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2019 interest / offers


ORUalum

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It will be interesting to see if that "interest" results in actual offers from those schools.

 

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37 minutes ago, Dr. Cornelius said:

If (big if) ORU doesn't have any additional outgoing transfers the floor for next year in the Summit should be a 3rd place.

I would say that ORU  team as it stands with one more scholarship to fill and Abmas not coming in on the first or second day of signing is still in line for a strong with 3rd. or 2nd place finish. North Dakota State being the front runner. However, if we can pick up a big that can replace Smith, we could have a super year in the conference and just possibly compete for the top spot. image.jpeg.baab1f2cdfa289f393b04fb47d1cdf7e.jpegORU GRAD

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Saw a twitter or instagram video of  the basketball team playing dodgeball on the practice court a few days back, and E-man was playing..... hope he decides to stay.

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Dodgeball???....sounds like a great opportunity for a few knee injuries.....TheEagleman loves the bonding but let's just take it easy until the opening of fall practice, eh coach?.....🏀

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TU loses its top 3-point shooter to the grad transfer portal:

If you ask me, this whole grad transfer thing is out of control. 

Am I the only one who is reminded of NBA free-agency, and the inherent risk of injecting older, perhaps skeptical vets into a locker room? 

How is a young rising star (like a Kevin Obanor) supposed to react to these one-season hired guns?  With respect for what they've been through, or with suspicion of their ultimate motives?  What's it like for underclassmen to have a revolving cast of "seniors" their first two or three seasons?

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TheEagleman Agrees....this whole graduate transfer thing is a joke......and the quality of college basketball is also becoming a joke.....🤮

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...and it looks like it's not changing any time soon:  the NCAA proposal to curtail grad transfers, which was put forth by an NCAA committee that has since disbanded, was voted down today:

Time will tell whether this new-age wrinkle in signing and retaining players will prove beneficial or detrimental to college basketball in general, and ORU basketball in particular.

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The question in the transfer market is whether there are more low and mid-major "stars" or 9-13 guys on P5 benches?

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On 4/19/2019 at 12:37 PM, Dr. Cornelius said:

The question in the transfer market is whether there are more low and mid-major "stars" or 9-13 guys on P5 benches?

Matt Mooney (from South Dakota to Texas Tech) has every mid-to-low-major 5th-year senior star thinking he can make a Final Four as a P5 starter.

The flip-side question is whether a P5 fifth-year bench fixture can lead a mid-to-low-major school to an NCAA tournament berth and beyond - do we have any examples of that happening with a grad transfer at ORU's level?

I'm afraid desperate coaches may be equating an assemblage of "experienced players" with the recent success of "experienced teams" at the college level. 

The jury is out as to whether the former is the main ingredient to creating the latter, or is even a deciding factor.  I would suggest it's the time spent TOGETHER by older teams that makes the difference, not just the time logged in various colleges by each individual player.

Or, as the old business adage goes in regard to rush projects:  "You can't have a baby in three months".

"Some things simply take time".

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22 minutes ago, Old Titan said:

Matt Mooney from South Dakota has every mid-to-low-major 5th-year senior star thinking he can make a Final Four as a P5 starter.

The flip-side question is whether a P5 fifth-year bench fixture can lead a mid-to-low-major school to an NCAA tournament berth and beyond - do we have any examples of that happening with a grad transfer?

Matt Mooney was a special player who along with our play by play analyst (who I personally miss) from ORU was at the right place and the right time with the right people at Texas Tech. I am very happy for them but we do have a P5 example coming to ORU this season Ty Lazenby. Can he be that special player for us along with what we now have on our roster?  Our two grad transfers could be a plus for us and only time will tell. Evidently, the coaching staff saw Lazenby as a plus and I hope they are right. We may be bringing in a freshman for our last scholarship but I would prefer a Junior College big. I truly hope Eman stays for his final year. 

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7 minutes ago, ORU GRAD said:

Matt Mooney was a special player who along with our play by play analyst (who I personally miss) from ORU to be at the right place and the right time with the right people at Texas Tech. I am very happy for them but we do have a P5 example coming to ORU this season Ty Lazenby. Can he be that special player for us along with what we now have on our roster?  Our two grad transfers could be a plus for us and only time will tell. Evidently, the coaching staff saw Lazenby as a plus and I hope they are right. We may be bringing in a freshman for our last scholarship but I would prefer a Junior College big. I truly hope Eman stays for his final year. 

So, I'll ask my question again:  does anyone have an example of a P5 bench player (like Lazenby, or Burns from non-P5 UALR) joining a low-to-mid-major program (like ORU) as a GRAD TRANSFER and becoming an immediate star for that team? 

Or is it more likely the best case scenario for these additions is "solid contributor", along the lines of of Austin Ruder, Kaleen Malone, and Kerwin Smith?

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23 minutes ago, Old Titan said:

So, I'll ask my question again:  does anyone have an example of a P5 bench player (like Lazenby, or Burns from non-P5 UALR) joining a low-to-mid-major program (like ORU) as a GRAD TRANSFER and becoming an immediate star for that team? 

Or is it more likely the best case scenario for these additions is "solid contributor", along the lines of of Austin Ruder, Kaleen Malone, and Kerwin Smith?

I can't think of any examples. I would be particularly hesitant to add a grad transfer UNLESS they possessed a unique skill-set (length in Kerwin's case last season).

I may be completely wrong but just because a guy was the 13th player on a P5 bench doesn't mean he's going to light up the Summit League.

