Makes sense for Graves at LSU since he is a family 1st guy and IF he’s not first round NBA then it’s about the same money.
Glad Sash will be back but I agree he should be a primary 2 because he’s a volume shooter and let Longcor handle and pick his shots.
Jake will Be Jake and anchor this team.
I won’t miss Bukky. For all his monster catch dunks he was low energy and not a great bball IQ. We all saw it. Francis, Tadjo, Ensor, Badibanga are long, multi skilled and all have court sense.
I’m hoping Normand stays healthy and by league has the reps to be the scorer, energy guy he is touted for.
Maybe we land another Podziemski or Mahi type to add strength and firepower. Our smaller NIL is a limitation but we can still grab talented high major transfers with immediate impact.
Graves reportedly has a no contact tag. Same as Jake Hall who committed back to UNM. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s NBA or SCU for Graves. If the NBA tells him he has xyz to work on to be a top 10 pick, then I don’t think he would trust anyone more than the SCU staff to get him there.
I think there’s a lot to like about Francis. Although his rotational minutes were limited because he was behind Bukky and Graves, there were glimpses of a pretty deft passer from time to time. I think he received a good education of what being a D-1 post is all about in lessons from Bukky and Graves in practice (that they in turn learned from Cam and he learned from…). In limited playing time, Francis felt Ike’s presence as well as that of the SMC hackers. Being the man to start the year should fuel his hunger to announce himself with authority. And there’s a young gun coming up from behind that will want to push him to the side.
Mentioned on a long list for Dontrez Williams out of Lindenwood. He is a 6 foot 5 slasher. 19 dunks for a perimeter player is a lot…none of our guards had more than 2. High steal rate. Probably just scratching the surface on how good he can be which is why you see some big schools mentioned.
Lots of interesting stuff in your post. I have avoided posting as I don’t want anyone to ever think I was sharing inside information but since Brendan is not with the team on a daily basis anymore, I don’t mind sharing a few things I have heard:
Brendan competed against Bradley and Christian all the time during their redshirt years (he guarded them and they guarded him in scrimmages before, during, and after practice). Short story is he thinks Bradley is going to be really good and was really happy he is staying at Santa Clara.
I think Graves is either going in the first round (likely) or going to a Blue Blood program for much more money than Bukky. I don’t know for sure but I would not pick LSU. Graves would keep Brendan after practice to work on ball handling or other drills just about every practice and has a focus and awareness that shows he understands a bigger picture. I think there are other coaches/programs that he would be a better fit for than LSU.
For me, besides Graves, the most important person to bring back is Jake (and that is not a shot at Christian or Bukky). He is so important for so many reasons off and on the court - especially with a young team. He is an extremely loyal kid so that helps Santa Clara but they need to make sure he has a bigger role next year. Also, he has been a great friend to Brendan as he recovers from / adjusts to his seizures so I really just want him to do well.
I think Tadjo is going to be a monster and, while completely different physically than Bukky, he will lessen the loss.
Finally (and I am biased), I think Brendan and Malachi are going to have really productive 5th years playing at a lower level than Santa Clara and will be missed if they can’t find managers or grad assistants who can play at a high level and are willing to literally get beat up every day. Brendan had multiple concussions, sprained his knee badly at the end of his sophomore year, and then had his seizures his senior year. Malachi also had multiple injuries and both went hard in practice and took a pounding to help the team. They would stay late to help a teammate work on their game and came early to help teammates take endurance, lift, or rehab. Brendan once ran three sets of 800 repeats in 24 hours to give teammates someone to run with. It might not seem top of the list, but having guys like that around in July helps (and in January when injuries pile up).
Thanks again for a great discussion thread. I am a Notre Dame grad and I can only say that this is so much better than ND football boards.
Appreciate your insights, and also thank Brendan for his time at Santa Clara. Those guys on the end of the bench can be just as important as the guys on the court. I think we’ve built a great culture during Herb’s tenure (only from what I can see on the outside) and it’s credit to guys like Brendan.
Yes, no question the Broncos were truly blessed to have that kind of dedication and also experience from players that didn’t play a lot. In this revolving door era, that system familiarity (not just the on court stuff, but knowing how to manage your coaches, ins and outs of the school, etc) has to be even more important. I’m sure the coaching staff will miss them dearly.
Hopefully Brendan and Malachi have great years playing during grad school, and then maybe there will be a coaching staff opening (if that’s something either want to do for a career).
Since we’ve been mentioning players who have exhibited loyalty, I’d be remiss not to make sure that Brenton Knapper’s name isn’t part of this thread. He was five years a Bronco and a steady hand and leader through many games when the Broncos needed it.
While we are mostly kidding about retiring jerseys, I don’t think it’s a terrible idea to have some sort of special recognition in Leavey of 4+ year Broncos. I get that would feel silly for players from even just 5-7 years ago but man it’s a new world now.
USD landed former Gonzaga and GCU guard Dusty Stromer.
