The guys underestimate Kane. Sure his team was stacked with team leaders, but he stepped up into a very special role. I remember seeing him for the first time at the Fan Fest. The guy looked like he was 30 years old. And in his first game at Hilton, Kane was the guy who pulled everyone together at the foul line and gave them a pep talk. Kane added something that made everyone better, including Niang.
P.S. The in-bounds pass off Woodbury's butt, followed by a basket and one! That alone should put Kane in contention for #1 transfer. Who else has ever done something so wonderful?
Kane had more highlight moments, and Royce made more circus plays. I still think we tend to remember the high points with those two and forget the low, though.
I think Kane obviously had the best team around him. The argument starts with Ejim and ends with Niang, and that is even before we talk about Morris and Hogue.
I might honestly pick Shayok (or even Chris Babb, having a guy who can truly neutralize your opponents' best scorer on any given night is quite the nice asset to have) if I have to pick one guy to add to any random team, however. Yes, Kane and Royce were great, but they needed the ball to make a huge impact, and neither were stellar defenders. Heck, Royce was almost comically bad at times. Shayok and Babb always space the floor and play good defense. You can drop those two onto any ISU team of the past 30+ years and they fit right into it.
Somebody who is immediately useful in all circumstances has to count for something. I know Kane was a good shooter, too, so I do give him some credit for that. Shayok and Babb can be really good without high usage numbers, though, which makes them versatile.
I think CW was trying to hint for us that Shayok had more to do with the leadership of the team and righting the ship than we might realize. I wish it had come sooner, but soon enough to win the Big 12 tournament is good enough for me. Plus, while we are thinking of highlights, those two big threes that Shayok hit against Kansas State have to be up there.
"He'll try for another three... it's out and right back in again!"
"Shayok... he's going to have to force one up... GOT IT!!!"
Right players and the right order. I'd could see the argument for Christopherson if you value the multi season production he provided.
I think the undoubted champion of career productivity from a transfer at this point has to be Nick Weiler-Babb. I could see a case for Thug Life for second, though.
How many podcasts do we have to have ranking transfers and telling us how great it is that hoiberg is going to Nebraska?
Oh come on, you can do better. We both know the market for transfers has changed to an incredible degree since 2010. Kansas went into this year about to start two of them. Do you think Fred would have had to go head-to-head with Self if somebody like Lawson was on the table in 2010 or 2012 the same way he would have to now? No. The world changed.
Fred found his moneyball solution, if only by accident. The problem with moneyball was everybody could copy the model quickly and easily, and everybody went ahead and did. I have a feeling that, if Fred tries to do everything the same in Lincoln for 2019 and 2020 that he did in Ames in 2010 and 2011, that the results are going to be very different for him.
Besides, Shayok, Jacobson, and Talley were three pretty good transfers on the past squad, and Nixon sounds like he is going to be at least solid. We do not own the game anymore; we are no longer the only game in town. Prohm is proving pretty decent at hybrid roster construction, and luring a P6 guy from an awesome program in Virginia (which just made a Final Four) to come in, to lead the team in scoring and to a Big 12 tournament title, and to win first-team all-conference, and to have a legitimate case to be in the Kane/Royce pantheon is not half bad.
I swear sometimes, I could write you a check for $1 million, and you'd ask where's the second.