Iup basketball

[IUP24]

Joe's the best around at giving a two-minute answer and at the end of said two minutes he really hasn't said anything -- but whatever he said sounded good. LOL. The post-game radio interviews are the best. Jack tries his best to get Joe to talk but Joe always catches himself at the last second before saying what he really wants to say.

I'll say this about what could be perceived as a lot of his 'coach speak' ... if his players didn't believe, they could have easily folded the past two seasons. They lost a star to an ACL injury -- early -- in each of the past two seasons they played.

That team last year went to the Final Four and worked around one explosion after the other -- they lost their best player in Game 7 (Shawndale), Ethan was very sick from December through late January, Demo missed 15 games, Polce missed 7-8 games, Dillard had to get activated in Game 9 after missing most of camp, Armoni played with one hand the final 2 months, etc.

You don't keep all that mess in order -- and, actually keep thriving -- unless you have serious buy-in within the program. That season changed last year after the Edinboro game in the KCAC. They played like crap, almost lost ... and then Joe finally blew up on them.

History will likely remember last year as the 'what could have been' team, but what they actually were was quite special. With Shawndale, that may have been the best team in IUP history -- it would have been Joe's best team (and that says a lot).

Joe's roster formula has changed over the years. He's much, much more picky with transfers. He had a couple flops in the mid-2010s. Since, however, he's been hitting home runs on those he takes -- Shawndale, Morris, Norfleet, Spain, Willem, Chuckie, Glover, Hanner, Demo. Remember, Demo was going to be a superstar here prior to his injury. He unfortunately never got back to that pre-injury level.

The key of late has really been his high school recruiting -- Cobo, Dante, Malik, Armoni, Porterfield, Polce, Dillard, Sulaiman, etc. Those guys all stayed multiple years, too, most importantly.

The magic bean is Joe knows how to build a roster. He'll be the first to tell you he won't sign multiple guys who want to score 25 ppg. For starters, they can't all score 25 ppg. He's an expert at building a lineup around his couple stars. He'll specifically recruit a 'garbage man', a defensive pest, a passer, a muscle goon, etc. And, amazingly, he gets those players to buy in to that role for the current season until it's their time to shine. Their defensive play the past 3 years has been off the charts.

You wouldn't believe some of the names they've passed on in the portal the past few years due to not being perceived as a good fit within the program.

And, of course, they aren't going to stay at this high of a level forever. They've hosted the last three regionals (when they've played a season) and won the past three PSAC titles. This is really an epic run.

I think they enter this year as the clear, heavy favorite in the West. Joe returns a ton and also adds some strong pieces. This could be the swan song for Poterfield and Sulaiman. Shawndale and Morris leave after this season. If Porterfield and Sulaiman stay around, the run will likely continue beyond this upcoming season. If not, they will likely enter a bit of a reload after the 22-23 season.

Joe will have an incredibly difficult lineup to play against this year.

Underneath, Sulaiman was just a freshman last year. He will be a terror this season on both ends. Porterfield is a nightmare to defend both inside and outside. Also underneath, Damir Brooks will be a monster. He's bigger than Sulaiman and will be a rebounding machine. Ousmane Diop will also give them more minutes. True freshman Waldo, while expected to redshirt, could play this year.

Guard-wise, it will be Shawndale, Morris, Polce and Dillard. Some think the true freshman PG will also play this year. KJ and Cordon are also capable of giving them some minutes.

Aside from just being uber talented, what evidence is there that either of those guys move on? I'm not asking for you to divulge sources or information, but the way you've regularly talked about those two, you make it seem as though it's already decided that they are leaving.

And I think that's kind of where I am at with the Armoni Foster transfer. I have nothing against him for his departure of the program, but I fear that blew the lid off this within Joe's program. Regardless of talent, I would've never assumed Porterfield or Sulaiman would be leaving after next year had Foster not transferred up.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Joe's the best around at giving a two-minute answer and at the end of said two minutes he really hasn't said anything -- but whatever he said sounded good. LOL. The post-game radio interviews are the best. Jack tries his best to get Joe to talk but Joe always catches himself at the last second before saying what he really wants to say.

I'll say this about what could be perceived as a lot of his 'coach speak' ... if his players didn't believe, they could have easily folded the past two seasons. They lost a star to an ACL injury -- early -- in each of the past two seasons they played.

That team last year went to the Final Four and worked around one explosion after the other -- they lost their best player in Game 7 (Shawndale), Ethan was very sick from December through late January, Demo missed 15 games, Polce missed 7-8 games, Dillard had to get activated in Game 9 after missing most of camp, Armoni played with one hand the final 2 months, etc.

You don't keep all that mess in order -- and, actually keep thriving -- unless you have serious buy-in within the program. That season changed last year after the Edinboro game in the KCAC. They played like crap, almost lost ... and then Joe finally blew up on them.

