Transfers - 2023

[wgstl]

6 minutes ago, HoosierPal said:

I hope you also are right, but I'll wait until he laces up the Nikes.  He didn't get a lot of high level recruitment, with Washington State being his only P5 offer.  I don't buy into the Star rating, but if you do, he has 3. 

If he makes Ford's 8+ man rotation next season and averages double digit minutes, then I'll agree we have a good one. 

I agree.  I will say one thing that is exciting is this below.  He was one of the best offensive players in a major showcase tourney.  On this list is mainly all top 100 recruits - some 5 stars. 

 

[billikenfan05]

7 minutes ago, wgstl said:

I agree.  I will say one thing that is exciting is this below.  He was one of the best offensive players in a major showcase tourney.  On this list is mainly all top 100 recruits - some 5 stars. 

 

Also a two sport athlete, underrated quality if you ask me. 

[TheChosenOne]

2 hours ago, Slowry said:

What makes you think he hasn’t?  Maybe he has and he’s at his best in that department. I would be surprised if he hasn’t worked on that.  Not saying it doesn’t need to improve for him to play more and have more of an impact.  But he could be at the top of what he’s capable of.  

I tend to assume any guy after 4 seasons of college basketball is near their peak and expecting them to change their game much is unlikely to actually happen. So it becomes more of a question whether there are ways to maximize their skill set with regards to the situations they are put in. Honestly I’m starting to wonder if the typical career arc is changing a bit with how much more these guys are playing and training prior to getting to college.

[kmbilliken]

3 hours ago, brianstl said:

Our last two freshman bigs who left weren't poached, ended up at different schools and turned out to be players that could have helped us.

I know Traore had success. Who was the other?

[thetorch]

Ford has no idea how to construct a roster.

We had two bigs last year who struggled at several aspects.

We had one young big sit on the bench , develop in practice, just to leave when ample PT is available.

We ran off/let walk 2 bigs who could have started for us last year in Bell & Traore.  Those two might still be on this next season roster if we kept them.

I don't want to hear excuses.

There is only so much PT...I don't care.  If a player can't play why are we giving him a scholarship.

But But Bell left because of grades...why bring in a suspect student?

But Traore needed a step down in competition he wouldn't have played here...We are now recruiting bigs from low majors with worse numbers than what Traore put last year.

Let's just play small with Hargrove at the 4....Are we really pinning our hopes on the improvement of a 5th year senior who has been a 8-10 man on 4th place A10 teams.

I shouldn't be this mad about Momo leaving but mistake after mistake after mistake by Ford every year is adding up to a 10 win season.

[HenryB]

8 minutes ago, thetorch said:

Ford has no idea how to construct a roster.

We had two bigs last year who struggled at several aspects.

We had one young big sit on the bench , develop in practice, just to leave when ample PT is available.

We ran off/let walk 2 bigs who could have started for us last year in Bell & Traore.  Those two might still be on this next season roster if we kept them.

I don't want to hear excuses.

There is only so much PT...I don't care.  If a player can't play why are we giving him a scholarship.

But But Bell left because of grades...why bring in a suspect student?

But Traore needed a step down in competition he wouldn't have played here...We are now recruiting bigs from low majors with worse numbers than what Traore put last year.

Let's just play small with Hargrove at the 4....Are we really pinning our hopes on the improvement of a 5th year senior who has been a 8-10 man on 4th place A10 teams.

I shouldn't be this mad about Momo leaving but mistake after mistake after mistake by Ford every year is adding up to a 10 win season.

[BIG BILL FAN]

11 minutes ago, thetorch said:

Ford has no idea how to construct a roster.

We had two bigs last year who struggled at several aspects.

We had one young big sit on the bench , develop in practice, just to leave when ample PT is available.

We ran off/let walk 2 bigs who could have started for us last year in Bell & Traore.  Those two might still be on this next season roster if we kept them.

I don't want to hear excuses.

There is only so much PT...I don't care.  If a player can't play why are we giving him a scholarship.

But But Bell left because of grades...why bring in a suspect student?

But Traore needed a step down in competition he wouldn't have played here...We are now recruiting bigs from low majors with worse numbers than what Traore put last year.

Let's just play small with Hargrove at the 4....Are we really pinning our hopes on the improvement of a 5th year senior who has been a 8-10 man on 4th place A10 teams.

I shouldn't be this mad about Momo leaving but mistake after mistake after mistake by Ford every year is adding up to a 10 win season.

So every player that leaves is because the coach made  a mistake???? Have you looked at the portal numbers? Is there any team that hasn’t had defections?

[brianstl]

1 hour ago, kmbilliken said:

I know Traore had success. Who was the other?

Jimmy Bell

[thetorch]

Lets go  over the Bigs that Ford has brought in

French - All Timer

Foreman - Starter Level

Rashed Anthony - Billiken's version of Jack Haley, brought in for morale

Luis Santos - Pounded his GF more than he pounded in the paint

Carteare Gordon - Psychopath

Kc Hankton - Can't believe he's on the list

Jimmy Bell - Couldn't stay eligible

Madani Diarra - Waste of a scholarship

Martin Linssen - Backup with major flaws

Okoro - Starter Level with major flaws

Traore - Double Double Machine in Long Beach, benchwarmer here

Forrester - Backup with major flaws

Cisse - Benchwarmer

I see 1 all timer, 2 starters, 2 backups, and 8 complete wastes of scholarships.  

