MBB Portal Targets (confirmed contacts)
- Thread starter HawkHoops80
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Of course they directly effect eachother when you have a finite number to give.
There's 4 other guys on the team that can play the 4 spot. Sandfort, Ladji, Kock and Tadjo.
Scoring is scoring no matter where it comes from.
Having two centers who probably will never contribute meaningful game minutes doesn't make any sense, but Fran apparently doesn't ask guys to leave. If you take them out of the picture, having an experienced 4 to add to Freeman and Dembele inside, makes sense, especially one who will only be here for a year, so they won't taking up a recruiting slot. Another guard is also needed, preferably a larger combo guard.
Keeping Mulvey around as a mascot is not acceptable in the portal era.
Roster turnover is how you win now.
If you're not opening that spot then you're not serious about winning and if you're not serious about winning then you're just stealing.
Almost every college basketball team's 10-13 spots are meaningless. If they are freshmen or sophomores who don't see minutes--they likely transfer. I looked it up earlier this year and the amount of young guys who saw no minutes who entered the portal from Big Ten teams is staggering.
Would I rather see Mulvey's scholarship given to a freshman with upside? Sure. But it's more likely that whatever freshman you plug in there wouldn't be on the roster anyways in 2 years.
I'd like to at least think that going against a 7 footer in practice has at least some utility. Even if it is small.
That has nothing to do with what I said. Also, supposedly Iowa plays bad defense but it's actually good? Bold take.
Yes but as we know you don't have to bring in underclassmen, that's what makes keeping noncontributing upperclassman so silly.
Roster turnover used to be a negative now it's the quickest path to improving.
And even if you do bring in an underclassmen it still makes way more sense than keeping an upperclassman that you aren't going to use.
The more potential contributors you have on the roster the better your end rotation will be.
I'm sure you're understand this.
No offense. I’m not buying into Mulvey. Seems like a great young man but if he is seeing significant minutes on the court we have huge issues beyond what is already there.
Totally agree. The Illinois coach said he was recruiting the portal while at the tournament. Not sure what Fran was doing. Iowa should not keep both Mulvey and Braun on schollie. Use your resources wisely Fran.
Surprised no mention about Sherm. He needs to retire. Pay for a quality asst. to coach defense.
Agreed ...unless he's makes some "Les Jepsen" type of progress this offseason, then that would justify some decent minutes imo.
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I'm sure you also understand that with NIL in play, it's not nearly as simple as just loading up on as much talent as possible. Team's are working with their own "salary caps" in mind when making roster decisions. Mulvey likely gets the bare minimum NIL only from whatever charity work he signs up to do. Do you think any upperclassman transfers that would provide any value would come to sit on Iowa's bench for no money?
Hell, the fact that Brauns and Mulvey are getting minimal if any NIL may allow Iowa to spend up on getting guys who actually matter in the portal like a Thelwell. I don't even disagree with the overall sentiment--I wish Mulvey would have left on his own as well. But I really think the hand wringing over a last roster spot will largely end up being meaningless in the end. Again, you aren't playing 12 or 13 anyways so I think getting a marginally better player for your 12th or 13th roster spot really does not matter. Like I said, most 12th or 13th guys on power conference rosters end up transferring down to a mid or low major anyways. They are just warm bodies to help out at practice that far down the roster.
There's only 3 guards on the roster, it should be double that and now Frans trying to bring in another forward.
I don't want to see any more 4 forward lineups.
your opinions are very lonely... not many agree with your assessments here. But I appreciate your optimism.
Fran doesn't want to play a 3 guard system, unfortunately. So having 6 guards on the roster is likely never going to be a reality under Fran. I wish he would change that philosophy, but he wants to play with 2 guards, 2 wings/forwards and a big. He wants to be in the 4 or 5 range for guards and I expect when the roster is finalized we will have 4 guards on the roster.
I'd also like Iowa to play spread offense in football, but I understand that as long as Kirk is here, that's not going to be a reality so I'm not going to bitch that the roster isn't constructed exactly to my liking. You get my point here?
And again, back to the original point, whether that 13th spot is Riley Mulvey or some unnamed guard they could actually afford, it likely won't matter because that spot is not going to be on the court.
Thats a rational veiw but you still can't convince me that keeping Mulvey and Brauns makes sense unless at least one of them is ready to be a big ten quality back up next year.
I do appreciate your takes because they are well thought out even if I don't agree.
Fran evidently doesn't agree with yours or others assessments of Riley. Otherwise he would be gone already. As I've said it's the mystery that all of us have to wait until the start of next season to fine out.
Tom Kakert, formally from this site, has already said that media very rarely sees more then a few minutes of practice if at all.
Riley's physical attributes are extremely missing on most every player on Iowa's roster, that can't be disputed...and whether Mulvey is 7 foot tall or not, he's still the tallest player on the roster.
