Kai Yu gone

[Dub]

The current system isn't sustainable for mid major teams. If nothing changes, we're likely seeing the start of a major move out of relevance for all mid major programs.... along with shrinking fan engagement, etc. Let's hope the NCAA sees it and make the right changes before they lose it completely. We need to continue to support our program in hopes that when/if they make the right corrections, we will be in a better position than our peers.

 

[Da Coach]

Wonder if Kai leaving means someone else is already committed to transferring here. Lathan Sommerville would be a perfect fit if that's the case.

He sure would. But it would be hard to give up the Big Ten money he's getting. The D1 portal officially opens 2 weeks from today, so we'll see. The names we are seeing already are players intent on entering the portal, though it hasn't officially opened yet. The NIL agents encourage their clients to publicize their intent early.

Last year, there were close to 3,000 names in the D1 portal, and I expect a similar number this year. This year, the D1 portal opens later than in previous years and is only open for 15 days, from April 7-21, compared with 30 days last year. Players who are still in the portal when it closes are still recruitable and can continue to seek transfer options.
So expect a flood of players entering on the first day or two, since by April 7 there will be no teams still playing and all 365 D1 teams will be in recruiting mode.

 

[yoda]

grad students and players whose coaches have been fired/released are allowed to enter the portal now
Everyone else officially has to wait until after the NCAA Tourney is over.

 

[Dubl R 1]

Wonder if Kai leaving means someone else is already committed to transferring here. Lathan Sommerville would be a perfect fit if that's the case.

I wish this was the case sooo bad...lol. Probably isn't but I can dream again this year until it doesn't happen.

What a great fit Lathan would be here...again, built in fan base, hometown, legacy fans, keys to the starting center position, play with 2 other peoria guys....COME HOME!

 

[Bball31]

The current system isn't sustainable for mid major teams. If nothing changes, we're likely seeing the start of a major move out of relevance for all mid major programs.... along with shrinking fan engagement, etc. Let's hope the NCAA sees it and make the right changes before they lose it completely. We need to continue to support our program in hopes that when/if they make the right corrections, we will be in a better position than our peers.

The conference regular season is no longer relevant to mid majors. The major focus now is on the post season conference tournament. Perhaps it's time for the mid majors and P5 conferences to have their own post season tournaments. It's already being done in football with the FBS and FCS. It would be a hard pill to swallow for some mid majors but medicine doesn't always taste good.

 

[LittleBrave]

Wonder if Kai leaving means someone else is already committed to transferring here. Lathan Sommerville would be a perfect fit if that's the case.

Gustavo should be ready, no?
Is Sommerville really that good? He will be a Junior next season...not too impressed by his numbers last season...it is mainly b/c he is the son of a former BU star?

 

[Stryker]

The conference regular season is no longer relevant to mid majors. The major focus now is on the post season conference tournament. Perhaps it's time for the mid majors and P5 conferences to have their own post season tournaments. It's already being done in football with the FBS and FCS. It would be a hard pill to swallow for some mid majors but medicine doesn't always taste good.

This would be a very hard pill to swallow, and effectively would change nothing, as the power programs would still be taking players from the lower schools. Better to at least get one team in per mid & low major conference, get the money for at least one game, hopefully two, and move on. It would not change the NIL and portal problem for non-power schools though.

I think we may end up seeing the top 150 or so schools split away. Most of the D1 low major programs aren't going to be able to compete anymore, and it will take its toll. Take into account the AI landscape, other forms of entertainment, education probably changing forever in the next decade, declining populations, the possibility of AI causing huge swaths of college educated people to be unemployed or have to re-train into other fields, college demand falling extremely fast, risk of ejecting all foreign students from the American university system (foreign risk issue), and it is plain to me that colleges are going to see massive headwinds and novel problems over the next decade that could cause many colleges to close or lose massive funding.

