2012's Rebuild vs. Today

[Blue Man]

I was going to post this in the PC thread - but that has started to turn into the "expectations of a season" instead of the game itself, so for the sake of the board I'll start this topic.

There's a big disconnect between my prediction contest and what I actually expect. The best part of this rebuild is knowing we have the right coach. Even with Hurley you could fairly wonder if he was going to be the right guy. He had never coached at this level, came close to the tourney in the NEC - but was largely regarded as a high school coach.

We had to wonder with Cox, as he had never been in the head seat at any level.

Archie checks every box and has the experience at the highest levels of the sport. Anyone who's watched 10 minutes of this year vs 10 minutes of last year can see the stark contrast of what we have now vs what we had. We're clearly going in the right direction, just like with Hurley. I trust the process we're embarking on.

To feel better about who's leading this team, you want to see a coherent system and brand of basketball being played. That much has been established.

This disconnect and the L's are relative to the lack of execution and focus. That can be attributed to a very young team of raw guys brought in to build a culture around and win in the next couple of years.

I looked at this year as being a team somewhere between the Dan's first year in 2012-2013, and the 2nd year in 2013-2014.

However, when you start to compare the 2012 roster that Hurley started with...it might actually have been better than what we have now. Not necessarily in raw talent - but in experience. The age/experience matters a lot, as you saw Saturday. Archie opted for a rebuild with young pieces to grow together and be a force in a few years. Not right, wrong, or indifferent. It's playing the long game instead of playing the short one. We didn't get the upperclassmen to be a bridge to the future, because Archie would rather build his culture from the ground up.

I'm assuming Archie didn't want to take the risk of bringing in someone with extreme talent who was going to be here for a year and potentially derail his culture goals for a handful more wins. I.e. if you bring in a really talented kid who obviously has to play, and there's a risk he doesn't put out in practice/do the things you want him to off the court - then you risk the younger players saying "it doesn't matter the work we put in, it's all about the talent/pedigree you have." So then you start a rebuild off with younger players who don't get into your system and culture right away.

Dan brought in an upper-classman JuCo by the name of Xavier Munford. We don't have anyone CLOSE to X on this team. We also didn't bring one in by design. Archie opted for a ground-up build. Not a bridge. Our lead dog is Malik Martin. I love him as a leader, but he's a TJ-type role player who's become a minutes leader by the necessity of building a culture.

Andre Malone was a holdover with a lot of talent, but again he was another 4th year guy with experience. Nik Malesevic was another 4th year guy - probably could've turned into something seriously special had he started with Dan instead of finished with him. TJ was that "glue guy" though he wouldn't start games or see 25+ minutes until the next year.

You also had Jordan Hare as a freshman with incredible talent. Mike Aaman who was scrappy and fun. Ryan Brooks was another senior bench piece who showed flashes at the end of the year. None of them were true "difference makers" though.

The rest of your roster with Mike Powell, Alwayne Bigby, and Biggie Minnis wasn't going to get it done either.

You probably had 3 guys (X, Nik, Malone) who could shoulder a scoring load and handle college ball. 2 Sr's and a Jr.

From the jump, that 2012 team at least had a lot of college experience on that roster compared to what we're starting with.

Our top 3 in terms of college experience are Malik, Jalen, and Ish. Malik is a senior glue-guy but not one that you want to take the ball iso in crunch time. Jalen is hurt which sucks because he'd be a HUGE help to this roster. Ish is clearly our best player, but defenses can key on him because there aren't a lot of scoring threats on the floor.

I'm looking at Bray/Lou/Rory/Weston/Jo/Dou/Frentchi to be that in that EC/Hass/Jared/Jarvis "something special" type team down the road. But I can see the growing pains being more intense because you don't have those top guys to take the fire like Hurley had.

Next year you'll add some scoring options in Estevez and Dubsky, along with Foumena to go with what looks like it could be one of our best frontcourts ever by year 3 or 4. Similar to what happened when you added Terrell and Jarvis to EC and Hass.

I can see those guys EXPLODING in year 3. They're going to grow together and have 3 years to become a championship program. If Archie got these kids to come and buy in now to a complete rebuild, I don't see them as flight risks in the future.

I think this team has more overall talent across the whole roster than Hurley's did in 2012. To be honest, Outside of Ish/Bray and Bilau, you could make a case for the rest of your guys to be fighting for your remaining minutes. Hurley's 2012 team's top end was far more talented though.

