TheChosenOne

37 points at the half isn’t exactly lighting it up either.

I see reference above to a win possibly not happening. If anyone lives in Chesterfield, can you please do a wellness check of me if we lose tonight?!?! Southern Indiana lost essentially all of their production from a very average team (for their league) a season ago, this will be a laugher. And again, if not, see above.

I think Crews challenged that for me haha. But, that is where I find myself as the alternative is not enjoyable for me to think about. Candidly, I have no idea what to expect from this team, but hope to be surprised in a positive way.

Incredibly impressive to see the level the program has risen to! Job well done! And beautiful day for the game.

He turned 27 in October!

I am seeing a 2016 recruit, DeAndre Williams for Memphis, had his waiver denied. You have to move on from here young man!

Seeing as he was a 2018 recruit, I would like to think that a December graduation is on the table! He got to UCF in January (his last game at Louisiana was on December 14, 2021), so presumably he has accumulated time sitting out?

I know nothing about the kid, but it appears that he played the 2018-19 season at Memphis (originally signed with Texas A&M before getting a release and committing to Memphis), transferred to Creighton and redshirted the 2109-20 season, played at Creighton during the 2020-21 season, and then transferred to Louisiana playing immediately in the 2021-22 season, but only in 8 games during non-conference play. Not finding what he has been doing the past 1.5 seasons (check that, looks like he got to UCF in January), but I assume this is an odd one for many reasons as the kid is a 2018 prospect (same class as Carte'are Gordon) with multiple stops and not a grad transfer!

For sure. With the loophole for these two-time transfers being mental health related, I am not sure how you even set a standard for what will be accepted vs. denied. I don't pretend to know anything about Ezewiro's situation, but it seems pretty clear most of these are being denied.

Correct.

I certainly have no knowledge of the review process, but the bottom line would seem to be that it is a failure to not have these initial rulings made prior to the start of the seasons these kids are competing in.

Thanks for posting. This answers one question I had. I had seen articles written about the waiver process being delayed due to the increased volume of requests, but had no idea about clearing newcomers. It would seem like the clearinghouse might be having some issues related to foreign players and getting thru their paperwork with regards to the standard eligibility requirements. I have no idea what the reason is and while still frustrating, at least others are in the same boat. Figure it out NCAA.

I get that. I think sometimes you have to accept your limitations and figure out how you can maximize your strengths. That likely doesn’t result in a national championship (at some point it will catch up to you), you can win a lot of games with an elite offense.

That is certainly a valid concern. Again, there is a lot to weigh with regards to lineups and style of play if we do not have Ezewiro and I think you can argue it many ways.

Where else can one go for a swim after a game without leaving the building though?

That is my opinion as well. I think if Ezewiro does not hear favorable news, the best path forward would likely be going the route of fully embracing playing small. Obviously use the freshmen bigs in spots and matchups where needed, but I think if we are down to freshmen bigs, our best lineup might be playing small and committing to a style that emphasizes those attributes. Forcing significant minutes and roles on freshmen bigs might not be worth it in my opinion (again, give them minutes, but play the bulk of the game without them). Now, that requires committing to playing a style that pushes tempo, looks to force TOs, limits TOs on offense, relies heavily on taking and making 3s, etc. which we have not really seen here under Ford. But, that would be my approach and it would at least be entertaining as heck to watch. This is all based on having no knowledge of the freshmen bigs which certainly is a big piece to this discussion haha. Just my thoughts. If we get Ezewiro, none of these posts matter, so lets hope for that!

I had a worst-case scenario built in my mind and the reports from last night and the various open practices have pretty well eliminated that from being in play. The worst case for me would have been Parker and Hughes having difficulties stepping into increased minutes/roles. Just above that scenario was the post position being a massive question mark throughout the season. Reports have raised that concern slightly with high praise for Ezewiro. However, he needs a transfer waiver. So, we wait to see how that plays out. Without Ezewiro it is down to rookies and that is a hard position to throw at freshman, so while we will have bodies with the freshman assuming health and eligibility, the level of production is hard to project. Another exhibition on Sunday, and then a week off before we take on Southern Indiana on Monday and Lincoln. It appears Southern Indiana lost their top six players from last season and Lincoln is D-II, so consider that a few more weeks of practice and tune up games. Lets continue to build over these next few weeks and as a fan I will do my best to not overreact either direction.

Let’s not forget the number of new faces and roles on this squad. It is going to take some time to figure out what this team is and this might be a season we see continued improvement throughout the season. Not going to overreact to the opening half of an exhibition game.

I think that’s right, I think I remember Zac and Peter discussing it on their show at one point too. It was something really lame like taking a required course as pass/fail complicating the GPA or something strange like that not reflective of his qualifications as a student. I don’t know anything about the process, but remember seeing how the NCAA was struggling to keep up reviewing waivers as the numbers are far greater than typical. While that would presumably be a different process than clearing kids, I wonder if there are any shared responsibilities or if they are having increased workloads as well.

Thanks for the observations on heights. Do you have thigh measurements as well? Can anyone measure up with Thatch? Dude had some trunks on him, should have been playing football.

Yeah, practice reports can often be worthless. I will say as someone who was around the program when Newbourne joined the program, while I love V, I never understood where the hype around his game came from and I know a lot of it was from guys on the team.

A lot of this news pleases me (I choose to ignore my guy torch haha). I’m particularly happy to hear the reports about Hughes and Parker.

What did the BOT President say about the BVF? I would absolutely love it if he was on this site hahaha. I am confident that the current Chair used to yell at me when I worked the clock at games despite lacking the knowledge that the officials control the clock. If you are reading this, I didn't get the chance to say it then, but screw off dork.

I legitimately have so little going on coupled with what some might call a drinking problem, that I would be game for helping put any of the above events on.

They need '05 hosting an event at Humphrey's shooting the crap with his buddies/former players after a few man sodas. I will pick up the bar tab, '05 is the host, so we just need some talent. I am volunteering you for this '05 and realize the BVF would likely distance itself from some idiot like me, but this would be gold for those of us who support the program in a less formal way.