Where'd Everyone Go? (Testing 1, 2, 3)

[MDW79]

I've checked the forum a few times over the last few weeks and there's been nothing. Just curious if this site is still up and running or if it's magically turned into a ghost town.

Fwiw, I know it's a slow time of year but I don't think there's been a single post in a month. What in the hell happened?

 

[Queens_NYC]

I'm here. I usually check once per day for any sign of life and try not to get my hopes up. Doesn't this board always go dead over the summer though?

Anyways, to offer some discussion points:

-Keith Williams recently announced he will enter the transfer portal. It seems as if returning to Clifton won't be an option. Where would you like to see him end up?

-I listed to Zack Tobler on Chad's recent podcast and he offered a few interesting tidbits:

---The new staff is doing an excellent job of staying humble and doing all that they can to learn about the culture of the program

---Many former players have been welcomed back to practices. Tobler mentioned seeing Cash Wright, Jeremiah Davis, and Tre Scott at the practice he was at most recently.

---Tobler was very complementary of how mobile the new bigs are - particularly Ody.

---I guess Newman hadn't really practiced much thus far, and Tobler was one of the first to see him and said he looked like he could be a big contributor if he can stay healthy.

---Vik sat out during the practice he attended. Would've been nice to get some more intel on him.

-Lastly, it looks like the staff have been actively getting '22 & '23 recruits in for visits with many receiving recent offers. Any names in particular that you think should be high priority?

 

[skyblade]

Yeah, Summer is typically the dead period and with Wes seemingly doing an excellent job so far there is not much to complain about. When people complain it generally gets more posts.

Some thoughts recently. Is NIL going to discourage transfers? Name recognition is generally gained over multiple years at the same University (with exceptions of some really big names). One would think a guy like Keith Williams would stand to make quite a bit more money via NIL coming back to UC than going to another school.

Do you think Keith decided not to come back or Wes told him he's not interested? My guess is Wes told Keith that if he'd come back earlier he would have loved to have him back. But at this point there's no room for him.

Vik sat out with his knee wrapped. I don't really see him getting much playing time this year anyway, but it is concerning how long the knee injury is lingering. Wonder if he redshirts this year.

Newman was still at Clemson taking classes until recently, which is why not many have seen him. Don't think it's an injury issue. Excited to see him and the others.

Tobler also said he was impressed with how well our bigs move - especially Ody. Said Ado and even Kovel impressed him as well. Major upgrades in terms of ability to move (and defend, rebound) over Vogt.

 

[MDW79]

-Lastly, it looks like the staff have been actively getting '22 & '23 recruits in for visits with many receiving recent offers. Any names in particular that you think should be high priority?

I've heard rumors that Paul McMillian IV probably isn't going to happen. I would have had him as a huge priority if you asked me a couple of weeks ago but it sounds like it's time to move on.

Obviously Rayvon Griffith has to be a huge priority. I believe he's the highest rated recruit to come out of Cincinnati since Yancy. If we miss out on both McMillian and Griffith that will be a bit of a bummer.

I know Sean Jones is someone they're looking at. I would assume that's where they've put our attention on instead of McMillian. Eggs is also in on him and it would be a kick in the nuts if we lost out him to those losers.

Evan Mahaffery is another strong local player (top 200) in 2022. I'd really like to hit on some of these guys that are close. We're batting Huggs and X it looks like.

There's the 7'0 kid from Hamilton, who moved from Hawaii we're looking at it. Tolentino? We're in need of some bigs and he would nice a get.

I know we've targeted quite a few quality guys. It will be interested to see how many we can land, or if we can land any at all. It seems to be a good time to be recruiting the area.

 

[cincyalum2014]

I've heard rumors that Paul McMillian IV probably isn't going to happen. I would have had him as a huge priority if you asked me a couple of weeks ago but it sounds like it's time to move on.

Obviously Rayvon Griffith has to be a huge priority. I believe he's the highest rated recruit to come out of Cincinnati since Yancy. If we miss out on both McMillian and Griffith that will be a bit of a bummer.

I know Sean Jones is someone they're looking at. I would assume that's where they've put our attention on instead of McMillian. Eggs is also in on him and it would be a kick in the nuts if we lost out him to those losers.

