13 players is about 3 too many for the rotation, so if you were Fran, who would you try to get to redshirt? If you think about it - while this year is exciting, we may be 2-3 years away from making a deep (S16 or better) run.
With that in mind, here are three dark horse redshirt candidates for 2017-2018:
Maishe Dailey: I know he didn't redshirt last year, but kids out of high school want to immediately test themselves. Now that he's seen battle - and a lot of DNP-CDs - maybe he could be talked into taking an official redshirt year. He's not going to get much run this year anyway. He said he's grown an inch and maybe he's still growing - if he comes back in a year at 6'8" and 15 pounds heavier...
Cordell Pemsl; Between his knee surgeries (and medical leg breaking) and now his sports hernia, CP is a tough, tough kid. That said, maybe it's time to let his body heal. Meanwhile, he can work on his mid-range to outside game, and with a little help with his ball handling, turn into a Niang or Denzel V type point forward player. I do like the idea of evening out the classes a bit.
Jack Nunge: Everyone is excited by Nunge - and he's been lighting it up in the PTL - but as much as he's billed as a Uthoff starter kit, he's shooting only 21% in the PTL from 3 and 55% FTs. Possibly take a year to bulk up a bit, work on his consistency. Plus, by taking a year off, he's priming himself to take over Baer's role as a RS sophomore and star on a Weiskamp/PMac/Cook team.
If you redshirted those 3 players (and assuming Connor plays baseball for a year/redshirts), the depth chart would look like this:
PG: JBo (so), CWill (jr)
SG: Moss (so), BE (jr)
SF: Baer (jr), Uhl (sr), Moss
PF: Cook (so), Wagner (Jr), Kriener (so)
C: Garza (fr), Kriener, Wagner
Let this year be the learning curve year - 15-18 wins is the goal.
Then in 2018-2019, you'd see:
PG: JBo (jr), Connor (rs fr), CWill (sr)
SG: Moss (jr), BE (sr), Weiskamp (fr), Dailey (rs so)
SF: Baer (sr), Nunge (rs fr), Weiskamp, CWill, Dailey
PF: Cook (jr), Pemsl (rs so), Wagner (sr), Nunge, Kriener (jr)
C: Garza (so), Kriener, Nunge
Clearly a huge logjam for minutes - but why not load up for Baer's senior year and Weiskamp's rookie season?
In 2019-2020:
PG: JBo (sr), Connor (rs so),
SG: Moss (sr), Weiskamp (so), Dailey (rs jr)
SF: Weiskamp, Nunge (rs so), Dailey
PF: Cook (sr), Pemsl (rs jr), Kriener (sr), Nunge, Patrick McCaffery (fr)
C: Garza (jr), Kriener
Here's where the redshirt investment starts paying dividends: an 11 man rotation, but look at that depth, experience and length at every position (except the 1 maybe).
In 2020-2021:
PG: Connor (rs jr)
SG: Weiskamp (jr), Dailey (rs sr)
SF: Nunge (rs jr), Dailey
PF: Pemsl (rs sr), PMac (so), Nunge (rs jr)
C: Garza (sr), Nunge (rs jr)
9 man rotation - and size and experience at every position. This is a chance for Pemsl to be the main guy inside, and even for Maishe Dailey to really crack the lineup.
In 2021-2022:
PG: Connor (rs sr)
SG: Weiskamp (sr)
SF: PMac (jr)
PF: Nunge (rs sr)
C: ???
If you're Fran, you're thinking about your boys and what this team will look like their last year together. Without redshirting, you'd have a hole at the 4 and the 5, whereas if you had Nunge for an extra year, this is a couple recruits away (at the 1/2 and 5) from being a legit preseason Top 10 lineup.
With that in mind, here are three dark horse redshirt candidates for 2017-2018:
Maishe Dailey: I know he didn't redshirt last year, but kids out of high school want to immediately test themselves. Now that he's seen battle - and a lot of DNP-CDs - maybe he could be talked into taking an official redshirt year. He's not going to get much run this year anyway. He said he's grown an inch and maybe he's still growing - if he comes back in a year at 6'8" and 15 pounds heavier...
Cordell Pemsl; Between his knee surgeries (and medical leg breaking) and now his sports hernia, CP is a tough, tough kid. That said, maybe it's time to let his body heal. Meanwhile, he can work on his mid-range to outside game, and with a little help with his ball handling, turn into a Niang or Denzel V type point forward player. I do like the idea of evening out the classes a bit.
Jack Nunge: Everyone is excited by Nunge - and he's been lighting it up in the PTL - but as much as he's billed as a Uthoff starter kit, he's shooting only 21% in the PTL from 3 and 55% FTs. Possibly take a year to bulk up a bit, work on his consistency. Plus, by taking a year off, he's priming himself to take over Baer's role as a RS sophomore and star on a Weiskamp/PMac/Cook team.
If you redshirted those 3 players (and assuming Connor plays baseball for a year/redshirts), the depth chart would look like this:
PG: JBo (so), CWill (jr)
SG: Moss (so), BE (jr)
SF: Baer (jr), Uhl (sr), Moss
PF: Cook (so), Wagner (Jr), Kriener (so)
C: Garza (fr), Kriener, Wagner
Let this year be the learning curve year - 15-18 wins is the goal.
Then in 2018-2019, you'd see:
PG: JBo (jr), Connor (rs fr), CWill (sr)
SG: Moss (jr), BE (sr), Weiskamp (fr), Dailey (rs so)
SF: Baer (sr), Nunge (rs fr), Weiskamp, CWill, Dailey
PF: Cook (jr), Pemsl (rs so), Wagner (sr), Nunge, Kriener (jr)
C: Garza (so), Kriener, Nunge
Clearly a huge logjam for minutes - but why not load up for Baer's senior year and Weiskamp's rookie season?
In 2019-2020:
PG: JBo (sr), Connor (rs so),
SG: Moss (sr), Weiskamp (so), Dailey (rs jr)
SF: Weiskamp, Nunge (rs so), Dailey
PF: Cook (sr), Pemsl (rs jr), Kriener (sr), Nunge, Patrick McCaffery (fr)
C: Garza (jr), Kriener
Here's where the redshirt investment starts paying dividends: an 11 man rotation, but look at that depth, experience and length at every position (except the 1 maybe).
In 2020-2021:
PG: Connor (rs jr)
SG: Weiskamp (jr), Dailey (rs sr)
SF: Nunge (rs jr), Dailey
PF: Pemsl (rs sr), PMac (so), Nunge (rs jr)
C: Garza (sr), Nunge (rs jr)
9 man rotation - and size and experience at every position. This is a chance for Pemsl to be the main guy inside, and even for Maishe Dailey to really crack the lineup.
In 2021-2022:
PG: Connor (rs sr)
SG: Weiskamp (sr)
SF: PMac (jr)
PF: Nunge (rs sr)
C: ???
If you're Fran, you're thinking about your boys and what this team will look like their last year together. Without redshirting, you'd have a hole at the 4 and the 5, whereas if you had Nunge for an extra year, this is a couple recruits away (at the 1/2 and 5) from being a legit preseason Top 10 lineup.