Next Year

[Stickboy46]

Ok so this year we are down to just finding out if we will play on Wednesday or not, so figured I'd start a thread with some info and conversation for next year. I think everyone will agree that if you haven't started Mill's clock already, it definitely has to start the moment this season ends.

Players with no eligibility left

• Dalen Ridgnal
• Jacob Germany

Players with eligibility left but have used their 1 free transfer (or more)

• Xavier Bell
• Ronnie DeGray
• Colby Rogers
• Quincy Ballard
• Bijan Cortes
• Harlond Beverly

Players with eligibility left but have not used their free transfer

• Isaac Abidde
• Yanis Bamba
• Kenny Pohto
• Joy Ighovodja

Incoming Players currently Signed

• TJ Williams
• Zion Pipkin

Currently 1 free scholarship that isn't accounted for before any transfers (Jalen Ricks scholarship)

So we have 2 incoming, 6 that will likely need to understand the waiver rules before transferring and 4 that could transfer right away.

Key Dates

• Transfer Portal: March 18, 2024 - May 2, 2024
• Spring Signing Period: April 17, 2024 - May 15, 2024
• Recruiting Dead Periods: April 4-11, May 12th, May 22-June 2, June 16, June 19, July 1 - July 31, Aug 6-20
• Recruiting Quiet Periods: May1- June 30, Aug 1-31

One potential thing to watch:

https://www.on3.com/transfer-portal/news/ncaa-announces-multi-time-transfers-will-receive-immediate-eligibility-next-season/

I'm not 100% sure on this, but I believe that the 2023-2024 academic year includes the summer semester. So I believe the NCAA has already said that if a player transfers during the 2023-2024 Academic year they will be eligible without needing a waiver for 2024-2025. So if i'm reading that right, if a player enters the transfer portal in April, then enrolls for the summer at the new school, they would qualify.

This could be huge for us IMO. It would give Mills a "blow it all up and start over" ability without having to put the players in a force to sit situation. While there are a couple I would like to keep, there isn't one player that is so good we can't lose them. It hopefully will give a larger number of players for Mills to choose from (though also more competition).

[Stickboy46]

Didn't want to put my opinion and thoughts in the OP, but if I had to choose players to keep it would be

• Ballard
• Rogers
• Joy
• Yanis
• TJ
• Zion

Depending on who we can land in the portal, Bell, DeGray and Beverly would be solid backups, but seems unlikely they would work with that role so might be best for them to move on.

That would give Mills 7 scholarships to try to land a few AAC Starter-Level contributors.

[RoyalShock]

I would add Bell to the list to return. I know he has a few boneheaded plays every game, but he is the only guard who can create for himself. I would feel better knowing we have a couple of senior guards to give the freshmen a year to acclimate.

I wish we knew more about Bamba. My gut says a guy who redshirted for this team may not be an AAC-caliber player.

[Stickboy46]

I would add Bell to the list to return. I know he has a few boneheaded plays every game, but he is the only guard who can create for himself. I would feel better knowing we have a couple of senior guards to give the freshmen a year to acclimate.

I wish we knew more about Bamba. My gut says a guy who redshirted for this team may not be an AAC-caliber player.

Yea I went back and forth on Bell. I mentioned in the game thread that if he could be a backup 2 or 3 that doesn't have to coordinate the offense, I think he could be a solid piece.

I also kept the freshman just because they are unknown. Filling 6-7 scholarships will be tough anyways

[TrackSuitAndTie]

I would add Bell to the list to return. I know he has a few boneheaded plays every game, but he is the only guard who can create for himself. I would feel better knowing we have a couple of senior guards to give the freshmen a year to acclimate.

I wish we knew more about Bamba. My gut says a guy who redshirted for this team may not be an AAC-caliber player.

Bell also seems like a great veteran presence to have in the program from a culture perspective. He has major flaws, and I don't want to see him playing heavy minutes, but he plays hard and seems to have a good attitude.

[shock]

Like them or not, I think you have to keep 3-4 of the rotation guys from this year simply for continuity. I don’t think it would be good to flush them all, no matter how badly we want to.

Zion
TJ
Yanis
Joy
Bell
Ballard
beverly
Rogers

That gives Mills 4 starters right off the bat for the cupcakes, while bringing others up to speed. There’s 6 with time in the system, 2 frosh, 5 to go hard in the portal.

