Biliew is a mystery box. Hard to draw conclusions when he has played only 49 total minutes against high major competition, and mostly garbage time.
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Another intra-conference transfer (yes itās still weird):
https://x.com/JonRothstein/status/1796618408651374827
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Stanfordās current roster with this addition, looking like a tough transition year for the Cardinal, though admittedly itās a decent front court pairing to work with:
| Departures | PG Jared Bynum (Graduated) | 18 G, 23.7 mpg, 6.9 ppg, 5.2 apg, 33% 3P% | ||
| G Kanaan Carlyle (Transferred to Indiana) | 23 G, 25.7 mpg, 11.5 ppg, 2.7 apg, 32% 3P% | |||
| G/F Michael Jones (Graduated) | 32 G, 30.5 mpg, 10.8 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 42% 3P% | |||
| F Andrej Stojakovic (Transferred to California) | 32 G, 22.3 mpg, 7.8 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 33% 3P% | |||
| PF Brandon Angel (Transferred to Oregon) | 30 G, 31.2 mpg, 13 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 57% FG% | |||
| PF Spencer Jones (Graduated) | 25 G, 29.1 mpg, 11.7 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 44% FG% | |||
| PF Max Murrell (Transferred to UC Santa Barbara) | 17 G, 14.7 mpg, 2.6 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 37% FG% | |||
| F/C James Keefe (Graduated) | 31 G, 9.8 mpg, 2.4 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 54% FG% | |||
| Returners | G Benny Gealer (JR) | 32 G, 17.9 mpg, 4.2 ppg, 2.3 apg, 33% 3P% | ||
| C Maxime Raynaud (SR) | 32 G, 29.1 mpg, 15.5 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 57% FG% | |||
| Additions | PG Elijah Crawford (3-star FR) | |||
| G Jaylen Blakes (SR Transfer, Duke) | 31 G, 9.2 mpg, 1.8 ppg, 0.4 apg, 26% 3P% | |||
| SG Derin Saran (SO Transfer, UC Irvine) | 31 G, 19.1 mpg, 10.1 ppg, 1.6 apg, 35% 3P% | |||
| G/F Oziyah Sellers (JR Transfer, Southern Cal) | 33 G, 14.3 mpg, 5.2 ppg, 0.9 rpg, 43% 3P% | |||
| F Evan Stinson (3-star FR) | ||||
| PF Donavin Young (3-star FR) | ||||
| F/C Chisom Okpara (JR Transfer, Harvard) | 26 G, 30.5 mpg, 16.5 ppg, 5 rpg, 48% FG% | |||
| F/C Tallis Toure (3-star FR) |
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Seems like Haase really underachieved there. He never had awesome talent, but he didnāt have losing record talent either.
Judging by the T-Rank talent metric, he had consistently above-average talent relative to the conference, and some years well above average (2017-2019 especially). None of his marquee recruits were particularly excellent there either.
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Iām told its a minor upset Lang went to UVA over Stanford. He really liked it during HS recruiting. Coaching change probably affected that though, and they seem to have some front court depth already. UVA was always his dream school though, so that probably won out.
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Very good article about Roger Ayers and his road to being one of the top NCAA officials. Unusual story about the ACC filming his hotel check-in during its initial evaluation of him (as an aside, I highly recommend Cardinal News for coverage of Southwest and Southside VA).
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Thatās a good piece, thanks for sharing.
Would be a big get for Louisville after Hawkins recently withdrew from the NBA Draft:
<Erroneously first posted he committed, my bad>
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Thought he said he wanted to go to a big football school LOL
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Visiting but not sure if heās going to commit. He will probably visit UNC too.
Fixed it above, not sure why I interpreted that as a commit.
UNC does have room (only at 11 'ships, not that that matters anymore), and Hawkins would let them play Lubin and Tyson at the 4-spot, rather than force one to be a really weak small-5.
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He is asking for a HUGE BAG. Will be interesting to see whatās left to offer at this stageā¦
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No matter what it is, itās going to be an overpay. No way he plays up to his pricetag. Not as big talent gaps as in the NBA which justify those large salary gaps.