Evan Mahaffery is another strong local player (top 200) in 2022. I'd really like to hit on some of these guys that are close. We're batting Huggs and X it looks like.

There's the 7'0 kid from Hamilton, who moved from Hawaii we're looking at it. Tolentino? We're in need of some bigs and he would nice a get.

I know we've targeted quite a few quality guys. It will be interested to see how many we can land, or if we can land any at all. It seems to be a good time to be recruiting the area.

Not to compare Wes to JB at all because they are the exact opposite, but JB started going after a lot of high rated guys his first summer recruiting, (Loveday, Kalkbrenner, etc..) these were all high 4 star guys and JB got a few on campus and he didn't land a single one. John was notrious for "almost" signing some big names... Tari was a little underrated IMO, the Madsen's were basically a a packaged deal. MAW, Saunders were not highly rated and Harvey fell into out lap. Now Gabe, Tari and Harvey are gone. Obviously I don't expect Wes to land them all but I hope he can land a few. I think it will only take a few to sign before the ball gets rolling in high rated guys in future classes. As for Paul McMilliam, he took a visit to Arizona State and then transferred to a prep school out there, I don't think he will be a bearcat unfortunately.

 

[waterhead]

I've heard rumors that Paul McMillian IV probably isn't going to happen. I would have had him as a huge priority if you asked me a couple of weeks ago but it sounds like it's time to move on.

Obviously Rayvon Griffith has to be a huge priority. I believe he's the highest rated recruit to come out of Cincinnati since Yancy. If we miss out on both McMillian and Griffith that will be a bit of a bummer.

I know Sean Jones is someone they're looking at. I would assume that's where they've put our attention on instead of McMillian. Eggs is also in on him and it would be a kick in the nuts if we lost out him to those losers.

Evan Mahaffery is another strong local player (top 200) in 2022. I'd really like to hit on some of these guys that are close. We're batting Huggs and X it looks like.

There's the 7'0 kid from Hamilton, who moved from Hawaii we're looking at it. Tolentino? We're in need of some bigs and he would nice a get.

I know we've targeted quite a few quality guys. It will be interested to see how many we can land, or if we can land any at all. It seems to be a good time to be recruiting the area.

Not too worried about Paul M. If we offer and he doesn't take then I will worry but we aren't losing anything if we don't offer. Jones would seem to be a take but uphill battle. But PG is not the highest priority right now. A quality big and wing would be.

Would be happy with Tolentino and one of the solid wings we have offered for 22. Trying to track 23 is way too far off for me...too much can happen.

And yes this is a dead period for this board as there is not a recruiting page aspect to it. This is more of a game day and speculation board for now. It would be great if we could get a recruiting guru here to update lists etc. That would add some interest and interaction this time of year.

 

[waterhead]

I've checked the forum a few times over the last few weeks and there's been nothing. Just curious if this site is still up and running or if it's magically turned into a ghost town.

Fwiw, I know it's a slow time of year but I don't think there's been a single post in a month. What in the hell happened?

Looking at lineups.

I would like to know how you get Ado, Koval, Ody 15 plus minutes when you have Lakhin, Davenport and Hensley who are all 6'7" plus. How do you keep 12 guys happy (minus Banks)?

Ado 20. Koval 15. Lakhin 5
Davenport 15. Ody 15. Lakhin 5. Hensley 5
Newman 20. Davenport 10. Hensley 5. McGinnis 5
MAW 20. Madsen 15. McGinnis 5.
DD 25. Saunders 15

I think the question marks here are the unknowns Hensley. McGinnis, and Lakhin. Will they play? Is Lakhin's knee ready to go? Is 10 minutes too much for them? I don't suspect they will all get 10 minutes. Probably closer to 5-7 and who knows if there is a red shirt possibility.

But the minutes allocation is as tough to predict as I can remember!!

 

[Queens_NYC]

Looking at lineups.

I would like to know how you get Ado, Koval, Ody 15 plus minutes when you have Lakhin, Davenport and Hensley who are all 6'7" plus. How do you keep 12 guys happy (minus Banks)?

