It does really seem like we got the inside track on this kid, it'd be great to land him. But yeah, we need a big season, no doubt. Sneaking into the tourney with the expectations coming in also isn't really what I have in mind. Hopefully we can stay injury/drama free for once and just have a full roster to go to battle with. It's been too long since we've had that (I think Tubby's 2nd year).
That is correct. Each of the last 3 seasons we have had players on the team that could not play in games for various reasons.
2009-10: Royce White and Trevor Mbakwe, Al Nolen 2nd semester
2010-11: Devoe Joseph started the season on a suspension, his first game back (the notorious Virginia game) was Nolen's first game out, by the time the two of them were on the court together, Mo Walker had torn a ligament in the 12th game, and Oto Osenieks couldn't play due to clearinghouse issues
2011-12: Mo Walker out the entire season, then Mbakwe's injury in the 7th game against Dayton, by the end of the season we had 4 forwards out with injuries (Ralph, Mo, Trevor, Oto), but fortunately Andre Hollins and Rodney Williams put the team on their backs in the NIT.
I might be forgetting something, we've had so injuries/off-court issues, and of course this is not including the Cobbs, Carter, Iverson, and Armelin transfers. I think Armelin's is the only one that one could argue was beneficial to the team, because it gave Mbakwe a spot.
Hopefully this season will be that rare season that the roster isn't decimated by injuries and/or suspensions, and we can impress our local recruits with a Sweet Sixteen or better.