Leaderboard

If Fred and Matt flew out to watch him work out and offered on the spot, they saw something they really liked. I trust Fred’s ability to assess players completely. Welcome to the family Denim!

Coach Hoiberg: Excited about our group this year - first time bringing back some players who had a key role They're providing great leadership to our newcomers with 4 freshmen & 4 transfers Continuity is very important - took over a big rebuilding project, which has created some difficult moments Proud of how our guys fought through last season's struggles - 10 players & 4 coaches had covid last year 14 games in 29 days - our guys that found a way to fight through that adversity are really helping mentor this season Impressed with maturity of newcomers - like the uniqueness and skill set of the roster Very competitive team, gives great effort daily Love coming back to Indy - fun to see all of the Pacers greats' names that I know hanging in the rafters - awesome years in Indy for me May see transfer numbers increase with no sit-out rule Transfers are key for increasing the roster talent quickly What we have now is a good mix of older and younger transfer players Verge, getting him late was big for backcourt depth & to add ball handling Edwards, Wilcher & Keisei all can spread the floor Shooting is huge, opens up driving lanes - 82% of our shots last year came in restricted area & behind 3 pt line, which is ideal - we're better equipped to finish those shots this year Difficult to figure out a rotation, who starts and who finishes games Must stress to team that role acceptance is big - go out and do your role - still have 3 weeks to figure it out I played every role imaginable - understand how big it is to go out and accept your role Creates highly competitive practices as guys fight for valuable minutes Probably have 12 guys right now who could take key minutes - probably start the year narrowing that to 9 or 10 guys playing key minutes May not be same guys in those roles to start the season as will be at the end of the season Nice to have an event like this to gain some normalcy for our lives We are 100% fully vaccinated, but we are being cautious with testing & keeping an eye on it - no positive tests so far this season Excited about having fans back in PBA - our fans give us a huge home court advantage - appreciate our fans' patience as we build this

Lat would be the 7th. Unlikely he comes back considering this will be his 5th season of college ball (2 at TCU, 1 JUCO & 2 at NU). I suspect he'd prefer to get paid somewhere instead of playing a 6th year of college.

Probably similar to this: https://www.nbascoutinglive.com/alonzo-verge-jr-scouting-report/

So.... Webster Mcgowens x 2 Verge Mayan Walker Lakes Seems about right

I’d said this elsewhere but the coaches usually take at least one project player each cycle. These are guys they can work with at the end of the bench that aren’t going to need minutes right away. If they hit that’s great, if not they move on and we take a chance on the next guy. Previously Fred always liked having sit out guys because you can only play 8-10 on a regular rotation. Now that players can play right away you need guys at the end of the bench that aren’t going to necessarily need or have earned the minutes yet. I think that’s what you will see going forward with those 3-5 spots are guys that can do one thing really well or guys that have the tools but need some fine tuning.

Boy I hope he takes the 'show he can run the point' road and not the 'can shoot his way out of shooting slumps' road.

Drink every time a women's coach says this is the best the conference has ever been.

Iowa and Wisconsin are both set to take a big step backward this year. Minnesota too.

Sit down interviews on B1G Network with Coach, Trey & Verge: FH – Trey is part of the continuity that we like to have back – we were making good progress as a team last year before covid hit – but we played a lot of our best basketball after that hit us – Trey is a big part of helping our young guys along and help them learn the system – older guys are helping coaches hold everyone accountable – bringing a player like Verge in late was big for us – for our team, the biggest challenge is making the right, simple play – shooting should be far better, so need to make the simple play – Trey & Verge are big parts of this T – Holding each other accountable is very important – yesterday, held a team meeting to talk about roles, so we can reach our goals as a team V – NU’s style of play and coach’s system is perfect for my style of play, the spacing – our team fits well with the way I play FH – We're much more versatile in the front line – Breidenbach is a big addition with his versatility – big players are so physical in the B1G, so having a big who can pull them away from the basket and stretch the floor for our slashers – we’ve had a good shot profile the first 2 years, and the pieces we’ve added will give us better spacing – Walker, will be nice to have him full go for the entire season – Andre is making strikes – Lat stretches the floor – must have a versatile team in today’s game – where we have generated our shot attempts is 82% inside the restricted area and behind the 3-pt line last season – analytics say those are the best places to generate points – we did not finish well at the rim last year, though – and we did not shoot a high percentage from 3 – hopefully with our floor spacing, it should generate better 3 pt looks and better results at the rim T – I just want to take whatever the defense gives me – and want to continue to work on my shot with Coach Hoiberg V – Different role for me here than at ASU – I’m here to be the point guard and be a leader, lead by example, do the right things every day – show everyone that hard work pays off T – Bryce puts in work – always looking to improve – after being away from him for a few years and now seeing him grow up up close makes me proud – really he just saw how genuine the staff was so he made the choice to come here – you could see how real this staff is, being genuine FH – Bryce has God-given talent – he and Trey have great parents – Bryce is very fluid on the floor, great stroke, unlimited range, athleticism sets him apart, great wingspan – at the same time, he will have a learning curve in college and will have ups and downs – important to have Trey and other leaders on hand to help with that transition – but sometimes what Bryce does on the floor just ‘wows’ you – how he can take over portions of a practice – grateful that we have him and the whole McGowens family on board – feel great about his future and the future of the program

Agreed. There are only 60 NBA Draft spots available and 350+ other schools that would love to even get one player drafted.

