It's definitely changed things for the mid-majors and some of the lower end P5/6 schools. They can't keep their players. And, yes, of course, it's caused mass shuffling among even the top schools and a lot of guys do chase money. But, absent a few schools with massive war chests, a lot of P5/6 schools can generally offer the same money (and do) to these guys. So, I think other factors do come into play, including minutes. I am also a big believer that for some of these guys it is more about proving to themselves and others that they belong at blue blood programs/traditional powerhouse programs.
Big Man
- Thread starter MCKnight2004
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I think Cliff would have had a fantastic year this past season if there was any offensive talent around him. Something we apparently will have next year.
It’s a different world now as RUFan4Life explained. Cliff is going to collect $1M+. We don’t have “nothing” but we also probably don’t have more than $750K total to spend in the portal and we weren’t in a position to use every penny of it on a center. So the top tier was out of reach to start.
I think this is pretty overblown. Every one of these games is recorded from multiple angles and I assume every potentially NBA worthy player in D1 is found and thoroughly checked out.
In order to bag a top big man, we would need a major donor to put up the money on his/her own. The NIL we have maintains the status quo and helps out the bulk of the team I'm guessing. My biggest question would be, "do we have that person?" I'm guessing the answer is no or they are already tapped out due to the big 2.
Center is a coveted position and the guys out there are likely shopping around trying to maximize their NIL return. Just the way things are right now.
I agree with the sentiments above - I think our need for a “top center” are overblown.
While it would of course be nice. I think with sommerville and ogbole we have decent 5s already.
….who knows if sommerville does better than the average frosh big and maybe ogbole (who I think showed some potential!) makes a nice leap next year?
I don’t think we need a center with offensive skills - we need a big who can play good defense, give fouls, get rebounds and get garbage points/ put backs . That has to be a lot easier to find than a polished 5 with good offensive skills (which are rare and $$$$$$).
While it would of course be nice. I think with sommerville and ogbole we have decent 5s already.
….who knows if sommerville does better than the average frosh big and maybe ogbole (who I think showed some potential!) makes a nice leap next year?
I don’t think we need a center with offensive skills - we need a big who can play good defense, give fouls, get rebounds and get garbage points/ put backs . That has to be a lot easier to find than a polished 5 with good offensive skills (which are rare and $$$$$$).
I'm really hoping Pike and co pull a rabbit out of the hat. A lot of the big bodies are moving off the board. A lot of big bodies still on the board. Fingers crossed.
I mentioned under "Roster Clarification" thread that Seton hall thinks they might be adding Gus Yalden from Wisconsin real soon. We recruited him for about 2 years when he was called Gus the Tank. He chose Wisconsin I think because he lived there as a young boy. For whatever reasons he didn't play at Wisconsin as it appears he had a few problems there and is supposedly now in the portal. SHU claims he is a power forward but I believe we were recruiting him as a center. I think we were in his final two before he chose Wisconsin.
Gus Yalden? Interesting.
Let's see ... he's a "center" despite being only 6' 8" or 9"? He did not play at all last year and has had some "off the field" issues.
Ummm ... no thanks ... I'm good.
Does sound like a perfect match for Seton Hall however.
Let's see ... he's a "center" despite being only 6' 8" or 9"? He did not play at all last year and has had some "off the field" issues.
Ummm ... no thanks ... I'm good.
Does sound like a perfect match for Seton Hall however.
yea there's only one ball and already too many high volume shooters. but we do need someone who at a minimum won't be overmatched by opposing centers in conference play. Cliff often failed defending 1:1, so a downgrade could be even more problematic .
Seriously this. People act like Rutgers is the only team that will have nba scouts. Also a lot of these 4th and 5th years centers probably know the nba isn’t in their future so that’s not a huge draw to everyone.
Chinyelu went off the board to Florida but it is about not overpaying for a player that isn't going to be the focus of the offense like Cliff was last year.
