2025 Roster Construction

[Censored by Laurie]

2 minutes ago, BigWillie said:

 

Exactly where I was going with my comment. We had a guy in Atin that was a 20ppg guy at Drake, who is historically a better team than Cleveland State. 

My worry still stands.

Out of 10 games, what do you think last year’s UNT team would’ve fared against that CSU team?

[BigWillie]

6 minutes ago, Censored by Laurie said:

Out of 10 games, what do you think last year’s UNT team would’ve fared against that CSU team?

Depends on rest days and whether it was away/home, but all things equal, I would say last year's squad beats them 75% of the time, so 7 or 8 games out of 10. 

Our athleticism and experience would have been too much. Do they have a player that averaged 20ppg in a "lower" league? Oh wait, they did (almost), but he didn't come here.

[BigChiefGMG]

1 hour ago, BigWillie said:

 

Exactly where I was going with my comment. We had a guy in Atin that was a 20ppg guy at Drake, who is historically a better team than Cleveland State. 

My worry still stands.

Ummmm Atin averaged 14 ppg at Drake not quite 20 like you are so fixated on. R-E-L-A-X, my man. What if I told you jerShawn Stevenson leveled up and averaged 15 and was our leading scorer as a sophomore? It could happen. Let the pieces fall and support the team in November game 1 

Edited 20 hours ago by BigChiefGMG

[greenminer]

2 hours ago, Censored by Laurie said:

Out of 10 games, what do you think last year’s UNT team would’ve fared against that CSU team?

I wanna know what your answer to this is, too.

[Censored by Laurie]

7 hours ago, greenminer said:

I wanna know what your answer to this is, too.

I'd say 6-7 times out of ten...but not 10 of 10. I think we're clearly the better program, but that we and our league is nearer to a top Horizon League team than a top Big 12 program. 

[Censored by Laurie]

I guess I jumped the gun yesterday...

as of 4/24/25: up to 11...2 more spots to fill in

 - 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
 - Cole Franklin - 6'4" 195 Jr. 
 - David Terrell, Jr.  - 6'4" 185 Jr. 
 - Josiah Shackleford - 6'9" 225 Jr.
 - Demarion Watson - 6'7" 225 Sr(?)

Edited 11 hours ago by Censored by Laurie

[Censored by Laurie]

after reading through the Iowa State fan forum, I'm pretty excited to have landed Watson. seems to be a high-motor, defense-oriented tough basketball player and apparently a great dude and teammate that many Cyclone fans wished was getting more minutes.

not predicting a Lorient-like jump in offensive states, but I think he's an 8 and 8 dude. his whole highlight real is either dunks or blocks. looks like a stronger-build version of Aaron Scott.

[MeanGreenTexan]

36 minutes ago, Censored by Laurie said:

after reading through the Iowa State fan forum, I'm pretty excited to have landed Watson. seems to be a high-motor, defense-oriented tough basketball player and apparently a great dude and teammate that many Cyclone fans wished was getting more minutes.

not predicting a Lorient-like jump in offensive states, but I think he's an 8 and 8 dude. his whole highlight real is either dunks or blocks. looks like a stronger-build version of Aaron Scott.

[BigWillie]

11 hours ago, BigChiefGMG said:

Ummmm Atin averaged 14 ppg at Drake not quite 20 like you are so fixated on. R-E-L-A-X, my man. What if I told you jerShawn Stevenson leveled up and averaged 15 and was our leading scorer as a sophomore? It could happen. Let the pieces fall and support the team in November game 1 

You are right, it was 14, but Drake is no CSU, I would expect a jump in production. 20 was an arbitrary number that I feel is much less common than the 10-14 ppg guys, they are a dime a dozen.

I feel like you get players from a better team, they are already playing at a high level, therefore, they produce more in a lesser team. 

But I guess defense wins championships, not offense, right Nico?

[Greendylan]

Overall, I feel OK about recruiting so far.  There are concerns for sure, but there's some good size and defense, and there are at least 2-3 guys who have the potential to step up and become major scoring threats.