History will likely remember last year as the 'what could have been' team, but what they actually were was quite special. With Shawndale, that may have been the best team in IUP history -- it would have been Joe's best team (and that says a lot).

Joe's roster formula has changed over the years. He's much, much more picky with transfers. He had a couple flops in the mid-2010s. Since, however, he's been hitting home runs on those he takes -- Shawndale, Morris, Norfleet, Spain, Willem, Chuckie, Glover, Hanner, Demo. Remember, Demo was going to be a superstar here prior to his injury. He unfortunately never got back to that pre-injury level.

The key of late has really been his high school recruiting -- Cobo, Dante, Malik, Armoni, Porterfield, Polce, Dillard, Sulaiman, etc. Those guys all stayed multiple years, too, most importantly.

The magic bean is Joe knows how to build a roster. He'll be the first to tell you he won't sign multiple guys who want to score 25 ppg. For starters, they can't all score 25 ppg. He's an expert at building a lineup around his couple stars. He'll specifically recruit a 'garbage man', a defensive pest, a passer, a muscle goon, etc. And, amazingly, he gets those players to buy in to that role for the current season until it's their time to shine. Their defensive play the past 3 years has been off the charts.

You wouldn't believe some of the names they've passed on in the portal the past few years due to not being perceived as a good fit within the program.

And, of course, they aren't going to stay at this high of a level forever. They've hosted the last three regionals (when they've played a season) and won the past three PSAC titles. This is really an epic run.

I think they enter this year as the clear, heavy favorite in the West. Joe returns a ton and also adds some strong pieces. This could be the swan song for Poterfield and Sulaiman. Shawndale and Morris leave after this season. If Porterfield and Sulaiman stay around, the run will likely continue beyond this upcoming season. If not, they will likely enter a bit of a reload after the 22-23 season.

Joe will have an incredibly difficult lineup to play against this year.

Underneath, Sulaiman was just a freshman last year. He will be a terror this season on both ends. Porterfield is a nightmare to defend both inside and outside. Also underneath, Damir Brooks will be a monster. He's bigger than Sulaiman and will be a rebounding machine. Ousmane Diop will also give them more minutes. True freshman Waldo, while expected to redshirt, could play this year.

Guard-wise, it will be Shawndale, Morris, Polce and Dillard. Some think the true freshman PG will also play this year. KJ and Cordon are also capable of giving them some minutes.

[Columbuseer]

Thanks! Good to hear that he walks the talk. Rare commodity.
Neal Brown of wvu football also truly cares about players off the field. For that reason, they are getting serious consideration from more 4* athletes than ever before.
still lose some to nil.

[IUP24]

At wlu some guys leave for more playing time early in their career; don't want to take the chance of waiting until Jr or Sr year. But I imagine every roster has that issue. Yet, I agree that iup has managed to retain a roster much better than most, despite redshirting and not playing many players (according to iup fans). What is the secret?

[Columbuseer]

This isn't the first time I've said what I'm about to say, but I'll say it once more...

The only thing that rings in the back of my mind with Armoni Foster transferring up is that this opens the door and makes it "normal" now at IUP. I'm certainly not bitter towards Armoni at all. He stayed during a canceled season when he clearly never had to do so. He invested 5 years to the program. He took his team to a Final Four; and maybe would have done that in 2020 as well.

It's certainly a different age and era of college sports, and Joe's culture has managed to evade the avalanche of this for a very, very, very long time when other regional programs (i.e. West Liberty) haven't. I think this was always inevitable, but we may have crossed the threshold because of Armoni opening the door. I wouldn't have ever thought about Porterfield or Sulaiman possibly moving on, this summer or next, had Foster not transferred up. Joe's managed to navigate this tremendously, but the proverbial genie is now out of the bottle inside of his own program. Now players will think about it, when I don't think they would have thought about it all before. Joe's program, culture, and the success achieved annually, has always been enough to keep players healthy. And I'm not even talking about NIL, but that said, I'm not sure an NIL deal with 9th Street Deli in the Indiana Gazette is enough to keep Ethan Porterfield in Indiana.

The unique piece of the portal as it relates to D1 basketball is that it both directly and indirectly impacts the sport on the D2 level. There aren't a lot of scholarships on a basketball team, and because D1 programs overhaul their entire team annually with recycled players via the portal, there are less scholarships for the players who are D1 caliber coming out of high school to land on a D1 team. So those guys wind up at D2 programs; not because they want to be there or should be there, but because they have no other options. So as D2 fans, we see an immediate return with the players who are brought into the program, but those guys are bolting at the first opportunity they get. And Joe's model has never been to get a hired gun for a year who he knows is transferring out in 1-2 seasons.

At wlu some guys leave for more playing time early in their career; don't want to take the chance of waiting until Jr or Sr year. But I imagine every roster has that issue. Yet, I agree that iup has managed to retain a roster much better than most, despite redshirting and not playing many players (according to iup fans). What is the secret?