Xavier Munford would've obviously been the best player on this team by 12 miles.

I would give Ish the edge over Andre Malone.

I think you could compare Nik to Jalen Carey.

I think below that, this team, though younger, has significantly more talent across the rest of the roster.

You need that top end "guy" though - and we won't have that until next year when I think Ish will have the potential to be an all-conference type player.

I still hold out hope that we're going to have a chance come March because the A-10 isn't that good and I think we're going to keep getting better.

TL;DR

The 2012 Rams had Xavier Munford who is way better than anyone on the 2022 Rams.

The rest of the 2022 Rams roster is way more talented but far less experienced than the 2012 Rams.

Based on the lack of experience maybe we all should've tempered our W/L expectations more, but we will be better off in the long run with this team over the next 2-3 years.

I still think our guys will develop and be dangerous in the A-10 by March.

[Jersey77]

Blue Man you put a lot of thought and detail into this and for the most part I agree.

The jest of this and comparisons are very similar to the tone of the previous thread.
"Where will this program be in 6 years, Hurley's tenure."

At this point I would certainly take Nik over Carey.
I would also give our frontcourt an advantage over 2012-2013.

The following year Dan with major additions EC and Martin.
Which was the backbone of our NCAAT team 2016-2017.
Not sure at this point who will fill that role for us.

[section(105)]

Dangerous in the A-10 by March ? .…..I have a real hard time getting my head around where is the needed balanced scoring with a needed solid dependable three point shooter coming from in the development of this roster. I guess we will see.

[bigappleram]

Just compare what Umass did/has versus us...in addition to a new coach.

Brought back an All League PG Fernandes, a really good three point shooter (Weeks) and a developing talent Dominguez. They added to that Matt Cross a highly regarded Louisville/Miami transfer going into his 3rd year of D1 ball, Kante a 5th year double double low major guy and Leveque who Martin brought from SC and is in his 4th year of D1 ball with lots of minutes logged. Plus Diggins and their FR. That is wayyyyy different than what Archie decided to do.

Our most experienced transfers were Freeman and Harris (who isn't here). Everyone else had zero real D1 experience (Weston, Tchikou, Bilau). And then some FR. I'd be curious what percentage of our Points/game are coming from either FR or SO vs upperclassmen. We know what that would look like and that 90% of our production is coming from either FR or SO (if you classify Ish as a Sophomore which he is given the Covid year). That bodes well for the future as long as you start to see the unproven transfers and FR performing. We need at least 2 of these guys to turn into legit A10 caliber rotation guys (Weston, Bilau, Tchikou, Hutch, Rory) for this season to be a success. 4-5 core returnees next year will be a great foundation. Then Portal Combat to address needs (ie shooting) and continued HS recruiting to continue increasing the talent pool.

We have seen glimmers of promise from Bilau, Weston, Tchikou, Rory and Hutchinson but nothing close that indicates they will blossom into A10 stars (yet). That is what I am looking for the most over next 8-10 weeks. Some of these guys have to be foundational building blocks or else we are blowing it all up again in the off-season and delaying progress further.

[RIFan]

By going the the frosh / unproven transfer route you are hoping that at least a couple will turn into foundation players AND stay. That is 2 hurdles you put in your own way. Either doesn’t happen and you are at square one again. Not only do we need a couple to develop into foundational players we need a star or go to guy to emerge as well…as good as Ish and Bray are, I’m not convinced they are the star players on an NCAA team.

[Jersey77]

I also think that Archie sitting out last year did put him in a slight disadvantage.

I think Bray and Ish will give us a nice place to start with guard play for 23-24.
Also throw in Ant if he can play up to the hype he has been getting here.

Weston and Louis could emerge as solid wing players for us.

I do like all our potential and youth in the frontcourt.
Samb, Bilau, Alex, Rory, and Foumena will all compete for playing time.

Dubs and Cam are both nice looking recruits and can give us the outside threat we need.

I feel very optimistic about the way Archie has constructed this roster.

Dan made that huge jump from his 2nd to 3rd season (13-5, 2nd A10).
Hopefully Archie can do the same.

[RIFan]

One player can make a huge difference in basketball, maybe Ant is the guy. Hope so, and he can play soon!

