Keepers for next year

[seansherm]

You tend to focus way too much on the paper stats. We, quite literally, had no front court. Someone was ultimately going to situationally grab a few boards and put the ball through the net since even when your losing by 20 the game still extends for 40 minutes.

Our front court entailed Buchanan shifting from position to position 3-5 basically to match up with the best of the opponent on both ends because of how limited our options were. With Buchanan, there’s far more upside because in his case, the issues are decision making / carelessness. You can hope that another offseason in the system can help with that some. He’s not a clear starter type either but rather someone who can be viewed as capable of giving solid minutes at every position other than point situationally - ideally maybe 22ish mpg.

Grant just isn’t this. Most of his points were scored on occasionally made 3s and on garbage time. 3 rpg is horrendous for someone at his position.

On this team, Grant's rebound % was highest non center edition on the team, where he should be. Team was awful at rebounding in general. The question is what can Grant do with a talent in the front court around him? Can he be a 15-20 minute guy off the bench? Can he become a better defender and rebounder as a stronger upperclassmen? Can he cross above 30% from three? We aren't finding a starting replacement for his cost so I'd rather have the devil I've known and developed as a back up than what I don't know.
I think he's going to want more than we should give him, and he'll be gone, but we can do worse than having much of this years starting lineups as our bench next year.

 

[-RUFAN4LIFE-]

Bingo, 100%. I don’t mind if Buchanan, JMike, Powers, Zrno, Mark (likely gone already), come back but ideally they would be coming off the bench due to upgraded starters playing ahead of them with Francis acquired from an aggressive portal haul. Some of these guys can play on a Big 10 team, just as role players off the bench. We shall see how much money Keli raised and what level of players GM Sullivan can buy with it from this “increased” NIL. We still don’t know if they have $6 Mil, $8 Mil, $10 mil, just that they “met their goal” in raising NIL funds. Interesting offseason ahead.

Stop with this BS we don’t know how much they have. Richie has been clear in the podcasts what the goal was and that they’ve exceeded it and provided an updated target.

Do you think he puts that type of information out there willy nilly?

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

On this team, Grant's rebound % was highest non center edition on the team, where he should be. Team was awful at rebounding in general. The question is what can Grant do with a talent in the front court around him? Can he be a 15-20 minute guy off the bench? Can he become a better defender and rebounder as a stronger upperclassmen? Can he cross above 30% from three? We aren't finding a starting replacement for his cost so I'd rather have the devil I've known and developed as a back up than what I don't know.
I think he's going to want more than we should give him, and he'll be gone, but we can do worse than having much of this years starting lineups as our bench next year.

I see it the complete opposite. Considering we had nobody else and he routinely drew the easiest front court assignment, the fact that he only grabbed 3 boards in conference play (including garbage time, which for some reason Pike went out of his way to play him in - I guess trying to build back his confidence) is not good.

Your making up an arbitrary correlation with Francis that just doesn’t exist. Grant was able to get put backs and play like a forward against bad mid majors and “get his” in garbage time - especially early on when Pike was trying to make him the go to and feed him the ball. That stopped, not because Francis jumped in and hogged the ball but because Grant was consistently ineffective against anyone even slightly better than that lowest level except for the occasional made 3 and in garbage time at the end of games when the outcome was already known.

Further to this point, Grant had ample opportunity at the start of both halves of all those games that Francis came off the bench to establish himself (if it’s true there was any “connection” to his poor play). He looked awful during those stretches for the most part.

 

[seansherm]

I see it the complete opposite. Considering we had nobody else and he routinely drew the easiest front court assignment, the fact that he only grabbed 3 boards in conference play (including garbage time, which for some reason Pike went out of his way to play him in - I guess trying to build back his confidence) is not good.

Your making up an arbitrary correlation with Francis that just doesn’t exist. Grant was able to get put backs and play like a forward against bad mid majors and “get his” in garbage time - especially early on when Pike was trying to make him the go to and feed him the ball. That stopped, not because Francis jumped in and hogged the ball but because Grant was consistently ineffective against anyone even slightly better than that lowest level except for the occasional made 3 and in garbage time at the end of games when the outcome was already known.

Further to this point, Grant had ample opportunity at the start of both halves of all those games that Francis came off the bench to establish himself (if it’s true there was any “connection” to his poor play). He looked awful during those stretches for the most part.