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My UNC buddies said they were scared off by his initial number. Given their gap at 5 it will be interesting to see if they pay up
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Scared off? They paid a dude who looked like an alien (Sam Cassell Part II) more than a million a year for the past two years.
Is Hawkins really a 5? Heās a skilled and effective offensive player with range (assuming the vastly improved 3pt numbers last year are pretty real), but he doesnāt offer much rim protection (judging by his block numbers and on-offs) and his teamās defensive rebounding was worse with him on the floor.
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Hawkins is probably as close to an ACC-level 5 as is left in the Portal, so neither Louisville nor UNC can really be picky with a 6ā10 guy proven in a power conference and with NBA interest. In UNCās case, heās certainly more of a 5 than either Tyson or Lubin.
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Miami picks up another:
Theyāre up to a healthy 12 players after an exodus left them with only two remaining from last yearās rotation (Pack and Cleveland):
| Departures | G Bensley Joseph (Transferred to Providence) | 32 G, 31.5 mpg, 9.6 ppg, 3.4 apg, 36% 3P% | ||
| SG Jakai Robinson (Transferred to TBD) | 17 G, 7.2 mpg, 1 ppg, 0.3 apg, 17% 3P% | |||
| G/F Wooga Poplar (Transferred to Villanova) | 29 G, 31.1 mpg, 13.1 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 39% 3P% | |||
| F Kyshawn George (Turned Pro) | 31 G, 23 mpg, 7.6 ppg, 3 rpg, 41% 3P% | |||
| F Christian Watson (Transferred to Southern Miss) | 24 G, 12.7 mpg, 2.8 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 24% 3P% | |||
| PF AJ Casey (Transferred to Saint Louis) | 24 G, 9.5 mpg, 1.9 ppg, 2 rpg, 39% FG% | |||
| F/C Norchad Omier (Transferred to Baylor) | 31 G, 30.6 mpg, 17 ppg, 10 rpg, 55% FG% | |||
| C Michael Nwoko (Transferred to Mississippi State) | 29 G, 8.9 mpg, 2.7 ppg, 2 rpg, 56% FG% | |||
| Returners | PG Nijel Pack (SR+) | 25 G, 32.5 mpg, 13.3 ppg, 3.6 apg, 36% 3P% | ||
| F Matthew Cleveland (SR) | 29 G, 33.2 mpg, 13.7 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 36% 3P% | |||
| F Paul Djobet (SO) | 16 G, 10.2 mpg, 2.4 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 41% 3P% | |||
| Additions | G Jalen Blackmon (SR Transfer, Stetson) | 35 G, 34.8 mpg, 21.3 ppg, 1.9 apg, 38% 3P% | ||
| G Divine Ugochukwu (3-star FR) | ||||
| SG Jalil Bethea (5-star FR) | ||||
| SG Austin Swartz (4-star FR) | ||||
| G/F A.J. Staton-McCray (RS SR Transfer, Samford) | 31 G, 21.2 mpg, 11.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 41% 3P% | |||
| F Isaiah Johnson-Arigu (3-star FR) | ||||
| PF Brandon Johnson (SR+ Transfer, East Carolina) | 31 G, 34.7 mpg, 14 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 42% FG% | |||
| PF Kiree Huie (SR Transfer, Idaho State) | 34 G, 26.8 mpg, 11.3 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 54% FG% | |||
| F/C Lynn Kidd (SR+ Transfer, Virginia Tech) | 33 G, 23.3 mpg, 13.2 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 67% FG% |
Thereās plenty of potential here, maybe actually be deeper than theyāve been the last couple years, especially in the front court where they have improved size as well. But, ya know, these Larranaga teams are just so hit-miss, so dependent on chemistry and whether or not these guys can defend as a team.
The other interesting takeaway is that of these 12 players, 7 are in their final year of eligibility and Bethea is a potential lottery pick next year, so theyāre right back in this boat again next year, maybe with a new coach if anyone in Coral Gables finally gets tired of Larranagaās inability to build a consistent roster.
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Oh donāt get me wrong, heās an excellent player. Definitely an offense-first one, the Hawkins-Guerrier partnership gave up almost 62% shooting at the rim last season. I guess if his frontcourt partner offers some rim protection, things work pretty well. And his offense is probably more than good enough to compensate for the defensive tradeoff.
1 Like