Outlook for 23/24

[oldrunner]

With the addition of Blaise Threatt and Arnaud Revaz via the portal, it feels as though our roster for the coming year is set. With that said, I think it is fair to look at what the expectations will be for this team.

First off, we are the only team to be returning all five of our starters from last year in the BSC. We are the only team that didn't lose any of our top guys. Our weaknesses last year were our lack of depth at PG, the lack of depth on the wings, and the inexperience of our post players. Going forward, all of those weaknesses seem to have been addressed. Add to that we finished the season strong, even though we started off quite poorly.

I feel that the expectations should be, and will be quite high for this team. We were a couple of buckets away from making it to the dance last year. I expect nothing less than a championship season coming up. I don't know where we will be picked, and it doesn't really matter. I feel that this is shaping up to be a banner year for WSU hoops. :nod:

 

[Chex]

With the addition of Blaise Threatt and Arnaud Revaz via the portal, it feels as though our roster for the coming year is set. With that said, I think it is fair to look at what the expectations will be for this team.

First off, we are the only team to be returning all five of our starters from last year in the BSC. We are the only team that didn't lose any of our top guys. Our weaknesses last year were our lack of depth at PG, the lack of depth on the wings, and the inexperience of our post players. Going forward, all of those weaknesses seem to have been addressed. Add to that we finished the season strong, even though we started off quite poorly.

I feel that the expectations should be, and will be quite high for this team. We were a couple of buckets away from making it to the dance last year. I expect nothing less than a championship season coming up. I don't know where we will be picked, and it doesn't really matter. I feel that this is shaping up to be a banner year for WSU hoops. :nod:

I agree the expectations should be winning the conference. I have to tip my hat to Coach Duft, he really righted the ship after a rough start and got the team playing tough. Ironically, I’m feeling more confident in the basketball team than the football team given the transfer portal moves.

 

[oldrunner]

With the addition of Blaise Threatt and Arnaud Revaz via the portal, it feels as though our roster for the coming year is set. With that said, I think it is fair to look at what the expectations will be for this team.

First off, we are the only team to be returning all five of our starters from last year in the BSC. We are the only team that didn't lose any of our top guys. Our weaknesses last year were our lack of depth at PG, the lack of depth on the wings, and the inexperience of our post players. Going forward, all of those weaknesses seem to have been addressed. Add to that we finished the season strong, even though we started off quite poorly.

I feel that the expectations should be, and will be quite high for this team. We were a couple of buckets away from making it to the dance last year. I expect nothing less than a championship season coming up. I don't know where we will be picked, and it doesn't really matter. I feel that this is shaping up to be a banner year for WSU hoops. :nod:

I agree the expectations should be winning the conference. I have to tip my hat to Coach Duft, he really righted the ship after a rough start and got the team playing tough. Ironically, I’m feeling more confident in the basketball team than the football team given the transfer portal moves.

Yeah. Football had some significant out transfers. However, we were deep in talent and had a banner recruiting class. I expect we will be good. How good? I'm less sure, just like you.

For basketball, I am anxious to see them over the summer. I'm hoping that all of them make it for the summer development sessions. To me, it's the most important time of the year and sets up what will happen in the fall and winter. It's all about perfecting the skills you have and developing additional skills to use later. It's also the beginnings of developing relationships that will carry throughout the year. Last summer there were 3 or 4 guys who missed out on most of it and our preseason showed for it. Of particular concern is getting our European men here. The whole process of getting visas and arranging travel can be complicated. In a perfect world it wouldn't be, but last year it was less than perfect. We also had some medical issues that took a while to resolve themselves. I've got my fingers crossed.

 

[CrazyJ]

We lost some anchor players. There’s no doubt.

Gotta figure out the transfer portal. It’s a net loss right now.

But the hangover from Hill’s recruiting has been excellent. Mental has a HUGE job. Poor bastard!

Basketball ball team’s outlook is better than it has in YEARS.

 

[oldrunner]

I ran through what was happening wit all of our BSC basketball programs. Once, before all of the portal acivity and an update now that the majority of portal activity is over. There will still be some players added to teams, but each teams core is almost set in stone. A couple of teams have new coaches and that makes things a bit harder to predict. (UI, MSU)

BSC 2023/24 Basketball Outlook
Keep in mind that this doesn’t include all transfers or summer recruiting. Things will change.
School - Trending
About

EWU - Same, update; Down a bit
What they lose. SF/SG Alegri. Update; Venters transferred out
A starter and big contributor for the Eagles. Not easily replaced, but they do have 4 starters coming back. I expect they will be just as strong.
Update: With Venters leaving and the replacements not quite up to his level, EWU will be down a bit this year. Probably still top 4, but down.

MSU - Same, update; Down significantly
What they lose. C Belo, SF Fuller. Update; Coach left & mass transfers out.
Substantial losses, but returning starters are strong and experienced. They were one of the deeper teams and I expect they will be good again.
Update; Mass transfers only leaving 4 returning players, none of whom played much, It’s a total rebuild in Bozeman. Not looking good for transfers coming in. They will drop out of the top 4.

