Vrankic posted on his Twitter that he will be using his free year and coming back to school.
4 Likes
Love the commitment by vrankic, and his desire.
However, I think the best version of a bronco team is with him as a role player.
3 Likes
Big boost to rebounding and hopefully he won’t feel pressure to do as much offensively.
1 Like
Now with this abundance of talent on our roster, any chance Vrankic is willing to come off the bench? I think it might be best/an option. Great to have him back but I’m a bit worried that there won’t be enough minutes to go around for our young players. Tough to find a balance of developing new recruits to also keep them happy but also win.
Knapper and Carlos should get minutes at the guard spot unless Carlyle also decides to rejoin. Besselink should get minutes too behind Jalen or Justice, depending on how the starting lineup shakes up. I’m a bit worried for Tongue and Holt. It’ll be tough to find minutes behind Vrankic, Danilo, Keshawn, Bediako, and potentially Caruso.
Interested to see what people think. I hope Sendek makes adjustments and doesn’t run 50%+ of our offense through Vrankic’s back to the basket…
Wow. Was not expecting this. Great news! Not sure what his graduate degree will be in but even when forgoing the salary from playing overseas for a year, the Net Present Value of his graduate degree will be much higher. At least now he will get a proper Senior Night.
2 Likes
Vrankic doesn’t make out the lineup.
Everyone is going to have to compete every day, every drill.
2 Likes
scocos8-- Josip has a hip injury that needs surgery, so his role next season will be determined by his rehab and ability to be back 100% and not risking a pro career by returning too soon. No other program would want him as a transfer knowing his injury beforehand.
Oh wow didn’t know about the injury. Thanks for the heads up. Hmm if that’s the case, they I’m assuming he won’t be able to play in the beginning of the season, meaning Justice or Danilo will start at the four. I’m excited for us to talk about the depth chart once the roster is completely finalized.
@Rhiggins that is very true. I feel like those two were best buds so it would give more of an incentive for Caruso to finish his last year and graduate with Vrankic. Wow this could be a big year for the Broncos if Caruso stays. Our depth will be the best it’s been in a while in my opinion.
Vrankic has been a loyal Bronco and a huge contributor for four years. I’m very happy to have him back in any capacity. He’s earned it.
4 Likes
and deserving of something better that a 5th place WCC finish (which is the best he’s seen in 4 years)
1 Like
Surprised by this but I guess the injury somewhat explains it. Imagine both his pro opportunities or opportunities to transfer to a higher end program were limited if he’s injured and needs surgery.
One concern…does this make someone like Bediako consider leaving? There’s only so much PT to go around. If everyone is healthy, I’d expect Vrankic, Caruso and Djuricic to consume most of the minutes at the 4/5 spots. Not much remaining PT left for Bediako, Tongue and Holt.
1 Like
Jaden is a guy who I think really missed out on some development due to COVID, and I think that with more reps and time in the gym, he could find his niche. He’s a more of a traditional center than Willie with a better body to defend the paint and pull down boards. I’m not sure how that cuts–obviously a gamble that you’ll prove your worth versus the other forwards on the bench.
I could see some lineups with Djuricic especially that would suit Jaden well, given that Djuricic seems bouncy and athletic and less likely to clog the inside. Or if Keshawn gets put at the 4 spot in a smaller lineup, that might favor a having bigger body like Jaden for defense.
There just seemed like a lot of promise in his first year that wasn’t quite built upon in year two, and I personally hope that he sticks around. With some improvement, 2023 might be his year since Vrankic, Caruso, and Djuricic will all be gone.
3 Likes
@PattyMac I like your lineups with Djuricic or Keshawn at the 4 with Bediako at the 5. It’s tough when Vrankic and Bediako were both clogging the paint. But with two way more capable shooters manning the 4 spot next to Bediako, that gives him much more room to work on both ends of the floor.
Speaking of Bediako’s development, it looks like he just arrived back at Santa Clara based on his instagram stories (he captioned it “good to be back”). That’s a good sign to me that he wants to stay at SCU. iI don’t think he needed to come back to campus for the spring quarter, as he could have done his classes from Canada. Now he will have the chance this entire quarter to put some work in the new facility. He also seemed excited about Vrankic’s return.
Willie Caruso also posted pictures on his instagram story working out in SCU gear, which could also be a sign of his intentions to finish his last year with the Broncos. Here I go again looking too much into social media, but I hope all of which are signs pointing in the right direction.
I have to say, if everything goes well, our roster is going to look stronger than it’s been in the last few years, while other schools are losing high quality seniors (unless they decide to stay). My excitement and expectations are definitely rising for the upcoming season.
It’s hazardous to make assumptions on gut feelings based on observations of social media, post-game, etc., but Jaden has struck me as just an “SCU guy” the past two years. Something about his apparent optimism and humility and appreciation of the team. That doesn’t necessarily mean that a player doesn’t seek playing opportunities elsewhere, but Santa Clara has held onto such players in the past. Trasolini, JB, Kratch, and Vrankic all had “it” in my opinion. KJ and Hauser did too, but it seemed like they did want to stay, initially.
Anyways, he strikes me as a guy who wouldn’t need much convincing to stay at SCU as long as he knows there’s a role for him to play. Those are my favorite kinds of players, frankly.
1 Like
My biggest concern about next year is we don’t really have a bruiser on the inside (or even a springy 6 foot 6 plus guy). I realize these players are hard to come by but I wish we had a defensive specialist with some physicality. When I think back to the Colorado State game, they basically made it a football game on the inside and we had no answers. Djuricic might provide a little bit of that as he appears to play with some tenacity. I agree with others that Bediako will benefit greatly from a full off-season in the weight room. He appeared to be in good shape last year but did not look comfortable playing at his lighter weight. Struggled to hold his base and never really sealed guys on the block. He showed a lot of promise as a freshman and I think he can take a big step forward with a summer spent building up strength in his base.
2 Likes
I wonder when Herb will set a target date for players and new freshmen to come onto campus to begin summer workouts. I feel like players will be extra motivated now that we have the facility and less restrictions now that people are getting vaccinated and things are starting to open up again. It’ll be so great to have our seniors like Keshawn, Vrankic, and Caruso to lead the way and mentor our big freshmen class. They really take pride and represent our school well.
If Caruso comes back, I’d like to see him used optimally. He seems to dominate when there is a size mismatch, but when he is matched up with someone his size or bigger, he wilts. That’s not a slight, that is an observation. It could be a product of being raised with European basketball which generally is less physical than the U.S. game. I’d like to see him used in oversized lineups, where he plays the 3 and exploit a mismatch. Or use him in off-ball screens to force mismatches.
1 Like