VC Transfers

[IUPbigINDIANS]

We'll see what the future holds but a loss like we took last night might actually be a good thing from a transfer/graduate standpoint. Do any of the players what to leave WLU with THAT on their resume as their last game??

I would imagine there would be at least a couple players that leave but I'd look for them to be of the low minute underclassmen variety.

You never know as guys get older. I think Bolon is an interesting case. Could he play overseas? Yes. I think his position will be interesting in a more standard system. I'd guess he becomes a full-time SG. He'll be deemed too small to play underneath. Would next year be his 6th year on the hill? Sometimes they are just ready to move on to the next phase.

And, you never know, some may want to join the trend of trying to 'go up' for their last dance. The MEC has been blasted with departures this off-season.

I am starting to question where Bonner lands. If he was going up ... I think we'd have heard something by now. The kid from Nothern had like 6-7 offers within 24 hours.

[boatcapt]

Well, Topper fans, I guess now all eyes turn to the transfer portal. Fingers crossed that we avoid major losses.

We'll see what the future holds but a loss like we took last night might actually be a good thing from a transfer/graduate standpoint. Do any of the players what to leave WLU with THAT on their resume as their last game??

I would imagine there would be at least a couple players that leave but I'd look for them to be of the low minute underclassmen variety.

[Scrub]

To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised to see a name like Owen Hazelbaker pop onto the portal. He lost his spot in the rotation to Sarson down the stretch. And despite reports of his working his butt off to improve his shooting all season long, he just didn't log the kind of minutes he likely hoped for. I wouldn't be surprised if one or two players like that find their way into the portal.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Well, Topper fans, I guess now all eyes turn to the transfer portal. Fingers crossed that we avoid major losses.

Yeah ... four more teams wrapped things up yesterday. I assume we see some new names starting today.

[Scrub]

Well, Topper fans, I guess now all eyes turn to the transfer portal. Fingers crossed that we avoid major losses.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Danny Ogele and Zach McIntire of Mercyhurst in the portal. Man, would the McIntire kid look good next to his old high school pal, Will Yoakum! Make it happen, Mr. Howlett!

Those are MAJOR losses.

[boatcapt]

Danny Ogele and Zach McIntire of Mercyhurst in the portal. Man, would the McIntire kid look good next to his old high school pal, Will Yoakum! Make it happen, Mr. Howlett!

That's two starters from Hurst giving them five total in the portal. McIntire would be a good get for WLU but I think I'd rather have Ogele. 6'7", 220 who can run and shoot...He'd give us an inside presence without being a "liability" in the WLU style.

Buuuutttt...If no one transfers/chooses to graduate off of this years team, I'd be OK without either.

[Scrub]

Danny Ogele and Zach McIntire of Mercyhurst in the portal. Man, would the McIntire kid look good next to his old high school pal, Will Yoakum! Make it happen, Mr. Howlett!

[Columbuseer]

Noticing a definite pattern in D2 transfers this year ... these aren't all pine riders looking for more minutes. I never recall a year with so many legit D2 contributors bailing at the same time.

It will work for some. I think we'll see a couple P5 moves. Several legit mid-majors. Several bush league low-majors.

And, some will be back to D2. Some of these guys are solid D2 players. That's it.

It will be interesting to see where solid players land. Will it be an upgrade or downgrade from current school?
I hear supply of transfers exceeds demand.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Noticing a definite pattern in D2 transfers this year ... these aren't all pine riders looking for more minutes. I never recall a year with so many legit D2 contributors bailing at the same time.

It will work for some. I think we'll see a couple P5 moves. Several legit mid-majors. Several bush league low-majors.

And, some will be back to D2. Some of these guys are solid D2 players. That's it.

[Columbuseer]

Another great point. And, yes, Howlett & Crutch have had great success leveraging the remoteness of WLU to get those rural Ohio/Kentucky kids to come in and feel comfortable. No surprise that the kids WLU has lost in recent years are all from more metropolitan places (Hill--Cleveland, Dave Dennis--suburban Columbus, and Jon Alessandro--Dayton). But, man, the kids from Berlin, OH or Gnadenhutten, OH sure do feel comfortable here! And the rural kid from Berlin, OH used his opportunity to play his way into a life in Berlin, Germany. Not a bad gig!

Maybe location was a factor, but they did not move the school after they visited and committed.

Transfer scuttlebutt in columbus during his first year was that dennis thought he was an overlooked d1 player. Nice person.

In watching alessandro play, imho i thought he never really got comfortable with the rapid recognize-analyze-react philosophy. He is a smart guy, but he may have found the lack of structure was not a good fit. Just speculation on my part. It just takes some longer for the game to slow down and he was only a rs freshman. Nice guy.

I can only speculate about hill. Given the juco he attended, it is a d1 audition factory. So i suspect he wanted the D1 experience. He is also playing in home town, which is a big plus. nice young man.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Two leaving Mercyhurst ... Aaron Slaughter and Tony Henderson.

Combined, they appeared in (3) games this season.

Slaughter is listed at 6'9" and 290 lbs. He's listed as a junior (transfer from Mercyhurst Northeast).

They recruited Henderson (freshman). He played at Taylor Allderdice in the Pittsburgh City League and had a pretty stellar career there. Gary typically redshirts most freshmen ... maybe he didn't want to wait around.

[Fightingscot82]

I think if you win enough, kids will overlook a lot. Case in point - hundreds of Penn State football alumni talk about how tough it was for them to feel comfortable in State College when coming from more urban or predominantly black communities.

[Columbuseer]

[Scrub]

I think of a guy like Marlon Moore. Cleveland kid. Probably shell-shocked by the smallness of West Liberty, WV. But in a recent local news story (interviewed about going to the Elite 8), he cited those banners on the rafters of the ASRC. He talked about knowing the storied history of WLU and wanting a chance to hang one of those Elite 8 banners that he can say he had hand in. Mission accomplished, Marlon. So it's nice to see kids like Marlon or Armoni Foster who seem to "get it" despite D2 lack of cache, rural campus, 1,200 fans, etc.

But as others have pointed out, I'm not sure if 18-year-old me could have had the maturity to make the choice that a Marlon Moore or Armoni Foster is making. Glad to see if pay off for kids like that though.