Saddiq Bey released from NC State.
- Thread starter pnt16
- Start date
You have a good memory:
"In mid-August, Bey announced a final six of N.C. State, Miami, Xavier, Pittsburgh, Northwestern and Princeton. He then took official visits to Pittsburgh, Xavier, Northwestern and, finally, N.C. State in Raleigh at the start of October. Pittsburgh Coach Kevin Stallings visited Bey a few weeks after his trip to campus. He said Xavier was “really up there” while making his final decision and that he was still considering all six schools this week."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...c-state/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.bdb6e09dcea3
In addition to having an open scholarship, Northwestern is the only school on that list with (nearly) the same coaching staff from last season.
My memory is a little fuzzy on this but I thought it Kopp or Bey for the wing spot, and when Kopp committed Bey no longer had a spot. I don't know if the circumstances have changed but a backup lead guard or a big seems like higher priorities at this point.
When Sacha Killeya-Jones committed to NC State there were 14 scholarship players on their roster. Someone had to leave. I'm thinking there should be more to this story. Was Bey leaving already, and if so why did he wait to announce it. Was NC State only going to release him if they were able to get a player to fill his roster spot first? Was he asked to leave and if so why?
That's my recollection as well. But, at the time there were fewer slots.
From memory, Bey is more of a slasher than Kopp. If he has a decent handle, there's plenty of room for a 6' 6" athletic wing who can score. I don't see that he bumps into Kopp that much. And after this coming year, Taylor and Law are gone.
Bey's release from his letter of intent may specify that he can't sign with another ACC team. Just speculating. But if that is the case, 3 of his final 6 from last August (Miami, Pitt, NC State) would not be in play for the future. That might increase NU's chances with him.
I can't imagine that would stand up on appeal. I don't care what "mutual decision" BS they are putting out there for public consumption. If Bey wants to go to Pitt or Miami, all he has to do is point out what is obvious to everyone. He was forced out, and unless NC State wants to try to defend that in open court, then they'd better let him go wherever he wants to go.
I'm sorry for my running theme, boys, but I think the last thing this group need is another 2 or 3.
Yes, depth is obviously good when it's smart. But if you add Bey, I'd argue that's eight scholarships for guys who should be a 2 or 3 on an upper echolan B10 team - Law, Gaines, Turner, Falzon, Taylor, Kopp, Nance plus Bey. That's an awful lot of bodies dedicated to two positions.
If you want to give me the argument that Nance will grow, I can see that. But for this year, he's still skinny and a 3.
That's also not considering Ash who should probably be a 2.
Yes, depth is obviously good when it's smart. But if you add Bey, I'd argue that's eight scholarships for guys who should be a 2 or 3 on an upper echolan B10 team - Law, Gaines, Turner, Falzon, Taylor, Kopp, Nance plus Bey. That's an awful lot of bodies dedicated to two positions.
If you want to give me the argument that Nance will grow, I can see that. But for this year, he's still skinny and a 3.
That's also not considering Ash who should probably be a 2.
100% agree with Sect. 112. We do not need another 2 or 3 with Law, Taylor, Turner, Gaines and Kopp and maybe Nance already taking minutes at the 2 or 3. InsideNU has stated that Gaines will be seeing minutes at PG or the 1. I would much prefer an experienced PG as a grad transfer as the backup PG. If Gaines does see minutes at the 1 it will show his versatility and it will show that the staff needs him on the floor more and that the staff realizes that JA is not a 1. I would prefer a 5th year PG who is a pass first guy who can set up a play and break a press in Big 10 play rather than Gaines or Ash as the primary backup PGs.
I don't think Collins looks at positions in the old school "1 = PG, 2 = SG, 3 = SF, 4 = PF, 5 = C" context. He seems to like playing a "Lead Guard" along with three wings and a big, sometimes more a "Lead Guard" and four wings.
The roster makeup is starting to reflect the more modern "positionless basketball" philosophies.
Given the circumstances of his departure, I doubt NC State would have the gall or the ability to put any limitations on him. Remember, he technically is not a transfer. NC State is releasing him from his signed Letter of Intent.
No.
Falzon and Nance are “Stretch 4” players.
Law and Taylor are gone after this year.
There is plenty of room for adding an excellent freshman wing player into the fold. Sure, if a highly rated PG was available, all else equal, that would fill a bigger need, but I don’t see that right now.
In 2019-2020 NU would have 4 returning wings: Turner, Gaines, Kopp, Bey. That’s far from the overload everyone is concerned about. And it would allow Collins to focus on adding ballhandlers in the 2019 class.
Get Bey.
Would he be available to play this year? If not Law and Taylor would not be in the mix.
Yes he would be available to play this year.
People do realize that as it stands now, NU has 5 scholarships to fill in the 2019-20 class, right? (One still open, plus losing Law, Pardon, Ash, Taylor.)
Getting a four-year player of Bey’s caliber is a no-brainer if possible.
Yes there should be a big *** sign above the door to Collins office - HELP WANTED - all potentially qualified players please apply.
We can use whatever terms we want - stretch ... positionless. Positionless works when you have size. In the end, if you want to take on Michigan, MSU and Purdue, at some point you need to be able to guard their bigs. Falzon DEFINATELY can't do that - especially against an above average stretch 4 who may be able to step out and shoot.
There's another consideration. I love Pardon, but he's not the perfect center and often needs some help. I'm not sure I trust Benson and Young to be much different for the future.
