2024-25 PSU MBB Thread

PSUFTG

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How many players are left?
Honestly, the way things are (not just at PSU) it is a crapshoot every day wrt what the roster looks like.

All the extra years, and guys playing 5-6 years, just made it even more confusing. I am guessing PSU is at 7-8 guys on roster at the minute (counting the incoming freshman class). But that could move up or down 2-3 guys in a heartbeat.
 

DaytonRickster

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Honestly, the way things are (not just at PSU) it is a crapshoot every day wrt what the roster looks like
True. I think PSU bball needs to look overseas in Europe, U.K., South America, Mexico, and U.S. territory of Puerto Rico for players.
 

PSUFTG

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True. I think PSU bball needs to look overseas in Europe, U.K., South America, Mexico, and U.S. territory of Puerto Rico for players.
I used to watch a lot of the NCAABB tourney - have yet to see minute 1 this year (and may not see any at all)
A friend was mentioning how in the past you would always see those shots of the bench of the losing team, as the game was winding down, and the true angst and disappointment of players realizing their time together as a team was coming to a (sad) close - and how now you get a shot of the bench, and realize many of those guys have hardly been at "their program" long enough to know one another's names.
Crazy. Aside from the true die-hard fans of a particular team, and those who watch because they either are into their "bracket" or degenerate gamblers (no offense Erial :) ), what is the point?
 

BobPSU92

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I used to watch a lot of the NCAABB tourney - have yet to see minute 1 this year (and may not see any at all)
A friend was mentioning how in the past you would always see those shots of the bench of the losing team, as the game was winding down, and the true angst and disappointment of players realizing their time together as a team was coming to a (sad) close - and how now you get a shot of the bench, and realize many of those guys have hardly been at "their program" long enough to know one another's names.
Crazy. Aside from the true die-hard fans of a particular team, and those who watch because they either are into their "bracket" or degenerate gamblers (no offense Erial :) ), what is the point?

“College” Basketball 😞
 
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DaytonRickster

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I’d much prefer Philly, the DMV, and New York.
Unfortunately those are being gobbled up by the top programs.
There are players who have excelled in NCAA D2 ready and able to move up and outside the CONUS who are looking for opportunities. I don't know if PSU's recruiting budget would allow them to scout/recruit overseas.
 

Erial_Lion

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Unfortunately those are being gobbled up by the top programs.
There are players who have excelled in NCAA D2 ready and able to move up and outside the CONUS who are looking for opportunities. I don't know if PSU's recruiting budget would allow them to scout/recruit overseas.
The players using that route to excel are few and far between. I’d prefer we continue establish those relationships closer to home that we can continue using more often (ie, what Pat had going in Philly).
 
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DaytonRickster

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The players using that route to excel are few and far between. I’d prefer we continue establish those relationships closer to home that we can continue using more often (ie, what Pat had going in Philly).
Do you think Rhoades can open those doors? I have my doubts about him recruiting Philly and NYC successfully. DMV maybe because of his time @ VCU.
 

Bison13

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I wouldn’t mind another European big, after all that’s what Yannick is. They could probably use a couple gritty, playmaking guards who get up in your face defensively like Ace, but ideally, as I mentioned the other site, they need to get a style That is a bit different than the others in the conference. Either go full on pressure defense to try and generate more offense that way, or get some more shooters and spread teams out to give Yannick some more room inside.
 
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Bkmtnittany1

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I wouldn’t mind another European big, after all that’s what Yannick is. They could probably use a couple gritty, playmaking guards who get up in your face defensively like Ace, but ideally, as I mentioned the other site, they need to get a style That is a bit different than the others in the conference. Either go full on pressure defense to try and generate more offense that way, or get some more shooters and spread teams out to give Yannick some more room inside.
Rhoades needs to take a few babes from The Phyrst to Europe to help him recruit… problems solved!
 

yboby

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Sure he can…though I wouldn’t mind a tweak to the staff to add a Philly guy.
Martelli is a Philly guy. Rhoades pointed towards him at his first press conference when asked how he planned to recruit Philly. Not sure, though, how effective Martelli would be.
 

Erial_Lion

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Martelli is a Philly guy. Rhoades pointed towards him at his first press conference when asked how he planned to recruit Philly. Not sure, though, how effective Martelli would be.
Yea, I guess that’s true to an extent (though all of his coaching has been elsewhere). And you could argue the same with Crispin. But I’d love someone with stronger ties, or more of a lead recruiter.
 
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Erial_Lion

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Carey Booth back in the portal again. I still think that he could be a good fit for what Mike wants to do.

Another guy I hope we're looking at is Adam Clark from Merrimack. He's small, but would be a good fit.

Also on my wish list is Alex Chaikin from Lafayette. I don't know if he fits into the system as well as the others, but he's a shooter with 3 more years that would give us some nice size too. Though some of our fans might be scared off by how things went for O'Boyle.
 
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PSUAVLNC

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Welp, if there's a bright spot for Penn States mens and women's basketball programs its that there's nowhere to go but up from here. Both programs are at rock bottom. Unfortunately I believe for both programs improvement begins with a change at the top, and apparently that isn't happening. Its a shame that a university with Penn State's prestige can't figure out how to even be competitive in basketball.
 

