Red Rum

Up until this point I think we were content to not fill it if we didn't find enough freshmen/transfers. If Tarin Smith and Bakari represent end of the roster lottery tickets, do we want to use that last schollie for a JUCO? Another lottery ticket? The ability to pick up a mid-season transfer? It seems like the answer so far has been flexibility. In hindsight it seems like we should have been streaming JUCO big men for the entire Miles era. If we had a junior JUCO big man last year doing the JUCO junior year struggle to this level of play, would we have the post player we need for this year? Would that have come at the expense of developing Jacobson/Morrow? Perhaps I'm overthinking things. I'd have to timeline it a bit more but off the top of my head we end up with an empty scholarship because we're trying to fill the roster exactly the way we want and missing on some guys while everyone else is filling their musical chairs. At what point do we compromise? Lots of valid points here. Basketball recruiting is so much different than football (yes I know I sound like a broken record). AAU really changes things up. In football, most players are limited to their high school teams. If a star athlete is playing at your position, you can either wait your turn or move to another position. I always think of Quincy Enuwa in this scenario. Quincy was buried on an incredible team with 4 and 5 star talents a year ahead of him. When Quincy committed to Nebraska, the ratings services had nothing on him because there was little, if any, tape. By the time Quincy finished his senior year, Nebraska had a 3/4 star WR commit. With basketball, players can move to another AAU team (or in some cases create their own) in the event far superior athletes are keeping them off the floor. As a result, players are fairly well evaluated/slotted by their senior years. Consequently, coaches try to have their "Plan A" guys sign in November. The November signees, for the most part, are known commodities. Normally, you see a ton of high level guys sign, but a few of the really highly rated guys wait until spring for various reasons. However most of the highly rated guys who wait narrow down their list to major schools like Kansas, Duke, Kentucky, etc. The spring guys are usually a collection of JUCOs, high school guys who feel they were undervalued (and are looking for more/better opportunities), and international players (Jordy) who were not very well scouted. I look at JUCO guys like role players. They should be fully developed with a clearly defined skill set that would fit a need. While there are JUCO superstars who come in to dominate college basketball (Steve Francis), those are few and far between. I am a bit surprised that Miles has not brought in JUCOs, but I have noticed that JUCO coaches seem to be a very tight nit group and some of the best talent tends to be funneled to specific schools where there is a connection (Doc had these types of connections and used them too regularly). The undervalued high school players also seem to be role players, at best. Some of them are like Tarin Smith, who was buried behind better talent in high school. Others are like Evelyn who transferred and got lost in the shuffle. Others are late bloomers who suddenly grow 6" between their junior and senior years. After watching how players pan out, I do not put a lot of hope in this group. They are known commodities. If Nebraska was to take in one of these players, I would go with a late bloomer. Let them redshirt a year and develop. However, many of these kids want to play now (which is usually why they held out to spring for other offers). If we were to take the lottery ticket approach, I would go after the international kids like Jordy who started playing basketball in North America within the last 2-3 years. They are raw and have more of an opportunity for growth. Finally, I looked up 5 of the most discussed Center recruits under Miles who did not sign and the results were a bit of a surprise. Matthew Attwe: Spring Signee. He was essentially last big man remaining at the time. He signed with Auburn over Nebraska and then transferred. I am not sure why he did not acrue any stats in 2015-2016. http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/66246/matthew-atewe Dusan Ristic. Spring Signee. If memory serve correct, he was a Nebraska lean until Arizona had scholarship opening as a result of draft departures. The guy is a backup at Arizona. http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/3134882/dusan-ristic Djery Baptiste. November Signee. Redshirted last year. http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/3911624/djery-baptiste Elbert Robinson. November Signee. Backup in two years at LSU http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/3136215/elbert-robinson-iii Mike Edwards. Spring Signee. Averaged 16.4 points in first year as a true frosh. http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/3914271/mike-edwards All of these guys except Baptiste had Nebraska in their top 2-3 (Baptiste may have, but I cannot find anything which supports that belief). Looking at those guys, none have been huge players and Robinson may be considered a bust. Mike Edwards may turn out to be the best of the bunch. It shows just how hard it can be to really evaluate players at times. All of these guys were 3 stars or better. (BTW, how is it that we have lost so many recruiting battles to the SEC?) Bag men. Kuzo Kudzu, man, it's kudzu. Sorry spelling isn't my thing and I was in a hurry to get that one in.

