Returning players for 2021-22

Techster

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Just to update, some people on the St. John’s redmen message board think Jose will enter the portal this week. A couple of legit basketball writers from the Big East have alluded to a significant transfer possibly coming there as well.

I'd just like to know how St John's messageboard is able to break the news and some of our "insiders" are too busy eating ice cream and watching Netflix. I mean, what are GTSwarmers paying good money for? Wait, this site is free?
 

MidtownJacket

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I mean, what he has done (Jose) here is amazing. I’d be sad to see him go to another school but understand he has to do what’s best for him. He came through GT and made the program better for him having played here. He leaves us better than he found us and that’s all we can ask for as fans.
Hope he finds all the success in the world wherever he ends up next.

@Silk3 if you really do know how gf please pass on my thanks. Dude is a legacy type player and I for one won’t forget what he did here.
 

Techster

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Jose sighting at the Zelnak in the 8th pic.



Not wearing GT gear, and sitting on a chair in front of the window where the GT emblem is facing out...hmmm...

On a more serious note that's not too serious, our future PG Deivon Smith seems pretty plugged into the celebrity community. Possibly see a lot of celebrities on the sidelines in the future to watch him play? This GT basketball generations Jarret Jack?
 

Gt2019

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Highly doubt Jose would transfer to another school. Most St. John’s fans are just stirring up “Rumors” because they are still pissed that Jose got pass them and ended up at a school in the south.
 

Techster

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If you can get past the nausea of looking at an old school internet thread forum, here's where the St John's fans talk about Alvarado. This is about where the Jose to SJU rumors started:

 

MtnWasp

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Has Alvarado finished is degree work? If he is graduating, then a transfer to another school to broaden his horizons is not totally whacked.

However, if he has not finished his degree requirements, then he would likely finish with a degree from the school he transferred to and that would surprise me. Knowing Alvarado, I think he will want that degree from GT.

Either way, the player has fully earned from fans like us to give him every benefit of the doubt and lots of leeway to make decisions that are good for himself.
 

dtm1997

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We have Devoe, Kyle, Bubba, and Deivon at GT next year with Deebo & Tristan as combo guards.

1) We'll be fine to continue developing, even if it means a step back.

2) Jose deserves to be viewed as a GT legend regardless (this doesn't mean a retired number) of where he's playing college or pro ball next year.

This isn't that hard to wrap our minds around.
 

D-man44

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We have Devoe, Kyle, Bubba, and Deivon at GT next year with Deebo & Tristan as combo guards.

1) We'll be fine to continue developing, even if it means a step back.

2) Jose deserves to be viewed as a GT legend regardless (this doesn't mean a retired number) of where he's playing college or pro ball next year.

This isn't that hard to wrap our minds around.
Do we know for sure on Devoe?
 

MtnWasp

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We have Devoe, Kyle, Bubba, and Deivon at GT next year with Deebo & Tristan as combo guards.

1) We'll be fine to continue developing, even if it means a step back.
One could make the argument that the progression of development of the program might actually be more smooth if Alvarado (and even maybe Devoe?) move on.

Let's face it, Sturdivant is ready for a bigger role. I bet Smith is also. It probably would be beneficial for the program if we have minutes for both Deebo and Kelly. All of those guys are 4* talents and this staff could probably win with them, even if they are not proven yet.

Funny to say, but the longer term prospects of the program may most ideally be served by all of Moses, Jose and Devoe making the pros to make way for the development of the next wave.

But I would also be happy and comforted if any or all of Devoe, Moses and Jose come back. I think it is is a Win-Win situation the staff is sitting in right now, which is pretty sweet.
 

gameface

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If you can get past the nausea of looking at an old school internet thread forum, here's where the St John's fans talk about Alvarado. This is about where the Jose to SJU rumors started:

Not to call anyone out for posting from the SJU board but they were the delusional guys posting that Paul Hewitt was going to SJU as coach. GT was in the final four
and SJU kept saying Hewitt had agreed to be their next coach. Turns out it was a plot to force Hewitt to choose SJU. Some hack; Tom from Shrewsbury kept saying his
source was on the SJU search committee. In fact it was the track coach from SJU putting out rumors he knew were not true.
 

Techster

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Not to call anyone out for posting from the SJU board but they were the delusional guys posting that Paul Hewitt was going to SJU as coach. GT was in the final four
and SJU kept saying Hewitt had agreed to be their next coach. Turns out it was a plot to force Hewitt to choose SJU. Some hack; Tom from Shrewsbury kept saying his
source was on the SJU search committee. In fact it was the track coach from SJU putting out rumors he knew were not true.

Something worth considering: Jose's #1 goal is the NBA/Pros. From what I'm seeing on the internet, Jose is starting to appear in the 2nd round of the NBA draft projections, which doesn't mean everything, but it is a sign that Jose will get workouts for NBA teams and will probably get camp invites (if they're doing them in the time of Covid). Those guys talk to scouts and teams so they have a good idea of what teams think about certain players.