[bigappleram]

Dan made the big jump in Year 3 but that’s bc he stacked 2 foundational guys (EC and Hass) with 1 more (Terrell). It was clear all of them had all league potential from day 1. My biggest and only concern is I don’t see that yet with any of the FR or unproven transfers. Many of them are bigs and bigs take longer but still. Hassan was a legit menace from FR year even tho he was raw you could see it. Don’t see that yet but it’s still early.

[theblueram]

Dan made the big jump in Year 3 but that’s bc he stacked 2 foundational guys (EC and Hass) with 1 more (Terrell). It was clear all of them had all league potential from day 1. My biggest and only concern is I don’t see that yet with any of the FR or unproven transfers. Many of them are bigs and bigs take longer but still. Hassan was a legit menace from FR year even tho he was raw you could see it. Don’t see that yet but it’s still early.

Yeah that Nebraska game with EC and Hass as Soph's and Terrell as a freshman set the tone. Those three guys made the team. I don't see any player near their caliber yet.

[theblueram]

Maybe Arch should show this video to the players. This game was won by freshmen and sophomores. That's what we expect.

[Rhody15]

Dan made the big jump in Year 3 but that’s bc he stacked 2 foundational guys (EC and Hass) with 1 more (Terrell). It was clear all of them had all league potential from day 1. My biggest and only concern is I don’t see that yet with any of the FR or unproven transfers. Many of them are bigs and bigs take longer but still. Hassan was a legit menace from FR year even tho he was raw you could see it. Don’t see that yet but it’s still early.

Yeah that Nebraska game with EC and Hass as Soph's and Terrell as a freshman set the tone. Those three guys made the team. I don't see any player near their caliber yet.

Terrell’s back to back step back corner 3s in OT were incredible. Absolutely incredible.

[SGreenwell]

Dan made the big jump in Year 3 but that’s bc he stacked 2 foundational guys (EC and Hass) with 1 more (Terrell). It was clear all of them had all league potential from day 1. My biggest and only concern is I don’t see that yet with any of the FR or unproven transfers. Many of them are bigs and bigs take longer but still. Hassan was a legit menace from FR year even tho he was raw you could see it. Don’t see that yet but it’s still early.

I think Leggett and Freeman could be all-A10 level talent. But, I have no clue about anyone else on the current roster. Samb, Tchikou and Bilau are decent offensive players at the 4 / 5 - not great - but all three have struggled on the defensive end. Without significant improvements, they're rotation players but not starters. Past them, Weston and Hutchinson have shown promise at times, but have bad turnover rates considering their roles in the offense.

If we have Leggett and Freeman going into year two, that's probably better than Hurley's first to second year, since T.J. Buchanan was the lone guy from the 2012-13 roster that contributed to a winning URI team. It's rare that players double or triple their production from their freshman to senior year, so I kind of assume that starters for our next NCAA tournament team will have to be recruited by Archie during this off-season and the next one.

[Big Rhody Guy]

We are in a different era of college basketball today than we were in 2012. The transfer portal and NIL are completing changing the sport. Do EC Terrell or Hassan stay at URI after the 15-16 season that saw a disappointing step back? Keeping all 3 of them would have been almost impossible.
You have to be able to inject talent into your roster immediately if you want to be a successful mid-major. I would have liked to have seen more from our new guys other than Freeman to this point, but they do have all year to develop before I come to any real conclusion. This year was always going to be a struggle and the initial post in this thread is probably correct, Archie inherited a worse product on day 1. However in this new era if you're a great coach(which I believe Archie is) you should not need as much time as it took Dan to get things cooking. My expectations are going to be incredibly high in year 2 and 3, which I look forward to arguing that point with you all then

[RhowdyRam02]

We are in a different era of college basketball today than we were in 2012. The transfer portal and NIL are completing changing the sport. Do EC Terrell or Hassan stay at URI after the 15-16 season that saw a disappointing step back? Keeping all 3 of them would have been almost impossible.
You have to be able to inject talent into your roster immediately if you want to be a successful mid-major. I would have liked to have seen more from our new guys other than Freeman to this point, but they do have all year to develop before I come to any real conclusion. This year was always going to be a struggle and the initial post in this thread is probably correct, Archie inherited a worse product on day 1. However in this new era if you're a great coach(which I believe Archie is) you should not need as much time as it took Dan to get things cooking. My expectations are going to be incredibly high in year 2 and 3, which I look forward to arguing that point with you all then

