Wow…that is significant for BYU. With Barcello out of eligibility, Lohner and George would have been their best returning players in terms of talent and experience. I expect both will have P6 and high mid-major interest. George just 1 yr of eligibility but Lohner has 3 which you would think would make him a hot commodity.
Lohner was All WCC Frosh in 2020/21, aside from Jalen Suggs one could have argued he looked like the most talented in his class in the WCC. But he really struggled shooting for most of the 2021/22 season, as if he had developed a David Duval, Rick Ankiel level case of the shooting yips. But he’s talented…athletic, strong, plays with a high motor, good rebounder and while not a lights out shooter has an ability to score in a variety of ways. Someone will be lucky to have him IMO, especially if they are able to help him exorcise his shooting demons.
With so many talented WCC players graduating (Bouyea, Massalski, Barcello, Eli Scott, Vrankic, Pipes, Kuhse, etc.), turning or likely turning pro (Jalen, most of GU’s starting lineup) and now some talented transfers out (Lohner, George, plus several solid starters…Quintana, Calcaterra and so on) it feels like there is a major talent suck occurring this offseason. Barring some significant incoming transfers the WCC looks to be on a down cycle next season…just my opinion.
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agreed. I think this coming season will prove to be a “reversion to the long-term mean”
Add Gavin Baxter to BYU’s list of outbound transfers. Not sure what’s up in Provo but either Pope is clearing house for some reason or players don’t like him.
Baxter had a promising rookie year in 2018/19, raw but very athletic, however he has barely played the past 3 seasons due to a series of injuries…has played a grand total of just 17 games over that stretch.
Will the Cougs last gasp in the WCC be a growl or a meow?
Looking more meow, but I try not to bet against them. There are more than enough great LDS players at a given time to make a great team. BYU just has the problem of getting as many of them at once because it’s not particularly attractive to non-LDS. Pope seems charismatic and energetic, plus the Big 12 move should help recruit the transfer portal. But they’re starting in a much deeper hole than usual at the moment.
Agree on the WCC talent mean-reversion. But that would seem to really be a boon to SCU. Wildcards, transfers, and surprises notwithstanding, I like SCU even without Jalen against almost all the rosters as currently assembled save for the Zags and maybe Portland. I assume that BYU will find some talent to plug holes and Bennett will be Bennett. Who knows what Lavin will bring in season one. But I’m more optimistic on what can be built at SCU around the current group with a key transfer or two.
This guy is intriguing. Had a better freshman year than sophomore year probably due to playing time. Could be a nice replacement for id Jalen leaves.
Looks like we just signed a grad transfer from Tennessee State! Welcome to SCU! Seems to be similar to PJ Pipes in terms of bringing a veteran presence and three point shooting. May start for JWill if he ends up leaving.
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Appears to be a great teammate. Suffered a fractured femur his junior year and had a lengthy rehab. 40% from 3 is impressive. Had 116 three pt attempts…Jalen (106), Pipes (142), Justice (182) for comparison. 83% free throw shooter. At worst seems like he could be a good floor spacer with his ability to hit the 3.
The OVC is not the WCC but they do have Belmont and Murray State so the competition should not be too big of a jump.
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BYU’s Lohner landed at Baylor…good for him.
Marshall seems to clearly be the JWill replacement…6-6 off-guard/wing. 12+ pts/game and started most of the time…can’t imagine him coming here if didn’t have the strong likelihood of starting if not guarantee.
There are no guarantees in life or college sports…
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Even if Jaylen returns this guy will start
I agree. I think we would have Stewart at the one, Carlos Marshall at the two, JWill at the three, Justice at the four, and then Braun at the five. If Jalen doesn’t come back, then I think we will have Stewart at the one, Marshall at the two, Justice at the three, Braun at the four, and Bediako at the five. Both lineups I really like actually. But we only have 9 scholarship spots filled excluding Jalen Williams so we can still get some impactful transfers. Lots of work to do for the coaching staff to potentially make the tournament next season. Does anyone know the deadline of when Jalen Williams needs to make a decision?
Yes, all those lineups are possible. And, yes, Jalen COULD return. But the coaching staff has clearly been targeting 2-guard/wing types more than any other position…doubt they’d be doing that if they didn’t think there was a strong likelihood of Jalen departing.
From what I could find, June 1st is the deadline to withdraw from the draft and retain college eligibility…so we’ll know for certain in 5 weeks or less.
Re: current scholarship players…counting Marshall and incoming frosh Ensminger we have 10 on scholarship, 11 even if Jalen returns. 13 is the max so we have 2 to 3 spots to fill. Now that the staff has landed Marshall, will be interesting to see who they target… maybe a true 5-center to back up Bediako, another ballhandler capable of manning the point if needed??? Another wing to back up Justice or Marshall??? We’ll see.
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Gosh my count was off. You’re right we will have 10 including Marshall. It’ll be really interesting to see who we can land from the portal. I’m really hoping for a solid Center to back up Bediako.
amplify this – we NEED a true FIVE (ideally someone who can contribute significantly on the offensive side). When our outside / mid-range shooting isn’t working, we need to have a down-low go-to-guy who can score virtually at will. John Bryant (and Ron Reis, to some extent) provided us with a really nice counter-balance to the outside shooting game.
Unfortunately, there just aren’t that many 6’11" men in the general population, and most of the ones that are end up in the P6 leagues (or Gonzaga).
Lastly, a question for those more knowledgeable than me: are there limits on NIL? It would seem that we could recruit (strong-arm?) some tech companies to sponsor players to come to SCU. We need to use the assets that we have, and right now, that might just be proximity to TECH given location in the heart of Silicon Valley.
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Agree on the tech alliances/sponsorships with SCU in general. We should be seeing tech companies as sponsors at campus venues vs. the local restaurants down the street…
Recently had lunch with a D-1 Head Football coach in the Midwest. His school was debating building a a new indoor practice facility. He told the donors their money would be better spent on NIL deals and they can live without the indoor practice facility. For a while it was a facilities arms race in university athletic departments, but now many recruits are just concerned about their monthly NIL money.