I foresee about 150-175 D1 colleges in the next 10-15 years due to any number of the above risk factors or combination of them playing out. I see BU surviving this but it could get close. Post-season tournaments would have to be reworked completely. In 10 years, there may be 74 or so teams in the NCAA mens basketball tournament, with 150-175 D1 programs. Maybe mid-majors get 2 auto bids each since there would only be maybe 12-14 conferences, with the power schools getting the rest of the auto-bids etc.

 

[LittleBrave]

The conference regular season is no longer relevant to mid majors. The major focus now is on the post season conference tournament. Perhaps it's time for the mid majors and P5 conferences to have their own post season tournaments. It's already being done in football with the FBS and FCS. It would be a hard pill to swallow for some mid majors but medicine doesn't always taste good.

I disagree - it's a bigger thing now than ever to win your conf. reg. season b/c there is no guarantee what will happen in St. Louis, and the chances of an underdog winning in the Big Dance is slimmer than ever with NIL. Of course getting the Auto bid is the ultimate goal, but I think we miss a lot basing our success on making the NCAA tourney. Maybe it's lowering expectations? But more of...I'd rather enjoy the ride of the regular season. I think we've lost the adventure and excitement the last few seasons with more focus on winning Arch Madness. I LOVE the fight for seeding for the conf. tournament the last few weeks of the season...adds something to the season. But as we saw earlier this month, seeding isn't everything with so much parity in our conf. among the Top 6 or 7 teams. Big thing is to 1) Win conf. regular season, 2) Avoid Thursday play-in games, 3) Win 20 games

Looking back at BU teams the last 4 seasons, I think most fans agree the highlight was winning the MVC in '23. Although there was disappointment in losing to Drake that season, you can fall back on the success of winning the Valley. Coming in 2nd or 3rd and losing in Arch Madness, it's harder to find the silver lining.

You play 30 games just to have it come down to 3 games in St. Lou, and when you get to the Big Dance, there is very little chance to win even 1 game.
RE the post-season tourney - Reaching the Final 4 in the NIT is a big accomplishment now for mid majors with the NIT being THE post-season tourney for mid-majors

 

[KnoxBrave]

I wish this was the case sooo bad...lol. Probably isn't but I can dream again this year until it doesn't happen.

What a great fit Lathan would be here...again, built in fan base, hometown, legacy fans, keys to the starting center position, play with 2 other peoria guys....COME HOME!

Read this article talking about him -

https://twitter.com/x/status/2034392228895055884

Makes it seem like there could be a mutual interest to go separate ways. Especially in today’s college basketball, coaches also have the ability to tell guys see ya later. I would imagine coming home would be at the top of the list.

 

[Dubl R 1]

Read this article talking about him -

https://twitter.com/x/status/2034392228895055884

Makes it seem like there could be a mutual interest to go separate ways. Especially in today’s college basketball, coaches also have the ability to tell guys see ya later. I would imagine coming home would be at the top of the list.

I did read that a couple days ago and almost posted it here but didn't.

As far as coming being at the top of his list...IDK...like I literally have no idea...just when you think you might know what these kids are thinking something comes out of left field. Like last year, the commitment to Washinton stunned me...I mean it seemed odd to me...but what do I know?

$$ rules everything.

 

[Bball31]

I disagree - it's a bigger thing now than ever to win your conf. reg. season b/c there is no guarantee what will happen in St. Louis, and the chances of an underdog winning in the Big Dance is slimmer than ever with NIL. Of course getting the Auto bid is the ultimate goal, but I think we miss a lot basing our success on making the NCAA tourney. Maybe it's lowering expectations? But more of...I'd rather enjoy the ride of the regular season. I think we've lost the adventure and excitement the last few seasons with more focus on winning Arch Madness. I LOVE the fight for seeding for the conf. tournament the last few weeks of the season...adds something to the season. But as we saw earlier this month, seeding isn't everything with so much parity in our conf. among the Top 6 or 7 teams. Big thing is to 1) Win conf. regular season, 2) Avoid Thursday play-in games, 3) Win 20 games

Looking back at BU teams the last 4 seasons, I think most fans agree the highlight was winning the MVC in '23. Although there was disappointment in losing to Drake that season, you can fall back on the success of winning the Valley. Coming in 2nd or 3rd and losing in Arch Madness, it's harder to find the silver lining.

