Weight room, yes. Footwork, no. He already has fantastic footwork which I’m sure will improve. Gaining weight/strength will help immensely in being able to post up and use his fade away which is already difficult to defend.
Omaha enters the transfer portal (confirmed)
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They would not exactly be "non compete" contracts. They would be contracts for employment etc. They would be same or similar to any pro sports contracts.
I dont know if we get to that point unless they are paid employees. But I would assume they could have some contract obligations for NIL pay too, but probably not as limited and structured. Because technically those are being paid for use of their image etc for advertising/recognition etc, not actual play. We all know it is for them to play at one school or the other, but I dont know if you can legally contractually bind someone to play at a school in a NIL contract. This would not be an issue if they were essentially deemed an employee.
The bottom line is Omaha was rated so high solely based on his athleticism and build. He’s nowhere near ready to be a good basketball player at the P5 level. He didn’t seem to get any better as the season went on and didn’t get minutes because of that. With his build and athleticism there will always be potential to be elite, but he isn’t a good enough basketball player at the moment. It will be interesting to see if he ever comes close to the hype, but it also looks incredibly doubtful it will happen.
He got more minutes in the first 5 games than he did the entire rest of the season combined.
So I guess he's good enough for minutes against Lindenwood and Grambling but not Florida A&M and New Hampshire?
So what you are basically saying then is TJ was forcing him early just for the sake of not looking like a huge recruiting bust?
Because you would rather give those minutes to someone who has a realistic chance to be a contributor.
All that being said, I think 10 years ago you'd say keep him and maybe in 2 years he'll be ready to compete. Unfortunately right now in college basketball you can't do that.
And if that's the final word on him, then so be it.
But then, why did we recruit him?
Best of luck to Omaha. Seems like a well rounded, respectful person. Thanks for your year at ISU.
Can I ask you a few questions?
1.) So, your opinion is that because you can't answer my very reasonable questions (no one really can except TJ) then I just shouldn't care?
2.) If Omaha was so bad, then why was he getting decent mins (playing pretty decently) when Watson had a concussion?
3.) Do you feel it's worth running off local kids who have long term potential so you can raise your NET rating by winning by 50 against a **** non-con?
Because the potential is there. If there’s a kid in your home state with that much hype, it would be straight up idiotic to not recruit him.
I think putting him in those games is just confirming what they see every day in practice. The coaches are not dumb. If he isn't showing out well against our guys in practice that is the clearest indication that he isn't ready. A lot of people on here will say "but he didn't get any chances or playing time". You have to earn that stuff
It's more likely that TJ and the staff knew back in November and December that Omaha was not going to be able to contribute later in the season. So why take away minutes from others, even core starters that were still trying to learn to play together. Milan, Gilbert, Curtis Jones, and even Ward were still very new to the system back in December.
Omaha has potential. Omaha needs a lot of playing time to have a chance of maybe reaching his potential. Iowa State’s basketball program is thankfully in a position where we can’t afford to gamble on a project that may or may not turn out. We are playing for conference titles and deep March runs, so you play who you know can play.
Before anyone melts down too badly, here are the players that some other Big 12 programs have lost to the portal this year already (pts/reb/ast/stl/blk, FG/3P/FT%):
Arizona State: G Frankie Collins, 32 min, 32 starts, 13.8/4.4/3.2/2.6/0.2, 43/31/58%
Colorado: G J'Vonne Hadley, 34 min, 36 starts, 11.6/6.0/2.4/1.4/0.3, 54/42/84%
Kansas State: G Cam Carter, 35 min, 34 starts, 15.6/5.0/2.6/1.4/0.5, 39/31/84%
Oklahoma: G Otega Oweh, 25 min, 28 starts, 11.4/3.4/1.0/1.5/0.4, 49/38/64%
Oklahoma State: G Javon Small, 33 min, 31 starts, 15.1/4.7/4.1/1.0/0.3, 44/37/87%
Oklahoma State: F Eric Daily, 22 min, 16 starts, 9.3/4.8/1.5/0.8/0.1, 50/33/60%
TCU: G Micah Peavy, 29 min, 34 starts, 10.9/4.9/2.6/1.3/0.2, 46/31/61%
TCU: F JaKobe Coles, 21 min, 11 starts, 10.0/3.8/1.3/0.6/0.4, 49/42/77%
Texas Tech: G Pop Isaacs, 33 min, 34 starts, 15.8/3.2/3.5/1.0/0.1, 35/29/84%
Meanwhile, we've lost four players who barely/never played and outside of some spot-minutes for Pav had little if any impact on how our season went.
It sucks to lose Omaha's potential for sure, but that's all we're losing, maybe he'd be good or great here, but he objectively was not an impactful/important player on the floor for us this year. Some of our Big 12 mates are losing starters, leading scorers, best returning players, etc. We're in pretty good shape.
