Portal Season '24

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Not a surprise. He should've gotten more PT. If I was him, I'd have been pissed that Mason Bennett was getting PT over him. That kid was worthless this season.

I could see Manchel swooping him, but I could also see him going out of town again.

Manchel has plenty of space available

[bballfan03]

Omajafo and Whitley in Portal.

Not concerned about Whitley, but I think Josh is making a mistake looking at D1. I just don't think he's mentally got it for D1.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Omajafo and Whitley in Portal.

Not concerned about Whitley, but I think Josh is making a mistake looking at D1. I just don't think he's mentally got it for D1.

He's the right size and has the intangibles. I'd guess he'll have numerous D1 offers by the weekend.


Granted, I'm not talking P5. But, there's a vast sea of low-level 'D1' programs that will flock to him.

Last year Seton Hill's Samuel Tabbe had 15+ low-level D1 offers.

When Tomiwa left IUP he had offers the same day. Alston had 30+ D1 offers when he left Cal two years ago.

I suspect Omojafo goes with Fee.

[bballfan03]

Stupid question.. verbalcommits... committed and signed. Which means they are definitely coming? I'm assuming signed? And committed means verbal?

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Stupid question.. verbalcommits... committed and signed. Which means they are definitely coming? I'm assuming signed? And committed means verbal?

Correct. Signed means the name is on the paper. Committed doesn't really mean anything as it isn't binding.

Keep in mind signed recruits get a free 'out' after a coaching change if they so choose. I believe they can ask for a release and the school has to grant it.

[bballfan03]

He's the right size and has the intangibles. I'd guess he'll have numerous D1 offers by the weekend.


Granted, I'm not talking P5. But, there's a vast sea of low-level 'D1' programs that will flock to him.

Last year Seton Hill's Samuel Tabbe had 15+ low-level D1 offers.

When Tomiwa left IUP he had offers the same day. Alston had 30+ D1 offers when he left Cal two years ago.

I suspect Omojafo goes with Fee.

If Fee goes to FAU, I cannot see him going there lol I guess when you just went to the E8 with a team and have (hopefully) many coming back and knowing transfers will be a big part of it as well as having a coach that was there through it all... I don't see going to a low level D1 school as a "better choice".

Now Nova SE had a few kids go to huge D1 schools (I remember one was Alabama).. that's a definite jump you're taking if the opportunity arises. But an E8 D2 team to say Duquesne, YSU, Buffalo, etc... not an improvement.. thats just my opinion though

[bballfan03]

Correct. Signed means the name is on the paper. Committed doesn't really mean anything as it isn't binding.

Keep in mind signed recruits get a free 'out' after a coaching change if they so choose. I believe they can ask for a release and the school has to grant it.

Yes I did know that (if the recruiting coach leaves they can opt out).. just wasn't sure which was which.. committed (in just plain text) sounds like it would be the better of the 2 lol

[IUPbigINDIANS]

If Fee goes to FAU, I cannot see him going there lol I guess when you just went to the E8 with a team and have (hopefully) many coming back and knowing transfers will be a big part of it as well as having a coach that was there through it all... I don't see going to a low level D1 school as a "better choice".

Now Nova SE had a few kids go to huge D1 schools (I remember one was Alabama).. that's a definite jump you're taking if the opportunity arises. But an E8 D2 team to say Duquesne, YSU, Buffalo, etc... not an improvement.. thats just my opinion though

The one kid from Nova went to Memphis and didn't play at all. He's back in the portal right now.

Pip from Mercy went to Bucknell last year and hardly played.

There's a good many by now from the PSAC that have gone up. Armoni left IUP and started at Buffalo.

Realistically it would be extremely rare to make the D2 to P5 jump.

Pitt looked at Alston but I'm not sure they offered.

Going back years Dustin Sleva (Ship) and Cobo Diaz (IUP) maybe could have landed at big schools. I think Sleva could have actually played high-level D1 his senior year.

[bballfan03]

The one kid from Nova went to Memphis and didn't play at all. He's back in the portal right now.

Pip from Mercy went to Bucknell last year and hardly played.

There's a good many by now from the PSAC that have gone up. Armoni left IUP and started at Buffalo.

Realistically it would be extremely rare to make the D2 to P5 jump.

Pitt looked at Alston but I'm not sure they offered.

Going back years Dustin Sleva (Ship) and Cobo Diaz (IUP) maybe could have landed at big schools. I think Sleva could have actually played high-level D1 his senior year.

