Niko’s roster construction

No one is talking about this: Could Medvid change Chase Thompson's mind??
No! Chase is going to Clemson, so let’s just move on from that. Maybe after a year Chase will miss those long cold winters and transfer back. He does look like an excellent player!
 




This is as close to a blank slate as you can possibly get! So it is pretty much going to be a roster he owns from the start. But that is the new landscape of NCAA Basketball.

The cupboard:
Isaac Asuma - if you’re only going to get one returnee you could do a lot worse.

Grayson Grove - Alexandria forward, 6’9”, redshirted, good shooter and passer in high school hopefully put some weight on.

Others:

Brennan Rigsby - hasn’t entered portal, could get another year, came on at end of season but wildly inconsistent, could probably fit in better with Niko’s offense.

Dawson Garcia - should be out of eligibility! Weird reports about him coming back. Large degree of skepticism here.

Frank Mitchell - in portal, played better at end of season and could contribute. Definitely replaceable.

CSU players:

None have entered the portal yet. Farakahmoush getting the CSU job may keep some players from coming.

Ben’s 3 recruits:
I’m not sure these guys stay or if Niko honors their commitments. If they watched the NCAAs and CSU, would like to think they would still be on board. Are they ready for the B1G if they come? That’s the big question. None of them are 4 stars.
I'm still eligible to play. I have at least 6 good years left before complete heart failure.
 




Donovan Dent, Mountain West MVP point guard just jumped into the portal. Be a nice first acquisition for Niko.
Would be, but I imagine there will be a lot of teams sending him offers.
 

Donovan Dent, Mountain West MVP point guard just jumped into the portal. Be a nice first acquisition for Niko.
He'd probably take up a quarter of the Gophs NIL budget. Going to get a huge payday.
 






I hope JoJo McIver, a 6-2, 165-pound Point Guard from Killeen, TX, who committed to Colorado State, follows Niko here. Would strengthen the point guard with Asuma. Now I’m hoping Niko is in contact with Ben’s three recruits and wants them to stay. If they show any interest, he should pay an at home visit, especially the big guy Jefferson.
 



I prefer the traditional method of program building through HS recruiting and watching each class develop but this should be exciting to watch Niko put together our roster primarily through the Portal.
 

I prefer the traditional method of program building through HS recruiting and watching each class develop but this should be exciting to watch Niko put together our roster primarily through the Portal.
Schools that are able to build the old way are going to be harder and harder to find. The graphic that was posted showing where the starters on all the sweet 16 teams started their college careers was pretty eye opening.

There were a couple places able to thrive with the majority of the players coming from in house (Purdue, Duke, MSU) but they were the exception and not the rule.

Until they get a handle on unrestricted free agency for every player, every year the portal is going to be the way most teams have to build their roster and huge amounts of turnover year to year is going to be the norm.
 

Schools that are able to build the old way are going to be harder and harder to find. The graphic that was posted showing where the starters on all the sweet 16 teams started their college careers was pretty eye opening.

There were a couple places able to thrive with the majority of the players coming from in house (Purdue, Duke, MSU) but they were the exception and not the rule.

Until they get a handle on unrestricted free agency for every player, every year the portal is going to be the way most teams have to build their roster and huge amounts of turnover year to year is going to be the norm.
I don't expect my preferred, romantic version of college hoops will ever return and I'm not sure Portal shopping will come close to filling that void. I'm still excited about getting the best players we can, though. Winning would help.
 

Very glad that Medved loves the Barn, and jabbed at Kansas, Dook not having great venues. Granted he didn't complete his sentence, but "...those places are not.." says to me those structures aren't great for ambience due to lack of ghosts.
That's not how I took it, don't think it was a jab. Came across to me like Niko was comparing the Barn to Cameron and the Phog, with all 3 being old buildings that lack modern amenities.
 


Schools that are able to build the old way are going to be harder and harder to find. The graphic that was posted showing where the starters on all the sweet 16 teams started their college careers was pretty eye opening.

There were a couple places able to thrive with the majority of the players coming from in house (Purdue, Duke, MSU) but they were the exception and not the rule.

Until they get a handle on unrestricted free agency for every player, every year the portal is going to be the way most teams have to build their roster and huge amounts of turnover year to year is going to be the norm.
It is also a method that is only used by the smaller schools.

All of the Big programs in the Sweet 16 have lost many of their "young and developing" players to the portal and all of them can afford to fill their gaps with transfers who developed at other schools.
 

