2025 Basketball Offseason

GO-OW15

Thread for post season tournaments, portal activity, or any other post season items of interest.

GO-OW15

I will be interested in who might try out the portal along with who else we might try and add to the incoming freshman class. I feel we need another big to help out Weir, Lue, and Sherman but would like someone that has more than one year of eligibility remaining.

Wingman

Does Weir have any eligibility left?

GO-OW15

I thought he might have one year left since he was not included in discussions about seniors by Pettway. With all of the 24 year olds we ran into this season I was hoping he has the option at least.

bb_fan

Article on the KSU website in May 2024 indicates Weir has one year left. Assuming, of course, I did the math right. 🙂

<snip>

Wright, Weir and Miller Join Nationally Ranked Recruiting Class
5/23/2024

Weir will have two years of eligibility with the Owls after playing the past three seasons for the Eagles in Fort Myers.

GO-OW15

If he does come back a starting 5 of Weir, Lue, Miller, Cottle, and Johnson would be a good base to build from.

Kmase14

I don’t see Weir coming back with how the end of the season played out.

Unless Pettway can find a way to keep our guys, it feels like next year could be really similar to this year.

Guys definitely returning -
RJ Johnson
Jamil Miller
Sherman
Ramona Seals
Mekhi Turner
Rickey McKenzie

Guys likely returning -
Cottle
Lue

Guys unlikely -
Wooley
Weir

With 4 freshmen coming in that puts KSU at 12 scholarships if my math is right. I believe scholarship numbers are going up to 15 next season. So either 1 or 3 to work with if this projection holds.

We NEED a big.
Another good 3pt shooter we were looking to get in Wright this year is probably on the list.

If by the grace of God we kept Wooley and got a big, this team would be LETHAL next year. There wouldn’t be a game in conference we wouldn’t have the best 2, if not 3 guards on the court with Wooley, Cottle, and Johnson.

Kmase14

Kmase14 and those definite stays aren’t definite in this day and age.

GO-OW15

Kmase14 I think Clemmons is still counted as far as scholarship players but I think Cottle was the only player outsisde of Wooley that had consistent play enough to move up to a higher level. I think that a quality big will likely make or break our ability to take the next step so I hope to see us tied to players in the coming weeks.

bb_fan

Here's a stat (using conference games only) that should scare you to death.

No secret that KSU was a horrible 3 point shooting team shooting .287 on the year.

Wooley was the ONLY player who could shoot the 3 at an acceptable level, shooting .402 on the year.

EVERY other player on the team shot less than the season average of .287. Leading shooters were Sherman and Gordon at .286 on the year.

If you remove Wooley's stats, KSU shot shot .259 on the year from 3.

GO-OW15

bb_fan Tousignaut is probably the most important freshman coming in since he is likely going to be our best shooter from 3. I am expecting next seasons team to be less 3pt heavy offensively but I think it will depend who is still with us once the portal is closed.

Kmase14

bb_fan I think that's why, while a big is a MUST in the portal, another guy that can shoot 3s is priority number 2. Pettway is going to run his offense, he will just keep working to get guys that fit it. If we get a guy we wanted/expected Ricard Wright to be, we'd get our 3pt % up and our offense would be on another level.

bb_fan

Rich McKay getting ready for Liberty's game on national TV. 🙂

https://preview.redd.it/od4zw1re80z91.gif?width=320&format=mp4&s=19c44ec5e9431692fbb808dbeb03829f841f0837

What was he thinking?

Kmase14

Portal Kombat Day 1 -

Scholarship Players -
Simeon Cottle - 6'2 - G
Rickey McKenzie - 6'4 - G
Adrian Wooley - 6'5 - G
RJ Johnson - 6'6 - G
Jamil Miller - 6'6 - G
Ramone Seals - 6'6 - G
Franquon Sherman - 6'7 - F
Mekhi Turner - 6'8 - F
Braeden Lue - 6'8 - F
Andre Weir - 6'9 - C

Incoming Freshmen -
Brendan Tousignaut - 6'5 - G
Darius Washington III - 6'5 - G
Nigel Thomas - 6'7 - G
Amir Taylor - 6'8 - PF

That's 14 out of 15 current scholarships taken right now. I'd guess Weir is on the way out, bringing us down to 13. Of course there's a good chance we lose another 1 or 2 here over the next couple weeks, whether them wanting to move on or being asked to. Sadly, we're also looking like we'll be losing our walk on guys unless we don't fill the 15 scholarship spots with talent.

GO-OW15

Now that the portal is open I keep waiting for an announcement from Wooley even if it was to test out the draft. I haven't seen KSU listed with any active portal players either so I can only hope Pettway's retention efforts have been really successful.

Kmase14

Portal Day 3 -
I’ve seen Kennesaw linked to a forward out of Boston College, a JUCO Center from Indian Hills, and a Guard thus far.

Still no entrants into the portal. There’s also the chance someone like Weir just hangs it up with a year left like Holt did after last season. I can’t imagine only having 1 transfer spot open.

GO-OW15

Looks like Wooley is in the portal. I know it was the most likely outcome but it hurts to lose a player of that level.

BurialGround

The question was never whether or not we would lose Wooley. The question was if we would lose anyone else. If we can somehow keep the rest of this group together, we'll have an exciting team next year.

Kmase14

Did I expect and know Wooley would leave? Yes. Did I try to give myself false hope that maybe Pettway finds the money and could pitch getting him more help and a strong non-con schedule, also yes.

Looking ahead, we can’t forget how good RJ Johnson could be. He has BIG potential and with the right pieces could make the team great next year!

TheKid

So, do we lose anyone else?

If we don't, it is a very strong roster for Conference USA. I look forward to the growth of guys like Miller, Lue, and Seals and the return of Johnson. I can't pretend to know what we have with the incoming freshmen other than the names and basic info in the internet, but Pettway recruits well. In the portal, we need some experienced size.

So, I know Weir was injured at the end of the season, but why did he disappear from the bench/team entirely? He was really starting to contribute.