2023-24 roster

[sedziobs]

Just curious where you hear these rumors? I always see posters saying they hear rumors but they never say from where.

Twitter and BearcatJournal is where you'll find most scoops if you can stomach all of the other nonsense.

 

[Queens_NYC]

Malcolm Dandridge, the back-up center from Memphis, just entered the portal.

Immediately eligible with 1 year remaining.

5.7 ppg and 3.6 rpg over just 14.5 mpg last season (20 games)

Always seemed to be underutilized during his time there.

Could be a decent contingency plan at center.

 

[waterhead]

The rumor going around is that MAW is only going to have one suitor, because he knew where he was going before entering the portal. Apparently he got poached by an offer of a significant amount of NIL money.

Can't blame him if that's the case, he could stay here, with a lot of fans who are hoping he plays minimal minutes. Or go play starter minutes elsewhere, while making 200k.

The other rumor is that this took Wes by surprise, MAW was not the guy expected to leave to make room if we needed it. We may need to add another PG, relying on Jizzle and Day Day to be our only two PG's is a major risk. CJ Anthony may get his chance to play meaningful minutes if we don't add another PG.

Not sure it matters too much anymore the circumstances of MAW leaving or where he is headed. I hope he does great. But the question is can we get Aziz and do we replace MAW as well. I am content with leaning in on Thomas and James...but finding another solid veteran would reduce the risk. I think you take Aziz no matter what...then see what's available from a PG or combo guard standpoint. There are a ton of players still in the portal. If MAW was a surprise portal entrant from a UC perspective then we have potentially two spots we can still reasonably count on if we need it to happen.

 

[Queens_NYC]

Bandaogo commits!

No guarantee he'll be immediately eligible, but he will surely be an impact player from the moment he steps on the court.

 

[sedziobs]

Bandaogo commits!

No guarantee he'll be immediately eligible, but he will surely be an impact player from the moment he steps on the court.

Huge get. Aziz probably has a better chance at getting a mental health waiver, so this mitigates some of the risk that Reynolds might not be eligible. And it gives us a true rim protector, which means we can afford to take some lumps on perimeter defense. I'll feel more comfortable with the young PGs, Fredricks, Simas, and Vik at PF if Aziz is waiting at the rim.

 

[sirthought]

Considering how hard it's been to get anyone positive, this seems to be a good sign. I thought this kid was going to follow Madsen to Cal, or go elsewhere. It's been dragging out for a few weeks now.

I really didn't think Wes would have this much trouble. Maybe a year in the Big 12 will change that, but I'm wondering if the assistant coaches who usually make the first impressions on these kids aren't really the right recruiting tools we need. Andre Morgan, Mike Roberts, and Chad Dollar? Are they getting it done?

We have great facilities. Great history. Our conference wasn't ideal, but it hadn't stopped us from getting pro level talent in the past. Just surprised how long since Cronin's departure we haven't really gotten a truly dangerous team.

 

[sedziobs]

Torvik's roster cast doesn't know how to handle all of our big men and runs out some absurdly huge lineups. It also doesn't have Newman, which makes the problem worse. It's not realistic but still fun to look at.

PG: Daveon 28 / Jizzle 7 / Fredrick 5
SG: Fredrick 16 / Skillings 15 / Rayvon 4 / Simas 5
SF: Simas 27 / Ody 13
PF: Vik 28 / Ody 12
C: Aziz 26 / Reynolds 12 / Vik 2

 

[Queens_NYC]

Considering how hard it's been to get anyone positive, this seems to be a good sign. I thought this kid was going to follow Madsen to Cal, or go elsewhere. It's been dragging out for a few weeks now.

I really didn't think Wes would have this much trouble. Maybe a year in the Big 12 will change that, but I'm wondering if the assistant coaches who usually make the first impressions on these kids aren't really the right recruiting tools we need. Andre Morgan, Mike Roberts, and Chad Dollar? Are they getting it done?

We have great facilities. Great history. Our conference wasn't ideal, but it hadn't stopped us from getting pro level talent in the past. Just surprised how long since Cronin's departure we haven't really gotten a truly dangerous team.

We're entering Year 3 of a major program rebuild and have been on a steady upward trajectory in nearly all areas since Wes took over.

Depending on how waivers/eligibility plays out, we should definitely go into next season expecting to compete for a NCAA tournament bid.

If we return the core of this roster for 24/25 then we could potentially be a top team in the Big 12.

As frustrating as the on-the-court results have been during the past 2 seasons, there's great reason to be optimistic about the future under Wes.

 

[sedziobs]

I think we might be better off if Reynolds sits a year. That would give him a full year to get in better shape and would keep us from having a barren frontcourt in 2026.

PG: Jizzle 25 / Daveon 15
SG: Fredrick 20 / Newman 15 / Skillings 5
SF: Simas 20 / Skillings 15 / Rayvon 5
PF: Vik 10 / Ody 20 / Reed 10
C: Aziz 25 / Vik 15

 

[sedziobs]

If Reynolds does play, I think he takes most of Ody's minutes and pushes either Reed or Rayvon out of playing time.

