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Players who transferred from last year, Where are they now?


1981 grad

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As I look at the roster, I see a lot of new faces.  It seems like that every year, especially with the transfer rule.   I know we have talked about some of these players in the past but if somebody would be nice enough to help me out and tell me where the following players from last year ended up.  Also, if somebody wants to comment about these players as the season progresses we now have one thread on this subject.  Thanks in advance.

 

Michael Wynn

Aziz Bandaogo

Sekou Kalle

Pat Mayfield  (I think he played briefly last year)

Ali Ali

Bryan Trimble Jr.

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2 hours ago, 1981 grad said:

As I look at the roster, I see a lot of new faces.  It seems like that every year, especially with the transfer rule.   I know we have talked about some of these players in the past but if somebody would be nice enough to help me out and tell me where the following players from last year ended up.  Also, if somebody wants to comment about these players as the season progresses we now have one thread on this subject.  Thanks in advance.

 

Michael Wynn

Aziz Bandaogo

Sekou Kalle

Pat Mayfield  (I think he played briefly last year)

Ali Ali

Bryan Trimble Jr.

I don't see anything on Michael Wynn.  I probably liked him more than the coaching staff.  Was thinking about Bryan Trimble a few minutes ago and how I gave away my tickets to the home NIU game last year because i was so pissed.  I think that was Trimble's swan song.  Next game Zips won by 17 at EMU...and Ali had 17 points.  Going to be tough replacing him and Dawson.

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On 11/3/2022 at 4:25 PM, indians4841ks said:

I'm sure it's been mentioned somewhere already but Ali Ali is at Butler. https://butlersports.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/ali-ali/10731

 

Edit: I see now it was literally mentioned already in this thread. Lol

I wonder if Butler figured out a way to make him eligible.  Placing him on the roster and getting him academically eligible are two different issues.  Let's see if he plays this next week.

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1 hour ago, mrelegazna said:

Aziz led Utah Valley in scoring and minutes last night in their loss to Utah State.  Kalle started and led Evansville in rebounding in their win at Miami. Take from that what you will.

Do you think Aziz was a coaching decision or a player's decision?  On the one hand he had very limited offensive skills and was slow on defense.  However, I thought we could have used him last night on defense as their center was just eating up our frosh at the end of the half.

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2 minutes ago, 1981 grad said:

Do you think Aziz was a coaching decision or a player's decision?  On the one hand he had very limited offensive skills and was slow on defense.  However, I thought we could have used him last night on defense as their center was just eating up our frosh at the end of the half.

Could've been either, but I lean on that one being player decision out of pure speculation. My guess is Aziz wanted starter minutes and knew he wouldn't get that for 2 more years behind Freeman.

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3 minutes ago, LZIp said:

Could've been either, but I lean on that one being player decision out of pure speculation. My guess is Aziz wanted starter minutes and knew he wouldn't get that for 2 more years behind Freeman.

I lean the other way and Groce told him he may not fit into their long term plans.   When we started winning it was with a smaller lineup and more quickness on defense.   I think Groce believes that quickness beats having a rim protector that does not have quick feet.  That is why Freeman is so good because of his quickness to the ball.  

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44 minutes ago, LZIp said:

Could've been either, but I lean on that one being player decision out of pure speculation. My guess is Aziz wanted starter minutes and knew he wouldn't get that for 2 more years behind Freeman.

I'm inclined to agree here. Groce tried to make the Aziz and Freeman front court work, but it was clear they couldn't co-exist on the court at the same time as both are only capable scorers within 5 feet of the basket.

 

That said, why wouldn't Groce want to have a 7 foot shot blocker on his bench in a break glass in case of emergency situation where Freeman is in foul trouble or you just need a stop at the end of a game to secure a victory? Aziz most likely thought there were teams out there where he could get minutes now and be a key contributer. It's early, but he seemed to be correct.

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2 hours ago, 1981 grad said:

Do you think Aziz was a coaching decision or a player's decision?  On the one hand he had very limited offensive skills and was slow on defense.  However, I thought we could have used him last night on defense as their center was just eating up our frosh at the end of the half.

 

Combination. My guess is they had a post-season meeting, and Groce told him the system worked better with a smaller, quicker lineup. Probably told him he'd be a great asset off the bench, but couldn't guarantee significant minutes. Aziz probably took that information and did what he needed to do. Wouldn't surprise me if Groce helped him to Utah Valley via some sort of connection. 

 

Groce's OU squads never had true "bigs". They always had a shorter (6'7"-6'9"), athletic front court with athletic guards that could shoot. Fast forward to Groce at Akron: he recruited true bigs the first couple of years because it's easier to protect the rim with a 7 footer than it is to establish your system. LCJ/Cheese/Banks/X1.0 established the system, with X1.0 often being the tallest player on the court for us. Once LCJ left, there was a lot of uncertainty with the direction of the program. Would it take a few years for the system to be re-established? Groce again brought in multiple 7 footers, potentially to help buy time. The system was re-established late last year with the emergence of X2.0, and the 7 footers left the program. Groce then filled the open front court spots with Amani Lyles (6'7"), Sammy Hunter (6'9"), and Prince Mosengo (6'8"). Hankerson and Nate Johnson are the supporting cast scoring threats to X2.0, and Groce has now re-built the formula that saw so much success at OU. Hopefully we reap the same benefits (we almost did last year, and probably would have in 2020...).

 

RE: Groce's OU squads. They ate Dambrot's lunch. We didn't find success against Groce's squad until he left and Jim Christian took over the same group of guys. Dambrot had Harney and Treadwell, which evened out the athletic deficit in the front court, and took the pressure off of Zeke. Jim Christian also didn't know how to get the most out of Groce's squad, but that didn't matter to Boston College when they made him the captain of the ship that brought up the rear in the ACC fleet for nearly a decade. 

Edited by Let'sGoZips94
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I still wish Aziz well. I asked this very question of Groce (why did Aziz leave). He said he wanted to keep Aziz and his leaving did surprise him. But Aziz knew his time was limited until he brought more to the game. That was probably good enough for Aziz to say he had to go somewhere else to get the minutes he wanted.

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On 11/8/2022 at 12:51 PM, Let'sGoZips94 said:

RE: Groce's OU squads. They ate Dambrot's lunch. We didn't find success against Groce's squad until he left and Jim Christian took over the same group of guys. 

 

I could be wrong, but I remember those Zips doing pretty well vs. OU. 

 

I recall Dambrot being quoted that OU's style was "loosie goosy" haha, and that OU fans seemingly agreeing with that assessment. But I thought that was an interesting juxtaposition. Like we had Dambrot's very controlled system vs. Groce's much more fluid and much less-structured approach to the game.  

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15 minutes ago, scottditzen said:

 

I could be wrong, but I remember those Zips doing pretty well vs. OU. 

 

I recall Dambrot being quoted that OU's style was "loosie goosy" haha, and that OU fans seemingly agreeing with that assessment. But I thought that was an interesting juxtaposition. Like we had Dambrot's very controlled system vs. Groce's much more fluid and much less-structured approach to the game.  

 

Dambrot's Zips vs. Groce's Bobcats

 

2008-09: 1-1

2009-10: 2-1 (Akron lost in the Championship Game)

2010-11: 0-2

2011-12: 1-2 (Akron lost in the Championship Game)

 

Advantage Groce's Bobcats 6-4. We also never blew OU out like they did to us. Our victories were either a couple possession difference at best or OT/2OT. 24 pt loss in Athens (2011-12) and 25 pt loss in Athens (2010-11). 

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