There HAS to be immediate improvement from the first tip. If there’s not, I will firmly be in the “fire mills” camp. For now, I’m in the “wait and see” camp.

[ShockHat]

I think there’s got to be some continuity but not really from the guards. NoBoDy wants to continue crap. So I’m going to be absolutely brutal here.

keep:
ballard
rogers
joy
zion
pipkin
bell (if he adds a good 3pt shot he could be very dangerous)

That’s all. I wasn’t sure about Yanis but in the end, we’ve got enough youngsters. We need real experience and people can carry this squad. I wasn’t sure on DeGray, I’m sure he’ll end up staying bc his hustle is o rebound is good, but just feels like he doesn’t add anything on offense and that’s mills entire scheme. He’s just kind of there… Pohto was the first out the door for me after yesterday. We can find another faster center to balance out Ballard, maybe one with actual shooting chops

[forevershockerfan]

Here is what I pondered in the signing of 2 excellent guards in TJ and Zion. We already had Bell, Cortez, Joy, Yanks, and Beverly who can all play guard. We know HCPM will prolly sign a proven starter veteran pg from Portal. Too many pieces (8) are there for the same puzzle. Why not sign 5 players that play like Cle, Hall, Baker, Cotton, and FVV? After all
3G signed them along with Armstead b4 the pay for play days. I'm not ready to just kick KP to the curb quite yet. 3g had similar issues with Durley and Shaq along the way. They worked it out and were keepers.

Keep

Ballard
Rogers
Beverly
TJ
Zion
X Bell
DeGray
KP--MAYBE? Hope so.

That leaves 5 portal/Juco/HS of players including a legit pg. All of these 5 need to be potential starters.

[Dan]

I would look high and low in the JUCOs, those guys are hungry, all levels of JUCO. Look high and low in the D2 schools for anyone that may have been overlooked. In this day and age, most P5 teams are signing portal kids from D1, which means a lot of good HS talent is getting left behind. They are out there. Find kids that had good HS rankings but got lost in the recruiting process. Lastly, do a thorough evaluation of their talent before signing them. We don’t need another Bijan Cortes signing.

[asiseeit]

As the sole defender of KP I'll again ask ANY of you to show me three back up centers with better numbers. I watched his minutes again and still saw no glaring bad body language. He is naturally slow I'll give you that but his seven minutes of play in no way dictated the outcome of the game. Regardless of what YOU all want I doubt it matters. I expect KP will enter the portal simply because it is impossible for him to thrive the way PM uses him. I said it early on and it has worsened. If I were in his shoes I'd be gone to, BUT despite his being used almost exclusively as a high screener and ignored in the offense he still has put up decent numbers especially for a back up. Go back and review his numbers before being removed from the starting line up. They were VERY good. I think your seeing a player that is very frustrated with his role and I hardly blame him. Others on the team constantly get lost on defense and don't produce on offense yet seldom get called out. KP has little to do with the failures of this basketball team.

[Stickboy46]

As the sole defender of KP I'll again ask ANY of you to show me three back up centers with better numbers. I watched his minutes again and still saw no glaring bad body language. He is naturally slow I'll give you that but his seven minutes of play in no way dictated the outcome of the game. Regardless of what YOU all want I doubt it matters. I expect KP will enter the portal simply because it is impossible for him to thrive the way PM uses him. I said it early on and it has worsened. If I were in his shoes I'd be gone to, BUT despite his being used almost exclusively as a high screener and ignored in the offense he still has put up decent numbers especially for a back up. Go back and review his numbers before being removed from the starting line up. They were VERY good. I think your seeing a player that is very frustrated with his role and I hardly blame him. Others on the team constantly get lost on defense and don't produce on offense yet seldom get called out. KP has little to do with the failures of this basketball team.

Without pointing fingers as to who to blame .. i agree that i think KP will be gone. Sometimes the fit isn't right, and with KP only having 1 year left plus having a free transfer, it seems like a done deal that he's gone. The fit just isn't there with HCPM's system. He will go somewhere else and thrive I'm sure. That's ok. Not everyone is fit for every system.

[shocker43]

I've never seen Bell give up. He can score. He cares about being a Shocker. Is he AAC starting caliber? Probably not, but I think he makes for a good backup 2/3.

