Men's Basketball Transfer Carousel and Portal - 2024-25

[Rhody_NYCT]

I was NEVER excited about Hammond coming here, because I don’t believe in “commitments” anymore. The way things are now, incoming players have to earn my trust and fandom. Even then, I don’t expect them to stick around for more than a year or two, which stinks. I think TV ratings of men’s college hoops will decline for the foreseeable future (especially the regular season). I watched almost every game for the longest time. This past season I passed on at least 5 games and had zero interest in going to Brooklyn from CT. This is a lot coming from a die hard. The less continuity our team has year to year in the future, the less interest I am going to have in this sport that I once loved. I know there are plenty of people around the country that feel like me about their teams. If the sport loses viewers and then money, things might change. Maybe that’s what it will take to clean this garbage up.

[Rhode_Island_Red]

Reason 4849488327 I’ll never get excited for recruits this day and age.

Exactly. Nothing matters except who's on the roster Nov. 1.

[Section104]

I was NEVER excited about Hammond coming here, because I don’t believe in “commitments” anymore. The way things are now, incoming players have to earn my trust and fandom. Even then, I don’t expect them to stick around for more than a year or two, which stinks. I think TV ratings of men’s college hoops will decline for the foreseeable future (especially the regular season). I watched almost every game for the longest time. This past season I passed on at least 5 games and had zero interest in going to Brooklyn from CT. This is a lot coming from a die hard. The less continuity our team has year to year in the future, the less interest I am going to have in this sport that I once loved. I know there are plenty of people around the country that feel like me about their teams. If the sport loses viewers and then money, things might change. Maybe that’s what it will take to clean this garbage up.

https://x.com/MatSheltonEide/status/1780194636251730365

Mat Shelton Eide, a VCU diehard (VCU TBT GM), founder of A10talk etc., sums it up nicely. If he's saying this I imagine the feeling is way more widespread than anyone realizes.

Ratings may be up, but its inflated due to sports gambling (another problem entirely). There will come a time that even the Duke and Kentucky's of the world will lose some of their fan base as it will be impossible to get too invested in a team that starts from scratch every year. Gone are the days of JJ Reddick, Tyler Hansbrough, Perry Ellis. Gone are the days of EC Matthews, Hassan Martin, Jared Terrell, Mo Alie-Cox, Hasahn French, Kendall Pollard, Scoochie Smith. How do you get invested in these programs when you get one year of a player? You go on one magical run with a young team and their entire team (coaching staff included) will move on up (Drake, FAU, Indiana State).

There's no point in investing in freshman recruiting. Try and assemble a team. Throw them on the court. Hope they win.

It's spiraling out of control. Almost so much that something will be done because the sport will be non-existent in 3 years if there aren't restrictions put in place. NCAA leadership is incompetent but even they understand that they will lose everything if they don't put some guard rails in place. Until then, buckle up and brace for impact.

I hope we look back on this time in 5 years and laugh at how we had a 2-3 year window of the wild wild west. I remain hopeful...time will tell.

[section(105)]

Maybe we will get another arrival commitment today or tomorrow, so that this will hopefully become Ben who?

[KevanBoyles]

After the Hammond debacle, why should we waste our time trying to recruit high level high school talent. Go straight to the portal and maybe after a couple of good seasons, if that’s even possible, you look back into recruiting freshman again.

A couple of interesting things I noticed while watching the tournament:

1. Most of the teams that advanced did so with seniors and grad transfers with a freshman or sophomore here or there.

2. Most of the transfers were coming up from lower ranked conferences. Not many were moving laterally.

With the A-10 being ranked the #7 conference by NET, there must be plenty of experienced talent in the lower 24 conferences conferences to serve our needs.

[steviep123]

Seems RV has an axe to grind

How many contradictions can you fit into 280 characters? This literally makes no sense.

Agreed? Either Archie was the right hire by Thorr or Archie is the problem - he seems to say both are true. He also indicates that the program was in great shape when Miller was hired. Maybe between the practice facility being in motion and other infrastructure, but Cox left the program in worse shape than when DH took over from Baron. He essentially undid the culture. While year 3 may be pivotal, I can't see URI firing him after year 3.

