2025 Roster Construction

Censored by Laurie · April 8

figured I'd try to stream-line things in one place as news starts to trickle in over the next few days and weeks. players can always come back after testing the portal waters, but pretty safe bet to say we'll have an entirely new roster come fall next season. **some new additions just today**

as of 4/8/25:

- Je'Shawn Stevenson - 6'2" 200, Soph
- Dylan Arnett - 6'9" 240 Sr.
- Reece Robinson - 6'8" 225 Soph
- Cahmai Crosby - 6'3" 180 Jr(?)
- Logan Alexander - 6'8" 185 Fr.
- Curtis Stinson Jr - 6'4" 180 Fr.
- EJ Horton - 6'3" 180 Fr
- ~~DJ Thomas - 6'7" 220 Fr~~ (well...confirmed)

Stinson, from the Cleveland area, is listed as the 23rd best point guard prospect in the country, per 24/7, offers from Iowa State, Nebraska and Mizzou
Horton, from Ontario, had 15 offers including CSU...mostly MAC/Horizon/Summit league-level programs

clearly Robisnon's relationships with both landed the commitments...I'd say Horton was likely destined for CSU...Stinson was probably a tier above, but maybe really connected with Coach Robisnon.

Edited April 9 by Censored by Laurie

NT80 · April 8

51 minutes ago, Censored by Laurie said:

figured I'd try to stream-line things in one place as news starts to trickle in over the next few days and weeks. players can always come back after testing the portal waters, but pretty safe bet to say we'll have an entirely new roster come fall next season. **some new additions just today**

as of 4/8/25:

- Je'Shawn Stevenson - 6'2" 200, Soph
- Dylan Arnett - 6'9" 240 Sr.
- Reece Robinson - 6'8" 225 Soph
- Cahmai Crosby - 6'3" 180 Jr(?)
- Logan Alexander - 6'8" 185 Fr.
- Curtis Stinson Jr - 6'4" 180 Fr.
- EJ Horton - 6'3" 180 Fr
- DJ Thomas - 6'7" 220 Fr (I'll keep him here until it's confirmed otherwise)

Stinson, from the Cleveland area, is listed as the 23rd best point guard prospect in the country, per 24/7, offers from Iowa State, Nebraska and Mizzou
Horton, from Ontario, had 15 offers including CSU...mostly MAC/Horizon/Summit league-level programs

clearly Robisnon's relationships with both landed the commitments...I'd say Horton was likely destined for CSU...Stinson was probably a tier above, but maybe really connected with Coach Robisnon.

I like the size, but a lot of freshman and sophomores so far.

I'd like to get more veteran "experienced" players on the roster. We saw how it can help mesh the unit if the majority already knows the college game.

Censored by Laurie · April 8

4 minutes ago, NT80 said:

I like the size, but a lot of freshman and sophomores so far.

I'd like to get more veteran "experienced" players on the roster. We saw how it can help mesh the unit if the majority already knows the college game.

couldn't agree more. my dream scenario is that all three of our CSU transfers are our key bench players next season...so we still need 4-5 starters (I might be penciling in Stinson as a starter...)

BigWillie · April 8

Agree with you both, we need experience. Especially when it's more likely if these Freshmen or Sophmores do well, they are gone.

MeanGreenZen · April 8

Ugh, no high school kids.

GMG_Dallas · April 8

1 hour ago, MeanGreenZen said:

Ugh, no high school kids.

You don't want more guys like Stinson? Proven winner with accolades including Iowa Hs Gatorade player of the year in 2024 and two time state champion. Strong pedigree as his dad played 3 seasons at Iowa State and 8ish years of pro ball (overseas and NBA D League including a D League championship and MVP season). Could we lose him after one season? Sure. We can lose everybody after a season. Get the best guys on a yearly basis, win, rinse, repeat.

Edited April 9 by GMG_Dallas

BigWillie · April 9

1 hour ago, GMG_Dallas said:

You don't want more guys like Stinson? Proven winner with accolades including Iowa Hs Gatorade player of the year in 2024 and two time state champion. Strong pedigree as his dad played 3 seasons at Iowa State and 8ish years of pro ball (overseas and NBA D League including a D League championship and MVP season). Could we lose him after one season? Sure. We can lose everybody after a season. Get the best guys on a yearly basis, win, rinse, repeat.

I think the issue I have with high school kids is you don't know how their play will translate to the college level cough Stone cough and every year is a win now year, so we don't have the luxury any more of seeing if it does translate.

As stated before, we can have a mixture, but you need experience to outweigh inexperience if we want to win now.

With that said, there are way more players than there are starting spots. Many P4 teams benches would be starters here and get playing time (Lorient). There is no reason to waste time in testing the waters with high school kids because we aren't getting the Cooper Flaggs of the high school ranks.