I can see the argument that you need ONE addition to Kopp, Nance, Turner and Gaines next year. But if Collins doesn't feel he has two strongly competitive guys in that group, the future core is not what we hope it is.
There's another consideration. I love Pardon, but he's not the perfect center and often needs some help. I'm not sure I trust Benson and Young to be much different for the future.
I can see the argument that you need ONE addition to Kopp, Nance, Turner and Gaines next year. But if Collins doesn't feel he has two strongly competitive guys in that group, the future core is not what we hope it is.
Haywood intimated earlier that it was Mooney or nobody for this class. Of course, that was before Bey became available, but it does seem to indicate there are no more attractive targets, be they point guards or whatever, out there that Collins is interested in pursuing. So if he still believes Bey can be a quality Big 10 player, there is no reason not to at least approach him. Sure, we have lots of wing players for next season -- so you redshirt Bey and add him to next year's recruiting class. (Which, by the way, has NO ONE at this point).
WaPo story has some comments from Bey.
“Bey has one official visit remaining, but as of now, he doesn’t have an official list of new colleges that he wants to look at. However, multiple colleges have shown interest since he was granted his release. As far as a timetable of choosing a new program, Bey expressed his desire to still go to summer school, so he wants to make a decision before one of the summer session start (either before June or July).”
“Bey has one official visit remaining, but as of now, he doesn’t have an official list of new colleges that he wants to look at. However, multiple colleges have shown interest since he was granted his release. As far as a timetable of choosing a new program, Bey expressed his desire to still go to summer school, so he wants to make a decision before one of the summer session start (either before June or July).”
Today’s game is all about versatility and shooting. Give me 5 guys between 6”5 and 6”9 who can shoot, handle, defend and I don’t really care what the other team lines up. They may have bigs that give you problems on the defensive end of the floor but that means you’ll have a huge matchup advantage on the offensive side of the ball. It’s all about imposing your style of play on the other team. The three point line and tightly officiated games have given a leg up to teams who can space the entire floor with shooters, emphasize transition offense, and defend the peremiter with exceptional athletes.
6-8 and 6-9 ... I don't disagree at all.
Show me the 6-8+ NU players who can do two out of the three. I hope Nance can be one of those guys. Otherwise ...?
Versatile 6-7 and especially 6-6 and 6-5 are a dime a dozen. And even worse, they are a liability at the 4 on defense if you want to have an upper-tier team.
... which is why you see a lot of non-"blue blood" programs gravitating toward "positionless basketball." There are only so many truly elite bigs out there and they tend to end up at "blue blood" programs as one-and-done's.
Yep, precisely this.
The 8 guys he mentioned cover 3 positions out of the 5. Call them whatever you want (SG, F, wings, 2/3/4), but we'd have Lathon / Ash at PG, and then Pardon Benson Young at big. That leaves 8 guys for 3 spots. And one of those 8 might have to take spot minutes at backup PG for Lathon also. And as others have pointed out 2 of that 8 are leaving after this year. Backup PG is the biggest need but adding another wing is a totally reasonable use of a scholarship.
When people complain about Law or Turner or whoever else not being able to play 4, I get a bit confused. I'd never heard it suggested that Falzon and Nance aren't big enough to play the "4" though, that's outright crazy. Feel like these people have not been watching much modern basketball. Plenty of very good teams in the NCAA (and NBA!) play with only 1 big or 0 bigs even. Watch Loyola and others in the NCAAT last year, and watch the small-ball lineups the NBA semifinalists are putting on the court. Falzon's slower feet create more potential mismatches at the "4" than would Law's smaller body IMO. Law is more versatile. Though Sanjay was probably the ideal small-ball 4 on defense because he was strong enough to guard bigs (more so than Vic) and fast enough to stay in front of guards and wings.
Think it's been confirmed that he will be eligible to play this coming season. A kid transferring from a ACC school will not want to take a shirt.
It's not height its functional ability. Draymond Green is 6'7" he plays a bunch of Center. Sanjay was what, a generous 6'7", probably realistically 6'6"? He could guard C's. Michigan has gone 4 out + 1 big a whole bunch in the years under Beilien. You need versatile players with length, strength, and quickness. Law can play stretch 4 IMO against 80% of the matchups we will see in conference, maybe more. Turner can guard the 4 in most situations too.
As with NBA teams, if you give up size down low you just double team and then use your quickness and team D to close the gaps. Look at GSW, Houston, Cleveland, Boston, etc. None of those teams are running out 2 traditional bigs. Purdue has had two very talented bigs for the last couple years (Haas + Swanigan, then Haas + Haarms) and very rarely played them alongside each other because of the matchup challenges, and bc it clogs the floor.
If we're going to use Loyola as the example you better start showing me some consistently multi-dimensional NU players - guys who can shoot, get to the basket AND play defense. Falzon ... really? That's the first time I've ever heard slow feet as an advantage.
Among the many reasons I need some size is because the positionless small players AT NU(!!!) so many of you are relying are single dimensional players.
Again, I agree. Get the outside shooting and we're not having this discussion.
Hopefully, Kopp shoots like Custer and Nance has an outside game to go with his shot like Townes. That would go a long way toward shutting me up and making up for the lack of size. That's my hope. In the meantime, I'm not sure those scorers exist from last year's team not to mention anybody comparable to the pretty good versatility on Loyola beyond Custer, Townes, etc.
So yes, I'm looking for some better defense.