I wasn't saying Francis play had anything to do with Grants play, just the dropoff coincided. Yes, OOC level teams played a big role, we'd never seen Grant against lower level teams before. He was pretty much the exact same player this year as last year and everyone was so excited by him this time last year (when I said he wasn't good). Development isn't always linear and he played like a kid with zero confidence - which I think he lost when he found he wasn't the lead dog on the team, that's the only correlation to Tariq, not anything with play. Mindset.
Similar to Simpson, who wasn't as good after year 1 as many thought, and wasn't as bad after year 2 as everyone thought, no idea how the development will play out.
Again, don't think it matters, he'll want more than the top $500K I'd pay him and he'll be gone (hopefully. Big mistake if we give him more than that).

 

[Mholinko]

I think a portion of our fanbase that rallied around beating bottom feeders and these players as being the future are going to be in for a big surprise next year. A whole new look is coming and it needs to.

Agree I think fans even with the rosiest colored glasses about our current roster aren’t recognizing the coaching staff is acknowledging the talent deficiency and changes coming

he said similar about Ogbole being missed even if he gets another year eligibility

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

I wasn't saying Francis play had anything to do with Grants play, just the dropoff coincided. Yes, OOC level teams played a big role, we'd never seen Grant against lower level teams before. He was pretty much the exact same player this year as last year and everyone was so excited by him this time last year (when I said he wasn't good). Development isn't always linear and he played like a kid with zero confidence - which I think he lost when he found he wasn't the lead dog on the team, that's the only correlation to Tariq, not anything with play. Mindset.
Similar to Simpson, who wasn't as good after year 1 as many thought, and wasn't as bad after year 2 as everyone thought, no idea how the development will play out.
Again, don't think it matters, he'll want more than the top $500K I'd pay him and he'll be gone (hopefully. Big mistake if we give him more than that).

Context is needed though even on Simpson’s “development”. First of all, he’s doing what he’s doing as a senior (an extra year removed from what we’re talking about). And secondly - I do believe Grant could be much more useful to a team at a lower level than he can in the BIG. His early season output suggests as much. In Derek’s case - I’m happy for him that he’s having a great year but let’s please not forget the step down in competition level. His team currently has the same total 2 wins as Rutgers managed to collect against Q2. No Q1 wins. The difference is they played less games against this level competition. Meanwhile RU went 12-1 against Q3 and Q4 while St Joes went 17-4 against that group including 2 losses vs Q2. We have no idea what type of stats J Mike or Lino would put up in the A-10. It’s apples and oranges really - and again - Derek is a senior - they are junior and frosh.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

I wasn't saying Francis play had anything to do with Grants play, just the dropoff coincided. Yes, OOC level teams played a big role, we'd never seen Grant against lower level teams before. He was pretty much the exact same player this year as last year and everyone was so excited by him this time last year (when I said he wasn't good). Development isn't always linear and he played like a kid with zero confidence - which I think he lost when he found he wasn't the lead dog on the team, that's the only correlation to Tariq, not anything with play. Mindset.
Similar to Simpson, who wasn't as good after year 1 as many thought, and wasn't as bad after year 2 as everyone thought, no idea how the development will play out.
Again, don't think it matters, he'll want more than the top $500K I'd pay him and he'll be gone (hopefully. Big mistake if we give him more than that).

One other thing to add. The biggest problem with us keeping Grant in my opinion is that he’s not a guy who can be moved around easily to play different roles. That’s what Buchanan brings that he doesn’t IMO. Grant must defend the weakest frontcourt player at all times. He’s not physical enough to cover a center so it’s going to always be the slower of the 2 at the 3 or 4. He can’t play the 5 on either end. And he’s one of the worst ball handlers on the team so on offense he can really only play the 4. If he’s your starter, this doesn’t matter as much. If he’s subbing in for utility purposes it creates unattractive limitations for the coaching staff. And now it’s clear he can’t be a starter. If that’s our plan, we’re in trouble.

