The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

[Augieholic]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Rumor on SDSU message board has A.J. Plitzuweit considering transferring. If true, it would be devastating news, to say the least.

Has anyone else heard anything about this? I wonder where he would go?

Not sure what more he wants. Billeter pretty much let him run the show however he wanted whenever he was on the court.

Good for AJ pursuing his D1 dreams. If he ends up anywhere besides Vermhole with that Chad Walthall looking dirt bag Todd Lee I'll be shocked.

Absolutely cataclysmic news for Augie fans as the potential dynasty we all invested in this winter has failed to launch. When you fly higher and higher and get too close to the sun sometimes you get burned. Texas Tom and crew have had great success recruiting in spring times of years past, hopefully they strike gold again.

I expected Augie to fully board the transfer merry go round at the D1 level but was hoping it would wait until this loveable core was gone. Above all else this flipping blows.

[NSU4LIFE]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Good for AJ pursuing his D1 dreams. If he ends up anywhere besides Vermhole with that Chad Walthall looking dirt bag Todd Lee I'll be shocked.

Absolutely cataclysmic news for Augie fans as the potential dynasty we all invested in this winter has failed to launch. When you fly higher and higher and get too close to the sun sometimes you get burned. Texas Tom and crew have had great success recruiting in spring times of years past, hopefully they strike gold again.

I expected Augie to fully board the transfer merry go round at the D1 level but was hoping it would wait until this loveable core was gone. Above all else this flipping blows.

I won't buy any of it until anything is officially official. I'll remain optimistic for you.

[Blue Ridge Viking]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

I won't buy any of it until anything is officially official. I'll remain optimistic for you.

Did a little Twitter sleuthing. On A.J.'s account, the two most recent additions under Followers and Following are the head coach and assistant head coach at Missouri Southern State University. Would seem an odd destination, but you never know. FWIW.

[NSU4LIFE]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Did a little Twitter sleuthing. On A.J.'s account, the two most recent additions under Followers and Following are the head coach and assistant head coach at Missouri Southern State University. Would seem an odd destination, but you never know. FWIW.

That just tells me that D1 is a foregone conclusion and coming fast and also not appealing to him.

[Augieholic]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Did a little Twitter sleuthing. On A.J.'s account, the two most recent additions under Followers and Following are the head coach and assistant head coach at Missouri Southern State University. Would seem an odd destination, but you never know. FWIW.

That just tells me that D1 is a foregone conclusion and coming fast and also not appealing to him.

Hes not leaving Augie to go to another D2 school.

[MrAugustana]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Rumor on SDSU message board has A.J. Plitzuweit considering transferring. If true, it would be devastating news, to say the least.

Has anyone else heard anything about this? I wonder where he would go?

Not sure what more he wants. Billeter pretty much let him run the show however he wanted whenever he was on the court.

To quote myself from a couple of weeks ago:

As a fan of a team that consistently gets a decent number of recruits who received D1 interest and offers coming out of high school (most recently AJ Plitzuweit and Trevor Hanson, both of whom had D1 offers from some of the local low-/mid-majors), this is disappointing and discouraging news. Bums me out to see D2 treated as a feeder system, whether it's Nuni Omot going the D2-to-JUCO-to-D1 route a few years ago or this Koster kid going straight up to D1. Really hoping the Vikes don't have to deal with these transfer situations with the group we have.

Obviously this is dismaying news if it's accurate. Several of the freshmen on this year's Vikings squads shined at different times this season, but Plitzuweit was the key piece for that class (obviously, since he earned Freshman of the Year last season) and seemed primed to have a fantastic career running the show for the Vikes.

If he's really gone, a transfer will be really important, but it will be hard to replace a player as solid as Plitzuweit (particularly with him having a year in Augie's system already under his belt). I trust the coaches to find a good replacement for him over the summer, but I'd rather have Pliztuweit than some guy coming off the bench at a low-major D1 like a Summit League school or something. Now if we're getting another Corey Macintosh or something, that's a different story.

