ESPN article on NCAA bball seniors with option for extra year (GT quote and mentions)

gt24

Jolly Good Fellow
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354
I imagine many dont want to discuss this topic now, because the focus is on the current season and the NCAAT run, and there has already been plenty of board speculation and guessing about what our seniors will do next year.......... but this was published today on ESPN+. Includes a Pastner quote, reference to GT senior class, and a lot of quotes from ACC and P5 head coaches and asst coaches about the issue.

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-b...-year-going-make-some-difficult-conversations
 

RyanS12

Helluva Engineer
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Flint Michigan
I personally think a lot depends on if we make the tournament. Jose is most likely gone. He has a child and playing at his ceiling most likely. Time to get paid. Moses is probably 60/40 on going. One more year with Coach Rev would help but he could make a roster and bounce around the G League and NBA. He’s not going to get taller, so really the only thing left to work on is his range with his J and make it more consistently. Guys like Bubba and Jordan especially could thrive off one more year. Even if we get just those two to stay, along with Devoe, that’s a solid nucleus. Saba and Howard have another off season to improve and Meka will be healthy. He’s basically a younger version of Moses.
Keeping Devoe for his Sr season and getting at least 2 of the Sr back another year would be huge!
And Khalid is back as well. His game has greatly improved over the last month or two.
 

GT_EE78

Banned
Messages
3,605
I imagine many dont want to discuss this topic now, because the focus is on the current season and the NCAAT run, and there has already been plenty of board speculation and guessing about what our seniors will do next year.......... but this was published today on ESPN+. Includes a Pastner quote, reference to GT senior class, and a lot of quotes from ACC and P5 head coaches and asst coaches about the issue.

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-b...-year-going-make-some-difficult-conversations
does this mean the scholarship limit is waived for next season?
or still must cap at 13 ....
or a new wave into the portal as players get bumped off their rosters?
 

D-man44

Helluva Engineer
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1,798
I personally think a lot depends on if we make the tournament. Jose is most likely gone. He has a child and playing at his ceiling most likely. Time to get paid. Moses is probably 60/40 on going. One more year with Coach Rev would help but he could make a roster and bounce around the G League and NBA. He’s not going to get taller, so really the only thing left to work on is his range with his J and make it more consistently. Guys like Bubba and Jordan especially could thrive off one more year. Even if we get just those two to stay, along with Devoe, that’s a solid nucleus. Saba and Howard have another off season to improve and Meka will be healthy. He’s basically a younger version of Moses.
Keeping Devoe for his Sr season and getting at least 2 of the Sr back another year would be huge!
And Khalid is back as well. His game has greatly improved over the last month or two.
Really hoping Khalid can get to around 35% from 3 next year.
 

Techster

Helluva Engineer
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17,716
I personally think a lot depends on if we make the tournament. Jose is most likely gone. He has a child and playing at his ceiling most likely. Time to get paid. Moses is probably 60/40 on going. One more year with Coach Rev would help but he could make a roster and bounce around the G League and NBA. He’s not going to get taller, so really the only thing left to work on is his range with his J and make it more consistently. Guys like Bubba and Jordan especially could thrive off one more year. Even if we get just those two to stay, along with Devoe, that’s a solid nucleus. Saba and Howard have another off season to improve and Meka will be healthy. He’s basically a younger version of Moses.
Keeping Devoe for his Sr season and getting at least 2 of the Sr back another year would be huge!
And Khalid is back as well. His game has greatly improved over the last month or two.

I'd love to have Usher back if he wants to come back. I think he's just beginning to scratch his potential. He's got an NBA body and physical tools...he just needs to find more consistency on the offensive end. He's shown glimpses of someone who can create his shot driving to the basket, and his shot has improved a LOT. I compare it to the development curve Moses started have the second half of last season. He's also a good glue guy that adds value to the team...and something we'll need with a roster full of 1st and 2nd year players next season.
 

boger2337

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3,331
I'd love to have Usher back if he wants to come back. I think he's just beginning to scratch his potential. He's got an NBA body and physical tools...he just needs to find more consistency on the offensive end. He's shown glimpses of someone who can create his shot driving to the basket, and his shot has improved a LOT. I compare it to the development curve Moses started have the second half of last season. He's also a good glue guy that adds value to the team...and something we'll need with a roster full of 1st and 2nd year players next season.
This is dead on.

Usher has some truly untapped potential but just has a clunky clanky game. He doesn't come off as a smooth player. Seems like he struggles with dribbling with a small guard on him and isn't big enough to take on some of the larger PFs and Centers. He is oddly a large tweener due to his lack of handles. If he could truly be smooth with his ball handling he would be deadly. Reminds me of a young Caron Butler.