[KevanBoyles]

I quickly counted 91 teams in the top 6 conferences (now the PAC 12 is gone). That leaves 272 teams in D-1, and assuming 3 players on each team interested in moving up and transferring, that’s a potential 816 players to choose from (not to mention D-2, D-3, Junior College, and international players). I think we have to focus on these guys and grow our team older and more experienced asap.

[Ramfan22]

Showed interest in him last season, had a good year at Illinois State, 6’7” forward who averaged 12.4 PPG, and 8.1 RPG.

[reef]

After the Hammond debacle, why should we waste our time trying to recruit high level high school talent. Go straight to the portal and maybe after a couple of good seasons, if that’s even possible, you look back into recruiting freshman again.

A couple of interesting things I noticed while watching the tournament:

1. Most of the teams that advanced did so with seniors and grad transfers with a freshman or sophomore here or there.

2. Most of the transfers were coming up from lower ranked conferences. Not many were moving laterally.

With the A-10 being ranked the #7 conference by NET, there must be plenty of experienced talent in the lower 24 conferences conferences to serve our needs.

Yeah I think @ the most get 2 commitments then 1 may decommitt, the rest of the team is made up with transfers, new age college hoops

[reef]

I love this addition, not just because I am a Husker guy.
I have seen him play lots and love his game.

Good size at PG, can stretch it, not selfish, and can play D.

Anyone have any thoughts on why D Lawrence hit the portal and why did he choose URI ? Were there new recruits coming in that could threaten his playing time ? Did he think dropping down a conference would be good for his future ?

[RF1]

As of 10:30am 03/30/2024, the portal is now up to 1,182

As of 10:45am on 04/03/2024, the portal is now up to 1,333

As of 5:45pm on 04/09/2024, the portal is now up to 1,537.

As of 11:00am on 04/17/2024, the portal is now up to 1,697.

[rambone 78]

We finally got a decent transfer and someone is questioning how and why?

Man this place is tough.

Be happy we landed him hope for more and who cares how we got him!

[bigappleram]

Showed interest in him last season, had a good year at Illinois State, 6’7” forward who averaged 12.4 PPG, and 8.1 RPG.

Seems to profile very similarly to David Green.

[Section104]

Showed interest in him last season, had a good year at Illinois State, 6’7” forward who averaged 12.4 PPG, and 8.1 RPG.

Seems to profile very similarly to David Green.

Oh boy. Are you hinting that David Green is next into the portal?

[bigappleram]

Showed interest in him last season, had a good year at Illinois State, 6’7” forward who averaged 12.4 PPG, and 8.1 RPG.

Seems to profile very similarly to David Green.

Oh boy. Are you hinting that David Green is next into the portal?

I have no reason to believe that...could be that Archie wants to play smaller next year at times with no true 5? Maybe he's just a depth piece to DG.

[PeterRamTime]

I was NEVER excited about Hammond coming here, because I don’t believe in “commitments” anymore. The way things are now, incoming players have to earn my trust and fandom. Even then, I don’t expect them to stick around for more than a year or two, which stinks. I think TV ratings of men’s college hoops will decline for the foreseeable future (especially the regular season). I watched almost every game for the longest time. This past season I passed on at least 5 games and had zero interest in going to Brooklyn from CT. This is a lot coming from a die hard. The less continuity our team has year to year in the future, the less interest I am going to have in this sport that I once loved. I know there are plenty of people around the country that feel like me about their teams. If the sport loses viewers and then money, things might change. Maybe that’s what it will take to clean this garbage up.

Lol you missed 5 games because we sucked.

If we were winning, there's no way you miss 5 games.

[RhowdyRam02]

I love this addition, not just because I am a Husker guy.
I have seen him play lots and love his game.

Good size at PG, can stretch it, not selfish, and can play D.

Anyone have any thoughts on why D Lawrence hit the portal and why did he choose URI ? Were there new recruits coming in that could threaten his playing time ? Did he think dropping down a conference would be good for his future ?

No insight, but it could really be as simple as wanting to be closer to home in NJ

[Jdrums#3]

The staff should just forget about recruiting high level freshmen. They aren't going to stay here for more than 1 year if they do come.

Concentrate on players like Lawrence who already have solid D1 experience and have a much better chance of staying here for 2, or maybe 3 years.