If he does end up at USD (which I would imagine has to be pretty high up on the list of options for him), then that's just laughable of that new coach down there, particularly for how much their fan base likes to mock the idea of Augie going Division 1. Building a Summit League program off of poached D2 kids is an interesting strategy, to say the least. And I would definitely look forward to playing them if the Vikes do go D1 soon enough to go head-to-head against that group.

If the potential D1 move is truly the impetus for this decision, it'll be interesting to see if the Vikes even make that jump before Plitzuweit would've graduated.

[Moorhead123]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

To quote myself from a couple of weeks ago:



Obviously this is dismaying news if it's accurate. Several of the freshmen on this year's Vikings squads shined at different times this season, but Plitzuweit was the key piece for that class (obviously, since he earned Freshman of the Year last season) and seemed primed to have a fantastic career running the show for the Vikes.

If he's really gone, a transfer will be really important, but it will be hard to replace a player as solid as Plitzuweit (particularly with him having a year in Augie's system already under his belt). I trust the coaches to find a good replacement for him over the summer, but I'd rather have Pliztuweit than some guy coming off the bench at a low-major D1 like a Summit League school or something. Now if we're getting another Corey Macintosh or something, that's a different story.

If he does end up at USD (which I would imagine has to be pretty high up on the list of options for him), then that's just laughable of that new coach down there, particularly for how much their fan base likes to mock the idea of Augie going Division 1. Building a Summit League program off of poached D2 kids is an interesting strategy, to say the least. And I would definitely look forward to playing them if the Vikes do go D1 soon enough to go head-to-head against that group.

If the potential D1 move is truly the impetus for this decision, it'll be interesting to see if the Vikes even make that jump before Plitzuweit would've graduated.

Always a tough choice for these kids that are mid-major type d1 players. A lot of really good d1 players transferring to d2 teams every year, or sitting on bench more than they want at d1 level. Plitzuweit is very good player...if he leaves I hope it works out for him as he would be leaving what appears to be good situation at Augustana.

[laker]

[laker]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Even Cody Schilling is not in favor of this!

[Augie Boy]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Just watched a St. John's/ Syracuse game from the 90's on ESPN U (probably because of the Felipe Lopez 30 for 30 that premiers tonight). Got to see a young Texas Tom on the sidelines.

[Blue Ridge Viking]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

My gut tells me A.J.'s gone. Most recent follower on his Twitter account is assistant coach at USD.

Guess we need to view him as our version of a one-and-done. Appreciate what he did for Augie while he was here and wish him the best.

Now all Billeter needs to do is go out and get a true point guard.

[MrAugustana]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

My gut tells me A.J.'s gone. Most recent follower on his Twitter account is assistant coach at USD.

Guess we need to view him as our version of a one-and-done. Appreciate what he did for Augie while he was here and wish him the best.

Now all Billeter needs to do is go out and get a true point guard.

Excited to come home! Go Yotes pic.twitter.com/aIN5Liyw14

— AJ Plitzuweit (@ajplitz_21) May 2, 2019

I've always hated USD (more than SDSU or any NSIC schools) because they were our biggest rival during my time at Augie. Now it just gives me more reason to dislike them. And hope that we get a chance to play them at the D1 level before too long.

[Augieholic]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Of all the days during my battle with Augieholism this is one of the darkest. Even though it's been rumored since AJ committed to Augie the reality of it stings harshly. This is right up there with the loss to SCSU in the 2010 Regional Final and NWMo in the 2015 Regional semifinal. An absolute gut shot for a potential NSIC, Regional, and National contender next season.

[Moorhead123]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

Of all the days during my battle with Augieholism this is one of the darkest. Even though it's been rumored since AJ committed to Augie the reality of it stings harshly. This is right up there with the loss to SCSU in the 2010 Regional Final and NWMo in the 2015 Regional semifinal. An absolute gut shot for a potential NSIC, Regional, and National contender next season.

Ouch!

[vikingfaithful]

Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

A painful loss for sure, not just because of his BB skills as he is a quality young man as well. Generally when one door closes another opens, Augustana has a great group returning and highly touted recruits coming in. Maybe a surprise transfer coming AU way.