2024 Offseason

[BCPanther]

Might as well get this going.

The portal is about to go portaling and the coaching carousel is about to spin.

[BCPanther]

As for The Valley coaches---

Dana Ford is probably gone. Sounds like the new president is going to clean house and try to jump start the program after their attendance tanked this year.

Luke Yaklich is probably gone too. That roster was way too good to finish 11th in the league after they looked good in the non-con.

Schertz and DeVries should be connected to lots of jobs and Schertz goes for sure, it would take the right job for DeVries to go. I've seen Wardle mentioned with some jobs too but I don't know how interested people are going to be with his reputation.

Everybody else is on solid ground as either long term guys (Jake, Alexander, Mullins), in rebuilds (Pedon, Ragland, Powell) or too soon to pull the plug (Prohm).

[PantherAlum09]

I've heard Mullins mentioned about a couple gigs, too, but I think that was before they lost their last two. If they ended up closing the regular season with a couple wins, I think it might've been more likely.

I feel like Devries depends a lot on Tucker. Is he done? Is he going to stay for one more year? If he's done, I could see Devries being more open to a new gig.

That coaching carousel is going to be active this year, though. So, I definitely wouldn't be surprised if we see some movement.

[BCPanther]

I've heard Mullins mentioned about a couple gigs, too, but I think that was before they lost their last two. If they ended up closing the regular season with a couple wins, I think it might've been more likely.

I feel like Devries depends a lot on Tucker. Is he done? Is he going to stay for one more year? If he's done, I could see Devries being more open to a new gig.

That coaching carousel is going to be active this year, though. So, I definitely wouldn't be surprised if we see some movement.

Related. Darian can also use Tucker as bait to sell a quick turnaround.

[CyCarp]

I won't be surprised either way on the Devries, but I'd be shocked if only one stays. And well, I'll be that guy - might as well look at our guys. The only one I could possibly see moving on is Nate, we had heard that other teams had reached out to him last year, and he's had a strong year this year. No way I see a Bowen leaving with his brother coming in next year. Tytan just seems like a guy who's passionate about this team. I don't see RJ leaving. Trey and Landon are local kids. Hutson just transferred here, Duax hasn't showed enough to get great offers elsewhere. I really hope Nate stays around, if we can play last year like we finished this year, next year could be really fun.

[orangetennis]

I won't be surprised either way on the Devries, but I'd be shocked if only one stays. And well, I'll be that guy - might as well look at our guys. The only one I could possibly see moving on is Nate, we had heard that other teams had reached out to him last year, and he's had a strong year this year. No way I see a Bowen leaving with his brother coming in next year. Tytan just seems like a guy who's passionate about this team. I don't see RJ leaving. Trey and Landon are local kids. Hutson just transferred here, Duax hasn't showed enough to get great offers elsewhere. I really hope Nate stays around, if we can play last year like we finished this year, next year could be really fun.

I don't know why I feel this way because it wouldn't make much sense, but I get an uneasy feeling about Wes. He flipped once before. Could he have been underwhelmed by our season and look to catch on somewhere else?

[sivert]

I don’t think so. His brother was supposed to be better? He’s starting for Luc but his stats are not eye catching.
I think he’s going fit in super well for us.

Now a year from now… that’s going to be a scary time for this one. Bowen, Ty, Hutty, Drew all graduate.

[UNIAlum95]

I don’t think so. His brother was supposed to be better? He’s starting for Luc but his stats are not eye catching.
I think he’s going fit in super well for us.

Now a year from now… that’s going to be a scary time for this one. Bowen, Ty, Hutty, Drew all graduate.

Nate sticking around for his 5th/6th year would soften that quite a bit. Let's hope that's the case.

[kochrab]

Not UNI-related, but I was reading through MSU's board about their "potential" move to the C-USA. Interesting to say the least. I know C-USA is FBS level for football, but my gosh, there's nothing about that conference that sounds exciting. Funniest posts on there are about their excitement about the ability to "win" again against C-USA teams. Shows you the desperation of the fan base if your only hope to win is to play lower-level competition.

[Username]

Potential hot take, but I'm not really super concerned if Heise leaves or not. I'd love for him to stay, but I don't think the drop off to Duax/Wolf is that significant for the team, given the context of how the team will adjust to operate and how much better those 2 play in an increased role. That's not to say Heise isn't a good deal better than them, I just think a good amount can be made up. The ball handling I think would be the biggest deficit to make up given we don't usually have wings who can run an offense like that. Campbell would have to continue to improve in this regard.

We'd essentially have the same team as 2 years ago, with 2 more years of experience(significant for Trey), more depth, and much better options at the 5.

[achrist70]

I mean Nate is our leading scorer, second leading rebounder, leading in assists, blocks and has 30 steals. Sounds like a guy you would want to stick around.

[06panther10]

Potential hot take, but I'm not really super concerned if Heise leaves or not. I'd love for him to stay, but I don't think the drop off to Duax/Wolf is that significant for the team, given the context of how the team will adjust to operate and how much better those 2 play in an increased role. That's not to say Heise isn't a good deal better than them, I just think a good amount can be made up. The ball handling I think would be the biggest deficit to make up given we don't usually have wings who can run an offense like that. Campbell would have to continue to improve in this regard.

We'd essentially have the same team as 2 years ago, with 2 more years of experience(significant for Trey), more depth, and much better options at the 5.

He's the best player on the team by good margin, it would be a crushing blow.

If the drop-off to Duax and Wolf was not significant, those 2 would already be playing 30 min/game instead of fighting for minutes every night.

[Username]

I literally addressed both of those points, lol.

I want him to stick around, but I feel like the team is just different without him. They will be worse, but I don't think they will be worse by the amount of dropoff from the skill level of Heise to Duax/Wolf. I think everyone else steps into a bigger, better role given and is able to make up a good portion of that deficit.

I don't think it's as simple as we just lose all the value of our best player, there's a lot of leverage that can be made up in this scenario(again, not in it's full amount, I just don't think it will be as bad as appears if everyone else is still around)

[achrist70]

Nate is kind of the positives of Duax and Wolf put into one player. To me Landon is better offensively with better feet and quickness. Duax is physically stronger and is a better defender especially if he is asked to face guard someone. Nate is all of those things.

[Panther AC]

I don't know why I feel this way because it wouldn't make much sense, but I get an uneasy feeling about Wes. He flipped once before. Could he have been underwhelmed by our season and look to catch on somewhere else?

FWIW, I spoke to Wes' dad at several UNI home games. He was decked out in UNI gear and spoke highly of Wes' enjoyment of the program and his teammates. He also made sure I knew his other son was leading the A10 conference in blocked shots at that time. Obviously, Wes is the one to make the decision, but his dad seemed all in on the Panthers.