterbacks in the history of pro football. If they do it will start on the defensive side of the ball, just like the 2021 team finally got aggressive on D and turned things around. The Eagles need someone like Miller to be a real force on defense just as Carlos Jurgens was during the Sweet 16 run.

Every time the good guys get a sizable lead in a game (usually the first half), the Mrs. & I say, "no lead is too big to blow!" Every time this season we have been proven correct.

ORU needs McBride, Bedford and Herron to return and they can build around that. Those are the core players they must keep.

All 11 guys come back??? Perish the thought....agree with Old Titan that its not a good thing.....this team has many serious flaws that are not likely to change...we need BETTER PLAYERS who will HUSTLE, REBOUND and DEFEND.....if all 11 return then TheEagleman might need to consider his options......

I think it is good that ORU is leaving their options open. The Eagles have shown the ability to find good players at so many different levels: transfer portal, juco, international, and high school. Right now they only have two scholarships open: Thompson and Weaver run out of eligiblity but everyone else could come back. So, with only two spots open you want to be very careful in whom you bring in and weigh your options. Of course when the portal opens anything could happen. It could tear the team apart or maybe just guys who never play leave. It makes recuriting such a mystery because a coach has no idea what will happen each year. The biggest question for me: will McBride return or enter the portal. It would be a huge win for Springmann if he can retain the all-star.