2015 C Alex Illikainen (offered)

[R to the OB]

I'm glad that we continue to be a school that ID's 3 or 4 viable candidates for a spot and the first 'yes' gets the ride. We seemed to be doing that under Mac and then seemed this year to be in a 'wait for a kid to decide' camp ala the Altman years.

I would rather have a good player who is pumped to be a Bluejay than hold out for the moon and end up with Keith Denson.

Completely agree. We're a major program with a lot of great draws for players. If you want in, but don't commit before all of the scholarships are gone, you're out of luck... Unless you walk on.
Back on Alex, now that I've heard this three times, I'm willing to take this as fact that we are out of the running on our own accord.

[Jet915]

What doesn't make sense is that it seems we are still pursuing Cody Schwartz, they both are very similar players...

[R to the OB]

What doesn't make sense is that it seems we are still pursuing Cody Schwartz, they both are very similar players...

Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought Cody was more of an outside player than Alex... That he could play the 3 as well as the 4, which would fill a need after Avery graduates.

[gtmoBlue]

Everyone is forgetting Cole Huff. Cole can play the 3/4. LG3 can play the 3/4 and Ronnie Harrell can play the 2/3. Perhaps the coaches have altered their priorities with all of our transfers and recent signees, plus having picked up Justin Patton?

[AttyAlum]

Everyone is forgetting Cole Huff. Cole can play the 3/4. LG3 can play the 3/4 and Ronnie Harrell can play the 2/3. Perhaps the coaches have altered their priorities with all of our transfers and recent signees, plus having picked up Justin Patton?

Good point gtmo. Having seen Ronnie in person, he is a bit taller than Leon, although skinnier. With a little additional weight, I think Ronnie will be able to play the 2, 3 and 4.

[R to the OB]

Everyone is forgetting Cole Huff. Cole can play the 3/4. LG3 can play the 3/4 and Ronnie Harrell can play the 2/3. Perhaps the coaches have altered their priorities with all of our transfers and recent signees, plus having picked up Justin Patton?

Good point gtmo. Having seen Ronnie in person, he is a bit taller than Leon, although skinnier. With a little additional weight, I think Ronnie will be able to play the 2, 3 and 4.

We've seemed to have strayed a bit from Alex, but a point on Ronnie. As pointed out on his thread earlier, his twitter account now claims that he is a PG. Take whatever you will from that.

[Durango Jay]

Does Ronnie as a point-forward work into Mac's plans? Wrong thread, but whatever.

[westojay]

Does Ronnie as a point-forward work into Mac's plans? Wrong thread, but whatever.

For sure. Ronnie has the skillset and the tools. If he continues to work hard, he will be a special player here.

[Chicagojayfan]

Everyone is forgetting Cole Huff. Cole can play the 3/4. LG3 can play the 3/4 and Ronnie Harrell can play the 2/3. Perhaps the coaches have altered their priorities with all of our transfers and recent signees, plus having picked up Justin Patton?

I think we can add Hegner's development into this list as well. We have a nice stock of players who can play the 4 and with Patton also in the fold have a solid interior post player for the future as well.

5: Groselle (2 more years), Hanson (3 more years), Patton (2015)
4: Hegner (4 more years), LG III (4 more years), Huff (2 more years after sitting out)

I think R on the OB's point was correct as well - Schwartz is more of an outside-in player who can stretch opponents from the 4. Illikainen is more of an inside-out player who isn't nearly as comfortable on the outside. With Patton coming in, I think the outside-in addition is more important for the 4. FWIW, I like Schwartz more than Illikainen (who I think will be a fine player) as I think he brings a lot more offensive versatility to our lineup.

[Ethanfor3]

Everyone is forgetting Cole Huff. Cole can play the 3/4. LG3 can play the 3/4 and Ronnie Harrell can play the 2/3. Perhaps the coaches have altered their priorities with all of our transfers and recent signees, plus having picked up Justin Patton?

I think we can add Hegner's development into this list as well. We have a nice stock of players who can play the 4 and with Patton also in the fold have a solid interior post player for the future as well.

5: Groselle (2 more years), Hanson (3 more years), Patton (2015)
4: Hegner (4 more years), LG III (4 more years), Huff (2 more years after sitting out)

I think R on the OB's point was correct as well - Schwartz is more of an outside-in player who can stretch opponents from the 4. Illikainen is more of an inside-out player who isn't nearly as comfortable on the outside. With Patton coming in, I think the outside-in addition is more important for the 4. FWIW, I like Schwartz more than Illikainen (who I think will be a fine player) as I think he brings a lot more offensive versatility to our lineup.

Pretty much an ideal situation for Patton in that he can come in and be behind Groselle and Hanson for 1 year while he matures and develops (potentially redshirt) then can play meaningful minutes the following year with a rotation of he and Hansen.

The 3 and 4 slots also look good as we look out.

I'm still concerned about taking a step back this year, not a doomsday scenario, but certainly not expecting 25 wins. If you look past this year, the foundation appears very solid and allows the staff to be picky about who they add.