SMC landed Luke Fennel from Syracuse; he’s an Aussie so that pipeline continues.
LMU landed UCSB 6-8 wing Zion Sensely, double digit scorer and good rebounder. I believe several WCC schools pursued him out of high school.
Still a lot of notable WCC departures who haven’t committed elsewhere yet: Ryan Beasely, Fuchs and Mookie Cook from USF, Murauskas, Mikey Lewis and Dillan Shaw from SMC, Jalen Shelley and Rodney Brown from LMU, Brandon Maldonado from Seattle…just to name a few.
And IMO, even with Sash returning and Longcor, the Broncos could use a quick, athletic point guard to improve depth and onball D. Two WCCer’s of interest still available: GU’s Braeden Smith and Pepperdine’s Styles Phipps. Both more athletic than Sash and Longcor and wouldn’t necessarily cut in to their minutes, both Sash and Longcor are big enough to slide to the 2 and get minutes there.
For my part, I worry a bit about the Broncos’ heft. They’ll be tall as always under Sendek. But the only guys who are strong for their position look to be Tadjo and Cochran.
Every NCAA team is hunting centers with a suitcase full of cash, so I don’t think there’s much use in chasing there. But if Tadjo gets hurt, your backup PF/C is…Jake? Thierry? Badibanga? Jolin? All much more natural 3s and none capable of banging (which isn’t a comment on toughness–Jake guarding Saxen for long stretches two years ago is one of the most heroic Bronco efforts I can remember)
My distrust of true frosh bigs is as strong as ever, so Ensor just isn’t a realistic option in my mind.
I think they need a tough, built guy who’s at least 6’7" that can be a small ball PF/C in the mold of Tongue to ensure there are some options down low if either Francis or Chris is unavailable.
Do we know if Santa Clara js in on the Massamba Diop sweepstakes? Because its so quiet about who the Broncos are targeting I am inclined to think their shopping in the Juco pond for all of the pieces we’ve been discussing for affordable pieces with upside. There were alot of good pieces from Cal State East Bay who made a run to Cal Staye Monterey Bay and Dominguez Hills even.
I agree that Santa Clara is pretty quiet during this portal season but that is not atypical. It may be possible that the portal feeding frenzy and increase in agents asking for high $$, encourages a program like SCU to look elsewhere. My thought is Europe. We have had some good success with Italian, German, French players and they may come to the NCAA having played a little pro ball already.
Loved your post @Irish73 . I cheer cheer for old Notre Dame as well (my younger brother went there) and agree with your comparison about the ND football boards, although I do enjoy reading and sometimes posting on ndnation.
Agree Patty. By my count, we’re currently at 12 scholly players. After a true PG, ideally a quick and athletic one, another big with some mass/strength would be of value. Francisco Caffaro 2.0 would be great but I’d be fine w/ another Jacob Holt.
And while I agree with your apprehension re: freshmen bigs ability to contribute right away, I wouldn’t completely dismiss Ensor. He may be fine against smaller or less physical bigs. Or Tadjo is mobile and athletic enough to play the 4, so pair him w/ Ensor so you have at least one physical big and set your defensive matchups accordingly.
Looking at the roster to date, the biggest question mark is scoring. I don’t think Tadjo/Chuk will be able to replicate the combined scoring of nearly 20pts/game from Graves and Bukky at the 5 spot. Other positions are going to need to pick up the slack, particularly from the wing. Between Cochran, Normand, Darlan, Jolin and Badibanga, we need at least 2 of them to step up and be double digit scorers plus solid minutes and contribution from a 3rd.
Players have to enter the portal by the 21st of this month. One would think the non elite players might want to start accepting offers soon if the market is going to be flooded with new supply should 4 year seniors all be given a 5th year. Another guy who would be eligible for a 5th year would be Tilly. Not sure what his plans are.
Speaking of the market dynamics (weird that we’re discussing college sports as a market…but here we are). It won’t happen as deals mostly aren’t public but it would be really interesting to see what guys are actually getting. Aside from the overpricing for bigs (Tilly, Bukky), are a majority of other players seeing significant bumps from what they were getting or what their prior team was willing to pay them???
The oddity to me is you see a lot of guys making what appear to be lateral moves, power conf to power conf, mid-major to mid-major. For instance Duke Khamenia transferring to UConn and there are a ton of others. Are they actually getting bigger deals?
One other point…I don’t recall the actually #, but saw a story a month or so ago that reported that ~20-30% of the D1 players who entered in the portal 2025 ended up outside of D1 (DII, NAIA, Juco). There has always been a bit of that but I bet that stat was closer to 10-15% 5-10 years ago. Meaning players may expect the market for their services is bigger than it is. But it has become a game of musical chairs; between foreign players entering the market, guys transferring up from DII or NAIA, etc., plus guys getting 5th or 6th years of eligibility, the ‘supply’ of players may exceed available spots.
(if that’s something either want to do for a career).