Mid majors like URI really have no other choice nowadays.

I have been coming around to this same line of thinking, bone.

Does it make sense to invest money in recruiting inexperienced, less mature (physically and behaviorally) prep stars - under the current no sit out rule - if the odds indicate they will only stay a year or two and then reach their potential elsewhere ?

I am not saying stop completely. But, it may make sense to scale back and put valuable resources into scouting transfers instead for now then, re-adjust when or if some common sense movement controls are put in place or the movement slows organically somehow.

Personally, it is unfortunate to think this way because I am typically one that wants to see freshman get an opportunity to prove themselves and grow. But, we have to adapt and do what’s best for the program and not prep recruits.

We are in a very fluid cbb landscape currently.

[Jdrums#3]

Archie must have really hurt Vaults feelings.

Imho, Vault brings no value to me as a fan and brings no value to the program.

True Jdrums#3, but I’ll take it a step further and say Rhody Vault brings negative value to the program. What he puts out on URI MBB is heavily biased against the team and coach. He does not disclose his sources (unless he is wrong as in the guarantee Tre Mitchell is coming to URI - then he blames his source who he never gave credit to in the 1st place). He makes it sound like he is at the games and practices but 99%+ of the time he is in Canada.
As BAR and BlueMan say he is an enemy of the state…..it’s been that way since Miller started and getting progressively worse.

Thanks for taking it a step further, Ramster.

[Jdrums#3]

I was NEVER excited about Hammond coming here, because I don’t believe in “commitments” anymore. The way things are now, incoming players have to earn my trust and fandom. Even then, I don’t expect them to stick around for more than a year or two, which stinks. I think TV ratings of men’s college hoops will decline for the foreseeable future (especially the regular season). I watched almost every game for the longest time. This past season I passed on at least 5 games and had zero interest in going to Brooklyn from CT. This is a lot coming from a die hard. The less continuity our team has year to year in the future, the less interest I am going to have in this sport that I once loved. I know there are plenty of people around the country that feel like me about their teams. If the sport loses viewers and then money, things might change. Maybe that’s what it will take to clean this garbage up.

https://x.com/MatSheltonEide/status/1780194636251730365

Mat Shelton Eide, a VCU diehard (VCU TBT GM), founder of A10talk etc., sums it up nicely. If he's saying this I imagine the feeling is way more widespread than anyone realizes.

Ratings may be up, but its inflated due to sports gambling (another problem entirely). There will come a time that even the Duke and Kentucky's of the world will lose some of their fan base as it will be impossible to get too invested in a team that starts from scratch every year. Gone are the days of JJ Reddick, Tyler Hansbrough, Perry Ellis. Gone are the days of EC Matthews, Hassan Martin, Jared Terrell, Mo Alie-Cox, Hasahn French, Kendall Pollard, Scoochie Smith. How do you get invested in these programs when you get one year of a player? You go on one magical run with a young team and their entire team (coaching staff included) will move on up (Drake, FAU, Indiana State).

There's no point in investing in freshman recruiting. Try and assemble a team. Throw them on the court. Hope they win.

It's spiraling out of control. Almost so much that something will be done because the sport will be non-existent in 3 years if there aren't restrictions put in place. NCAA leadership is incompetent but even they understand that they will lose everything if they don't put some guard rails in place. Until then, buckle up and brace for impact.

I hope we look back on this time in 5 years and laugh at how we had a 2-3 year window of the wild wild west. I remain hopeful...time will tell.

I agree with this to an extent.

But, for those on the ADHD spectrum, it may be perfect. Never a dull moment. Constant change. Nothing at a standstill.

Phones and other handheld devices are perfect mediums for the flow of constantly changing info, too.

Note: Funny, I never knew behavioral conditions had spectrums. I thought spectrums only existed with light and color.

[steviep123]

Tyson Brown to GA Southern:

[steviep123]

[section(105)]

Rhody Rehab has not had any spike in referrals. Good job KB, we are coping, so far.

[Jdrums#3]

Rhody Rehab has not had any spike in referrals. Good job KB, we are coping, so far.

105, In the words of the Terminator…

I’ll be bock (or, back in my non-Arnold voice).