 

[seansherm]

One other thing to add. The biggest problem with us keeping Grant in my opinion is that he’s not a guy who can be moved around easily to play different roles. That’s what Buchanan brings that he doesn’t IMO. Grant must defend the weakest frontcourt player at all times. He’s not physical enough to cover a center so it’s going to always be the slower of the 2 at the 3 or 4. He can’t play the 5 on either end. And he’s one of the worst ball handlers on the team so on offense he can really only play the 4. If he’s your starter, this doesn’t matter as much. If he’s subbing in for utility purposes it creates unattractive limitations for the coaching staff. And now it’s clear he can’t be a starter. If that’s our plan, we’re in trouble.

Every player on the team would be better playing at a lower level than they are in the Big Ten, that's really just common sense.

I don't think there is any situation we can be banking on him as a starter, I've only said I can see a way we bring him back as a bench piece.

DB played 700 more minutes his first two years at GW than Grant has here after two years and Grant also didn't play his senior year of high school. We never should have been expecting anything before next year. I expected DB to be our best all round player.

 

[G- RUnit]

If Ogbole gets another year, no reason not to keep him as either a starter or big man off the bench. We have invested a lot in him so why not?

Francis and Buchanan for sure.

Powers looks like a lot of potential and Zrno has improved. Mark is a shame if he really wants out. He can be a starter for four years at a B1G school here.

I’m down on Grant as he is one the player who has taken steps back.

JMike has impressed and improved and only here for one more year so why not also?

 

[seansherm]

If Ogbole gets another year, no reason not to keep him as either a starter or big man off the bench. We have invested a lot in him so why not?

Francis and Buchanan for sure.

Powers looks like a lot of potential and Zrno has improved. Mark is a shame if he really wants out. He can be a starter for four years at a B1G school here.

I’m down on Grant as he is one the player who has taken steps back.

JMike has impressed and improved and only here for one more year so why not also?

Ogbole as back up, 100% yes. We really can't go into another year with him as a starter, unless we maybe bring in a superstar 2 way PF.

I also have no problem with any of the others you mention coming back, although I can live w a PG leaving if we have the $ to bring in a 3rd portal starter, which I'd be shocked by.

 

[RUInsanityToo]

Almost everyone here has definitive statements on what needs to be done, so here's mine. Not sure how much NIL we will end up spending - but I imagine the list below will cost at least $10M to bring in / retain players and be much more competitive next season (i.e. NCAA bubble level).

Portal Targets: 3 Starter Quality Players

• Starting Center
• Starter at the 4
• Starting Wing

Keepers - 2 Starter Quality Players

• Francis is starter level
• Lino - really like the way he has progressed over the course of the season, increased confidence and performance - seems to have good shooting form but 3 point consistency need work (3 pointers)

Bench Portal/Keeper Targets (Depending on NIL $$$) - i.e. worth keeping if the money and situation makes sense

• Portal - 3 & D type Wing
• Buchanan - he's solid but becomes exposed when relied on heavily. Good 6th or 7th man coming off the bench
• Davis - if he wants to stay - probably will come a bit cheaper in terms of NIL
• Og - if eligible and wants to come back - IMO perfect guy to have as a back-up center.
• Powers - I see flashes, then I see freshmen mistakes. He's still a bench guy until proven otherwise - but he shows enough potential to keep
• Zrno - pretty much purely seems to be a catch and shoot 3pt player. But has shown enough this season to bring back (still only a freshman - albeit an older one)

Alternate Portal & Keeper Targets (Depending on Bench Keeper Targets)-

• Portal - PG (alternate if Davis does not return)
• Portal - SG (alternate if Powers does not return)
• Portal - Wing (alternate if Zrno doesn't return)
• Nwuli / Grant - (alternate option if Buchanan is not able to be retained). Keeping these players might be less expensive and risky than finding a quality & productive PF back-up type in the portal. In the end - think Grant will likely want to go elsewhere - and I really haven't seen enough of Nwuli to form a strong opinion.
• Dortch - (alternate contingency as a back-up Center if Og does not come back)

Let them fly away:

• Badalau
• Fall

No Idea / Only the coaches would really know:

• Jones
• Ware

 

[NickRU714]

Someone explain Dorian Jones to me.
If he wants more than $100k I'm letting him walk.

Is he going to be a target for any other team?

Honestly he should offer to stay for free since he got paid for literally doing nothing this year.

At least Fall and Ware appeared in a game.

 

[Caliknight]

How can that be if we spent 4M? Who did it go to?

But even still - no, I don’t even think he’s worth 400-500K. He’s not going to want to ride the bench and if he’s playing meaningful minutes - we’re going be in big trouble again.