Fans are paralyzed based on the last 2 years because the best offensive threat around Cliff was Cam Spencer or Jeremiah Williams in terms of effectiveness or shot attempts. The starting 5 on the 2024-25 roster shouldn't get more NIL money than Ace or Dylan, because that player isn't as important as Ace or Dylan....they're not going to get more shot attempts either.
The most likely situation, is the center spot gives RU 6 to 8 shot attempts a game, grabs some rebounds and if possible, has the ability to dribble, pass, shoot, to maximize the value of Dylan and Ace.
It makes absolutely no sense to pay north of 600K for a player that isn't a 1st, 2nd or 3rd option on the offensive end. The fit of rebounding and moving the ball and having a big who can be a presence inside, is all RU is looking for.
If there was no Lathan Sommerville in the equation, then the fans complaining about "not signing or spending big money on a Big man", would be correct.
BUT the correct way to look at this is Lathan Sommerville, Ace Bailey, Dylan Harper, Dylan Grant and Bryce Dortch are viewing themselves as "one entity". Fans may think this is a 2 player recruiting class, but would be very wrong to think that way. Sommerville can play folks, we are just hesitant to have reasonable expectations for Sommerville BUT want to have unrealistic or out of this world expectations for Ace and Dylan.
There's plenty of complimentary bigs to pair with Sommerville and let Ogbole be the insurance big. The truth of the matter is Ogbole probably has the most potential to improve from April to October, to be a lot better next year. But I can't expect him to be more than a 10th or 11th player in the rotation today. We will pick up a much better piece than Ogbole in the portal.
We don't need to blow a ton of money or up to 1M for 18 to 20 minutes a game, for a 4th or 5th scoring option or player getting shots and touches behind Dylan, Ace, Acuff and likely JWill. We can find rebounding and defense from the 5 man without reckless spending and get the right fit to pair with Sommerville.
You should definitely listen to the Richie and Mike’s podcast with Jon Newman.
Richie has said numerous times, we have NIL, but just can’t match the top/crazy NIL schools. Lastly, for competitive reasons and privacy, KTR, the coaches and everyone involved with NIL at Rutgers will not reveal any NIL deals, specifics or even general info. That is both a smart and respectful approach.
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It was made clear from the get go that RU wouldn’t be spending $600k or more on a big because they don’t have that type of money for the position. Yet here you are endlessly going on about top tier bigs. Focus your efforts on who RU can actually get if you want to add value to the discussion.
Well we don’t have “plenty “ then if we can’t match top schools 😀
Having to replace 5 players stretched things this year. If it was 2 transfers they probably have the money.
The new norm is every year you need competitive NIL for every player. NIL is basically your salary pool.
IMO, you have to look how the current roster is constructed and the talent we have at this point. Pike and staff have crushed it with the 3 transfers in. Why think he is going to get a fail?
There are a lot of bigs left in the portal. Pike will get what we need. It takes time.
Spot on
In any other year Sommerville would be the star of our class and people would think we are set at center
But with the two huge recruits he’s getting a little lost-in-the-sauce. He a highly rated recruit folks!!!
With that said he’s a frosh big man so we can’t count on him to contribute right away. But maybe he’ll surprise?!
With him and ogbole and the make up of the rest of the team - as I have been saying - we are NOT desperate for a top tier big man (eg one with offensive skills that will require $$$$$)
The potential hole in the roster IMHO is another big guy that can play good D, grab boards, put backs, etc.
to date myself we don’t need Patrick Ewing we need Dennis Rodman (I know not a center but you know what I mean)
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We have NIL. I never said plenty, but whoever said the word PLENTY… plenty is relative and should be taken in context. Bottom line, Richie has posted MANY times, we dont have top tier NIL for this big, and he has stressed to be patient. This takes time.