[BattleTested]

After the Hammond debacle, why should we waste our time trying to recruit high level high school talent. Go straight to the portal and maybe after a couple of good seasons, if that’s even possible, you look back into recruiting freshman again.

A couple of interesting things I noticed while watching the tournament:

1. Most of the teams that advanced did so with seniors and grad transfers with a freshman or sophomore here or there.

2. Most of the transfers were coming up from lower ranked conferences. Not many were moving laterally.

With the A-10 being ranked the #7 conference by NET, there must be plenty of experienced talent in the lower 24 conferences conferences to serve our needs.

Good point.. But also remember that most of the teams that advanced far had upperclassmen who had played together for at least 2 years. Not just a bunch of new guys. The teams that can keep a core together and bring in guys around them are the ones who will be successful

[NYGFan_Section208]

Go straight to the portal

EXACTLY

[Ramfan22]

Get ready to learn Rhode Island ram buddy

[Rhody_NYCT]

I was NEVER excited about Hammond coming here, because I don’t believe in “commitments” anymore. The way things are now, incoming players have to earn my trust and fandom. Even then, I don’t expect them to stick around for more than a year or two, which stinks. I think TV ratings of men’s college hoops will decline for the foreseeable future (especially the regular season). I watched almost every game for the longest time. This past season I passed on at least 5 games and had zero interest in going to Brooklyn from CT. This is a lot coming from a die hard. The less continuity our team has year to year in the future, the less interest I am going to have in this sport that I once loved. I know there are plenty of people around the country that feel like me about their teams. If the sport loses viewers and then money, things might change. Maybe that’s what it will take to clean this garbage up.

Lol you missed 5 games because we sucked.

If we were winning, there's no way you miss 5 games.

Haha. That’s a fair point. But unfortunately we have sucked prior to last season too, and I was more engaged.

[PeterRamTime]

I was NEVER excited about Hammond coming here, because I don’t believe in “commitments” anymore. The way things are now, incoming players have to earn my trust and fandom. Even then, I don’t expect them to stick around for more than a year or two, which stinks. I think TV ratings of men’s college hoops will decline for the foreseeable future (especially the regular season). I watched almost every game for the longest time. This past season I passed on at least 5 games and had zero interest in going to Brooklyn from CT. This is a lot coming from a die hard. The less continuity our team has year to year in the future, the less interest I am going to have in this sport that I once loved. I know there are plenty of people around the country that feel like me about their teams. If the sport loses viewers and then money, things might change. Maybe that’s what it will take to clean this garbage up.

Lol you missed 5 games because we sucked.

If we were winning, there's no way you miss 5 games.

Haha. That’s a fair point. But unfortunately we have sucked prior to last season too, and I was more engaged.

Well its the second worst stretch in URI basketball history too...

[Rhodyg]

Looks like Archie saw this coming with the Recruitment of Lawrence.

I didn't really understand (still don't) the excitement over an undersized freshman point guard to come in and play a key role. He may turn into a star someday, but chances are slim to none it's happening as a freshman. It's mostly a year to year game now. There's no reason I can see not to have an experienced PG running the show every year now. I mean, why wouldn't you?

Nah man that is ridiculous to say. And I’m the one who said losing KJ would be the greatest loss in program history aside from Hurley, so that’s saying something. This kid Hammond was the leading pg, essentially the captain of the #2 program in all of US high school basketball. He plays a different level of ball than 95% of the kids we’ve ever had come here. This kid would have came in and been one of our best players, an easy A10 rookie of the year candidate. He would have transferred after first year anyway. The only reason he committed here was due to his size. If he were even 6’0 he would be a first year starter anywhere in the country. He would have been a major program changer. A rich man’s Fatts Russell.

[NYGFan_Section208]

Looks like Archie saw this coming with the Recruitment of Lawrence.

I didn't really understand (still don't) the excitement over an undersized freshman point guard to come in and play a key role. He may turn into a star someday, but chances are slim to none it's happening as a freshman. It's mostly a year to year game now. There's no reason I can see not to have an experienced PG running the show every year now. I mean, why wouldn't you?

