Kellier is transferring. Not a huge loss IMO.
Did very little (with little court time). Hope it’s not the start of a huge wave of transfers.
Thioune also in the portal.
It’s a shame. Seemed like he had promise, although he still had a long way to go.
So if I am counting right, there are now 3 openings.
I expect Larry will hit the portal hard. I doubt there are many quality freshmen still available.
Is the third just a random freebie?
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This year we had 13 scholarship players, correct ??? If we are going to bring in the two euros, we have to have two openings? Maybe these two players were told that their scholarships would not be renewed, so that we would have room for the two euros. Optimistically, maybe it means Timmy Allen and Plummer are coming back, although Plummer would not count against the scholarship limit
Here goes. Hope I got this right…
Last year we had 13 scholarship players including Thelissen, who did not come over.
Wenzel, Thioune, and Kellier left.
Plummer does not count next year if he returns.
That leaves 9, so there are 4 openings. Thelissen is one of the 9. Stefanovic fills one slot, so there are 3 remaining.
When does Falsev return from his mission?
He still has another year to go.
When we lost 4 players to fouls against USC and they put in Brenchley and Ballstaedt instead of Thioune and Kellier, that pretty much was a clear signal those 2 had no place in our future plans.
Never saw that much of Kellier, but Thioune showed some game from time to time (when he got the rare chance) and may fit in somewhere.
My favorite Lahat Thioune stat from this year was that he had more 3’s made (1) than blocked shots (0).
Kellier was a late addition hoping for a diamond in the rough that didn’t work out. Thioune was a raw big that didn’t work out. I hope both guys find a good landing spot.
Here is an interesting observation that is probably nothing but nonetheless i found interesting. I track this kind of stuff each year and to have 2 guys enter the portal at basically the same time this close to the season ending is unheard of, even for us. Its almost always 10 days to 2 weeks. Even for guys who are clearly not in the long term plans. Again, probably nothing, just interesting to me.
Thioune is one of those guys we’ll see in next year’s NCAA tourney, making a solid contribution.
I kept thinking this year that if we were going to have a raw 5 sitting on our bench, I would have rather had it been Matt Van Komen. He at least had length/height, a local tie, and friendships with current players on the team. I was never really sure what Thioune brought to the table better than Matt. Both needed work, but one had a skill/attribute that you can’t teach.
I struggle to understand LK’s approach to developing guys — like who he develops and how. I’ve seen SO many guys come through his program with potential yet limited skill. I assume he knows that when he offers them. But it’s like, unless they come in and WAY exceed even his expectations, they languish on the bench. It seems like ya gotta throw those guys a bone now and again just to give them hope that there’s a reason to keep plugging away in your program. I know this is a problem at all levels of college hoops, but it seems particularly acute at the U right now.
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We should create an award - the Makol Mawien Award
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Not that it’s any excuse (since we see the same transfer year after year after year) but didn’t help have just 4 non-conference games this year. Nice when you have half a dozen Idaho State type games to give lots of players a good look .
initially I thought Both Gach would end up being a major loss, but he ended up averaging less than 7 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists in 23 minutes a game with the Gophers and if he stayed he would have taken up valuable minutes from Pelle and Martinez
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Not sure that either/both Kellier & Thioune find a new home at the D-1 level.
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esp. with everybody getting an extra year of eligibility if they want it. Will be fewer openings across the country.
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