Transfers - 2023

[NoCoBillsFan]

11 minutes ago, TheOne said:

A combination of Malcolm Dandridge and Jalen Rucker would lighten the mood around here.

Been missing you all offseason

[TheChosenOne]

Pistol just texted me that Western Kentucky landed a commitment from Rodney Howard, 6'11, 256 lb big from Georgia Tech. I think you can now cross off WKU as an option for Dandridge. I assume a lot of the schools listed as being the finalists a few weeks back (which did not include SLU) dried up on him which left WKU and SLU and "other" schools. So, I suppose we will find out soon how legitimate the other schools are.

[HoosierPal]

2 hours ago, TheOne said:

A combination of Malcolm Dandridge and Jalen Rucker would lighten the mood around here.

Hey, I'd take Darius Rucker!  Let him handle the National Anthem and half time entertainment.

[thetorch]

Do Dandridge and Rucker get us into the NCAAs?  Are we winning the A10 with those two?

If not I don't see how it lightens the mood.

NCAA tourney appearance and A10 championships aren't the goal anymore.  They are the expectations of the program.

We have the best facilities, the highest paid coach in the conference, BVF, and multiple NIL opportunities.

No less than an NCAA appearance is not good enough.

[Scoop]

Is Rucker truly in the mix?

If the kid from GTown gets his waiver, yes the addition of Dandridge and Rucker could win the A10 and be a tournament team. Gibby and Parker are gonna light it up, LHJ will take a step forward, Thames will contribute and Dalger will give us more than us mbm expect.

Go Bills.

[The Wiz]

8 hours ago, TheOne said:

A combination of Malcolm Dandridge and Jalen Rucker would lighten the mood around here.

 

Here is my writeup on Dandridge from a couple of weeks ago....

 

On 5/23/2023 at 10:06 AM, The Wiz said:

He does not have a full sample size for this past season....But he does have enough stats to make some projections.

First his slash line for the last season...58.3% (also his career shooting ave) /  76.3% (FT)...As he isn't a 3P shooter this translates into 2P% and FT%. ...A+ / B+.

Of significance ...had he played a full season (only played 20 games) he would have been ranked as 62nd ITN on 2P%.  

If he is shows up in a Bills uniform next season...he is projected to shoot 55.9-60% from 2P land and 76-77.2% from the charity stripe.

Computer says ...he could be a major difference maker IF he plays at least 500 min this season (around 17min/gm...played 14.5 min/gm this past season)

Key phrase from above post.....Computer says ...he could be a major difference maker IF he plays at least 500 min this season (around 17min/gm...played 14.5 min/gm this past season).

 

As for Rucker, here is what he looks like...

45.5 / 54.6 / 30.1 / 83.3.......B / A / F- /A+

A few notes...His numbers are full sample sizes so they are meaningful

3P shooting...Though he shot a dismal 30.1 from the arc last season, he did manage to shoot 36.8%  (A rated) from the arc 2 years   ago on a full sample size.  Computer says ...if he can shoot 36.4% (A- ) from  the 3pt line then he should fire away and will be a major difference maker this year ...less than 36.4,  he should ease up on 3s and concentrate on 2s and still be a big difference maker.

Bottom line...These would be 2 good gets and upgrade the team significantly.

[majerus mojo]

This guy seems better than Noland? Are we sure Forte wasn’t pushed out?

[Pistol]

Like Ezewiro, Rucker would need a waiver from the NCAA. He entered the portal after the deadline and he's not a grad transfer.

He would also have to pay back West Point for his first 3 years of educational expenses. He wouldn't have a conscription requirement later, but he'd be on the hook to reimburse them for those years. I imagine his NIL deal will involve paying off those debts (I can't find the exact amount after some moderate searching).

[thetorch]

47 minutes ago, Pistol said:

Like Ezewiro, Rucker would need a waiver from the NCAA. He entered the portal after the deadline and he's not a grad transfer.

He would also have to pay back West Point for his first 3 years of educational expenses. He wouldn't have a conscription requirement later, but he'd be on the hook to reimburse them for those years. I imagine his NIL deal will involve paying off those debts (I can't find the exact amount after some moderate searching).

I found a couple from the mid 2010s that left before graduation in year 4 and reported owing 225k.

[slufan13]

9 hours ago, thetorch said:

Do Dandridge and Rucker get us into the NCAAs?  Are we winning the A10 with those two?

If not I don't see how it lightens the mood.

NCAA tourney appearance and A10 championships aren't the goal anymore.  They are the expectations of the program.

We have the best facilities, the highest paid coach in the conference, BVF, and multiple NIL opportunities.

No less than an NCAA appearance is not good enough.

I think it puts us right there. Ford, May, and the big donors will still make excuses for Ford but to me landing those guys make it even more of a make or break season for Ford. You can't land those guys and then be happy with a 3rd or 4th place finish

[gabriel]

6 hours ago, Pistol said:

Like Ezewiro, Rucker would need a waiver from the NCAA. He entered the portal after the deadline and he's not a grad transfer.

He would also have to pay back West Point for his first 3 years of educational expenses. He wouldn't have a conscription requirement later, but he'd be on the hook to reimburse them for those years. I imagine his NIL deal will involve paying off those debts (I can't find the exact amount after some moderate searching).

