It will be interesting to see what happens with donors & the Otro Capital deal.
Do the big donors invest in Otro, become equity partners, then want to invest in NIL to help fill the seats? The NIL expenditure is buffered a little by expanding equity.
I like the idea of a renovated Huntsman Center over a new arena in the parking lot west of Rice Eccles, but I kind of wonder if Otro’s expertise helped bend that announcement / trial balloon?
I didn’t even realize Oregon had such a bad season in hoops. That has to be their worst season since the PAC-10 days.
Interesting times in Eugene. Altman will be back, from multiple sources.
In the past I’ve said Utah should try to approximate Oregon’s path, but I thought we’d lag about 5-10 years, not be in synch!
St. Marys’ Bennett finally leaves … for ASU? Odd.
Maybe with Gonzaga leaving, Bennett thinks there is no future in the conference
Didn’t we swing and miss with him every vacancy except the last?
Alvin Jackson to enter portal and Jake Wahlin to enter as well.
Wahlin a local from Utah County. Had some game and wouldn’t mind seeing him back with the team.
Just read that Dawes is gone. The one guy I would like to see back.
Bummer, but I get it. Guys want PT, $$ and a chance to win, especially as a senior.
The road to winning at a high level is miles longer now than before.
Dawes entered portal then returned last year. But likely may be looking for a team which has even a remote chance of post season.
Brown is gone. This will be an entirely different team next season.
Dawes & Brown seemed like solid building blocks.
Hmmmm…
This either means Wes Wilcox and AJ have found some serious talent and the future looks bright… or the rebuild is going off track a bit, or they were way outside the NIL budget, etc.
We were competitive in enough games to give me confidence we have good coaching, even with a very rough start and a roster slapped together without a lot of homework.
The product clearly wasn’t good enough to make us .500, and you could see breakdowns driving Alex crazy.
A lot of teams in the tournament looked like they had “achievable” talent levels, outside the Top 16 teams. Continuity is key, though, too.
I think seniors like Dawes and Brown are looking to land where they have a legitimate chance at a run in the Tourney.
Watching Iowa in the Big Dance - a team we beat in the NIT a couple of years ago - after Fran McCaffrey was let go last year, they lost all but one player to the portal.
This season, in his first season, Ben McCollum took the Hawkeyes to the Sweet 16, after a 10-10 year in the B1G.
Expectations exceeded, of course, but in hindsight maybe Alex finishing his commitment with the Spurs meant we’ll get two first years?
Nothing to do but wait and see.
[Disclaimer - AI generated content based on a Hawkeye site]
Instead of chasing 5 star talent, McCollum prioritized:
That allowed Iowa to:
Several national analyses noted that Iowa looked more connected than more talented teams by February — unusual for a first‑year roster. [hawkcentral.com], [247sports.com]
Seydou to the portal. Thats now 8.
I listened to Bartle’s podcast at the gym. He said Utah only wants to keep 3 players–Langarita, Sanders (the freshman, no. 13) and Babacar Faye, the big who got injured before the season and never played. They may want to keep Abbey; he showed promise defensively but has a long way to go on offense. They want a point guard who is a playmaker and can run the offense for other players. Terrance Brown is a great scorer if he can get to the rim, but doesn’t really have a three point shot and can’t run the offense that Alex wants to run. They may find a pg in the portal but are also looking in Europe. They are high on the big they signed from Austria and also one or two other frosh whose names I didn’t hear. They are looking to sign 4 or 5 players or so in the portal. They are looking for size everywhere and players who will fit Alex’s scheme, especially on defense.
fwiw
That makes sense. None of the players who have 1 year left are going to get any better, & they all are basically role players with limited skills.
Brown can drive & score—only
Dawes can rebound & dunk.
Etc.
they need help from the portal. A big man would help.
No excuses—Jensen is all here. They should have some money to spend.