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18 minutes ago, Old Titan said:

So, I'll ask my question again:  does anyone have an example of a P5 bench player (like Lazenby, or Burns from non-P5 UALR) joining a low-to-mid-major program (like ORU) as a GRAD TRANSFER and becoming an immediate star for that team? 

Or is it more likely the best case scenario for these additions is "solid contributor", along the lines of Austin Ruder, Kaleen Malone, and Kerwin Smith?

I believe you said it best as a "solid contributor."  It would not be impossible for the immediate star but who knows, we didn't know Obanor would be a beast that he was this past year and for me, quite a surprise along with Weaver. 

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I'm a fan of Mills' use of the 5th yr grad transfer.  I'd rather have a year from a guy I believe can contribute and has spent multiple years at the D1 level then take a crap shoot on a HS player that will get disgruntled and quit the team in his 1st semester.  The grad transfer has no other options, there's no surprises.

Obviously you can't build a team around these guys, but using a scholarship or two each year to fill a specific hole in the team seems like a good strategy. 

Take a guy like Lazenby -- who knows if he will play a big role or not?  we do know that has practiced against P5 talent for 2 years.  That's more than any marginal D1 prospect that ORU gambles on can say. 

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1 hour ago, ORUalum said:

I'm a fan of Mills' use of the 5th yr grad transfer.  I'd rather have a year from a guy I believe can contribute and has spent multiple years at the D1 level then take a crap shoot on a HS player that will get disgruntled and quit the team in his 1st semester.  The grad transfer has no other options, there's no surprises.

Obviously you can't build a team around these guys, but using a scholarship or two each year to fill a specific hole in the team seems like a good strategy. 

Take a guy like Lazenby -- who knows if he will play a big role or not?  we do know that has practiced against P5 talent for 2 years.  That's more than any marginal D1 prospect that ORU gambles on can say. 

And in the "let's agree to disagree" category, I think it smacks of desperation from a coaching staff that may feel like this next season is make-or-break.

Let's just suppose ORU goes 12-4 in the Summit League with this roster, makes the conference title game, and maybe even upsets NDSU.

Then what, in the year after when you lose E-Man, Kearns and these grad transfers?  Do you have enough underclassmen with quality experience to take the reins, or are you scrambling again to plug all the holes with another roll-of-the-dice in the transfer portal?

History has proven that programs both large and small can not sustain success by relying on transfers. 

Twenty years ago, it was about having too many juco players, but at least you got them with 2 or 3 years of eligibility left.  Now, it's one-and-done with these grad transfers. 

It just feels incredibly risky to me, and seems to fly in the face of ORU's mantra of developing "Whole Person Champions".

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2 hours ago, Old Titan said:

And in the "let's agree to disagree" category, I think it smacks of desperation from a coaching staff that may feel like this next season is make-or-break.

Let's just suppose ORU goes 12-4 in the Summit League with this roster, makes the conference title game, and maybe even upsets NDSU.

Then what, in the year after when you lose E-Man, Kearns and these grad transfers?  Do you have enough underclassmen with quality experience to take the reins, or are you scrambling again to plug all the holes with another roll-of-the-dice in the transfer portal?

History has proven that programs both large and small can not sustain success by relying on transfers. 

Twenty years ago, it was about having too many juco players, but at least you got them with 2 or 3 years of eligibility left.  Now, it's one-and-done with these grad transfers. 

It just feels incredibly risky to me, and seems to fly in the face of ORU's mantra of developing "Whole Person Champions".

Seniors:

Dre Burns, Sam Kearns, Ty Lazenby, Eman Nzekwesi, Aidan Saunders

Returners:

RJ Fuqua, Carlos Jürgens, Francis Lācis, Deshang Weaver, Kevin Obanor, Max Abmas, Kylen Milton, D’Mauria Jones

 

If we “go 12-4, make the conference league title game and maybe even upset NDSU,” there are PLENTY of returners with experience to “take the reins.” And that’s not even adding in any recruits for 2020. 

You win with seniors. Adding seniors with experience to complement your underclassmen is a good thing. 

And trying to spin it against the “whole person champion” mantra made me LOL

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25 minutes ago, GoldenEagleFan said:

You win with seniors. Adding seniors with experience to complement your underclassmen is a good thing. 

There is a lot of truth in the coaching cliche: "To win you have to get old and stay old"

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2 hours ago, GoldenEagleFan said:

Seniors:

Dre Burns, Sam Kearns, Ty Lazenby, Eman Nzekwesi, Aidan Saunders

Returners:

RJ Fuqua, Carlos Jürgens, Francis Lācis, Deshang Weaver, Kevin Obanor, Max Abmas, Kylen Milton, D’Mauria Jones

 

If we “go 12-4, make the conference league title game and maybe even upset NDSU,” there are PLENTY of returners with experience to “take the reins.” And that’s not even adding in any recruits for 2020. 

You win with seniors. Adding seniors with experience to complement your underclassmen is a good thing. 

And trying to spin it against the “whole person champion” mantra made me LOL

Please look back at my diatribe contrasting “experienced players” with “experienced teams”.  I think there’s a big difference between the two.

In addition, consider that Kevin Obanor actually has more valuable D1 “experience” as a sophomore than Lazenby has as a 5th-year grad transfer.  It’s anyone’s guess if he’s capable of providing a significant contribution.

Burns, on the other hand, has an extensive track record as a 30% career 3-point shooter who lost his starting job on a 10-21 team last season.

I suppose it’s gonna be an interesting batch of stew for a few months next year; remains to be seen how it tastes.

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