Donkey

1. Projected 3 home losses (MSU, Purdue, Creighton). Need to win 2 of those. 2. Maryland/Rutgers on the road (both). 3. Don't lose any game by more than 9 points (point differential killed the rankings last year).

From what I have been told, Hoiberg may be ready to retire. I can easily see it being a mutual decision. Who would take over is a complete unknown; however, I would love to see LaVall Jordan as the coach. He has BIG experience as an assistant and has 5 seasons in the Big East.

Indifferent. If the team is dancing at the end of the year, I could care less about individual stats.

I was told this week Banton was expected to come off the bench to run the offense. When Banton left, Verge was brought in to cover Banton's role. Kobe will be sliding down the bench. Expect Trey, Verge, and Kobe to be running the offense this season. Also, Verge will only stay one year and ensures more scholarships for next year.

I keep hearing about Breidenbach having a role. It sounds like he is rebounding from his injury well. With the exception of Bryce and Trey, it sounds like the starters and rotation will be match up based. I love the depth on this team.

Tominaga will be one of the first guys off the bench. His shooting will open up the offense. Tominaga isn’t coming to redshirt. I don’t see Kobe’s minutes going up. If anything, he may play less with the new talent coming in.

I said Walker was not a lock, but Andre is not a lock either. I do think Andre could be the starter if his development continues at the current rate. Bryce and Trey are locks unless something unforeseen happens. If Edwards comes, he will play. I would not be surprised to see another 6’8/6’9 3/4 come in. I see Kobe coming in off the bench.

There is no particular, specific need for the remaining scholarships. Best guess would be a taller Wilcher who would be a matchup nightmare at the 3 and could play the 4 if necessary. I think that is why Keon Edwards met with the staff recently. I was told all of the remaining scholarships had to go to guys who could contribute on day 1. Then, Kojenets committed with the understanding he would redshirt. Kojenets (Mayen) and Bieta (Walker) could fill specific roles in 2022-2023 with Kojenets having the ability to grow into a (Mayen/Walker) role later on. Banton is a good kid but has now had 2 years in the program and had one year to sit out and work on his game. He played under a very good coach in Rick Stansburry at WKU. If Banton has not developed his perimeter shot by now, when? Anything is possible, but his time is running out.

From what I have been told, Walker is not a lock at the 5 as the staff loves what Andre can do. The idea of Banton at the 4 is not unthinkable; however, the staff wants a stretch 4 on the court to open the offense (hence Mayen, Briedenbach, and Kojenets). Banton does not fit that role with Walker or Andre on the court (unless one of them pulls a Brooke Lopez). Bryce and Trey will be the starters. The plan is to build the team around Bryce and Wilcher is a very good complementary piece to Bryce and Trey. There is a reason why you keep hearing about combo guards talking to the staff and not a true PG. Having guys like Bryce, Trey, Wilcher, Banton move the ball around and run the offense depending on match ups makes the offense very dangerous. Then having a guy like Tominaga come off the bench whenever Bryce, Trey, or Wilcher sit down; wow. Mayen should also be very motivated. NBA scouts have seen him at practice and were very interested. He has a lot to prove and now has a legitimate back up who could unseat him. I am a little worried about the defense if Doc leaves. I guess there is legitimate interest between Doc and UTEP.

I would be very surprised if Banton starts. The original expectation was Banton would go pro in this upcoming draft, but shooting and other issues surfaced. The staff really wants Banton to excel but feels he is better off the bench. If Banton can calm down during the game, the offense will be a lot better especially the second unit. I could see Banton as a point-forward 3-4 coming off the bench to run the offense when Bryce or Trey come off the court (which would allow Hoiberg to play some of the 3pt shooters on the bench). I am very interested to see who will fill the last scholarship spot. Assuming Trey, Bryce, and CJ are likely going to be starters with Kobe, Banton, Tominaga, and Lakes on the second unit, I wonder what Hoiberg has in mind for the last spot. Whoever is taken will be someone who is expected to play.

Everything I have been told is that Breidenbach is expected to play Day 1. Mayen is expected to start, but he will be pulled if the shots are not falling. Both are expected to be stretch 4s so Bryce has room to make plays.

1. Expect the open scholarships to go to transfers unless a high school player is an immediate contributor, e.g. no taking flyers like previous years on guys like Wood or Andre (although Andre was a good pickup). 2. Correct me if I am wrong but didn't Andre go to the same school as Tyty? 3. Breidenbach will play exclusively at the 4. Expect Walker/Andre at the 5. 4. Shef Smith could run the point (along with a few other guys who could transfer in).

Marion’s attitude/toughness was very underrated. I am not sure Roby will ever get to Marion’s level.

I watched that game on NET. I think Benson had 2-3 kids with D1 scholarships that year. Didn’t Hastings have a post player who had a low D1 scholarship? I remember Hastings playing hard but Benson was just dominating.

Jacob Hammond spent a year there.

To be fair, no one cared when Deverell Biggs, Sergej Vucetic, Nick Fuller, Nathan Hawkins, Tarin Smith, Jacob Hammond, Jack McVeigh, Jordy Tshminga, and Bakari Evelyn left. That is an average of slightly more than 1 player a year leaving. Most people were upset when Walter Pitchford, Andrew White, Ed Morrow, Michael Jacobson, and Jeriah Horne left. Its one thing where a player leaves when it is clear his playing time will be limited. Its another when the player will be getting high minutes and still chooses to leave. With Hoiberg I expect more people leaving who fall into the former category instead of the latter.