Think about it - what exactly does he do well? He’s a 28% career 3 point shooter. 44% overall from the field is also poor for a forward whose not a go to player being asked to make things happen (he proved without a doubt that cannot be his role pretty early on). He can’t handle the ball at all (he’s a turnover machine whenever he tries to put the ball on the floor and loses it routinely in transition). And he’s a below average rebounder for his size / position. He hasn’t demonstrated noticable distribution skills (18 total assists on the season and 22 for his career). And so on. There’s really just nothing to point to right now. Sure - anyone could take major strides year over year, but wow. I do not understand those TKR guys. Thinking it’s ridiculous for us to consider paying guys like Lino or Tariq an extra 100K or so , but we should shell out close to 500K for Grant to play because Pike feels bad for him?

We didn't spend $4MM. We spent $3MM. As a comparison, Purdue's PG made $4MM this year.

 

[Caliknight]

He’ll be a junior. But the point still stands. It’d be hard to argue he showed anything even resembling “flashes” of being able to take big strides next season. His higher scoring games were simply a result of making a couple catch and shoot baskets / situational put backs but his metrics on the season are poor. Just hasn’t shown anything at all.

Not even about scoring. The things Pike values he's not good at. Soft on D, gets pushed around under the boards and doesn't rebound well. Add very little offense and it's time to move on. Hopefully for his sake he can get paid somewhere.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

We didn't spend $4MM. We spent $3MM. As a comparison, Purdue's PG made $4MM this year.

Even still. The math doesn’t work. Even if we spent a full million on Buchanan and Tariq combined (doubtful since Grant was pitched as our feature player, but still) - if Grant only got 400K, that means we payed 1.6M to J Mike, Dortch, Ogbole, Fall and the frosh (5 of them). Even if you assume J Mike and Ogbole got a combined 600K, how could we have spent a million dollars on Fall, Dortch and 5 frosh who had never played in a college game?

unless we paid the frosh over 200k a pop which there’s just no way was the case. Right? Or was that the going rate just for being on a team???

 

[Wavy]

Curious how much they paid Fall. Considering he washed out at two other schools before he got here someone should be shot if he got more than a ham sandwich.

 

[bac2therac]

Even still. The math doesn’t work. Even if we spent a full million on Buchanan and Tariq combined (doubtful since Grant was pitched as our feature player, but still) - if Grant only got 400K, that means we payed 1.6M to J Mike, Dortch, Ogbole, Fall and the frosh (5 of them). Even if you assume J Mike and Ogbole got a combined 600K, how could we have spent a million dollars on Fall, Dortch and 5 frosh who had never played in a college game?

unless we paid the frosh over 200k a pop which there’s just no way was the case. Right? Or was that the going rate just for being on a team???

there was also another $1million promised from the Vegas tourney

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

there was also another $1million promised from the Vegas tourney

That’s what I’m saying - if we only paid $400 to Grant how did we possibly spend our allotment. I doubt Tariq got more than him and it’s highly doubtful Buchanan made 50% more than him either. There’s no chance anyone else on the team got close to what Grant was paid. The math just doesn’t get there.

 

[Caliknight]

Even still. The math doesn’t work. Even if we spent a full million on Buchanan and Tariq combined (doubtful since Grant was pitched as our feature player, but still) - if Grant only got 400K, that means we payed 1.6M to J Mike, Dortch, Ogbole, Fall and the frosh (5 of them). Even if you assume J Mike and Ogbole got a combined 600K, how could we have spent a million dollars on Fall, Dortch and 5 frosh who had never played in a college game?

unless we paid the frosh over 200k a pop which there’s just no way was the case. Right? Or was that the going rate just for being on a team???

I’m not getting into allocation or what was right or wrong. I’m just saying what our total pool of dollars was. It simply wasn’t adequate. You see it on the floor. UCLA won because they bought better players and those players made plays because they are better.

 

[seansherm]

Even still. The math doesn’t work. Even if we spent a full million on Buchanan and Tariq combined (doubtful since Grant was pitched as our feature player, but still) - if Grant only got 400K, that means we payed 1.6M to J Mike, Dortch, Ogbole, Fall and the frosh (5 of them). Even if you assume J Mike and Ogbole got a combined 600K, how could we have spent a million dollars on Fall, Dortch and 5 frosh who had never played in a college game?

unless we paid the frosh over 200k a pop which there’s just no way was the case. Right? Or was that the going rate just for being on a team???

