Jacob Padilla

I worked up some projected Big Ten depth charts based on what I know, exhibition box scores, etc.

You're correct. There is no "over the back" foul, but the act of going over someone's back (thus creating contact) is still a foul. Just like "reach" isn't a foul, but the act of reaching in on a ball-handler and making contact on the arms is a foul. "Over the back" and "reach" are just the common way to refer to those fouls because that's what it looks like. As for carrying, it is not mentioned in the public rules for the NBA. The act we call carrying would seemingly fall under the double-dribble or traveling rules. Don't know about lower levels.

Indeed he was. Kid is a freak athlete. He and CJ Johnson (Wyoming, Clester Johnson's son) were a heck of a duo out wide for the Thunderbirds.

My expectations are that Allen will come in and spell Watson for stretches, perhaps playing alongside another ball-handler like Taylor or Palmer. He'll come in, knock down a few shots and probably have a double-digit game every now and then. That alone would be a huge upgrade for this team compared to what they've had coming off the bench behind their point guards recently. Anything more than that is just gravy.

Emporia State also has a local player on the team, Bellevue West product Malik Hluchoweckyj. He started at Miami (OH) before transferring to Emporia. He scored 8 points in that game. They also have a kid from Omaha North named Tyrell Carroll who is committed there.

You can't make big-time decisions out of fear of a player transferring. Miles is going to do what he needs to do to give them the best chance to win this season. There are certainly ways to handle guys (for instance, some players may not react well to redshirting even if they aren't in the regular rotation; some guys need that carrot to stay engaged), but if you're deciding rotation spots based on players holding that transfer over the coach's head as a threat rather than who is the best fit, then your program is in a bad place. Allen is going to play a significant role this season. If that still isn't enough for him, then the coaches probably didn't do a great job of vetting his character before bringing him in. It's also a tad early to declare him the best freshman ever. Glynn Watson was pretty well-regarded going into his freshman year and eventually earned his way into the starting lineup. Let's see if Allen can string together a few good games in a row against D-I competition before crowning him.

Fun fact: They played Fort Hays State, who has a kid from Lincoln High on the team. KeShawn Wilson won a Juco D-II National Championship last year and is in his first year with FHSU.

Just looking at box scores, in two exhibition games with Valpo, Evelyn has 19 points in 53 minutes, is 0-4 on 3s and has 10 assists to 9 turnovers. Pretty much backs up what he did in his garbage time minutes with Nebraska, no? Can't shoot and turns the ball over a ton.

They're not really similar players at all. Trueblood is a slasher and Costello is a shooter. Johnny had a more prolific high school career. As a senior he averaged 23 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists for a state title team (Costello averaged 11 points for that squad as a sophomore). Last year, Costello put up 19, 4 and 4. Costello is a more explosive scorer who can catch fire like few others (had a 39-point game last year where he shot 9-11 from 3). He's a little bit bouncier than Johnny is, but Trueblood is longer. Trueblood holds the school scoring record I beleive and had a 40+-point game, and he's more consistent and craftier. Trueblood could have played D-II if he wanted to (but thought he was D-I). Costello's only offer (which I still don't understand) was NAIA Benedictine.

So far. There's still one scholarship open, right?

I've seen one game and studied two box scores. Hard to know at this point what Palmer will be on average. Are these two games Palmer at his peak? Or are they just typical performances? The fact that he got to the foul line a ton when his 3-pointer wasn't falling in the ISU game is certainly a good sign for his ability to score consistently. I'll put it this way: Biased I may be, I'll take Thomas and Foster over Taylor and Palmer any day of the week. I think Foster will be able to score better against Taylor's defense than Palmer will against Thomas', and I'll take Thomas' scoring over Taylor's by far. Toss in Watson and Mintz/Joseph and the equation becomes a bit more even, however. I think this year's game has the potential to be a lot of fun.

This is accurate. I was saying Allen isn't only a 3-point shooter.

His jumper isn't just good from deep. He can shoot off the dribble as well as the catch; has that mid-range game in his arsenal. The tough part for most young, small guards is figuring out how to finish in the lane against length and athleticism. It will be interesting to see how he does in that area early on.

If he's injured it's something relatively new. Some kids just have a harder time transitioning to college than others.

