2024-25 Expectations for Shocker Basketball – “Summertime Edition”

[TrackSuitAndTie]

IMO, PGs with BBIQ are a different animal than all other positions and can make an impact by year end if given enough game time throughout the season.

HCPM also complimented Pipkin's defensive prowess, which is usually a pre-requisite for seeing the floor as a freshman.

[TrackSuitAndTie]

If you get a chance, catch Mills’s interview on Sports Daily today. He mentioned they would be stupid (paraphrasing) if they didn’t play Pipkin. Also mentioned Williams had been out this summer with an injury.

A few notes from the interview:

• TJ Williams has not participated the first four weeks due to injury.
• Zion Pipkin putting himself in position to earn minutes. High motor and defensive pest.
• Matej Bosnak will not have trouble transitioning to the AAC. HCPM complimented his physicality and pro experience.
• HCPM says Harlond Beverly is the returning player to keep an eye on in terms of improvement (mentioned better shooting).

Link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas...=1000661682065

[ShockHat]

A few notes from the interview:

• TJ Williams has not participated the first four weeks due to injury.
• Zion Pipkin putting himself in position to earn minutes. High motor and defensive pest.
• Matej Bosnak will not have trouble transitioning to the AAC. HCPM complimented his physicality and pro experience.
• HCPM says Harland Beverly is the returning player to keep an eye on in terms of improvement (mentioned better shooting).

Link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas...=1000661682065

If this all holds true, and that’s IF, then we could very well see the tourney this year, no? I mean… this theoretically could be a very deep team if improvement shows and if the new recruits are up to snuff.

[BAShocker]

A few notes from the interview:

• TJ Williams has not participated the first four weeks due to injury.
• Zion Pipkin putting himself in position to earn minutes. High motor and defensive pest.
• Matej Bosnak will not have trouble transitioning to the AAC. HCPM complimented his physicality and pro experience.
• HCPM says Harlond Beverly is the returning player to keep an eye on in terms of improvement (mentioned better shooting).

Link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas...=1000661682065

I thought the analogy of Pipkin having the energy of a 7 year old in a room full of adults was humorous.

[1972Shocker]

A few notes from the interview:

• TJ Williams has not participated the first four weeks due to injury.
• Zion Pipkin putting himself in position to earn minutes. High motor and defensive pest.
• Matej Bosnak will not have trouble transitioning to the AAC. HCPM complimented his physicality and pro experience.
• HCPM says Harlond Beverly is the returning player to keep an eye on in terms of improvement (mentioned better shooting).

Link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas...=1000661682065

Thanks for the link to the segment.

[forevershockerfan]

UAB is a team who could crack the AAC top 5 and they Danced last Season. Yaxel Lendeborg impressed me and I thought he would transfer. They usually bring in topnotch Juco players to help with Reloading.

Yes, the Cooz trains his players right as so with Pipkin. I did not know that TJ is injured. Our squad overall on paper looks impressive and more equipped to the HCPM type System with more veteran type leadership. Defense, rebounding, and shooting all should improve a notch or two? It will become contagious to be playing MB, even with a later arrival. It will be interesting which 2 or 3 Shockers that lead they way for us.

[Kung Wu]

I thought the analogy of Pipkin having the energy of a 7 year old in a room full of adults was humorous.

Actually he was just a few years either way of it not being an analogy, but the actual situation.

[WstateU]

I’ll just put this here…

Always good to see Shocker athletes doing community service.

[Aargh]

It's easy to get fluff pieces and some hype in media over summer. Some of us, myself included, bit a little hard on that last year. I'm keeping that in mind this year, but...

...if Beverly is supposed to be the most improved player and if Pipkin can't be kept off the court, it could be easy to get a little too optimistic this summer.

The backcourt was already looking "decent with Hill, Cortes, Bell, and McGinnis. If Piplin can take minutes away from any of those guys, it should result in an improvement over "decent".

At SF, Washington looked like an upgrade over Beverly. Now Mills is making it sound like Beverly is going to be a significant improvement over what he did last year.

The front court is looking like a real strength with Meeks, Bosnjak, and Ballard. DeGray, last year's starter, may have a reduced role this year.

Last year's team set the bar pretty low, so significant improvement isn't an optimistic goal. But this team lpoks like one of the best year-to-year improvements in the time I've followed WSU basketball and I remember when Stallworth was recruited.

We're going to get more fluff pieces from Eldridge between now and the start of the season. We're not going to get anything that might reveal how Mills is planning on putting the pieces together and the schemes for using those pieces.

This year I'm going to hold off on believing my predictions until I see what happens in Orlando. Win 1 in Orlando and this team is a contender for a first place finish in conference. Win 2 and this team is a contender for an at large bid.

What's my prediction that I may not yet believe? In a battle for first in the league the entire season. That may be affected by the scheduling, but I'd put this "on paper" team against any team in the league. If last year's team could beat Memphis when it really mattered, then this year's team can beat them any time or any where.

