2024 Offseason

[Wxcpanther]

So, you think a stud D2 guy is the $&it. Dude, that's like a UIU starter coming over. That's supposed to get us to the promise land?!

I think he's a guy who can get his own shot and provide us quality minutes off the bench. His team was quite a bit better than Upper Iowa, pretty much exclusively because of him. There have been plenty of D2 guys that have come to the MVC and contributed immediately. Again, you just don't know what you're talking about.

[BCPanther]

Ben Humrichous played for some tiny NAIA school and is now heading to Illinois.

I'd have taken Jake Helmer from Upper Iowa in a heartbeat, fwiw

[Wxcpanther]

Ben Humrichous played for some tiny NAIA school and is now heading to Illinois.

I'd have taken Jake Helmer from Upper Iowa in a heartbeat, fwiw

Was actually thinking the exact same thing while I was typing. On both. Players slip through the cracks all the time. Weisbrod's coach said it himself when he entered the portal, he was surprised he kept him in the program for 2 years. Dude can play.

[clenz]

Hey Brock. What wqs that about Lake Superior State and you being full of horse **** yet again?

[BrockLesnar2]

Was actually thinking the exact same thing while I was typing. On both. Players slip through the cracks all the time. Weisbrod's coach said it himself when he entered the portal, he was surprised he kept him in the program for 2 years. Dude can play.

Northern Michigan got trounced by Ferris State in the First Round of the D2 National Tournament. I wouldn't say he is better than what Upper Iowa runs out there. NMU was not better than UIU. Meanwhile, the Peacocks made the Second Round of the National D2 Tournament. Noah King averaged 17.4. Jake Hilmer did 24.4 ppg. So, both King and Hilmer over in Fayette did better than Max Weisbrod at NMU. Yeah, I believe that was Hilmer's last season, but you're bragging about a guy that's about like a starter at UIU.

[achrist70]

I know that there will be people who disagree with me but Jake Hilmer could have played and contributed at UNI.

[BrockLesnar2]

There is literally no one on the roster named Welch, nor is there anyone on the roster from Mankato. My God, man. Are you somehow confusing Thomas Welch, who also used to play for Loyola, with Ben Schwieger? Because if so, their former school (Welch has graduated) is quite literally the only similarity between the two.

Ben Schwieger 6' 7" played all of 10 games last season 5.8 minutes per game average with a whooping 1.3 ppg. That's what you're bent out of shape over?! Sigh... Yeah.... Can't we just cheat and sign Welch anyways?
There's gotta be some funky 8th Year status floating around. I'd take his killer 2.6 ppg.
Thirteen guys on Loyola's roster scored more than Schwieger... Why can't we just get one of the other 13?! Oh yeah, never mind. I guess that what's his name Weisbrod NMU guy looks better and better... Thanks a bunch for your correction. I feel just terrific, now...

[BrockLesnar2]

Hey Brock. What wqs that about Lake Superior State and you being full of horse **** yet again?

Nope, WX got me all straightened out we got two top of the line baller dudes from the portal. I can just smell that national title.
Can't wait for the next 3! OMG we're going to the Final Four in style! Go get'em!!!

[UNIChippewa]

This thread has become a bit of a cringe read.

[clenz]

We should be able to have rational discussions moving forward again

[BobCat]

Interesting stuff on the board lately. Yes, we'd love to have a 15-20 point a night DI transfer sign. But that is going to be incredibly hard for UNI (and many mid majors) - P6 schools will always get first shot and then we have to compete with high mid majors with what seems to be not a lot of NIL money. Our path is going forward (portal-wise) seems mainly to be 1) find good DI players not being utilized who value playing time over $ and 2) find occasional underrated talent at D2. If we can get high scorers who like our staff, culture or whatever, then sure, make a play for them.

The main thing is that it's way too early for doom and gloom --I'm still fairly optimistic:

Bond - if he have signed him, awesome...I'm excited. An ACC caliber recruit and they don't sign non-athletes (well, under 7 feet) and he was Wisconsin Division 1 All-State First Team in HS. Just a sophomore -serious upside here.

Schweiger - 6-7 G/F...surprisingly played sparingly this last season as a Soph and seems to have lost time to 2 DI transfers that came in. Fan comments on their boards are positive - praise his effort, attitude and character. Great freshman year: A-10 All-Rookie Team, 9.2ppg, 35% on 3's. Could be like Hutson and go from being lost in the shuffle to an effective starter.

