Portal News

[kochrab]

Great get! Welcome aboard Ismael!

BC, was this the guy you were referencing that visited recently?

[BCPanther]

Great get! Welcome aboard Ismael!

BC, was this the guy you were referencing that visited recently?

It was. The staff was pretty optimistic the whole way.

[orangetennis]

Watching some YouTube highlights of Diouf, he's not a traditional 5. If I had to give a UNI comp of his game I'd say Klint Carlson.
He's a lefty, and he likes to put the ball on the floor and take it to the basket. Not an above the rim guy. Doesn't seem shy to pull the trigger on the 3 ball but doesn't look like an efficient shooter. His tape gives the impression he might be a guy who finds himself out of place too often, and looks a little out of control at times. But he's athletic and long. I wonder how well he shoots FTs, as I'd imagine he can draw a lot of fouls.
I didn't see much tape of his defensive game, unfortunately.

[GoPanthers85]

Watching some YouTube highlights of Diouf, he's not a traditional 5. If I had to give a UNI comp of his game I'd say Klint Carlson.
He's a lefty, and he likes to put the ball on the floor and take it to the basket. Not an above the rim guy. Doesn't seem shy to pull the trigger on the 3 ball but doesn't look like an efficient shooter. His tape gives the impression he might be a guy who finds himself out of place too often, and looks a little out of control at times. But he's athletic and long. I wonder how well he shoots FTs, as I'd imagine he can draw a lot of fouls.
I didn't see much tape of his defensive game, unfortunately.

The first player that came to my mind when watching the highlights was Malevy Leons. With his game and build, that was the first person that popped into my head.

[CletusCat]

I would be excited for a Leons type player, we haven't had many athletes like that here that are able to switch almost 1-5.

[PantherAlum09]

I'm not sure he has that kind of athleticism but he does have good length and I do think his shot is much better than his stats at NC State would suggest. He's going to be a really solid player for us. Here's hoping we get another one or two guys to fill out the roster really well.

[BCPanther]

For those wondering on pronunciation...

From NC State's Game Notes:

ess-MALE D-uff (rhymes with hoof)

[MVCBeat]

Curious how we ended up with this guy. Seems kind of random. Not complaining but I don’t see the connection.

[SteinPizza]

Curious how we ended up with this guy. Seems kind of random. Not complaining but I don’t see the connection.

No clue here on whether there’s any interpersonal connection between him and the staff. A good guess says his athleticism and UNI’s offensive scheme are a good match, and he recognizes that.

[catsize]

Their former associate head coach was Kareem Richardson, who was an assistant to Greg Lansing at Indiana State, also coached at Drake and is an Evansville alum. So there are some MVC connections there.

[FOTY]

Well, I hit the treadmill early this morning and the recruit walked in before I finished my run. Tristan Smith grad transfer from Concordia Nebraska. GPAC POY and D-POY. Seems like a nice kid, a lot of smiles, said he's really enjoying his visit. I gotta think Jake likes a guy who was really strong defensively. Looking at a few other mid majors as well.

My investigative work is done.

Your new workout bud is officially sticking around CF.

https://x.com/TristanSmitty1/status/1916533284730810395

[CletusCat]

Definitely optimistic about the athleticism of this team. Still going to be undersized unless there's another piece on the way.

[Username]

6'5 230 forward and doesn't really shoot 3s.

Could be someone to help replace at least a bit of Ty's toughness at that spot.

[kochrab]

So our biggest guy that will see meaningful minutes is Ismael at 6' 9"? It sure was nice having Hutson at 6' 11", but I'm not sure 2 inches will be the end of the world. Hutson tended to play smaller than his size anyway, so as long as Isamel and Will can play their size effectively, we should be okay.

I'm a little concerned about 3 point shooting. We definitely need to continue to keep that alive and well. We have the ability with some of the guys we have, just need to see it be consistent this season.

[Username]

So our biggest guy that will see meaningful minutes is Ismael at 6' 9"? It sure was nice having Hutson at 6' 11", but I'm not sure 2 inches will be the end of the world. Hutson tended to play smaller than his size anyway, so as long as Isamel and Will can play their size effectively, we should be okay.

I'm a little concerned about 3 point shooting. We definitely need to continue to keep that alive and well. We have the ability with some of the guys we have, just need to see it be consistent this season.

Huston also had 40 lbs on Ismael. He was not good at rim protection, but was good at 1-1 post defense and clearing out lanes for others to board. Not vertically gifted, but the big body, plus being able to not get absolutely killed on the perimeter made him a pretty valuable piece that I don't think will be easily replaced and appears we'll opt out on size this year.

I think both Ben and Leon will take strides towards being serviceable volume 3 point shooters. Not great shooters but good shooters, and then we still have Campbell and a full year of Weisbrod. I'm betting Ismael is understanding that his ability to hit 3s better than he's shown will be a big contributor to how much he plays as well. We still won't be a good shooting team, but hopefully can generate enough offense and make up for it on the backend.

The length and potential to have lineups switch 1-5 will be the strength of the team.