2024 Offseason

[Wxcpanther]

Wait. When was his name in the portal? I is confusion.

No, it was merely Ty confirming for the fanbase "I'm not going anywhere."

[CyCarp]

Correct, we struggle because very few want us. Again, suitcase college, boring town, cold NW winds in the Winter, and not getting to the Dance since 2016. All the disappointment breeds more of it. We're looking like 6th place for a long time. Yes, lots of guys are in the portal, but lots of schools still need them. We are left hoping Born, Peksari, and Wolf return.

No offense, but can we quit with the stupid weather excuse? Half the country has **** weather in the winter. I went to a game at Michigan State a few years back and the weather was twice as miserable there than in Cedar Falls. I get Michigan St is a Big Ten team, but by the weather logic all their receipts should go to P5s down south.

[BrockLesnar2]

No offense, but can we quit with the stupid weather excuse? Half the country has **** weather in the winter. I went to a game at Michigan State a few years back and the weather was twice as miserable there than in Cedar Falls. I get Michigan St is a Big Ten team, but by the weather logic all their receipts should go to P5s down south.

Well, the point is we struggle to recruit each year because of who we are. What eves about Michigan State. On top of that we don't have much for facilities or other resources. And how could I forget the wonderful NIL funds. I bet the Spartans love theirs. So, our 6th place finish give or take is better than the resources. The determination of our kids to compete keep us above the waterline about 17-16 more or less.

[orangetennis]

My advice would be to not judge the offseason until it is over. You know the staff isn't content with three open scholarships. I would guess it is fair to speculate that they've swung and missed a few times. But there are still a lot of guys out there, and you know the staff is leaving no stone unturned. As badly as we want them to be good, you know the staff wants it even more. It is their livelihood.

That's what some here are speculating...the staff only unturns suburban stones.

[MVCBeat]

Correct, we struggle because very few want us. Again, suitcase college, boring town, cold NW winds in the Winter, and not getting to the Dance since 2016. All the disappointment breeds more of it. We're looking like 6th place for a long time. Yes, lots of guys are in the portal, but lots of schools still need them. We are left hoping Born, Peksari, and Wolf return.

I think you’re jumping the gun a bit but we’ll see. This is really the first time we’ve gone shopping in the portal. Last year we didn’t have to.

[MVCBeat]

Well, the point is we struggle to recruit each year because of who we are. What eves about Michigan State. On top of that we don't have much for facilities or other resources. And how could I forget the wonderful NIL funds. I bet the Spartans love theirs. So, our 6th place finish give or take is better than the resources. The determination of our kids to compete keep us above the waterline about 17-16 more or less.

That’s true if you don’t count the two outright conference titles we’ve won in the last five years.

Everything has changed in college hoops crazy rapidly. And it continues to change crazy rapidly. I agree the staff has to adapt. But they also can’t completely abandon what has set them apart historically or we lose our identity. UNI’s competitive advantage has been our coaches. A lot of people on here are hyper focused on the negative and they disregard the positive. Jake is the winningest coach in MVC history for goodness sakes. Give him a freakin chance.

No doubt there have been some frustrating moments recently. But I would just say the grass isn’t always greener.

[BCPanther]

Jake has been here 19 years. I think maybe we're lucky to have had him stay around long enough as to where we could see some warts.

I'd still take our place over every other program in the league when you think about it. Every other school has had at least 3 head coaches in that time and every other program has completely bottomed out at some point. Realistically, we haven't. Have we had a a few disappointing years? Sure. Were we completely non-competitive in any of those years? Nope.

[PantherAlum09]

I just had a random thought as I look at our schedule taking form and the roster as it currently stands. I wonder if the coaching staff gives any thought to changing the offensive system. As our roster currently is formed, it doesn't seem to be a very good fit. I know we are going to add a couple more pieces, but I really wonder if doing something more closely resembling what we used to do before Tuttle came wouldn't make more sense.

Just a passing thought, but I could see the benefit on both sides of the ball with the size we will have.

[BCPanther]

I just had a random thought as I look at our schedule taking form and the roster as it currently stands. I wonder if the coaching staff gives any thought to changing the offensive system. As our roster currently is formed, it doesn't seem to be a very good fit. I know we are going to add a couple more pieces, but I really wonder if doing something more closely resembling what we used to do before Tuttle came wouldn't make more sense.

Just a passing thought, but I could see the benefit on both sides of the ball with the size we will have.

I would welcome it with open arms.

If you look at the league, it's trending slower. We know Bradley plays slow. Indiana State is going to slow down. McCollum plays Virginia type slow. The new guy at UIC played slow when he was at UAB. Cuonzo has always played slow. Murray played slow last year. Illinois State plays slow. Evansville plays slow.

The only outliers are Belmont and, in what's going to be a culture shock, Nagy at SIU played the 22nd fastest tempo in the country at Wright State last year.

Feels like we're headed back to the old grind-it-out Valley.

[BrockLesnar2]

Unless Born, Wolf, and Peksari come back our three new ones will net to a downgrade. I don't see us getting a A10, MWC, or WCC guy. It's probably more like three Horizon league guys or 2 Horizon and 1 MAC.

[BCPanther]

Unless Born, Wolf, and Peksari come back our three new ones will net to a downgrade. I don't see us getting a A10, MWC, or WCC guy. It's probably more like three Horizon league guys or 2 Horizon and 1 MAC.

We have absolutely no way of knowing that.

Also, Wolf is already gone (Illinois State) and we replaced him with a similar player that's 3 inches taller and a better athlete.

[BrockLesnar2]

We have absolutely no way of knowing that.

Also, Wolf is already gone (Illinois State) and we replaced him with a similar player that's 3 inches taller and a better athlete.

He didn't play much at Loyola and appears to be questionable. Yeah, he played A10 ball but we needed more experience. I would have taken Wolf over him.

[CyCarp]

Unless Born, Wolf, and Peksari come back our three new ones will net to a downgrade. I don't see us getting a A10, MWC, or WCC guy. It's probably more like three Horizon league guys or 2 Horizon and 1 MAC.

I don't care what level guys previously played at. Looking at the top 25 guys in the portal, there are guys from North Florida, South Dakota State, Yale, Harvard and Pepperdine. Not exactly highly touted schools or conferences, and that's only guys in the top 25. A few guys transferring from Big Ten schools have committed to teams like Buffalo, North Carolina A&T, LaSalle, Rhode Island. There are a ton of guys overrecruiting or underrecruiting out of high school

[clenz]

A year ago Ben Humrichous was at an NAIA school. He’s now going to Illinois from Evansville.

Wouldn’t discount guys from lower leagues

hell, the Valley is a lower league to the “big boys” and look how freely the come for our guys.

[BrockLesnar2]

I don't care what level guys previously played at. Looking at the top 25 guys in the portal, there are guys from North Florida, South Dakota State, Yale, Harvard and Pepperdine. Not exactly highly touted schools or conferences, and that's only guys in the top 25. A few guys transferring from Big Ten schools have committed to teams like Buffalo, North Carolina A&T, LaSalle, Rhode Island. There are a ton of guys overrecruiting or underrecruiting out of high school

Some of where the portal is at is due to other guys already committed elsewhere. True, there is talent left in there, but we're also up against the rest of the country too.