ShortDust

FWIW:
 
Gavin Griffiths was a top 50 national recruit with offers from UCONN, Alabama, Creighton and others. 
Nick Janowski was a top 130 national recruit with offers from Marquette, Wisconsin, Iowa State and others. 
Eli Rice was a top 300 recruit with offers from Georgetown and St. Bonaventure. 
Jamarques Lawrence was a top 200 recruit with offers from Wake Forest, Cal and DePaul. 
 
At least on paper, this is a serious upgrade in talent at guard over Rice and Lawrence. 
 
Now, Keisei's clutch shots and momentum changing shots will certainly be missed, don't get me wrong. At the end of the day he provided 15.1 ppg and was a 37.6% three point shooter. I think Griffiths/Janowski and the increased volume for Williams can make up all that difference, and we'll be better defensively just by not having Keisei out there.

Wouldn't think so until we dot our i's and grapheme our c's

I wouldn’t necessarily call a multiple year starting PG at Utah, a former top 25 SG, and a big man who we beat another B1G team (who was closer to home than us) underwhelming.  Especially when we’ve basically upgraded/equaled out each position we’ve lost.
 
Lawrence - Woosley 
Diop/Keita - Morgan 
Rice/Tominaga - Griffiths
 
and we still have 3 ships to fill.

We're still very active.    Believe a couple of guys are visiting today.   Shooting guard and big post player.   Somehow the post player has been under the radar.  

A.  Worster and Ulis won't be on the court much at the same time.  
B.  While they aren't as good of shooters as Keisei, their ability to distribute will allow guys to more shots in catch and shoot situations.
C.  Allick is a better shooter from 3 than a Kyle, but he's hardly Dirk Nowitzki.  Kyle's ability to finish inside and at the rim will help open up more kickouts as well.  

Hopefully, but these kinds of decisions are made every day at portal time.   How far to go on NIL with each player/agent, figuring out what's real, drawing a line knowing that's effectively letting a guy go.   I'm probably stating the obvious, but this is so much about money now, rather than a better fit at a new program, etc.   And on the program end, there comes a point where the price is higher than the player is good, and you have to keep some dry powder.   
 
The good news is in the play for pay era, our new AD is totally committed to that, and will overtly support 1890 until the system changes and allows direct institutional participation or changes to an employee model.   Fred is very pleased with Dannen so far.   Fred has almost double what he had to work with on the pay players budget from a year ago.  We're all in on the current system.
 
We're really trying to get a visit from Payne, but the NIL demands are very, very high.  We're getting a visit from Essigian, assuming he doesn't commit to Indiana on his visit there.   Kyle supposed to come next weekend but concerned about Wake giving him a huge number, like they did Sallis.  

Not everyone on the team will be an explosive freak.  And not everyone on the team is going to be a Larry Bird in skill and IQ.  The key is to find the right pairing.  
 
Mast is an incredible resource at the 5 because of his ability to shoot and pass.  He's an okay rebounder.  But he struggles blocking shots and finishing at the rim.  That's why a guy like Kyle is key.
 
You can also get away with a guy like Gary at the 4 if Morgan is in.  He's more of your traditional post.   Which frees Gary up some.
 
It's about balance and complimentary pieces

Igor and Kyle.  Not that I'm begging.  Okay, I am begging.

Think about this.  We now have two legit point guards that are penetraters, pass first, and strong defenders.  And oh yeah, Brice has shown he can play point guard; and then there is that kid named Sam.

So . . . Washut seems to think Tennessee is the favorite.
But Igor is visiting Tennessee today (and Baylor tomorrow).
It’s been suggested that listing a top three (including Nebrasketball) during his visit to Tennessee is odd—and gives us hope.

Early returns are in - mixing well with the players and good chemistry with the key guys. A lot to like so far

Debateable on that.  
 
But I won't be complaining about it.  I'd definitely keep him here to replace Morgan than in '25-'26
He was a bigger part of our success than people care to admit it.

Kyle is the one that I want most.  Meh on the rest.

Here's a link to the prediction on Griffiths.
And this is a description of him from the Rutgers official bio (he was a freshman last season).
 
Gavin Griffiths, a 6-foot-8, 193-pound guard joins the Knightood for his first season in Piscataway. Griifiths is from the Kingswood-Oxford High School in West Hartford, Conn.,

Griffiths was ranked the No. 20 recruit in the country (247 Sports), marking the highest-ranked player landed in the Steve Pikiell-era and the second-highest recruit to attend RU in the modern era. Only former Rutgers guard Mike Rosario was ranked higher at the time of his recruitment (2008). Griffiths is also ranked No. 1 in the state of Connecticut by 247 Sports. Griffiths was upgraded from a four-star recruit to a five-star recruit in January of 2023.

Sounds like Griffiths and Worster may both be N soon. Robin just put his official prediction N for Griffiths on On3. 

Depends on who you ask

I'd assume it's been Wisconsin this entire time

Ooohhh don’t tease me with a good time. Tell me more about these do spinning wheels whispers. 

Fidler not announcing because Fred found extra NIL money for him in 13th hour (see Morgan) or because MSU made him reconsider his Wisconsin lean? 

Should be getting a lot of news starting tomorrow. 
 
Fidler news 
Griffiths commit (I hope - no intel, just hoping)
News on other two 
 
predictions anyone? 

Per the article, Kyle says he plans on making a decision by the end of this month. Right after visiting Lincoln (a second time) 😈

Holy crap I hope this guy really likes Brice because dang he checks a lot of boxes in what we want to run

Got to think Kyle would like our on-court pitch. The Josiah Allick (++) role. But more ideally for Fred and William, the Jameel McKay role. Very similar players. 6'9", long, bouncy, defensive-minded. Fred's last year at Iowa State McKay was the Big 12 DPOY and 3rd team all-conference. 
The 3-4-5 on that team was Hogue-Niang-McKay. Hogue looks and plays an awful lot like Juwan Gary. Hoiberg has talked a lot about how he uses Mast in the same way he used Niang in the offense. The point guard on that team was Monte Morris (c'mon Chucky). 

Can’t wait until Fidler commits to someone else at 8:00am Monday and this thread can die.