I don't know how you can be confident looking at this list that Ford can bring in even 1 competent starter in the portal, much less two.  Even if he did bring one in, would he play the right one?

I predict 2 low major castoffs that can't rebound or rim protect and don't know how to set a screen.  They may or may not know how to shoot a free throw.  There is also a good chance they will get kicked off the team as well.

[GOSLU68]

Martin Linssen was every bit as good as Okoro and better than Forrester. Linseen took up space better than those two and had better hands. The team played better when Linssen was on the floor. NIL money might have jept him here another year. 

[Basketbill]

3 hours ago, GOSLU68 said:

Martin Linssen was every bit as good as Okoro and better than Forrester. Linseen took up space better than those two and had better hands. The team played better when Linssen was on the floor. NIL money might have jept him here another year. 

He recieved passes from Yuri well and passed well. His ankle injury against Auburn was crucial to that game. I would love another like him.

[slu72]

11 hours ago, kmbilliken said:

I know Traore had success. Who was the other?

Jimmy Bell at WV. 

[thetorch]

7 hours ago, GOSLU68 said:

Martin Linssen was every bit as good as Okoro and better than Forrester. Linseen took up space better than those two and had better hands. The team played better when Linssen was on the floor. NIL money might have jept him here another year. 

He didn't play defense or rebound at all. Offensively he was fine. Again major flaws for a big in a 4 out system.

Its been a while since I looked this up but his team +- numbers and efficiency rates while on the floor were on the whole not better than Okoro.

[wgstl]

3 minutes ago, thetorch said:

He didn't play defense or rebound at all. Offensively he was fine. Again major flaws for a big in a 4 out system.

Its been a while since I looked this up but his team +- numbers and efficiency rates while on the floor were on the whole not better than Okoro.

Ya his Of rating was still less than Okoro, but surprisingly his defensive rating was 2nd on the team too.

 

Now that im looking, big yikes between this year and last year.  Last year we had 6 players under 100 defensive rating, this year 2

[TRN]

10 hours ago, GOSLU68 said:

Martin Linssen was every bit as good as Okoro and better than Forrester. Linseen took up space better than those two and had better hands. The team played better when Linssen was on the floor. NIL money might have jept him here another year. 

Except that foreign players are ineligible to get NIL money with current visa restrictions.  It’s something that schools are figuring out how to passively let them earn money without violating green card restrictions.  

[HoosierPal]

10 hours ago, GOSLU68 said:

Martin Linssen was every bit as good as Okoro and better than Forrester. Linseen took up space better than those two and had better hands. The team played better when Linssen was on the floor. NIL money might have jept him here another year. 

 

17 minutes ago, TRN said:

Except that foreign players are ineligible to get NIL money with current visa restrictions.  It’s something that schools are figuring out how to passively let them earn money without violating green card restrictions.  

Anyone who is doubting Linssen's value to the team wasn't watching, were they.  

As you know Linssen went back to Germany to play pro ball.  I have no idea how much he earns playing in Germany, but he was ahead of the NIL curve here.   Pure guess, but I'm thinking he made more in Germany than he would have through an NIL deal with the Billikens.  He earned his Master's Degree here, so no reason not to move on.

And foreign players have found a way around the visa restrictions.  Tshiebwe from Congo, signed an NIL deal when the team was in Nassau.  UMass's Gapare, from New Zealand, returned to NZ over a long weekend, to sign an NIL deal.  

[ACE]

Caleb Love to Michigan

[willie]

55 minutes ago, TRN said:

Except that foreign players are ineligible to get NIL money with current visa restrictions.  It’s something that schools are figuring out how to passively let them earn money without violating green card restrictions.  

I thought they worked around this. 

[JMM28]

2 minutes ago, willie said:

I thought they worked around this. 

There are some very easy work arounds. The vast majority of foreign guys go home for at least a few weeks over the summer. They perform some NIL work there and then get paid when they get back to campus. 

[TRN]

9 minutes ago, willie said:

I thought they worked around this. 

They work around it like HoosierPal mentioned, by players getting NIL in their home country if possible.  But they currently can’t get money from collectives in the US.

[JMM28]

21 minutes ago, TRN said:

They work around it like HoosierPal mentioned, by players getting NIL in their home country if possible.  But they currently can’t get money from collectives in the US.

Yes they can. 

[dlarry]

1 hour ago, ACE said:

Caleb Love to Michigan

If you are going to go to a block M school that is the one to go to. 

[thatskablamo]

50 minutes ago, willie said:

I thought they worked around this. 

Why couldn’t we funnel some NIL money for foreign players through our Madrid campus? Debajo de la mesa, as rusty as my Spanish is after one semester away. 

[TRN]

4 hours ago, JMM28 said:

Yes they can. 

No they can’t, as of a week ago.

https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/36007358/ncaa-international-athletes-facing-nil-challenges

[thetorch]

6 hours ago, HoosierPal said:

 

Anyone who is doubting Linssen's value to the team wasn't watching, were they.  

 

On the offensive end he understood how to work with Yuri. Defense and rebounding was suspect.