re: Updated: Brandon Murray and Xavier Pinson in the transfer portal

You know I’m a Wade guy but I’d actually prefer a roster full of guys like Skylar Mays and Taz Mitchell over guys who are 1 or 2 and done with so little time to develop and the risk that comes with em. They don’t win in March anyway, the only 2 freshman/soph led teams to win it in the last decade+ are 2015 Duke and 2011 Kentucky.

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You know I’m a Wade guy but I’d actually prefer a roster full of guys like Skylar Mays and Taz Mitchell over guys who are 1 or 2 and done with so little time to develop and the risk that comes with em. They don’t win in March anyway, the only 2 freshman/soph led teams to win it in the last decade+ are 2015 Duke and 2011 Kentucky.

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To be fair, pracitically everyone but Watford, Waters, and Emmitt Williams who all should have stayed 3 years anyway, we were on a trajectory for 3+ years out of guys.

Cam is the only true 1 and done.

I think you can include Naz Reid as a true one and done. Still don’t understand how he went undrafted.

If you watched the Arizona game last night, they talked about the new coaches best recruiting job was keeping the existing players from leaving. This is where we are now, just because they are in the transfer portal doesn't mean they will leave. I can't blame any of them for looking out for their best interest, especially if they don't think they don't fit into McMahon's style of play.

Pinson and Days both have the covid season. Doubt Days uses it, he will probably play in the G league or overseas.

Pinson will have teams interested in the portal, everyone is looking for experienced guard depth nowadays, and they will talk themselves into the flashes he showed this year.

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You know I’m a Wade guy but I’d actually prefer a roster full of guys like Skylar Mays and Taz Mitchell over guys who are 1 or 2 and done with so little time to develop and the risk that comes with em. They don’t win in March anyway, the only 2 freshman/soph led teams to win it in the last decade+ are 2015 Duke and 2011 Kentucky.

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I don't disagree. That's why I thought last season was the only one in which Wade underperformed. That team had Days and Smart in their 3rd years; 2nd year Watford, and a 1st round pick in Thomas. If they would have given even the slightest of shits about defending they would have been much, much better.

There was a LOT to like about Wade's teams. But the most glaring negative was outside of 2019 they were never balanced. They were elite on one side of the ball...horrible on the other. When asked about his style of play/phiolosphy the first thing McMahon said is that he wanted to be balanced and that his Murray St. team was one of only a few teams in the nation that ranked in the top (I forget the exact number) of offensive AND defensive efficiency.

I'm completely ok with not signing multiple one-and-done players and, instead, signing really good players who are willing to stay in the system for at least 2-3 years. With the transfer portal maybe the approach is to sign 2-4 HS players (depending on how many scholarships are available that season) and 2-3 transfers.

I hate that Wade is gone just like most basketball fans. But, the silver lining is that a program can be turned around quickly. Even in as little as 1 year.

I would love to see McMahon keep guys like Fudge, O'Neal, Wilkinson and Colbert. That's a frontcourt you can build on because, IMO, it is tougher to find solid frontcourt players than guards. Then, go to the portal for a backcourt. McMahon was really good at developing PG's at Murray. We, unfortunately, saw this year what can happen when you don't have a consistent PG.

I think you’re exactly right about the front court guys and the premium being size especially in the SEC. If you look across the country you’ll find very capable guards even at the top half of mid majors so there’s no lack of talented backcourt players in this country. Now he says he wants to recruit the state hard and I’ve seen posters talking about Louisiana not having any players worth recruiting, well that’s news to me since Baylor and Houston have been getting our best guys the past few years and are recruiting 5 of our top 7 players again this year. You don’t need national recruits, you can build a winner quickly right here with our guys.

His best player Collin Gillespie was a 3 star.

But Houston and Baylor each had 2 the previous year and 2 or 3 more the year before that. Also like I said they’re both recruiting 5 or our top 7 in state players this year.

Is this thread just for tPortal or should it be a running basketball off-season thread.


Eason declared for the draft. Good luck to him, easily one of if not the best two way player in quite some time at Lsu.