Chuck Taylor

Things were going to be different every year except the 2014-2015 season. Things were supposed to be the same that year, but it turned out they really were different.

This is PEAK CHEMISTRY season where someone always says that the group is tighter than the prior season.  Heck, at least we have enough continuity to be able to compare.

Josiah Dotzler with offer from UNO.

I'm not exactly Little Miss Sunshine, but I don't see how we can't win 6:
Maine, UNO, APB, one game at the ESPN, BC at home and Queens. I'd say we have a shot at K-State too.

Alas, I would give just about anything to see our Huskers realize a similar level of hoops success as the Hawkeyes.

(but still, F them)

Too bad he never knew that.

That really makes it hurt, considering what we’ve done with that talent vs what they have done.

A bit of a nutshell that Keisei is a situational player and his playing time should be dependent on a combination of 
- Is he 'feeling it'
- Is the other team exploiting him
 

 
 
Besides him being more experienced, I think that being paired with bigger guys like Griesel and Lloyd at PG instead of Verge and Webster makes his lack of size easier to hide on the court. Speaking of experienced, he's 1 of the 7 guys on the roster with D-1 experience so I'd expect a role for him at the beginning of the season.

Keisei hitting 8 3 pointers and his team losing by 14 has me ready for year 4.
 
 

I have no idea what kind of a player he is, but I saw him at the Special Olympics Camp and I can say with certainty he is an absolutely great person.

Surprised Wilcher isn't in the first 5, not a lot of shooting there. I'm OK with playing in the 50s and 60s, since we're not going to shoot anybody out of the gym.

Oh, gonna play the logic card, huh? 😀

Bryce tried to be the focal point many-a-times and we still looked bad. 

He used to carry his guitar in a gunny sack.  😉
 
 

In Lat's defense, he never got to play against Nebraska in a game, which would have brought his 3-pt FG% up dramatically.

Tough to say no to joining a staff that has had assistants jump to head coaching jobs each of the last few years, a better program, and pay bump.

Also probably likely that a major part of Dana’s sell was, “hey remember when Miles hired you to recruit? You can come here and recruit for the first time in 4 years.”

I'm not seeing a Ron Harper Jr., Geo Baker or Clifford Omoruyi on our roster. 

I appreciate the sentiment that we just need to play hard and as a team, but I can't think of one Big Ten team that doesn't already have that as an expectation. That might get us to 12-14 wins, if we're good at home, but not much higher.
 
So it comes down to talent, and I don't see one guy on the roster who can make an all-conference team. Walker, Wilcher or Kensei? Nope. The transfers? Gary and Bando weren't close to all conference level where they were, Sam was but in much lower league. The new guys? I'd be happy with any of them as a solid performer.
 
So at this point we're pinning our hopes on "But (fill in blank) can really make a big jump!" 

I appreciate the sentiment that we just need to play hard and as a team, but I can't think of one Big Ten team that doesn't already have that as an expectation. That might get us to 12-14 wins, if we're good at home, but not much higher.
 
So it comes down to talent, and I don't see one guy on the roster who can make an all-conference team. Walker, Wilcher or Kensei? Nope. The transfers? Gary and Bando weren't close to all conference level where they were, Sam was but in much lower league. The new guys? I'd be happy with any of them as a solid performer.
 
So at this point we're pinning our hopes on "But (fill in blank) can really make a big jump!" 

Griesel, Gary and Bandoumel are most likely to start, (with Walker and Wilcher) so they're the top 3.
 
Sam was our only ranked transfer, ranked 88th in 247's transfer rankings:
https://247sports.com/LongFormArticle/College-basketball-transfer-portal-player-rankings-2022-247Sports-187173346/
82 on Watchstadium:
https://watchstadium.com/the-top-75-college-basketball-transfers-for-2022-23-04-14-2022/
Unranked in On3:
https://www.on3.com/transfer-portal/top/basketball/2022/
So by default, he must be No. 1. 
 
Gary was a part-time starter for a good Alabama team. Bando was the 4th leading scorer on a decent SMU team. So tossup.
 
I honestly don't see Blaise and Walker on the floor at the same time, but Blaise will have more impact than the freshman guards, who all will be backups and likely getting fewer minutes than Kensei. Any ranking on the frosh guards is pure speculation or wishful thinking. Oleg won't play much.
 
Could somebody really surprise to the upside and shoot to No. 1? Sure, but those are the kind of hopes that are prevalent in summer and crushed once the season starts. (See Kensei and Keon predictions last summer.)

Being the Big Ten's San Diego is kind of like being the Japanese Seth Curry.
 

Griesel, Gary and Bandoumel are most likely to start, (with Walker and Wilcher) so they're the top 3.
 
Sam was our only ranked transfer, ranked 88th in 247's transfer rankings:
https://247sports.com/LongFormArticle/College-basketball-transfer-portal-player-rankings-2022-247Sports-187173346/
82 on Watchstadium:
https://watchstadium.com/the-top-75-college-basketball-transfers-for-2022-23-04-14-2022/
Unranked in On3:
https://www.on3.com/transfer-portal/top/basketball/2022/
So by default, he must be No. 1. 
 
Gary was a part-time starter for a good Alabama team. Bando was the 4th leading scorer on a decent SMU team. So tossup.
 
I honestly don't see Blaise and Walker on the floor at the same time, but Blaise will have more impact than the freshman guards, who all will be backups and likely getting fewer minutes than Kensei. Any ranking on the frosh guards is pure speculation or wishful thinking. Oleg won't play much.
 
Could somebody really surprise to the upside and shoot to No. 1? Sure, but those are the kind of hopes that are prevalent in summer and crushed once the season starts. (See Kensei and Keon predictions last summer.)

1 Sam Griesel
2 Blaise Keita
3 Emmanuel Bandoumel
4 Juwan Gary
5 Ramel Lloyd Jr
 
I like Griesel, but the fact that he seems to be ranked first by the majority is also an issue. On a good P6 team he's a contributing piece, not your go-to guy. I'm not expecting much of anything this season, but hoping to see more effort than previous years.
 
 

I'm not saying there aren't any sleepers, maybe there are. But right now, the 2023 and 2024 classes are huge drop-offs from what we've been seeing. Dotzler might be the only high-major recruit in either class, and he's borderline.