The "disappointing step back" was pretty much due to EC's injury, with significant injury issues during the year to multiple players, including Hassan, exasperating the situation. Yes, I assume all three stay in that situation

[bigappleram]

The notion that great coaches won’t be able to retain players is erroneous; NIL era or not. Players by in large commit to a coach; not a school or a collective. Coaches who have built meaningful relationships and have something to sell will be able to retain the players they want to retain. Continuity and cohesion is even more impt in this era. There are only a few examples of coaches like Muss and Oats reinventing their roster every off season. They also have the pick of the litter; we don’t have that. Archie has said this pretty plainly that he still wants a mix of 4 year guys and transfers and by and large he wants to use the portal to fill holes; not build the foundation. He employed that strategy in his first shortened recruiting cycle we will see what he does in his second.

[Rhody72]

The team did not have to be so bad this year, but I'm not disappointed that 3 players transferred out. Archie made little effort to keep any of them rather than try rehabilitation. While I'm a Leggett supporters, I see his potential is as an above average player and not an all A-10 first or second team selection. I'm really down on Freeman and see his positive offensive statistics being at the expense of more productivity from his teammates.

As for Hurley's first year, the ineligible players were said to crush the eligible starters in practice scrimmages. Hurley brought in better talent in year one than Archie but the eligibility rules were different. EC never recovered from injury so I am reluctant to project greatness for Weston and Harris.

Back then, Hurley was thought to have an NCAAT team by year 3 - it took 5 years. I think it will take Archie 5 years to rebuild the URI program. Gone are the days of 1 in 4 Al.

[bigappleram]

We were a youth led NIT team in Year 3. And then in what would have likely been an NCAA team in Year 4 if not for ECs injury in Game 1. But by year 3 we were playing meaningful games again aka Nebraska. 3 years is the new 4 years. I don’t think it will take Archie 5.

You also seem to be forgetting ECs step back 3 to help beat Oklahoma, his corner 3 to beat Cincinnati, his emphatic dunk vs Davidson and a host of other plays he produced post injury. Maybe he lost some explosiveness but he was still a really good offensive player after his injury.

[PeterRamTime]

We were a youth led NIT team in Year 3. And then in what would have likely been an NCAA team in Year 4 if not for ECs injury in Game 1. But by year 3 we were playing meaningful games again aka Nebraska. 3 years is the new 4 years. I don’t think it will take Archie 5.

You also seem to be forgetting ECs step back 3 to help beat Oklahoma, his corner 3 to beat Cincinnati, his emphatic dunk vs Davidson and a host of other plays he produced post injury. Maybe he lost some explosiveness but he was still a really good offensive player after his injury.

EC stepped up big at the end of the 16/17 and 17/18 seasons.

He killed it in the A-10 tourney and the NCAA tourney while other guys kinda wilted

He was the only guy that wasn't pooping his pants playing Duke

He left giving his all

[PeterRamTime]

Didn't we also have just 8 scholarship players in Hurley's first year?

The thing I remember the most about that group is that they somehow competed with everyone

Couldn't really win any games, but man were they in some games they did not belong in.

The real difference the veterans on that team created was their buy in on defense. That helped set the foundation for everything. They held it down.

They also didn't have all the roster issues we had early

The team now isn't losing to Quinnipiac and Texas State

When we win the rest of our non-conference games we'll stop comparing this group to Hurley's 8 win squad

[Jersey77]

Didn't we also have just 8 scholarship players in Hurley's first year?

The thing I remember the most about that group is that they somehow competed with everyone

Couldn't really win any games, but man were they in some games they did not belong in.

The real difference the veterans on that team created was their buy in on defense. That helped set the foundation for everything. They held it down.

They also didn't have all the roster issues we had early

The team now isn't losing to Quinnipiac and Texas State

When we win the rest of our non-conference games we'll stop comparing this group to Hurley's 8 win squad

Actually, I think you are close.

I believe Hurley did use up all 13 scholarships, but only 9 players available.
I think Minnis, Biruta, and Reischel were all sit-out transfers and Onyekaba redshirted.

[RI_Bred]

Maybe Arch should show this video to the players. This game was won by freshmen and sophomores. That's what we expect.

That was awesome thanks for posting that. Never had seen it.

[Blue Man]

Maybe Arch should show this video to the players. This game was won by freshmen and sophomores. That's what we expect.

That was awesome thanks for posting that. Never had seen it.