Iowa State lost its top 4 scorers. There were only 4 guys from last year's squad who played in the scrimmage, three of which were actually rotation players. They added a pair of 4-star recruits in Wiggington and Lewis a transfer who shot under 40% at UTSA last year in Beverly. Lard was a fringe top-150 recruit who redshirted last year. That's everyone who played in the scrimmage. Iowa State has some pieces, but I think it would be safe to project a down year compared to where they've been, and the squad that played against Nebraska wasn't even full strength. KenPom is going to be generous this time of year because of how good the team was last year.

I was told by a little birdie that Roby may or may not have ruthlessly posterized some poor Cyclone.

Talk to Norm about that. As for Copeland, hard to take away too much from that exhibition as I'm sure he's working off some rust but that 3-point shot is something to keep an eye on. He's going to take them. They went in as a freshman but didn't as a sophomore. Hard to tell what kind of a shooter he really is.

What bleujay said. The hamstring has been nagging Joseph for a while. I was honestly surprised he played in the exhibition, but I guess that's a good sign. Contrary to what all these national writers seem to think, he certainly hasn't earned the starting point guard job, even before the injury. It's still a work in progress. I like Mintz's talent still and Mitch Ballock is a brilliant passer for an off-guard, so three-guard lineups with him, Thomas and Foster could work out quite well for Creighton. But it's certainly a bigger question for the team right now even than center is I think, where Manny Suarez actually looked competent against Omaha (competition aside), Krampelj played well against Minnesota and Hegner seemed to move around pretty well in the exhibition after undergoing surgery during the offseason.

I know you guys don't want any Creighton on this board but even Justin Patton, who was a first round pick after one year of playing, redshirted first and he absolutely needed to. Redshirting allows a player to make much more progress during the season in terms of building up his body (and learning the mental side of the game) than playing would. It's hard to focus on those sorts of things if you're worried about preparing for the next opponent. I covered Patton in high school and I said all along redshirting would be the best thing for him, and I don't believe he would have been as good as quickly as he was if he had played and been the third center his first year. On a related note, it will be interesting to see how Miles handles Brady Heiman next year.

I wouldn't expect him to redshirt. Like I (and others) have said, the most likely scenario is a Jeriah Horne type of role. He'll get some minutes here and there if the situation calls for it but he won't be part of the regular rotation. He has a lot of work to do.

They're not starting that until 2019-20, though. The Big Ten is starting next season. I'm not a big fan of this as I really like games between big-time teams from different conferences. The extra conference games aren't going to take the place of the cupcakes, they're going to replace the home-and-home games like throwback spelled out. And it's not like a game is guaranteed to be a good one just because it's a conference game. There are bad teams at the bottom of every conference and those teams have to play someone. So I don't buy the "strengthening scheduling" as a real reason behind this move.

Wasn't a good fit. They recruited over him and his PT went down instead of up as a sophomore (and the 'Canes went to the Sweet 16 that year I believe anyway, so they were pretty stacked). Miles said Miami wanted to keep him but he felt like a change was best for him.

Well, they hired the father of the two 5-star players and the 4-stars followed the first 5-star. That's another way to bring in top talent except it is actually legal: just hire their relatives.

A glue guy doesn't have to be a guy with limited talent. A glue guy is the player that makes lineups come together (thus the "glue" part of the name). He makes hustle plays and does the little things. Moving the ball, crashing the glass, taking on tough defensive assignments. That describes what Roby did last year. Roby is certainly capable of all of that. But you can't honestly have watched last season and claim that is what he was. He had the highest TO% on the team and shot under 45% inside the arc. To say that he excels at every area of the game outside of 3-point shooting at this stage in his career simply is not correct. I was really high on Roby when the Huskers signed him and I remain so even after last year, but you can be excited about what he's capable of without thinking he's great right at this moment. Because he wasn't last year and he hasn't played a game yet this season.

That's a little harsh. It's fair to project Roby as being more than that, but last year he showed potential as a defender and rebounder and his offense looked very unrefined. That sounds like a glue guy. Some of that had to do with the injury before the season, sure, but he needs to make major improvement from last year in order to be more than a glue guy or solid rotation player this year. It's certainly possible that he does that, but we have't seen it happen yet.