Fullbacksympathy

Rhule absolutely nails it—you recruit kids that want to be there, period.   
 
This philosophy doesn’t really matter when you get the kid, but it certainly helps for continuity.  
 
Keisei wasn’t a freshman, but he wanted to be here and stay here.  Gary, BW, Mast, Griesel, etc. all wanted to be here and it showed in how hard they play.  

Only recruit high school kids that are within 500 miles of Lincoln is my thought. 
 
hopefully at some point NIL contracts become 2 year deals between players and universities 

Rhule absolutely nails it—you recruit kids that want to be there, period.   
 
This philosophy doesn’t really matter when you get the kid, but it certainly helps for continuity.  
 
Keisei wasn’t a freshman, but he wanted to be here and stay here.  Gary, BW, Mast, Griesel, etc. all wanted to be here and it showed in how hard they play.  

Rhule absolutely nails it—you recruit kids that want to be there, period.   
 
This philosophy doesn’t really matter when you get the kid, but it certainly helps for continuity.  
 
Keisei wasn’t a freshman, but he wanted to be here and stay here.  Gary, BW, Mast, Griesel, etc. all wanted to be here and it showed in how hard they play.  

Essegian isn’t a specialist.  He’s an all around player.  Tough to do anything well with an injured back. 
 
Assuming he’s 100% to begin next season we just got an absolute steal and a definite contender to start at the 2.  Either way, if healthy, I expect a huge contribution, and we’ll have him for a couple years.  

Between the shooting ability and possibly the defensive issues, guy most likely to get the side eye from Brice this season

Been dealing with a back injury since 2018. When you're in the throes of an acute flair up it's hard to just exist. It's tough to do anything well, average, or even poorly 😂

Essegian isn’t a specialist.  He’s an all around player.  Tough to do anything well with an injured back. 
 
Assuming he’s 100% to begin next season we just got an absolute steal and a definite contender to start at the 2.  Either way, if healthy, I expect a huge contribution, and we’ll have him for a couple years.  

Essegian isn’t a specialist.  He’s an all around player.  Tough to do anything well with an injured back. 
 
Assuming he’s 100% to begin next season we just got an absolute steal and a definite contender to start at the 2.  Either way, if healthy, I expect a huge contribution, and we’ll have him for a couple years.  

Essegian isn’t a specialist.  He’s an all around player.  Tough to do anything well with an injured back. 
 
Assuming he’s 100% to begin next season we just got an absolute steal and a definite contender to start at the 2.  Either way, if healthy, I expect a huge contribution, and we’ll have him for a couple years.  

Pleasantly surprised by the rebounding rates from Essigian over the last couple of years. Will easily be a plus over Keisei or CJ in that department.  Not entirely sure what Griffiths brings in that department because of how dominant Cliff was there.

His freshman tape might be a better indicator of his upside.  He had a hell of a season when healthy.  I'm guessing Fred is pulling out all the stops here.  I'm not sure he's a bench player when healthy.  Pretty natural 2 guard.  

His freshman tape might be a better indicator of his upside.  He had a hell of a season when healthy.  I'm guessing Fred is pulling out all the stops here.  I'm not sure he's a bench player when healthy.  Pretty natural 2 guard.  

His freshman tape might be a better indicator of his upside.  He had a hell of a season when healthy.  I'm guessing Fred is pulling out all the stops here.  I'm not sure he's a bench player when healthy.  Pretty natural 2 guard.  

A better one.
 
We're adding a big PG with elite passing and solid defense in addition to Ulis who is a good PG.  
We're adding a 6'8" guard who has an NBA future and will undoubtedly find his shot with Fred.
We're adding a skilled, athletic 6'10" center who was all conference and can stretch the court.
 
We're likely adding another solid 6'4" guard from Wisconsin who is a 3pt specialist.
We're likely going to get Kyle to help with our front court athleticism.
We have a chance to land Milicic as another versatile weapon at 6'10" who can play the 4-5.
 
In all seriousness, I think the most important thing Fred is looking for is skill.  All of these guys outside of maybe Kyle (who is tremendously skilled defensively) can handle the ball and shoot.  Typically skilled players have learned a lot and worked on their game on their own a lot, which probably means they have a high IQ and work ethic to match their skills.  Coach's dream.  Defensively, our system requires smart players but it's so help heavy it's basically a zone which typically makes up for some lack of athleticism.  I think Fred is looking for long players who can fill it up on offense with the hope that their length creates problems in our hybrid defense.  Brice is like this.  Mast is like this.  Gary is probably the only player left that doesn't quite fit this mold exactly but he has really worked on his offense, and he was already an elite defender, so he still fits in very well.  
 
