Iup basketball

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I am just a casual observer for IUP basketball. Here's my question.

If the situation with Rhodes is as you and others say, has anyone from the local media just asked Joe point blank why he is playing the players he is?

Tomorrow will be interesting

UPJ was the first team to totally ignore IUP's small forward position. They instead doubled Ethan all night.

It worked. They almost won.

[Ship69]

Have you watched an SEC level game? I love Ethan as much as everyone else, but he has a hard enough time guarding really good PSAC forwards. If Tomiwa is playing 20 mpg at Towson, there's no chance Ethan would touch the court at Alabama. RJ Sunhara from Nova Southeastern (much better athlete) is averaging like 2 ppg at Georgia and hardly plays for a much worse team.

Yeah, I'm a big admirer of EP and what he does for IUP, but he is not an SEC-caliber big man. Lower-level D1? Sure.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Yeah, I'm a big admirer of EP and what he does for IUP, but he is not an SEC-caliber big man. Lower-level D1? Sure.

Watch the film of St. Thomas Aquinas against IUP this year. That dude was a P5 power forward. Lombardi thought he may get NBA looks.

EP got crushed in that game. An SEC team has 5-6 of those guys.

[Chuck Norris]

I am just a casual observer for IUP basketball. Here's my question.

If the situation with Rhodes is as you and others say, has anyone from the local media just asked Joe point blank why he is playing the players he is?

Doubtful. Just like they never asked why his son was a day one starter and had a green light to shoot that many guys waited 3 or 4 years to get.

Disclaimer: Dante was a good player, a very good player by the time he left. But many better players had to earn Joe’s trust over multiple years.

[Columbuseer]

Have you watched an SEC level game? I love Ethan as much as everyone else, but he has a hard enough time guarding really good PSAC forwards. If Tomiwa is playing 20 mpg at Towson, there's no chance Ethan would touch the court at Alabama. RJ Sunhara from Nova Southeastern (much better athlete) is averaging like 2 ppg at Georgia and hardly plays for a much worse team.

In fairness to Sunahara, he was injured in early Nov. His first game back was Dec 16. That has affected playing time
he started for GA vs miss state on Feb 7.

[IUP24]

Have you watched an SEC level game? I love Ethan as much as everyone else, but he has a hard enough time guarding really good PSAC forwards. If Tomiwa is playing 20 mpg at Towson, there's no chance Ethan would touch the court at Alabama. RJ Sunhara from Nova Southeastern (much better athlete) is averaging like 2 ppg at Georgia and hardly plays for a much worse team.

I never once said I agreed with that talent assessment of him. Alabama previously had an individual on their staff who had a ton of connections to Western PA. They were enamored by him. They thought he was absolutely a guy they wanted to bring in. I know an individual involved in recruiting circles in both football and basketball and he was told directly that Porterfiled was targeted very closely by Bama. Believe that or not.

I said towards the beginning of last year that I never felt like Ethan progressed immensely from his true freshman year to reach a level you would have expected him to be at by now. I recognize injuries and health played a large role in that. I got blasted for that opinion though. Perhaps he was just so good as a freshman, he was closer to his ceiling. I really like him. He plays extremely hard every night.

But yeah, like others have said, he's not an SEC caliber player. Not nearly athletic enough.

[IUPHawks24]

I never once said I agreed with that talent assessment of him. Alabama previously had an individual on their staff who had a ton of connections to Western PA. They were enamored by him. They thought he was absolutely a guy they wanted to bring in. I know an individual involved in recruiting circles in both football and basketball and he was told directly that Porterfiled was targeted very closely by Bama. Believe that or not.

I said towards the beginning of last year that I never felt like Ethan progressed immensely from his true freshman year to reach a level you would have expected him to be at by now. I recognize injuries and health played a large role in that. I got blasted for that opinion though. Perhaps he was just so good as a freshman, he was closer to his ceiling. I really like him. He plays extremely hard every night.

But yeah, like others have said, he's not an SEC caliber player. Not nearly athletic enough.

I hear you- I don’t doubt your source, I just know how the recruiting game goes- until they actually offer you one of the 13 scholarships and ask you to sign on the dotted line, a lot of it is just talk. Alabama knows what they are doing as evidenced by their results, so I’m skeptical that someone on their staff legitimately thought he was good enough to play there. His three point percentage was incredible one year (maybe the Final Four year?) so that could’ve been what caught their attention.

[IUPHawks24]

In fairness to Sunahara, he was injured in early Nov. His first game back was Dec 16. That has affected playing time
he started for GA vs miss state on Feb 7.