You play 30 games just to have it come down to 3 games in St. Lou, and when you get to the Big Dance, there is very little chance to win even 1 game.
RE the post-season tourney - Reaching the Final 4 in the NIT is a big accomplishment now for mid majors with the NIT being THE post-season tourney for mid-majors.

I’ve never been a proponent of post season conference tournaments. I’d rather see a team get rewarded with an automatic NCAA bid for winning their regular season conference championship over the course of several weeks and games as opposed to maybe four games over one weekend. The IHSA went through a similar situation when it went to a two class system for the boys state basketball tournament in the early 1970s. It worked quite well until they watered it down when they went to four classes. The reality is the mid majors don’t get that much revenue for participating in the NCAA tournament because that revenue is almost always divided among each school in the conference. This year the MVC got roughly $350,000 for UNI’s first round appearance. That equates to a little under $32,000 per school. That isn’t a big payday and isn’t even the cost of one scholarship at Bradley.

 

[tomahawk chop]

Gustavo should be ready, no?
Is Sommerville really that good? He will be a Junior next season...not too impressed by his numberslast season...it is mainly b/c he is the son of a former BU star?

I think it has a lot to do with his dad being a star at Bradley.

 

[Dubl R 1]

I think it has a lot to do with his dad being a star at Bradley.

I think he'd be pretty good in the Valley.

Take a look at Brodie's numbers before he got to Drake.

His dad being a star at Bradley, and a friend of mine, makes it easy to root for him because hes a good kid from a good family that has Bradley ties...has nothing to do with why I think he would succeed here...not the same type of player as his dad at all.

He's got great size, good hands, and has some good offensive skills..not the most athletic which I think he can get away with in the Valley vs the bigger schools.

I'd love to see him here...he'd be an instant improvement over any of the post players we had last year.

 

[ollienanyes]

I am a Peoria Chiefs fan, and midmajor basketball is a lot like minor league baseball: players are on the team for a short period of time. Those who excel get "promoted" to P4, those who don't pan out get asked to leave.

 

[Da Coach]

If Lathan Sommerville played in the MVC, he would be the best big man in the conference, and a 1st team All-MVC. I have watched several Washington games this season, and IMO, the reason Lathan appeared to "regress" was mostly to do with the offense of Washington. They ran their entire offense through their guards and their All-Big Ten Euro forward Hannes Steinbach. They played much of the time without a post player, and when Lathan did get into the game, he didn't touch the ball on most possessions. He has very good low post skills and moves, but the UW offense did not play that way.

 

[egib52]

If Lathan Sommerville played in the MVC, he would be the best big man in the conference, and a 1st team All-MVC. I have watched several Washington games this season, and IMO, the reason Lathan appeared to "regress" was mostly to do with the offense of Washington. They ran their entire offense through their guards and their All-Big Ten Euro forward Hannes Steinbach. They played much of the time without a post player, and when Lathan did get into the game, he didn't touch the ball on most possessions. He has very good low post skills and moves, but the UW offense did not play that way.

I think what gets lost in translation is that there is only one basketball. When there is arguably higher-end talent on the team, that is where the ball goes. Just like at Rutgers last year, where he played with 2 lottery picks. Also, he plays post, and in the Big Ten, that is athletic 7-footers. Again, I truly believe he would be similar, if not better, than Walker.

 

[Dubl R 1]

I think what gets lost in translation is that there is only one basketball. When there is arguably higher-end talent on the team, that is where the ball goes. Just like at Rutgers last year, where he played with 2 lottery picks. Also, he plays post, and in the Big Ten, that is athletic 7-footers. Again, I truly believe he would be similar, if not better, than Walker.

Absolutely agree.

This is why I think Bully at power 5 would be a completely different player....not that he couldn't do some of the same things there, but would he even be given the chance?...he in no way would be the number 1 or 2 option on the team most nights, very doubtful hed be allowed to be himself, and have the freedom to impact the game the same way he can here.

I