Looking Forward

[SteinPizza]

Would be nice to get that inside presence, but that is and has been the hardest to recruit.

Didn't watch the Murray State game, except for the introductions - they are a top 25 team & have no seniors starting? OMG

The inside presence shouldn’t be. Just need to be more creative in who you go for. More transfers, and be open to Juco players.

As for Murray State, I kept an eye on them during our game. They’re really athletic and like to run. Part of that could’ve been the tempo dictated by St Peters, but they ran right with them. By contrast, some of our players looked like they had weights in their shoes vs BYU. I was thinking Murray State would run us out of the gym if we played last night.

[Mill1634]

Well… at what point now do we expect to be hearing about outgoing and/or incoming players for 2022-2023?

I would assume player meetings are sometime this week or next which is usually when transfers usually hit the portal. However, as another poster mentioned, the decisions for AJ will be a while, and Phyfe can be whenever. The only guys I can see transferring are Carter, Betz, and Henry. Noah probably has less to do with the any sort of meeting of sorts, but rather if he thinks he can make an impact on a team that doesn't have to win 3 or 4 games in March to make the dance.

[DownGoesKansas]

Incorrect. While a shooter or two wouldn’t hurt, the biggest thing by far next year is for Henry and Betz to develop enough to contribute solid, consistent, all game minutes. We need some guys with some strength and bulk inside to least provide a defensive and rebounding presence. Jake fell in love with the four guard plus Carter offense. Carter isn’t the inside type guy you need. Great player, but that’s not his game. You could argue Phyfe’s illlness killed us, but he’s only one ****ing player. You need a few of those guys that can play. Either get Henry or Betz ready, or bring in a couple of transfers.

Not trying to be overly negative towards the season as whole. This team did a great job turning it around. But, if you want to beat national level teams and not just Evansville, the above needs to happen. You can’t rely on shooting 60% from three to win every game.

Sorry, I meant the one semi missing piece of his game.

Yes we need a post

[BCPanther]

To be clear, I’m not talking about traditional
post, back to the basket types. I’m talking bigger guys who are athletic and would fit in this offense. That’s NOT Carter. He’s just as much of a guard as the relatively slightly built (6’4, 200lbs is not big by D1 standards) guys who dominate the roster. He’s just more versatile.

Two prototypes for what I mean - Murphy and Hemphill from Drake. Both guys who are 6’6 or so, strong enough to defend down low and rebound, and athletic enough to occasionally drive, hit the occasional three, and provide an inside presence that your shooter type guards cannot. The other reason for mentioning them - they’re recruits who are winnable by us. It does no good to bring up some kid who went to Wisconsin, etc. We’ll lose 99.9% of those recruiting battles.

Drake is the greatest program on the face of the earth.

[06panther10]

Drake is the greatest program on the face of the earth.

The guy thinks *everybody* that payed in or near DM, whether its Drake or HS, is awesome.

Newsflash, we have better players than Drake, we out recruit Drake, and are a better program than Drake and have been for 30 years.

[ChaoticDaily]

To be clear, I’m not talking about traditional
post, back to the basket types. I’m talking bigger guys who are athletic and would fit in this offense. That’s NOT Carter. He’s just as much of a guard as the relatively slightly built (6’4, 200lbs is not big by D1 standards) guys who dominate the roster. He’s just more versatile.

Two prototypes for what I mean - Murphy and Hemphill from Drake. Both guys who are 6’6 or so, strong enough to defend down low and rebound, and athletic enough to occasionally drive, hit the occasional three, and provide an inside presence that your shooter type guards cannot. The other reason for mentioning them - they’re recruits who are winnable by us. It does no good to bring up some kid who went to Wisconsin, etc. We’ll lose 99.9% of those recruiting battles.

This is arguably dumbest ****ing thing I have ever seen on here.

[BrockLesnar]

This is a really critical time for us. Will Green, Phyfe, and Carter leave? Can we ever have a practice court? How many others leave? What if we find the need of four rides? It's a tough sell to come to Cedar Falls. It's not just the lack of a practice floor. How about the weather? Hard to sell a kid from let's say St. Louis when there is a blizzard ragging on his visit. Ah, the wind on a hill in West CF.

[SteinPizza]

This is arguably dumbest ****ing thing I have ever seen on here.

How so, Einstein? Defend your position or shut the **** up.

[QCPanther05]

This is a really critical time for us. Will Green, Phyfe, and Carter leave? Can we ever have a practice court? How many others leave? What if we find the need of four rides? It's a tough sell to come to Cedar Falls. It's not just the lack of a practice floor. How about the weather? Hard to sell a kid from let's say St. Louis when there is a blizzard ragging on his visit. Ah, the wind on a hill in West CF.

Is the lack of a practice facility really that big of a deal. We will never compete with the over-the-top buildings that a P5 has, but our recruits aren’t getting a taste of that in their recruiting. Probably looking at other Valley level schools that also don’t have practice facilities. So I wonder how much that makes a difference to recruits. Maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t.

A practice facility is also just part of the overall facilities. A lot of peer schools have crap arenas—we don’t. I would say ours is probably the nicest in the Valley. It’s beautiful ( it’s not a concrete dome) and it’s on campus. No other Valley school can say that about their arena, and I bet that ticks a major box for the recruit.

But if we *need* a practice facility to be competitive, let’s get working on it and get it built.