Maybe it wasn't Alabama.. my bad. Sunahara went to Georgia.. didn't do much. Started 11/16 games but avg 10 mins a game.

But still even if you don't play, that leap is an opportunity worth taking because who knows what could possibly happen.

[EyeoftheHawk]

Some old coaches I coached baseball with had some great advice, which was to play down a level from what you think you can achieve if you’re not going pro. In other words, don’t chase something just to be able to say “I went DI,” only to play sparingly and never participate in a game that really mattered. Of course every kid has different motivations so it’s not blanket advice. I knew a kid that was already going to Penn State for academic reasons and was also a really good football player. He would have been a start in DII but he walked on at PSU and made it. Football wasn’t his top priority.

I see names like Pip and Tomiwa on here and think they would have been far better off staying in DII. They’re now role players on teams going nowhere when before they were stars on high-level DII teams. A lot of these DII kids you never hear about again once they make the jump and I fear many never get degrees because they have a handful of credits from multiple schools.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Some old coaches I coached baseball with had some great advice, which was to play down a level from what you think you can achieve if you’re not going pro. In other words, don’t chase something just to be able to say “I went DI,” only to play sparingly and never participate in a game that really mattered. Of course every kid has different motivations so it’s not blanket advice. I knew a kid that was already going to Penn State for academic reasons and was also a really good football player. He would have been a start in DII but he walked on at PSU and made it. Football wasn’t his top priority.

I see names like Pip and Tomiwa on here and think they would have been far better off staying in DII. They’re now role players on teams going nowhere when before they were stars on high-level DII teams. A lot of these DII kids you never hear about again once they make the jump and I fear many never get degrees because they have a handful of credits from multiple schools.

I'm watching to see if Whippen can find a loophole to leave Ship and join his 5th team in five years.

If he graduates this Spring, I think he could then leave as a grad transfer. However, unless he's been taking summer classes all along he's probably behind academically due to all the transferring.

[Ship69]

I'm watching to see if Whippen can find a loophole to leave Ship and join his 5th team in five years.

If he graduates this Spring, I think he could then leave as a grad transfer. However, unless he's been taking summer classes all along he's probably behind academically due to all the transferring.

As I said with Frank, if I were betting I'd bet Whippen is staying at Ship.

[boatcapt]

Correct. Signed means the name is on the paper. Committed doesn't really mean anything as it isn't binding.

Keep in mind signed recruits get a free 'out' after a coaching change if they so choose. I believe they can ask for a release and the school has to grant it.

If memory serves, schools used to make a big tado about an offer and subsequent commitment by the player but as many players and schools learned, they weren't worth the paper they were written on. The ONLY thing that matters, legally, is the actual signed and returned NLI. Anything else (verbal commit, offer, preferred walk-on offer, etc) is just a way to try and convince the player that they are somehow obligated to come to their school.

Also, there has been some speculation that DII NLI's are year-to-year while D1's are for 4 years. Not true...ALL NLI's are for one academic year regardless of the level. Technically, the player only signs an NLI the first year they attend a particular school. In subsequent years, the school contacts the player and either extends their commitment another year or tells them that they are not extending their commitment.

[boatcapt]

Some old coaches I coached baseball with had some great advice, which was to play down a level from what you think you can achieve if you’re not going pro. In other words, don’t chase something just to be able to say “I went DI,” only to play sparingly and never participate in a game that really mattered. Of course every kid has different motivations so it’s not blanket advice. I knew a kid that was already going to Penn State for academic reasons and was also a really good football player. He would have been a start in DII but he walked on at PSU and made it. Football wasn’t his top priority.

I see names like Pip and Tomiwa on here and think they would have been far better off staying in DII. They’re now role players on teams going nowhere when before they were stars on high-level DII teams. A lot of these DII kids you never hear about again once they make the jump and I fear many never get degrees because they have a handful of credits from multiple schools.

Some sage advice from old coaches. The unfortunate reality is that almost everyone decent HS player plays AAU ball of some sort and the unofficial measure of greatness for these coaches is how many players THEY got onto D1 rosters. Doesn't matter how many minutes per game they played or how many years they were there, just getting them to the "show" validates them and allows them to get more $'s. I was surprised to learn that the average AAU HC salary is over $70K a year and the AAU places almost zero restrictions on "side hustle" agreements that the coach might have.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Rider transfer Anthony McCall has signed with West Chester (6'4", 190 lb, SG)