PG: Jizzle 25 / Daveon 15
SG: Fredrick 20 / Newman 15 / Skillings 5
SF: Simas 20 / Skillings 15 / Rayvon 5
PF: Vik 25 / Ody 10 / Reed 5
C: Aziz 25 / Reynolds 15

 

[Queens_NYC]

My updates guesses for minutes:

With Reynolds

PG: Daveon 25 / Jizzle 15
SG: Frederick 22 / Newman 12 / Rayvon 6
SF: Simas 20 / Skillings 14 / Rayvon 6
PF: Vik 25 / Ody 10 / Skillings 5
C: Aziz 22 / Reynolds 18

Without Reynolds

PG: Daveon 25 / Jizzle 15
SG: Frederick 22 / Newman 12 / Rayvon 6
SF: Simas 20 / Skillings 14 / Rayvon 6
PF: Vik 12 / Ody 18 / Skillings 5 / Reed 5
C: Aziz 25 / Vik 15

 

[skyblade]

We're entering Year 3 of a major program rebuild and have been on a steady upward trajectory in nearly all areas since Wes took over.

Depending on how waivers/eligibility plays out, we should definitely go into next season expecting to compete for a NCAA tournament bid.

If we return the core of this roster for 24/25 then we could potentially be a top team in the Big 12.

As frustrating as the on-the-court results have been during the past 2 seasons, there's great reason to be optimistic about the future under Wes.

Yeah and Wes has been excellent at recruiting. I have some questions about him, but not in regards to recruiting.

Roster construction and keeping players happy is where I have questions. Wes seems to going for a get the best player(s) available and let the chips fall where they may method.

We'll see if that works out, I hope it does.

 

[skyblade]

I agree we are best off if only one of Aziz/Reynold gets a waiver. I worry about Sage if both get waivers, does he RS, fight for minimal minutes, spend the year deciding where he's going to transfer next year? Reed may be in the same boat and I wouldn't be surprised to see Rayvon RS as well. Hopefully the guys who end up stuck at the end of the bench don't decide to bail out.

I am also quite concerned about the Day Day/Jizzle combination. Two PG's who have never played D1 basketball is not ideal. Perhaps they will excel, but history suggest PG is going to be a problem. I expect CJ Anthony to get some minutes with the current roster composition.

 

[sedziobs]

I am also quite concerned about the Day Day/Jizzle combination. Two PG's who have never played D1 basketball is not ideal. Perhaps they will excel, but history suggest PG is going to be a problem. I expect CJ Anthony to get some minutes with the current roster composition.

PG is the biggest area of concern for me too, but I have high hopes for Jizzle. He's ranked higher than some other PGs we've had that played almost 20 minutes right away, like Cash and Caupain, and even back to Devan Downey who played 31. I would have preferred some experience there, but I think he'll be fine alongside the other veteran guards/wings we have. Daveon I'm not so high on given that Juco guys generally don't perform well.

 

[sedziobs]

PG: Daveon 25 / Jizzle 15
SG: Frederick 22 / Newman 12 / Rayvon 6
SF: Simas 20 / Skillings 14 / Rayvon 6
PF: Vik 25 / Ody 10 / Skillings 5
C: Aziz 22 / Reynolds 18

Interesting that you have Skillings getting minutes at the 4 even with Reynolds playing. That's the nice thing about having so much depth on paper - we can run out big or small lineups if we want.

 

[Queens_NYC]

Interesting that you have Skillings getting minutes at the 4 even with Reynolds playing. That's the nice thing about having so much depth on paper - we can run out big or small lineups if we want.

Just a rough guess that Ody would be the biggest casualty of PT if everyone ends up being eligible.

I think Skillings will work his way into a bigger role, but it's just a matter of where the additional minutes will come from as the battle for playing time looks really competitive at this moment - especially at the 2/3 spots.

While Jizzle is expected to have a significant role from day 1, I think it's important that Rayvon have an opportunity to work his way into the rotation early on too.

I'm sure an important part of our pitch to higher end recruits (4/5 stars) is the chance for immediate playing time on a big stage.

It'll be interesting to see how things how play out with minutes between the high floor/low ceiling guys (Newman), the high floor/medium ceiling guys (Frederick/Simas), and the younger high ceiling guys (Skillings/Rayvon).

That's not even including someone like Josh Reed in the mix.

 

[sedziobs]

I've mentioned this before, but I think our roster next year sets up well to run horns on offense like a lot of pro and college teams do now. A horns set starts with bigs at the elbows and wings in the corners. The Nuggets have been unstoppable by basically giving Jokic the ball at the elbow and then running a high-low game with Gordon off the other elbow and curls/corner threes/back door cuts from Porter and Caldwell-Pope. Murray is free to drive downhill off screens to a vacated paint.

We can do something similar with Lahkin taking the Jokic role as the focal point, Aziz/Ody rim running like Gordon, Simas and Fredricks mostly shooting threes on the wings, and our PGs driving the lane. Skillings could be a more versatile Porter type wing who can slash.

 

[Bearcat_Z]

On the coaching staff front, UC has hired Josh Loeffler as an assistant coach. Mike Roberts won’t return as his contract expired.

 

[sirthought]

I'm glad to see some shake up happening on the coaching staff. Wondering what happened specifically, as Roberts was one of Miller's guys at Greensboro. Hopefully this is a positive change. This new guy was a head coach at John Hopkins of all places. Won't be the same type of game plans as in the Big 12, but hopefully he has some development and management skills.

 

[sirthought]

Hopefully getting a commitment from Tyler McKinley this week. Would be good progress.