Iup basketball

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Per the Penn State Twitter world, Dallis is visiting this weekend.

[IUPalum]

[QUOTE=IUPbigINDIANS;n937731]

Joe does at least have a handful of guys coming back. I only say that because several others have next to nobody coming back. Cal, Clarion, SRU and Seton Hill were completely gutted.

Returning:

Kymani Merraro
Ian Herring
Ralphie Blundo
Bautista Rodriguez
Tasso Sfanos
Harry Keighley

Incoming (signed) Freshmen:

Griffin Straub (SF / Ohio)
Colin Simmons (SG / Canada)

Offered (high school):

Luke Scarff (PF / Pennsylvania)


Merraro, Rodriguez and Herring have a lot of experience. Sfanos easily could have played last season after playing two seasons at UCSB. Blundo projects to be a (slightly) bigger and faster version of Bryce Radford. Keighley is athletic for his 6'9" frame but needs to put on about 30 pounds this offseason.

Of the two incoming freshmen, Straub may play right away. He had offers from about every top program in the Atlantic Region.

I think there's a very good chance they get Scarff.

So, that's (8) officially on the books and (1) pending.

Joe has a lot of room available. These 3-4 transfers he's going to sign are going to tell the tale.

In my opinion, he ABSOLUTELY must sign at least (1) legitimate post player. He can still toy around with the hoards of SFs but he needs a legit banger. I'm not talking about a high school kid. He needs to find a Day 1, ready to roll guy.

There are legitimately thousands and thousands of players available in the Portal.

Question is can he find the right 3 or 4 of them?

Joe will find another Christian Moore type player. There are plenty of them out there that sat on the end of D1 benches that just want to play!

[Ship69]

Per the Penn State Twitter world, Dallis is visiting this weekend.

Little reason to think he couldn't play up there. I knew Penn State was in for trouble this past season when Ship put up 48 points on them in the second half of their preseason scrimmage. Even allowing they had let up after getting a big lead in the first half, that wasn't going to cut it in the Big 10.

[blackhawkdown]

Any word on the new recruit that just committed?

[IUPalum]

Any word on the new recruit that just committed?

He's a freshman. That's now 3 freshman that are signed. I don't necessarily think any of the 3 are big pieces immediately.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

He's a freshman. That's now 3 freshman that are signed. I don't necessarily think any of the 3 are big pieces immediately.

A fourth freshman is also likely to sign.

Joe better sign some transfers real soon.

Not looking good right now.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

He's a freshman. That's now 3 freshman that are signed. I don't necessarily think any of the 3 are big pieces immediately.

Correct. They all look like solid prospects but Joe's not exactly famous for playing true freshmen.

He has a lot of roster space. I suspect the next (3) players will be transfer additions.

There's no point in redshirting players. At best, they'll be here two years. Play them while you have them.

[IUPalum]

Correct. They all look like solid prospects but Joe's not exactly famous for playing true freshmen.

He has a lot of roster space. I suspect the next (3) players will be transfer additions.

There's no point in redshirting players. At best, they'll be here two years. Play them while you have them.

Still needs to find some true beef to control the paint and a couple of good solid guards that aren't 5'7".

[blackhawkdown]

An RMU player has entered the lineup....pretty exciting!

[Fightingscot82]

Going from Mr. Intensity Andy Toole to Joe Ball will be quite an adjustment.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Dallis signed with Temple.

[blackhawkdown]

Grove has also found a home

[bballfan03]

Grove has also found a home

He couldn't handle the PSAC so im not sure how he'll fare in the GMAC. Plus Walsh was real good last year and bringing back a lot of the contributors.

Gonna be an interesting fall!!

[IUPalum]

Grove has also found a home

Walsh obviously didn't watch film on him to see how soft he is.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Walsh obviously didn't watch film on him to see how soft he is.

I don't think - looking back - Joe knew what to do with him.

Like we've seen so often, Joe tries to create post players out of players who aren't post players.

Grove certainly looks the part of a small forward but his game isn't under the basket. You have to get dirty to play underneath and that's not his game.

He's basically a 6'8" shooting guard, but that didn't work in IUP's offense.

Because IUP has really struggled to recruit post players,
Grove was by default essentially forced to play down there. You could see how uncomfortable he was in that role.

I actually think he'd be a great fit in a "system" offense.

When Joe didn't play him at all in the Sweet 16 (and IUP almost beat Gannon) ... well, that was that. This was inevitable.