Nah man that is ridiculous to say. And I’m the one who said losing KJ would be the greatest loss in program history aside from Hurley, so that’s saying something. This kid Hammond was the leading pg, essentially the captain of the #2 program in all of US high school basketball. He plays a different level of ball than 95% of the kids we’ve ever had come here. This kid would have came in and been one of our best players, an easy A10 rookie of the year candidate. He would have transferred after first year anyway. The only reason he committed here was due to his size. If he were even 6’0 he would be a first year starter anywhere in the country. He would have been a major program changer. A rich man’s Fatts Russell.

Ok. I'll be on the lookout for him getting major starting minutes on a P5 team in 24-25. That's just as ridiculous as the other ridiculous thing you said (not that I can't be ridiculous myself, of course)

[Billyboy78]

Looks like Archie saw this coming with the Recruitment of Lawrence.

I didn't really understand (still don't) the excitement over an undersized freshman point guard to come in and play a key role. He may turn into a star someday, but chances are slim to none it's happening as a freshman. It's mostly a year to year game now. There's no reason I can see not to have an experienced PG running the show every year now. I mean, why wouldn't you?

Nah man that is ridiculous to say. And I’m the one who said losing KJ would be the greatest loss in program history aside from Hurley, so that’s saying something. This kid Hammond was the leading pg, essentially the captain of the #2 program in all of US high school basketball. He plays a different level of ball than 95% of the kids we’ve ever had come here. This kid would have came in and been one of our best players, an easy A10 rookie of the year candidate. He would have transferred after first year anyway. The only reason he committed here was due to his size. If he were even 6’0 he would be a first year starter anywhere in the country. He would have been a major program changer. A rich man’s Fatts Russell.

How can someone who is here for 1 year be a program changer?

[Rhodyg]

I didn't really understand (still don't) the excitement over an undersized freshman point guard to come in and play a key role. He may turn into a star someday, but chances are slim to none it's happening as a freshman. It's mostly a year to year game now. There's no reason I can see not to have an experienced PG running the show every year now. I mean, why wouldn't you?

Nah man that is ridiculous to say. And I’m the one who said losing KJ would be the greatest loss in program history aside from Hurley, so that’s saying something. This kid Hammond was the leading pg, essentially the captain of the #2 program in all of US high school basketball. He plays a different level of ball than 95% of the kids we’ve ever had come here. This kid would have came in and been one of our best players, an easy A10 rookie of the year candidate. He would have transferred after first year anyway. The only reason he committed here was due to his size. If he were even 6’0 he would be a first year starter anywhere in the country. He would have been a major program changer. A rich man’s Fatts Russell.

How can someone who is here for 1 year be a program changer?

All it takes is one good season in this new landscape for the future of a program to make a 180.

[theblueram]

Looks like Archie saw this coming with the Recruitment of Lawrence.

I didn't really understand (still don't) the excitement over an undersized freshman point guard to come in and play a key role. He may turn into a star someday, but chances are slim to none it's happening as a freshman. It's mostly a year to year game now. There's no reason I can see not to have an experienced PG running the show every year now. I mean, why wouldn't you?

Nah man that is ridiculous to say. And I’m the one who said losing KJ would be the greatest loss in program history aside from Hurley, so that’s saying something. This kid Hammond was the leading pg, essentially the captain of the #2 program in all of US high school basketball. He plays a different level of ball than 95% of the kids we’ve ever had come here. This kid would have came in and been one of our best players, an easy A10 rookie of the year candidate. He would have transferred after first year anyway. The only reason he committed here was due to his size. If he were even 6’0 he would be a first year starter anywhere in the country. He would have been a major program changer. A rich man’s Fatts Russell.

sheesh. The kid is 5'10. Guess what, the NBA has already said no to this kid. KJ the greatest loss, lmao. I would say most recently the greatest loss in our program was when Cox took Jeff Dowtin( who is in fact an NBA PG) off the point guard position. Imagine a coach take one of the best point guards in the country out of position? Cox was done year one. Maybe that was the greatest loss, that we hired that idiot as head coach.

[Rhodymob05]

When’s the next player announcement gonna drop??

[Rhodyg]

I didn't really understand (still don't) the excitement over an undersized freshman point guard to come in and play a key role. He may turn into a star someday, but chances are slim to none it's happening as a freshman. It's mostly a year to year game now. There's no reason I can see not to have an experienced PG running the show every year now. I mean, why wouldn't you?

