2023 Offseason

DoubleDipper wrote:Keli, from Melbourne, Australia, is a bit of a fan favorite in the WCC because of his tenacity and that great mullet hairstyle.

I’m a fan of Keli’s game and will enjoy seeing him back in the WCC. I have also thought that he would be a great candidate to go the route of Antonio Gates and Jimmy Graham and become an NFL tight end. He certainly has the toughness for it.

DoubleDipper wrote:Pepperdine's Carson Basham is in the portal.  

The 6-10/240 sophomore from AZ Compass Prep scored 18 and grabbed 9 rebounds in the infamous game against UP in Malibu in February.

Jan Zidek, who played four years at Pepperdine, started every game in 21-22 but did not start any in 22-23 and played behind Basham. He is 6'9", 240#, and now in the portal.

Hey, why not? It means a free plane ride to see his SoCal family...

Loved watching Mike play for two years with the Pilots and I think we're all hoping he finds a great landing spot for his final year of college hoops. But I really didn't consider the possibility of that spot being another WCC school!

Who replaces Zags when they leave for Big 12.
Seattle U hopefully.

Can someone post a tutorial on “the portal.”
It is totally going to screw small schools like UP, at least in basketball.
We do not have rich alumni to pay for NILs....and we don’t have those same alumni for scholarships.
So I don’t blame players using it to maximize their exposure and financial position.

And how many WCC b-ball players in portal? 
Include UP but other schools too.
And is there a “deadline” for moving between schools - all schools, both WCC and others.
I assume a D-1 player might not downgrade to a lesser divisions? Butsuppose it has happened

Snus Junction wrote:Can someone post a tutorial on “the portal.”

https://www.ncaa.org/sports/2015/2/13/want-to-transfer.aspx

https://247sports.com/College-basketball-transfer-portal-2023-Storylines-rules-contender-needs-names-to-know

OMG! Thank you so much for posting this information.
I knew it was complicated but I didn’t know it was this complicated.

Players aren't the only ones maximizing their financial position. Tobin Anderson got lucky and took Fairleigh Dickinson to the NCAA Tournament, where he coached the biggest upset ever in beating Purdue. Sunday his team lost in round 2. Today he accepted the job at Iona, taking the job Rick Pitino left. He is moving from the low level NEC to the mid level MAAC.

up7587 wrote:Players aren't the only ones maximizing their financial position.  Tobin Anderson got lucky and took Fairleigh Dickinson to the NCAA Tournament, where he coached the biggest upset ever in beating Purdue.  Sunday his team lost in round 2.  Today he accepted the job at Iona, taking the job Rick Pitino left.  He is moving from the low level NEC to the mid level MAAC.

Tobin was apparently a finalist for the Iona position before the school got excited about what a (in)famous coach like Pitino would bring to the team/recruiting a couple of years ago.

I read that Pitino will be taking his entire staff to St. John's with him.  No mention of how many Iona players he will bring to Staten Island, but four are in the portal (out of 757 as of this post).

I guess I can't blame Coach Anderson for getting out of the NEC (Northeast Conference).  All nine schools in the NEC have a NET ranking greater than 300.  And one of them, St. Francis Brooklyn, just announced that they are eliminating all athletics effective the end of the Spring semester.  Athletes with be kept on scholarship, but all coaches and staff jobs are eliminated.
https://sfcathletics.com/news/2023/3/20/general-st-francis-college-restructures-to-further-advance-sfc-forward-coo-tim-cecere-appointed-acting-president.aspx

Eleven St. Francis players hit the portal in the last 2 days. No wonder.

I'm kind of stunned by St. Francis' decision to drop athletics entirely rather than doing something like moving to non-scholarship Division III. Getting rid of all those teams is going to mean a pretty sizable enrollment hit at such a small institution.

Rob's Jacket wrote:I'm kind of stunned by St. Francis' decision to drop athletics entirely rather than doing something like moving to non-scholarship Division III.  Getting rid of all those teams is going to mean a pretty sizable enrollment hit at such a small institution.

I don’t think they could have used any players recruited to D1 on a D3 team. There would have been the awkward situation of kids on scholarship not being able to play and players on teams not on scholarship.

As to enrollment for small institutions, they are already taking a hit. COVID didn’t help. It’s probably why St Francis is looking for ways to cut costs without affecting academics. Enrollment would take a bigger hit if faculty were cut

And going to D3 wouldn’t have solved the school’s EADA imbalance. Currently the men’s coaches get around $90K per employee y while the women’s’ get $56k. Any future athletic moves would have to address that.

DoubleDipper wrote:Finally, another really good WCC player in the portal besides UP's Mike Meadows...it's PU's starting point guard, sophomore Mike Mitchell, Jr.

Mitchell joins highly touted but rarely used sophomore PU guard, Majok Deng, in the portal.  Deng played only 32 minutes the entire season.

Mike Mitchell Jr. has departed the beautiful environs of Malibu and the Waves for the frozen landscape of Minneapolis to play for the Minnesota Gophers. UM had the same 9-22 record as PU. Since he's from San Jose, UM must have had a good NIL offer.

Moses Wood plans to enter the portal to find out his $$$$$ worth, I am told.

With all the money being thrown at portal people, I cannot blame him for wanting to pocket some for himself...perhaps to upgrade from his hot Mustang convertible to something even hotter.

Entering the portal does not mean he's gone, but it does mean he's listening to offers.

I cannot speak for Coach Legans, but if UP is going to recruit from the portal, the staff needs to recruit as if Moses is not returning so that UP does not lose strong recruits while waiting for Moses to decide.  That was a problem a year ago when UP was waiting on a decision from the Groves brothers before they committed to OU.

Kristian tells me he never intended to stay at UP beyond this past season because he wants to turn pro.

On the other hand, while testing the professional waters, he's also wondering if his professional stock ($$$$$$) improves by playing one more season at UP.

I can't advise him, but my advice to Coach Legans is the same as is in the Moses Wood situation...move on, don't get left behind in the recruiting wars!!

DoubleDipper wrote:

Hey, why not?  It means a free plane ride to see his SoCal family...

Committed.

https://twitter.com/JonRothstein/status/1641160500045021190

Good for Mike, but wish he'd gone outside the conference, so we could still root for him.

up7587 wrote:Good for Mike, but wish he'd gone outside the conference, so we could still root for him.

Mike is such a good young man, that I for one will not root against him, regardless of the circumstances.

DoubleDipper wrote:Moses Wood plans to enter the portal to find out his $$$$$ worth, I am told.

Looks like it’s official.

Rough day for the Pilots.

Dean Murdoch wrote:

DoubleDipper wrote:Moses Wood plans to enter the portal to find out his $$$$$ worth, I am told.

Looks like it’s official.

Rough day for the Pilots.

Yes, but. Moses has played in 120 college games over four years. In a normal time he'd be moving on anyway. Here's hoping the next men up are ready.

DoubleDipper wrote:Moses Wood plans to enter the portal to find out his $$$$$ worth, I am told.

Moses is gone!!

He was made an offer he couldn't refuse, and #1 is taking his game north to Seattle and will play for UW this coming season.

In addition to the NIL money Mo will receive, there is the additional exposure and competition a Big 5 school will provide, which should lead to a better chance of going pro.

His hot Mustang convertible will look kind of cold compared to the car he will now be able to afford.  

Hunter Sallis is in the portal from GU.

Applewhite is in the portal.

https://twitter.com/VerbalCommits/status/1642966261964611584