DRC: Larry Wise is in the transfer portal

Brett Vito · January 11, 2021

Edited January 11, 2021 by Brett Vito

MeanGreenTexan · January 11, 2021

That's too bad. I was hoping Wise would turn into a heavy-minutes guy.

GrandGreen · January 12, 2021

This is the way it is going to be, if you don't get minutes get out. Obviously, this will be exaggerated with a free year of eligibility.

I really don't know how good Wise is, but his coach apparently doesn't think he is good enough to be in the normal rotation. It was telling when McCasland used a much shorter Murray to guard UTSA's Jackson versus Wise.

McCasland better be recruiting because he is going to have possibly only one starter returning and a lot of spots to fill.

The seniors will get another year if they want, but a lot of teams are going to be interested in Hamlet, Simmons, and Bell. They could also go to some international pro team.

UNT86 · January 12, 2021

Best players play.

If he can't get on the court and stay, he might as well transfer.

Good luck elsewhere.

When did being a role player become a bad thing?

southsideguy · January 12, 2021

I think the role player became bad with the transfer portal. Everyone wants to start and will try to move on to do it. If you are not starting then you won't make it to the next level for sure. Why not invest in yourself and your education?????? Your free education can carry you long way after graduation.

Shark 64 · January 12, 2021

His problem was on the defensive end. If you don't play defense the way Grant wants, you don't play. Good luck to him. I'm sure he will find a better fit for his talents somewhere else.

Andrew · January 15, 2021

On 1/12/2021 at 10:11 AM, Shark 64 said:

His problem was on the defensive end. If you don't play defense the way Grant wants, you don't play. Good luck to him. I'm sure he will find a better fit for his talents somewhere else.

How many freshman has grant been able to keep and have be productive? Simmons (a Benford guy) and.... hopefully Jones.

He doesn’t seem to be good at investing in young talent.

Shark84 · January 15, 2021

1 hour ago, Andrew said:

How many freshman has grant been able to keep and have be productive? Simmons (a Benford guy) and.... hopefully Jones.

He doesn’t seem to be good at investing in young talent.

Simmons had the opportunity to leave and didn't. Young players out of HS are usually great scorers and have not been expected to play the type of physically demanding defense McCasland requires. Wise could have left after last year. He knew what Grant's expectations were. It didn't bode well for him that they brought in 2 JC players to play his position. Jones isn't having any problems and Grant raves about his defense. We now have a former walk-on playing because he plays defense. I hope Wise goes somewhere he is a better fit but I don't think the coach needs to change his expectations to baby young players.

Andrew · January 16, 2021

4 hours ago, Shark84 said:

Simmons had the opportunity to leave and didn't. Young players out of HS are usually great scorers and have not been expected to play the type of physically demanding defense McCasland requires. Wise could have left after last year. He knew what Grant's expectations were. It didn't bode well for him that they brought in 2 JC players to play his position. Jones isn't having any problems and Grant raves about his defense. We now have a former walk-on playing because he plays defense. I hope Wise goes somewhere he is a better fit but I don't think the coach needs to change his expectations to baby young players.

Perhaps he needs to find a way to make young players better... I mean I suppose we can split with losing programs like UTSA and to Mcasland and many that’s progress, but I would like to see a good young core come up who can lead this team for years. Young players are the life blood of sports teams.

GrandGreen · January 16, 2021

20 hours ago, Andrew said:

How many freshman has grant been able to keep and have be productive? Simmons (a Benford guy) and.... hopefully Jones.

He doesn’t seem to be good at investing in young talent.

Probably the best basketball hc in NT MBB history, he can recruit. Osmane a current freshman looks pretty good to me and he already has signed a couple of freshmen for next year in Morgan and Stone.

His background is juco and I expect a number to be signed for next year. Along with some 4 year school transfers.

Littrell's recruiting I worry about, but not McCasland.

UNTLifer · January 16, 2021

1 hour ago, GrandGreen said:

Probably the best basketball hc in NT MBB history, he can recruit. Osmane a current freshman looks pretty good to me and he already has signed a couple of freshmen for next year in Morgan and Stone.

His background is juco and I expect a number to be signed for next year. Along with some 4 year school transfers.

Littrell's recruiting I worry about, but not McCasland.

Don't forget about Rubin Jones as well.

Littrell's recruiting doesn't worry me, but having an equal focus on defense is. Hopefully, this DC hire changes all of that. I am a notable homer, but there is no reason why we shouldn't be the lead program in this conference in every sport.

