And Dunlap
2024-25 Season
- Thread starter Andrew
- Start date
I think they should have the Holiday Festival with Fordham, Hofstra and Iona/Manhattan.
Similar to the Big 5/6 in Philly.
I thought Fordham at MSG was okay (not great) as Fordham brought some people. Hofstra at UBS was a disaster as Hofstra didn't move any tickets at all. Considering UBS is 15 minutes down Hempstead Turnpike it's obvious that Hofstra fans REALLY don't like to pay to park.
Was thinking about this in the morning. I consider Hofstra (NET 112) and Fordham (176) small upgrades over schools from the NEC and the MAAC that CMA would schedule. Schools like Wagner (290!) and St. Peters (188). And since both of those schools made the tournament, it shows what a bogus thing wins against tournament teams is. It means very little, especially since if you have wins against at large tournament teams there is something to supposedly capture that already. Quad One and Quad Two wins.
I haven't seen that idiotic metric (wins against tournament teams) proven as nonsense yet, if this had already been pointed out, oops.
Redmen88
Well-known member
Seems like we should be playing top 10 schools or bottom feeders in power 5 conference on the road. Playing teams that are good but not great seems to hurt the resume. Losing to a middle tier power 5 school hurts and it seems like beating them does not help much. For some reason the committee would respect a loss to Carolina much more then a win vs someone like Florida State or NC State.
I think there is a substantial opportunity cost by wasting a game at MSG with Fordham, versus another formidable opponent. We only have so many slots available there, I'd rather use the Holiday Festival for a formidable team like a New Mexico. I do like the idea of having a tri-state area basketball tournament, so that would be one exception.
Totally agree about the other point.
What we need is some more Mountain West teams on the schedule apparently. They’ve been racking up bids and National Championships!
Of course I name the one team that actually stole a bid and wasn't in the field.
Before any defections or additions this is what next year's roster looks like:
I have heard that Cruz Davis will be leaving, and that Ayo may not be back either.
That would leave a minimum of five spots to fill but Pitino was quoted as saying he was looking at recruiting 7 to 8 more players (which means he knows that others will not be back).
Just based on what we have at the moment, getting another good point guard seems important. Getting both a power forward and a strong rim protector also seems very important. Additionally, adding shooting seems pretty critical too.
We are losing six experienced players: Soriano, Ledlum, Alleyne, Dingle, Jenkins and Conway. Those six players accounted for about 3/4's of our scoring and about 2/3's of our rebounding. Given that Pitino is adverse to using Freshmen, he would need to bring in some really strong experienced pieces through the portal.
He does not have the advantage of bringing in one of his own like he did when he brought in Jenkins last year but he does have the advantage of not getting a late start, like he was forced to do for 2023/2024. He obviously has strong recruiting skills and hopefully they can find a way for them to begin meshing earlier than this past group did.
| Glenn Taylor Jr. | F | 6' 6" | 205 lbs | Senior | Las Vegas (Arizona Compass Prep) | |
| Drissa Traore | F | 6' 8" | 220 lbs | Junior | New York (Long Island Lutheran HS) | |
| Simeon Wilcher | G | 6' 4" | 180 lbs | Sophomore | Plainfield | |
| Cruz Davis | G | 6' 3" | 175 lbs | Sophomore | Plano (Huntington Prep) | |
| Khaman Maker | C | 7'1" | 210 lbs | Freshman | Nevada | |
| Jaiden Glover | G | 6'6" | 180 lbs | Freshman | New Jersey | |
| Brady Dunlap | F | 6' 7" | 190 lbs | Sophomore | Newhall | |
| Zuby Ejiofor | F-C | 6' 9" | 235 lbs | Junior | Garland (Garland HS) | |
| Sadiku Ibine Ayo | F | 6' 6" | 205 lbs | Junior | Asabi-Kumasi (Our Saviour Lutheran HS) | |
| RJ Luis Jr. | G-F | 6' 7" | 210 lbs | Junior | Miami (Mt. Zion Prep School) | |
| Eleftherios Liotopoulos | G | 6' 5" | 190 lbs | Freshman | Greece |
I have heard that Cruz Davis will be leaving, and that Ayo may not be back either.
That would leave a minimum of five spots to fill but Pitino was quoted as saying he was looking at recruiting 7 to 8 more players (which means he knows that others will not be back).
Just based on what we have at the moment, getting another good point guard seems important. Getting both a power forward and a strong rim protector also seems very important. Additionally, adding shooting seems pretty critical too.
We are losing six experienced players: Soriano, Ledlum, Alleyne, Dingle, Jenkins and Conway. Those six players accounted for about 3/4's of our scoring and about 2/3's of our rebounding. Given that Pitino is adverse to using Freshmen, he would need to bring in some really strong experienced pieces through the portal.
He does not have the advantage of bringing in one of his own like he did when he brought in Jenkins last year but he does have the advantage of not getting a late start, like he was forced to do for 2023/2024. He obviously has strong recruiting skills and hopefully they can find a way for them to begin meshing earlier than this past group did.
classof2010
Well-known member
We should home and home Vs San Diego State owe them for a tournament loss few yrs back and are the only constant in the MW.
L J S A
Well-known member
Wish there was some way to hastily set up a Big East-Mountain West Challenge for next season. Beating on them as much as possible would at least make committee think twice next March.
If that happened, I get the impression the selection committee would downgrade the Mountain West.
carmineabbatiello
Well-known member
Cupcakes? Did you see the game? The 2 best players on the court were Dutchmen and we were life and death to win and Daniss had to stand on his head and pull the team through hoops to get us there. P. S. Did you happen to see that the Acc got 5 bids to our 3 and that Pitt was 1st four out and SJ's wasnt?
carmineabbatiello
Well-known member
2023-24 was a nightmare of a season for me and a complete and total failure for Pitino and the team. I don't want to watch another college game this year and I no longer want to go to the Bahamas.
That free Johnnywalker blue that you got at the amex lounge at the UBS game wasn't a nightmare
carmineabbatiello
Well-known member
Thanks for reminding me social coordinator. The free blue label and seeing you often, particularly going to and around Charleston were highlights for me.That free Johnnywalker blue that you got at the amex lounge at the UBS game wasn't a nightmare
Johnnies317
Active member
I was also very curious on this. The more continuity of bringing back solid players the better. Guy played hurt most of the season and brought toughness every game. I’ll take him back in a heartbeat.
Some chatter he would apply for waiver, but we’ll see if he does & if so sounds like a long shot imo.
This is not incorrect. How the hell did they all get to their NET rankings and win records beating each other up in a conference not close to as good as the Big East? What metrics magic did they do?