Edited April 9 by BigWillie

BigWillie · April 9

Running out of spots to get that experience on the roster..... only 1 senior right now.

GMG_Dallas · April 9

26 minutes ago, BigWillie said:

I think the issue I have with high school kids is you don't know how their play will translate to the college level cough Stone cough and every year is a win now year, so we don't have the luxury any more of seeing if it does translate.

As stated before, we can have a mixture, but you need experience to outweigh inexperience if we want to win now.

With that said, there are way more players than there are starting spots. Many P4 teams benches would be starters here and get playing time (Lorient). There is no reason to waste time in testing the waters with high school kids because we aren't getting the Cooper Flaggs of the high school ranks.

Depends on the high school talent you're getting. Most HS recruits won't be anywhere near Cooper Flagg level but if we can get a couple of that next tier recruit to play a season or two in Denton, we're probably making some NCAA tournaments. Experience is great but a roster loaded with experience but little pure talent and athleticism probably gets you 20ish wins and an NIT run like we just had. You need some of those explosive young athletic talents to compete with teams like Memphis and the high major programs. A couple top 100 high school recruits coupled with a few experienced guys and good coaching can be very dangerous come March if those freshmen get experience early on in the season.

Censored by Laurie · April 9

Thomas committing to WVU opens up another spot for transfers. we have 6 available scholarships and I hope at least 4-5 go to experienced D1 transfers

MeanGreenZen · April 9

12 hours ago, GMG_Dallas said:

You don't want more guys like Stinson? Proven winner with accolades including Iowa Hs Gatorade player of the year in 2024 and two time state champion. Strong pedigree as his dad played 3 seasons at Iowa State and 8ish years of pro ball (overseas and NBA D League including a D League championship and MVP season). Could we lose him after one season? Sure. We can lose everybody after a season. Get the best guys on a yearly basis, win, rinse, repeat.

Experienced guards win in college basketball. Would rather replace Floyd and Wright with two dudes like Floyd and Wright: older, more developed players who have won and been productive at the college level already. It is a formula that works here.

Censored by Laurie · April 9

30 minutes ago, MeanGreenZen said:

Experienced guards win in college basketball. Would rather replace Floyd and Wright with two dudes like Floyd and Wright: older, more developed players who have won and been productive at the college level already. It is a formula that works here.

we still have 6 open spots and I fully expect to add at least two experienced starting calibre guards.

keith · April 9

As others have said, we need some 22-23 year olds IMHO.

keith · April 9

11 hours ago, GMG_Dallas said:

Depends on the high school talent you're getting. Most HS recruits won't be anywhere near Cooper Flagg level but if we can get a couple of that next tier recruit to play a season or two in Denton, we're probably making some NCAA tournaments. Experience is great but a roster loaded with experience but little pure talent and athleticism probably gets you 20ish wins and an NIT run like we just had. You need some of those explosive young athletic talents to compete with teams like Memphis and the high major programs. A couple top 100 high school recruits coupled with a few experienced guys and good coaching can be very dangerous come March if those freshmen get experience early on in the season.

In the last two classes, we recruited a #18, #23 and #30 in the state of Texas. All three are leaving without playing any meaningful minutes in Denton.

GMG_Dallas · April 9

11 minutes ago, keith said:

In the last two classes, we recruited a #18, #23 and #30 in the state of Texas. All three are leaving without playing any meaningful minutes in Denton.

Because of a coaching change. A good roster requires balance.

Haugh and Condon are sophomores who were recruiting to Florida and ranked 185th and 214th nationally. Aberdeen was 187th in his class the year before. Stinson is 208th per 247 and a 4 star recruit per ESPN this year and is committed to us. None of the guys we got under Hodge were nationally ranked recruits, at least per 247.

You're comparing apples to oranges.

keith · April 9

8 minutes ago, GMG_Dallas said:

Because of a coaching change. A good roster requires balance.

Haugh and Condon are sophomores who were recruiting to Florida and ranked 185th and 214th nationally. Aberdeen was 187th in his class the year before. Stinson is 208th per 247 and a 4 star recruit per ESPN this year and is committed to us. None of the guys we got under Hodge were nationally ranked recruits, at least per 247.

You're comparing apples to oranges.

They may be leaving due to a coaching change. My point is that if players don't see the court before they pack their bags, then it doesn't matter what they were rated as a high school player. For whatever reason, Hodge chose not to play them. Maybe they were not ready. Probably only the coaches and players really know. I don't have an issue recruiting good high school players. Just make sure they are ready to contribute and are not going to spend a season on the bench. Otherwise we are just saving a year of eligibility for some other school.

