I actually have the same concern. They lose experienced bucket getters in Holmes and Kalscheur plus maybe the best big in the conference in Osun. On the plus side, we could get Grill back and some of the younger players like Lipsey and Watson are getting good experience. Still, I think that they'll need to find at least one good scoring guard/wing in the portal. And potentially a post unless Ward comes back and is a heck of a lot better. Otherwise, they're starting Omaha at the 5.
We wont be as young as you would think next year. Best case (and likely) scenario we get two high level transfers with a lot of experience. Grill and Tre King are sure to be major contributors. Rob Jones and/or Hason Ward will likely be back and will see minutes. As a sophomore it will feel like Lipsey is a 5th year senior and Im sure he will play that way as well Jeremiah Williams will be back and it will be his 4th year in a college program. That is likely EIGHT or NINE possible contributors with a ton of college experience. Those talented freshman will need to earn their minutes. We wont be rolling out a ton of underclassmen however.
My bigger concern is managing egos and getting buy in from these higher rated recruits as opposed to the youth issue. We have seen that be an issue at ISU before, and Otz hasn't had to deal with that angle yet.
The margin of error for us is still so crazy thin because of exactly this Kind of thing. A couple more turd sandwiches like okie st and we are playing with potential being the 6 seed.
A lot of people have Gonzaga and Duke wins this year though
you should see the work i do in the bedroom
Because we have seen it before with our own eyes in the McDermott era. He had been winning at a clip that UNI hadn't seen before with a rag tag group buying in to his system. They went to the dance and knocked off some good teams. Then he came to ISU and signed some great recruits and we were all jacked thinking about what he was going to do now that he had all this additional talent. Then the wheels fell off, and the narrative has always been he couldn't get the buy in and manage the egos of those higher ranked recruits.
I am well aware of all of the above. Worrying about it right now, much less posting about it in a thread titled "First Place" is a colossal waste of time.
Are there enough tie breakers to break a 6 way tie at the end of the season. Seeding at the Big 12 tournament will be interesting.
Isaacs got hurt in the game. Landed on a WVU players heel and rolled his ankle. Put no weight on it as they took him back to the locker room and eventually came back in street clothes and a boot.
