Outgoing Portal

[zykarious]

Three guys who struggled to find playing time. I never like to see guys choose to leave, but it's clear they weren't going to be key pieces moving forward.

I think the biggest disappointment would be Sage. Two years to develop, knows the system and assuming the info is accurate there are going to be 10-15 minutes per game open to give Aziz a rest. He's on the track we've had many big men follow in the past, two bench years to develop, one year as a backup and then two years as a quality starter.

If he's leaving, it's almost certainly because he's being told he's not good enough at the Big 12 level, not because he has better options. Which means the coaches either failed to assess him accurately as a recruit or failed to develop him. Combine that with not seeing much growth on offense from our other front court players this year and it seems like we need to target an assistant who makes that his forte (maybe Mike Roberts wants to come back).

We'd also have to find a young big man (or two) good enough to backup Aziz, but who is also willing not to play starter minutes this year. Which is not an easy prospect.

[Rufus]

Agreed ,with this, albeit with a little less experience as a fan. One of the real joys of being a UC fan (in particular) has been the opportunity to watch the "under the radar" players develop over time into stars (think Levertis Robinson under Yates, Ryan Fltecher, Bobby Brannen, and even Kenyon under Huggins, Trevon Scott and Justin Jackson for Cronin as examples) over the course of 3 or 4 years, or underrecruited "glue guys" becoming instrumental (Tarrance Gibson, Jaquan Parker, Rashad Bishop (I know T Rat was a juco player, but still one of my all-time favorites for doing all the little things and after seeing several instances of true kindness from him in the community when I was still in high school). It's always been something that I felt like we have "better" than fans for UK and other "blue bloods", where you don't develop a real relationship with the one-and-dones (which is why I don't have the same level of connection to Lance, Dontoniio, Kenny Satterfield, or DerMarr-great (albeit the first two frustrated me to no end while they were here) players, but didn't get to see them develop and grow here, so don't feel as tied to them. That's all being lost now. I think I am actually sadder to see the loss of the valuable "role players" leaving to chase "stardom" that will likely never come. The reality is that many of us (in life as in sports) are better suited as "glue guys", who are the backbone and throughline of any successful organization. The ability to learn that about yourself, to commit to a system where over time you can learn how best to develop your individual skills to support the whole, and to become part of a successful team (including things that are "different from how I would do it" is incredibly valuable not just for your time as an athlete but for the rest of your existence, and I feel like that is truly lost with the unlimited transfers. To be clear, I don't think the "old way" was fair either (where coaches have unlimited free agency, but players are trapped when their coaching staff leaves them)-but there should be some way to find a happy (er) medium.

One of my all time favorite Bearcats, not because of his offensive skills or his defense for it was not exact either was Justin Jackson. He came in as a spindly kid but for the years he played for Cronin he gave 150% while on the court. He would literally run through a wall if Cronin ask him to. He eventually developed into a serviceable ball player, but gave it his all every minute he was on the court.

[cpawstoney]

Well that sounds very ominous! Going to be honest with you all, after following bearcat bball for over fifty years, a lot of the joy came from watching young men develope into adults and develope, adapt, and ultimately acclimate themselves into the coaches system, gelling into a unit. I have no inside information but this wholesale transferring at the end of each season with all programs,and having to get to "know" new players every year is making it harder for someone of my age to invest time into trying to be a fan.

Exactly! The fun and joy of the program was watching players like Kenyon Martin, Danny Fortson, Steve Logan, Jason Maxiell and others come into the system and get better each year. NIL is killing that. That's why I never liked programs like Kentucky with their one and dones.

[sedz]

I think the biggest disappointment would be Sage. Two years to develop, knows the system and assuming the info is accurate there are going to be 10-15 minutes per game open to give Aziz a rest. He's on the track we've had many big men follow in the past, two bench years to develop, one year as a backup and then two years as a quality starter.

If he's leaving, it's almost certainly because he's being told he's not good enough at the Big 12 level, not because he has better options. Which means the coaches either failed to assess him accurately as a recruit or failed to develop him. Combine that with not seeing much growth on offense from our other front court players this year and it seems like we need to target an assistant who makes that his forte (maybe Mike Roberts wants to come back).

We'd also have to find a young big man (or two) good enough to backup Aziz, but who is also willing not to play starter minutes this year. Which is not an easy prospect.

I think we already have several guys who can be serviceable at the 5, even if they don't have traditional size, rim protection, or post scoring. It's useful to have a couple big bodies when needed, but I don't want to reload with slow bigs.

My wishlist is wings, wings, and more wings.

[leo from jersey]

Not to throw fear out there, but until May comes around you never know who else will go. Teams can tamper and players can put out highest bidder/more playing time filers. Heck UC may see more productive players and push more than 3 out the door. Thus, UC has to throw more money at the keepers. Zykarious has been very observant.

[leo from jersey]

I think the biggest disappointment would be Sage. Two years to develop, knows the system and assuming the info is accurate there are going to be 10-15 minutes per game open to give Aziz a rest. He's on the track we've had many big men follow in the past, two bench years to develop, one year as a backup and then two years as a quality starter.