That's not how I took it, don't think it was a jab. Came across to me like Niko was comparing the Barn to Cameron and the Phog, with all 3 being old buildings that lack modern amenities.
Yeah. His point was they're old and kind of dumps when empty but still magical on game day.
 

Sounds like Jefferson may be interested in staying, but who knows if Niko and staff want to keep. Isaac wants to stay as well, and Grove likely back. Betts and Mitchell told to pursue other options. All this reported numerous places, and have also heard this.

Considering there's a lot of spots to fill....telling any players on the team with eligibility to pursue other options doesn't make sense to me. Mitchell in particular....as he mostly held his own in Big Ten play.
 

Considering there's a lot of spots to fill....telling any players on the team with eligibility to pursue other options doesn't make sense to me. Mitchell in particular....as he mostly held his own in Big Ten play.
I agree on Big Frank. The only thing I can think of is that they were honest about his role being similar to last year, coming off the bench, expected to hustle and rebound, and maybe Frank thought he deserved to be a starter and get those kinds of minutes.

He'll be a force in the A10.
 

I agree on Big Frank. The only thing I can think of is that they were honest about his role being similar to last year, coming off the bench, expected to hustle and rebound, and maybe Frank thought he deserved to be a starter and get those kinds of minutes.

He'll be a force in the A10.
Will ANYONE else on the floor get ANY rebounds? That's my question!
 

I agree on Big Frank. The only thing I can think of is that they were honest about his role being similar to last year, coming off the bench, expected to hustle and rebound, and maybe Frank thought he deserved to be a starter and get those kinds of minutes.

He'll be a force in the A10.

Telling a player that they'll likely be coming off the bench is a different message than telling a player to pursue other options though. The latter suggests that they don't really have a place on the team.....rather than their place on the team is a smaller role than they may want.

This is all conjecture however. Random posters on GH aren't exactly solid sources.
 

Telling a player that they'll likely be coming off the bench is a different message than telling a player to pursue other options though. The latter suggests that they don't really have a place on the team.....rather than their place on the team is a smaller role than they may want.

This is all conjecture however. Random posters on GH aren't exactly solid sources.
Ha, true. There's a role for a Frank Mitchell on every team. I have a hard time believing he was given the boot as we currently have, what, about 10ish roster spots open?
 


I prefer the traditional method of program building through HS recruiting and watching each class develop but this should be exciting to watch Niko put together our roster primarily through the Portal.
You may want to find a lower level D2 or D3 school to cheer for then. Those days are over, you are likely to have a minimum of 50% roster turnover most every year at D1.
 

That's not how I took it, don't think it was a jab. Came across to me like Niko was comparing the Barn to Cameron and the Phog, with all 3 being old buildings that lack modern amenities.

Huh. Interesting how can hear the same thing but hear it differently.
I heard it as a Medved defense of the Barn.
 

Frank's offensive rebounding prowess literally won multiple games for us. I agree that he's probably replaceable, but it just seems short-sighted, given the current state of the roster. He's a proven X-factor.
I just think Gopher fans are so worn down by the late-to-the-game portal signees from past season in particular, that folks don't trust it will be different now. I feel like Niko probably embraces the clean slate and he can quickly turn via portal. He definitely has some work to do at all but Asuma's position.
 

I agree on Big Frank. The only thing I can think of is that they were honest about his role being similar to last year, coming off the bench, expected to hustle and rebound, and maybe Frank thought he deserved to be a starter and get those kinds of minutes.

He'll be a force in the A10.
Frank Mitchell was a better player than Fox, in the second half of big ten play. He also paired better with Garcia, as he is a physical player, while Garcia and Fox are finesse types. He deserved some starts, while the high motor Fox could come off the bench.

Asuma deserved to start/play over Mike Mitchell also. I am not sure what assurances Fox and Mike had to start, but it was pretty obvious.

F. Mitchell is a big ten player, too bad he started off the year injured, and that he was a horrendous free throw shooter.

I am hoping the 3 sophmore starters for CSU, entertain transferring here.
F/C Mbemba is 6-7 250, so he would provide what Frank would have.
G-Evans an undersized combo guard (6-2 175), who is a superb 3 pt shooter.
F Johnson 6-8 230, who can do a few things as a stretch 4. (49% on 2's, 75% FT, 35 3's).
 




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