"If this was a junior and senior laden team, i think we would put more importance into these early non-conference games. They might be a little more life and death for us. But because we're still so young with talented freshman and sophomore players who are playing prominent roles in our program, that we really need to treat these games as opportunities to gauge where we're at.

We want to be successful and want to win every time we step onto the court, and play as hard as anybody. But we've got to do a good job as coaches in keeping these games in perspective for our players."

^ Hurley at 4:01 in the video.

Good point about what a lot of us have said this year. Basically that it's not about wins and losses. We're a very young team. It's not like no one wants to win, but when you're building towards something larger - taking losses in these largely meaningless games doesn't matter if the players are learning lessons on how to be better along the way.

Celtics rules - "love and trust."

[reef]

Maybe Arch should show this video to the players. This game was won by freshmen and sophomores. That's what we expect.

That was fun to watch , great times when we beat that Nebraska team !!

[Not Mike Powell]

Dan Hurley’s first year salary: $300,000
Archie Miller’s first year salary: $1.4 Million

[Blue Man]

Dan Hurley’s first year salary: $300,000
Archie Miller’s first year salary: $1.4 Million

Dan Hurley's college experience: 2 years, NEC. Best finish: 2nd place, NEC. 0 postseason experience. 0 awards.

Archie Miller's college experience:18 years. 8 years assistant, CUSA, ACC, Pac12, B1G. 10 years head coach, A10, B1G. 2 NITs, 4 (5) NCAAs, 1 Elite 8, 2-2 NIT record, 5-4 NCAA record. 2 conference championships. Finalist for NCOY. A10 COY.

What point are we making?

[Billyboy78]

Don't forget, in Dan's 2nd year, when EC and Hass were freshmen, we went 14-18. The turnaround was not fast. Obviously adding Terrell the next year was the key to making that a great team. We need a player or two like that in the '24 class.

[theblueram]

Don't forget, in Dan's 2nd year, when EC and Hass were freshmen, we went 14-18. The turnaround was not fast. Obviously adding Terrell the next year was the key to making that a great team. We need a player or two like that in the '24 class.

I also remember many on here saying EC and Hass should be starting over the older players. I believe they did at some point start their freshman year.

Edit: I looked it up EC started 25 games and Hass started 19.

[SGreenwell]

Don't forget, in Dan's 2nd year, when EC and Hass were freshmen, we went 14-18. The turnaround was not fast. Obviously adding Terrell the next year was the key to making that a great team. We need a player or two like that in the '24 class.

I also remember many on here saying EC and Hass should be starting over the older players. I believe they did at some point start their freshman year.

Edit: I looked it up EC started 25 games and Hass started 19.

We do have threads from back then, and it's crazy to see Martin not even show up until page three of a McNeese State game thread. And also, plenty of the posts could be referring to the games we're playing this season. E.C. got into the starting relatively quickly - seven games to displace Mike Powell - but it took Martin a bit of time to displace Iffy or Reischel or T.J. Buchanan from the 4/5 mix. (Biruta started 32; can't remember who got the other 13 starts that Martin didn't.)

[TruePoint]

Maybe Arch should show this video to the players. This game was won by freshmen and sophomores. That's what we expect.

That was awesome thanks for posting that. Never had seen it.

"If this was a junior and senior laden team, i think we would put more importance into these early non-conference games. They might be a little more life and death for us. But because we're still so young with talented freshman and sophomore players who are playing prominent roles in our program, that we really need to treat these games as opportunities to gauge where we're at.

We want to be successful and want to win every time we step onto the court, and play as hard as anybody. But we've got to do a good job as coaches in keeping these games in perspective for our players."

^ Hurley at 4:01 in the video.

Good point about what a lot of us have said this year. Basically that it's not about wins and losses. We're a very young team. It's not like no one wants to win, but when you're building towards something larger - taking losses in these largely meaningless games doesn't matter if the players are learning lessons on how to be better along the way.

Celtics rules - "love and trust."

Dan was right, and that’s the approach I’ve taken to this season, too. But if there is any standard by which anything we do this year can be graded on a pass-fail basis, last night was a failure. Ultimately, I don’t care about another tick in the win column vs the loss column this year. What I do care about is that we are learning and getting better, and I get that progress in those areas won’t always be linear. And I do care about effort and, excuse my crudeness, giving a shit. In my view nothing last night evidenced any learning or getting better, and when I watch a team failing to find a body off a miss on defense, whiff on a free throw box out, carelessly throw the ball away, commit hairbrained fouls…I don’t see the type of focus that is indicative of effort and giving a shit. If we lost by 15 last night because of a talent deficit, fine. Losing by 1 because of a deficit in effort and care is infuriating. It’s probably not fair to pin that on Archie; it’s on the players. But I don’t remember that being an issue very frequently with any of Dan’s teams.

[rambone 78]

Archie's Dayton teams had many high BB IQ players....this team not so much right now. Will take time, probably longer than we would like...but as long as it happens, that's the big thing.

[section(105)]

I think this current roster/team is a long way, really long way from being representative of the type of player, type of character, skill sets, BB IQ, and make up that Coach Miller is needed to be successful in his system.

[class of 86]

So what's the word on Anthony Harris is he on campus is he not is he gonna be available soon? Who else is supposed to be eligible In late December? What do you think they lend to the team if they comes back?

[theblueram]

So what's the word on Anthony Harris is he on campus is he not is he gonna be available soon? Who else is supposed to be eligible In late December? What do you think they lend to the team if they comes back?

My understanding is he will be playing next semester

[Billyboy78]

So what's the word on Anthony Harris is he on campus is he not is he gonna be available soon? Who else is supposed to be eligible In late December? What do you think they lend to the team if they comes back?

There's a whole thread on him on the recruiting page. http://keaneyblue.com/viewtopic.php?t=9278

[Jersey77]

Maybe I am one of the few, but I think we will be okay going forward with many of the young players we have or coming in.
Our record is worse than I thought but I am excited for our future.

Ish and Bray are nice pieces to build around in our backcourt and possibly add in Ant.
Cam and Dubs can hopefully give us that needed outside threat.
I think West and Hutch can hold down the wing spot after Martin leaves.

With all our current youth and raw talent in our frontcourt, I expect much improvement going forward.

I still expect some growing pains next season, but I think our trajectory will still be similar to Dan's, maybe quicker.

[Rhodymob05]

I agree with Jersey, except that I believe success should come much sooner this time around.

[RF1]

I now think this rebuild is unfortunately going to take longer than most originally anticipated (myself included). The program lacks talent and it will take several recruiting cycles to accumulate it. This year is looking to be among the worst seasons I have ever witnessed in my 45 years following URI hoops. It may not be as bad as the the two seasons under Jerry D but it is not that much better. I think the belief by many that rebuilds today are far easier may have also been overstated. Transfers cut both ways and the lack of player cohesiveness can really hurt in the short term with a massive roster change.

This season is a train wreck that will not likely reach double digit wins. I did not have the high expectations that many others had for this year. I however hoped we could get near .500 with better coaching. I was thinking we could get back to a winning program next year. I now think there will be some small incremental improvement but expect another rough season in 2023-24. My guess is it will again be below .500 making for the fourth straight losing season. It is looking more like Year 3 under Archie that the program gets back on the winning side. It however probably won't be anywhere near NCAA Tournament caliber. Competing for NIT consideration would be a far more probable scenario. Archie will not rebuild this program faster than Hurley. The best case would be that it follows the Dan trajectory. It however might take longer as it might be Year 4 where we really find success comparable to Hurley's NIT run in his third Kingston season.

This valley in the ongoing up and the down cycle of Rhody basketball is far lower than any of us thought.

[RF1]

This was the tenure of Dan Hurley as head coach at URI. It came after Jim Baron's last season which saw a 7-24 record that was preceded by four straight 20 or more win seasons.

[UCH21377]

I now think this rebuild is unfortunately going to take longer than most originally anticipated (myself included). The program lacks talent and it will take several recruiting cycles to accumulate it. This year is looking to be among the worst seasons I have ever witnessed in my 45 years following URI hoops. It may not be as bad as the the two seasons under Jerry D but it is not that much better. I think the belief by many that rebuilds today are far easier may have also been overstated. Transfers cut both ways and the lack of player cohesiveness can really hurt in the short term with a massive roster change.

This season is a train wreck that will not likely reach double digit wins. I did not have the high expectations that many others had for this year. I however hoped we could get near .500 with better coaching. I was thinking we could get back to a winning program next year. I think there will be some small incremental improvement but expect another rough season in 2023-24. My guess is it will again be below .500 making for the fourth straight losing season. It is looking more like Year 3 under Archie that the program gets back on the winning side. It however probably won't be anywhere near NCAA Tournament caliber. Competing for NIT consideration would be a far more probable scenario. Archie will not rebuild this program faster than Hurley. The best case would be that it follows the Dan trajectory. It however might take longer as it might be Year 4 where we really find success comparable to Hurley's NIT run in his third Kingston season.

