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Blake Smith scholarship

Yes, they actually do. Collins has hit on a bunch of them in the last few years and the best ones - Barnhizer and Martinelli - will be joined by Ciaravino next fall plus Barkley will be a RS Frosh. They will be joined by a recovered Berry, Clayton, Strauss and Windham. That said, NU still needs a veteran point guard and a big body to play forward / center.

I get it - it'd be awesome to reward him but also, let's be honest ... he's played 116 minutes in 8 games total. You don't give him a ride over a transfer who could put you back in the tourney and if you do... you will likely not be employed as a head coach for a long time.

As every year has shown us since the portal opened, its an adventure.

NU should expect its top four - Barnhizer, Berry, Martinelli and Nicholson back. After those four, who comes back and in what role will be up to the magic of the portal ... No one expected Roper to leave but I am sure when Langborg became an option, Roper decided that the grass was gonna be greener in South Bend (not sure how that turned out for him as he would be starting for NU now and would have played major minutes).
This is how I feel too. We have so many guys on the roster next year that play that revolving wing position. Smith was good compared to expectations, but let's not pretend like he was leading us to victories. He was a body who didn't screw up too badly when he got in there. But, he is a replaceable body on next year's roster (assuming no transfers). We don't have a reliable PG and we lack depth at the 5. Those are much higher priorities for the remaining scholarships.
 
Yes, they actually do. Collins has hit on a bunch of them in the last few years and the best ones - Barnhizer and Martinelli - will be joined by Ciaravino next fall plus Barkley will be a RS Frosh. They will be joined by a recovered Berry, Clayton, Strauss and Windham. That said, NU still needs a veteran point guard and a big body to play forward / center.

I get it - it'd be awesome to reward him but also, let's be honest ... he's played 116 minutes in 8 games total. You don't give him a ride over a transfer who could put you back in the tourney and if you do... you will likely not be employed as a head coach for a long time.

As every year has shown us since the portal opened, its an adventure.

NU should expect its top four - Barnhizer, Berry, Martinelli and Nicholson back. After those four, who comes back and in what role will be up to the magic of the portal ... No one expected Roper to leave but I am sure when Langborg became an option, Roper decided that the grass was gonna be greener in South Bend (not sure how that turned out for him as he would be starting for NU now and would have played major minutes).
I want to provide a full reply to you, but first: how the hell did @DaCat steal my post?
 
Yes, they actually do. Collins has hit on a bunch of them in the last few years and the best ones - Barnhizer and Martinelli - will be joined by Ciaravino next fall plus Barkley will be a RS Frosh. They will be joined by a recovered Berry, Clayton, Strauss and Windham. That said, NU still needs a veteran point guard and a big body to play forward / center.

I get it - it'd be awesome to reward him but also, let's be honest ... he's played 116 minutes in 8 games total. You don't give him a ride over a transfer who could put you back in the tourney and if you do... you will likely not be employed as a head coach for a long time.

As every year has shown us since the portal opened, its an adventure.

NU should expect its top four - Barnhizer, Berry, Martinelli and Nicholson back. After those four, who comes back and in what role will be up to the magic of the portal ... No one expected Roper to leave but I am sure when Langborg became an option, Roper decided that the grass was gonna be greener in South Bend (not sure how that turned out for him as he would be starting for NU now and would have played major minutes).

Finally…someone gets it!
 
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