Portal Season '24

[IUPbigINDIANS]

You've never dreamed of living in Farmville, Virginia? But really it's his best D1 offer. Now he gets to claim that for life.

I had to look it up. I don't think I'd ever heard of Longwood prior to yesterday.

Looks like Farmville and California (PA) are about the same size towns.

[IUP24]

I'm think maybe you misunderstand, too. I'm not arguing that basketball isn't a better pathway for most schools than football. This isn't the first time Houston has been good. Maybe you've heard of Elvin Hayes, Phi Slamma Jamma, etc., maybe not. Houston is a good basketball program. They had about 30 years of success under Guy Lewis, slipped back under the two guys that followed him, and now have had several years of success with Sampson. They have been to six final fours and have a 40-30 record in the NCAA tournament. The program's all-time winning percentage is .610.

Yes, I'm aware of Phi Slamma Jamma. I am aware that achieving success in basketball is not necessarily a new thing for Houston. I really only named them as one of the teams since 2015 to have reached the Final Four. That was really the only reason I even inserted their name into the conversation. And yes, although Houston isn't "new" to being good in basketball, they aren't Duke or Kentucky. They are not by most people's definition a "blue blood." Which is kind of the overall point. There's a greater propensity for parity in college basketball and the NCAA Tournament than in football and the College Football Playoff, which is supported by the tournament results not necessarily favoring those blue blood basketball schools of late, as you mentioned.

So again, the conversation is that at a macro more schools are going to identify a greater opportunity for success by investing in basketball at the larger programs/universities. The smaller schools are continuing to move up at an abnormal rate because they believe getting there, and maybe winning a game in a historic upset, is better marketing than having a real good D2 football program.

The side conversation is the value or allure of "being D1" loses its luster once everybody does it. The other thought is once everyone starts pumping money into basketball, what does that look like for the masses? I think time will tell.

[Scrub]

Allow me to interrupt this argument about Clyde Drexler (or something like that) to get back to Portal Season:

Because of the Dwain Osborne departure at Charleston, three VERY hot commodities have hit the portal--Tyler Eberhart, Tay Wilson, & Dairius Barker. There should be some coaches in the Region on the phone right now. Eberhart is a must-get, and Wilson & Barker can certainly help.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Allow me to interrupt this argument about Clyde Drexler (or something like that) to get back to Portal Season:

Because of the Dwain Osborne departure at Charleston, three VERY hot commodities have hit the portal--Tyler Eberhart, Tay Wilson, & Dairius Barker. There should be some coaches in the Region on the phone right now. Eberhart is a must-get, and Wilson & Barker can certainly help.

Will they simply go to YSU ?

[Scrub]

Will they simply go to YSU ?

I'm not sure they're D1 material. (But then again, it's Youngstown). Certainly a possibility I suppose.

[CALUPA69]

What on Earth would make him want to go there?! I hope it wasn’t just for the chance to make the Big Dance just to get obliterated. Head scratcher.

Have to believe that's what the market offered. His try at UNH probably led anyone else to take a pass.

[bballfan03]

What on Earth would make him want to go there?! I hope it wasn’t just for the chance to make the Big Dance just to get obliterated. Head scratcher.

He obviously wanted the D1 label, like Omajafo, and probably only school he had a chance at playing/starting.

[boatcapt]

I'm not sure they're D1 material. (But then again, it's Youngstown). Certainly a possibility I suppose.

YSU has been on a nice run of 500+ finishes the last five seasons culminating with the last two years of 20+ wins. Not saying they are a D1 power but neither are they as bad as some remember from back in the day. Id say they are in the mushy middle of the D1 pack...Better than most DII's but not by a lot.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

YSU has been on a nice run of 500+ finishes the last five seasons culminating with the last two years of 20+ wins. Not saying they are a D1 power but neither are they as bad as some remember from back in the day. Id say they are in the mushy middle of the D1 pack...Better than most DII's but not by a lot.

Eberhart can definitely play there. I'm sure the other two could at least make the team and see what happens.

[Fightingscot82]

Edinboro guard Easton Fulmer has signed with D3 Chatham. They're a decent D3 team but I feel he could have been a great bench player at SRU or IUP. He's not very aggressive but he can shoot.

[IUPalum]

Edinboro guard Easton Fulmer has signed with D3 Chatham. They're a decent D3 team but I feel he could have been a great bench player at SRU or IUP. He's not very aggressive but he can shoot.

He's not aggressive, no thanks!

[Scrub]

Interestingly, Dante Spadafora's little brother Rocco (a JUCO transfer) just signed with Edinboro. Apparently didn't want to follow in big brother's footsteps at WLU. Interesting move.

[IUP24]

Interestingly, Dante Spadafora's little brother Rocco (a JUCO transfer) just signed with Edinboro. Apparently didn't want to follow in big brother's footsteps at WLU. Interesting move.

Wasn't there another sibling of a former West Liberty player that also recently went elsewhere and was probably good enough to play there? Or am I thinking of someone completely different at a different school?

[Scrub]

Wasn't there another sibling of a former West Liberty player that also recently went elsewhere and was probably good enough to play there? Or am I thinking of someone completely different at a different school?

Yup. Bryce Butler's brother went somewhere down south (Anderson maybe?) and has now transferred to Coker (with Mike Lamberti) for his Sophomore year.

[Scrub]

Just looked it up: Landon Butler started at Motevallo before transferring to Coker. Turned down an offer at WLU before heading South.