El Paso Eagle · January 16, 2021

56 minutes ago, UNTLifer said:

Don't forget about Rubin Jones as well.

Littrell's recruiting doesn't worry me, but having an equal focus on defense is. Hopefully, this DC hire changes all of that. I am a notable homer, but there is no reason why we shouldn't be the lead program in this conference in every sport.

With the way transfers are happening in college BB it is becoming a rarity for incoming freshmen to stay it seems. He seems to be able to bring in the pieces he needs and adapts. If you look at this scheduling and the mix of players, it looks like GM has a system in place to build teams to win the conference tournament as this is a one bid league in most cases.

greenminer · January 16, 2021

23 hours ago, Andrew said:

How many freshman has grant been able to keep and have be productive? Simmons (a Benford guy) and.... hopefully Jones.

He doesn’t seem to be good at investing in young talent.

3 hours ago, GrandGreen said:

Probably the best basketball hc in NT MBB history, he can recruit. Osmane a current freshman looks pretty good to me and he already has signed a couple of freshmen for next year in Morgan and Stone.

His background is juco and I expect a number to be signed for next year. Along with some 4 year school transfers.

Littrell's recruiting I worry about, but not McCasland.

I remember years years years ago @TheTastyGreek put together this incredible post about how we viewed our coaches (at the time, I think we were at the end of Dickey's tenure) and compared them to some all-timers like Hayden Fry. It was long, but the point was really interesting. The idea that, if we put our greats like Fry underneath the same critical lens that we constantly viewed our current coaches with, they wouldn't look so rosy.

This situation with someone like Andrew always nitpicking McCasland, praising Benford, etc....this isn't really a perfect example. It's like you are in a completely different reality of basketball than the rest of us and like 75% of your views just don't align or make sense. I love your Mean Green enthusiasm, though.

It's amazing to me that someone would be critical of McCasland.
1) Tasty's right, he has had questionable moments, but...
2) Grant is still going to go down as one of the best hires we have ever made.

...maybe some of you (or one of you) would be talking a different story if we had had an NCAA appearance to speak about right now. Because McCasland and Co. earned it.

Andrew · January 16, 2021

1 hour ago, greenminer said:

I remember years years years ago @TheTastyGreek put together this incredible post about how we viewed our coaches (at the time, I think we were at the end of Dickey's tenure) and compared them to some all-timers like Hayden Fry. It was long, but the point was really interesting. The idea that, if we put our greats like Fry underneath the same critical lens that we constantly viewed our current coaches with, they wouldn't look so rosy.

This situation with someone like Andrew always nitpicking McCasland, praising Benford, etc....this isn't really a perfect example. It's like you are in a completely different reality of basketball than the rest of us and like 75% of your views just don't align or make sense. I love your Mean Green enthusiasm, though.

It's amazing to me that someone would be critical of McCasland.
1) Tasty's right, he has had questionable moments, but...
2) Grant is still going to go down as one of the best hires we have ever made.

...maybe some of you (or one of you) would be talking a different story if we had had an NCAA appearance to speak about right now. Because McCasland and Co. earned it.

Nitpicking Mcasland and praising Benford? Huh.... 🙃

your a bit off.... I mean I believe Benford was a better recruiter and he had extremely high standards. Mcasland can be hard on his guys but he is much better at the X’s and O’s. I would happily take a mixture of the two.

my entire post was about how he doesn’t seem to work with younger players. It’s the same criticism Rick Carlisle has taken in the past. It’s a fair complaint but doesn’t mean he isn’t a good coach.

Andrew · January 16, 2021

4 hours ago, GrandGreen said:

Probably the best basketball hc in NT MBB history, he can recruit. Osmane a current freshman looks pretty good to me and he already has signed a couple of freshmen for next year in Morgan and Stone.

His background is juco and I expect a number to be signed for next year. Along with some 4 year school transfers.

Littrell's recruiting I worry about, but not McCasland.

My concern is can he keep them. He lot Gibson after he looked very good. Wise was suppose to be a promising recruit.

I understand transfers have becoming increasingly popular and with Covid everything changed this year, but we need new blood and we need to make sure it’s developed and ready to step up when our senior leave.

El Paso Eagle · January 16, 2021

23 minutes ago, Andrew said:

My concern is can he keep them. He lot Gibson after he looked very good. Wise was suppose to be a promising recruit.

I understand transfers have becoming increasingly popular and with Covid everything changed this year, but we need new blood and we need to make sure it’s developed and ready to step up when our senior leave.