[IUP24]

Armoni is gone. Like it or not. I'm thankful those who stayed are still here. Teams would have been salivating over Porterfield and Sulaiman.

As for 22-23, I'm more worried about guard depth on June 15.

This isn't the first time I've said what I'm about to say, but I'll say it once more...

The only thing that rings in the back of my mind with Armoni Foster transferring up is that this opens the door and makes it "normal" now at IUP. I'm certainly not bitter towards Armoni at all. He stayed during a canceled season when he clearly never had to do so. He invested 5 years to the program. He took his team to a Final Four; and maybe would have done that in 2020 as well.

It's certainly a different age and era of college sports, and Joe's culture has managed to evade the avalanche of this for a very, very, very long time when other regional programs (i.e. West Liberty) haven't. I think this was always inevitable, but we may have crossed the threshold because of Armoni opening the door. I wouldn't have ever thought about Porterfield or Sulaiman possibly moving on, this summer or next, had Foster not transferred up. Joe's managed to navigate this tremendously, but the proverbial genie is now out of the bottle inside of his own program. Now players will think about it, when I don't think they would have thought about it all before. Joe's program, culture, and the success achieved annually, has always been enough to keep players healthy. And I'm not even talking about NIL, but that said, I'm not sure an NIL deal with 9th Street Deli in the Indiana Gazette is enough to keep Ethan Porterfield in Indiana.

The unique piece of the portal as it relates to D1 basketball is that it both directly and indirectly impacts the sport on the D2 level. There aren't a lot of scholarships on a basketball team, and because D1 programs overhaul their entire team annually with recycled players via the portal, there are less scholarships for the players who are D1 caliber coming out of high school to land on a D1 team. So those guys wind up at D2 programs; not because they want to be there or should be there, but because they have no other options. So as D2 fans, we see an immediate return with the players who are brought into the program, but those guys are bolting at the first opportunity they get. And Joe's model has never been to get a hired gun for a year who he knows is transferring out in 1-2 seasons.

[IUPalum]

Well, upon further investigation, IUP Football is home on Nov. 12. They will either host Bloomsburg or host the PSAC title game. Perhaps that played in to the decision to go on the road this year.

The snowball effect is UPJ has opened its season at IUP for years and years. Curious to see what they now have lined up.

Joe typically plays (1) road non-conference game. Being these are 'neutral' ... not sure if he'll play one on the road or not.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

So I'm assuming this is in place of the early season IUP classic or is this in place of the Thanksgiving weekend Classic which was blown up last year by that dump of a school Salem!

Well, upon further investigation, IUP Football is home on Nov. 12. They will either host Bloomsburg or host the PSAC title game. Perhaps that played in to the decision to go on the road this year.

The snowball effect is UPJ has opened its season at IUP for years and years. Curious to see what they now have lined up.

Joe typically plays (1) road non-conference game. Being these are 'neutral' ... not sure if he'll play one on the road or not.

[IUPalum]

Some MEN'S schedule news:

IUP will play (2) neutral court games -- at Clarion -- on Nov. 12 and Nov. 13.


IUP will play Concord on Nov. 12 and Winston-Salem State on Nov. 13.



Those should both be de facto home games for IUP as the Hawk Nation typically travels pretty well up there (about 70 minutes from Indiana).

That said, it's odd IUP is going on the road for an early-season doubleheader.

So I'm assuming this is in place of the early season IUP classic or is this in place of the Thanksgiving weekend Classic which was blown up last year by that dump of a school Salem!

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Some MEN'S schedule news:

IUP will play (2) neutral court games -- at Clarion -- on Nov. 12 and Nov. 13.


IUP will play Concord on Nov. 12 and Winston-Salem State on Nov. 13.



Those should both be de facto home games for IUP as the Hawk Nation typically travels pretty well up there (about 70 minutes from Indiana).

That said, it's odd IUP is going on the road for an early-season doubleheader.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Or did Sheetz not want to sponsor it anymore?

That's certainly a possibility.

[IUPalum]

No. That ended years ago. I don't think anybody gave two cents about the hot dog. It was just the excitement level to hear the announcement.

Or did Sheetz not want to sponsor it anymore?

[IUPbigINDIANS]

It's not a hot dog night anymore over 30?

No. That ended years ago. I don't think anybody gave two cents about the hot dog. It was just the excitement level to hear the announcement.

[IUPalum]

IUP has been very blessed to have Jack and also Bill Otto.

I'm glad Bill still does the P.A. announcing for football. I was sad when he stepped down from basketball. Every time they break 30 points in football I still say to myself "It's a hot dog night in Indiana."

It's not a hot dog night anymore over 30?

[IUPbigINDIANS]

IUP has been very blessed to have Jack and also Bill Otto.

I'm glad Bill still does the P.A. announcing for football. I was sad when he stepped down from basketball. Every time they break 30 points in football I still say to myself "It's a hot dog night in Indiana."