Up until this point I think we were content to not fill it if we didn't find enough freshmen/transfers. If Tarin Smith and Bakari represent end of the roster lottery tickets, do we want to use that last schollie for a JUCO? Another lottery ticket? The ability to pick up a mid-season transfer? It seems like the answer so far has been flexibility. In hindsight it seems like we should have been streaming JUCO big men for the entire Miles era. If we had a junior JUCO big man last year doing the JUCO junior year struggle to this level of play, would we have the post player we need for this year? Would that have come at the expense of developing Jacobson/Morrow? Perhaps I'm overthinking things. I'd have to timeline it a bit more but off the top of my head we end up with an empty scholarship because we're trying to fill the roster exactly the way we want and missing on some guys while everyone else is filling their musical chairs. At what point do we compromise? Lots of valid points here. Basketball recruiting is so much different than football (yes I know I sound like a broken record). AAU really changes things up. In football, most players are limited to their high school teams. If a star athlete is playing at your position, you can either wait your turn or move to another position. I always think of Quincy Enuwa in this scenario. Quincy was buried on an incredible team with 4 and 5 star talents a year ahead of him. When Quincy committed to Nebraska, the ratings services had nothing on him because there was little, if any, tape. By the time Quincy finished his senior year, Nebraska had a 3/4 star WR commit. With basketball, players can move to another AAU team (or in some cases create their own) in the event far superior athletes are keeping them off the floor. As a result, players are fairly well evaluated/slotted by their senior years. Consequently, coaches try to have their "Plan A" guys sign in November. The November signees, for the most part, are known commodities. Normally, you see a ton of high level guys sign, but a few of the really highly rated guys wait until spring for various reasons. However most of the highly rated guys who wait narrow down their list to major schools like Kansas, Duke, Kentucky, etc. The spring guys are usually a collection of JUCOs, high school guys who feel they were undervalued (and are looking for more/better opportunities), and international players (Jordy) who were not very well scouted. I look at JUCO guys like role players. They should be fully developed with a clearly defined skill set that would fit a need. While there are JUCO superstars who come in to dominate college basketball (Steve Francis), those are few and far between. I am a bit surprised that Miles has not brought in JUCOs, but I have noticed that JUCO coaches seem to be a very tight nit group and some of the best talent tends to be funneled to specific schools where there is a connection (Doc had these types of connections and used them too regularly). The undervalued high school players also seem to be role players, at best. Some of them are like Tarin Smith, who was buried behind better talent in high school. Others are like Evelyn who transferred and got lost in the shuffle. Others are late bloomers who suddenly grow 6" between their junior and senior years. After watching how players pan out, I do not put a lot of hope in this group. They are known commodities. If Nebraska was to take in one of these players, I would go with a late bloomer. Let them redshirt a year and develop. However, many of these kids want to play now (which is usually why they held out to spring for other offers). If we were to take the lottery ticket approach, I would go after the international kids like Jordy who started playing basketball in North America within the last 2-3 years. They are raw and have more of an opportunity for growth. Finally, I looked up 5 of the most discussed Center recruits under Miles who did not sign and the results were a bit of a surprise. Matthew Attwe: Spring Signee. He was essentially last big man remaining at the time. He signed with Auburn over Nebraska and then transferred. I am not sure why he did not acrue any stats in 2015-2016. http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/66246/matthew-atewe Dusan Ristic. Spring Signee. If memory serve correct, he was a Nebraska lean until Arizona had scholarship opening as a result of draft departures. The guy is a backup at Arizona. http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/3134882/dusan-ristic Djery Baptiste. November Signee. Redshirted last year. http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/3911624/djery-baptiste Elbert Robinson. November Signee. Backup in two years at LSU http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/3136215/elbert-robinson-iii Mike Edwards. Spring Signee. Averaged 16.4 points in first year as a true frosh. http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/3914271/mike-edwards All of these guys except Baptiste had Nebraska in their top 2-3 (Baptiste may have, but I cannot find anything which supports that belief). Looking at those guys, none have been huge players and Robinson may be considered a bust. Mike Edwards may turn out to be the best of the bunch. It shows just how hard it can be to really evaluate players at times. All of these guys were 3 stars or better. (BTW, how is it that we have lost so many recruiting battles to the SEC?) Bag men. Kuzo

