Bennerman MIA
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Nope - I messaged Lou and Matt to see if Collins said anything bc i heard he’s not with team
I hope you are right but I always fear the worst with NU teams. Redshirting in the portal era is risky
He was listed on the injury report as out.
Considering Gill has played a few garbage time minutes (which is SUPER dumb for both the player and the program in the NIL era, but whatever), I can't imagine CCC wouldn't just throw Bannerman out there for similar time if he was actually hot about redshirting. Redshirting is smart and football players are already figuring out the implications, but apparently basketball is behind: when even role players can make high six figure salaries as veterans, why wouldn't you sit out your KEEP their redshirts on in droves for this reason!
Gill didn’t want to Redshirt. I doubt money is driving his family decision.
Rules are different in Basketball than they are in FB. Much more lenient in FB
Maybe not but he is not likely well served by that thought process. He is one of the guys that could use the year of physical development and he is unlikely to see much of the floor this year
This is the issue with the new NIL era. Can you even afford to take a developmental guy or are you better served by bringing in a starter from a lower conference? I would argue that you are better served by taking a 20 year old mid major player or a European player. The Illini apparently lost one "ic" and replaced him with another "ic" - a 20 year old - in the last week. BTW, my Illini son (and some other Illini fans) are labeling Underwood as the James Franklin of hoops coaches. That aside, I am really interested in how NU is going to handle this situation because let's say, hypothetically, this season plays out and NU finishes at or around .500 with a myriad of one possession determining games. Does NU allow Collins to boost his roster to 15 and add two experienced bodies to the mix? Does NU have the NIL funds to do this? Clearly Collins believes in the developmental potential of his players but can he afford to in the world of 11-0 Nebraska (Nebraska getting good was kind of inevitable given their HC) but it puts the issue right in front of the powers that be. Can you afford to even carry more than one or two developmental guys on a P-4 roster? This is also already gutting mid-major rosters. Even during the last game, I was looking at Jackson St. players wondering who will get pulled up - I found myself wondering if their back up big could be serviceable if he was coached up. Just my thoughts on rapidly evolving craziness of all college sports. At the end of the day, you have to ask whether in the age of Michigan and other programs rebuilding annually through NIL can the same be done at NU? I would argue yes bc the roster depth is there - they are really only missing one player - an experienced rebounding big to play alongside Page and free up Nick.
I don't think CCC wants more than 13 on scholarship. Many coaches have voiced that more than 13 is not manageable.
Let’s take a step farther. Practice. 15 scholarship level players allowed allot more flexibility to sub in practice and scrimmage.
Even then it does not help unless there are a lot of them. And we have the limit of 15 on the squad anyway. You need 10 or more to have proper scrimmages but a lot more than that does not really help as too many are sitting around, It is hard getting that many game action, We have the 1-2 walkons and those he does not have to be as concerned about managing perfectly.
We have not really had 13 on scholarship till this year
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He said on scholarship. We still have a couple walkons that gets us to 15 so he has plenty of flexibility regarding practice and scrimmaging, But the walkons he does not have to be as precise at managing
Bennerman in pre-game warmup pics.
Collins commented about KJ not playing in the postgame. If he was sick I don’t think he would have done that tbh.
KJ was there. He, like Kropp, Gill and Bennerman, just didn't play. We seem to be down to a nine-man rotation.
But apparently folks think we should have 15 scholarship players on the roster.
KJ can create off the dribble and hit the open 3. There are several players in the 9 deep that cannot do either. KJ's defense could not be any worse than those ahead of him, something is amiss?
He got himself in the doghouse somehow. Time to let the dog out!
Hopefully they let KJ play some before he gets disenchanted and decides to transfer or something of that nature
Despite what some on here clamor for, 11 guys are just too many to play. Honestly, can you name a single game KJ played well in this year? Some decent games, but a bizarre descent from the end of last year. KJ is not a point guard, maybe very limited minutes, but that’s not his game. Maybe he works his way out if the funk by getting a few brief stints there. However, you talk about being able to hit 3’s and create and he has shown a reluctance to do either. Very passive.
I don’t want to bash KJ. He did great last year, but he has to own some of this as well. Who knows what’s happening in practice, but I can’t think it’s been great when CCC played Gill against JSU as a reward for how he is practicing. Here is what he is up against, Gelo-better rebounder and defender, Mullins-better defender, and Green better shooter. He isn’t replacing Tre, AP or Nick. JR and West are true PG,s and we get in our offense better. So it really comes down to Clayton’s minutes, if he gets another opportunity and is aggressive, I would suspect he takes minutes away from Clayton.
All I know is that when KJ gets in, he makes three pointers, including those when he is not WIDE open which no one else on our team seems capable of doing.
People have consistently unrealistic expectations in terms of depth. We've been usually like one guard short of a standard rotation, including somebody who can play some point, for the last bunch of years, but people act like we've been several guys short.
He still has made shots this year, just a much smaller sample size. But when he shoots from range, it looks smoother and more confident than anyone else on our team. He has made shots even this year that no one else on our team seems to make (or take).
D has been a problem this year and if he does not improve the situation for the team he probably not seeing the floor
Watching Green trying to move his feet last night makes it hard to imagine that KJ is a worse defender...
Pulled out from kenpom KJ's performance v Tier A+B opponents
| Season (Games) | %Min | %Poss | %Shots | eFG% | AstRate | DReb% | TORate | Stl% | FC/40 | FD/40 | FT | 2FG | 3FG |
| '25 (22) | 40.4 | 21.0 | 21.7 | 49.6 | 22.5 | 7.7 | 18.3 | 2.3 | 3.9 | 2.9 | 22-28 (78.6%) | 27-56 (48.2%) | 23-68 (33.8%) |
| '26 (6) | 37.9 | 12.6 | 16.4 | 47.6 | 10.6 | 7.4 | 5.0 | 2.5 | 2.2 | 2.8 | 7-7 (100%) | 1-4 (25%) | 6/17 (35.3%) |
He's playing slightly lesser minutes, and he's getting fewer shots up. His profile this year reflects his deployment as off-ball (i.e. set up in the corner or weakside for kickout 3), rather than the on-ball creator role he was drafted into after Jalen Leach went down. His %Poss is nearly cut in half, and as a result he isn't making assists (nor is he vulnerable to turnovers). Defensively, the few metrics kenpom tracks he's been pretty stable - DReb% and Stl%; and he's not fouling at the same rate. Unsure if that lack of fouling speaks to his maturity as a defender, or perhaps not being physical enough to draw fouls.
To his credit, with fewer takes, he's been close to the same level of eFG - and his overall 3FG accuracy of 35.7% is better than the team's 3FG of 33.3%.
In sum, the variance in his stats this year reflect more of his role deployment, so that's why I also have this sense of unsure if he's regressed or improved. (Conversely, Ciaravino is performing pretty much the same role of "energy guy" - he's only involved in 13.4%Poss and 14.9%Shots vs. Tier A+B this year, but he's playing 2x as many minutes and has improved in eFG, DReb%, AstRate, TORate, FC/40 and 2FG, so that affirms the sense of linear growth for him.)
A very small sample size and the change and role make it impossible to say that he has regressed
You are kidding right? He’s not playing with anywhere near the level of effectiveness or confidence he displayed last year.
Green’s FG% is .475 and .429 on 3s. Windham’s is .35 on both. Meaningful difference. Team average is .5 / .333, so he’s only average on 3s and is not doing much else to help his case.