If I wanted to see one stay out of Edwards, Weatherspoon, and Jahari, it would've been Jahari. He was also one of our better 3pt shooters. That being said, he was a Lottich recruit.
As far as Tyler Schmidt goes, great numbers, great shooting %. We know how that goes even in the transition from D2-D1, let alone D3-D1. That is a HUGE jump, so this is the biggest "prove-it" recruit yet for us in my opinion.
Intriguing C in the portal: http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/4700533/carlton-linguard-jr
I still really believe we need a true center for our roster ...
Is Schmidt a walk-on? As for the three shooters mentioned, Jahari is the best.
My guess is that Jahari was told that he would be taking a backseat to Darius and Justus at PG, and SG is pretty much locked down between Stafford, Schmidt, and Ellis, so there was no more room for Jahari to play immediately, as he did last season. Is Schmidt the son of Casey Schmidt? If so, another good local connection to bring out the fans.
@valpotx Tyler not a relation of Casey. As far as backing up the 2 and 3 spot, Sherm Weatherspoon has put in a solid month and appears to be the guy as of right now. Isaiah and Isaiah are the definite favorites at those two positions. Ellis closer to a 4 than a 2. Still a lot of potential moves, with potential portal guys, but that's where we're at right now.
With some hesitancy because of the level jump, Schmidt looks like a very good get.
Even if Schmidt turns out to be too slow for the D-1 level, if he ends up like a Will Bogan option for Valpo, where he camps and moves around the 3 point line, waiting for a kick-out, it is a great option to have someone that can shoot 40%+ from 3 in those scenarios. He doesn't need to be the super athletic guy for us, but can fill this much-needed kick-out option role.
Williamson leaving is no biggie.
As for our inability to get a big from the portal, Evansville just did. Connor Turnbull, 6'10" 215# just committed. He was at Butler before and coming out of high school had offers from Missouri and others.
I was under the impression that 6 10 was not "big" of so we have a 6 10 big already
Just missed out on Turnbull. Evansville had the built in advantage - David Ragland was the assistant that recruited him to Butler. Keep the faith, Valpo still in the mix on several very good players.
UIC received a commitment from 6'9" 240# C Sasa Ciani from Xavier, as well. Averaged 2.5 ppg and 2.9 rpg.
@valpotx Tyler not a relation of Casey. As far as backing up the 2 and 3 spot, Sherm Weatherspoon has put in a solid month and appears to be the guy as of right now. Isaiah and Isaiah are the definite favorites at those two positions. Ellis closer to a 4 than a 2. Still a lot of potential moves, with potential portal guys, but that's where we're at right now.
I have seen Ellis as more of a wing player/3rd guard type in place of Edwards.
Has anyone heard what happened to the big center form Wisconsin?
If you're referred to Gus Yalden...he' still out there.