The rosiest I can be about this is that talented guards are much easier to find and develop than talented bigs. And there is still a chance that Podz returns.
Knapper was solid and, with more playing time, plugs a hole as a distributor and on-ball guard that the Broncos didn’t really have last year. I hope that Ensminger really can hit the ground running, but his international career wouldn’t indicate that he’s a high scorer so much as someone with solid contributions to every column.
(As an aside, can you imagine a lineup of Podz, Ensminger, O’Neil, Tongue, and Tilly? That group would be like a cumulative 2.5 feet taller than their opponents and should go after every offensive rebound.)
Maybe Kosy can work on some greater physical control and decision-making? He looked quite similar to frosh Carlos at times.
But Carlos’s energy, speed, and scoring won’t be replaced easily by a mile. Tough.
I said after JB entered the portal that I thought SCU should look for a bulky guy for the middle. Then Caffaro transferred in. Now I think that SCU should look for a high-octane shooting guard who can hit 38-40% from three. Speak it into existence.
I can only hope for the best for any Bronco but I am surprised Carlos would leave. It would seem that with Jalen and Podz making noise in the NBA draft, Carlos would want to stay another year and perhaps do the same next year. He is from Louisiana so maybe it is the distance from home but I hope he will reconsider and decide to stay at SCU.
Agree Maddog. Stewart has had a front row seat to see Jalen end up a lottery pick and Podz become WCC POY and maybe go pro this year and get drafted.
If the NBA is Stewart’s dream, he can do it from SCU.
But I suspect it’s a combination of NIL $$$ whispering in his ear, maybe a desire to be closer to home plus the opportunity to play in a Power 6 conference and all that entails.
Disappointing. While I support an athlete’s right to choose their own destiny, the incredible volume of transfers is bad for the game. Hard for fans to get excited about a team when most of the faces, including the best players, change teams year to year. A typical pro team has more roster stability and continuity than many college programs. It won’t hurt or impact this generation of players but I suspect in 20-25 years we may look back on this time period as the beginning of the end. Just don’t think the out of control transfer #'s and effectively unregulated NIL which in most cases is no different than old school, hundred dollar hand shakes, is sustainable or good for the game. And what’s bad for the game is ultimately bad for the players that play the game.
Or maybe I’ve aged enough that I’ve officially crossed over to being a grumpy old fart resistant to change…
92Bronc…all good points, but what if it were your son who thought he could significantly improve his college basketball experience with a portal transfer?
I have a suspicion the NIL money he could get at LSU would be significantly more than anything at SCU. It is what it is. I’m hopeful we’ll be OK, although this is a bummer.
Add to everything you’re saying the demographic cliff that’s about to hit colleges and universities. Basically, the birthrate post-2000 into the financial crisis was much, much lower than the late 80s and 90s. Fewer kids equals fewer students equals fewer tuition dollars equals budget cuts equals athletic departments getting slashed equals fewer opportunities for athletes. And they’ll come for the non-revenue sports first, but eventually football and basketball will get hit too.
This will probably only be felt somewhat at a school like SCU. But Holy Names in Oakland closed this year. That’s going to happen to lots of smaller schools, including some that sponsor D1 sports. But the rest may very well respond to the president or chancellor’s demands to cut budgets by getting rid of entire sports, like Cal and Stanford have both tried to do.
NIL will accelerate all of this because, while the money doesn’t come directly from the schools, I’m sure it comes from the same pool of money that would otherwise go to the Bronco Bench Foundation. Only so many “new” dollars are getting created by NIL outside of the occasional legitimate corp sponsorship. So now water polo isn’t bringing in any money, basketball is costing more than ever because dollars have to get redirected to NIL, and the president says that the enrollment crunch is requires a 20% budget cut.
The result is going to be a lot fewer athletes across all sports over the next decade. A handful of great talents like Drew Timme will make tons of money. But it’ll come at the expense of many a women’s golf squad, I think, and probably more than a handful of D1 basketball teams before it’s over.