UNTLifer · April 9

3 hours ago, Censored by Laurie said:

Thomas committing to WVU opens up another spot for transfers. we have 6 available scholarships and I hope at least 4-5 go to experienced D1 transfers

Guess he wants to go sit in Morgantown. You know Hodge isn't playing a freshman.

Shark84 · April 9

12 minutes ago, UNTLifer said:

Guess he wants to go sit in Morgantown. You know Hodge isn't playing a freshman.

Maybe he is getting some good NIL money, but you are right. He isn't going to get minutes from Hodge in his first year at a new school. Hodge will need to win from the start to keep boosters that weren't excited about him off his back.

Rudy · April 9

14 hours ago, BigWillie said:

Running out of spots to get that experience on the roster..... only 1 senior right now.

Look on the bright side, built in excuses if we have a bad season next year.

BigChiefGMG · April 9

I imagine Thomas would be behind BLo this fall and projected to compete to start the following year. Easy to see why he left, sadly 😢

GMG_Dallas · April 9

2 hours ago, keith said:

They may be leaving due to a coaching change. My point is that if players don't see the court before they pack their bags, then it doesn't matter what they were rated as a high school player. For whatever reason, Hodge chose not to play them. Maybe they were not ready. Probably only the coaches and players really know. I don't have an issue recruiting good high school players. Just make sure they are ready to contribute and are not going to spend a season on the bench. Otherwise we are just saving a year of eligibility for some other school.

You could say this about any player regardless of experience level. Somebody else said it on a thread here but you can't just have a roster full of experienced guys who are expecting to play. It's a recipe for an unstable locker room.

NT80 · April 9

4 hours ago, keith said:

They may be leaving due to a coaching change. My point is that if players don't see the court before they pack their bags, then it doesn't matter what they were rated as a high school player. For whatever reason, Hodge chose not to play them. Maybe they were not ready. Probably only the coaches and players really know. I don't have an issue recruiting good high school players. Just make sure they are ready to contribute and are not going to spend a season on the bench. Otherwise we are just saving a year of eligibility for some other school.

Redshirt time is different in basketball than in football. If basketball players get any minutes in a real game, and I believe all of ours got a few minutes, then they have used up an entire year of eligibility. Sad.

2020 Sucks · April 9

5 hours ago, GMG_Dallas said:

Because of a coaching change. A good roster requires balance.

Haugh and Condon are sophomores who were recruiting to Florida and ranked 185th and 214th nationally. Aberdeen was 187th in his class the year before. Stinson is 208th per 247 and a 4 star recruit per ESPN this year and is committed to us. None of the guys we got under Hodge were nationally ranked recruits, at least per 247.

You're comparing apples to oranges.

I don't think they are leaving because of a coaching change. Heck, they probably haven't even talked to the new coach. They sure as heck have never worked out or practiced in front of him. They are leaving because an agent told them they have value (along with the other 1,943 kids in the portal), or because they didn't see the court. These kids today don't have any perseverance to fight for a spot. It happens every day...a guy who is all district and gets all the accolades comes out of HS to college, and for the first time in his life, enters a realm where the other guys at his position, are just as talented as he is. Its Prima Dona Syndrome.

MeanGreenZen · April 10

13 hours ago, GMG_Dallas said:

Because of a coaching change. A good roster requires balance.

Haugh and Condon are sophomores who were recruiting to Florida and ranked 185th and 214th nationally. Aberdeen was 187th in his class the year before. Stinson is 208th per 247 and a 4 star recruit per ESPN this year and is committed to us. None of the guys we got under Hodge were nationally ranked recruits, at least per 247.

You're comparing apples to oranges.

Florida just won the national championship with a backcourt of Walter Clayton, a SENIOR at his second college and probably the best point guard in the country and Alijah Martin, who is almost 24 years old and already made a Final Four run at FAU.

We need to bring in a guard who can score 15 a night with 6-8 assists. Who is more likely to do that… A 22-year old who averaged 15 & 6 in a similar college conference last season? Or some high school kid who has barely played against anyone on the other side of puberty?

greenminer · April 10

UCONN won it last year, right? 14 total on that roster, 9 of them being Fr/Sophs.

Husky starting 5 in the natty game (2024)

Forward (R-Soph)
Center (Soph)
Guard (Fr)
Guard (Graduate)
Guard (Graduate)

2 graduates started the natty game, both guards. The 3rd guard was a freshman and had 15 points and like 5 rebounds.

2023 was more uppclass heavy, but still had a freshman guard score 16 in the natty game.

I think experience and age is preferred, especially at the guard position, but I would never consider a recent HS grad a hard no. You can find guys out there that will ball at our level, and get you championships. I don't think development is nearly as a big of an issue as it is in football.

Edited April 10 by greenminer