Ado 20. Koval 15. Lakhin 5
Davenport 15. Ody 15. Lakhin 5. Hensley 5
Newman 20. Davenport 10. Hensley 5. McGinnis 5
MAW 20. Madsen 15. McGinnis 5.
DD 25. Saunders 15

I think the question marks here are the unknowns Hensley. McGinnis, and Lakhin. Will they play? Is Lakhin's knee ready to go? Is 10 minutes too much for them? I don't suspect they will all get 10 minutes. Probably closer to 5-7 and who knows if there is a red shirt possibility.

But the minutes allocation is as tough to predict as I can remember!!

My best guess is that Lakhin will definitely be an end-of-the-bench garbage time player who does not see regular rotation duty barring one of the other bigs getting hurt.

Hensley would be my next best guess for a player who does not initially enter the rotation based on the season he had last year. Wes seems pretty high on him though, so I wouldn't be surprised to see him grow into a bigger role as the year goes on.

Everyone else will probably be in the 12-28 minute range, as long as we have a full and healthy squad.

Ado, Koval, Ody, Davenport, Newman, DDJ, MAW, and Saunders will probably be our core group. I see Madsen and McGinnis only get extended minutes based on hot shooting.

 

[cincyalum2014]

Wes just convinced Columbus guard and Ohio's all time leading scorer with 2,395 points and won a state title in 2019, CJ Anthony to join the team as a walk on... He had offers from Gardner Webb, UW Milwaukee, Robert Morris, Townson, Stony Brook, Air Force and Toledo. Pretty incredible Wes got him to turn down D1 offers for an opportunity to come as a walk on here. Truly a testament to what he is building here, even if he doesn't play he will give a great look in practice to the guys who are playing.

 

[cincyalum2014]

Wes just convinced Columbus guard and Ohio's all time leading scorer with 2,395 points and won a state title in 2019, CJ Anthony to join the team as a walk on... He had offers from Gardner Webb, UW Milwaukee, Robert Morris, Townson, Stony Brook, Air Force and Toledo. Pretty incredible Wes got him to turn down D1 offers for an opportunity to come as a walk on here. Truly a testament to what he is building here, even if he doesn't play he will give a great look in practice to the guys who are playing.

He was also the #9 ranked player in the state of Ohio in the 2020 class. From where this program was 3 months ago, IMO this is a huge get because we literally take zero risk in adding him with a walk on spot

 

[waterhead]

He was also the #9 ranked player in the state of Ohio in the 2020 class. From where this program was 3 months ago, IMO this is a huge get because we literally take zero risk in adding him with a walk on spot

Not a huge get IMO but awesome just the same. He's not good. But can probably help in practice. Walk on is what he is

 

[cincyalum2014]

Not a huge get IMO but awesome just the same. He's not good. But can probably help in practice. Walk on is what he is

I’d say he’s better than the walk ons we have , when I say that he’s a huge get, I mean in the sense he is a division one caliber player who is coming in as a walk on , great prep for the guys actually playing … it’s not your typical walk-on

 

[skyblade]

I’d say he’s better than the walk ons we have , when I say that he’s a huge get, I mean in the sense he is a division one caliber player who is coming in as a walk on , great prep for the guys actually playing … it’s not your typical walk-on

Similar to Rob Banks. I wonder if giving Rob Banks the scholarship is paying dividends. Anthony is similar in that if he does everything right he could get a scholarship in a couple of years and maybe even some playing time. Seeing as we have someone on scholarship who took just that route, may make higher tier walk-ons willing to take a chance and try to earn a scholarship.

 

[skyblade]

Looking at lineups.

I would like to know how you get Ado, Koval, Ody 15 plus minutes when you have Lakhin, Davenport and Hensley who are all 6'7" plus. How do you keep 12 guys happy (minus Banks)?

Ado 20. Koval 15. Lakhin 5
Davenport 15. Ody 15. Lakhin 5. Hensley 5
Newman 20. Davenport 10. Hensley 5. McGinnis 5
MAW 20. Madsen 15. McGinnis 5.
DD 25. Saunders 15

I think the question marks here are the unknowns Hensley. McGinnis, and Lakhin. Will they play? Is Lakhin's knee ready to go? Is 10 minutes too much for them? I don't suspect they will all get 10 minutes. Probably closer to 5-7 and who knows if there is a red shirt possibility.

