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Post by Greg on Mar 27, 2023 15:07:55 GMT -6
Easy peeps! Everyone has legit concerns and thoughts on what may happen. I don't foresee any additonal players leaving. There are over 600 players in the portal as of today. Many kids on the team last year did not get to shine enough to make them desireable in the portal. There is a lot of telent floating around out there. Let's just hope UIC can pick up a couple key guards and go from there. As I sais previously JJ was a shock to me. I really thought he would stay and become a team leader. Jace....he was a given! Who knows where he will end up, but put his ego aside the kid knows who and where he wants to be. UIC was without question, simply a stepping stone for his next chapter. That aside, Cam will certainly be back next season, and likely so will the rest of the team. Personally, his minutes of play and how he was played were beyond frustrating this past year. It is easy to shift blame elsewhere, however he knows what he needs to do this offseason. Accountability, desire and a whole lot of hard work is all he himself can control. My biggest hope for him is he came in this past season as a boy, and does all he needs to enter this coming season as a man. I know he has it in him! Thanks Camfan, always appreciate your posts My hope is the team develops like JJ did last year and get a few good transfers There are a lot of teams that turned it around in one year. We need to be the next
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Post by goveybaseball on Mar 27, 2023 20:49:36 GMT -6
Awesome to hear Camfan! Can't wait to see the development! The potential is there.
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Post by smul44thunder on Mar 29, 2023 15:00:16 GMT -6
Lots of good thoughts here. YES - the Portal killed us, and will continue to kill us. It's the "Pluckees" (the major programs looking to replenish on the fly, or the programs that think they are one player away), and the ones who "get plucked". Like mentioned previously, "A minor league for the power conferences. Understood these kids are just doing what's best for them and their families. But we've got to make it practical for all schools, not just the Top-25 and Power-5.
I had heard Michigan State has the inner hand on getting Jace............has anyone heard different??
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Post by smul44thunder on Mar 29, 2023 15:17:57 GMT -6
Also, with regard to coaching, I'm not sure we can do better than Coach Yak. I would say we should invest in him.
Jimmy Collins, at the end of the day, was a .500 coach. Granted, in his first 8 years, we made 3 NCAA tourneys and 1 NIT appearance. That is pretty solid. But - in his last 7 years, a donut - 0 post-season appearances.
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Post by UICJohn on Mar 29, 2023 15:59:29 GMT -6
I can’t say I know enough of the Xs and Os of basketball to really comment on Coach Yak. I like him. Think he’s a great guy. Feel like these few years have taken a lot of that excitement he had coming in away.
But there is one thing we can all agree on - this administration has done little to nothing to help. Have they invested in the program? The game day experience? The fan experience? The culture of the program? It’s viability on campus?
We have a player that just left saying that is what he was looking for (i.e. what we don’t have (yet)). I hope they wake up and see that. Because Coach Yak is operating at a deficit without that. He had a Stevenson commit so he bought in on something. Unfortunately, he left before the season for some reason. So glass half full perhaps?
But agree that we won’t get another candidate as qualified. I mean, didn’t Yak interview at Michigan before Juwan Howard ultimately got the job?
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Post by goveybaseball on Mar 29, 2023 20:05:37 GMT -6
Smul,
Possibly right on Yak but so disappointed in aspects of his coaching. How many games did you watch this season? His development of the young talent I would grade a D. Clay was the best shooter on team and barely played, Jones IMO isn't being used right and has major talent. Fens he completely botched all year pulling him for any and every mistake and not utilizing his strengths at all. I agree with UIC John on the poor job the administration is doing backing this program but Yak has to get bettter.
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UIC96
Starter
We don't need to get any better, we just need everyone to get a little worse...
Posts: 408
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Post by UIC96 on Mar 30, 2023 6:19:26 GMT -6
The transfer portal is nuts. Players are leaving top, successful programs. It's too bad, I always enjoyed watching someone develop over 4 years. That is a thing of the past. NCAA has adopted the rent a player mentality like baseball. You end up rooting for the jerseys more than the players.
That said, it's opening day, Go Go White Soz!
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Post by UICJohn on Mar 30, 2023 8:23:09 GMT -6
Where is the thing? I think I’ve noticed more this year than any other past years – players are leaving programs of all kinds. Bradley won the regular season conference and are losing players. I believe North Carolina lost a player that average 15 points per game last year. It’s hitting everybody. The issue for me is still, that mid majors are losing their talent that it’s gonna be hard to replace. At least hard to replace right away. We have to get those guys are getting a handful of minutes at the major programs. I want to get more playing time. Some might remember a Kelsey Barlow from years back (on a bad team but put up big numbers and doing little at Purdue).
Ultimately, it’s not impossible. However, recruiting is still a part of the game, but I think it’s absolutely fair to say that the transfer portal is even bigger these days. Right now, we don’t have much when it comes to recruits for next year. So we need to hit the transfer portal. We need to win the transfer portal.
And let’s go, Cubs!