LetsGo-
I’d advise my son that the grass isn’t always greener, that loyalty matters, that the notion that every Power-6 program is necessarily a better situation than every mid-major is a fallacy. I’d advise him that the money that is likely being flashed to him probably isn’t enough to truly change his life, may seem like a big deal now but won’t matter much 20 years from now.
Keyshawn could have left SCU after last season and found a Power6 program that was interested but he stayed. I admire the loyalty.
Jalen could have left after his sophomore season. He chose to stay. Maybe his parents encouraged him to stay. Regardless, I suspect he has no regrets about his ‘college basketball experience’.
Patty- Spot on. The demographic issues and drop in % of HS grads going to college are already impacting schools. Beyond your Holy Names example, there is Notre Dame de Namur up the peninsula…axed their undergrad programs and with it athletics, apparently they’re still operation a small grad school. There was a school that closed in Portland in 2020, forget the name, COVID was the final straw. And plenty of other similar stories across the country and likely more to come in the near term.
Santa Clara is doing fine, great even, the massive (and growing) endowment will buffer against future downturns but that isn’t the norm.
But you have to wonder and maybe worry about schools like Portland and SMC…endowments are something like 10-15% of SCU’s. And they are on the small side, less than half the undergrad and overall enrollment compared to SCU and neither have grown much of late. You’re either growing or you’re dying.
I’m not sure that NIL money is THE factor in most portal transfers. I think most players are looking for a situation where they can contribute and are valued.
Lots of Changes….Here’s another look at prospective roster.
1 Christian Hammond - 6’ 2” Freshman
2 Luke McEldon 6’ 10” Freshman
3 Jake Ensminger - 6’ 8” RS Freshman
4 Christoph Tilly - 7’ 0” Sophomore
5 Kosy Akametu - 6’ 5” Sophomore
6 Brenton Knapper - 6’ 1” RS Sophomore
7. Johnny O’Neil 6’ 9” SFwd transfer in - committed ?.
8 Camaron Tongue - 6’ 7” Junior
9 Francisco Caffarro - 7’ 1” Grad Xfer - committed
10 Brandin Podziemski - Junior. Projected # 28 pick before the Combine
11 Parker Braun - 5th Year Senior
12 Transfer in Guard - Coming soon
13 Transfer in Pt. Guard - In process
Transfer in Wing - Replacing Brandin if drafted
Carlos Marshall Jr - Turning Pro - Maybe Europe
Carlos Stewart is a confirmed transfer out.
As per other comments Carlos was great for us - clutch shooter, but wasn’t a true Pt. Guard.
We need the coaches to find a point guard who can shoot it and break down defenses.
Looks like we might need more firepower at the wings. O’Neil is reported to be a Justice type shooter and Ensminger good as well but RS freshman. A key difference might be this year we can rely on more production from our bigs.
Maybe we’ll find another Jalen or Podz!!!
O’Neill is committed. Cam is 3 for 3 on the recruitment side. He was the Santa Clara player during recruitment visit with Podz, O’Neill and now Francisco.
Dell’Orso is from Australia; have to wonder if he was ever on SMC’s radar.
6-6 freshman wing would appear to have 3 years of eligibility remaining. Played 29mins/game and averaged 12.5pts and 5.8 rebs. Good #'s for a freshman. 3pt shooting at 32% could use improvement but 2pt shooting at ~60% and FT shooting at over 80% were good.
Longshot angle…he’s from Melbourne. We have 4 women’s hoops players from Melbourne including Tess Neal. Melbourne is a huge metro area but maybe there’s a connection there somewhere. Enlist them to vouch for SCU in general.
Jalen Benjamin from Mount St Mary’s could be a name to watch. Reading up on transfer portal guards and noticed his dad played for Coach Sendek at NC State back in the day. Benjamin would be a grad transfer PG. Averaged 16 pts and 4 assists…good shooter from 3 at 37% the last two seasons. We definitely could use some experience in the backcourt but I imagine he is generating a ton of interest.