I think you underestimate the ridiculous amounts all these kids are getting. I pegged Jones at $100K and he wasn't even on the team!

 

[seansherm]

That’s what I’m saying - if we only paid $400 to Grant how did we possibly spend our allotment. I doubt Tariq got more than him and it’s highly doubtful Buchanan made 50% more than him either. There’s no chance anyone else on the team got close to what Grant was paid. The math just doesn’t get there.

Guarantee Buchannon got more.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

Guarantee Buchannon got more.

More yes - you think he was paid 50% more. Very doubtful. And there’s almost no chance Tariq got more.

 

[NickRU714]

Even still. The math doesn’t work. Even if we spent a full million on Buchanan and Tariq combined (doubtful since Grant was pitched as our feature player, but still) - if Grant only got 400K, that means we payed 1.6M to J Mike, Dortch, Ogbole, Fall and the frosh (5 of them). Even if you assume J Mike and Ogbole got a combined 600K, how could we have spent a million dollars on Fall, Dortch and 5 frosh who had never played in a college game?

unless we paid the frosh over 200k a pop which there’s just no way was the case. Right? Or was that the going rate just for being on a team???

I've been saying.
I think Fall got much more than people think.
He supposedly going to be the "defensive anchor" of the team.

 

[-RUFAN4LIFE-]

I've been saying.
I think Fall got much more than people think.
He supposedly going to be the "defensive anchor" of the team.

LOL, that was never the case.

How much did you think he got this year after not being able to get on the court at two high majors?

 

[RedTeamUpstream94]

These types of discussions I’m always curious about the degree of familiarity bias

The players where I wonder whether our perceptions may or may or may not be skewed due to our familiarity (compared to how we might view them if they played for other teams)….

Francis - I think some on here are undervaluing his worth. I think if he played for another team with the same game and #s we would be universally drooling to bring him on board

Grant - . Put another uniform on him and I think most people would think he’s not worth a lot … as most on here feel. So I think the overall perception is consistent

powers - I think some, like myself, over value him right now since we have seen glimpses of potential but if he played for another team we wouldnt want ru to pay much at all.

davis - i think some under value him. A veteran guard who plays within himself. Does a lot of things well (not great but good). If ru was looking to bring a “Davis” type (in his absence of course) I think most would see the need for that… at a reasonable price.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

I've been saying.
I think Fall got much more than people think.
He supposedly going to be the "defensive anchor" of the team.

Well look - if that’s the case, and we also paid a substantial amount to Denis, ware and company, then argument should be made that we should’ve offered Lathan at least as much as they got combined. I wasn’t high on Lathan but he sure would’ve helped more than those guys. Total waste of space on the end of the roster.

 

[RUInsanityToo]

I've been saying.
I think Fall got much more than people think.
He supposedly going to be the "defensive anchor" of the team.

Did that quote come from Pike or from this board? If from the board, is your thought that NIL rates are driven by anonymous fan forum comments?

 

[NickRU714]

Did that quote come from Pike or from this board? If from the board, is your thought that NIL rates are driven by anonymous fan forum comments?

From this board.

NIL rates are based on the money has to go somewhere.
Somehow everyone made only $15 but $3.5m was spent on the team.

Where do you think the money went?

 

[NickRU714]

Well look - if that’s the case, and we also paid a substantial amount to Denis, ware and company, then argument should be made that we should’ve offered Lathan at least as much as they got combined. I wasn’t high on Lathan but he sure would’ve helped more than those guys. Total waste of space on the end of the roster.

I've been saying this for months.

Many keep saying "you cant neglect the end of the roster. Can't have walk on or minimal money guys for spots 10-13"

Really?
How much have Ware, Jones, Fall and Denis contributed to the team?
Combine all their money - there's a center like Lathan. Great point on that!

Is he great? No. But better than what we got from the rest.

 

[GM]

I've been saying this for months.

Many keep saying "you cant neglect the end of the roster. Can't have walk on or minimal money guys for spots 10-13"

Really?
How much have Ware, Jones, Fall and Denis contributed to the team?
Combine all their money - there's a center like Lathan. Great point on that!