[SteinPizza]

The guy thinks *everybody* that payed in or near DM, whether its Drake or HS, is awesome.

Newsflash, we have better players than Drake, we out recruit Drake, and are a better program than Drake and have been for 30 years.

LOL I brought up Hemphill and Murphy as easy examples. There are certainly others. How about Donovan Clay, or Welch or Hutson from Loyola? Those are guys in same size range and type of player I’m talking about. They’re also from close enough proximity to Cedar Falls to make it viable. Being in Dallas Bear if you think he’s an MVC level player. Point is, they’re out there. The four/five guard offense really hurt our upside as a team. The players and staff made the most of it, but our ceiling was limited by needing to shoot lights out from three every game. Either develop the forwards you have, or widen your net on potential transfers.

[BCPanther]

Is the lack of a practice facility really that big of a deal. We will never compete with the over-the-top buildings that a P5 has, but our recruits aren’t getting a taste of that in their recruiting. Probably looking at other Valley level schools that also don’t have practice facilities. So I wonder how much that makes a difference to recruits. Maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t.

A practice facility is also just part of the overall facilities. A lot of peer schools have crap arenas—we don’t. I would say ours is probably the nicest in the Valley. It’s beautiful ( it’s not a concrete dome) and it’s on campus. No other Valley school can say that about their arena, and I bet that ticks a major box for the recruit.

But if we *need* a practice facility to be competitive, let’s get working on it and get it built.

It's a huge deal. When 10 of 12 schools in the league have one and you're one of the two that don't, it's a horrible look for recruits. The McLeod Center is probably not even top half of the league anymore, it looks great on TV but has no modern amenities, 16 year old audio/video and lighting.

We're so far behind in facilities in every sport that we offer that it's a true testament to coaches in all sports that we're as competitive as we are. Dannen at least had the sense to get coaches paid. It was the easy way out but at least it was something.

David has done literally nothing since he got here other than gut administrative staff, run off all the UNI people in the department, raise ticket prices beyond peers, not be able to properly count attendance and take credit for turf that Mark did all the fundraising for. But I'm sure the Dome plans and fundraising will be out real soon and that 5 year facilities plan is shovel ready.

[BrockLesnar]

Is the lack of a practice facility really that big of a deal. We will never compete with the over-the-top buildings that a P5 has, but our recruits aren’t getting a taste of that in their recruiting. Probably looking at other Valley level schools that also don’t have practice facilities. So I wonder how much that makes a difference to recruits. Maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t.

A practice facility is also just part of the overall facilities. A lot of peer schools have crap arenas—we don’t. I would say ours is probably the nicest in the Valley. It’s beautiful ( it’s not a concrete dome) and it’s on campus. No other Valley school can say that about their arena, and I bet that ticks a major box for the recruit.

But if we *need* a practice facility to be competitive, let’s get working on it and get it built.

Other Valley schools have practice facilities and better arenas. Drake has better facilities and have a top level coach, but they don't have much of a winning tradition outside of the 1969 Final Four. However, Drake is more competitive than ever and we lose recruits to them. Yes, I also like Mcleod, but that and our tradition is all we have.

[QCPanther05]

It's a huge deal. When 10 of 12 schools in the league have one and you're one of the two that don't, it's a horrible look for recruits. The McLeod Center is probably not even top half of the league anymore, it looks great on TV but has no modern amenities, 16 year old audio/video and lighting.

We're so far behind in facilities in every sport that we offer that it's a true testament to coaches in all sports that we're as competitive as we are. Dannen at least had the sense to get coaches paid. It was the easy way out but at least it was something.

David has done literally nothing since he got here other than gut administrative staff, run off all the UNI people in the department, raise ticket prices beyond peers, not be able to properly count attendance and take credit for turf that Mark did all the fundraising for. But I'm sure the Dome plans and fundraising will be out real soon and that 5 year facilities plan is shovel ready.

It comes down to money, largely. We’re getting less and less from the state, and the school doesn’t have rich alumni who can write big checks. UNI has no Carvers or Sukups to fund big facility projects. Where’s the money going to come from to match our peer schools?

[BrockLesnar]

It comes down to money, largely. We’re getting less and less from the state, and the school doesn’t have rich alumni who can write big checks. UNI has no Carvers or Sukups to fund big facility projects. Where’s the money going to come from to match our peer schools?

Yes, this is a huge problem. We have a good Business School, but by and large the alumni hold onto their cash. We will struggle for the foreseeable future to land difference makers on the recruiting end. We won't see a replacement for the Dome, a new practice gym, or other improvements anytime soon.

[DownGoesKansas]

It's a huge deal. When 10 of 12 schools in the league have one and you're one of the two that don't, it's a horrible look for recruits. The McLeod Center is probably not even top half of the league anymore, it looks great on TV but has no modern amenities, 16 year old audio/video and lighting.

We're so far behind in facilities in every sport that we offer that it's a true testament to coaches in all sports that we're as competitive as we are. Dannen at least had the sense to get coaches paid. It was the easy way out but at least it was something.

David has done literally nothing since he got here other than gut administrative staff, run off all the UNI people in the department, raise ticket prices beyond peers, not be able to properly count attendance and take credit for turf that Mark did all the fundraising for. But I'm sure the Dome plans and fundraising will be out real soon and that 5 year facilities plan is shovel ready.

What a disaster of a hire. Ugh

Not that any of these things are going to be easy here but ugh