There’s about two YouTube videos that will make your jaw drop on Tadjo
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Bronc, I don’t think there are redshirts now that save a year of eligibility with the new rules. It’s 5 years - redshirts, injuries etc don’t save eligibility.
Herb seems to reward time in his system unless the player ie Castillo are clearly better.
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So be it, ‘redshirt’ or not, Herb isn’t going to play 13 guys. At least two or three are going to be at the end of the bench out of the regular rotation…Kuykendall and Ensor are the most likely.
Re: Tadjo…as noted, the 5 is up for grabs, I’m giving him the edge given he’s a couple years older and he was at least at SCU last year so presumably has a leg up on understanding Herb’s system. He’s basically Cam Tongue 2.0 but an inch taller, at least as big and probably a hair more explosive which says a lot because Cam is a darn good athlete.
Re: Castillo and competing against returning guys…he averaged 10+pts a game, with a solid 3pt % for a Power Conf school against Power Conf competition, was a part time starter and played 28mins/game. While it’s unlikely Herb promised a starting job, I doubt Castillo is transferring here expecting a reduction in PT and role…he will have to earn it of course.
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What I’ve been hearing from practices is that Longcor is very good.
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Lucas, I thought that I’d pose this question to you as you seem to have your finger on the pulse regarding developments within the program.
Any rumors or scuttlebutt involving the final two roster spots??
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Sorry for the delayed response. From my understanding Herb & Co are pretty happy with the makeup of the team. With the expected NCAA 5 & 5 ruling the staff is reluctant to add more players cuz there’s no longer the redshirt possibility. Trying to manage playing time for 15 scholarship players would be difficult. It sounds like they were no longer all that active in the transfer portal. If a player that they saw as a good fit were to fall in their laps they would make him an offer. But it sounds like the current squad is what they’ll be rolling with.
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That makes sense. Thanks L2!
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Thanks for the update Lucas 
In this era why wouldn’t you load up the roster? Most of them are going to leave at some point anyway. St Mary’s is signing top 100 guys and SCU is sitting on their hands coming off the high water mark of the last 30 years? I was hoping they would bring in a Euro or two. Have heard there are a few poking around at A-10 and WCC.
I think Gueye and Castillo are quality adds and I understand needing to keep a spot for Graves, but man, I think in this era you grab all the talent you can.
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Loading up is significantly more expensive than it ever has been - and I bet we got a tiny bump in NIL donations after our March madness appearance, but how significant was it?
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My recollection is that Sendek used a regular rotation of 10 players last season. There was more than one comment noting that this rotation was a bit larger than in previous seasons. (But we were arguably deeper than in previous seasons). I’ve also noted comments in the past about it not being entirely a confidence builder for the late-arriving players to take PT from players that had been led to believe they would be in the regular rotation. Having said all of that, we saw early season injuries to Tadjo and Normand take them out of the equation from the git-go. Stuff happens. I do tend to believe that we will see a rotation of about 10 again next season. Respectfully, Sendek is a creature of habit.
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What are expectations for Badibanga next year? I assume the coaches are happy with him if he is back for Year 2.
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I suspect the real reason you don’t fill those last two spots are purely tied to financial constraints. You’re better off giving the money used on spot 14 & 15 to other players on the roster.
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That makes sense, though I figure you could sign some high schoolers without NIL. Maybe you strike oil. Worst case is the school gets a couple more admits.
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I think the most interesting thing about this year’s squad is that everyone on the roster could conceivably play two different positions well. I don’t know if that was what the coaches were looking for, and they certainly would need to teach the players to overcome their biases (I’m a point guard, I’m a center). But this potential protects the squad in case of injury and creates lots of match up flexibility. What will be fun to see is if we have a “speed squad” a “length squad” or other combinations that emphasize one style of play over another.
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True. I think they’ve been trending that way for a few seasons, perhaps ever since seeing what Jalen’s versatility allowed on the floor. That said, Santa Clara over-corrected for a couple of seasons by basically not having a true PG after Podz (who got away with being a little of everything, like Jalen). Last season, Santa Clara finally had three true ball handlers in Knapper, Hammond, and Gavalyugov, which allowed the final breakthrough as much as anything.
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The budget for players this season will be around $4 million. So the Broncos were never serious players in retaining Allen, Bukky or Christian. Been told Bukky is getting $3 million from Auburn and Christian is getting $2.25 million from NCState
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That reinforces where we’re at with present day collegiate sports landscape. Every athlete basically signs a one year contract, then becomes a free agent. A school’s facilities, academics, campus environment, location, etc…can only do so much versus the mighty dollar.
You can’t fault these student athletes for striking while the iron is hot and getting as much as they can. Loyalty is also a one year concept for many (not all) unfortunately.
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Yes, I completely agree. That said, the “market rates” for some players is not justified, IMO. SCU will have to stick with the strategy of identifying and developing talent, and as a fan, to me that is preferable to overpaying and hoping these 17-21 year olds’ play warrants it.
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