Is he great? No. But better than what we got from the rest.

yeah but the whole point was Lathan doesn’t fit our style of play. We misfired. We took a swing on a big that if it worked would’ve brought us what we were looking for. It was a big miss. There are teams out there that made multiple million dollar mistakes and are still in the tournament. I mean, Washington probably made a mistake themselves paying Lathan that much. In the end none of us really know what anybody was making, who was available for the same price, etc. we can say they made a mistake but I think the process was actually decent in this case.

 

[MCKnight]

I agree with bac, I can see a dramatic reset with 7 new transfer ins. Would not be surprised if only Tariq and Buchanan are back, and then Ogbole if granted another year And accepts a back up role over an over seas contract. Wooten as a Frosh, and Dorian Jones I think returns here if he’s eligible. Then 7 portal additions and maybe a late high school signee.
Jmike I think would be welcomed back as a 4 year guy, if he accepts a role off the bench. But if he is graduating, I think he will prefer to drop down to mid major level and play starter minutes for his final year. Zrno is used to switching teams every year being a Euro player, so his agent will shop him, and in right situation he will excel as a shooter. I think he’ll go down as the one player we all say we wish we kept, but really it will be his better situation and offense that makes him shine.

 

[NickRU714]

yeah but the whole point was Lathan doesn’t fit our style of play. We misfired. We took a swing on a big that if it worked would’ve brought us what we were looking for. It was a big miss. There are teams out there that made multiple million dollar mistakes and are still in the tournament. I mean, Washington probably made a mistake themselves paying Lathan that much. In the end none of us really know what anybody was making, who was available for the same price, etc. we can say they made a mistake but I think the process was actually decent in this case.

I'd disagree on the process - regardless of Lathan.
The process was actually pretty bad.

Ware - Freshman project
Fall - 3rd year player who literally played 70min total and had made 6 baskets in his entire career.
Jones - literally wasnt even eligible to play (and it was known at the time he was unlikely to play)
Denis - unknown European player

For a team that needed to show something this year, that's 4 fairly likely from the start swings and misses.
But sure - I guess maybe they contributed a lot in practice?

I'd happily trade in those 4 swings for 1 swing at a more established player who was more likely to contribute in actial games.

Rutgers doesn't have the money to waste on 4 swings and misses.
We can take those swings but only for literally $0.

Francis and Buchanon were swings as well - but at least they had played before and were productive.
That was an understandable process.

 

[NBKnight]

Agreed - Ive kind of been thinking of the money in two pots. Supposedly we gave out around 4M last year. Because of his height and paper scoring metric, Grant will get a bigger offer somewhere and he’d be wise to take it now. I see him leaving and we won’t continue paying the guys who couldn’t help at all - Fall, Ware, Denis. Hopefully the combination of those “salaries” can be shifted to appropriately bump Tariq, Buchanan and Mark to a fair level for retention. My thinking is there is no way all the rest will be looking to stay so once we have a sense of who is moving on, it’ll likely be realistic to modestly increase one or two of the others from their current year pay level and stay within the 2025-26 pay total (or ballpark) for the retained players.

Whatever Zinn has raised above this 4-6M give or take - could go towards 3 high caliber players that fill specific needs on the roster.

I don’t think their salaries are free to bump up the guys we want to keep, we need to get replacements from the portal. We are not going into the season with a 7 or 8 man roster. I can’t imagine they were that much in the first place.

 

[NBKnight]

I’m ready to move on but why would Grant even want to stick around? He was handed the keys two years ago and has seen his role rightfully diminished. He strikes me as a guy who doesn’t love ball anymore or at least wasn’t having fun. He showed very little emotion all year. He might embrace a new environment to finish up as opposed to no longer even being a starter as a senior.

Only going to be a junior.

 

[-RUFAN4LIFE-]

I'd disagree on the process - regardless of Lathan.
The process was actually pretty bad.

Ware - Freshman project
Fall - 3rd year player who literally played 70min total and had made 6 baskets in his entire career.
Jones - literally wasnt even eligible to play (and it was known at the time he was unlikely to play)
Denis - unknown European player

For a team that needed to show something this year, that's 4 fairly likely from the start swings and misses.
But sure - I guess maybe they contributed a lot in practice?

I'd happily trade in those 4 swings for 1 swing at a more established player who was more likely to contribute in actial games.

