SJU Portal Targets

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logen said:
Maybe in the minority but I find the names being bandied about rather pedestrian. Hopefully, there are players we are waiting to come out or working behind the scenes because there is not a game changer amongst them. Omiruyi maybe defensively but he has been on the table since before the season began. To quote (or paraphrase) Colonel Jessup, “tell me you have more”. If not, I would wonder what Abdellmassah has been doing for a year? Certainly no potential Kolek, Spencer, Scheirmann being identified IMO. A 5th year good player from Miami and 2 BE players? Still early but……….
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For most of the names mentioned I have a less than enthusiastic opinion on but I feel more bigger and exciting names to come out as we still have a ways to go before the portal closes. We shall see.

IIRC, Scheirmann was highly ranked as a portal player but neither Kolek or Spencer was, heck Spencer only wound up at UConn because Timberlake (who was ranked higher) went to Kansas. So you never know who could turn out to be gold (the guys you mentioned) or pixie dust (Timberlake). It also depends on the make up of the team. Spencer turned out to be a perfect fit for this UConn team but elsewhere, maybe not as good. Kolek is just on a different level.
 
SJU85 said:
For most of the names mentioned I have a less than enthusiastic opinion on but I feel more bigger and exciting names to come out as we still have a ways to go before the portal closes. We shall see.

IIRC, Scheirmann was highly ranked as a portal player but neither Kolek or Spencer was, heck Spencer only wound up there because Timberlake (who was ranked higher) went to Kansas. So you never know who could turn out to be gold (the guys you mentioned) or pixie dust (Timberlake). It also depends on the make up of the team. Spencer turned out to be a perfect fit for that IConn team but elsewhere, maybe not as good. Kolek is just on a different level.
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I do not care about the names. I want a team that will gel in January not March. And I want the sum to be more then the parts. Why buy at Macy’s when you can get the same thing at Walmart half the price.
The proof of how well we do will be on the court next year. Not by the names in the portal.
 
To put Cliff's alleged 900k demand into perspective from other Trilly tidbits to piece together:

A school like Virginia Tech only has 800-900k -- so his salary alone would be their entire budget. SHU is about 1.2-1.5 mill.
The "average" P5 school "probably" has around 1.5 mill to 2 mill. Ours to play around with seems to be double it.

If we didn't have Pitino, I'd be nervous about a Cohen Mets thing happening, but I don't think that will be the case.

The fact there's even argument about adding a guy like Kadary Richmond should tell all of us how much higher the floor has already been raised here.
 
SJU85 said:
For most of the names mentioned I have a less than enthusiastic opinion on but I feel more bigger and exciting names to come out as we still have a ways to go before the portal closes. We shall see.

IIRC, Scheirmann was highly ranked as a portal player but neither Kolek or Spencer was, heck Spencer only wound up at UConn because Timberlake (who was ranked higher) went to Kansas. So you never know who could turn out to be gold (the guys you mentioned) or pixie dust (Timberlake). It also depends on the make up of the team. Spencer turned out to be a perfect fit for this UConn team but elsewhere, maybe not as good. Kolek is just on a different level.
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I don’t care about rankings at all. If a coach is going to recruit from rankings a monkey could do it. Abdelmassah has been described as a “portal guru”, so far I don’t see it but am well aware I am not seeing everything; my point is I am just hoping there is more “everything“.
And not aimed at you at all, but I am kind of done with explanations excusing away others good fortune and SJU’s nothing.
 
SJU85 said:
Several Conferences had rules either totally that did not allow for direct inter conference transfers or added an extra year for you to sit out. With the portal, those Conferences eliminated that rule and the Big East was compelled to do the same. The rule was antiquated. Keep the good players in your conference when you can than have them running to another conference and possibly depleting your Conference’s talent pool.

To add, that rule would not be able to be enforced now when all you have to do is go to court. Courts are ruling against the NCAA left and right on any rule that restricts movement of players or their earning potential (free trade as they put it). It is why the NCAA can no longer enforce their two time transfer rule (they tried this year, were taken to court and lost). Restrictions on inter conference transfers would be DOA.
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Let Silly continue to live his Wonderful Life in the 1950’s. 😉😊👍🤣
 
logen said:
I don’t care about rankings at all. If a coach is going to recruit from rankings a monkey could do it. Abdelmassah has been described as a “portal guru”, so far I don’t see it but am well aware I am not seeing everything; my point is I am just hoping there is more “everything“.
And not aimed at you at all, but I am kind of done with explanations excusing away others good fortune and SJU’s nothing.
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I think we need to have a little patience. At the moment the roster is 2 returning freshmen with upside (Dunlap, Wilcher), an active and defensive-minded frontcourt player (Ejafor), a high-ceiling athlete (Luis), a glue guy (Taylor), two freshman scorers (Glover, Liotopoulos), and a 7 foot project (Maker). And of course Ayo.

The first evident need with that roster is to add to the frontcourt; if the smoke signals are accurate then Omoruyi is the perfect addition for that. The next evident need is for an experienced point guard; Joseph would be a good fit for that. I think the staff is correct if they are focusing on those two critical needs first.