[Stickboy46]

Transfer Portal Winners: Top 55 Improved College Basketball Teams -
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/transfer-portal-winners-top-55-improved-college-basketball-teams/ss-AA1nFlmh?ocid=msedgntp&pc=HCTS&cvid=b60f02893b6543 ac95c70890f66e94d5&ei=16
Story by David Connelly
08/08/24, 9:00am cst

NON-CONFERENCE
10. Kansas State Wildcats (Big 12)
Top Acquisitions: Coleman Hawkins (Illinois), Achor Achor (Samford), Dug McDaniel (Michigan)

The Wildcats had put together a solid transfer class heading into the summer, but the late commitments of Samford's Achor Achor and Illinois's Coleman Hawkins helped put group over the top. Achor provides a proven scorer that showed his abirlities on the biggest stage with a 22-point, eight-rebound performance against Kansas in the NCAA Tournament. Hawkins has the size, versatility, and overall experience to be a do-it-all leader for this team. And Dug McDaniel is a strong three-level scorer that will provide some dynamism out of the backcourt. Jerome Tang has done well to gather some talent in the offseason, and it's time for Kansas State to make a return to the Big Dance.

46. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (ACC)
Top Acquisitions: Omaha Biliew (Iowa State), Ty-Laur Johnson (Louisville), Davin Cosby (Alabama)

Steve Forbes takes the path of "one man's trash is another man's treasure" with his incoming transfer class. All three of his top incoming transfers are players who underperformed at their previous locations despite boasting loads of talent before the collegiate ranks. Biliew, a McDonald's All-American and five-star recruit out of high school, found himself buried behind Iowa State's elite rotation and frontcourt all season long. While Johnson showed off his skillset, he was doing so with the dumpster fire that was Louisville as his backdrop. And Cosby found himself in a similar situation as Biliew, deep onto the depth chart of a Crimson Tide team that reached a Final Four. All still have three years of eligibility remaining. Can you say future?

49. Saint Louis Billikens (Atlantic 10)
Top Acquisitions: Robbie Avila (Indiana State), Isaiah Swope (Indiana State), Kobe Johnson (West Virginia)

The Billikens landed our golden goose of the transfer portal in Robbie Avila, who has chosen to follow former Indiana State head coach Josh Schertz to his new destination at Saint Louis for the upcoming season. As did Isaiah Swope, giving the team a high-low duo that already has an entire season together under their belts. Kobe Johnson also joins as a Power 6 starter from West Virginia, who provides a high-floor, low-ceiling veteran who has the experience at the next level to perhaps contribute meaningfully here.


CONFERENCE
7. Memphis Tigers (AAC)
Top Acquisitions: PJ Haggerty (Tulsa), Tyrese Hunter (Texas), Dain Dainja (Illinois)

It's a make-or-break season for Memphis head coach Penny Hardaway. While he has done a phenomenal job recruiting high-end talent to the program since taking the job, it's all amounted to just one NCAA Tournament win across six seasons. He's found a way to do it again this offseason through the transfer portal, bringing in a few impact pieces before we have even reached the month of May. Haggerty is one of the most underrated scorers in the country, averaging 21.2 points per game on 49.3 percent shooting from the floor in just his freshman season with Tulsa. Hunter will enter the fold as a three-time double-digit scorer in the Big 12 with over 100 games of Division I experience and a true knack for the point guard position. Dainja rounds out this grouping from Illinois, a brute big man who was squeezed out of the Illini rotation due to contrasts in playstyle. The talent here is great, but it's up to Penny to find success with these puzzle pieces and make them fight enough to succeed in what should be their title to lose in the AAC.

41. Florida Atlantic (AAC)
Top Acquisitions: KyKy Tandy (Jacksonville State), Baba Miller (Florida State), Kaleb Glenn (Louisville)

While Tandy joins FAU by way of Jacksonville State, his name will sound familiar to many from his four years at Xavier. He's got loads of experience at the higher level and should translate just fine. Miller remains raw, and his development will be crucial heading into his junior season. Add Kaleb Glenn, a top-100 high school recruit entering his sophomore season, and it's easy to see how high the ceiling is for this group.

With looking at how much FAU lost and the pieces that came in.. I'm not sure how you can call FAU a transfer portal "winner"

[Dan]

Last year was pretty bad, but don’t forget how many big halftime leads we blew, plus we were without 2 players until the break, both of whom improved a ton by the end of the year. Even if we rolled out last years team again this year, I would expect 3-4 more wins. I’m excited to see how this hype translates to real games.

[Topshock]

With looking at how much FAU lost and the pieces that came in.. I'm not sure how you can call FAU a transfer portal "winner"

This flash in the pan may be ready to burn out this year.

[TrackSuitAndTie]

This flash in the pan may be ready to burn out this year.

FAU actually has some NIL muscle so I hope, for the sake of the conference, they can stay relevant.

[Dan]

This flash in the pan may be ready to burn out this year.

no doubt, I would say they were a net negative in the portal, considering what they lost, plus the coaching loss.

[1972Shocker]