One additional piece of context...Sokolov's agent is a big-time player for Euro players that migrate to college. For instance, nearly all of the players the Illinois Euros are clients of this guy. Beginning that relationship is probably a good idea.
@tjinman1987 Good point. General question for you, and whoever else... I used Caedmon Bontrager, Indiana Wesleyan, as an example of the type of guy I thought IU should target for their 10 minute or so role. He ended up committing to Tulane. There was another player that played for an NAIA school in Iowa... 6-8 wing/forward, stud (against NAIA comp), much more perimeter oriented than Bontrager... he signed with South Dakota St, I believe. Do those players end up getting more NIL money going to the lower tier D1 schools, with starter/main rotation level expectations, than they would at a school like IU, were they'd be bench depth pieces?
The Winker interest then also gives me the most pause on this whole thing... both those guys I mentioned above, are A LOT better than Winker is. Heck, there's a big from my HS going to Indiana Wesleyan, Indiana All Star, not as tall as Winker, but without a doubt a much better basketball player... No clue what he would have done if IU offered him, with any sort of NIL package as well...but I'd be surprised if he wouldn't have considered it.
My overall point... established All American level NAIA/D3 level guys... when looking to build depth, I would think, are as good or better values than Mid to lower level D1 bench guys. Am I overvaluing those guys? Is the NIL package for roster spots 9 ish through 13 ish, at places like IU, worse than a low D1 starter spot?
@tjinman1987 Steinbach at 27.9 ppg & 12 rpg certainly gives us an idea on expectations for Sokolov. No surprise in the add as DeVries stated in his recent interview the staff would be looking for some practice / developmental type players.
At this stage of the roster building process it would be nice if a few bucks were being held back to get a more experienced big capable of playing 10 or more minutes if needed.
A bargain upside add saving money for one last....
I worry about a player like that, playing for CDD... as that's one of the biggest concerns I have from CDD's first team... too many players being inconsistent with effort and focus.
Besides Connerway, who was benched, what players didn't show effort and focus? That was one thing I did appreciate about last year's team... they did play hard. They just were not a very good/deep team.
@beez all of them? Maybe with the exception of Enright…showed routinely that they’d stagnate offensively, and allow themselves to get out of position defensively. Rebounding focus and effort was also all over the board. These things are why we didn’t make the tournament just as much as talent level. In my opinion.
I worry about a player like that, playing for CDD... as that's one of the biggest concerns I have from CDD's first team... too many players being inconsistent with effort and focus.
Besides Connerway, who was benched, what players didn't show effort and focus? That was one thing I did appreciate about last year's team... they did play hard. They just were not a very good/deep team.
I think there were moments that each of them did. Tucker definitely took stretches of games off
Dorn at times looked like a deer in headlights. Bailey was in left field at times An utter lack of cohesion and effort. Enright showed the most effort and grit but he had moments as well. Connerway, I agree was the worst. Disinterested a lot of the season.
This roster doesn't seem to be primarily built around shooting like last season's. Should be a far less three-centric offense.
This roster doesn't seem to be primarily built around shooting like last season's. Should be a far less three-centric offense.
balance is good. Hopefully we have it.
This roster doesn't seem to be primarily built around shooting like last season's. Should be a far less three-centric offense.
balance is good. Hopefully we have it.
Good coaching would be even better!
And, IMO, that remains to be seen.
100 percent agree. Not sure he can do it no matter the roster.
Hey, our guy had a lead on Miami in the tournament once.
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j/k I'll stick with coach. Either we all hang together or we all hang separately.
@tjinman1987 I've always thought the ideal roster in terms of depth was to be 2 deep at every position and then a developmental/emergency PG, wing and post. Sounds like this kid fits the bill of developmental post.
@kkott Decent way of looking at it. Looking at this team, laid out like that...
PG - Burton, NONE
SG - Lindsey, Moody
SF - Mustaf, Harris
PF - Sherrell, Sisley
C - Yiggy, NONE
Others we have: Karvala and Manhertz, developmental wings. Sokolov, developmental big.
We need a legit 2 deep big, and a backup PG... looks like.
@iunorth The actual roster will always vary a little and I'd say we have some wiggle room as I'd guess Lindsay is likely to get most of the PG minutes when Burton is out and Sherrill when Yiggy is out, so not sure I'd say NONE in those backup positions. Barring injury, I think there won't be a lot of minutes at either one. I do agree, that's where I'd be looking for help, but my guess is we already have most of the minutes for those 2 backup spots on the roster.