WSU - Trending Up; update; Looking good
What they lose. SG Porter, SG Ballard. Update; Lost 2 bench players to portal
Losses were two bench players. All five starters will be back and three commitments seem to be upgrades in talent. Should be improved next year.
Update; Incoming transfers and other recruits seem to have addressed weaknesses. Should be much improved.

UM - Same (if Moody is back – Trending Up) Update; slightly down
What they lose. SG Moody??, PF Anderson. Update; top big man went pro
Moody was their top scorer and Anderson’s role as the first post off the bench and defensive enforcer, make for substantial losses. The Griz have some promising recruits to fill in, but they are mostly unknowns at this point. I expect that they will be very similar to this year’s team.
Update; UM could be a bit down or about the same depending on the strength of the incoming freshman class.

ISU - Trending Down, update, Still down.
What they lose. SG McKenzie, SF/SG Smellie, SF Chang, PF Rodriguez, SF Nagle, C Lee.
Wow, that’s a lot. They do return some nice pieces, but this looks like a big rebuild. I can’t see them getting any better or even staying the same. Head first into the portal, I guess.
Update; In transfers do not seem to be up to the out transfers.

UNCo - Trending Down, Update; still Down
What they lose. PG Johnson, SG Kountz. Update; Kneckt out transfer
The Bears lose two of the better guards in the BSC, but return two of the better wings, along with some young post players who got substantial experience this year. No replacements for those guards yet, so the outlook is not good at this point.
Update; With Kneckt leaving it just adds to the uncertainty

UCSac - Trending Down; update; Still Down
What they lose. SG Chappell, SF Wilbon, SF Marks, C McRae.
They lose 80% of their starters and close to 90% of their scoring. Their first year coach brought in a bunch of transfers and made them competitive this year. Not sure he can match the high level transfers once again. I see them dropping off a bit.
Update; With 9 new players coming in and none quite at the level of what left, Sac will be down a bit. As usual, their recruits come in with some hype, but that does not win you games.

PSU - Same
What they lose. PG Parker, SG Starks. Update; a good in transfer.
Parker was the leading scorer in the BSC. He made them go. PSU will, more than likely, be heavily involved in the transfer market once again, as always, but stay about the same, as always.
Update; Doesn’t matter who they bring in. They will stay the same.

UI - Trending Down, Update; New staff & solid recruiting UP
What they lose. CG R Smith, CG Moffitt, SF T Smith. Update; Top player, Jones transferred out.
They return Jones, one of the better post players in the league, but lose their guard line. They have very little in the pipeline and will likely dive into the portal. Their coach has one foot on a banana peal and the other one wearing a roller skate. They won’t get out of the cellar.
Update; With a new coaching staff solid blue collar recruits coming in, they should move up a bit this year.

NAU - Same, Update; Slightly down
What they lose. SG Fuller, SF Mains. Update; top player, Cone, transferred out.
They lose those two starters, but return the best tiny guard in the league(Cone), a solid post man(Towt), and some serviceable role players. I feel that they under achieved this year. I don’t see them getting any better next year.
Update; Cone leaving does hurt, but incoming and returning players keep them about the same to down a bit.

2023/24 Top 4
WSU, UM, EWU, (NAU or UI)
Bottom 4
PSU, UNCo, Sac, (MSU or ISU)

If forced to pick an order of finish…
EWU
WSU
UM
NAU
UI
ISU
MSU
PSU
Sac
UNCo

 

[weberwildcat]

Msu and ewu look screwed. I think weber will be the coaches poll pick

 

[kcoolhand]

Well, after getting an invite & performing well in the G-League Combine, Dillon Jones was invited to the NBA Combine where he performed admirably. He also had workouts with several teams including Brooklyn Nets, & Boston Celtics before the NBA Combine. After the NBA Combine he had workouts with the LA Clippers, OKC Thunder & the Memphis Grizzlies through today (May 31, 2023) the deadline for players to withdraw from the NBA Draft and remain in College.

Today Dillon withdrew from the NBA Draft & announced he's returning to Weber State for his fourth Season. He was projected to be a second round pick, but I think Dillon wants to be a first round NBA Draft pick & if he improves between this year & next year at the same pace he has improved every year, I think this is a definite possibility.

With Dillon's return and not losing any starters or major rotation players, I think Weber should be the odds on favorite to be the preseason pick for Big Sky Champions.

Here is the article from the Standard Examiner about Dillon's announcement:

https://www.standard.net/sports/weber-state/2023/may/31/dillon-jones-nba-draft-deadline-withdraw-weber-state-basketball/

 

[oldrunner]

EWU has quietly put together a solid recruiting class. They may not be quite as good as they were last year, but they are not dropping off much. I expect them to be in the thick of things again this year. Looks to me like Weber, UM, and EWU will be duking it out for the championship.

I've seen a couple of our new guys working on their skills. I won't be a bit surprised to see one or two of them break into the starting lineup. We could have 2 or 3 freshmen getting significant minutes next winter.

Dillon is back in town and working his butt off, as usual, and Dyson is getting a full summer's work for the first time in a while. Chris Dockery's knee is fully healed and he is looking good. We are simply loaded at the wing positions.

This is shaping up to be a stellar year for BB at WSU. :nod: