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Strauss

Perhaps explains why he didn’t step up during the injuries. There you go - schollie for Smith while still allowing a Big and a PG. Strauss wasn’t part of any discussion on this board so no need work about a replacement.
 
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Can’t miss what we never knew and his class wasn’t highly regarded. For those banging the drum that Gagg screwed CcC with that class as evidence, let’s see who that schollie turns into and compare to whatever Strauss becomes. Could turn out we needed placeholders more than projects.
 
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Can’t miss what we never knew and his class wasn’t highly regarded. For those banging the drum that Gagg screwed CcC with that class as evidence, let’s see who that schollie turns into and compare to whatever Strauss becomes. Could turn out we needed placeholders more than projects.
I believe what you described is the most likely future scenario. But also believe that does not make Gragg's statement the right thing to do. The what if is the scenario we will never know. It's possible we missed out on the next Buie. Or the next Kopp for that matter.
 
I wish him well, but I didn't get attached to him. Hopefully this opens things up considerably as to which players from the portal we can bring in. Now NU can definitely bring in at least two and possibly even three players. Let's get some good ones!
 
I believe what you described is the most likely future scenario. But also believe that does not make Gragg's statement the right thing to do. The what if is the scenario we will never know. It's possible we missed out on the next Buie. Or the next Kopp for that matter.
That’s been said. Problem is, even without Gagg statement, the team had sucked for a few years, didn’t look good moving forward and everybody knew ccc was on the hot seat, as he should have been. So no new Boo was tying his rope to that post.

Sure, an unheralded recruit may have come in and become the next boo. Who’s to say Strauss wasn’t that guy? But there was not one even average recruit connected to the program before Gagg’s statement.
 
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Not convinced transfers are done. Until portal closes or two key players make a public commitment, I’m holding my breath and saying a little prayer every day.
 
Life in the portal is tough for redshirt freshmen because they have no tape (the staff will make a practice tape because it's better than nothing) are in the back of the line, but with his previous offers and covid years coming off the board, something good should happen.
 
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Blake Smith did really well in his role, but his burning the redshirt was an indictment of a lot of scholarship players on the roster.
 
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Life in the portal is tough for redshirt freshmen because they have no tape (the staff will make a practice tape because it's better than nothing) are in the back of the line, but with his previous offers and covid years coming off the board, something good should happen.
had offers from New Mexico and Colorado State, so NU wasn't just out there on its own.
Was rated about equal to Jordan Clayton coming in.
 
Blake Smith did really well in his role, but his burning the redshirt was an indictment of a lot of scholarship players on the roster.
Yep, that's how I felt about our freshman class too. You don't worry about redshirts if you have a chance to win now. They didn't play not because we were saving them.
 
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Perhaps explains why he didn’t step up during the injuries. There you go - schollie for Smith while still allowing a Big and a PG. Strauss wasn’t part of any discussion on this board so no need work about a replacement.
Collins would be crazy to give the schollie to Smith. He needs to get 3 bonafide B1G players
 
Guarding Jahmir Young at a high level at the Xfinity Center (like 2 weeks after burning your red shirt) doesnt make you a bonafide B1G Player?
We all have eyeballs. We all saw Blake Smith play. While he made the absolute most of out of his time on the court and did play fine enough (or better) defense, he was playing out of desperation and wouldn't have sniffed the court if not for injuries.

He's at NU on his own accord anyways and I'd assume wasn't expecting an athletic scholarship, so give it to the absolute best talent possible. That said, if there aren't any takers for it, then sure, give it to him
 
His defense was great, already making him a plus to have on the roster going forward. This is definitely a guy you want to have as an option in certain matchups. 2 more years of eligibility, program guy, we still have room for 2 more transfers. He is limited as a spacer but all we really need is him to be reliable as a corner 3 shooter. He is already a very good cutter and not awful as a slasher.

Plus, our culture is not about disrespecting a dude that was a starter in tournament games. And it is not like we can assume all 3 transfers would be at langborg level, would be awesome if we can get one.
 
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We all have eyeballs. We all saw Blake Smith play. While he made the absolute most of out of his time on the court and did play fine enough (or better) defense, he was playing out of desperation and wouldn't have sniffed the court if not for injuries.

He's at NU on his own accord anyways and I'd assume wasn't expecting an athletic scholarship, so give it to the absolute best talent possible. That said, if there aren't any takers for it, then sure, give it to him
Doesn’t mean He can’t take advantage of the rise in his stock and transfer out for a ride somewhere.

He’s a known quantity.
 
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We all have eyeballs. We all saw Blake Smith play. While he made the absolute most of out of his time on the court and did play fine enough (or better) defense, he was playing out of desperation and wouldn't have sniffed the court if not for injuries.

He's at NU on his own accord anyways and I'd assume wasn't expecting an athletic scholarship, so give it to the absolute best talent possible. That said, if there aren't any takers for it, then sure, give it to him

We once played Dererk Pardon out of desperation and he put up a 20-20 or close at Nebraska. What's clear is Smith can rebound and defend and that he should probably be the seventh or eighth guy on our team -- which is scholarship worthy.
 
