Though I think Kofi did that and wound up back
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Thatās the college basketball Surf-n-Turf
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If you had to guess, is Ali Ali someone we could be serious with or is it just one of the many names a part of due diligence? This kid is literally just Trey Murphy its uncanny
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Oh I donāt know. Not aware of any connections but it doesnāt mean they arenāt there.
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Recruiting over players already on your roster and whoāve worked hard for several seasons to (in their minds) earn their playing time has a lot of negative down the line impacts too. Whatās a kid who transfers in and immediately starts earned?
I posed a question to Haney some months back. Using a Caffaro hypothetical, if Iāve spent 3 years in the program behind first Jack Salt and Mamadi Diakite then Jay Huff, including redshirting my first season, and Iāve put in all the work and more that Coach Bennett has asked of me, working on the skills to improve in the areas he wants. Heās been telling me that if I keep working hard and improving, Iāll get my chance to play once the guys ahead of me move on. My 4th year I finally get some real playing time. Iām still behind Shedrick, but thatās understandable, heās been in the program 3 years and working hard too. I can see in practice that heās as good or better than me. Coach is still telling me to keep it up and keep working hard. Now Iām going into my 5th and probably last year of college. Iām expecting to play about as much or more than I did last season. Maybe Shedrick got way better so I might lose a few minutes, but again understandable. I just want to contribute and get some film to get noticed by a pro team in Europe. Then Coach Bennett brings in a transfer and he starts him ahead of Shedrick and I lose all my playing time. Why did I listen to Coach Bennett the last 5 years? What was all that work and effort for? I thought thereād be a payoff and instead I learned that I canāt trust what this coach tells me.
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Unfortunately at this level the competition is cutthroat. Effort and dedication to the program is obviously appreciated- but talent + skill wins out. Tonyās presser indicates he wants more competition across all positions, a harder working crew- and has generally lived by the ethos that spots are earned by best production + execution.
Caffaro seems like a hard worker with a good motor- but he has significant limitations. If he improves/addresses- he will earn a spot in the rotation. If he doesnāt, Tony should and will play someone else.
The way last season ended- everything should be on the table. Not a program overhaul, but a talent infusion.
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Kids are competitive enough to know the deal. If you are afraid of compeition or canāt handle competition then basketball aināt it. We are a program not a player. Why promise the fate of our program to someone who canāt beat out another player we are capable of getting?
In Papiās case, it has been obvious that Kadin will eventually overpass Papi if we just go off the mentality that in this day and age if you are a 5 you need either be a shot blocker or shoot the 3 well or ideally both. Papi doesnāt fit either so he should be aware that puts him at a disadvantage with the only real opportunity coming from any delays in Kadinās development.
Tony himself in the postgame interview said he wants more competition in practice. Iron sharpens Iron. The cream rise to the top, the rest transfer. Like with our 2010 class. And like with Shayok Thompson and Reuter transferring to pave way for our Natty team.
Transfers have always been a part of Tonyās program, even before the portal.
Edit: I do agree that it is shitty to Papi in this hypothetical. But he has the portal and transfer options to fall back on if he isnāt ready for that kind of competitive environment. Earned not given goes both ways. If you canāt beat out a new player in a system you have been in for a while, thatās on you.
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I get that itās a cutthroat environment. To get better, a coach might have to bring in more talent and cast off deadweight.
Do you want to root for a program that has a reputation of recruiting over players and running guys off? Do you want to be a fan of players who knowingly enter that environment? Do you respect the coach who preaches effort and hard work and years of accumulated knowledge of the system but brings in new guys and plays them despite them not knowing the system and showing only a couple months of effort and them not being as good as you but thereās more potential over your many years of doing what Coach has asked of you?
Personally, I wouldnāt want to play for that coach and I wouldnāt want to be teammates with a guy who comes in expecting to take my spot based on his upside before he actually puts in the work to be better than me right now. But thatās just me.
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Itās earned under tony. It would just be obvious the dude would start over Papi because of what he is capable of. Itās not potential. The dude above is just straight up better than Papi and offers a skillset that fits better with Jayden.
None of this new. Tony absolutely has recruited kids over if thatās the standard you defining ārecruiting overā as. Brogdon over KT. Jerome and Guy over Shayok and Thompson. Taine and McKneely over Carson. There are others.
Every time we recruit anyone, including a high schooler, there is an opportunity to be recruited over.
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There is no such thing as recruiting over players with guys from different classes. At least not in basketball. You need to fill the same role every year or two and if the new guy is better so be it.
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In the effort to keep the thread positive like the title says, Iāll stop here.
On transfers, these are the kinds of players we have the ability to pull from the Portal. Transfers who saw what Tony had to offer and believed in his ability to develop them and bought in. We should not be fearful of bringing the same kinds of players who have the ability to have that instant impact while also having a ceiling that they realize only Tony and staff can help them reach.
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Letās get those 3 guys for next year! 
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We get Ali Ali (Murphy) and Malik Reneau (Gill), thatās 2 of the 3. Bond can be a Braxton type.
Boom.
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Igor enters the portal.
https://twitter.com/VerbalCommits/status/1509757685297680392?s=20&t=itutbC79KpKKmtkDosWZ7w
What??? Well thatās definitely not positive transfer news.
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Bummin
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LSU replaced Murray with a Murray State guy ā¦ funny
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The following ācouldā still happened.
- KC could swing back and decide to leave
- Pack Allen McNeil or App St guy could chose UVA
- we could upgrade Igorās spot w Akron kid or play Traudt more
Until these things go the other way Iām holding out hope. I mean it was just two weeks ago CTB basically said this team was soft and lacked leadershipā¦.and has lamented all year about lack of shooting ā¦,.he canāt want to run that back, right?
Was that last presser just one big motivational speech aimed at the team he knew would be on the floor again next year?
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Iām positively annoyed by this news. He showed some flashes and a tantalizing beginners toolbox. Have to imagine the staff said heād have an opportunity to earn minutes. Still not good enough for him. No young guy wants to be a backup.
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