Erial_Lion

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Welp, if there's a bright spot for Penn States mens and women's basketball programs its that there's nowhere to go but up from here. Both programs are at rock bottom. Unfortunately I believe for both programs improvement begins with a change at the top, and apparently that isn't happening. Its a shame that a university with Penn State's prestige can't figure out how to even be competitive in basketball.
While I agree on the women's side, the men's team was nowhere near "rock bottom" this season. When healthy, we were potentially an NCAA tournament team. Even with all of the injuries, we finished 16-15 and at 59th in Pomeroy. That's obviously "competitive". We ran into a really tough Big Ten, suffered some key injuries, and lost too many close games.

We've seen what Rock Bottom looks like (end of the Dunn era going 7-21 two straight years with ~200th KenPom teams), and this hasn't been close to that.
 
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DaytonRickster

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Martelli is a Philly guy. Rhoades pointed towards him at his first press conference when asked how he planned to recruit Philly. Not sure, though, how effective Martelli would be.
I dob't think Martelli is coaching at this time but his son coaches a college team. Not sure he wants to recruit in Philly against his son unless he is brought on staff as an assistant at PSU.
 

Moogy

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While I agree on the women's side, the men's team was nowhere near "rock bottom" this season. When healthy, we were potentially an NCAA tournament team. Even with all of the injuries, we finished 16-15 and at 59th in Pomeroy. That's obviously "competitive". We ran into a really tough Big Ten, suffered some key injuries, and lost too many close games.

We've seen what Rock Bottom looks like (end of the Dunn era going 7-21 two straight years with ~200th KenPom teams), and this hasn't been close to that.
Where we are ... right now ... is that we lost 5 of the top 7 scorers from a woefully underperforming team. 3 of the 4 recruits from the recruiting class that was supposed to inject us with talent and youth are gone. The remaining 2 contributors are no lock to stay. And we have 1 recruit worth a darn coming in. That's not rock bottom ... but we're teetering. Critical mass to ensure we even retain that 1 recruit has not been reached.
 
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Bison13

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While I agree on the women's side, the men's team was nowhere near "rock bottom" this season. When healthy, we were potentially an NCAA tournament team. Even with all of the injuries, we finished 16-15 and at 59th in Pomeroy. That's obviously "competitive". We ran into a really tough Big Ten, suffered some key injuries, and lost too many close games.

We've seen what Rock Bottom looks like (end of the Dunn era going 7-21 two straight years with ~200th KenPom teams), and this hasn't been close to that.
yes, this team was 1 player from making the tourney in my opinion. Once Puff went down they tried to play smaller with Hicks at the 4 and Kern starting but it didnt work. Wish they would have tried Dunn for Kern earlier too. If they had a guy who could do what Puff did I think they get 3 more conference wins and maybe 1 in the conference tourney to end up 20-13. Depending on how that shakes out with other teams now getting an L, we could have been in.

Losing Goodman hurts but we need bigger guys to battle inside, going Euro isnt a bad thing if you get the right guys. The NBA and everyone else is going to the FIBA style and and modeling their training after the Euro academies so yes they do get better training over there, but they dont have the game experience that you get from playing street ball in the cities. Thats why so many Euros are soft, they totally play in controlled situations, which is why more and more USA trained kids are also now soft. If Rhoades goes with the 'toughness' route like at VCU he needs to get some Philly/DMV guards like Ace. But the other option is to get 1 ball dominant PG (Mingo) and space the floor with a couple shooters like you have mentioned.

Would Chance Westry come back home to central PA, he's in the portal.
 

Erial_Lion

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The remaining 2 contributors are no lock to stay. And we have 1 recruit worth a darn coming in.
Blackwood is certainly worth a darn.

And things are hitting the point where it's easier to list players that aren't in the Transfer portal across the NCAA landscape than call out those that are...I'd be more concerned if this was 2015 and guys had to sit out a year after transferring. But it's 2025, and there will be ample options out there to replace those that are departing.
 
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Tom McAndrew

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Carey Booth back in the portal again. I still think that he could be a good fit for what Mike wants to do.

Another guy I hope we're looking at is Adam Clark from Merrimack. He's small, but would be a good fit.

Also on my wish list is Alex Chaikin from Lafayette. I don't know if he fits into the system as well as the others, but he's a shooter with 3 more years that would give us some nice size too. Though some of our fans might be scared off by how things went for O'Boyle.

Booth didn't do very well this past season. Plus, there's this:

 

Erial_Lion

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Booth didn't do very well this past season. Plus, there's this:


Interesting, in that a) it makes a lot of sense for him to move again, and b) it was reported by several outlets yesterday that he was moving on.

But I guess he's a relatively good source on his plans for next year. ;)
 
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Bkmtnittany1

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Interesting, in that a) it makes a lot of sense for him to move again, and b) it was reported by several outlets yesterday that he was moving on.

But I guess he's a relatively good source on his plans for next year. ;)
Where did he play this year?
 

Bkmtnittany1

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We're using "play" loosely here...but he's at Illinois. 26 points on the season, and didn't see action in any of their Big Ten Tournament or NCAA Tournament games. He was the 10th man in a 9.5 man rotation.
So how much eligibility does he have left?
 

PSUAVLNC

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While I agree on the women's side, the men's team was nowhere near "rock bottom" this season. When healthy, we were potentially an NCAA tournament team. Even with all of the injuries, we finished 16-15 and at 59th in Pomeroy. That's obviously "competitive". We ran into a really tough Big Ten, suffered some key injuries, and lost too many close games.

We've seen what Rock Bottom looks like (end of the Dunn era going 7-21 two straight years with ~200th KenPom teams), and this hasn't been close to that.
There’s “death”, “taxes” and “Penn State Basketball”