I'm intrigued.  

Worster is crafty and physical, particularly in P&R.  Gets in the paint and sprays it around at will.  Just not a great outside shooter.  He is a true primary ballhandler and creator.  A lot of his 10ppg are at the rim/line.  
 
I think the incoming shooters really help Brice/Worster with space.  Morgan is very good off the dribble for a 5.  I expect another big jump from Gary with his ballhandling in 1v1.  GG is a good leaper and willing finisher if he puts on some weight.  
 
The kid that might fit your description best could very well be Janowski.  He is a problem 1v1 - great shooter, physical, and extremely crafty in drawing contact.  Might not be textbook quickness drives from the wing, but his midrange post iso game is very impressive.  Three level scorer.  

A better one.
 
We're adding a big PG with elite passing and solid defense in addition to Ulis who is a good PG.  
We're adding a 6'8" guard who has an NBA future and will undoubtedly find his shot with Fred.
We're adding a skilled, athletic 6'10" center who was all conference and can stretch the court.
 
We're likely adding another solid 6'4" guard from Wisconsin who is a 3pt specialist.
We're likely going to get Kyle to help with our front court athleticism.
We have a chance to land Milicic as another versatile weapon at 6'10" who can play the 4-5.
 
In all seriousness, I think the most important thing Fred is looking for is skill.  All of these guys outside of maybe Kyle (who is tremendously skilled defensively) can handle the ball and shoot.  Typically skilled players have learned a lot and worked on their game on their own a lot, which probably means they have a high IQ and work ethic to match their skills.  Coach's dream.  Defensively, our system requires smart players but it's so help heavy it's basically a zone which typically makes up for some lack of athleticism.  I think Fred is looking for long players who can fill it up on offense with the hope that their length creates problems in our hybrid defense.  Brice is like this.  Mast is like this.  Gary is probably the only player left that doesn't quite fit this mold exactly but he has really worked on his offense, and he was already an elite defender, so he still fits in very well.  
 
I'm intrigued.  

Worster is crafty and physical, particularly in P&R.  Gets in the paint and sprays it around at will.  Just not a great outside shooter.  He is a true primary ballhandler and creator.  A lot of his 10ppg are at the rim/line.  
 
I think the incoming shooters really help Brice/Worster with space.  Morgan is very good off the dribble for a 5.  I expect another big jump from Gary with his ballhandling in 1v1.  GG is a good leaper and willing finisher if he puts on some weight.  
 
The kid that might fit your description best could very well be Janowski.  He is a problem 1v1 - great shooter, physical, and extremely crafty in drawing contact.  Might not be textbook quickness drives from the wing, but his midrange post iso game is very impressive.  Three level scorer.  

Also doesn’t these last couple of guys balance the classes some. I know nobody will stay the whole time. But you also don’t want to have knowingly have to bring in 7 new players each year because of one and dones. 

-We're trying hard to get William Kyle, who would be one of if not the best athletes on the team.  
 
-If you watch Milicic tape, he's got a lot more to his game than Allick did and he is not unathletic in the least. Based on his frame and shooting numbers you might assume he's Brian Conklin, but that he is not. He blocked 35 shots last year. Our highest on the team was 21 (Brice and Juwan). We haven't had a player with 35 blocks since 2018-19 (Roby had 66). 
 
Those two guys would be instant, huge upgrades and impact players. Now looking at what we already have: 
 
-Griffiths is more athletic and 6-8 compared to  Keisei's "6-2" and, try as he might, was a big liability on defense. Griffiths blocked 13 shots in 571 minutes last year. For comparison, Allick blocked 12 shots in 785 minutes. Keisei and Lawrence each blocked 1 shot in 800+ minutes. 
 
-Eli Rice and CJ Wilcher were not athletic. Essegian isn't Lebron James but he's no stiff out there. 
 
-Morgan is more athletic than Mast, especially if Mast is hobbling out there. 
 
-Ulis and Worster will give us way more at the PG spot than Lawrence did. 

We haven't added any high fliers or anything but I think sneakily we've gotten more athletic, and if we can get Kyle and Milicic (please!!!), I will be expecting us to be a Top 25 type of team throughout the year. 

It's because of AJ Storr. Storr was much more versatile offensively and defensively.
Wiscy was a a NIT team with Essigian playing a lot of minutes in 22-23 and this year the Badgers were a 5 seed in the tourney with Storr.
 
I guess I would take Essigan, but it wouldn't get me that excited. 