I figured he was hurt earlier in the year looking at the season box score. Still, I think it’s fairly evident he’s a fringe rotation player at that level at best. Maybe they got really good NIL deals, but Pierre and Sunhara from Nova Southeastern went to a way too high level if their goal was to actually play and have a role this season.

[EyeoftheHawk]

Correct. The Heritage doesn't provide players for Joe other than the occasional token walk-on. The ladies' side is much different. The PSAC as a whole recruits it heavily (aside from IUP).

I doubt there are three players on the boys side of the Heritage that are anything more than garbage time or role players at the DII level. As you pointed out, it’s much different for the girls. From top to bottom, D6 in girls is up there with the best in the state and the Heritage is arguably the top small school conference in the district.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Joe has offered Ian Herring (6'6" SG) from The Kiski School.

He played at Quaker Valley prior to this stint at the Saltsburg private school. I 'think' he is there as a post-grad player (similar to what Shawndale did there).

IUP offered him first. Since then, Cal and Lock Haven have offered. He also has an offer from Hofstra.

[IUPalum]

Joe has offered Ian Herring (6'6" SG) from The Kiski School.

He played at Quaker Valley prior to this stint at the Saltsburg private school. I 'think' he is there as a post-grad player (similar to what Shawndale did there).

IUP offered him first. Since then, Cal and Lock Haven have offered. He also has an offer from Hofstra.

Joe needs to rebuild in a hurry!!!

[IUP24]

I hear you- I don’t doubt your source, I just know how the recruiting game goes- until they actually offer you one of the 13 scholarships and ask you to sign on the dotted line, a lot of it is just talk. Alabama knows what they are doing as evidenced by their results, so I’m skeptical that someone on their staff legitimately thought he was good enough to play there. His three point percentage was incredible one year (maybe the Final Four year?) so that could’ve been what caught their attention.

The interest they had in him was predicated on him being a deep bench guy who could be a potential matchup problem that was a good shooter from outside. They never intended on him being in their starting five or one of the first off the bench.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Joe needs to rebuild in a hurry!!!

Very interesting off-season approaching.

First and foremost, lock Garvin Clarke inside the KCAC with no phone or internet. LOL. Joking, but, not really. He's the key to next year.

Item No. 2 will be how Dallis and Denzel return from their ACL injuries. Denzel will be at a full year recovery when camp opens next Fall. Dallis will be at about 11 months. Denzel would have been a very important player this season. We never got to see him.

Assuming Jaylen Stewart and Sarp also return, IUP should be fairly strong at the guard position. I still think they add a shooter (former UPJ guard Andrew Shull would fit perfectly in that role).

Who knows what happens underneath. I think Brooks will stay depsite the crap he dealth with this year. Romero-Sanz will make his debut. We'll see about Waldo. I suspect Joe adds 1-2 transfers in this area -- at least one for sure.

[Ship69]

I hear you- I don’t doubt your source, I just know how the recruiting game goes- until they actually offer you one of the 13 scholarships and ask you to sign on the dotted line, a lot of it is just talk. Alabama knows what they are doing as evidenced by their results, so I’m skeptical that someone on their staff legitimately thought he was good enough to play there. His three point percentage was incredible one year (maybe the Final Four year?) so that could’ve been what caught their attention.

I think we've all had cases of recruits who were originally at D1 schools transferring to our PSAC schools. Usually it's from the lower end of D1, but still at one time someone thought these players could be D1 material. On the other hand, we get kids at our level who certainly could play at some D1 schools. Recruiting is far from an exact science.

[IUP24]

I think we've all had cases of recruits who were originally at D1 schools transferring to our PSAC schools. Usually it's from the lower end of D1, but still at one time someone thought these players could be D1 material. On the other hand, we get kids at our level who certainly could play at some D1 schools. Recruiting is far from an exact science.

The edge many coaches like Lombardi had is gone now with the one-time free transfer rule. He typically took D1 recruits with multiple years of eligibility remaining given that those guys did not want to sit out a year. So they would go to a program like IUP and be immediately eligible. That no longer is the case. So those types of players no longer drop into the laps of the better programs at this level.

Within the context of the Porterfield discussion, somebody like Alabama isn't viewing him in the role he fills at this level, which is a "do everything" kind of role. Consider that Porterfield is 6'9" and a lethal shooter from the outside when he's on. I'm not sure Alabama, or anybody at that level, needs him to play 30-35 minutes a night. They just need 8-12 minutes and for him to go 3 of 5 on outside shots. There's a significant difference in roles that the top programs evaluate players for in most cases.