By the way I love Fuller, good glue guy, good energy. Sorry he didn't turn out like everyone hoped. Depth-wise this obviously sucks but judging from the spot minutes I saw this isn't going to be a killer blow. He had potential but so did Fuller.

Sweet....more Fuller time......

I got tired of losing the bracket challenge to someone's kid or the secretary so I quit filling them out too. I'd always get the argument that if I filled one out then I would have someone to rout for in every game. I told them it's not hard for me to find someone to rout against in every game. same thing. If the NCAA is concerned about attendance, maybe they shouldn't be charging an arm and a leg to sit in a football stadium and watch basketball.

will they be allowed to wear shoes or just socks?

nm

Dang it you beat me by 3 minutes... but I guess you win some, you lose some...

Dude, that Watson kid is pretty good at basketball you guys.......(I left my calculator at home)

I feel like you could start all your posts with "this may not be a very popular opinion"

4. Did anyone catch this coming out of a break: I believe the quote was something like "and our halftime entertainment, a spinning man with a dog on his back" (not actual footage of last night)

1. It was good to see Petteway at the game last night. 2. I'm sure we are all in agreement that was the team we wanted to see all season. 3. I think I like the whites much better than I like the red unis, but if I have to see them in red like 3 more times, I'd live with it.

Ok after a day of soaking up Husker Baseball at the home opener yesterday....I'm not ready to move on yet. Lets get a coupe wins can we?

First, maybe he freaked out because of the article and had to do something. Right? RIGHT?!?? If it was all a dream then this thread is the embodiment of my relationship with Nebrasketball. First there is a glimmer of hope. Then there is more than a glimmer and when you think it might actually turn into what you knew it could be.....the rug gets pulled out from under you. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't change it for the world. I am, it seems, a glutton for punishment. please be some kind of inception dream inside of a dream inside of a dream. You can still transfer here, i won't hate you.

I feel like we were having this exact same Hammond discussion a few years....only it was about Ubel. Oh and Benny, and probably every other kid someone thought should not be allowed to wear a Husker jersey.

Well let's roll up our sleeves...

While we may get our butts handed to us next year...it's better than playing Deleware St IMO. Yes! There's a chance you come out with a win @ KU... I like that small chance better than coming out with a loss @ Home to a team like Samford. Sure...a "chance" at a win, LOL. Bill Self has more Big 12 regular season conference championships than he does home losses in his tenure at KU. They also hold the current longest home court winning streak in NCAA Div I. Nebraska will be going in to that game at about #100 in KenPom. KU is currently KenPom #1. But yeah. We got a chance... My only hope is they don't decide to do to us what they did to Colorado a couple years ago, just because they can. Don't care. I'm still going. Ya me too. Lawrence is a cool town. I guess Allen Fieldhouse is ok, whatever....

In all seriousness I don't hate them. I kind of like the home whites. Although I will reserve judgment until I see them in action. I thought the tire tread's of Miami and Michigan looked dumb until I saw them. They kind of grew on me. Hopefully we'll see these more than the minimum 1 postseason game.

Those shorts remind me of something....

I was about halfway threw the second page before I realized this was an old thread. Jokes on me.

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/100989/who-wears-short-shorts-st-johns-big-man-chris-obekpa-does There's also a guy at Louisville that shoots his free throws granny style.

Sorry, I couldn't decide which one I liked better.