The team is in an interesting position we have two centers, Summerville and ogbole, how many minutes is available for an additional center who will arguably will not be one of the featured offensive pieces of the team. We still need to get Summerville decent minutes, and if Ogbole is to develop he also needs to play 5-10 minutes a game. There is a good chance Summerville, given his skill set plays away from the basket, (shot 48% from 3 last year). Martini Could also fill this roll, as he did at Princeton last year and he also is a good 3 pt. Shooter. We have good size with Ace, Dortch and the other Dylan, and our guard contingent will be a far better re-bounding group than last year and i suspect we will try to run even more than last year. Unless we can get a true athletic rim protector who is willing to split minutes with two other centers it will be difficult to find someone who is the right fit for the situation. Perhaps the 6' 10 kid from GT would actually fit better than a true center.
disagree. NIL spending (eg "not worth paying north of 600K for option 4 or 5) does not take opponent "big" talent into account. this is the year to spend all we have for at a minimum a center who won't get outscored by 15 points every night by other Big10 centers.
this is the year to take the biggest swing and national splash that we can. unless we simply don't have the NIL, this isn't the year to pinch pennies.
Whomever comes in is easily playing 20-25 mpg with Lathan getting the rest. Ogbole is literally the 12th/13th guy on the roster. He should only be used in cases of foul trouble. Playing him takes minutes away from Sommerville that are vital to his development. Everyone just needs to be patient. They will have a big on board soon.
It’s not all about offense, we need a big who can defend and rebound in the B1G against grown men. While Lathan has offensive chops, and will be great on the banks, next year is so important we can’t expect him to protect the paint and defend yet. Ogbole isn’t there yet and might never be. We don’t know. This year is too important to leave it to chance. Defense still matters and down low that takes maturity, strength and experience. Even if we score 80 with a center only kicking in 6-8 we can’t give up 90 on so many second chance points your head will spin.
Crushed it?? No. He got an intriguing player in Derkack and two needed bench players who may or may not pan out. All 3 have had success vs much less competition. Sometimes that works (Cam), and sometimes it doesn’t (Noah). Other than maybe Derkack, it doesn’t seem like there was much, if any high-level competition for these players. If it’s because of NIL, then I guess Pike’s hands are tied. Our portal class is middle of the pack B1G right now. Regardless, we’ve done ok so far, and how we use the remaining spots will go a long way in determining how we’ve done.
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I think most agree with your first comment here, except substitute dribble with defend the rim.
Good to see, in highlighted above, you've left your we need a perimeter big narrative and brought it back to what we actually need, someone to defend the paint and to play through in the post.
Nobody cares what we pay and most don't mention it. Paying $12 is overpaying almost all of these kids just to show up, so whoever we get is an "overpay".
As always, with the freshman, I know what I think each are capable of, but I'm not expecting it out of any of them as a freshman. You need proven vets around them.
Yup, this. Basically need to do anything we can to allow freshman to have freshman nights and still come away with wins We have a good, solid roster thus far, but it's not one that will put up 100 points as we don't have guys that will be dropping 3's by the bushel. Scoring two at a time requires good D. One constant with Pike's excellent D is a very good center anchor.
Our portal class is middle of the pack in no small part due to the fact that our recruiting class is literally top of the pack. We don't have space for new marquee portal players because we have already secured those players. The new portal players we got are excellent considering we already have Ace, Dylan, Grant and JWill at the 1-3. Still need a big though.
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Yes - that’s why we’re likely either going in the 2018-19 MJ resume route or looking at proven undersized guys like the 6-7 kid from Miami. I don’t see why this means “Epic fail”. Not all teams have elite, experienced centers. It’s going to require a lot of funds to secure that going forward.
If we dont get a shotblocking 5 and/or Ogobole doesnt make huge strides my theory about our defense being elite was primarily due to Myles and Cliff will be tested.
Would love Omier. However, doubt if we have the funds for him. He can be a missing piece on a title contender.
2018-19 MJ would basically be like rollling w Sommerville and Ogbole, although MJ had the redshirt year under his belt, he had no resume? MJ and Shaq Doorson each went under 18 min each, and mixed in some Doucure, some Shaq Carter.