It looks like GM has a system he plans on using and if you don't fit or buy in and then it might be time to move on.

GrandGreen · February 1, 2021

On 1/16/2021 at 2:59 PM, Andrew said:

My concern is can he keep them. He lot Gibson after he looked very good. Wise was suppose to be a promising recruit.

I understand transfers have becoming increasingly popular and with Covid everything changed this year, but we need new blood and we need to make sure it’s developed and ready to step up when our senior leave.

Gibson went for the glamour and probably pay. Wise was a borderline player at best.

I have no idea how you could question McCasland's recruiting. Losing 6 seniors will be tough, but NT has a lot of ships to give.

NT is in the middle of title race, not going to worry about developing younger players.

UNTLifer · February 1, 2021

2 hours ago, GrandGreen said:

Gibson went for the glamour and probably pay. Wise was a borderline player at best.

I have no idea how you could question McCasland's recruiting. Losing 6 seniors will be tough, but NT has a lot of ships to give.

NT is in the middle of title race, not going to worry about developing younger players.

How many of our seniors will return?

GreenN'walinsVet · February 1, 2021

9 hours ago, UNTLifer said:

How many of our seniors will return?

I dont believe any are good enough for the NBA...G-League? maybe Hamlett and thats a big maybe...overseas, sure....so it will come down to, are these guys ready to go overseas and start making a pay check or decide to come back for another run here.

I could see Simmons, Bell, Reese coming back...outside chance hamlet returns.

greenminer · February 1, 2021

On 1/16/2021 at 2:59 PM, Andrew said:

My concern is can he keep them. He lot Gibson after he looked very good. Wise was suppose to be a promising recruit.

I understand transfers have becoming increasingly popular and with Covid everything changed this year, but we need new blood and we need to make sure it’s developed and ready to step up when our senior leave.

Gibson left because he wanted to play PG, his dribbling was questionable, and McCasland brought in the CUSA POTY and Male Student Athlete of the Year. Hamlet picked us over apparent offers from SMU, Gonzaga, St. Johns and Temple...among others.

There is always some level of roster turnover that is considered normal. You listed two names. What amount of turnover would you consider normal?

I see tremendous potential in a couple freshman: RJ and Ousman. Take a look up and down our roster of underclassmen: what has you concerned? Is it depth? What level or amount of talent would you like to see to quell your concern?

NorthTexasSportsNetwork · February 1, 2021

1 hour ago, GreenN'walinsVet said:

I dont believe any are good enough for the NBA...G-League? maybe Hamlett and thats a big maybe...overseas, sure....so it will come down to, are these guys ready to go overseas and start making a pay check or decide to come back for another run here.

I could see Simmons, Bell, Reese coming back...outside chance hamlet returns.

I mean I didn’t think Woolridge was gonna make it to the NBA G League, but here we are.

GreenN'walinsVet · February 1, 2021

20 minutes ago, NorthTexasSportsNetwork said:

I mean I didn’t think Woolridge was gonna make it to the NBA G League, but here we are.

You could see the potential in Wooldridge. His ball handling and speed were well above average. I also think his passing was too good at times, what i mean by that is, it almost seemed at times the talent we put around him wasn't good enough for his elite skills. I think we saw that at Gonzaga, when playing with elite talent and not having to be a scoring threat, he excelled.

emmitt01 · February 3, 2021

On 2/1/2021 at 10:40 AM, greenminer said:

Gibson left because he wanted to play PG, his dribbling was questionable, and McCasland brought in the CUSA POTY and Male Student Athlete of the Year. Hamlet picked us over apparent offers from SMU, Gonzaga, St. Johns and Temple...among others.

There is always some level of roster turnover that is considered normal. You listed two names. What amount of turnover would you consider normal?

I see tremendous potential in a couple freshman: RJ and Ousman. Take a look up and down our roster of underclassmen: what has you concerned? Is it depth? What level or amount of talent would you like to see to quell your concern?

No decent answers to your questions are forthcoming.

Andrew is like a poker player who bet big before the flop and keeps calling each time there is a raise. He’s too invested in this thread to fold and admit his original premise was asinine.

xyresic · February 3, 2021

7 minutes ago, emmitt01 said:

No decent answers to your questions are forthcoming.

Andrew is like a poker player who bet big before the flop and keeps calling each time there is a raise. He’s too invested in this thread to fold and admit his original premise was asinine.

Nailed it.

Andrew consistently overrates TB as a recruiter.

Edited February 3, 2021 by xyresic