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We once played Dererk Pardon out of desperation and he put up a 20-20 or close at Nebraska. What's clear is Smith can rebound and defend and that he should probably be the seventh or eighth guy on our team -- which is scholarship worthy.
People love Sanjay on this board and for most of his career all he did was defend and rebound. And he was on scholarship for 5 years. Collins wanted to redshirt Smith, which is very unusual for a walk-on. He knows better than any of us what his upside is offensively. I certainly won’t be upset if he gives him a scholarship.
 
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We once played Dererk Pardon out of desperation and he put up a 20-20 or close at Nebraska. What's clear is Smith can rebound and defend and that he should probably be the seventh or eighth guy on our team -- which is scholarship worthy.
Smith was a neat little story in our time of desperation (which again, doesn't bode well for our freshman class that we needed him so much), but he was extremely limited offensively. He either needs to make some serious strides this summer on his ball handling and shooting or we fail to find guys in the portal that can step in for me to agree that he should get a scholarship.

Also, the idea that you could give NIL money to someone who isn't even on scholarship raises a huge red flag for corruption and roster stacking.
 
Smith was a neat little story in our time of desperation (which again, doesn't bode well for our freshman class that we needed him so much), but he was extremely limited offensively. He either needs to make some serious strides this summer on his ball handling and shooting or we fail to find guys in the portal that can step in for me to agree that he should get a scholarship.

Also, the idea that you could give NIL money to someone who isn't even on scholarship raises a huge red flag for corruption and roster stacking.
Who was the better first year player - smith or Clayton?
 
Who was the better first year player - smith or Clayton?
I really don't know the answer. Smith played more down the stretch, but they played different positions. They didn't need Clayton as much because Boo played 39 minutes a game. Smith was the only sub for our 3 wing guys.
 
I really don't know the answer. Smith played more down the stretch, but they played different positions. They didn't need Clayton as much because Boo played 39 minutes a game. Smith was the only sub for our 3 wing guys.
Boo played 39 because he had too, a reflection on scholarship player Clayton
 
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Smith was a neat little story in our time of desperation (which again, doesn't bode well for our freshman class that we needed him so much), but he was extremely limited offensively. He either needs to make some serious strides this summer on his ball handling and shooting or we fail to find guys in the portal that can step in for me to agree that he should get a scholarship.

Also, the idea that you could give NIL money to someone who isn't even on scholarship raises a huge red flag for corruption a1 nd roster stacking.
LOL! Corruption? You mean like paying a guy $1 million to transfer to your team?
 
Smith and Mullins were both better than Clayton.
After Berry got injured, here's what NU got out of the 3 players.

PlayerMinutesNU PtsOpp PtsRaw +/-Player +/-Overall +/-
Smith150266246+20-3.97+0.03
Mullins75129116+13-5.13-2.53
Clayton488288-6-14.70-15.90

NU was only +26 (756-730) in those 11 games (ignoring garbage time)
This is a strong indication that our overall level of play did not drop when Smith was on the court.
However, Clayton's impact was clear (and negative).

Hope that helps.
 
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To be fair to Clayton, I would argue that playing the point is a far greater adjustment from high school than Smith filling in on the wing. Frankly, in this day of the portal, I'm not sure why anyone would want to redshirt players. Develop, schmelop, throw them in there and see if they can play. And if they can't, they'll transfer to somewhere else...
 
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Smith and Mullins were both better than Clayton.
After Berry got injured, here's what NU got out of the 3 players.

PlayerMinutesNU PtsOpp PtsRaw +/-Player +/-Overall +/-
Smith150266246+20-3.97+0.03
Mullins75129116+13-5.13-2.53
Clayton488288-6-14.70-15.90

NU was only +26 (756-730) in those 11 games (ignoring garbage time)
This is a strong indication that our overall level of play did not drop when Smith was on the court.
However, Clayton's impact was clear (and negative).

Hope that helps.
Point being that no one is complaining that Clayton and Mullins have schollies. Also that Smith will be viewed better than both in the portal and we know Mullins got a schollie when he transferred.

So my point is that we may land another Langborg or another Mullins. Could get a VH or an Audige. No real way to know how the transfer will translate in B1G play. Smith is a known factor.

If Smith were to leave and we landed another Mullins, I, among others, would rightly complain this is a bad mark on the CCC record as he let talent escape so he could buy a lottery ticket.
 
Also, the idea that you could give NIL money to someone who isn't even on scholarship raises a huge red flag for corruption and roster stacking.
Rumors abound that the big boys are already doing this big time in the grad transfer space, potentially including Priebe. No schollie but NIL money to cover tuition after taxes on top of the regular NIL salary.
 
Smith just completed his sophomore season and will be a junior. There were open scholarships the last two years and he could have picked up one..

Mullins is the most athletic and has a high ceiling, really need to work with him in the spring

I thought people said the best player should be in the floor. Clayton would have to play other spots to get in the floor Take Boo off the floor and NU would avg 40 pts a game on offense.
 
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