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Sent everyone

Sent everyone

Never thought I would see Beaker on this message board. Gonzo, yes, but never Beaker.

No hair on those legs...still got some growing to do

Here's what Fred had to say - apologies for typos : Minneapolis is always one of my favorite places - great to be back Enjoyable group to coach We compete every day Were able to take a lot of new faces to Spain and was great for them Job is easier for us coaches when the team is ready to work every day and loves to compete 9 players on team with 4+ years of experience playing college basketball Like the way we finished the year last year - gave us great momentum That momentum allowed us to get impactful transfers over the offseason Impressive physicality and toughness with this group Gary is important to have back - worked on his shooting a lot - has been great thus far in training camp Allick saw success Griesel had last year & we were fortunate to get him - tenacious player, great rebounder - has worked on his shot a lot and will be able to stretch the floor Mast has a physicality and toughness - works so hard we almost have to slow him down - great rebounder Williams is going to be able to work as a point because of ball handling - can score at all three levels - great rebounder who can heat it up offensively Keisei was a huge benefit to our team having him come back - such a unique player - guys follow him because of the way that he plays CJ is having a great preseason - in best shape he's been in Sam had a great last half of the season - developing more and more confidence Lawrence is shifting positions & playing almost exclusively at the point - want him to continue to be aggressive there while also balancing running the entire show - he's still learning that and it'll probably continue into the first part of the season Diop - incredible athlete with tons of upside - may play meaningful minutes as a true frosh Rice - led us in scoring in Spain Questions HOW HAVE NEW PIECES BLENDED WITH OLDER PLAYERS? Last year's team set the culture - flipped it - we have a very mature group of guys. Can't say we have any one particular leader, but we have a committee of leaders. Blending players in the portal is just part of the deal in college basketball now. We have a lot of guys who've started a lot of games, and with the culture we have set up, the new guys are taking it to another level. We fought through injury adversity last year and thrived, and I think this team will do the same in fighting through any adversity. HOW TO GET GUYS TO ACCEPT ROLES ON A DEEP TEAM? Good challenge and good problem to have - need to figure out the rotation. Scrimmaged last week & again this Thursday, that's where we figure out the rotation. Mixing up the teams regularly to see who fits well together. We can put a lot of combinations on the floor - small skilled lineups or large physical lineups. We haven't had this ability to mix things up like this since I've been here, especially the physicality and big lineups. We talk a lot about role acceptance, I'm confident our guys will do that. WHAT GOES INTO THE IDEA OF SEEKING EXPERIENCED PLAYERS? We seek out players who the fan base can get behind. I talked last year about how enjoyable that team would be to watch because of the way they played so hard. I think if we had stayed injury free, we'd have made the tournament - diving after balls, taking charges, played with a great toughness. I talk to our staff about finding those types of players & they've done a great job. This is an important year to take the next step. This group that will continue to fight, no matter what happens on the floor. Excited about this group & I think our fans will enjoy watching this team.

I like that we are being overlooked. I think people are underestimating out talent. Our team seems hungry to me. I like what Coach Williams is saying about the team comraderie and support for one another. Weidner is going to be HUGE, and I heard (from a very reliable source) that White is exceeding any expectations the coaches had of her, as far as skill and intensity, and that her ball handling, passing and defense are the best they've seen in a very long time. If all of this is true, the turnovers should be much improved.

This conference is going to be brutal this season. I watched the B1G media days interviews on B1G TV this afternoon and all the schools seemed to have major Conference transfers added to their rosters. Ohio St looks to be very strong as does Maryland, Indiana and Michigan. I think Minnesota will be very good and there is Iowa. I forgot that Purdue finished strong last season. NU finishing in the top half might be a great accomplishment. Our returnees have to be improved, cut down on turnovers and hope the newbies can at least cover part of the loss of Bourne and Haiby. A healthy Weidner is huge.

This video is pretty grainy, but it's cool.