Nah man that is ridiculous to say. And I’m the one who said losing KJ would be the greatest loss in program history aside from Hurley, so that’s saying something. This kid Hammond was the leading pg, essentially the captain of the #2 program in all of US high school basketball. He plays a different level of ball than 95% of the kids we’ve ever had come here. This kid would have came in and been one of our best players, an easy A10 rookie of the year candidate. He would have transferred after first year anyway. The only reason he committed here was due to his size. If he were even 6’0 he would be a first year starter anywhere in the country. He would have been a major program changer. A rich man’s Fatts Russell.

sheesh. The kid is 5'10. Guess what, the NBA has already said no to this kid. KJ the greatest loss, lmao. I would say most recently the greatest loss in our program was when Cox took Jeff Dowtin( who is in fact an NBA PG) off the point guard position. Imagine a coach take one of the best point guards in the country out of position? Cox was done year one. Maybe that was the greatest loss, that we hired that idiot as head coach.

By no means would Hammond play in the NBA. All I was referencing is that he is a high level point guard. And with a bit more size could be playing anywhere in the country. NBA candidacy is entirely different. The other poster said he would not have a significant role on this team his freshman year. Bogus.

[theblueram]

Nah man that is ridiculous to say. And I’m the one who said losing KJ would be the greatest loss in program history aside from Hurley, so that’s saying something. This kid Hammond was the leading pg, essentially the captain of the #2 program in all of US high school basketball. He plays a different level of ball than 95% of the kids we’ve ever had come here. This kid would have came in and been one of our best players, an easy A10 rookie of the year candidate. He would have transferred after first year anyway. The only reason he committed here was due to his size. If he were even 6’0 he would be a first year starter anywhere in the country. He would have been a major program changer. A rich man’s Fatts Russell.

sheesh. The kid is 5'10. Guess what, the NBA has already said no to this kid. KJ the greatest loss, lmao. I would say most recently the greatest loss in our program was when Cox took Jeff Dowtin( who is in fact an NBA PG) off the point guard position. Imagine a coach take one of the best point guards in the country out of position? Cox was done year one. Maybe that was the greatest loss, that we hired that idiot as head coach.

By no means would Hammond play in the NBA. All I was referencing is that he is a high level point guard. And with a bit more size could be playing anywhere in the country. NBA candidacy is entirely different. The other poster said he would not have a significant role on this team his freshman year. Bogus.

Well, he doesn't have size. You know how many talented freshmen we have seen get here, and get in the game with 5-6K fans screaming, and just freeze? I can't count. So to say he would step in, and be a starting point guard is a bit much. Or even a significant role. He hasn't proven jack shit on an NCAA D1 court yet. I'll be watching though.

[Rhodyg]

sheesh. The kid is 5'10. Guess what, the NBA has already said no to this kid. KJ the greatest loss, lmao. I would say most recently the greatest loss in our program was when Cox took Jeff Dowtin( who is in fact an NBA PG) off the point guard position. Imagine a coach take one of the best point guards in the country out of position? Cox was done year one. Maybe that was the greatest loss, that we hired that idiot as head coach.

By no means would Hammond play in the NBA. All I was referencing is that he is a high level point guard. And with a bit more size could be playing anywhere in the country. NBA candidacy is entirely different. The other poster said he would not have a significant role on this team his freshman year. Bogus.

Well, he doesn't have size. You know how many talented freshmen we have seen get here, and get in the game with 5-6K fans screaming, and just freeze? I can't count. So to say he would step in, and be a starting point guard is a bit much. Or even a significant role. He hasn't proven jack shit on an NCAA D1 court yet. I'll be watching though.

I can assure you playing on ESPN vs #1 Monteverde would have been more nerve wracking than any reg season game in a Rhody jersey.

[Rhody_NYCT]

Nah man that is ridiculous to say. And I’m the one who said losing KJ would be the greatest loss in program history aside from Hurley, so that’s saying something. This kid Hammond was the leading pg, essentially the captain of the #2 program in all of US high school basketball. He plays a different level of ball than 95% of the kids we’ve ever had come here. This kid would have came in and been one of our best players, an easy A10 rookie of the year candidate. He would have transferred after first year anyway. The only reason he committed here was due to his size. If he were even 6’0 he would be a first year starter anywhere in the country. He would have been a major program changer. A rich man’s Fatts Russell.

