Eli King enters the Portal
- Thread starter LLCoolCY
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Ok, so basically one or two players in a decade. It hasn't been the same at all since the 2017 Seniors graduated.
Let’s remember some guys: Tavon Sledge. Nkereuwem Okoro. Clayton Custer. The more things change…
I set the over/under on number of 4-year guys on this team at 1.5.
I was really hoping that he would stick it out and develop, as I think he does have the ability to be a really solid player at this level someday, but with the way the portal works now, we're probably going to see less and less of that as teams recruit over the younger guys who aren't at that point yet. Best wishes to him.
Who was on those teams that were good enough that you wanted to stick around?
By the way, the guys you named (Monte, Naz, Georges) were all special guys. There were plenty of other guys that left after a year too.
No, because I still think he's a D1 caliber player. Just probably wants to be a go-to level player and that wasn't going to happen here. He'd have been a nice 7th or 8th man, but could go be a 15 ppg guy at a low to mid major.
I don't think Niang is a good example or a comparable situation. He was a solid and immediate impact player even as a freshman and got even better each year. Monte isn't one either. He played well as a freshman and his minutes increased.
I think you're referring to a Naz situation where he was barely involved as a freshman, then played a little more as a sophomore and kept developing into a better player each year. So, from start to finish of a career he had zero impact as a freshman and it slowly grew each year. Where as Niang and Morris were impact right away and became better each year. Eli didn't have any impact his freshman year and is now not going to be given any opportunity to grow.
I get it, it kind of sucks because we never know about growth and ability of a player and their trajectory over time, but yeah unfortunately this is the new and now nature of the game. I do believe Milan or Hamilton could be those 3-4 year players. But I know exactly what you mean, the turnover rate will likely be quicker, but transfers did happen back then too. But, this portal thing is crazy now.
I don't know about this...there is quite a bit of room in the middle of these extremes. Niang and Monte both played quite a bit as freshman, so it made sense for them to stay, but they weren't clear first-round draft picks in the NBA, so it also made sense for them not to declare early. Now Naz might have been one to consider transferring, based on how little he played as a freshman...
Really hope he lands in a good spot. He stayed the entire season, didn't quit, and was the biggest supporter on the sidelines minus the CEO of course. Hope the best for him.
Yeah, gone are the days of what it USED to be. So wild. I was just talking to a friend about how in a relative short time it went from "transfers are bad kids/situations" (remember Hoiberg's first sit out class) to now it is just the norm.
I agree, I would have loved to see him stick around as he seems like a great kid and teammate......BUT, it seems most teams don't rely on a player to "emerge" their Jr/Sr year....now it is a much more open "find what is best for al involved" situation and teams know they can go get developed players in the portal and players know they can go to a place to play.
It did look like Eli had the ability, but then again he was playing against smaller competition and dominating at Caledonia. So it was hard to tell how that would translate at the D1 level. The fact that he didn't get much playing time as a freshman and didn't seem that quick, he likely wasn't going to like his limited role and wanted to be a bigger impact for next year.
I wish him well and hopefully he lands on his feet at a solid program. Obviously with more open scholarships, hopefully TJ can land some solid shooters.
I wish him well and hopefully he lands on his feet at a solid program. Obviously with more open scholarships, hopefully TJ can land some solid shooters.
I don't think there really are recruiting misses anymore. Kids just leave if they don't play and don't tie up a ride for more than a year.
I still have a tough time with the guys that are one year or two years and gone. Just seems like a short time to get to know them, and one of my favorite things as a younger fan was seeing a guy come in and improve year to year until he was a star on the team. I miss that.
I think it'll calm down a little bit after all the COVID years are gone (just a horrendous decision by the NCAA that boned 4 HS classes) but the days of anyone being able to be a true developmental program are over. It's already starting to kill the upper mid-majors but that was probably more of a feature than a bug...
Good point. A lot of lost opportunities for some of those young guys coming into the system at that time for sure.
3. The open spot from last year, Grill's spot, Eli's spot. Technically 6 with Jones, Ward, and Tre unofficially but probably coming back
Sherron Dorsey-Walker, a whole mess of forwards like Percy Gibson, Simeon Carter, etc...
Alright, who's going to be the assistant to the Chief Energy Officer next year?
I think there's a difference between having one year to get playing time and having one year to show the potential to get more playing time. The former would be asking a lot for a freshman, but the latter is reasonable. If the staff, after having a year to work with Eli, doesn't think he'll rise to the level of getting playing time in the next year or two, the best thing they can do is be honest and tell him he may want to seek opportunities elsewhere.