Anyone who says Jose is entering the portal and transferring in the next week is most likely not taking the above into consideration...so probably not true. I don't believe workouts have even started. The deadline to pull your name out of the draft is July 19th. There's a LONG way to go before someone like Jose decides to return to college. I'm sure Jose will want to exhaust all his workouts and any camp invites before he makes a decision. I don't see him making a decision to "transfer" before he gets to exhaust all of his professional options.
 

slugboy

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@D-man44 the info in your post would be considered good news by almost any fan, but it might be considered confidential info from someone who works for a paid site
I pulled it while other mods review it
 

Techster

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One could make the argument that the progression of development of the program might actually be more smooth if Alvarado (and even maybe Devoe?) move on.

Let's face it, Sturdivant is ready for a bigger role. I bet Smith is also. It probably would be beneficial for the program if we have minutes for both Deebo and Kelly. All of those guys are 4* talents and this staff could probably win with them, even if they are not proven yet.

Funny to say, but the longer term prospects of the program may most ideally be served by all of Moses, Jose and Devoe making the pros to make way for the development of the next wave.

But I would also be happy and comforted if any or all of Devoe, Moses and Jose come back. I think it is is a Win-Win situation the staff is sitting in right now, which is pretty sweet.

It's nice to have "blue blood" problems.
 

Root4GT

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One could make the argument that the progression of development of the program might actually be more smooth if Alvarado (and even maybe Devoe?) move on.

Let's face it, Sturdivant is ready for a bigger role. I bet Smith is also. It probably would be beneficial for the program if we have minutes for both Deebo and Kelly. All of those guys are 4* talents and this staff could probably win with them, even if they are not proven yet.

Funny to say, but the longer term prospects of the program may most ideally be served by all of Moses, Jose and Devoe making the pros to make way for the development of the next wave.

But I would also be happy and comforted if any or all of Devoe, Moses and Jose come back. I think it is is a Win-Win situation the staff is sitting in right now, which is pretty sweet.
While I agree with your assessment that Sturdivant and Smith will have bigger roles next year there is no way having Devoe leave GT BB is good for the program. His outside shooting is far better than anyone else on the team. The freshmen likely have potential, however, most freshmen struggle with 3 point shooting their first year. We clearly are in a better position as a team if Devoe does leave than we would have been in any recent year which is clearly progress as a program.
 

MtnWasp

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it is a matter of short term versus long term benefits. Get Devoe back, and his scoring ability makes Gt an immediately more dangerous team, and one more likely to take an ACC championship and NCAAT berth.

But then, there may be a longer term price to pay for that. Those minutes that Devoe takes would have been valuable for the development of another 4* player. So, the benefits of getting Devoe back next year, may make a big season possibility for the following year more problematic.

And the staff recruited a seemingly perfect replacement for Devoe in Deebo Coleman.

And one other thought flashes across my mind: Deivon Smith and Sturdivant (and Usher) are decidedly up-tempo players while Devoe is not. Devoe is a deliberate player. If Devoe returns, I think that the other three will have to slow down for him. That my turn out to be fine, but I throw it out there that in terms of team chemistry that it might work better the other way.
 

Root4GT

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it is a matter of short term versus long term benefits. Get Devoe back, and his scoring ability makes Gt an immediately more dangerous team, and one more likely to take an ACC championship and NCAAT berth.

But then, there may be a longer term price to pay for that. Those minutes that Devoe takes would have been valuable for the development of another 4* player. So, the benefits of getting Devoe back next year, may make a big season possibility for the following year more problematic.

And the staff recruited a seemingly perfect replacement for Devoe in Deebo Coleman.

And one other thought flashes across my mind: Deivon Smith and Sturdivant (and Usher) are decidedly up-tempo players while Devoe is not. Devoe is a deliberate player. If Devoe returns, I think that the other three will have to slow down for him. That my turn out to be fine, but I throw it out there that in terms of team chemistry that it might work better the other way.
I don’t think we are at the level where we can assume sustained top 1/3 ACC play yet. Another year or two like the past two and I think we can be at that level.

Guard play rules in NCAA BB. Smith and Sturdivant have a lot of BS potential but both lack proven high level production. Devoe has a couple years of proven high level production.

we have had one good year of HS recruiting. I believe we need at least one more very successful year with regards to W-L record before we can be fairly sure we can be successful recruiting at the HS level.
Simply put, I have faith in Devoe that I don’t yet have in Sturdivant, Smith or Bubba as “scorers” from the backcourt.

Now will CJP adjust his player rotation to include minutes for all the backcourt players is a good question. Earning his trust is difficult based on his tenure at GT.
 
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