How can someone who is here for 1 year be a program changer?

All it takes is one good season in this new landscape for the future of a program to make a 180.

I agree with this statement to a certain degree. With all of the shifting and personal changes every year, I DO BELIEVE YOU CAN TURN A "TEAM" AROUND IN ONE YEAR. And that would make for a fun season. But, just as quickly, the team can go south the following year. So, I'm not so sure you can turn a "program" around but you can have a quick turnaround from one year to the next. This is another way of saying, the current state of college hoops sucks. Haha.

One more thing, are we going to bash David Cox for the rest of our lives. Some of you need to get over it. I kinda miss the Baron bashing. Anyone who followed Hurley was going to take us downhill. It's reality. We all know in hindsight he wasn't the best hire. But come on already. He must have done something to a few of you personally. I don't get the obsession with blaming the guy every which way. He's long gone. Move on.

[theblueram]

By no means would Hammond play in the NBA. All I was referencing is that he is a high level point guard. And with a bit more size could be playing anywhere in the country. NBA candidacy is entirely different. The other poster said he would not have a significant role on this team his freshman year. Bogus.

Well, he doesn't have size. You know how many talented freshmen we have seen get here, and get in the game with 5-6K fans screaming, and just freeze? I can't count. So to say he would step in, and be a starting point guard is a bit much. Or even a significant role. He hasn't proven jack shit on an NCAA D1 court yet. I'll be watching though.

I can assure you playing on ESPN vs #1 Monteverde would have been more nerve wracking than any reg season game in a Rhody jersey.

Unfortunately we will never know. Cause next year pc is at URI. That means 8K fans on National TV. I really wonder if the kid would have pissed down his shorts or if he could handle it. Never know I guess.

[RhowdyRam02]

How can someone who is here for 1 year be a program changer?

All it takes is one good season in this new landscape for the future of a program to make a 180.

I agree with this statement to a certain degree. With all of the shifting and personal changes every year, I DO BELIEVE YOU CAN TURN A "TEAM" AROUND IN ONE YEAR. And that would make for a fun season. But, just as quickly, the team can go south the following year. So, I'm not so sure you can turn a "program" around but you can have a quick turnaround from one year to the next. This is another way of saying, the current state of college hoops sucks. Haha.

One more thing, are we going to bash David Cox for the rest of our lives. Some of you need to get over it. I kinda miss the Baron bashing. Anyone who followed Hurley was going to take us downhill. It's reality. We all know in hindsight he wasn't the best hire. But come on already. He must have done something to a few of you personally. I don't get the obsession with blaming the guy every which way. He's long gone. Move on.

Aa long as we're still digging out from the hole Cox created he's going to get bashed, that's the nature of the beast

[NYGFan_Section208]

Nah man that is ridiculous to say. And I’m the one who said losing KJ would be the greatest loss in program history aside from Hurley, so that’s saying something. This kid Hammond was the leading pg, essentially the captain of the #2 program in all of US high school basketball. He plays a different level of ball than 95% of the kids we’ve ever had come here. This kid would have came in and been one of our best players, an easy A10 rookie of the year candidate. He would have transferred after first year anyway. The only reason he committed here was due to his size. If he were even 6’0 he would be a first year starter anywhere in the country. He would have been a major program changer. A rich man’s Fatts Russell.

How can someone who is here for 1 year be a program changer?

All it takes is one good season in this new landscape for the future of a program to make a 180.

exactly. Momentum changer.

[Billyboy78]

Lamar Odom played for one year. How much did he change the program?

[steveystuds06]

Looks like Archie saw this coming with the Recruitment of Lawrence.

I didn't really understand (still don't) the excitement over an undersized freshman point guard to come in and play a key role. He may turn into a star someday, but chances are slim to none it's happening as a freshman. It's mostly a year to year game now. There's no reason I can see not to have an experienced PG running the show every year now. I mean, why wouldn't you?

Nah man that is ridiculous to say. And I’m the one who said losing KJ would be the greatest loss in program history aside from Hurley, so that’s saying something. This kid Hammond was the leading pg, essentially the captain of the #2 program in all of US high school basketball. He plays a different level of ball than 95% of the kids we’ve ever had come here. This kid would have came in and been one of our best players, an easy A10 rookie of the year candidate. He would have transferred after first year anyway. The only reason he committed here was due to his size. If he were even 6’0 he would be a first year starter anywhere in the country. He would have been a major program changer. A rich man’s Fatts Russell.