I'd love to retain Jose and Moses... But man.... Moses is having an NBA year in a year where prospects are... EH at best. There isn't one guy that is standing out like a Zion or RJ Barrett. Heck Jose might be in the player of the year race, which should let people know how weak this draft will be. Moses could slip into the mid to late 1st round with a good workout. I think he ultimately falls in the 22-27 range.
 

lv20gt

Helluva Engineer
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5,549
We'll have a pretty well built roster next year. Something like...

1 - Sturdivant
2 - Devoe/Maxwell/Kelly
3 - Coleman/J. Moore
4 - K. Moore/Meka
5 - Howard/Saba

How good we are is going to come down to guys like Sturdivant and Moore adjusting from role players to core players. A bit of a nice experiment for the get old stay old philosophy. If that transition from role to core is smooth then you can really build a consistent program. We'll also need Coleman to adjust quickly to the college game. Physically I think he's ready now with a size (6-6 210) similar to Usher (6-7 215) and he's got range for days. This staff has shown a willingness to commit heavily to a freshman when it is needed (Okogie, Jose, Mike) and I think it will be the same.

I could see either or both of Bubba and Jordan coming back simply because they were transfers which is normally a situation where you expect to sit out anyways. Bubba might want the opportunity to be the primary pg for the team, and Jordan might relish in the opportunity to be at least the #2 option instead of the #4 option. I don't count on any of the seniors coming back and think we could still have a good team without them, but if one or both of them come back it would be huge. Don't need to discuss the impact if Jose or Moses return.
 

tsrich

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
781
I'd love to have Usher back if he wants to come back. I think he's just beginning to scratch his potential. He's got an NBA body and physical tools...he just needs to find more consistency on the offensive end. He's shown glimpses of someone who can create his shot driving to the basket, and his shot has improved a LOT. I compare it to the development curve Moses started have the second half of last season. He's also a good glue guy that adds value to the team...and something we'll need with a roster full of 1st and 2nd year players next season.
Usher is probably the only one that I really think should come back to improve his pro prospects. In the latter half of this season, he's started looking like a 4 star and developing his game. If he continues improving at the same rate, he could play himself into a draft position.

I don't think Bubba will develop much more. If he wants to keep playing, it will be overseas.

Jose has nothing more to prove. If he can't make the NBA, it's because of physical limitations and he'll make plenty of money overseas.

Moses could probably use another year but I don't know that his stats will be all that much more impressive than they are this year.

That said, I think they should all come back :)
 

gt24

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
354
Really hoping Khalid can get to around 35% from 3 next year.
without a doubt that is THE KEY for khalid going forward. even 33% would be good enough to keep the D more honest. (same could be said of kyle.) i felt all season that we went small ball starting lineup simply because bubba's 3pt FG% was respectable and kept defenses honest. our 2 base offenses (princeton 5-out and DDM 4-out) are based on spacing to ensure that cutting lanes and driving lanes are open. with khalid's man sagging frequently, it can disrupt the spacing and flow of the offense for all 5 guys.
 

gt24

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
354
I'd love to have Usher back if he wants to come back. I think he's just beginning to scratch his potential. He's got an NBA body and physical tools...he just needs to find more consistency on the offensive end. He's shown glimpses of someone who can create his shot driving to the basket, and his shot has improved a LOT. I compare it to the development curve Moses started have the second half of last season. He's also a good glue guy that adds value to the team...and something we'll need with a roster full of 1st and 2nd year players next season.
100% agree. my view is that so much of his shortcomings to this point are based on the need for more experience and learning when and how to use his skillset. i hesitate to use the term "basketball IQ" because it could be taken as a criticism. not that at all. he simply needs to keep growing and learning on the trajectory he is on. he missed an entire season of game play because of transfer.
i've mentioned it before in other threads and on chat: you can see his decision making (bball IQ) improving week-to-week throughout this season. his in-season improvement has been noteworthy - he and the coaches deserve considerable credit. he attacks far more selectively and smarter now. he attacks looking to collapse the def and find teammates now, rather than to create his own shot each time. he has mostly cut down on 3pt shots off the bounce now (still gets juiced occasionally and launches a pull-up 3 with 17 secs on the shot clock). most of his 3s now are catch-and-shoot. (would love to see his 3pt FG% comparing off-the-bounce and catch-and-shoot). there is room for physical skills development on the offensive end for sure, but so much low hanging fruit for his development is continue to accumulate game experience (and game film) to improve decision making and bball IQ. he's on the right trajectory, and like you said, another year could be exactly what he needs to maximize his potential.
 
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