I’m not coming at the US Army but that’s a ridiculous requirement. If they want to have D1 athletics then having to pay back scholarships for athletes who transfer has to be removed.

[Lord Elrond]

49 minutes ago, gabriel said:

I’m not coming at the US Army but that’s a ridiculous requirement. If they want to have D1 athletics then having to pay back scholarships for athletes who transfer has to be removed.

That’s actually a requirement for all service academies. If the Army doesn’t get paid back, they can require him to serve as an enlisted man in the Army. I do think all the service academies should just drop down to Div 3, it would fit better with what their primary mission is.

[gabriel]

19 minutes ago, Lord Elrond said:

That’s actually a requirement for all service academies. If the Army doesn’t get paid back, they can require him to serve as an enlisted man in the Army. I do think all the service academies should just drop down to Div 3, it would fit better with what their primary mission is.

I think that’s a dumb rule for D1 athletes.

[thetorch]

1 minute ago, gabriel said:

I think that’s a dumb rule for D1 athletes.

You know it going in. TBH its a selling point to most guys.  The academies aren't recruiting regular athletes. 

[Pistol]

After the second year, they have what's called Affirmation. Cadets can choose to leave before Affirmation without penalty. Rucker was there for three years, though, so he was past that point.

[TheA_Bomb]

3 hours ago, gabriel said:

I’m not coming at the US Army but that’s a ridiculous requirement. If they want to have D1 athletics then having to pay back scholarships for athletes who transfer has to be removed.

Service Academies keep the D1 sports because tradition and exposure helps recruiting.  Also they've had some success on the National scene with Army, Air, Navy being ranked in top 25 in FB fairly recently. They're alright in some Olympic sports too.  Army Baseball was just in the NCAA Tournament.  There are some concessions for D1 Athletes at the schools like weight limit for FB players but this is one that probably won't go away.  Same for ROTC scholarship if you leave after being contracted you owe.  It's going to have to stay or else other students that aren't athletes will use it against the school to get out of repayment.

 

As for Jalen being better than Noland.....probably not he's listed at 5'10, 180 which means he's probably 5'8, 165.  CJ is listed at 6'2, 225.  So probably 6' 210-ish.  1 is coming from B12 the best CBB conference and 1 from the Patriotleague. That's a big difference and based on 3PT % for Jalen he probably needs to get to the hoop to score which he did well in the Patriot League. We've been frustrated by smaller guards driving into the trees. Also he just won't be as effective at defending.  Now is he a good plan B? Yeah, and coming from USMA he's probably a good student. 

[TheChosenOne]

Rucker and Dandridge would be a really solid way to round out the roster at this point. With it being June 8th, I candidly would have been quite pleased with those two 6+ weeks ago, so I would have a tough time complaining. At this point it feels like Dandridge has to be a lock as his options appear to have really dried up. Similar to Kansas State a year ago, sometimes having scholarships open late in the game isn't the worst thing.

With our only bigs graduating, addressing that need with Dandridge and Ezewiro is a job well done. I was concerned with just Ezewiro, but the addition of Dandridge certainly eliminates that being a position of concern for me.

[billikenfan05]

What's Corey Tate upto?

[cgeldmacher]

7 hours ago, gabriel said:

I’m not coming at the US Army but that’s a ridiculous requirement. If they want to have D1 athletics then having to pay back scholarships for athletes who transfer has to be removed.

They don't want to have high level D1 athletics.  They just want to train the next generation of heros to defend our country.  West Point, the Naval Academy, and the Air Force Academy have sports just to liven the mood.  Not a person at those institutions is worried about producing high level teams.

[Compton]

2 minutes ago, cgeldmacher said:

They don't want to have high level D1 athletics. 

Army and/or Navy occasionally sneak into the Top 25 in football. That's not by accident. Also, like any other school, nationally televised games, bowl games, high rankings, etc.... are great marketing and recruiting tools. They help get the next generation of heroes to defend our country in the door.

[cgeldmacher]

3 minutes ago, Compton said:

Army and/or Navy occasionally sneak into the Top 25 in football. That's not by accident. Also, like any other school, nationally televised games, bowl games, high rankings, etc.... are great marketing and recruiting tools. They help get the next generation of heroes to defend our country in the door.

Agree.  I just don't think they are going out of their way, like every other D1 school, to recruit and push for victories.  They recruit leaders for the military first.  If those chosen few happen to be athletes that help their sports teams, that is very much secondary.

[Bilzz]

Did I miss where we've been connected to Rucker?

[wgstl]

4 minutes ago, Bilzz said:

Did I miss where we've been connected to Rucker?

sorta, TheOne named dropped him. 

[Taj79]

It takes a special kind of kid to go to a service academy.  You only get considered with a recommendation by your local Congressman.  The competition for slots is high and intense.  The entire education is free but comes with a six-year service agreement.  You flunk out or get pregnant and the repayment duty/requirement is known long before you get there.  Personally, I think that's asking a lot of a 17-year-old but so it goes.  The brightest, if they maintain their status, become the two-, three- and four-star generals of the next generation.  

I worked for two two-stars over my recent time.  Both were NOT West Point grads.  One was the highest ranking gay officer in the corps, the other was from a HBCU ROTC program.  Political correctness always rules supreme in the Fed and is alive and well in our military system.

[TheChosenOne]

Let’s get these men locked up! Would make for a real nice effort in the transfer portal this spring!