Rutgers doesn't have the money to waste on 4 swings and misses.
We can take those swings but only for literally $0.

Francis and Buchanon were swings as well - but at least they had played before and were productive.
That was an understandable process.

Most of them didn't cost much.

Ware and Fall were cheap because one was a huge project and the other a huge bust/reclamation project. And how much do you think Badalau was making in Europe? Doubtful he cost more than $150-200k.

Additionally, what makes you think that Jones received NIL when he wasn't cleared to play? Even if he did get something it wasn't much because there were known issues with his ability to get qualified by the clearinghouse.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

I've been saying this for months.

Many keep saying "you cant neglect the end of the roster. Can't have walk on or minimal money guys for spots 10-13"

Really?
How much have Ware, Jones, Fall and Denis contributed to the team?
Combine all their money - there's a center like Lathan. Great point on that!

Is he great? No. But better than what we got from the rest.

Without knowing what everyone got or who mightve decided to come play for RU if we had offered more than what we did, it’s difficult to speculate.

In terms of the roster, we got lucky with injuries. I’m guessing there was a pretty big drop off of skill from Ware / Fall to the walk ons. You do need 10 guys who can play at a reasonable level for practices otherwise it’s definitely a big disadvantage when your working on things. I guess theoretically if you had a bunch of walk-ons who were each “good enough” at certain things you could have different practice guys for offense and defense but it usually doesn’t work that way.

 

[NBKnight]

Someone explain Dorian Jones to me.
If he wants more than $100k I'm letting him walk.

Is he going to be a target for any other team?

Honestly he should offer to stay for free since he got paid for literally doing nothing this year.

At least Fall and Ware appeared in a game.

Not sure how anyone can have an opinion on Jones. He was added knowing there were risks about his eligibility, so I’m sure he did not receive much in NIL. The decision will have to be based on what he showed in practice.

 

[NBKnight]

yeah but the whole point was Lathan doesn’t fit our style of play. We misfired. We took a swing on a big that if it worked would’ve brought us what we were looking for. It was a big miss. There are teams out there that made multiple million dollar mistakes and are still in the tournament. I mean, Washington probably made a mistake themselves paying Lathan that much. In the end none of us really know what anybody was making, who was available for the same price, etc. we can say they made a mistake but I think the process was actually decent in this case.

Lathan never seemed happy when he was playing here. So even if we could match Washington, he could have left anyway. I would not be shocked to see him back in the portal again this year.

 

[NickRU714]

Not sure how anyone can have an opinion on Jones. He was added knowing there were risks about his eligibility, so I’m sure he did not receive much in NIL. The decision will have to be based on what he showed in practice.

Actually it's very easy to have an opinion.
"He did not receive much".
Anything above $0 was a waste of money.
It's not just scholarships that can't be combined.

Honestly, at least Ware and Fall had the potential to play and did. Jones was literally lighting money on fire.

Look at this way - if he had gone to SHU and sat out.
Would Rutgers offer even $100k for him this year?

Whatever he received this past year should have been considered a "2 year" NIL payment and he gets $0 this year.

Is there any chance he leaves?
He better not. That would be quite the bad look for Pike.
We're pot committed now.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

I don’t think their salaries are free to bump up the guys we want to keep, we need to get replacements from the portal. We are not going into the season with a 7 or 8 man roster. I can’t imagine they were that much in the first place.

We really don’t know. All speculation.

But I’ll say one thing that doesn’t get enough emphasis. Any frosh not yet signed likely stink. The pool of possible frosh additions beyond Jones and Wooten are limited to coaching changes and previously committed frosh entering the portal.

Why, one my might ask, is this relevant? Who, exactly, is everyone thinking (other than true frosh) are going to be sold on transferring into RU to play a deep utility role or compete for a rotational role? Let’s say hypothetically we do our “starter” shopping. We buy a proven center, a lengthy forward and a tall guard who can handle the ball and projects to start in the backcourt with TF. Cool. So now we have those 3 additions, TF, Buchanan, and our frosh (Jones and Wooten). Even if we were targeting only a 10 guy roster (which is not a good idea - need at least 11 real players in case of injuries - but let’s go with the 10). What type of players does everyone think were getting from the portal to fill those slots 8-10? To whom will RU be a desirable landing spot to project to ride the bench? These are the questions to consider.