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Post by Big D on Mar 30, 2023 9:15:27 GMT -6
UIC has been pretty active in the transfer portal. I’ve seen them maybe associated with 20 different players so far. The issue is that for 90% of them, they are either D2 players or we’re competing with low major programs. Of course, I’m sure more is going on that is not public, as each year we tend to end up signing players that were never previously linked to us publicly. But still…I’d like to see us linked to bigger names.
The transfer portal sucks. That combined with UIC losing for two decades, and I find that my interest is waning a bit. It’s a rigged system, ruined by greed, and is becoming more hopeless with each passing day for mid-major programs. Non-power teams’ last advantage of fielding an experienced team of upperclassmen that have played together for 2-3 years is basically gone now…which means success at our level really comes down to luck.
The Valley is losing a ton of talent this off-season. So anyone can compete, but you have to get lucky and win the transfer portal game…bring in more than you lose. But at this point you just have to hope you get lucky with the pieces you bring in because that team is basically gone next year anyway as we start this process all over again.
Based on what I’ve seen, UIC really seems to be going after a lot of transfers, perhaps because it’s harder for them to transfer out a second time, and maybe this will bring about some stability. We’ll see. Are we going to bring in a single freshman?
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Post by Camfan on Mar 30, 2023 9:44:04 GMT -6
Well as of today the portal has risen to 744 players. It is absurd to me the insanity that this tranasfer portal brings with it. Unfortunatley, when you see the programs out there and spots that are coming open, UIC is going to be at the bottom of the food chain in terms of what it has to offer compred to virtually any other program out there. Their best chance is to go find some hidden gems in D2 programs that may be ready to take that next step up.
UIC is not in a position to bring in high school kids and develop them. They have too much of an immediate need for players and will have to work with what they have. Clay and Jones are talented, and hopefully they as well, take full advantage of this offseason and further develop thier game. I think Tobi is going to have to step up big time and be the leader of this team. His inconsistency worries me, but he has remarkable tlent. He has one year left and lets hope he finds that desire to step up on another level.
I think Philip will continue to improve. If Cam develops as he should there is no reason those two should even be considered alternates. Use JB as Philip's alternate and build some form of an inside game around Cam. Search for another big in D2 that can switch off with Cam. I don' think Saragba has what it takes. Doing this will only make Philip and JB more of an outside threat.
Take Tobi, CJ, Clay, Philiip and Cam and make a team out of them. Spend the offseason honing in on their weaknesses and figure out how to build some chemistry amongst them. They all have talent, sometimes building some unity and chemistry will go a long way in building a teams confidence. They simply did not have that this past year, just look at that timeframe when players were out....oh yeah....they were sick....right. This is what Yak has to work with, let's hope he can bring out the best in them. If and only if he can do that....then I may change my opinion on him of what I have seen thus far.
Sorry, for the long rant!
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Post by Greg on Mar 30, 2023 9:50:29 GMT -6
744 transfers average to 2 players per team in D1 I have to agree with you that UIC is not in a position to bring in high school kids and develop them It sucks but everyone has to deal with it
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Post by uiclaflame on Mar 30, 2023 10:01:55 GMT -6
Given how crazy the portal is now, does anyone think coaches purposely don't play high potential underclassmen as much as they should to avoid them having too much gametape to get plucked? I would not be shocked if this is a subtle (or not so subtle) thing that goes through coaches minds. You have to think a players like Cam and Clay would be desirable at many other teams given their size/potential with some gametape on em.
Regardless, if this is the new normal, I do think UICs most sustainable path to competitiveness would be building through JUCO, transfers, and D2 players regularly. Which seems suspect on paper but I do have some hope after seeing teams like FDU play well with a D2/JUCO/tranfer core
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Post by goveybaseball on Mar 30, 2023 11:50:59 GMT -6
I disagree on not recruiting HS kids. Clay, Jones etc were HS along with Jackson and they all did fine. You are in one of the best basketball cities in the country in Chicago and Chicagoland. Yes we aren't going to get the studs but plenty of diamonds in the rough out there. No way in hell they should be recruiting D 2 players when you are trying to compete in the MVC.
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Post by uiclaflame on Mar 30, 2023 14:19:59 GMT -6
I disagree on not recruiting HS kids. Clay, Jones etc were HS along with Jackson and they all did fine. You are in one of the best basketball cities in the country in Chicago and Chicagoland. Yes we aren't going to get the studs but plenty of diamonds in the rough out there. No way in hell they should be recruiting D 2 players when you are trying to compete in the MVC. I did not say we shouldnt recruit HS kids. I said JUCO/D2/transfer players is likely most "sustainable" tactic to focus on because with Yak's track record and our school/culture, I think most HS kids who get any good traction at UIC would likely end up transferring with the new portal rules.
And honestly, i dont even think the diamonds in the rough in Chicagland would want to play in UIC at this point.
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Post by goveybaseball on Mar 30, 2023 14:30:29 GMT -6
You expect to succeed in the Valley recruiting D2 kids? ? Cmon guys.
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