Arizona State: G Frankie Collins, 32 min, 32 starts, 13.8/4.4/3.2/2.6/0.2, 43/31/58%
Colorado: G J'Vonne Hadley, 34 min, 36 starts, 11.6/6.0/2.4/1.4/0.3, 54/42/84%
Kansas State: G Cam Carter, 35 min, 34 starts, 15.6/5.0/2.6/1.4/0.5, 39/31/84%
Oklahoma: G Otega Oweh, 25 min, 28 starts, 11.4/3.4/1.0/1.5/0.4, 49/38/64%
Oklahoma State: G Javon Small, 33 min, 31 starts, 15.1/4.7/4.1/1.0/0.3, 44/37/87%
Oklahoma State: F Eric Daily, 22 min, 16 starts, 9.3/4.8/1.5/0.8/0.1, 50/33/60%
TCU: G Micah Peavy, 29 min, 34 starts, 10.9/4.9/2.6/1.3/0.2, 46/31/61%
TCU: F JaKobe Coles, 21 min, 11 starts, 10.0/3.8/1.3/0.6/0.4, 49/42/77%
Texas Tech: G Pop Isaacs, 33 min, 34 starts, 15.8/3.2/3.5/1.0/0.1, 35/29/84%
Meanwhile, we've lost four players who barely/never played and outside of some spot-minutes for Pav had little if any impact on how our season went.
It sucks to lose Omaha's potential for sure, but that's all we're losing, maybe he'd be good or great here, but he objectively was not an impactful/important player on the floor for us this year. Some of our Big 12 mates are losing starters, leading scorers, best returning players, etc. We're in pretty good shape.
Instate 5-star kid, you have to recruit him or the fan base is going to wonder why you didn't. You don't go after such a highly rated kid and he turns out to be a stud at some other school out of state, the fan base will never let it end. Coach did not even offer XYZ player and now the kid is all conference. You go after him hoping he will improve and get better to help you down the road.
I think we have to separate 2 things with Omaha:
1) his recruiting rankings were asinine and very clearly a miss on a pretty epic level
2) it’s not a recruiting miss for a coaching staff to bring him into your program for 1 year, knowing his limitations, but hoping he can maybe be the guy who generated some major buzz at some major basketball events.
I've posted this for a couple days on the Premium side and want to use it to set a few records straight in here.
The evaluation of him wasn't wrong, and Omaha certainly isn't lacking effort... but sometimes a player that looks primed to make huge strides in reality may be closer to their ceiling than expected. Xavier Foster is a prime example - over 3 full seasons of playing time, he scored a combined 32 pts in his career.
Omaha is a great kid, Iowa State gave him every opportunity and support possible, he maximized his effort... but unfortunately he just didn't continue to see progress towards what you'd like to see in a contributor. He was a unique 5-star because of his athleticism and defense (at the HS level) and hope that he could develop some sort of offensive game at a high-level caliber - or at least net positive. Unfortunately that hasn't happened. This is best for both sides.
From Premium Posts:
I would be fairly shocked if Omaha is back. He hasn’t developed in practice as much as he needed to (actually very little) and he knows even with a ton of effort he’s still only going to get to what you like to see in a true freshman with 8 mins a game max. His hands aren’t getting any softer, he’s still too slow on defense in practice and his offensive game, which was almost non existent for a Big 12 level player coming in and the thing everybody knew he needed to pray got better, has not developed much at all. He gives a ton of effort, but between his handlers and reality, I don’t see him staying.
Some guys show massive 5 star potential, but unfortunately sometimes reality ends up being a much different outcome.
The evaluation of him wasn't wrong, and Omaha certainly isn't lacking effort... but sometimes a player that looks primed to make huge strides in reality may be closer to their ceiling than expected. Xavier Foster is a prime example - over 3 full seasons of playing time, he scored a combined 32 pts in his career.
Omaha is a great kid, Iowa State gave him every opportunity and support possible, he maximized his effort... but unfortunately he just didn't continue to see progress towards what you'd like to see in a contributor. He was a unique 5-star because of his athleticism and defense (at the HS level) and hope that he could develop some sort of offensive game at a high-level caliber - or at least net positive. Unfortunately that hasn't happened. This is best for both sides.
From Premium Posts:
I would be fairly shocked if Omaha is back. He hasn’t developed in practice as much as he needed to (actually very little) and he knows even with a ton of effort he’s still only going to get to what you like to see in a true freshman with 8 mins a game max. His hands aren’t getting any softer, he’s still too slow on defense in practice and his offensive game, which was almost non existent for a Big 12 level player coming in and the thing everybody knew he needed to pray got better, has not developed much at all. He gives a ton of effort, but between his handlers and reality, I don’t see him staying.
Some guys show massive 5 star potential, but unfortunately sometimes reality ends up being a much different outcome.
Should tell you a lot, actually. If Omaha couldn’t get real minutes in those games, can you imagine how he looked in practice? These coaches aren’t dumb, they play who gives them the best chance to be successful. And clearly that wasn’t Omaha. Sucks but I don’t see how he contributes significantly next year either.
Don’t speak logic…the sky is falling according to so many! Lol! I, personally, will trust the staff in the building knows a heck of a lot more than myself and all the keyboard athletes that can’t stop complaining and criticizing! Go State!!
Presumably, we didn't know that he couldn't develop more quickly. Some requisites are not easily measured and you have to give it a try and see. I don't know, but I'm guessing the staff thought he would develop quickly enough on the defensive side of the ball (given his athleticism and build) to allow for his offense to come along later.
2.) He filled a role (very small) for a short time when Iowa St was playing 3 games in 3 days, and were down a player at his position.
3) I want the best team possible in March. If that means playing the core players more minutes in December, when they're still learning the system, that's fine.
