Big Matt either redshirting or leaving? That’s an awful lot of centers and they are all starting caliber IMO.
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Preston is leaving. That’s who they need to replace.
If you want to elevate beyond 8-9 seeds you have to go after high-quality players when they’re available, and a PG and depth at the 4/5 is what we need. And perhaps there’s some concern Matt’s injury will eat into next season and/or limit his minutes.
None of those three guys are coming without starting. That’s my point. I get the depth part but this seems more than just depth.
Tarris Reed would start for us even if Matt comes back. I don’t think he would transfer to come off the bench. He’s not an explosive athlete but he can score with his back to the basket, is a good rebounder and does a decent job protecting the rim. He would be a great pickup. Guessing we won’t pay enough.
Reed for sure would be going somewhere to start. Ajogbor played 23 minutes a game in the Ivy and Nwoko didn’t play much for Miami so they would be much more reasonable as options to share minutes.
Reed is definitely a starter wherever he ends up, but the other two big men (Ajogbor and Nwoko) are more in line with Verhoeven and Preston in providing depth. Ajogbor (who I think we offered out of high school) has been pretty average at Harvard and Nwoko barely played at Miami.
Interesting that we offered Perkins from Iowa. He'd be a fantastic addition but that seems like a total longshot based on that offer list.
Interesting that we offered Perkins from Iowa. He'd be a fantastic addition but that seems like a total longshot based on that offer list.
Ajogbor will be a senior, Reed a junior and a Nwoko a sophomore, so more upside with Reed and Nwoko. Ajogbor would fit right in at the free throw line with our recent centers.
To be fair, coming to NU’s roster to finish his career is a pretty plum situation for a Perkins from a roster opportunity standpoint. You have a roster full of very good wings to distribute to and plenty of Buie shots and usage that needs to be taken up that you can gobble up most of. A guy like Perkins can come into a great situation and star in a league he already knows he can do well in.
The issue is really the money and prestige factor.
Grad student Jimerson from St Louis is a big guard and excellent shooter who could step into the Langborg role quite nicely.
That SLU team struggled this season after 2 good ones (20+ wins), so Jimerson's numbers dropped a bit this year. But he is a career 39.5% from 3.
Contacting to check interest does not mean we are taking more than one big man.
Northwestern needs to aim high with these transfers. The program is more attractive than it’s ever been.
And if there were ever a time for Collins to get some admissions leeway… alumni turnout in Brooklyn was quite impressive IMO.
My son attends SLU and I watched as many of their games as I could for 3 seasons.
Jimerson has a very quick release and shoots it well from outside when he is open.
Somewhat streaky, but was often the guy the other team focused on stopping.
Works hard to get open looks.
Significant defensive liability. For a guy his size (6'5", 210) he is a finesse player.
If he played for NU it would be as a shooter, something like the role Nate Taphorn played.
I'd be pretty shocked if Perkins fits NU academically.
But I am wondering why you say we have "a roster full of very good wings."
Martinelli is really a power forward / small forward.
Barnhizer is the prototype small forward - does a little of everything.
Hunger is a power forward / center.
Ty Berry is a classic shooting guard.
To me, wings are 6'6" 190 lbs athletes who can get to the basket. To me, Blake Smith and Justin Mullins are wings... so is Casey Simmons for that matter. Is Terrence Shannon a wing? More athlete than shooter?
People use that term "wing" in many ways - who would you describe as the "wings" on the NU roster?
Just wondering.
Wing, as I understand the term, is anyone who is not a point guard and does not play the low post. Collins does not really recruit or play to the old-fashioned SG, SF, PF position distinction.
Personally I don't give much relevance to terms like wings, lead guard or even combo guard. I can have my understanding but it feels like different people have different ideas of what they represent. I saw Berry listed as a combo guard when he came in. He's a liability handling the ball, we saw Barnhizer and Langborg as a second alternative before we saw the ball being dribbled up the court by Berry.
Anyway, this is the glaring oversight on this board that I do not understand. We are convinced that we are fine 2-4. Bench is Smith, Mullins, Barkley. Does anyone feel good about that?
I'd love to see us going after a profile like Joshua Jefferson, from Saint Mary's. Hit the portal last night. I saw 2 games of SM. But have zero recollection of who he was. I am talking about that kind of profile, not necessarily him.
Jefferson is a 6'8 sophomore, listed as a forward. Averaged 10.2/6.5 on a very good team. That's the profile that can allow Barnhizer to play 3 more often.
Allow for a double digit or close to double digit threat coming off the bench (himself or Martineli). We know how potent we are when Martineli plays 25+ minutes off the bench. Comes in, kind of forgotten and, when you look at the numbers he's averaging double digits.
Jefferson is an interesting guy. 2 years left, went from not starting and 2 pts/game to starting and double digits. Also played on a HS team that won its first state championship by beating Bishop Gorman. He could understand the "building and sustaining a program" story that is still a work in progress at NU.
My understanding is that a wing is a forward who has some length and can work outside and get inside, but it’s not a primary ball handler.
In B1G portal news:
- Patrick Mcaffery is going for a 6th year in college away from daddy
- Payne, from MN, is rumored to be unhappy he did not start at the beginning of the season and did not get the ball enough. He is looking to join the enormous amount of high major teams who want to run a low post offense through a 50% FT shooter with a bad back
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Huge blow to the Gophs, who were maybe building something. Payne has a lot of talent.
They just lost Carrington too, who has a local perimeter sophomore rotation guy. Less fan big blow, but gopher fans are delightfully upset about it because he’s a MB kid.
They just lost Carrington too, who has a local perimeter sophomore rotation guy. Less fan big blow, but gopher fans are delightfully upset about it because he’s a MB kid.
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Pass on Payne and carrongton?? But what will really get me interested is if cam Christie enters portal and wants to play closer to home. He'd be perfect for nu
OMG, AJ Storr to the portal. I assumed he was going to the NBA. That guy is going to make a boatload of money.
I tuned in a few times to catch VT because of RB. I found Pedulla to have annoyingly poor shot selection. But sample was small for sure.
18/19 - Kankakee HS
19/20 - Bishop Gorman HS
20/21 - AZ Compass Prep
21/22 - IMG Academy
22/23 - St. John's University
23/24 - University of Wisconsin
24 - Portal and testing draft waters
Shades of “you f*cking suck, Johnnie”?
(We can laugh about it now, right?)
Storr has largely worked out, unless you wanted year 2.
I'd prefer Rollie Bester, but that's just me.
Worster -> Worcester
Worcester -> Holly Cross
Holly Cross -> Bill Carmody
Bill Carmody -> Northwestern
I guess what I am saying is that this is basically our player.
You have to take talent when you get an opportunity. We have a spot open for a Big and you grab the best available. But Bigs tend to tire more quickly and need the backup. The one this generally hurts more is probably Hunger unless he gets minutes at the 4
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