Today we did our annual meetup with the senior class and there were a couple key takeaways from the interviews.....
-- For starters, all of the guys with eligibility remaining would not say if they were coming back or not. All just said that they still haven't made a decision.
-- Oskar's parents were just here two weeks ago, so they will not be here to walk him out. Instead he will walk out with Ron Harper Jr. as the two have become very close over the years. Oskar originally spend the covid year with the Harpers and grew so close to them that he spends every holiday with them now in the states including Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc. Also Pikiell raved about Oskar and said he's the perfect teammate, someone who he's going to use an example for years to come. He said Oskar was one the truly special players that he's coached in his 30+ years.
-- Cliff's older brother Alfred flew in yesterday and was at practice today with the team. The two were able to facetime some Cliff's other family members as well. Alfred will be walking out with him for senior night. When asked about his decision, he kind of just laughed and shrugged it off. As I mentioned recently, I'm growing a little more confident in his return, but no confident enough to say I'm leaning that way. I still say 55/45 he leaves, but again who knows.
-- Mawot Mag spoke with us today and when asked what injury was forcing him to sit out, he said it was his left calf that was holding him out. I don't expect to see him out there on Sunday, but who knows things could change.
-- Spoke with Austin Williams a bit and man he's been through it this year. Pikiell mentioned that he gets his knees drained just about every week to be able to keep playing. As someone who's had to do similar in the past, I feel for him more than ever.
-- When asking the guys what they would tell their younger selves, they all resoundingly said they would advise younger them to just take care of their bodies more. Noah like Austin has also been banged up a bit, suffering some bruises here and there.
-- When asked about their top moments at Rutgers, all of them said the Purdue game and the Penn State game last year. However a couple mentioned the win at Minnesota as well.
-- Got a chance to really dive into the mind of Aiden Terry today, a very good kid and spoke highly of the program. Pikiell said during the first practice he thought he was a team manager because of his size. He also mentioned how they didn't have his size practice gear when he got here, so his shorts were like down to ankles at times.
-- For starters, all of the guys with eligibility remaining would not say if they were coming back or not. All just said that they still haven't made a decision.
-- Oskar's parents were just here two weeks ago, so they will not be here to walk him out. Instead he will walk out with Ron Harper Jr. as the two have become very close over the years. Oskar originally spend the covid year with the Harpers and grew so close to them that he spends every holiday with them now in the states including Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc. Also Pikiell raved about Oskar and said he's the perfect teammate, someone who he's going to use an example for years to come. He said Oskar was one the truly special players that he's coached in his 30+ years.
-- Cliff's older brother Alfred flew in yesterday and was at practice today with the team. The two were able to facetime some Cliff's other family members as well. Alfred will be walking out with him for senior night. When asked about his decision, he kind of just laughed and shrugged it off. As I mentioned recently, I'm growing a little more confident in his return, but no confident enough to say I'm leaning that way. I still say 55/45 he leaves, but again who knows.
-- Mawot Mag spoke with us today and when asked what injury was forcing him to sit out, he said it was his left calf that was holding him out. I don't expect to see him out there on Sunday, but who knows things could change.
-- Spoke with Austin Williams a bit and man he's been through it this year. Pikiell mentioned that he gets his knees drained just about every week to be able to keep playing. As someone who's had to do similar in the past, I feel for him more than ever.
-- When asking the guys what they would tell their younger selves, they all resoundingly said they would advise younger them to just take care of their bodies more. Noah like Austin has also been banged up a bit, suffering some bruises here and there.
-- When asked about their top moments at Rutgers, all of them said the Purdue game and the Penn State game last year. However a couple mentioned the win at Minnesota as well.
-- Got a chance to really dive into the mind of Aiden Terry today, a very good kid and spoke highly of the program. Pikiell said during the first practice he thought he was a team manager because of his size. He also mentioned how they didn't have his size practice gear when he got here, so his shorts were like down to ankles at times.
