Departing Billiken Players via the Portal - 2025

[ACE]

1 minute ago, Pistol said:

We knew it'd be active but good grief, it is out of control.

Larry Hughes now officially listed in the portal. Just hit refresh every few minutes and new names will pop up!

[Bay Area Billiken]

https://x.com/rivalsportal/status/1904194717157400650?s=46&t=jikm5nKg-NlIUjy2c9C9zw

It’s official. 

[okay]

AJ Casey in portal. We should be in the market for a physical big

[AGB91]

6 minutes ago, okay said:

AJ Casey in portal. We should be in the market for a physical big

No loss.

[SLUDrew]

AJ Casey in the portal

[SluSignGuy]

To clean things up some, I encourage users to discuss players who are leaving SLU via the portal in this thread.  Not all users may want to dig through the Portal 2025 thread, and miss some of this discussion.

Shortly I will move posts from the Portal 2025 thread into this thread.

[slu72]

Little surprised at Casey. Not that we’re losing anything since he never played, but at his thinking he’s gonna get better offers than SLU. 

[WVBilliken]

7 minutes ago, slu72 said:

Little surprised at Casey. Not that we’re losing anything since he never played, but at his thinking he’s gonna get better offers than SLU. 

Maybe he was told he wasn't in the plans for next season .... sure that happens.

[dlarry]

1 hour ago, WVBilliken said:

Maybe he was told he wasn't in the plans for next season .... sure that happens.

That’s my guess too. 
The staff thinking Casey is easily replaceable or they already have his replacement lined up is good news.

[WUH]

[BigMacSLU88]

This one may hurt...Time will tell.

[BillsfaninKC]

Same question that we had with Casey - wonder if this was his own doing or if Schertz told him it was best for his career that he moves on?

[billikenfan05]

4 minutes ago, BillsfaninKC said:

Same question that we had with Casey - wonder if this was his own doing or if Schertz told him it was best for his career that he moves on?

Always struck me as a package deal with Avila, so on some level it kind of surprised me.

Dotzler is a surprise.

[HoosierPal]

I am minorly surprised on this one.  He was maybe, possibly, likely, a starter at Creator next season.  But with only 112 minutes of college ball, it is hard to tell how good he was going to be in this system.

We won't know who made any of these decisions, Coach Schertz or the player.  Maybe a couple of years ago I was 100% against running off players.   But with this new era of NIL and Portal Jumping, I am no longer in that camp.  The revolving door has to work both ways.

[ACE]

9 minutes ago, BillsfaninKC said:

Same question that we had with Casey - wonder if this was his own doing or if Schertz told him it was best for his career that he moves on?

We don't really know the nature of the injuries. If the health outlook is murky, I'm fine moving on from both. On to the next ones.

[okay]

With the freshmen we have incoming, I don’t see Brockhoff staying either. Wouldn’t be surprised if Pikaar also left 

[gobillsgo]

I’m gonna read WAY too far into Dotzler leaving and assume it means a Wes Enis commitment is coming soon. 
 

The overhaul continues!

[TRN]

I wish AJ and Josiah well.  For Dotzler coming off an ACL, the recovery to 100% will take some time.  I can see the staff letting go of anyone with a long term injury (Dotzler) or history of injuries (Casey).  

Players being processed is an unfortunate outcome with the portal and NIL. I’m guessing we will see 8-10 new faces next season, with new recruits and portal transfers. The staff had a season to identify the types of players need to compete, it’s time to upgrade the roster.

[crymdg2]

I think the emergence of Amari in the last month of the season probably factors in as well. At this point, unless we absolutely strike oil in the portal, Amari and Robbie are the locked in starters going forward. Dotzler knows coming off an injury his chances of being the main point guard were probably not there. I wish him the best.

[gister]

The season ended just a week ago.  In the after game interview, Schertz said he would be meeting with each player during the week.  These portal entries are probably the result of those meetings.  It still doesn't answer the question of who made the decision to leave, the player or the coach.

[willie]

From watching both of our portal guys in the preseason and early games I don't think we are losing much. Not sure how the game works but it wouldn't shock me that both were told their NIL money would be limited.   

[dlarry]

1 minute ago, willie said:

From watching both of our portal guys in the preseason and early games I don't think we are losing much. Not sure how the game works but it wouldn't shock me that both were told their NIL money would be limited.   

This is my guess too.

Schertz told them you are more than welcome to come back but this is a “prove it year.”  Perform on the court and the money will be there next year.

[juniorbill76]

I wonder, since we're in the era of pay to play, whether any NIL deals are structured with incentives for games played or other levels of achievement.

[Dr. Holly Hills]

I’ll echo others’ comments.  AJ showed and did nothing.  Dotzler was still big ?s.  How bad was his knee injury? Regular ACL tear or Perkins style blown knee.  IF he got back to 100%, how good was his 100%?? 
 

i hope Pikar stays just for the fact that he’s at least been in the system a year. 
 

 

[SluSignGuy]

No inside info but remember portal players can return.  They can investigate their options. 

Gibby entered the portal last season I think.