People forget or ignore that Brauns was also hurt early on, which set him back and Dembele grabbed those back up center minutes. I think he’s plenty quick, just needs experience. Giving 5 fouls isn’t the worst if they are the result of defensive intensity.
My newly developed pessimistic attitude tells me that it's a fools errand to list all these transfers that have "heard from Iowa." Wake me up when we actually sign someone that was highly desired by other teams on par with, or better than, Iowa. I will hang up and await a response.
A few of the recruits Iowa doesn’t get without Coach Dillard being on staff:
Luka Grarza
Aaron White
Tyler Cook
He was also the lead recruiter for Payton Sandfort. Coach Dillard has a TON of valuable connections in the basketball world. The idea that he is somehow a weak link on the staff is in no way supported by the facts.
I’m sorry, but I wouldn’t brag about bringing in one good recruit every 4 years. We need more from our top assistant.
I only listed the cream of the crop, you dunce. He brought in several other good players. I didn’t think I’d have to spell that out for you, but here we are.
If the rest of the staff was recruiting at Coach Dillard’s level, Iowa would be contending for league titles on a regular basis.
We have 11 on scholarship at the moment (2 PG, 1 SG, 5 forwards and 3 centers).
I sure hope Fran lands another guard.
I am guessing this is our 9 man rotation as of now (some may think I should switch Cooper with Ladji, which is fine):
5 Starters:
Senior, 6'3 PG Drew Thelwell
Junior, 6'5" SG Josh Dix
Freshman, 6'7" F Cooper Koch
Senior, 6'7" F Payton Sandfort
Soph, 6'10" C Owen Freeman
..................
4 Off the bench:
Soph, 6'0" PG Brock Harding
Soph, 6'7" F Pryce Sandfort
Soph, 6'8" PF Ladji Dembele
Fresh, 6'8" PF Chris Tadjo
..................
Other:
Senior, 6'9" F/C Even Brauns
Junior, 6'11" C Riley Mulvey
Speaking of balance of the classes, here's when our 11 scholarship players are currently scheduled to be done:
2028 (when scheduled to graduate/be done): 2 players
6'7" PF Cooper Koch
6'8" PF Chris Tadjo
2027 (when scheduled to graduate/be done): 4 players
6'10" C Owen Freeman
6'0" PG Brock Harding
6'7" PF Pryce Sandfort
6'8" PF Ladji Dembele
2026 (when scheduled to graduate/be done): 2 players
6'5" SG Josh Dix
6'11" C Riley Mulvey (originally scheduled to graduate in 2025)
2025 (when scheduled to graduate/be done): 3 players
6'7" F Payton Sandfort
6'9" F/C Even Brauns
6’3” PG Drew Thelwell
Are these lineups wishful thinking or have you sat in some of Iowa's practices and formed you opinion on watching each player on multiple occasions? You seem to have your foot in the door, sort of speak.
Totally agree with this take. Unless he has forgotten how to play, he will be going into his fourth year of going up against 20 win teams daily in practice. Fran says he picks up opposing teams offense quickly, and replicates it in practice to get our boys ready. Next year he may be giving us a badly needed 7 footer on the floor. If he even gets us 15 productive minutes a game next year, we may have a very good player in his 5th year. To go along with a Junior Freeman, Junior Dembele, sophomore Tajo. That could be a very good front court, athletic, tall, and experienced. Fran needs to work on getting quick point guards, that can defend.
Woah, you made up your own lineups without consulting with the real Franisdaman, and like everyone else, Riley Mulvey can't possible contribute next year, because you all say so. Should make you all so proud to be so smart.I did consult with my wife, Margaret, on the 9 man rotation.
I guess we'll all have to wait until the start fall practice to find out, won't we.
Giving up a fair amount of points and offensive rebounds isn't worth it, either
By and large an EMBARRASSING Big Ten roster. Embarrassing.
2009-10 Says hold my beer.
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I would say they are meaningful from a development standpoint. You would want the 10-13 to be able to contribute in a few years for sure. Plus with NIL there is ALWAYS going to be movement on rosters now. Need quality at the end of the bench.
Guys can enter the portal up until May 1. I think grad transfers can enter afterwards though. Usually things quiet down and guys find their landing spots by like mid-May. But technically, guys can wait to commit somewhere all the way up until the fall semester starts. Most teams won't want those guys as summer practices start in June though.
Just to throw out some stats that many might not know or believe, but Even Brauns has in his 4 year career made 176 shots and of those 176 shots 170 were either dunks or layups. That is amazing...
Lot of talk about keeping Mulvey and Brauns around, but Fran needs to use the two scholarship slots that are still available. At least one needs to be a guard.
I'd say great shot selection & knows his limitations.
I am not directly challenging you here, but I would like some more info. Are you basing this on Sherm being the "lead recruiter" or something more substantial? Did Sherm intitally identify Garza/White/Clark as targets, or was it Fran? Was Sherm the one that "closed the deal" on these guys? Have many players explicitly said that Sherm is the reason they chose Iowa?
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