If the final two spots go to guys who are projects or just depth to fill out a roster, I'll downgrade my assessment to meh.  But, if one of those spots is a proven, double-digit-scoring 2-guard with a strong 3-point % who was a starter from a respectable mid-major program, then I'm going to get really excited.  Most likely we'll end up with something in between these scenarios.

Some stray thoughts:  

There are a lot of articles discussing how the market is insane this year.  Mid-major rotation guys are getting like $200,000 to just serve as way down the bench depth on a loaded power conference team.  Thus, I don't think we'd be able to afford Atin Wright this year--and we can't really blame Robinson, if he ends up not being able to reel in the equivalent this off-season. 

Also, we should be more excited about the Cleveland State guys.  They're not "just" Horizon level players.  At least two of them likely would have portaled to a better conference (AAC or higher) anyway, and I suspect they took a pay cut to stick with their coach.  Plus, the continuity that they'll bring (along with a couple familiar coaches) could help us win a game or two in the early non-con that we will be thumping our chests about by the end of the season.

 

[Censored by Laurie]

1 hour ago, Greendylan said:

Overall, I feel OK about recruiting so far.  There are concerns for sure, but there's some good size and defense, and there are at least 2-3 guys who have the potential to step up and become major scoring threats.

If the final two spots go to guys who are projects or just depth to fill out a roster, I'll downgrade my assessment to meh.  But, if one of those spots is a proven, double-digit-scoring 2-guard with a strong 3-point % who was a starter from a respectable mid-major program, then I'm going to get really excited.  Most likely we'll end up with something in between these scenarios.

Some stray thoughts:  

There are a lot of articles discussing how the market is insane this year.  Mid-major rotation guys are getting like $200,000 to just serve as way down the bench depth on a loaded power conference team.  Thus, I don't think we'd be able to afford Atin Wright this year--and we can't really blame Robinson, if he ends up not being able to reel in the equivalent this off-season. 

Also, we should be more excited about the Cleveland State guys.  They're not "just" Horizon level players.  At least two of them likely would have portaled to a better conference (AAC or higher) anyway, and I suspect they took a pay cut to stick with their coach.  Plus, the continuity that they'll bring (along with a couple familiar coaches) could help us win a game or two in the early non-con that we will be thumping our chests about by the end of the season.

 

I like all these words. 

[MeanGreenTexan]

1 hour ago, Greendylan said:

Overall, I feel OK about recruiting so far.  There are concerns for sure, but there's some good size and defense, and there are at least 2-3 guys who have the potential to step up and become major scoring threats.

If the final two spots go to guys who are projects or just depth to fill out a roster, I'll downgrade my assessment to meh.  But, if one of those spots is a proven, double-digit-scoring 2-guard with a strong 3-point % who was a starter from a respectable mid-major program, then I'm going to get really excited.  Most likely we'll end up with something in between these scenarios.

Some stray thoughts:  

There are a lot of articles discussing how the market is insane this year.  Mid-major rotation guys are getting like $200,000 to just serve as way down the bench depth on a loaded power conference team.  Thus, I don't think we'd be able to afford Atin Wright this year--and we can't really blame Robinson, if he ends up not being able to reel in the equivalent this off-season. 

Also, we should be more excited about the Cleveland State guys.  They're not "just" Horizon level players.  At least two of them likely would have portaled to a better conference (AAC or higher) anyway, and I suspect they took a pay cut to stick with their coach.  Plus, the continuity that they'll bring (along with a couple familiar coaches) could help us win a game or two in the early non-con that we will be thumping our chests about by the end of the season.

 

For sure.
I'm 90% certain that if he didn't come to us, we would have played Stevenson at some point next season.

[Cooley]

Definitely an uptick lately. 

[meangreenfaninno]

3 hours ago, Greendylan said:

There are a lot of articles discussing how the market is insane this year.  Mid-major rotation guys are getting like $200,000 to just serve as way down the bench depth on a loaded power conference team.  Thus, I don't think we'd be able to afford Atin Wright this year--and we can't really blame Robinson, if he ends up not being able to reel in the equivalent this off-season. 

Saw same articles and basically all of the independent NIL are closing down shops to allow for the AD NILs to take over 7-1.  Some of them have balances they need to clear out is part of why there is so much money flowing this year.