I think they have some use by the beginning of fall, but not so much before. In recent years, the services are playing catch up most of the summer. Follow Blake Buchanan’s ranking history. The services generally have a very good idea of who is elite, but once you get beyond #20 or #25, depending on the year, they are hit or miss. By the time RCSIhoops issues their end of the summer rankings, there is some validity, I think. Of course, most recruiting is nearly over by the time that list appears. I’m not sure that there are any successors to Tom Konchalski out there, and he wasn’t sharing his evaluations with the general public.
Seems TB’s scouting eye is ahead of the rankings. Just about everyone who he took an interest in has risen not only in the rankings but has attracted interest of quality programs.
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I won the bet but lost the prize
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I believe the count hit like 996 at the moment he committed. These are the type of odd things I pay attention to.
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" I also think Isaac Traudt will earn a bigger role over the course of the season than some people may expect. The frontcourt is more crowded, especially with the addition of transfer Ben Vander Plas. But Traudt’s skillset is just too valuable to keep off the floor. They’ll figure out a way to get him in there."
Can anyone give a plausible account of Traudt’s minutes that takes into account the other 4 guys at the 4/5 (BVP, Franklin, Shedrick, Papi) or includes BVP getting minutes at the 3 AND realistically nods to how CTB normally runs his rotations?
I really doubt BVP plays much 3. He didn’t at Ohio, and he certainly wouldn’t keep up with ACC 3s on the perimeter.
That means Traudt only gets minutes if one of the other guys is basically on the bench the whole game. I just don’t see it for Traudt this year.
Something like Gardner 25, BVP 15, Shedrick 25, Traudt 15 is about the most plausible I can come up with if one thinks Tony might play Traudt over Papi, which I don’t see.
I predict Traudt plays all garbage time, times when Shedrick and Papi are both in foul trouble, and one or two random games when several bigs and the team are struggling, and Tony is out of other answers.
That will probably put him in the Igor (100), Malachi (121), Taine (143) minutes range from last year.
If someone wants to bet me straight up and take over 200 minutes. I am game.
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I’ll bite. VIP for a month or something like that if you want stakes.
The 3 you mentioned had a ton of DNPs last year. I think we make a more conscious decision to work The Fish into most games.
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I also think he will have games where he plays and BVP/Caffaro don’t. So he will see a bunch of 5-7 min games and then every three games or so he might play 20 or something like that
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How did Traudt’s defense look compared to Jayden and BVP? Probably answers your question because I would be surprised if Traudt isn’t more offensively efficient than both of them.
Nice! Me likey! 
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That’s the team’s nickname apparently: mick and fish (Isaac squared)
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Should or will? Because with Tony those are rarely the same lately.
Traudt is better than all of BVP, Gardner and definitely Papi.
For the moment, I imagine 200 minutes is a decent prediction. For the regular season, that’s a smidge over 7 mpg. As with all bigs, I imagine his defense will be the determining factor, and that remains an unknown for now. The other significant variable will be Vander Plas’ defense. I am unsure how he is progressing. I suspect that through the OOC portion of the schedule, every time one of them muffs a switch, we’ll see them pulled from the floor. And neither is working in a vacuum, either. I am very curious to see how Ryan Dunn fits into Coach Bennett’s schemes and how he progresses. He could be a factor in this discussion. Or not. WRT to Haney’s observation of the DNPs of last year’s frosh; when ACC play is under way, if neither Traudt nor Vander Plas has progressed enough to satisfy Coach Bennett, they could each easily earn a DNP in close games, but you do have to believe that the staff will want to get Traudt as much experience as they can without jeopardizing a victory.
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I think I’m closer to HGN next than most of the rest of this thread. I think Tony is going to give fish plenty of opportunity to seize a role in the non-con. Don’t see him being a single digit minute contributor as a likely scenario unless he really struggles in those minutes. I’d go more with 18 mpg ‘Tobey from 13/14’ kind of role.
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The issue is, for Traudt to reach those minutes you have to think someone is getting pushed out of the rotation as there are four other bigs, Caffaro, Shedrick, Gardner, BVP.
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I imagine Caffaro and Shedrick will alternate with each other, and, unless matchups dictate otherwise, won’t be affected by the minutes of the other three. Also, I don’t expect Gardner to be asked to play the number of minutes he did last year, but he’ll still be on the floor a lot. So, I see the remaining minutes being divided between Vander Plas and Traudt, and I am unsure how their roles will evolve this year, but I think it will be a bit of a zero-sum game between them. And, all that could change.
Simple back of the envelope math would assume Shedrick and Gardner are going to get at least 25 minutes each. That leaves 30 minutes to divide between Caffaro, BVP, and Traudt. I think you will see two of those three in a lot of games but matchups will dictate which two. That’s why I think Traudt will have a somewhat odd total season log because I suspect a number of 15-20 minute outings where we want his shooting and size at the 4. But also some DNPs
Maybe not too different from this
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Caffaro will only get specialty minutes against other physical bigs. And only until he gets to 4 fouls which will take about 10 mins of playing time.
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That is not backed up by the Italy rotation choices. Caffaro is going to play
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Tony will tighten the rotation when it counts and Caffaro will sit.
Unless an opponent has a post player who can shoot reliably from behind the arc, I imagine that Caffaro will see plenty of playing time. I think some are dismissing his potential contributions way too easily. Additionally, I really hope he plays enough so that he is inclined to return for 2024. With the losses of Gardner and Vander Plas, I think Virginia will need the front court depth. Even with the arrival of Buchanan.
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