But the minutes allocation is as tough to predict as I can remember!!

I see Lakhin as a 0 minute guy, possibly a red-shirt. Per a recent Chad podcast Lakhin was sitting out practice with his knee wrapped at the practice Tobler watched.

I also see Davenport playing the 3 more than the 4. Guard may the more interesting/competitive position to watch. DDJ, Saunders, Mason, MAW and McGinnis, somebodies not going to get many minutes. With the sheer number of new faces it's going to be hard to predict until we see the product on the court.

Ado 20, Koval 15, Ody 5
Ody 20, Hensley 10, Davenport 10
Davenport 15, Newman 20, Mason/McGinnis (whichever is hot) 5
MAW 20. Mason 10. McGinnis 10.
DDJ 20. Saunders 20

 

[waterhead]

I see Lakhin as a 0 minute guy, possibly a red-shirt. Per a recent Chad podcast Lakhin was sitting out practice with his knee wrapped at the practice Tobler watched.

I also see Davenport playing the 3 more than the 4. Guard may the more interesting/competitive position to watch. DDJ, Saunders, Mason, MAW and McGinnis, somebodies not going to get many minutes. With the sheer number of new faces it's going to be hard to predict until we see the product on the court.

Ado 20, Koval 15, Ody 5
Ody 20, Hensley 10, Davenport 10
Davenport 15, Newman 20, Mason/McGinnis (whichever is hot) 5
MAW 20. Mason 10. McGinnis 10.
DDJ 20. Saunders 20

Sucks for Lakhin but if he's out I would definitely give most of his minutes to Ody

 

[waterhead]

I’d say he’s better than the walk ons we have , when I say that he’s a huge get, I mean in the sense he is a division one caliber player who is coming in as a walk on , great prep for the guys actually playing … it’s not your typical walk-on

If he ends up playing some day as a regular rotation guy then it will be a big deal for sure. If not I don't think it will have much impact. I would agree he is better than our typical walk-on so his chances to some day crack the lineup should be better as well. I like the idea of getting a big man project as a walk on since finding good guards is much easier.

 

[CareBat]

I see Lakhin as a 0 minute guy, possibly a red-shirt. Per a recent Chad podcast Lakhin was sitting out practice with his knee wrapped at the practice Tobler watched.

I also see Davenport playing the 3 more than the 4. Guard may the more interesting/competitive position to watch. DDJ, Saunders, Mason, MAW and McGinnis, somebodies not going to get many minutes. With the sheer number of new faces it's going to be hard to predict until we see the product on the court.

Ado 20, Koval 15, Ody 5
Ody 20, Hensley 10, Davenport 10
Davenport 15, Newman 20, Mason/McGinnis (whichever is hot) 5
MAW 20. Mason 10. McGinnis 10.
DDJ 20. Saunders 20

Isn't Newman more of a 2?

 

[TheRealMick]

Isn't Newman more of a 2?

Yeah but McGinnis and madsen strictly 2’s

 

[skyblade]

Yeah but McGinnis and madsen strictly 2’s

I think Mason could play as an undersized 3 situationally, especially if he puts on 5-10 pounds. Perhaps even McGinnis, though he'd be even more undersized.

Interesting tidbit, Newman is the only player listed as a wing on the gobearcats.com roster.

 

[waterhead]

Isn't Newman more of a 2?

He can't really shoot well (so not much of a SG) so I would think more of a 3 (sf) but I guess it doesn't matter that much. He will be on the wing. If he starts at the 2 JD will have to play the 3 to keep a shooter out there. I don't see any way we can go with a lineup of Ado, Ody, Davenport, Newman, and Dejulius. There is just not enough shooting or scoring out there.

If he starts at the 3 we can have two shooters on the floor with Davenport at the 4 and MAW/Mason/McGinnis at the 2. DD and Mike are not great shooters either so something has to give.

When Koval/Lakhin is in we could probably play Newman at the 2 and Davenport at the 3 with Ody at the 4.