The 2023 Official “Jay Bilas No Rules” Transfer Portal Thread

[Aargh]

His JuCo coach thinks he'd be a great fit in Mills system.

You need practice players and you need some who may not be starter material but can fill in in case of injuries.

[Shock Top]

It was basically a “use it or lose it” scholarship at this point.

At the absolute worst, he contributes nothing at all, then it’s as if the scholarship went unused for the year (which was already on the table as an option).

This give them the opportunity to go and try to find a long-term use for that scholarship after this upcoming season. If he can be a good stop gap and system fit along the way for the guys that will be here multiple years to learn from, that’s an added bonus.

Not a needle mover, but not the worst thing ever either.

[Kung Wu]

Now that is one tall point guard!

[Kel Varnsen]

It was basically a “use it or lose it” scholarship at this point.

At the absolute worst, he contributes nothing at all, then it’s as if the scholarship went unused for the year (which was already on the table as an option).

This give them the opportunity to go and try to find a long-term use for that scholarship after this upcoming season. If he can be a good stop gap and system fit along the way for the guys that will be here multiple years to learn from, that’s an added bonus.

Not a needle mover, but not the worst thing ever either.

That 13th scholarship is what I refer to as, “The Tevin Glass Memorial Scholarship.”

[jcdshocker]

I think this guy can contribute. I know nothing about the situations he was in at Georgia and SWMO so it is hard to know. Juco AA for two years. Maybe there is some untapped potential. 5th year Senior with some experience. A PG was preferred but evidently nothing out there for us.

I think is a decent pick up for the 13th scholarship I think we could have signed Magic Johnson and Stick would find something wrong with it.

[Stickboy46]

I think this guy can contribute. I know nothing about the situations he was in at Georgia and SWMO so it is hard to know. Juco AA for two years. Maybe there is some untapped potential. 5th year Senior with some experience. A PG was preferred but evidently nothing out there for us.

I think is a decent pick up for the 13th scholarship I think we could have signed Magic Johnson and Stick would find something wrong with it.

We could also sign Michael from the office and some people would say we found the next diamond in the rough.

Tbh as a true 13th scholarship it would be fine. The problem is it feels like we've signed multiple people that would normally be 13th scholarships in previous years

[ShockerExpress]

think we could have signed Magic Johnson and Stick would find something wrong with it.

[pinstripers]

We couldn't find a point guard

[IndianaShocker]

Jarron Coleman (Ball State) now in the portal as grad transfer. 6'5 guard. Averaged 14.3 & 3.8a last season.

https://www.indystar.com/story/sport...n/70507950007/

[TrackSuitAndTie]

I understand some people are disappointed with this addition. This is likely because Ridgnal didn't start at Missouri State, played sparingly at times, and is not a Point Guard. However, I'm a little surprised at the reaction, considering Ridgnal was a productive player who shot the ball well and rebounded at a high level when he did get minutes.

Ridgnal.PNG

There was also a stretch mid-season where he played starter minutes and certainly put up quality numbers:

Ridgnal 2.PNG

Notable performances last season:

• 24 pts, 11 reb against Northern Iowa
• 16 pts, 8 reb against Central Michigan
• 14 pts, 9 reb against Evansville
• 14 pts, 7 reb against Illinois State
• 13 pts, 7 reb against Oral Roberts
• 9 pts, 10 reb against Indiana State
• 8 pts, 8 reb against Southern Illinois
• 7 pts, 14 reb against Valparaiso

I suspect there aren't many practice players or 13th scholarships in D1 with these kinds of performances on their resumes. I was hoping for a PG, but I think this is a pretty solid addition to the roster for August 1st.

[Stickboy46]

I understand some people are disappointed with this addition. This is likely because Ridgnal didn't start at Missouri State, played sparingly at times, and is not a Point Guard. However, I'm a little surprised at the reaction, considering Ridgnal was a productive player who shot the ball well and rebounded at a high level when he did get minutes.

Ridgnal.PNG

There was also a stretch mid-season where he played starter minutes and certainly put up quality numbers:

Ridgnal 2.PNG

Notable performances last season:

• 24 pts, 11 reb against Northern Iowa
• 16 pts, 8 reb against Central Michigan
• 14 pts, 9 reb against Evansville
• 14 pts, 7 reb against Illinois State
• 13 pts, 7 reb against Oral Roberts
• 9 pts, 10 reb against Indiana State
• 8 pts, 8 reb against Southern Illinois
• 7 pts, 14 reb against Valparaiso

I suspect there aren't many practice players or 13th scholarships in D1 with these kinds of performances on their resumes. I was hoping for a PG, but I think this is a pretty solid addition to the roster for August 1st.

You can cherry pick games from players that did absolutely nothing for us too over the last several years. It's just a major red flag to basically have done nothing outside of a couple games for two different teams in D1 including a 16-15 freaking Missouri state team.

In the context of a 13th scholarship in August it's fine. When taken in context with how poorly or at least unproven the rest of the recruiting and team is... It's not good

[Aargh]

First of all, PG's are hard to find. Marshall struggled to find true PG's after VanVleet and generally settled for combos.

Mills was either recruiting a backup PG or recruiting over Cortes.

Good luck finding a true PG who would settle for being a backup. Recruiting over Cortes could set a bad example for future recruiting. Mills was walking a pretty fine line and would likely have had to find a "can't pass this up" guy to sign another PG.

The "can't pass this guy up" players were probably headed for tourney teams.

Taking a chance on a 6'7" 5th year PF (who can hit from 3) to play in an offense that emphasizes driving to the basket and kicking out to a 3 shooter if that gets cut off doesn't seem like a risky move.

[Dan]

JUCO All-American. We have a good history of getting a lot of productivity with guys with those accolades.

[TrackSuitAndTie]

You can cherry pick games from players that did absolutely nothing for us too over the last several years.

I'm not sure how I'm cherry picking stats when almost of the games I highlighted are from a stretch of eight games where Ridgnal played major minutes (which I noted in my original post). When he didn't play, his stats were bad. When he did play, he put up decent numbers. I would be curious to know why his MPG fluctuated as much as they did, but I'm not trying to distort the facts.

It's just a major red flag to basically have done nothing outside of a couple games for two different teams in D1 including a 16-15 freaking Missouri state team.

I'm not sure I would call eight productive games "a couple". Also, all of the games listed were from last season so I'm not sure why the previous season at Georgia matters in this discussion.

In the context of a 13th scholarship in August it's fine. When taken in context with how poorly or at least unproven the rest of the recruiting and team is... It's not good

I will agree that the recruiting so far has been somewhat disappointing and the roster construction doesn't seem to make sense in certain spots. I would have much preferred a PG for this scholarship.

[wichshock65]

Everyone on here is being extremely short-sighted. The real question is how these guys will fit into the Aftershocks system and how much they can contribute.