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Caleb McConnell signs NIL deal with Knights of The Raritan

Yes sports were getting cut before NIL and I am just speculating they will cause more to be and could be wrong.

Football and basketball not being profitable are the reason Olympic sports are/were cut. Before all the money came in to football and basketball there wasn’t issues with non revenue sports. Total athletic budgets were small and all programs were fine.

I am guessing Title IX was a reason too.

I thought it was the other way around.

Football and basketball are the only profitable sports?
For the most part, all Olympics sport tes are not profitable.

No profitable sport is ever getting cut.
Just because people were fine with Olympic sports losing money in the past doesn't mean people will always be fine with it.

Personally - I don't care either way. If the school wants to fund money-losing sports, good. If they wanted to cut non-profitable sports - can't really argue against that either. It is supposed to be academic school first.
 
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Rutgers athletic department loses 30,000,000 a year. It isn’t because of volleyball.
How much of it is because Barchi hired an affirmative action candidate to appease activists in the faculty (and local media) and put her in charge of the department during the most important time in the school's athletics history (entering the Big Ten)?
 
Andy Katz has rated McConnell as the 14 th best returning player in the country for next season. Wow, that would be terrific.
Look, he’s definitely top 10 on defense and his offensive stats don’t do justice to the contributions he brings on that end. How many 6-7 kids out there rebound like a forward and also handle the ball well enough to play point?

Would expect his usage to go up by at least 3 shots per game. Assuming he avoids the pre-season Yips against cupcakes, that’d put him in double digit scoring territory to start without any improvement to his efficiency. But at minimum, there’s good reason to hope that at least his FT shooting will be more reliable and that with the ball in his hands more (certainly closing out games) he’ll get to the line at a higher rate.

Is that good enough for 14th best returner nationally? Probably not unless he takes his offense to the next level, but certainly top 30 or so. Getting Caleb back is huge. Probably worth 8-10 net ppg in my opinion.
 
8-10 net PPg is the difference betweeen 24-7 and 11-20. Not many people have that impact
No it’s not. You can’t just look at other teams with those records’ point totals. There’s pace, match ups, dozens of other factors.

Let’s put it this way - I think we were potentially looking at giving up 75+ ppg against BIG opponents and now 65ish feels possible. The whole defense changes with Caleb. On offense, I also would’ve had serious doubts on Paul’s ability to create and distribute as the only competent returning handler other than Miller who certainly doesn’t bring offensive fire power. Maybe Simpson comes in and is a home run there, but Regardless don’t think the offense would’ve been better without Caleb.
 
I enter every year with doubts. This year is no different. I think we both have our biggest concerns with one spot (lineup) on the court.
 
I enter every year with doubts. This year is no different. I think we both have our biggest concerns with one spot (lineup) on the court.
Yes - we do. By no means do I think we’re a lock for the NCAAs but with Caleb I think it’s possible if things break right whereas without him I think we could’ve had a rough time even being in the conversation for an NIT bid. Just couldn’t see the defense being good enough. Therefore on the particular team we have I really do think Caleb is worth 8-10 points.
 
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I enter every year with doubts. This year is no different. I think we both have our biggest concerns with one spot (lineup) on the court.
This is how I feel as well. Other than the covid year that got cut short that was very good and it’s a shame we couldn’t see through, we’ve sort of topped out efficiency wise as mid pack at best.

Point differential every other year under pike they've been -1.6, +.4, -.9, +1.7, +2 also.

I figure will be here again with Caleb or without, and just hope some bounces go our way so that we might have a small handful of games that will be fun to watch for what’s on the line late in the year as we otherwise grind out some tough to watch Ws to hover .500 and keep us in it til the end.
 
Regarding next year's team, I think the performance will hinge entirely on whether or not Pike is willing to adopt a different offensive philosophy. Because "stand around at the top of the key for 30 seconds, then take a contested stepback 3-pointer" isn't going to work at all when your two three point shooters just graduated. If he's willing to play a 2-man game with Cliff as the centerpiece? Well, then you've got a totally different story.
 
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This is how I feel as well. Other than the covid year that got cut short that was very good and it’s a shame we couldn’t see through, we’ve sort of topped out efficiency wise as mid pack at best.

Point differential every other year under pike they've been -1.6, +.4, -.9, +1.7, +2 also.

I figure will be here again with Caleb or without, and just hope some bounces go our way so that we might have a small handful of games that will be fun to watch for what’s on the line late in the year as we otherwise grind out some tough to watch Ws to hover .500 and keep us in it til the end.
I think far too many people think Mag is a plug and play replica of Caleb. He’s not.

Forget defense. He cannot handle the ball. Hyatt cannot handle the ball. Cliff is not a ball handler obviously. And the reports on Spencer say that’s not his strength coming out of a low major. Having Caleb in the backcourt with Paul is a very big deal for this team.
 
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I think far too many people think Mag is a plug and play replica of Caleb. He’s not.

Forget defense. He cannot handle the ball. Hyatt cannot handle the ball. Cliff is not a ball handler obviously. And the reports on Spencer say that’s not his strength coming out of a low major. Having Caleb in the backcourt with Paul is a very big deal for this team.
Last year around the time Geo got hurt was really the first time Caleb handled the ball in the back court an amount of consequence for the first time in like 2.5 years.

I hope he gets used that way again but guard wise we have the most ball dominant guy in the conference (maybe) in Paul, Pikes favorite Miller, Spencer, and Pike was still trying to bring in Lofton. So I’d like to believe Caleb will get a good amount of time on the ball I’m not sure we can pencil it in for certain. It is critical though for his offensive contributions.
 
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Last year around the time Geo got hurt was really the first time Caleb handled the ball in the back court an amount of consequence for the first time in like 2.5 years.

I hope he gets used that way again but guard wise we have the most ball dominant guy in the conference (maybe) in Paul, Pikes favorite Miller, Spencer, and Pike was still trying to bring in Lofton. So I’d like to believe Caleb will get a good amount of time on the ball I’m not sure we can pencil it in for certain. It is critical though for his offensive contributions.
Paul is a very good distributor but he’s not as reliable of a primary ball handler as Geo. He will need more help and only Caleb and Miller have the skills to provide it. Obviously, playing Miller extended minutes creates concerns on offense and rebounding (we’re already undersized at the 4 - playing a 3 guard line up wouldn’t be ideal).
 
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