If he's leaving, it's almost certainly because he's being told he's not good enough at the Big 12 level, not because he has better options. Which means the coaches either failed to assess him accurately as a recruit or failed to develop him. Combine that with not seeing much growth on offense from our other front court players this year and it seems like we need to target an assistant who makes that his forte (maybe Mike Roberts wants to come back).

We'd also have to find a young big man (or two) good enough to backup Aziz, but who is also willing not to play starter minutes this year. Which is not an easy prospect.

Lots of pressure was put on a new coach to sign the tall local kid. Lot of pressure on the 4th year coach if Sage is pushed out, That pressure will come from the local HS coaches in recruiting. Not a good situation. More to this than ability to play at the Big 12 level, but I have a feeling Zykarious knows this. This is a hard call.

[zykarious]

I think we already have several guys who can be serviceable at the 5, even if they don't have traditional size, rim protection, or post scoring. It's useful to have a couple big bodies when needed, but I don't want to reload with slow bigs.

My wishlist is wings, wings, and more wings.

It's a lot to ask of the Tyler's to come in and play significant minutes at the 5. I generally don't like relying on freshmen anyway, much less when they are undersized, out of position and at center, the toughest position in basketball for freshmen to play.

If the assumption of who is leaving is correct, have to think we look to add one 5 (who maybe can play some 4), a bigger wing (who can play some 5 ideally) and a combo guard (can keep Fredrick, but can't count on on him).

[leo from jersey]

It's a lot to ask of the Tyler's to come in and play significant minutes at the 5. I generally don't like relying on freshmen anyway, much less when they are undersized, out of position and at center, the toughest position in basketball for freshmen to play.

If the assumption of who is leaving is correct, have to think we look to add one 5 (who maybe can play some 4), a bigger wing (who can play some 5 ideally) and a combo guard (can keep Fredrick, but can't count on on him).

Hard to get rid of a local. especially one with family connections.

[bobestes]

It looks like, and nothing is in written in stone, that we will have 3 guys hitting the portal on Tuesday. All in the front court. The reason I'm not saying who is the same reason you don't ruin a commitment announcement for a kid. I'm going to let them make their own announcements on the subject. I'm not trying to tease you all. If it plays out the way I've been told, most of you will be not all that disappointed in the outcome.

it’s just as possible, in this era, that these kids are being pushed out for newcomers.

[leo from jersey]

it’s just as possible, in this era, that these kids are being pushed out for newcomers.

I think that is the plan for a couple.

[longtimefan]

it’s just as possible, in this era, that these kids are being pushed out for newcomers.

I hope not. I just hope that CWM is honest with his guys, telling them exactly where they stand. At that point, I hope the option to stay is still available, and anybody who leaves does so by their own choice. I know that in many cases loyalty isn’t both ways, but kids who come to play here should never be forced out.

[Rufus]

Not saying if they're being pushed out or not. And definitely not pointing any fingers but unfortunately with the leniency afforded to the "student athlete" to leave a program at his whim, I think it's only fair the coach has his say so in the yearly rebuilding of a roster. If a player is not developing as expected, not as productive as he should be, or is not putting forth the real effort to help the team win, I think it fair to ask a player to go find a more suitable place for himself. Us older fans are used to seeing shady coach's dumping players in order to offer scholarships to "better" players, but in the environment today asking some players to move has to be looked at as necessary to get the best players your money can get. JMHO


P.S. I just wonder how long it will take before it won't be required for the players to even take classes. One poster earlier mentioned graduation rates, or the lack of. How inappropriate it now is for institutions of higher learning to even publish these rates. Again JMHO

[bearcatbret]

Sage still may develop. K-Martin was not all that good his first two years and was decent his junior year and was outstanding his senior year after spending the summer games under Bobby Knight. E-Hicks left the team for a while and was a bad attitude kid to begin with. If we had the transfer portal and all that is going on today, I wonder if either of these great Bearcats would have stayed around or even been allowed to stay.

[sedz]

It's a lot to ask of the Tyler's to come in and play significant minutes at the 5. I generally don't like relying on freshmen anyway, much less when they are undersized, out of position and at center, the toughest position in basketball for freshmen to play.

If the assumption of who is leaving is correct, have to think we look to add one 5 (who maybe can play some 4), a bigger wing (who can play some 5 ideally) and a combo guard (can keep Fredrick, but can't count on on him).

They wouldn't be playing the 5 in the traditional way. We'd have four 6'6" or taller quick athletes on the floor to switch or trap on defense. And Reed could be part of that, so not relying on the freshmen so much.

I think your list of additions is most likely what we go after though.

[GoBearcats31]

Sage still may develop. K-Martin was not all that good his first two years and was decent his junior year and was outstanding his senior year after spending the summer games under Bobby Knight. E-Hicks left the team for a while and was a bad attitude kid to begin with. If we had the transfer portal and all that is going on today, I wonder if either of these great Bearcats would have stayed around or even been allowed to stay.

Kenyon recorded a triple double as a sophomore and averaged about 10 points and 9 rebounds.

Sage has a total of 5 points, 3 rebounds and 1 block over two seasons.