What seniors can return for the 2025-26 season?
- Thread starter CatsSnitch
- Start date
BG and Otega Collin Chandler
Does Ansley Almonor have a 5th year option?
We have (6) 5th-year seniors and (1) 4th-yr senior. Almonor was a 2021 recruit, so he doesn't get a 5th (covid) year.
What’s your reasoning on not returning a BG and OO?
Sadly no. I would love to have that dude back. First jersey I bought from the new team.
Oweh is probably going to play himself into the draft. Garrison to portal for highest bidder.
Not that either are unhappy or anything but it's just the nature of CBB now.
I can see Owen playing himself into the late first round and testing waters.
You may be right about BG just due to the nature of college athletics; but I personally think we’ll retain him as long as we have a solid season. He’ll likely be the starting 5 next season and the NBA is going to tell him he needs to show he can consistently hit 3s and be versatile….there isn’t a system in the nation better for him to do that at the 4/5 than here
If he was 6-6 he'd be a first rounder. Have a feeling he'll get enough NIL to be back.
6’5-6’6 doesn’t matter. But wingspan sure does.
Where the hell else is Brandon Garrison going to go that allows him carte blanche to fire away from the 3?
We can pay players now. Why on Earth should we expect to lose bidding wars on kids who look like they are loving their time here and have a coach who puts them in positions to showcase their skills?
We can probably pay the equivalent of yearly NBA salary from a rookie scale contract to these guys. It might make sense to them to take the money in college while figuring out how to maximize the chances of getting a second NBA contract, which is where the real money is.
We can pay players now. Why on Earth should we expect to lose bidding wars on kids who look like they are loving their time here and have a coach who puts them in positions to showcase their skills?
We can probably pay the equivalent of yearly NBA salary from a rookie scale contract to these guys. It might make sense to them to take the money in college while figuring out how to maximize the chances of getting a second NBA contract, which is where the real money is.
Where height matters more is on defense. Oweh's defense is good enough that an inch or two isn't such a big deal. The main question NBA teams will have with him is his 3pt shot. While I don't think he'll be a very good 3pt shooter, I think he'll be good enough to work his way into say an early 2nd round pick and solid chance at a guaranteed contract.
Next year should look like this
SR- Oweh, Horn, Darbyshire, Tow
JR- Garrison
SO- Perry, Chandler, Noah
FR- Moreno, Johnson, Lewis
We probably get Wilson very soon and add at least 3 upperclassmen from the transfer portal. Give us 12 scholly players, 3 walk-ons and save the last scholly for a late bloomer, reclass or international player looking for a home right before the season.
SR- Oweh, Horn, Darbyshire, Tow
JR- Garrison
SO- Perry, Chandler, Noah
FR- Moreno, Johnson, Lewis
We probably get Wilson very soon and add at least 3 upperclassmen from the transfer portal. Give us 12 scholly players, 3 walk-ons and save the last scholly for a late bloomer, reclass or international player looking for a home right before the season.
I will be naïve for now and say we get Oweh, Garrison, Perry, Noah, Chandler all back. Just to be positive.
Then have 4 Freshmen (3 that are signed now), plus Wilson (unless Ark gives him a couple of mil to keep him from going to UK.
9 guys plus 3 or so in the portal.
1 Senior Oweh,
1 Junior Garrison
3 Sophomores Perry Noah and Chandler
Probably get 3 Junior/seniors in portal, point guard, power forward / center, wing.
Then have 4 Freshmen (3 that are signed now), plus Wilson (unless Ark gives him a couple of mil to keep him from going to UK.
9 guys plus 3 or so in the portal.
1 Senior Oweh,
1 Junior Garrison
3 Sophomores Perry Noah and Chandler
Probably get 3 Junior/seniors in portal, point guard, power forward / center, wing.
I don't think either of them will leave, Oweh is doing what he did at Oklahoma and there was no mention of him ever leaving early then. As for Garrison, he's got a whole to work on and seems eager to do so, both will get enough NIL money to make it an easy decision to stay. You see what happened when Duke put the defense on Robinson, some good games aren't enough to automatically say anyone will be leaving for the NBA next year. Robinson was our best pro prospect, and he was maybe a third rounder. He made the right decision to come back, one thing about it, Pope will not be encouraging anyone to leave that he knows isn't ready.
Well right, I was speaking to the guy who said he would be a 1st rounder if 6'6
If his shooting is not reliable (which it's probably not going to be with his style) he will need to be known as someone who can defend at an elite level- and that is as you mentioned where wingspan- noticeably the names you hear of most often have 3-5 inches or more than their height.