Rogers will be better with better playmakers. Weak on defense, but can lock in and communicate well. I think he should be our starting 2.

Ballard is the most improved and most important piece of this current team. We need to keep him around. If everyone else leaves but he stays, I will consider that a success.

Keep the freshman to see how they progress. I'm a fan of HB, but he's been horrendous the last couple of games. I still think you keep him. He was a former McDonald AA who didn't really play for two years because of injury. I also like DeGray, energy guy that can be smart offensively.

So, IMO you keep XB, CR, QB, HB, RD, freshman.

[shock-it-to-me]

Not sure why you're even bothering to draw a distinction between players who have/have not already used a transfer. EVERYONE gets free, unlimited tranfers now, right?

[SubGod22]

Isaac Abidde - I'd actually like him to return. I mostly like what I see when he gets opportunities. But I won't be heartbroken if he chooses to move on
Ronnie DeGray - Eh. I don't get the love affair some have with him. he has moments where he looks good but he can get awfully lazy at times. Could still be a serviceable backup on a decent team.
Kenny Pohto - Kid does a lot more positive than most give him credit for. I think most of the hate is because he's not an explosive athlete. He still does a lot of things well. I'm sure he'll leave though and find a better fit. Mills has misused him much of the year. Will hate to see him leave.
Quincy Ballard - Would love to see him stay. I think some are a little too in love with his athleticism and see him as more than he is, which is dunks and blocks. That's pretty much all he is. Not much of an offensive game and his on ball D is below average.
Yanis Bamba - Everything we heard when he committed was positive. I'd love to see him in action but I also got the feeling he wasn't happy with the redshirt and wouldn't be surprised if he leaves.
Xavier Bell - He isn't going anywhere. He's a local kid and Mills adores him. Insanely frustrating player with a limited skill set. As others have said, he would be a solid backup playing 10-15 minutes a game and not having the ball in his hands constantly.
Harlond Beverly - When he plays within himself he adds value. He rarely does that though. At least not consistently. I'm really indifferent on him though and wouldn't be sad if he left.
Bijan Cortes - Not a fan, but he is the one guard who actually looks to pass and create for others. If he wasn't so ****ing stupid there may be a place. He may stay, but I'd rather he go.
Joy Ighovodja - I love this kids energy and what he's shown in limited action. This team could use more energy as a whole. I truly believe this kid could be a spark off the bench with his D. Hope he stays.
Colby Rogers - Only guy that can shoot. Hunts his shot way too much. Pretty selfish. Maybe he feels that he has to be, but he annoys the **** out of me when he ignores open guys (big men) to force multiple contested shots throughout every damn game. I'm sure he stays but I honestly think we'd be better off without him, unless he can become more of a team player.

I also know that what Mills does and what I like and enjoy seeing teams do are completely opposite so who knows how it all plays out. I prefer teams that get after it on defense and share the ball and play as a unit. Mills doesn't give a **** about defense and seems to prefer players going one on one when it comes to offense. Hell, those are the reasons I stopped watching the NBA years ago. I know people say it's changed and is better now but I just can't seem to get back into it. I'm afraid that's what's going to happen with me and Shocker basketball if Mills finds success or not. The style of play he seems to want just isn't fun for me to watch, win or lose. I'm trying to stick it out but it's getting tougher and tougher and that's not just because of the losses. Even in games where we've "played well" and won or been competitive I just can't enjoy the process.

I still haven't gotten tot he point where I haven't watched a game, but I can tell you I haven't been dialed in or paid close attention to many. Hopefully EA or 2K can come out with a college basketball game like EA is doing with football and I can at least enjoy it on some level. As is, I'm not optimistic regardless of if Mills finds success here or not. College basketball has always been my favorite watch when it comes to sports, but it has fallen behind the NFL and may soon fall behind MLS.

It's okay though, we're a softball school now. And they are truly more fun to watch than the basketball team.

[Stickboy46]

Not sure why you're even bothering to draw a distinction between players who have/have not already used a transfer. EVERYONE gets free, unlimited tranfers now, right?

That's what I notated at the bottom. I'm not 100% sure if the current injunction will apply to next year or not. The ruling isn't official, but also might not be decided before the time needed. So figured I would just call them out in case it does get reversed and players have to sit.