Coach Williams: Large number of returning players should lead to highest level of B1G overall success 4 returning starters give us confidence + 4 other contributors + Top 25 recruiting class A lot of reasons to be excited for the program Team has embraced internal competition & believes in hard work Want to be hardest working, grittiest & most competitive team on the court Staff has been with me a long time, and they know what works for us here Watching NCAA is not as enjoyable when we're not in it March Madness is exciting, but it's far more special when we're in it Was a transition period when I took over, but we tried to embrace history & tradition & what Yori did for the program Always want to raise the bar and build on what happened in the past Hard to put into words the B1G Network's growing support of women's athletics & hoops Grateful that Kevin Warren understands the importance of growing the women's game & puts actions behind his word

Fran looks like he'd rather be anywhere other than this press conference. Literally, anywhere.

Alright alright alright

I think the media is ranking Wisky (roster losses, bad culture) and Iowa (roster losses, idiot coach) too high. They're also rating NW too low, Cats have the second most returning minutes behind Purdue and an easy noncon to build momentum. They were young last year and lost a lot of close games. I think we could finish as high as 7th. if Indiana doesn't adjust well to a new coach and Rutgers' offense is more anemic than usual.

Mentally I have him somewhere between Khyri Thomas and Elijah Wood, which is a pretty big range. Hope we got a guy who is up and coming as opposed to someone who had a really good weekend when we saw him.

I am pretty sure he wants a shot at the NBA. If he leaves we probably had a really good year.

seems to be a pretty good athlete, aggressive to the basket and active on defense. I truly think after traudt committed to Virginia it was we’ll get any forward we can. Kohler was a long shot from some of the stuff he’d said in interviews. To me personally I think this kid and green were pretty interchangeable when I watch both players films and most people seemed okay with a green commitment. Gotta think their is going to be attrition next year as well and they don’t want to leave open scholarships this year if they don’t have to. Either way this year we just wanted to get some pieces in place and then really start commuting our top 3-4 hard for 2023.

No!! I can no longer control my runaway expectations!! THIS YEAR is the start of something BIG. Fred will 'turn the corner' and have the Huskers in the top half of the conference for years to come. I love the quality and quantity of talent in this year's freshman class (McGowens, *Edwards, *Wilcher, *Andre, Breidenbach, Kojenets, and McPherson). I love the direction of our recruiting classes (Keita and Lloyd for next year). We have legitimate chances at 5-star recruits in future years. Yes!! I can no longer control my runaway expectations and nothing you say will change my mind. Fred and the basketball team will be equal to Bob Devaney and the football program that he built.

Picking back up on this topic. The projected starters this year/starters last year: Derrick/Derrick Lat/Lat Trey/Trey Bryce/Teddy Alonzo/Dalano The three returning starters should, of course, be incrementally better than they were a year ago. A year stronger. A year more experienced. A year more familiar with the system. A year more developed in their skill. Etc. Those might be minor, marginal improvements in each category, but they should still produce an overall better player. I will say that I suspect Trey's shooting numbers from a year ago might have been an aberration. He's a low-volume perimeter shooter who had an uncharacteristically good 3-pt% a year ago. Don't be surprised if that drops back a couple percentage points this year, but it won't matter because a) he's a low-volume perimeter shooter and b) we have plenty of other guys this year to pick up the slack. I don't expect Bryce to put up the offensive numbers Teddy did but he'll probably be a better fit in terms of overall game and buy-in. Dalano is an NBA-level guard now, but he wasn't that so much for us a year ago. Verge is a more explosive athlete and his game is probably more suited to play primary ball handler in this program than Dalano's was. Still, you're subtracting an NBA-caliber player from the lineup. So, comparing starting lineups this year vs. last year, you probably don't look at that and think, wow, we're gonna be so much better. On paper, it might even be somewhat of a push, although there's a lot of potential that it could be a much more successful combination of parts. But then compare the subs. Subs this year/subs last year: Kobe/Kobe Trevor/Trevor Eduardo/Eduardo Yeah. That's probably not moving your needle much either, is it? Kobe might be a *little* better than a year ago, but he's probably close to his ceiling. Sounds like Trevor is healthy and shooting lights out, but we haven't seen him prove it in a game. Eduardo put on 20 pounds, and he really ought to be light years ahead of where he was when he emerged from his bout with Covid last year, but it sounds like he still has a ways to go. But, if that's not moving your needle, how about this: Keisei/Thor CJ/Shamiel Wilhelm/Yvan Keon/Elijah Quran/Nobody Oleg/Nobody I understand that a lot of those guys will get not much more than garbage minutes. There are only so many minutes to go around and we are NOT going to go 14 deep. I get that completely. But here's why it matters: Last year, we had a top 6. And then a BIG drop off in talent after that. I don't think anyone outside the top 6 last year was realistically contending for a starting spot. This year, the starters will need to keep an eye over their shoulders because there will be other players challenging for their minutes. And maybe even their starting jobs. But that challenge isn't likely to come from our returning bench. No, our returning subs who were rotation players a year ago are at risk of being relegated to the end of the bench in favor of guys like Keisei, CJ and Wilhelm, who all have tools that will almost certainly help them see the floor and maybe even get them out there for the opening tip. If Lat hasn't stepped up his overall game, for example, I bet Wilhelm would be more than willing to jump into that starting lineup in his place. Or CJ. And, if you're any of our backcourt starters, you better bring some offense to the table and not be a liability elsewhere, because Keisei can shoot it and he's probably not going to do anything to hurt you in other aspects of his game. The talent level drops off at some point, but that point is a lot further down the bench this year than it was a year ago. There probably isn't a single starter whose job is so secure that he has no fear of losing it to one of our newcomers. And that simply wasn't the case a year ago.

They forgot to mention that CBS and Turner Sports will broadcast the NCAA Tournament again this year, so that's another six games, as well as the three we'll play in the B1G Tournament.

13-17.