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B1G Portal

Chucky Hepburn to the portal
A friend of mine played golf with Wisconsin coach Greg Gard a year ago during the summer. Just randomly paired up. My friend asked Gard how he thought NIL and the transfer portal would affect the game. Three holes later, Gard had finished ranting.

Focus of Gard's 45 minute tirade - "It will destroy the college game" and "My whole team can be gone overnight."
Expressed to a stranger on a golf course.

I think he was correct on both points.
 
Maybe Gard should get a personality and he might keep most of them.
I intuited that that was a clever snark (and it was) - but you're tapping into a deep truth there: The ability to foster a strong culture is going to be a key skill to succeed in the portal era. It doesn't mean you have to have 100% retention, but just make sure you're keeping the folks you want to keep. For example, Brooks Barnhizer would have his choice of programs should he step into the portal. However, he's here. (Yeah he declared for the draft, but I see that as an exercise, not as his final destination this summer.).

This is also a benefit of the documentary pieces that Studio N does, as well as doing the NCAA March Madness TV short series - it's evident that the team vibe is strong, and that the players are empowered. The Boo Buie/Chris Collins storytelling during the tournament was so powerful - they both talked about how much they were committed and invested in each other. This has got to be compelling for future recruits/transfers.
 
Do we want Chucky even if (or even if not) we pick up a Jalen or two? He was one of my favorite non-NU players in the Big Ten this year.
 
I intuited that that was a clever snark (and it was) - but you're tapping into a deep truth there: The ability to foster a strong culture is going to be a key skill to succeed in the portal era. It doesn't mean you have to have 100% retention, but just make sure you're keeping the folks you want to keep. For example, Brooks Barnhizer would have his choice of programs should he step into the portal. However, he's here. (Yeah he declared for the draft, but I see that as an exercise, not as his final destination this summer.).

This is also a benefit of the documentary pieces that Studio N does, as well as doing the NCAA March Madness TV short series - it's evident that the team vibe is strong, and that the players are empowered. The Boo Buie/Chris Collins storytelling during the tournament was so powerful - they both talked about how much they were committed and invested in each other. This has got to be compelling for future recruits/transfers.
Culture matters.
 
Do we want Chucky even if (or even if not) we pick up a Jalen or two? He was one of my favorite non-NU players in the Big Ten this year.
Unless you root for a team in Omaha, I wouldn’t worry about it.
 
Players in bold are latest updates. It's speeding up, since Friday there's 13 changes.

Bit panicky and, at the same time, just last week several really good players got in the portal.
Thanks very much for doing this. It really is striking to see it all laid out. NU and MSU losing one each — everybody else has at least three losses.

Everybody has a right to get their bag of cash — this might be the highest market value of their careers — but something will definitely be lost when you can’t hate a guy for four years. (Again, the NCAA really could have handled this a long time ago. Oh well. “lalalalalalastudentathletelalalalalala” 🙈🙉🙊)


Fingers crossed for a few Jalens and a big this week.
 
Players in bold are latest updates. It's speeding up, since Friday there's 13 changes.

Bit panicky and, at the same time, just last week several really good players got in the portal.
Thanks for continuing to update, Gato!

I always find the timing of moves interesting.

Ohio State had two centers, Felix Okpara and Zed Key backing him up. Not bad at that position.
Zed Key probably wanted to play more, so he entered the portal on 4/7.

On 4/8 John Calipari accepts the Arkansas job. Highly-regarded 7'1" Aaron Bradshaw from Kentucky enters the portal the same day.

Rookie OSU coach Jake Diebler decides to spend some of that Buckeye cash and bring Bradshaw in.
Bradshaw commits to Ohio State on 4/15.

Key commits to Dayton on 4/15.
Felix Okpara then decides to leave Ohio State, entering the portal on 4/21.
 
Pretty much. Young averaged about 11 minutes a game this year. Gillis will probably play about the same amount. We don’t have a roster spot for a someone like that, unfortunately.
He might not start but I don’t think they brought him in to wave a towel from the sideline, having a guy with a ton of experience who can make shots is big. Those 5-stars aren’t always ready to compete at the highest level right away. Dereck Lively’s playing 20 minutes a game on an NBA playoff team right now but couldn’t stay on the floor ahead of Ryan Young for decent stretches of his one season at Duke.
 
He might not start but I don’t think they brought him in to wave a towel from the sideline, having a guy with a ton of experience who can make shots is big. Those 5-stars aren’t always ready to compete at the highest level right away. Dereck Lively’s playing 20 minutes a game on an NBA playoff team right now but couldn’t stay on the floor ahead of Ryan Young for decent stretches of his one season at Duke.
I think as the 5 stars develop during the season, he may end up waiving a towel on the bench. In the tournament last year, Young played 4 minutes and 7 minutes. The same thing could happen to Gillis. I assume he knows that going in but is willing to do it because it’s Duke.
 
I think as the 5 stars develop during the season, he may end up waiving a towel on the bench. In the tournament last year, Young played 4 minutes and 7 minutes. The same thing could happen to Gillis. I assume he knows that going in but is willing to do it because it’s Duke.
And looking at Gillis’ stats, they are very Beranesque (6.5 point and 3.9 rebounds in a little over 20 minutes), with a much higher shooting percentage. Gillis averaged 0 blocks and .3 steals a game, so he better be doing a lot of the little things. He was playing with the most dominant player in college basketball, so he shot a lot of open 3’s and got to dump the ball into Edey for easy assists. And he still managed to put up 0 points against Connecticut and Tennessee in 40 minutes. Again, very Beranesque.
 


Things moving fast in Champaign - Luke Goode just entered the portal.
If the rumblings even before he made it official to the portal today are accurate, he’s Woody’s to lose. Hope IU gets him, but these things change quickly, like it seemed Essegian and Perkins were IU-bound too. His dad and 2 uncles (1 being Trent Gren) played football at IU. Wonder how Archie didn’t close that one?
 
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