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Post by letsgoeagles on Jan 18, 2024 12:25:17 GMT -6
Completely true.
AJ is really a good fit for USI and he could thrive here for the next two years. Stan gives him free reign to play his game, and his continual improvement has been staggering to me. I guess it will depend on what other teams think of him. Could he duplicate his production at a high mid major? Hard for me tell...but he'd be a force at USI and the OVC. If someone throws a sizable amount of money his direction will be the deciding factor. Bur definitely knowing McCord and AJ on the court together for USI would be a heck of a way to start the recruiting season.
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Post by shorthaircut on Jan 18, 2024 12:29:38 GMT -6
Completely true. AJ is really a good fit for USI and he could thrive here for the next two years. Stan gives him free reign to play his game, and his continual improvement has been staggering to me. I guess it will depend on what other teams think of him. Could he duplicate his production at a high mid major? Hard for me tell...but he'd be a force at USI and the OVC. If someone throws a sizable amount of money his direction will be the deciding factor. Bur definitely knowing McCord and AJ on the court together for USI would be a heck of a way to start the recruiting season. I don’t think he gets 30+ minutes at the next level up, so a lot depends on how he self evaluates himself and his needs. It would make a lot of sense to to come back for one more year and then check the landscape out in his final year. For certain we have to come out of this next recruiting class with a legit DI PG and a another big dude in the middle.
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Post by shorthaircut on Jan 18, 2024 12:45:53 GMT -6
Win or lose one thing remains the same….there ain’t nothing like game day!
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Post by letsgoeagles on Jan 18, 2024 12:54:48 GMT -6
Hardly an area we don't see a deficit.
I think AJ over rated himself last season when he went to the portal...he was unproven, raw, and didn't show anything that would have remotely moved the needle to have a better school offer him. But I will say he exceeded any expectation I would have had for him this past year. I didn't expect much of him till at least his junior year. He put in the work and it showed. Though his shot is not great, it is much better this season. Players like him are the guys we need to be recruiting. If he did return with McCord, add a decent point guard, a center, and a legit three shooter and you become instant contender.
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Post by eagle87 on Jan 18, 2024 13:18:31 GMT -6
Attachment DeletedWe made an offer today to a 6-10 juco player. He has about 6 D1 offers so far but none that are any better than us.
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Post by sandtiger on Jan 18, 2024 13:37:46 GMT -6
That’s going to be a permanent problem if the NCAA doesn’t change the portal rules. Anyone on the All Conference team at year end will get offers from bigger mids and some P5s. As you mentioned, it really only takes a few impact players to make us competitive but we have to land them,keep them healthy and not boot them off the team early in the year. Sounds easy, but for us it’s not. We have to do better this off season in recruiting or it’s not going to change. I think it will get a bit easier as we will be half way out of transition jail. And yes, the women’s team is worth watching this year. I really hope the NCAA does away with the no penalty transfers otherwise you're going to find the middle of the pack teams in the mid-majors being nothing but a clearing house for P6 conferences. Sure it will be better once we're out of transition hell but if our 4 year transition record is crap it will be hard for this coaching staff to recruit top talent.
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Post by eagle87 on Jan 18, 2024 14:34:03 GMT -6
The only thing that will make it bearable for us is that all the conference teams in the OVC are in the same situation as us. Any star player they have will be threatening to leave the next year. Maybe it will be better having a team of good,but not great players so they stay with one team for 4 years. It’s going to take some strategy going forward to be a mid level D1 team.
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Post by shorthaircut on Jan 18, 2024 14:51:54 GMT -6
The only thing that will make it bearable for us is that all the conference teams in the OVC are in the same situation as us. Any star player they have will be threatening to leave the next year. Maybe it will be better having a team of good,but not great players so they stay with one team for 4 years. It’s going to take some strategy going forward to be a mid level D1 team. It will create parity in the mid to low level DI programs. You won’t see many of the same dominant teams year in and year out, heck we are already seeing it now.
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Post by letsgoeagles on Jan 18, 2024 15:06:51 GMT -6
I think it will be particularly true for mid-majors, the only strategy in recruiting will be to win immediately. You get the best player you can from the portal or the juco...if you cannot land one of those then you take the freshman. There will always be exceptions for sure. But it would seem that in most cases the idea of developing players will be more the exception than the rule. What I personally hope is Stan and staff will look closely at top D-2 talent this coming season. Many of those kids I believe may be overlooked by many but can make an impact in the OVC.
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Post by eagle87 on Jan 18, 2024 15:10:29 GMT -6
Stafford,Swope and jones all 3 came to USI as D2 recruits and now are all 3 legit D1 players. There is talent.
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Post by letsgoeagles on Jan 18, 2024 15:20:03 GMT -6
Stafford,Swope and jones all 3 came to USI as D2 recruits and now are all 3 legit D1 players. There is talent. No doubt about that. And those types most likely remain I think. I hate raiding other teams, but it's dog eat dog. It has been that way all along, and I get that. But now it is absolutely brutal. But I am all in for going for elite level D-2 players.
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Post by sandtiger on Jan 18, 2024 19:05:52 GMT -6
Campion looking healthy out in pregame warm-ups I saw him drain a few threes earlier.
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Post by shorthaircut on Jan 18, 2024 19:09:29 GMT -6
I think it will be particularly true for mid-majors, the only strategy in recruiting will be to win immediately. You get the best player you can from the portal or the juco...if you cannot land one of those then you take the freshman. There will always be exceptions for sure. But it would seem that in most cases the idea of developing players will be more the exception than the rule. What I personally hope is Stan and staff will look closely at top D-2 talent this coming season. Many of those kids I believe may be overlooked by many but can make an impact in the OVC. The center for Western Illinois is putting up better numbers now than he did at UMSL. The best players in the GLVC year in and year out are starter caliber in this league without a doubt.
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Post by shorthaircut on Jan 18, 2024 19:10:17 GMT -6
Campion looking healthy out in pregame warm-ups I saw him drain a few threes earlier. That’s good news! Man wouldn’t it feel great to get one here tonight on the back of the ladies big win?
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Post by shorthaircut on Jan 18, 2024 19:46:01 GMT -6
It is amazing how no one on this team can shoot an outside shot.
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