not disputing that. That's just what Metcalf said this morning. His philosophy is that he wants to recruit HS kids like some of the other successful schools are doing then just fill 1 or 2 spots with transfers.
Off-season 2026; Roster Needs/Portal
- Thread starter NEIACyclone
- Start date
He will not be steering away from it. Literally no one does that.
This year may not be as fruitful as last, but the effort was there and it won't dissuade them from trying again in the future.
Portal season is far from over
Running through the roster again, think we're at ~26 with the transfers. Maybe a couple off, not always up to speed with some of the room guys. I don't really hate rolling with what we have outside of 125 and then 184. Probably wouldn't be a trophy team, but would be a tough bunch. Brayden Thompson would be perfect fit at 184 and obviously just need bodies at 125.
| Senior | Junior | Sophomore | Freshman | High School | ||
| 125 | 0 | |||||
| 133 | Garrett Grice | Carter Pearson Cael Vandermark | 3 | |||
| 141 | Evan Frost | Osmany Diversent | 2 | |||
| 149 | Jacob Frost Carter Fousek | 2 | ||||
| 157 | Paniro Johnson | Logan Stotts | Kane Naaktgeboren | Valentine Popadiuc | 4 | Roman Stewart |
| 165 | Connor Euton Aiden Riggins | David Perez Jake Miller | 4 | Yandro Soto Rivera | ||
| 174 | MJ Gaitan | Owen Helgeson | Jacob Helgeson | 3 | Maximus Dhabolt | |
| 184 | Nando Villaescusa | Sawyer Bartelt | 2 | |||
| 197 | CJ Carter Carson Floyd Rowan Udell | 3 | Jimmy Mastny | |||
| 285 | Xavier Bruening | McCrae Haggarty | Coby Merrill | 3 | ||
| 26 |
Thunder Lewis committed recently from California and will be a freshman next year. He's probably 125 or 133. His brother Wyatt will be in the 2027 class and is probably in the 157-174 range
I don't see the makings of a top 10 or even top 15 line up in 2026-27. That's disappointing in what is essentially Dresser year 10. Very excited to see what Merrill can do at HWT, though.
Gotta think our big targets right now are provo and norman then if norman goes 184 and thompson goes 197
There hasn’t been much chatter out of the Norman camp. Wonder if he’s waiting out more to get a bigger deal.
Sounds like he doesn’t know if he wants to go 174 or 184.
Can’t say I’d blame him for trying to go 174. Doesn’t have the heavy hitters that 184 has.
Last year we were 8th with 3 AAs.
We have 1 AA returning and two previous AAs in the lineup. Plus Grice, Paniro, Euton and Merrill.
It is not a lock, but that could definitely be another top 10 team with 4-5 AAs.
I’d feel much better if we could add a contender at 25 and 84, but it’s till a solid team as constructed. Not beating Iowa or OSU as is.
Thanks for putting this together. Biggest thing that stands out for me here is being so senior heavy. Even though the portal is such a huge factor now, getting top HS or portal guys with multiple years is something Metcalf is going to need to hit hard immediately. Even with the young guys, I think Merrill and Mastny are the only real 'sure things' so there is a lot of room to fill.
I will note, there are several guys who would be likely candidates to get another year with medical redshirts, but I just didn't include that with all the uncertainty about eligibility rules, etc.
Jacob Frost ('24), Panrio ('26), Euton ('25) all missed basically full seasons with injury and would be in that group.
Honestly, as we stand right now, we don’t have a chance against them with or without them getting Ech.