I think the scholarship limit goes up to 15 next year. With the transfer portal, we might end up adding guys to end of the roster just to keep them off the competitions' squads.
Garrison and OO can come back and start.
Wilson and JJ will start so that leaves one spot for a transfer to start.
Wilson and JJ will start so that leaves one spot for a transfer to start.
Will Zach Tow ever play in a game? Horn played in the blow outs but Tow has yet to see the court.
I agree. Plus we just gave him (I forget which particular flavor of) MVP in one of our most significant wins in at least a decade. What on Earth would anyone else be able to offer him that compares to what he has here?
Coach Pope said he wants to take 4 incoming freshman 5 returnees and 2 or 3 from the portal
Nah. Garrison's not going anywhere. He'll get a pay raise. He'll make more than Williams is making.
And this isn't the Cal era anymore. Oweh isn't an NBA player yet, and he didn't come here to leave at the first sign of G-League daylight.
They'll probably both be back.
Precisely this.
We're used to fringe G-Leaguers leaving. Those days are over. Oweh's not even draftable right now. Unless he turns into a legitimate draft pick, he'll back. Same for Garrison.
No doubt. If College goes the way of the pros, next year we might have guys take days off, lol. I know college does not play 3 times a week and such but it is just funny to me.
Don't think so. Oweh is not even on the radar and this is a deeper more talented draft than last year's. Garrison would be the starter here next year, he will be here. I honestly think he has a better chance of blowing up and getting drafted, bigs are harder to come by, but I think both will be back next year, they seem to love it here.
I think he'll be in the exact same position as Robinson was last year, possible 1st rounder but more likely second round. If I'm right about that, coming back would be the smart option.
My thoughts as well. Until he proves his jumper to be money, the NBA isn't going to drool over a power 6'4 shooting guard. If he was 2 to 3 inches taller sure. But I think we have a great NIL deal going and he enjoys his time. Not to mention I don't see us being as good this year as we potentially can be next year with top recruits and a strong off season with the portal. He may have some "unfinished business" in his heart unless we win it all.
I thought I read somewhere that Kerr may be able to get an extra year due to an injury or him sitting out some games back in ‘20 or ‘21 due to old transfer rules
Garrison will have a huge role next year, I doubt OO plays into the first round but I hope he returns and I’m sure we will do everything we can to keep him. I know that’s the plan because Pope said we have 5 returnees, 4 freshman, and then 3 from the portal.
I’d love to take 3 portal studs, and then add a couple depth shooters or practice players, never have enough bodies.
I talked to a guy on YouTube who supposedly knows Otega, he said how humble and what a hard worker he is. He knows he is wearing Tony Delk’s number and wants to do everything in his power to live up to it and make BBN proud. He actually did research of all the players who wore 00 here and he knows Delk’s legacy here. He said he loves it here.
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This the kinda **** I love to read on here. Plus he will be here for Sr night I think Otega sees what it's like for players that love to wear that blue and white Pope preaches it to the team
That’s interesting. I did see that he managed to play just 31% of the games his freshman year at Zona, which I guess means he could get a redshirt.
I expect something like:
C: Garrison & Moreno
PF: (hopefully Wilson) & a good portal guy
SF: A good portal guy & Chandler & Noah
SG: Oweh or a good portal guy & Johnson
PG: Lewis & Perry
Then maybe 1 more mid-tier portal guy (like Almonor was), probably a Guard.
People talk about getting 13-15 guys. Sure we may get some KY kid who has no expectations of playing, just wants to put on the Blue & White uniform. But you aren't getting a guy who is good enough to contribute to be a 13th+ guy and not play. Even with NIL. I imagine you can get more NIL at UL being the 8th man, at WKU being the 5th man, than the 13th man at UK.
In the above, depending on who the portal guys are of course, I could see the minutes going something like this:
C: Garrison 24, Moreno 16
PF: Wilson 22, portal guy 18
SF: portal guy 20, Chandler 16, Noah 10 (6 of these from the 3 guys will be at SG)
SG: Oweh 24, Johnson 16 (6 of Johnson's will be at PG)
PG: Lewis 22, Perry 12
Next year could be a slightly down year from this year, but I think the year after could be very very good.
Tend to agree with this. 11-12 guys who are likely to see some semblance of regular PT. 13th goes to a developmental guy. Other two scholarships go to walk-on types. I think it becomes a “too many mouths to feed” scenario most likely. Maybe the occasional situation where dudes that can play immediately elsewhere just really want to be here/money makes sense.
Who knows? Uncharted territory.