Or play him AS a 4 and get one or two big-bodied 5’s.
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I should also have added contributions to the NIL collective are not tax-deductible. However SCU has a way around that. I’m not exactly sure how it works but SCU has partnered with Special Olympics. You can make donations to Special Olympics, that are tax-deductible, and designate those funds to go to Broncos athletes for appearances and such.
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Yes, in small doses. I worry about Tilly’s ability to defend the perimeter against more athletic 4’s…ie-GU’s Ajayi, OSU Rataj…those guys would be difficult matchups for Tilly.
My preference would be a strong 4 / 5 tweener who has enough size and strength to play the 5 but the athleticism and mobility to play the 4…in essence a slightly taller Cam Tongue.
Cam is only 6-7, he was often playing out of position as Tilly’s backup, he could handle the middle of the pack and smaller centers but it was asking a lot of him to guard Ike, Fallah, Saxen, etc…he did OK but another 2" of length would have helped.
And if both McEldon and Bukky depart there is probably both need and roster space for a 2nd new big…use that 2nd spot for Caffaro 2.0, a true bid bodied 7 foot banger.
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Graves is listed at 6-9, 220 lbs and a true PF rather than a center. It’s a lot to ask frosh big men to come in and compete, but he has at least been practicing against Tilly, Tongue, et al for a full year. Then if Jake can keep improving on offense, he can be a point-forward type. He’s the best rebounder and a pretty good defender even against bigger bodies (was heroic against Saxen in Moraga). He just needs to be able to put back the ball through contact and improve his outside shooting.
Chukwudebelu has a D1 ready body, but the videos I have seen don’t indicate that he has a full range of post moves yet–getting by more with physical dominance of smaller players. I think he’ll be less of a project than many guys of his size but still not ready for SMC in his first year.
All that is to say…you’re right. Find another Caffaro, if possible. Then another Tongue if there’s roster space.
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Now that we know we’ve signed another 2/3 player, the pressure on Bukky to step up is greater than ever.
I was watching the OKC-NYK game last night. Holmgren isn’t going to bang, but he’s a decent rim protector and, despite his foot injury that kept him out for the better part of a year, seems to have decent footwork. There were a number of passes above the rim while he darted into the key that he easily flushed. He’s also a decent 3-pt shooter.
Bukky showed flashes of that in a game this past season. I don’t remember exactly which game, but he nailed a three, flushed an alley-oop dunk, and blocked a shot. All in just a couple of minutes on the floor.
Can he perform like that for 25+ minutes/game over a 30ish game season? I guess we’ll see.
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A view from the cheap seats:
I think Bukky is ready on all levels to have a great year…,maybe an extraordinary one if he can stay out of foul trouble.. If 6’10" Francis Chukwudebelu is not redshirted (in my view, with the portal and all, let him play..that’s why he came here) he can spell or share time equally, and might have a freshman year to remember, . And then we have 240# bruiser Tadjo, described by the Iowa coach as the best athlete on their team, and Allen Graves who is quite an amazing athlete as well, to spell in, Cam-like.. I don’t want another Cafarro. I want to see what these super-talented big guys can do. We have enough talent. Yes, not the experience we would like, but I have seen lots of progress made in one season. Our great coaches get the job done. Brandin went from being benched at Illinois to being a first rounder after a year here. I think that when we are getting 3 and 4 star players their expectation and the expectation of their parents is to see action the first year. We are not likely to keep players for four years these days, unfortunately, so why not let them see whether they are ready to get lots of PT immediately. The parents will see the truth and be less impatient and give the student time to mature. Of course, you can only have 5 guys on the court at any one time and getting a high-functioning core group in place does ultimately mean really good players do not get all the PT they hoped for. Go Broncos!
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My take:
The desire for another true big is mostly to deal with the bigs of the top teams we’re trying to surpass…SMC and GU. SMC has 3 seven footers plus the physical 6-9 Marauskas at PF. Wessel is a load and took a step forward last season and suspect he’ll improve further with more PT and larger role. At GU, you have two strong and skilled posts who are highly effective in the post, plus Diagne was their 3rd string center and came in and dominated the Broncos when he played in our 2nd game vs. GU, showing the need and value of a true big. Diagne will only get better and suspect is minutes will increase to 15+ this coming season.