This valley in the ongoing up and the down cycle of Rhody basketball is far lower than any of us thought.

I agree with this assessment. We are well behind where Hurley was year one. He had some guys coming in that we don't at this point. This upcoming recruiting class (let's include Ant in that for now) will be critical.

[KevanBoyles]

Maybe Arch should show this video to the players. This game was won by freshmen and sophomores. That's what we expect.

That was fun to watch , great times when we beat that Nebraska team !!

F_ckin Hurley. It all starts with the coach.

[Jersey77]

This was the tenure of Dan Hurley as head coach at URI. It came after Jim Baron's last season which saw a 7-24 record that was preceded by four straight 20 win seasons.

Hurley Tenure at URI.png

3 of 4, 20-win seasons (2014-2018).
At this point it is too early to say we are behind DH.

That 3rd season when Hurley went from 5-11 A10 to 13-5 with 23 wins was a huge jump.
Having EC, Hassan, Jared, Biruta, Jarvis, and TJ was instrumental.
Not ready to think our players won't be as good as them in 3 years.
Some may or may not currently be on our roster.

[Rhody72]

The bigger questions are why do we have to sink so low in a hole in which to dig out AND what must the university be prepared to do to prevent this from recurring? What we have to pay out to the head coach cannot be the excuse. Until this occurs the clown show will continue.

[RF1]

Happy New Year all. I’m not sure all this team needs is experience…let’s beat the dead horse…they need talent. Bray and Ish are good players, but I wouldn’t say they are alphas on a good team. Who else on this team projects to be that? You will have to squint real hard to see someone on this team turning into one anytime soon, since none have shown much than an occasional flash.

I agree with this. I think the talent level brought in this year is way below what most expected. The Miller name was expected to bring in higher quality players but being out of the game for a year was a bigger hurdle than anticipated. The next hurdle is to get talent to want to come play for a 20 loss team. I expect quite a bit of roster turnover next year and that should be a good thing. Hopefully Archie brings in some experienced transfers as this year’s approach doesn’t seem to be going as well as most (possibly including Archie) had envisioned.

This was posted in the Duquense thread but it also fits here. I think roster turnover with existing players should now be expected every year given the new transfer environment. A trying season such as this probably makes it even more inevitable. URI might need to add a revolving door to the locker room given what we have seen the last few seasons.

[rjv]

The new NCAA...Team not good get rid existing players and bring in a new group. The players will decide to stay or leave or the coach will tell him to stay or leave. Each year is a rebuild. I will say 50% of the URI team will turn over each year.
Get used to it...Its the new NCAA

[Rhody15]

The new NCAA...Team not good get rid existing players and bring in a new group. The players will decide to stay or leave or the coach will tell him to stay or leave. Each year is a rebuild. I will say 50% of the URI team will turn over each year.
Get used to it...Its the new NCAA

I can guarantee you we will not be losing 7/8 players a year.

[Jdrums#3]

The bigger questions are why do we have to sink so low in a hole in which to dig out AND what must the university be prepared to do to prevent this from recurring? What we have to pay out to the head coach cannot be the excuse. Until this occurs the clown show will continue.

“Clown show”

Nice description of the program you claim to root for, once again.

[Jersey77]

The new NCAA...Team not good get rid existing players and bring in a new group. The players will decide to stay or leave or the coach will tell him to stay or leave. Each year is a rebuild. I will say 50% of the URI team will turn over each year.
Get used to it...Its the new NCAA

I can guarantee you we will not be losing 7/8 players a year.

I don't see that happening either.
Archie was looking for young talent to grow and develop within the program.
He said the portal will only be used to fill in, not his primary focus.

[Jdrums#3]

When I watch our games (when we have good spurts of play) and other A10 teams, I think we will be NCAA capable in a few years. Then, I watch some top 20 teams out there and I think we are 4 years away, minimum.

[rjv]

Based on the current team....who will be back next year? I know we are only beginning A10 conference play but if we are talking rebuild vs today.
That is my question.

[bigappleram]

We just offered a 6’9” juco forward which would indicate Archie knows we need bigs ready to play to balance all the youth.