Hyper athletic guys aren't always that skilled, but I think we do have two dudes who can guard a quick PG now.  We didn't have that last season, and when we finally went against a true NBA pg against A&M it showed.  From what I can tell, Worster is a very good perimeter defender and a big body who has no problem punishing smaller players on the other end.  Ulis seems to have the capability to guard the perimeter as well.  We don't currently have a great defender at the 2 but I think Brice is serviceable.  He's just long and, again, will outscore about 95% of his matchups this season at 6'7".  
 
As for the transfers from other programs, it really depends on what the team needs are going to be and what their situation was.  The kid from Nova got recruited there by an all time great in Jay Wright and then had to play for someone mediocre when he arrived.  The kid from Wiscy was getting spot minutes for all star prick Greg Gard, but it looks like he has a higher ceiling to me, and he blew up Nebraska when we played there this season.  I think he also can be serviceable as a perimeter defender.  In both instances, as specialists, they are almost certain to be able to get a decent paycheck to go somewhere else.  The all conference caliber mid-majors are trying to put their play on film at the high major level and also get a paycheck likely higher than any Euro team would ever offer them.  

A better one.
 
We're adding a big PG with elite passing and solid defense in addition to Ulis who is a good PG.  
We're adding a 6'8" guard who has an NBA future and will undoubtedly find his shot with Fred.
We're adding a skilled, athletic 6'10" center who was all conference and can stretch the court.
 
We're likely adding another solid 6'4" guard from Wisconsin who is a 3pt specialist.
We're likely going to get Kyle to help with our front court athleticism.
We have a chance to land Milicic as another versatile weapon at 6'10" who can play the 4-5.
 
In all seriousness, I think the most important thing Fred is looking for is skill.  All of these guys outside of maybe Kyle (who is tremendously skilled defensively) can handle the ball and shoot.  Typically skilled players have learned a lot and worked on their game on their own a lot, which probably means they have a high IQ and work ethic to match their skills.  Coach's dream.  Defensively, our system requires smart players but it's so help heavy it's basically a zone which typically makes up for some lack of athleticism.  I think Fred is looking for long players who can fill it up on offense with the hope that their length creates problems in our hybrid defense.  Brice is like this.  Mast is like this.  Gary is probably the only player left that doesn't quite fit this mold exactly but he has really worked on his offense, and he was already an elite defender, so he still fits in very well.  
 
I'm intrigued.  

Hyper athletic guys aren't always that skilled, but I think we do have two dudes who can guard a quick PG now.  We didn't have that last season, and when we finally went against a true NBA pg against A&M it showed.  From what I can tell, Worster is a very good perimeter defender and a big body who has no problem punishing smaller players on the other end.  Ulis seems to have the capability to guard the perimeter as well.  We don't currently have a great defender at the 2 but I think Brice is serviceable.  He's just long and, again, will outscore about 95% of his matchups this season at 6'7".  
 
As for the transfers from other programs, it really depends on what the team needs are going to be and what their situation was.  The kid from Nova got recruited there by an all time great in Jay Wright and then had to play for someone mediocre when he arrived.  The kid from Wiscy was getting spot minutes for all star prick Greg Gard, but it looks like he has a higher ceiling to me, and he blew up Nebraska when we played there this season.  I think he also can be serviceable as a perimeter defender.  In both instances, as specialists, they are almost certain to be able to get a decent paycheck to go somewhere else.  The all conference caliber mid-majors are trying to put their play on film at the high major level and also get a paycheck likely higher than any Euro team would ever offer them.  

A better one.
 
We're adding a big PG with elite passing and solid defense in addition to Ulis who is a good PG.  
We're adding a 6'8" guard who has an NBA future and will undoubtedly find his shot with Fred.
We're adding a skilled, athletic 6'10" center who was all conference and can stretch the court.
 
We're likely adding another solid 6'4" guard from Wisconsin who is a 3pt specialist.
We're likely going to get Kyle to help with our front court athleticism.
We have a chance to land Milicic as another versatile weapon at 6'10" who can play the 4-5.
 
In all seriousness, I think the most important thing Fred is looking for is skill.  All of these guys outside of maybe Kyle (who is tremendously skilled defensively) can handle the ball and shoot.  Typically skilled players have learned a lot and worked on their game on their own a lot, which probably means they have a high IQ and work ethic to match their skills.  Coach's dream.  Defensively, our system requires smart players but it's so help heavy it's basically a zone which typically makes up for some lack of athleticism.  I think Fred is looking for long players who can fill it up on offense with the hope that their length creates problems in our hybrid defense.  Brice is like this.  Mast is like this.  Gary is probably the only player left that doesn't quite fit this mold exactly but he has really worked on his offense, and he was already an elite defender, so he still fits in very well.  
 
I'm intrigued.