Pistol

I'm still not totally on board with SBU's premise, which has been the point he's been hammering ever since the portal got going this year. A lot of the P5 players transferring down will be as valuable as the non-P5 guys going up. But they're never going to look like that on a graph like the one above. SBU's retort to my point is that the P5 schools are just taking all the best non-P5 players and dumping the ones who can't cut it. Maybe he's right in that they're upgrading, but I think it's more incremental than he does. Analytically, Javon Bess would have looked like a no-brainer for Michigan State to dump for a player averaging double figures at a non-P5. And it would've looked like Michigan State "won" the portal if they took a guy scoring 15 PPG in the Horizon as his replacement. But Bess became an indispensable player at SLU whose relative value compared to his MSU years was multiples better. Okoro from Oregon is another example. Nesbitt from Memphis, technically speaking. Pickett transferred down from Mizzou (for the purposes of P5 vs. non-P5; I'm not trying to start that argument) and his numbers were very similar at SLU. Meadows transferred up to SLU and averaged less than half the points he did at Portland. We were the stronger conference team "stealing" from a weaker conference. Did we win the portal on that one? Or Deandre Jones or Rashad Williams? We definitely did on Linssen. Ezewiro would look like a strong get for UAB this year but would have looked a fraction as valuable coming to SLU from Georgetown. SLU didn't have anyone transfer up during Ford's time so it's hard to use any in-house examples along those lines. My point is that every team has the same amount of minutes to fill and someone has to play those minutes. I saw a stat that Xavier's 4 incoming transfer guards are all double figure scorers. Well, that can't be the case next season because they can't all play at the same time. And the guys who left are going to get a bigger opportunity. tl;dr - Graphics like this try to tell us that P5 schools are adding 2.0x or more the production that they're losing but it's probably more like 1.2x. I still get why it sucks to be a non-P5 fan on the other end of these transactions.

New interest: Marial Akuentok - C, 6-10, 210 - Edmonton, AB (Fort Erie International Academy, ON) - AAU: UPLAY Canada (Nike EYBL) - Twitter: @MAkuentok Offers: Seton Hall, Oregon, Kansas State, Arizona State. Interest: Saint Louis, St. Bonaventure, Florida, Virginia, Colorado, UNLV, San Diego, Central Michigan, Weber State, Mississippi Valley State. Latest News: Akuentok said he is hearing from SLU. (5/6/24) Scouting Report: Akuentok is a raw but very big, rapidly developing center. He's a big-time rim protector with outstanding shot blocking ability. He's mobile and runs the floor well. He keeps the ball high after the catch and shows flashes of good touch with his right hand. He's a very good offensive rebounder.

Updated: Trey Williams - PG, 6-1, 160 - St. Louis, MO (Vashon) - AAU: SW IL Jets - Twitter: @treywilliamsjr3 Offers: Saint Louis, VCU, Missouri, Ole Miss, Illinois-Chicago, Southeast Missouri, SIU-Edwardsville, Lindenwood, Louisiana-Monroe, Cal State-Fullerton, Jacksonville, Bryant. Interest: DePaul, Northwestern, Texas, Colorado State, Wichita State, Belmont, Murray State, Drake, SIU-Carbondale, Bradley, Illinois State, Evansville, Yale, North Texas, Milwaukee, Green Bay, Southern Indiana, Texas-Arlington, Jacksonville State, Northwestern State. Latest News: Williams had his SLU offer refreshed by the new coaching staff. (5/4/24) Scouting Report: Williams is a high-scoring guard who scores on three levels. He's effective putting it on the floor and getting to the rim, but most dangerous on the perimeter, where he has a quick release and deep range. He moves the ball around well and thrives in transition.

Trey Williams was offered by the previous staff but I haven't touched his bio in 6 months so I'll update it when I get a chance and post it here.

Closing the loop on another Ford recruit, Brody Robinson of Garden City CC has committed to Texas-Arlington.

That would be Zac's department.

No, not until last Monday. We agree with you - it feels like a month ago. That's basically how we start the show, with that exact point.

Very cool! Tennis is coming down to the wire. Tied 3-3, #2 singles (Andres Castellanos) will determine the winner. He's down 5-4 in the final set.

Pretty good thread on GMU's new logos/wordmarks: The new shades of green and gold are a positive. There are some decent wordmarks in the second tweet in this thread and those could make for some nice uniforms with the new colors that should pop a little more. There's also the secondary 'patriot head' logo that was updated but never gets used. Maybe they'll roll that out more. However, the primary GM logo and wordmark are weak. More modern and clean than the previous middle school MS Paint-designed logo they previously used, but boring.

You haven't heard me talk about Dayton, then?

Double check the date on that. He's visiting Wisconsin today.

Sometimes the truth does not have a positive spin.

To be fair, the previous logo was also really bad. Bad brand, bad school, bad athletic program, bad fans. I can't stand GMU. Keep up the bad work, losers.

Dietrich Richardson - PG, 6-7, 180 - Peoria, IL (Manual) - AAU: MidPro Academy - Twitter: @DietrichR_11 Offers: Saint Louis, Illinois, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech, Arizona State, Indiana State, SIU-Carbondale, Bradley, Green Bay, Bryant. Interest: VCU, Duquesne, Xavier, Purdue, Wisconsin, Iowa, LSU, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Wake Forest, Boston College, Iowa State, Colorado State, Utah State, San Jose State, Brown, Drake, Northern Kentucky, Holy Cross. Latest News: Richardson received an offer from SLU. He was previously recruited by Josh Schertz at Indiana State. (4/24/24) Scouting Report: Richardson is a big, long lead guard with scoring and big-time playmaking ability. He gets where he wants on the floor, plays with great pace, and creates for his teammates. He has a developing jumper that he can hit off the dribble. He's a disruptive defender. He is the nephew of former Illinois player D.J. Richardson.

Did he also say Hunter was visiting today and a commitment is imminent?