Weisbrod - 84 3 pointers made(39%), 80% FT, POY in DII conference as a SOPHOMORE. Yes, D2 transition is tricky to predict but players have been successful before. Kid sounds skilled and has had ball in his hands in late game situations.

I'm really hopeful to see the development of last year's freshmen; all were very highly regarded recruits. I enjoyed watching Taylor's pesky defense and despite limited time, his A/TO ratio was really good. Pock faded out a bit but has such a sweet shot. They have a year of practices, travel, games and just learning what DI is all about. I'm also excited to see how they improve and where Rubin is at and what his game is.

Having Trey, Hutty and especially Tytan back is solid. This may be a run-out-2-hockey-lines kind of year or maybe we have a team where 5+ guys can score double digits regularly with a different leader every night. Or maybe the defense tightens even more...?

Another PG would be great (if Taylor or Trey get hurt, yikes!), but let's see who else decides to go Purple!

[MVCBeat]

That dude may want to consider being a fan of Kansas or North Carolina.

[sivert]

Ok. Hutty had an interesting season. Didn’t attempt any 3pt shots for the first 25 games. Then in the last 8 games he takes 24 and hits 46%.
I feel like the weak point of his game is catching passes. He should do some bouldering. Rock climbing. It really builds hand strength.

[PantherAlum09]

Interesting stuff on the board lately. Yes, we'd love to have a 15-20 point a night DI transfer sign. But that is going to be incredibly hard for UNI (and many mid majors) - P6 schools will always get first shot and then we have to compete with high mid majors with what seems to be not a lot of NIL money. Our path is going forward (portal-wise) seems mainly to be 1) find good DI players not being utilized who value playing time over $ and 2) find occasional underrated talent at D2. If we can get high scorers who like our staff, culture or whatever, then sure, make a play for them.

The main thing is that it's way too early for doom and gloom --I'm still fairly optimistic:

Bond - if he have signed him, awesome...I'm excited. An ACC caliber recruit and they don't sign non-athletes (well, under 7 feet) and he was Wisconsin Division 1 All-State First Team in HS. Just a sophomore -serious upside here.

Schweiger - 6-7 G/F...surprisingly played sparingly this last season as a Soph and seems to have lost time to 2 DI transfers that came in. Fan comments on their boards are positive - praise his effort, attitude and character. Great freshman year: A-10 All-Rookie Team, 9.2ppg, 35% on 3's. Could be like Hutson and go from being lost in the shuffle to an effective starter.

Weisbrod - 84 3 pointers made(39%), 80% FT, POY in DII conference as a SOPHOMORE. Yes, D2 transition is tricky to predict but players have been successful before. Kid sounds skilled and has had ball in his hands in late game situations.

I'm really hopeful to see the development of last year's freshmen; all were very highly regarded recruits. I enjoyed watching Taylor's pesky defense and despite limited time, his A/TO ratio was really good. Pock faded out a bit but has such a sweet shot. They have a year of practices, travel, games and just learning what DI is all about. I'm also excited to see how they improve and where Rubin is at and what his game is.

Having Trey, Hutty and especially Tytan back is solid. This may be a run-out-2-hockey-lines kind of year or maybe we have a team where 5+ guys can score double digits regularly with a different leader every night. Or maybe the defense tightens even more...?

Another PG would be great (if Taylor or Trey get hurt, yikes!), but let's see who else decides to go Purple!

Love this post. Pretty much completely agree with everything here. One little side note regarding NIL money. We genuinely stand no shot if P6 schools are coming or are recruiting the same kid as us. I believe Heise was in line for $75k-$80k this year, and I'm sure he is getting at least $150k-$200k from Iowa State. I don't blame the kids at all. If any of us were offered twice the income, we would do it, too. I'm glad we have been able to get a few kids that I think have genuine potential but it really emphasizes how difficult this is going to be for us going forward. Any time we have some really talented kids, we just have to take advantage and get to the tourney that year.

[ronfitch]

Love this post. Pretty much completely agree with everything here. One little side note regarding NIL money. We genuinely stand no shot if P6 schools are coming or are recruiting the same kid as us. I believe Heise was in line for $75k-$80k this year, and I'm sure he is getting at least $150k-$200k from Iowa State. I don't blame the kids at all. If any of us were offered twice the income, we would do it, too. I'm glad we have been able to get a few kids that I think have genuine potential but it really emphasizes how difficult this is going to be for us going forward. Any time we have some really talented kids, we just have to take advantage and get to the tourney that year.

In line for $75k-$80k to play at UNI? If so, this would be the first time I have seen numbers for UNI (does not mean that they are not commonly known, I just have not seen any).