Hoops roster-builder thread

[belgianbull]

34 minutes ago, Cubanbull said:

Well we did lose to ASUN teams last year. So let’s not act like all their talent is bad. We haven’t been world beaters with the talent we had.

So let the man get who wants to come here and let’s see how it plays out before we act like we are too good for ASUN talent 

I don' mean the A Sun any disrespect. I follow the league closely since I am a Stetson fan as well ( USF undergrad, Stetson law grad). But watching the A Sun and AAC  closely; the AAC is just a whole other level. That said I do think Youngblood and Stroud can be major contributors for us.

[Triple B]

1 hour ago, Dave_Glaser said:

The game is going away from having a center. You can sign an athletic 6-8 guy and make him your 5 man these days. That’s why I’m not so sure losing Tchewa is a huge deal. That said, I’ll certainly take him back next season to add some stability. If I had a choice, I’d take big, physical guards who make it tough for teams to get the ball inside over a bunch of big bodies on the interior. And we could have that with two 6-4/220 guards in Miguel and Youngblood. Hoping we get another this weekend in 6-5 guard Kobe Knox.

I get it. Guess my real concern is just getting decent bodies here this first year and losing Robinson just means 1 more CAAR has to find, although I guess it is still early ...

[Dave_Glaser]

23 minutes ago, Triple B said:

I get it. Guess my real concern is just getting decent bodies here this first year and losing Robinson just means 1 more CAAR has to find, although I guess it is still early ...

If we revisit the post that started this thread, I guess we’ll have a better idea of just how much work is left to do . . .

Returnees: Selton Miguel, Sam Hines, Corey Walker

Transfers: Chris Youngblood, Brandon Stroud, Kasen Jennings, Jose Placer

High school: Daniel Tobiloba

So that leaves us five roster spots to fill. I’m going to assume that Dante Oliver will come with his father and be one. Hoping Kobe Knox (who is on his official visit this weekend) is another and Tchewa returns. If that’s the case, then we’re looking for two more. One could be JUCO All-American Kasean Pryor. If that’s what we have, then the last one needs to be a 6-7/6-8 guy with some bulk.

Edited April 30, 2023 by Dave_Glaser

[Triple B]

20 minutes ago, Dave_Glaser said:

I’m going to assume that Dante Oliver will come with his father and be one.

Has Oliver been officially recognized as joining the staff yet? I know it was reported but can't find anything from USF on it yet ...... of course, could be just missing it.

[panchosanchez99]

On 4/28/2023 at 9:20 AM, belgianbull said:

100 percent agree with this post. I doubt that Kennesaw State last year finishes much higher then us in the AAC, so A Sun talent is not going to do if we want to crack the top 7 next year. There is plenty of time still left to recruit until the season starts so I hope he can get some quality players to come to USF through the transfer portal. All it takes is two or three quality players. He needs to find players of the quality of  Harris. Hope he can get it done, but so far ( still early though) I am not impressed.

Flsportsfan83 and Belgianbull, I think your perceptions of the talent in other conferences and speculations of how well teams from other conferences would have done in the AAC are misguided. Please note that USF last year lost to 2 teams from the Ohio Valley Conference, 1 team from the ASUN, 1 team from CUSA, and 1 team from the Atlantic 10. If our conference and our team are so much better than teams in those conferences, why did we lose 5 games to those conferences? If we lost to ASUN talent that lost to the ASUN conference champion, then it is logical to conclude that we can win in this conference with ASUN talent.

Too many people put too much emphasis on players' recruiting grades out of high school. While that may have been more relevant decades ago, there is more parity today. This is why we lost to teams in lesser conferences and why we see "upsets" every year. 

If you look at the USF teams that have gone to the big dance, those rosters had no highly recruited players. Bobby Paschal and Stan Heath got scraps and were able to coach those players to win. Steph Curry was not highly recruited out of high school and did not attend a big name school; look at what he has accomplished. There are many players who mature later than others or who develop later through coaching. I think everyone needs to chill and see how things play out.

[panchosanchez99]

On 4/29/2023 at 4:32 PM, Dave_Glaser said:

He may get a few minutes playing defense because of his size, but otherwise he won’t get off the bench at UVA. They can have him. His game right now is very limited. Tobiloba is basically the same kid at this point. It’ll all be about development with both.

Both still better than Tchewa, who ranked 1095th in blocks last year.

[panchosanchez99]

On 4/29/2023 at 7:01 PM, Triple B said:

Come on, Dave, he’s good enough for an ACC program to take a chance on him but we can’t use him to help basically build a roster from scratch …. does not compute. 

Agreed!

[panchosanchez99]

23 hours ago, belgianbull said:

Really don't care about our history. Our history is now in the past and its due time for us to become a major program. There is nothing that precludes us from doing so.

If FAU can get to the final four, North Texas can win the NIT, and UCF and Tulane can win New Year bowl games there is no reason we can't as well.

It starts with recruiting! If Golesh and Rahim can't recruit then we will be mediocre at best. Maybe we don't have to out recruit Memphis but we should be able to out recruit teams like ECU, Tulane,...

If it starts with recruiting, can you list the big name recruits that FAU and North Texas had? The fact that you name these schools as doing well and that they are from "lesser" conferences shows that big name recruits are not necessary to be successful.

[panchosanchez99]

21 hours ago, Cubanbull said:

Well we did lose to ASUN teams last year. So let’s not act like all their talent is bad. We haven’t been world beaters with the talent we had.

So let the man get who wants to come here and let’s see how it plays out before we act like we are too good for ASUN talent 

Well said!

[belgianbull]

4 minutes ago, panchosanchez99 said:

If it starts with recruiting, can you list the big name recruits that FAU and North Texas had? The fact that you name these schools as doing well and that they are from "lesser" conferences shows that big name recruits are not necessary to be successful.

All fair points you are making, and we are all hoping that coach Rahim can bring similar players that are under the radar to USF, and get us to the NCAA tournament. Disagree though with you on Tchewa; any player who can get you double digit points, and 8 rebounds a game can be a great asset to the team.

Still though when you look nationally and in conference there is still a positive correlation with highly rated recruits and winning. FAU and North Texas are exceptions, and maybe when it comes to those programs it comes down to the coaches. Hope coach Rahim can be our own Dusty May.

However, we will all see how it plays out this upcoming season, and am hoping for the best. I expect 12 wins minimum.