So, in your opinion, we just lost one of the best assistants and freshmen in the country? I love Hammond, but a rich man's Fatts Russell would be one of the best guards in the history of our program and country. Hammond is a nice player. He's not even remotely close to the scorer Fatts was at this stage. He's a better floor general than Fatts. He's not a good 3-point shooter at this stage, and he had issues with the bigger athletic guards he faced. This is something a few of us brought up recently after watching him. I need to see Hammond excel as the top option before putting in the A10 rookie of the year convo. My biggest worry was that he played with some of the country's best players, sometimes making him the 3rd or 4th option. I wondered how efficient he would be as the top option, with defenses focused on stopping him. I think he eventually had the tools to be an all-A10 guard and would have made the all rookie team.

If he's a rich man, Fatts Russell, then he should be going to a high major and having a big role immediately. We'll see what happens, but I think he's a perfect A10 player and would have issues in a full-time high-major role in his earlier years.

[steveystuds06]

Lamar Odom played for one year. How much did he change the program?

I think it's different when a program like ours lands one of the best NBA prospects in the country. Someone like that can make a big difference for one year. As much as we all love Ben Hammond, he's not a one-and-done guard who's going to go on to be one of the best 6th men in the NBA and win multiple rings.

[RamStock]

Looks like Archie saw this coming with the Recruitment of Lawrence.

I didn't really understand (still don't) the excitement over an undersized freshman point guard to come in and play a key role. He may turn into a star someday, but chances are slim to none it's happening as a freshman. It's mostly a year to year game now. There's no reason I can see not to have an experienced PG running the show every year now. I mean, why wouldn't you?

This might be true in the case of Hammond, but Lawrence was a backup guard for Nebraska that average over 6ppg. He looks like he will be a solid player and good teammate, but no difference maker playing with guys like House and Luis who aren’t exactly world beaters in my opinion. People love our guards now, but we have no good three point shooters and still have no point guard. We are losing anyway so it would have fun to watch Lawrence develop

[RI_Bred]

Reason 4849488327 I’ll never get excited for recruits this day and age.

Agree. And I have to ask, why does this situation, which will happen again and again ad nauseum with zero oversite as of now, make you feel like fans should be contributing money to the program? Honest question, still open for debate.

[NYGFan_Section208]

Looks like Archie saw this coming with the Recruitment of Lawrence.

I didn't really understand (still don't) the excitement over an undersized freshman point guard to come in and play a key role. He may turn into a star someday, but chances are slim to none it's happening as a freshman. It's mostly a year to year game now. There's no reason I can see not to have an experienced PG running the show every year now. I mean, why wouldn't you?

This might be true in the case of Hammond, but Lawrence was a backup guard for Nebraska that average over 6ppg. He looks like he will be a solid player and good teammate, but no difference maker playing with guys like House and Luis who aren’t exactly world beaters in my opinion. People love our guards now, but we have no good three point shooters and still have no point guard. We are losing anyway so it would have fun to watch Lawrence develop

I'm going to assume you meant, "watch Hammond develop." And just ask...in today's landscape, where every day is 'today', why would it be funner to watch a guy develop...than to watch a guy just be good from the get-go? Knowing, you're only guaranteed ONE YEAR. Just..... 1.

[Rhody15]

Reason 4849488327 I’ll never get excited for recruits this day and age.

Agree. And I have to ask, why does this situation, which will happen again and again ad nauseum with zero oversite as of now, make you feel like fans should be contributing money to the program? Honest question, still open for debate.

Help get and retain players (literally every single team will lose recruits and kids to transfer,) to still feel connected to the university and team, go to private events, have pride in your school.

[RhodyKyle]

Reason 4849488327 I’ll never get excited for recruits this day and age.

Agree. And I have to ask, why does this situation, which will happen again and again ad nauseum with zero oversite as of now, make you feel like fans should be contributing money to the program? Honest question, still open for debate.

Because I root for the laundry and want to do all I can to help the program succeed.