No info. Just starting the topic since it will be at hand in a couple of weeks. Coach Powell keeps harping on bringing in guys who are a bit more seasoned which will be welcome. My question is how many spots will be open unless some guys are simply not asked to return.
A minimum of three scholarship spots. Palm, Anthony and Barrett. I would think that with the addition of a first rate point guard in Justus McNair, that perhaps either Witherspoon or Williamson might enter the portal. Manyang remains a puzzle. Can he get healthy or is he potentially gone?
I could see Witherspoon leaving, but Williamson seems to have really bonded with VU. I also see Ola and Edwards staying because they would have to sit out a year if they transfer.
Powell has had some thinly veiled criticism of Edwards in particular over the last month or so that make me feel he may be a candidate to be encouraged to find a spot elsewhere. That is also a position which Powell has said he needs to upgrade. Ola is probably in the same boat. He was mentioned in a recent PC as a guy he's looking to have "step up".
Powells major test is going to be if he can secure Jack Smiley from VHS in 25. Bringing another hometown hero into the mix will fire up the town enough to care about the team again. And more money on tickets and concessions means more money goes back into the program. If Powell can secure Smiley, he will have done what he was hired to do recruit and get connections with the region. (We have had reps. Or powell personally at every Valpo High game this year to watch this kid)
Even Powell has said that he was brought in way too late to really get some of the players that would have been in the transfer portal. Part of that is due to how long VU waited to let Lottich go, plus waiting on Gonzaga's season to end, so they wouldn't look like they were colluding in getting Roger to Valpo. We do have some major projects, but Roger can only do so much to challenge kids that for the most part were probably NEVER challenged in high school. We shall see what happens, but we have two scholarships available in the current recruiting plan.
Nice beard, Swim 😉 Mine is a lot grayer 🥺
Betcha that Roger has (of course, within the rules) already lined up some xfer targets (like big guys who entered the portal last year and withdrew - but may not have received the playing time they thought they’d get???). Thing is, Roger has worked under Bryce and Mark Few and he’s got to have picked up a few tricks.
You pair his personality and drive with those tricks and he is bound to score us some great additions.
@vulb62 Scott himself was a master recruit. According to Paul Oren, he was the one who coined the idea of getting recruits from Europe because "Europeans didn't know the difference between Duke and Valpo." Now everyone is recruiting from out of the country and people know what the difference is, but Scott is still a master at recruitment. Just look at the success of Baylor
@rezynezy, this was definitely true. I remember speaking with Raitis Grafs and Antti Nikkila on why they came to NW Indiana, and they pretty much said this verbatim. To them, Valpo was just in the NCAA tournament a few times, so it was 'just like Duke'