After that I agree we could use a splash player or two; but I don't think things will pick up on that front until the Tournament is over.

And as you yourself correctly noted, chemistry matters - having 4 or 5 returning players who have had a year in the system and playing with one another, and who should make big steps forward next season may be very helpful.
 
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Rhythm said:
I do not care about the names. I want a team that will gel in January not March. And I want the sum to be more then the parts. Why buy at Macy’s when you can get the same thing at Walmart half the price.
The proof of how well we do will be on the court next year. Not by the names in the portal.
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I think you are correct Rhythm and to that end we have more players who have been with Rick for a year so that should help us mesh quicker. At the end of the day getting the team to gel is very important and getting them to peak at the right time is critical. Hopefully, Zuby, Wilcher, Taylor Jr., Luis and Dunlap will be back. The three Freshman and any transfer portal additions should have a core group of players to mesh with.

Last season was different. We had only two returning players who never played under Pitino. Of our main players, coming into last season, only Jenkins played under Pitino before and was familiar with his system.

The names of the players coming through the portal are juice for Rotisserie League type of conversations but how it all comes together will be the only thing that really matters. Having the right coach to put it together is the most important factor and Pitino has a proven track record of doing this very well.
 
SJU85 said:
For most of the names mentioned I have a less than enthusiastic opinion on but I feel more bigger and exciting names to come out as we still have a ways to go before the portal closes. We shall see.

IIRC, Scheirmann was highly ranked as a portal player but neither Kolek or Spencer was, heck Spencer only wound up at UConn because Timberlake (who was ranked higher) went to Kansas. So you never know who could turn out to be gold (the guys you mentioned) or pixie dust (Timberlake). It also depends on the make up of the team. Spencer turned out to be a perfect fit for this UConn team but elsewhere, maybe not as good. Kolek is just on a different level.
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Spencer was not only UCONN's back-up plan, but the team that pulled him into the portal was Georgetown. So a lot can change quickly
 
lawmanfan said:
I think we need to have a little patience. At the moment the roster is 2 returning freshmen with upside (Dunlap, Wilcher), an active and defensive-minded frontcourt player (Ejafor), a high-ceiling athlete (Luis), a glue guy (Taylor), two freshman scorers (Glover, Liotopoulos), and a 7 foot project (Maker). And of course Ayo.

The first evident need with that roster is to add to the frontcourt; if the smoke signals are accurate then Omoruyi is the perfect addition for that. The next evident need is for an experienced point guard; Joseph would be a good fit for that. I think the staff is correct if they are focusing on those two critical needs first.

After that I agree we could use a splash player or two; but I don't think things will pick up on that front until the Tournament is over.

And as you yourself correctly noted, chemistry matters - having 4 or 5 returning players who have had a year in the system and playing with one another, and who should make big steps forward next season may be very helpful.
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I don’t disagree, I am merely commenting on the names being bandied about, I am not impressed, that’s all. To go back to my pool playing days, seems like we are “poking and hoping, rather than executing a laid out plan.
We heard all season, portal players were known and targets contacted, it does not remotely appear that way. Full disclosure. not an Abdelmassah fan so maybe I am just starting from a bad place.
 
I'm going to say this once and I'm done repeating it, because I've mentioned it before. As someone that knows a good amount of what is going on in the NIL scene in the Big East, and with St. John's, STOP believing these numbers being tossed around. Everyone is lying. Everyone is leveraging. The 900k number that Trilly mentioned for Cliff is not accurate. That doesn't mean Trilly is wrong, that's simply the garbage he's being fed and it's happening everywhere, every minute. It's a dangerous and manipulative game and creates these narratives of needing more money or begging for money or not being able to compete with other schools because these kinds of absurd numbers for one player get tossed around.

St. John's NIL was very healthy last year and will be again this year.

This is the ugliest side of NIL, and I caution everyone to stop believing everything they read.
 
logen said:
I don’t disagree, I am merely commenting on the names being bandied about, I am not impressed, that’s all. To go back to my pool playing days, seems like we are “poking and hoping, rather than executing a laid out plan.
We heard all season, portal players were known and targets contacted, it does not remotely appear that way. Full disclosure. not an Abdelmassah fan so maybe I am just starting from a bad place.
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“Not an Abdelmassah fan…”

At least to me, that is rather obvious.

The points and observations you are raising though I understand. Coming from a non Abdelmassah bias either way, I am taking a wait and see approach but haven’t been impressed either.
 
logen said:
I don’t disagree, I am merely commenting on the names being bandied about, I am not impressed, that’s all. To go back to my pool playing days, seems like we are “poking and hoping, rather than executing a laid out plan.
We heard all season, portal players were known and targets contacted, it does not remotely appear that way. Full disclosure. not an Abdelmassah fan so maybe I am just starting from a bad place.
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As it happens, I have a pool table in my living room. I've never played, of course. But if you want to come over and teach me the game - with a little money on it to make it interesting, of course - I would definitely consider that. And provide the adult beverages.
 
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