Iup basketball

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I don't think the NCAA is expert on NCAA eligibility. Seems that all their eligibility decisions are being driven by the courts and are all over the place. Don't like the eligibility decision the NCAA made in your case? Take them to court were you've got about a 98% chance of prevailing!

The major issue Joe ran into last year with Bautista Rodriguez (and why he was ruled ineligible for the entire season) was it turned out he had played a post-grad year in some bush league 'pro league' in his home country. This team was in a town the size of Buchannan, WV.

Apparently this happens often at the D1 level and they don't drop the hammer. Well, they dropped the hammer on him. He had to sit all of last season and was docked (1) year of eligibility.

Now, was said hammer dropped because IUP reported it too late or something ... I can't answer that. They don't talk about those things publicly.

One way or another, it cost IUP its star recruit last season (and arguably best player on the team). My guess would be fingers got pointed all around. Regardless, the ruling was the ruling.

[boatcapt]

Joe earned a commitment from Harry Keighley, a 6-foot-9 New Zealander by way of the Hawkes Bay Hawks (real original name, huh?). I'm no expert in New Zealand pro basketball and how that factors into eligibility but he graduated high school in 2024 and turned 18 in January.

I don't think the NCAA is expert on NCAA eligibility. Seems that all their eligibility decisions are being driven by the courts and are all over the place. Don't like the eligibility decision the NCAA made in your case? Take them to court were you've got about a 98% chance of prevailing!

[hawks16]

Joe earned a commitment from Harry Keighley, a 6-foot-9 New Zealander by way of the Hawkes Bay Hawks (real original name, huh?). I'm no expert in New Zealand pro basketball and how that factors into eligibility but he graduated high school in 2024 and turned 18 in January.

[hawks16]

Sorry Jennifer.

[IUPalum]

Now the biggest question in New Castle is if his dad is returning to the sidelines in 2025-26.

Why do we care if his dad coaches or not?

[hawks16]

New Castle's Ralphie Blundo is now 'finally' official.

He's going to be fun to watch.

Now the biggest question in New Castle is if his dad is returning to the sidelines in 2025-26.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

New Castle's Ralphie Blundo is now 'finally' official.

He's going to be fun to watch.

[TheBigCat2192]

Big shout out to Manny Yarde for partaking in the IUPatty's chaos.

Now there’s a name I haven’t heard in a long, long time.

[IUP24]

Hey, maybe he follows the Stefan Osborne track — can't get on in the floor after December but shows up in March in the Elite 8!

Big shout out to Manny Yarde for partaking in the IUPatty's chaos.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Hey, maybe he follows the Stefan Osborne track — can't get on in the floor after December but shows up in March in the Elite 8!

Ask old Manny about that one lol

[hawks16]

My point is he the exact type of guy that we sit here in August gushing over being an ace in the hole off the bench, but never plays - at all - when they start playing games.

Joe has a lot of work to do to prove me wrong in that assessment.

Hey, maybe he follows the Stefan Osborne track — can't get on in the floor after December but shows up in March in the Elite 8!

[IUP24]

Very similar.

Sfanos is less reserved. Sfanos will chuck from all over and can create shots. Police kind of parked in the corner and waited for the ball.

Kyle was a better defender. Call it close to even overall.

My point is he the exact type of guy that we sit here in August gushing over being an ace in the hole off the bench, but never plays - at all - when they start playing games.

Joe has a lot of work to do to prove me wrong in that assessment.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Granted, it only took a couple years for Joe to go from Andrew Weigand down low to the Tevin Hanners and Cobo Diaz types -- or teams that thrived scoring 55 ppg to teams that scored 75 ppg. Isn't now the time to change the style up and try to score 90 if you have any aspirations of competing with Gannon and West Liberty (in your region) or, gulp, Nova Southeastern if your true goal is to win a national title? An eight-man rotation isn't going to win in 2025. And an eight-man rotation in the transfer portal era is just bad strategy? Unless Mark Arbuckle is going to outfit everyone on the team with new cars and six figures in NIL money, IUP's going to have to start hitting and winning on the fringes.

Joe's going to have a deep bench next year.

However, him using said deep bench is a different subject. Hard to teach an old dog new tricks.

I suspect we'll have 1-2 more years of Joe's 1990s ball and then the next coach will be hired to play a more modern style.

Joe's system has won an awful lot of games. He's just built back to back poor rosters. He's going to get one more year with these young guys. I suspect 1-2 of them leave after next season.

[hawks16]

Correct, which will be his role next year. He's going to certainly play a good bit but based on Joe's history, the fourth guard has a fairly limited role.

Granted, it only took a couple years for Joe to go from Andrew Weigand down low to the Tevin Hanners and Cobo Diaz types -- or teams that thrived scoring 55 ppg to teams that scored 75 ppg. Isn't now the time to change the style up and try to score 90 if you have any aspirations of competing with Gannon and West Liberty (in your region) or, gulp, Nova Southeastern if your true goal is to win a national title? An eight-man rotation isn't going to win in 2025. And an eight-man rotation in the transfer portal era is just bad strategy? Unless Mark Arbuckle is going to outfit everyone on the team with new cars and six figures in NIL money, IUP's going to have to start hitting and winning on the fringes.

[EyeoftheHawk]

Obviously the others will load up, but Joe is in a significantly better spot today than he was a year ago.

Yes, this is a far better spot than the roster has been in the last two years at this exact time. Now they just have to avoid the late departure that nobody saw coming like when Clarke left last year. I’d definitely still like to see them bring in a proven forward. You know exactly what you have in Damir, but not really Bautista. He could be great or he could be Romero-Sanz 2.0. We won’t know until we actually see him play.