Transfers SJU May Get Involved With

To expect either a. Yawkee to improve his game
b Owens to gain the necessary strength
c Kante as a freshman
to rebound at big east levels are all pipe dreams. To not get a grad transfer capable of filling that need and to lose Jones last year and Williams this year from a roster starving for rebouding makes one scratch their head. Well it is still April.
 
And to think we had a 4 star 7' Center lined up for this season. Probably the one missing piece that is so hard to find in this game.

IMO nobody coming in at this point will be an impact player next season so I'm not holding my breath on any of these guys. Owens barely had any PT in college ball coming into last season. He improved as the year went on and will be a fine player next season. Yakwe now has 2 years under his belt and should be motivated to start better than 2016-17 season. Clark and Ahmed are bangers who can be physical enough down low.

Nothing that happened last year should give us any confidence, but at this point what was mentioned above is the expectation that's needed for the team to succeed.
 
And to think we had a 4 star 7' Center lined up for this season. Probably the one missing piece that is so hard to find in this game.

IMO nobody coming in at this point will be an impact player next season so I'm not holding my breath on any of these guys. Owens barely had any PT in college ball coming into last season. He improved as the year went on and will be a fine player next season. Yakwe now has 2 years under his belt and should be motivated to start better than 2016-17 season. Clark and Ahmed are bangers who can be physical enough down low.

Nothing that happened last year should give us any confidence, but at this point what was mentioned above is the expectation that's needed for the team to succeed.
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That 7 ft center, Ms. Brown, scared away our 6'11 center who could have given us the 15 minutes we need in the pivot.
When that double whammy occurs it is difficult to recover in one season. Staff needs better vetting of future talent and a little better luck. I sense we will have some good news very soon that will improve depth but forget the pivot spot....there is no natural 5s out there that will make a big difference. I liked the kid from LIU because he was a warrior down low but he was not a scorer. There are a couple of 6'8 6'9 kids out there but the closest we can come to a 5 is Nikola who is a project.
 
This kid can play, but not in the cards for us unfortunately;

Per Goodman
Nebraska transfer Ed Morrow told ESPN he will visit Marquette this Sunday and Monday.
 
To expect either a. Yawkee to improve his game
b Owens to gain the necessary strength
c Kante as a freshman
to rebound at big east levels are all pipe dreams. To not get a grad transfer capable of filling that need and to lose Jones last year and Williams this year from a roster starving for rebouding makes one scratch their head. Well it is still April.
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Again with the Jones please
 
In my Humble opinion, we can't just get Kante and call it a day. If we don't land at least one more post player in addition to Kante, then this recruiting cycle will be considered subpar at best. Out of all the JUCO's , 5th Year Grad Transfers , high school seniors and 5th year prep school players, this staff couldn't find more that one big to come here?? What are they doing??
 
Owens, Clark, Yakwe, Kante & Ahmed in spots will have to man the interior. Not perfect, but what can you do?
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Pray
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Not anywhere close to perfect. That would be a whiff. Was pretty clear for some time that frontline help was priority 1 for next season.
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No doubt, a disappointment thus far. Thought getting functional functional grad transfer big, not a star, would have been in cards, especially in light of fact Matt expressed confidence to more than a few folks. Oh well, let's see how this plays out. Love our wings, guards, just need one more piece.
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Paultz, to recap so far we have added Simon and Clark. We have lost Williams, RF, and Malik Ellison. I have no idea as to the status of Amir but he really is not a factor on the floor. We still have hope for Kante but he is not signed. Our front court currently is Clark, Tariq and Yakwe. Unless I am missing something we are going to get KILLED in the paint. ZERO depth. One guy/no less two in foul trouble will signal game over.

Sorry, for asking for the painful recap but I am losing track. It is unthinkable that this staff cannot find the "functional grad transfer". As we saw last year all the guards and wings are irrelevant if no one can do the dirty work inside including rebounding and defense.

If that is all we do we are destined for another fall short season. On top of that Lovett and Ponds are sure to leave after next season if what I think is going to unfold happens. I will hold out hope but Matt A and staff seem to be more smoke and not enough substance on the recruiting trail.
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Matt yesterday noted intent to add one more big. I suspect that means getting Kante commitment, but we'll see. If this occurs, I assume Bashir will play some 4 as well.
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We are holding our breath! Getting late we should have had this #1 the on our priority what gives somebody must want to play for us If we can not get a 5 Across the country we are in troible
 
This kid can play, but not in the cards for us unfortunately;

Per Goodman
Nebraska transfer Ed Morrow told ESPN he will visit Marquette this Sunday and Monday.
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I posted Morrow's visit scheduled on the 2017 transfer list thread
There's some overlap between the two threads

Marquette - this weekend
Iowa State - next weekend
Pitt - 1st weekend in May

Too bad - Paultz is right - this kid is pretty good and would help us
 
We are holding our breath! Getting late we should have had this #1 the on our priority what gives somebody must want to play for us If we can not get a 5 Across the country we are in troible
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I think it's crazy to think that it wasn't No. 1 priority. Maybe we are just a hard sell, or the current sell job is the wrong approach.

