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Portal and more

Pretty sure Rutgers has inquired about Xander Rice,Kevin Easley and Omar Silverio. Dingle took a gap year and has another at Penn. The other Jordan may be out of eligibility. No outreach to Tosan Evbuomwan of Princeton to date.Got on good authority that Rutgers would accept an NIT bid. Seems like Hofstra would be a likely opponent in a 2-7 game at the RAC.
Tosan Evbuomwan of Princeton looks impressive. Slightly taller and more muscular than Caleb, runs like a deer and super active like Mag.
 
Tosan Evbuomwan of Princeton looks impressive. Slightly taller and more muscular than Caleb, runs like a deer and super active like Mag.
Yep. I’m at the game now, and have been watching him the whole time.

You can tell he is a level above the rest of the court. Obviously he has the physical tools, but he seems like a very smart player too.

I think RU72 mentioned him staying in the Northeast if he was to take another year. Seems like RU would be the most logical choice.
 
I didn't know King Rice had a kid that played. That would be great entertainment if he falls off the wagon, gets fired, and goes to the games.. He's a fuc*ing lunatic even when he's sober.
Xander Rice played for Bucknell at JMA on 23 December 2022.
 


The respective Ivy League 1st team or 2nd team guards Gabbidon from Yale and Ethan Wright from Princeton.....both transferred to Colorado for this season. Neither player was able to come anything close to the level of production.

Gabbidon at Yale on 2021-22

28 MPG (Minutes Per Game)
47.5 FG%
29.9 3 PT FG%
80.6 FT%
11.3 PPG

Gabbidon at Colorado 2022-23

17 MPG
40.4 FG%
28.9 3 PT %
70.7 FT%
4.8 PPG

Ethan Wright at Princeton 2021-22

32 MPG
50 FG%
39.5 3 PT%
70.6 FT%
14.7 PPG

Ethan Wright at Colorado in 2022-23

14.6 MPG
36.5 FG%
30.4 3PT %
60.0 FT%
3.5 PPG

Why would I highlight all of these stats?? Because there are THREE obvious factors that stats can hide.

A) Speed of the game from your defender

B) Level of day to day competition (stress levels require players to work harder on both ends to get space to score and defend to prevent scoring, impacts all of your shooting %'s)

C) Likelihood of Paint defense eliminates cheap baskets, even if you able to get by your defender, 1 on 1.

If you take an undersized PF playing in the Ivy League, who doesn't shoot 3 pointers and isn't facing real post defenders like we see most nights in the B1G, the likelihood of expectations should be cut in half to 65%.

There are certain plus-athletes like Desmond Cambridge leaving Brown and making plays at Arizona State. Bryce Aiken at Harvard, out of NJ, was a Top 150 Rivals kid, who could have gone anywhere out of HS. Those are rare outliers.

You have to be extremely careful looking at the portal and expecting statlines that will not translate in the B1G. Tosan from Princeton, is a solid, fundamental player, without elite athletic abilities or ability to guard a 5 man in the B1G.

It is more likely that Pike and RU has more success, developing a better athlete we have recruited like Mawot Mag or Antoine Woolfolk and getting 5 to 7PPG, like we have done with Mag and hopefully will with Woolfolk.

Now, if we are looking at a comparison to another 3rd year or soon to be 4th year player like Dean Reiber, then I could take Tosan and ask him to compete against Woolfolk and battle for minutes. But in most cases, you really should take this type of player, if they are team-oriented and are not requiring starter minutes.

I am very leery of Tosan, based on the eye test. Solid player, but we have players in that complimentary role already and I'm definitely more interested in finding minutes for Baye Ndongo next year. Ngongo has a lot of tools, upside at 6'8 to 6'9", wingspan, 3 point stroke and just a better athlete.

Ngongo can get his feet wet and compete upfront and build into a more complete player. I have ZERO interest in Tosan clogging up major minutes. If you told me Reiber was transferring and Palmquist was also leaving and he wanted to earn minutes, then maybe.

Otherwise, hard pass for me. We can get 4 to 6PPG from our bench and existing players through our own culture and development.
 
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The respective Ivy League 1st team or 2nd team guards Gabbidon from Yale and Ethan Wright from Princeton.....both transferred to Colorado for this season. Neither player was able to come anything close to the level of production.

Gabbidon at Yale on 2021-22

28 MPG (Minutes Per Game)
47.5 FG%
29.9 3 PT FG%
80.6 FT%
11.3 PPG

Gabbidon at Colorado 2022-23

17 MPG
40.4 FG%
28.9 3 PT %
70.7 FT%
4.8 PPG

Ethan Wright at Princeton 2021-22

32 MPG
50 FG%
39.5 3 PT%
70.6 FT%
14.7 PPG

Ethan Wright at Colorado in 2022-23

14.6 MPG
36.5 FG%
30.4 3PT %
60.0 FT%
3.5 PPG

Why would I highlight all of these stats?? Because there are THREE obvious factors that stats can hide.

A) Speed of the game from your defender

B) Level of day to day competition (stress levels require players to work harder on both ends to get space to score and defend to prevent scoring, impacts all of your shooting %'s)

C) Likelihood of Paint defense eliminates cheap baskets, even if you able to get by your defender, 1 on 1.

If you take an undersized PF playing in the Ivy League, who doesn't shoot 3 pointers and isn't facing real post defenders like we see most nights in the B1G, the likelihood of expectations should be cut in half to 65%.

There are certain plus-athletes like Desmond Cambridge leaving Brown and making plays at Arizona State. Bryce Aiken at Harvard, out of NJ, was a Top 150 Rivals kid, who could have gone anywhere out of HS. Those are rare outliers.

You have to be extremely careful looking at the portal and expecting statlines that will not translate in the B1G. Tosan from Princeton, is a solid, fundamental player, without elite athletic abilities or ability to guard a 5 man in the B1G.

It is more likely that Pike and RU has more success, developing a better athlete we have recruited like Mawot Mag or Antoine Woolfolk and getting 5 to 7PPG, like we have done with Mag and hopefully will with Woolfolk.

Now, if we are looking at a comparison to another 3rd year or soon to be 4th year player like Dean Reiber, then I could take Tosan and ask him to compete against Woolfolk and battle for minutes. But in most cases, you really should take this type of player, if they are team-oriented and are not requiring starter minutes.

I am very leery of Tosan, based on the eye test. Solid player, but we have players in that complimentary role already and I'm definitely more interested in finding minutes for Baye Ndongo next year. Ngongo has a lot of tools, upside at 6'8 to 6'9", wingspan, 3 point stroke and just a better athlete.

Ngongo can get his feet wet and compete upfront and build into a more complete player. I have ZERO interest in Tosan clogging up major minutes. If you told me Reiber was transferring and Palmquist was also leaving and he wanted to earn minutes, then maybe.

Otherwise, hard pass for me. We can get 4 to 6PPG from our bench and existing players through our own culture and development.
I don't know if Pikiell really had Ethan Wright higher on his transfer board than Cam Spencer, but, we lucked out.
 
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Battle is a headcase. Didn't work out in Xavier. And now he's clashed multiple times with Aaron McKie at Temple. There's also the question of whether the NCAA is going to continue to allow waivers for second transfers. They're only supposed to have one freebie.

Now if Damian Dunn from Temple entered the portal I would be very interested.
Dunn to Houston
 
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