I am not worried about height. Hoiberg does pretty good with length and athleticism. As for scholarships, Hoiberg will have 3 available next year. You do not want too much roster turnover each year. Plus, it would not surprise me if 1-2 kids leave a year under Hoiberg (which is not much different than Miles' normal turnover).

Or Thor leaves or . . .

I get the impression Hoiberg does not see Burke or Green as a PG in his offense. I could see a Mack, Green, Burke back court with Cheatham and Harris spelling the 1-2 spots. At the 4, I could see Hoiberg using a 6-6/6-7 guy. The roster already has Nana, Thor, and Davis but I see Nana (who is a great fit in Hoiberg's offense) going and have no clue regarding Thor (but I have heard for some time he has been contemplating leaving, even before Miles' seat got hot). Notice that the 3 transfer who visited last weekend were all 6-8/6-9 PFs (although one did play SF at UNLV)? Also, I took note that all 3 could potential play in 2019-2020 (the UNLV guys had a coaching change and the NCAA has been allowing players to transfer without sitting out, and the other guy would be eligible in January). If the UNLV guys were to come, I could see those two with Roby being pretty solid at the 4/5 spots. I have no clue, but Gates was his lead recruiter.

Well looky here: http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/26487509/nba-union-talk-end-one-done Some good analysis on one-and-dones. We could see/hear something in the next 2 months because this policy change affects future drafts and potential tradable assets in the 2019 draft.

It is very common for NBA teams to promise a player he will be drafted. However, another common practice is for a team to tell a player he is one of three players they hope to draft. I know of a few players who took that promise as a guarantee they will be drafted and were waiting for the call after the draft was over. The best barometer for Roby is to see how many meetings he takes after the combine and the more meetings the better for Nebraska. Teams who promise to draft players also require the players to not take meetings with other teams. Usually, the teams and players have already worked out contract terms (there is no guaranteed salary for 2nd rounders which allows both sides to negotiate contracts) when the promise is made. Some of the non-lottery first round picks are receiving the same promises from teams. as well, especially if the team wants to send the player to the G League for further development (e.g. OKC and Roberson). If Roby takes a lot of meetings after the combine, and there are other players at those meetings; I think it would be wise for Roby to come back. BTW looks like Gates is stay:

The NBA Combine is May 15-19, hence May 29. I can see the NBA being concerned with allowing undrafted student-athletes to return to college. Bird was selected by the Boston Celtics with the sixth overall pick in the 1978 NBA draft.[15] He did not sign with the Celtics immediately; instead, he played out his final season at Indiana State and led the Sycamores to the NCAA title game. Red Auerbach publicly stated that he would not pay Bird more than any Celtic on the current roster, but Bird's agent bluntly told Red that Bird would reject any sub-market offers and simply enter the 1979 NBA Draft instead, where Boston's rights would expire the second the draft began and Bird would have been the likely top pick. After protracted negotiations, Bird inked a five-year, $3.25 million contract with the team, making him the highest paid rookie in league history at the time.[8][17] Shortly afterwards, NBA draft eligibility rules were changed to prevent teams from drafting players before they were ready to sign, a rule known as the Bird Collegiate Rule.[17] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Bird#cite_note-big-three-57-17

Every day hearing something new. The most consistent rumor is Gates staying. No inside information, but I would not be surprised if that happened. Let's be fair though. Hoiberg has his main recruiter signed, sealed, delivered. The other assistants will be beneficial but will not likely provide an immediate impact unless they are bringing a big name with them (and none of the names floated have that). Nana is gone. See his twitter page. Its just not official. Thor has been rumored to be weighing a professional offer from an Icelandic team. Roby has until May 29 to make a decision. No inside information, but I can only see him leaving if he gets a guarantee. However, May 29 may be too early for teams to be making that kind of a commitment for a 1st rounder (but not necessarily 2nd rounder). The best projections I have seen over the last 6 months had Roby in the mid-high teens. However, that was in December. The more recent ones have Roby in the 40s. Jervay is the only one who matters of the 2019 recruits. Even if Miles were retained, this team was going to be gutted as it was losing 4 seniors, Roby was going to test the NBA waters, Allen (likely) and Nana (definitely) were gone, Thor was already looking around, and there was already 1 open scholarship. That was only 4 players likely returning in the fall assuming even with Miles staying. Hoiberg was going to recruit over Mika (hence his decommitment). We may not know until they are seen on the sidelines. I have heard a rumor of a highly rated PG already in tow (definitely not Mack). No confirmation yet. See above. See above. Let's assume Thor and Roby stay, but Heiman redshirts next year for a total of 7 available scholarships. That leaves 5 players available to play next year with Davis coming off a serious injury. Hoiberg would need 1 PG and 2 bigs to realistically play next year. Akol is projected to be a 3 primarily and a 4 in smaller lineups. Assuming Jervay could run the point during, Hoiberg would still need 2 bigs. That would leave 3 scholarships for sit-out contractors.

You mean the most “appreciative.”

Maybe he hurt his back while exercising in bed but did not realize it until he got up. ?