I'm hoping that I don't just have blinders on and that everyone outside of this website thinks we suck and are a horrible destination.
 
maybe I'm wearing my beer glasses but this guy is looking pretty good in red :kiss:

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My two cents, getting any players that can play is a good thing. But, IMO, BY FAR our biggest problem was defense, not rebounding per se. Just basic hard nosed on the ball defense. Stop the revolving door penetration, stop the constant scrambling on defense and we will improve immensely. We have the athletes to do it, no question. But the idea that we only need to add a big to become a tournament team is one I disagree with. We will score enough to win but we need to improve our defense, improve our commitment to getting 50-50 balls, improve the little things that win at this level. We can play small, certainly other teams, notably Nova, have won consistently that way, but we have to play right.
 
One of our early targets, per Corey Evans

Alex Yetna has committed to South Florida
 
One of our early targets, per Corey Evans

Alex Yetna has committed to South Florida
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.......so now, Matt and Mullin, we can't beat out South Florida, for Yetna and Nikola Scekic? :whistle:

We have 5 very good players next year. After them there is a precipitous drop in talent. Hopefully this does not turn into a Lavin-like day late dollar short scenario because the head coach and his HOF assistant aren't showing kids out of town love. $500,000 would go a long way in recruiting unless the guy you are paying is doing lunch in Lexington on our dime.
 
One of our early targets, per Corey Evans

Alex Yetna has committed to South Florida
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.......so now, Matt and Mullin, we can't beat out South Florida, for Yetna and Nikola Scekic? :whistle:

We have 5 very good players next year. After them there is a precipitous drop in talent. Hopefully this does not turn into a Lavin-like day late dollar short scenario because the head coach and his HOF assistant aren't showing kids out of town love. $500,000 would go a long way in recruiting unless the guy you are paying is doing lunch in Lexington on our dime.
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Staff did like Yetna, but have not offered Scekic to be clear.
 
What is general consensus on comp between Kante and Yetna? Kante significantly more highly regarded or is delta closer?
 
One of our early targets, per Corey Evans

Alex Yetna has committed to South Florida
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.......so now, Matt and Mullin, we can't beat out South Florida, for Yetna and Nikola Scekic? :whistle:

We have 5 very good players next year. After them there is a precipitous drop in talent. Hopefully this does not turn into a Lavin-like day late dollar short scenario because the head coach and his HOF assistant aren't showing kids out of town love. $500,000 would go a long way in recruiting unless the guy you are paying is doing lunch in Lexington on our dime.
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Staff did like Yetna, but have not offered Scekic to be clear.
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That's why I'm starting to think this staff is a little disjointed. I would have offered just to have this Goliath commit hard fouls to send a message. Then back to the bench until needed.....like when that A hole Jay Wright ran up the score with his starters when we were down 30 points or when we get into the next brawl with the Hoyas. ;)
 
Good point and apologies, should have caveated that I didn't mean this as exact depth chart, just flagging the spot on the roster where I think there is currently a break/gap especially in regards to our NCAA T chances next year. Agree if Williams were on roster staff would probably have him below Yawke and that could explain transfer.
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I hope we don't have to start apologizing, I don't have that much time.

There's a tendency among (certain) fans to consider only that players should act as they would act were they the player but subject to their own experience and prejudices. Player A turns pro and fan B says that's a mistake, I value a SJU degree above a Euro basketball salary. Player C transfers and fan D says I wouldn't have transferred, St John's is a better opportunity than Pitt or SDSU. None of which includes considerations E F and G. We all surmise on imperfect information, that I get, that's what this forum is, for the most part random speculation based upon rumor and vague impressions. But there is among (certain) fans - and at the risk of sounding condescending I don't mean you, you express considered opinions in a respectful and thoughtful manner - an inability or unwillingness to consider the many variables that go into the realities of any particular situation: what player H might want might not jibe with the staff's considerations relative to players J K and L in connection with situations M N and O or visa versa. I went to half a dozen colleges and universities between SUNY and the Ivy league and none of those decisions were carefully or even soberly considered. Because I was twenty and twenty year olds don't think rationally or even coherently. Williams might have been pushed out. He might have broken up with his girlfriend and wants a fresh start. He might think he should be the starting point guard. He might simply be peripatetic. Every fan of SJU thinks everyone should do what is best for fans of SJU. I understand that perspective but I'm not sympathetic towards it, because it's a false narrative.
 
My two cents, getting any players that can play is a good thing. But, IMO, BY FAR our biggest problem was defense, not rebounding per se. Just basic hard nosed on the ball defense. Stop the revolving door penetration, stop the constant scrambling on defense and we will improve immensely. We have the athletes to do it, no question. But the idea that we only need to add a big to become a tournament team is one I disagree with. We will score enough to win but we need to improve our defense, improve our commitment to getting 50-50 balls, improve the little things that win at this level. We can play small, certainly other teams, notably Nova, have won consistently that way, but we have to play right.
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While defense was a big problem in that there was no semblance of defense by the current players, the most glaring issue was rebounding. Not only were we last in the Big East in rebounding differential but also in offensive rebounding thus giving the opposing team more opportunities to score and break on us. Thus the 100 point embarrassments.
Not bringing in a rebounder will bite this staff on the ass....or hip.
 
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