But the clock is ticking so less and less likely we land another big.
So… looking at who we do have in the post. I think you have to add Ensminger to the discussion since he has played most of his minutes at the 4 and started a bit last season. Ensminger is capable of playing the 3 and it may even be a better position for him but I think Mahi has it locked down and Normand and now Badibanga will also compete for backup minutes at the 3 so there is only so much opportunity there for Ensminger.
It will be interesting which two players start at the 4/5 amongst: Ensminger, Graves, Tadjo and Oboye. A variety of combinations could work there. And I think it is quite possible Tadjo sees as many minutes at the 5 as Oboye. Keeping in mind Cam played the 5 almost exclusively the past 2 seasons; comparing Tadjo to Cam, Tadjo is a inch taller, a few lbs heavier and appears to be just as good of athlete, maybe better.
You’d think Ensminger’s 3 years of experience would give him a leg up on Graves at the 4. Or who knows, maybe they’ll start together in a smallish lineup with Graves as the 5; with Tadjo and Oboye playing significant time off the bench providing the superior length and in Tadjo’s case muscle.
In other words…I have no idea how it’s going to play out. Lots of conceivable options that may work.
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https://x.com/RareFootageNews/status/1908132201293627408
You never know with freshmen but I think KJ has a chance to contribute next year. Nice shot, good size. Just looks like a guy who can score in a variety of ways.
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Yep! I believe the broncos will have the freshman of the year! KJ is a special talent!
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I was tracking KJ’s performance in the Donofrio Classic but forgot to post about it. The kid is a scorer. In the four games he played, he scored 28, 29, 29, and 31. Now the Classic, as I understand it, is basically a Philly AAU All-Star Tournament, so I imagine that defense is somewhat optional (and the final scores would indicate that). But the young man can find the bucket.
The video also shows that he has good length which is encouraging. I do believe that he can compete to crack the rotation.
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The Badibanga signing announcement has been published:
Of note is that the staff says that this is their final signing. So no big guy to spell the center spot. All eyes are on Bukky to make the leap.
When do basketball players in this day and age start showing up on campus? In my day, 1987-1991, hoops players were required to be on campus roughly 5-6 weeks before classes (@TheWeave please correct me if I’m wrong).
Incorrect. There was no requirement to show up before classes started. The only player I recall showing up early was Steve Nash. Played hoops wherever and whenever he could.
I assume today that if you can get a kid housed, employed/paid/NIL’d you can have your team playing together in “pick-up” games and workouts all summer.
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Yeah, after I posted that, I remembered it was only sports like soccer that had to report early, when the season started earlier than the Fall quarter start date because so many opponent schools were on semester system.
I do seem to remember that some of the basketball players were on campus earlier. In my high school years, I worked in the mailroom during summers. I remember seeing a few hoops players on campus well before Fall quarter started. But I guess that was their option, not a requirement.
There was a period of time in the 80s and 90s that players could work summer camps, but the NCAA took that away because, surprise(!), some schools were paying players far more than what was reasonable. I believe that was reversed at some point. So, yeah, there were definitely athletes hanging around during the summer.
I recall athletes slinging kegs and cases for a local beer distributor and SoCal athletes working at an alum’s sausage and hot dog factory. the latter said they would never eat a ball park frank again.
They definitely worked the coaching camps I attended at SCU in the 70s when I was a kid.
Team reports end of June- end of August
Per the NCAA, Teams are limited to a total of eight hours per week for weight training, conditioning, and skill instruction while enrolled in summer school.
Typically starts around mid July.
Coaches can supervise skill development during this time.
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Analysis from Zack Farmer this week. It starts around the 21-minute mark.
Zack sees SCU as being a middle-of-the-pack team. It’s hard to argue too much with the analysis. Whether his conclusion is correct depends a lot on whether the staff maintains their streak of finding generally excellent transfer talent. They don’t need the second coming of Podz, per se, but gonna need at least two Tyerees out of this new group to hold serve.