Zippy87

The two teams that pulled off the biggest upsets today had scoring guards lead the way - Oakland (Gohlke, 32) and Duquesne (Grant, 19). When we came close against UCLA. Castaneda led the way with 18. When OU won in 2021, they had Preston and Sears. When Groce's OU teams made their runs, they had DJ Cooper. You get the point. It's hard to pull off an upset without a guard who can score in bunches and break down a defense.

To me the big unknowns are how much Baker and possibly Young can contribute next year. As of right now I'm penciling in Baker as a starter but Young could theoretically redshirt as Baker did this year. Assuming nobody leaves, here's your pre-portal roster: MMK/Lyles Dawson/Prather Jr. Baker N. Johnson Scott/T. Johnson At least one experienced big is an absolute must IMO. You cant go into the season with Lyles and two RS freshmen. I also think they need a scoring guard and pushing Scott to a bench role. Transfer/MMK Dawson/Prather Jr. Baker/Lyles N. Johnson/Scott Transfer/T. Johnson Maybe?

Anytime you have a good coach at the mid-major level you have to worry about that. But given his father's health and where his kids are at in school, I don't think he's going to make another move right now.

Two things I've learned about LeBron over the last 20 or so years: 1) LeBron is fiercely loyal to and will do anything to support his best friends - Maverick, Rich, Dru, Willie, Sian, Romeo, Frankie. 2) He's a very smart man and is very intentional in what he does. As speculation grew over KD retiring, Bron started posting more about the Dukes. They win, he sends them shoes. They win again today, he posts these consecutively: He's showing the higher ups at Duquesne that he'd be actively in their corner if Dru gets the job.

Between graduating seniors and players already in the portal, every top MAC team is losing quite a bit. Toledo is losing Cochran and Moss, the #2 and #3 scorers. Kent is losing Sullinger, Santiago, Bass, Payton, and Freeman, so 4 of their top 5 scorers. Ohio loses Hunter, Brown, Wiznitzer, and Mitchell, so 3 of their top 4 scorers. BG loses Agee, Spurgin, Towns, Phillip, Thomas and Humphrey, so 5 of their top 6 scorers this year. It will come down to who does the best in the portal and Coach Groce can start every conversation with 2 of the last 3 MAC Championships, so I like our chances.

"Consistently underachieved" is WILD

🥲

Love affair? Lol. Life is too short for me to be spend even a minute being upset that LeBron gave special shoes to another team. It's not that serious.

Bur why does it matter that he didn't? I'm guessing by the "LeBum" comment that nothing he could've done would've been good enough anyhow.

Because he didn't give our team shoes before the game? Our guys get a ton of LeBron gear sent to them - one of five schools in the nation to partner with him I believe. It shouldn't surprise anyone though that he goes the extra mile for his former coach and someone he considers a brother in Dru.

I think Prather can play at this level. Tavari may come down to the team's plans for him next season.

Do we think we lose anyone to the portal? I don't know that I think Lyles is a D1 rotation player, but he's probably back because the depth there is so poor.

McFadden too!

Our frontcourt next year is currently Amani Lyles, two redshirt freshmen in Baker and MMK, and a true freshman in Rich Brisco. I have to imagine we'll want to add at least one player to that mix (and Lyles may even be a portal candidate IMO). I also think they pretty clearly need a guard who can create and score. The staff swung and missed on the two guards we added last year and can't afford to do that again this summer.

If he gets one today does he tie the record? Wasn't sure if tournament stats counted.

Double post sorry

I'm jealous

I believe we offered Southerland out of HS. Akron listed as interested

Akron Out: Mikal Dawson In: James Okonkwo (UNC), Seth Wilson (WVU), Josiah Harris (WVU), Isaiah Gray (Cornell) Rumored Interest: Tyran Cook (VMI), Sean Moore (Fairleigh Dickinson), Markus Harding (Central Michigan), Deuce Turner (San Diego), Isaiah Gray (Cornell), Rashad Bishop (Georgetown College), Derrin Boyd (Lipscomb), Tom House (Florida State), Eric Acker (LIU), Keenan Fitzmorris (Stony Brook), Zed Key (Ohio State), Drissa Trayore (St. Johns) Ball State Out: Jalin Anderson, Joey Brown, Trent Middleton, Micah Bell, Basheer Jihad, Davion Bailey In: Peyton Sparks (Indiana) Bowling Green: Out: Ejay Greer, Rashaun Agee, PJ Edwards, Marcus Hill, Anthony McComb III In: Braelon Green (Arizona State), Youssef Khayat (Michigan) Buffalo Out: Isaiah Adams, Kanye Jones, Jonnivious Smith, James Graham, Zaakir Williamson In: Noah Batchelor (Maryland), Ben Michaels (Long Island Lutheran) Central Michigan Out: Markus Harding, Paul McMillan IV, Noah Adamczyk, Max Majerle, Jemal Davis, Derrick Butler, Aidan Rubio, Anthony Pritchard, KJ Odour, Josiah Sanders In: Kyler Vanderjagt (Belmont), Jakob Heady (Bethune-Cookman), Quentin Heady (South Suburban College) Eastern Michigan Out: Tyson Acuff, Cyril Martynov, Andrew Wells, Derik Pranger, Julius Ellerbe, John McGriff, Connor Serven, Javantae Randle In: Kent State Out: Reggie Bass, Jalen Sullinger, Julius Rollins, Tyem Freeman In: Anthony Morales (Boston University), Cian Medley (St. Louis) Miami Out: Ryan Mabrey, Jacquel Morris, Julien Lewis In: Kam Craft (Xavier) Northern Illinois Out: Yanic Niederhauser, Zarique Nutter, Will Lovings-Watts, Zion Russell, David Coit, Keyshawn Williams In: Dom Gooden (Hillsborough CC), Joe Munden (Fairleigh Dickinson) Ohio Out: IJ Ezuma, Ike Cornish In: Victor Searls (Ashland), Jackson Paveletzke (Iowa State) Toledo Out: Ra'heim Moss, Dante Maddox Jr., Tyler Cochran, Ben Wright, Marko Maletic In: Colin O'Rourke (Wisconsin-Parkside), Seth Hubbard (WMU) Western Michigan Out: GB Artis-White, Seth Hubbard In: Junior Sileu (AZ Compass Prep)

We definitely need to add scoring. We averaged 74 ppg as a team this year and the seniors accounted for 48 ppg. We have two open scholarships pre-portal. Lyles and T. Johnson would be the two I'd consider possibilities to leave (although I think Tavari stays). Our top target is probably a guard who can create offense. I don't think Groce goes into next season with Tavari as his primary PG. Next priority should be a big.

In the press conference someone asked if he'd have a say in his replacement and KD deferred to the AD, but then said "But I'm strong-willed" with a smile. He also said later that he felt the program could go to even higher levels "if the people in the room don't change".. he said "the AD, President" after, but I think it meant more than that. I really think it will be Dru with the rest of the staff staying on. I have no idea how he is as a game coach, but LeBron will get much more involved if it's Dru and thats not a small thing. I also don't think KD does this if he doesnt know there are places there for McFadden and Weigand.