BYU big Jakob Urbaniak was ruled ineligible by the NCAA. He didn’t want to wait for an appeal and is returning to Poland to play pro ball.
BYU signed 7 footer Peter Ostojic for depth.
If Jaxson Kohler is ineligible, it’s Mboup at 5 and small ball.
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rothstein has oklahoma state as a sleeper in the big 12…
notes crazy depth and talent drain in the big 12
2nd major outlet in days to note a big 12 talent drain
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And the two biggest Big 12 rumors are now verified tre white for Kansas and tamin lipsey for Iowa State have file a lawsuit to rejoin the NCAA for 5th.
note UCF star player from last year (who made the tournament) Riley Kugel is also in this laswauit… he was in previous lawsuits … He went in the transfer portal but never was linked to any other school …note most schools enrollment period has ended, and there are recent videos of him practicing UCFs gym… strong lean on him coming back to UCF
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The Big 12 preview above notes our league as being the league most dependent on the 5 for 5 to pass…
and it become more true than ever… most of the big time 5 for 5 in other leagues are in middling bad teams (SEC doesn’t need Missouri or LSU to be good, there is only 1 5th year committed to a big 10 school, st johns is the only top big east relying on 5th years/euro question marks… the 2 acc teams with big 5th year are so stacked theyd still be touted without them, UL and Miami; ie malik reanu doesnt gets cleared they they “have to” play their top10 5star)… their top teams arent reliant on the 5for5… most of our top teams need the 5for5
Arizona: shifts them from one of the national title favorites, to still top 15 but a notch below the “real” contenders
- RJ Godfrey (All- Big 12 caliber) ; the only PF on roster
Texas Tech: shifts from a title contender, to bubble team, to maybe bottom 5 team if jt toppin doesn’t get healthy fast enough
- Donovan Atwell, Darrion Williams, Jamichael Stillwell (all 3 All- Big 12 caliber, Darrion could be POY if toppin doesnt play much)
Kansas: will become title contenders if both are cleared, and play for kansas (neither officially commited to kansas)… round of 32 team otherwise
- Tre White, Melvin Council (both All- Big 12 caliber)… note councils case isnt straight forward, he is trying to get a 6th year, so his ruling could be different than the overall group
UCF; if he recommits to UCF: currently predicted bottom 5 in big 12, would shift them to projected bubble tournament team
- Riley Kugler (All- Big 12 caliber) - not re-commited yet
Cincy: shifts them from a Tournment bubble team, to a 1st year rebuild under a new coach
- MJ collins, Javontae Campbell (Collins would be their star player and all big 12 caliber… Cambell won MAC DPOY, all big 12 defense on the Table)
Iowa State: HUGE for seeding, Toure will miss most of the Non-con …top 4 seed, big 12 champ sleeper… to round of 32 iowa state team… offense even with lipsey has questions… defense will be elite
- Tamin Lipsey (POY sleeper)
BYU: from sweet 16 caliber team to a bubble/Nit team - there is no other notable center on roster, they will play 2 undersized PFs if he isnt cleared
- Jaxon Kohler (All- Big 12 caliber)
other big 12 but IMO not as needle moving
- Oklahoma state Parsa Fallah (all big 12 caliber, 15pts 6rbs last year)- i just think oklahoma st is SOOO deep, my prediciton for them doesnt shift much… its about coach/system, can that get over the hump, talent wasnt the issue
- Baylor - Caden Powell last year starting center, but he is honestly just a placeholder, replaceable with any center… without him my predication wouldnt change, im not even sure i have him starting
- Houston Chendall Weaver - i dont project him starting or even 6th man
- WVU Brenen Lorient - starting PF last year, decent player… WVU picked up a pretty notable PF before 5for5 became a thing. its nice depth, but doesnt move much for me which one starts
- Utah - Trey Campbell, will probably be their best player, with or without him utah will still be bottom 2 in the big 12
- then there’s colorado who picked up a 5th year who wasnt even good … a bench mid major player
5th year decision could drastically shift the league strength this year… and could have differing opinion here
- if we want our league perceived dominant, 5th year helps solidify that
- if we care only about Houston… on the assumption that this year team is around the average of normal houston teams, even the low end… we dont want 5th years, only arizona would be a team that could challenge us
texas tech already preseason jumped us… if tre white and melvin council both get cleared to play and commit to kansas… they too will jump us “perception wise”
now add, that arizona st and tcu are teams with notable foundations and have ships… there are still touted players uncommitted in the portal (Bryson warren, Trey Kaufman-Renn, Riley Kuge etc. )
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Stop the presses!!! A BYU fan thinks BYU is underrated!!!
Haha I know it doesn’t mean much but I think BYU will be better.
PG
SG
Sean Farnham says that’s the best or 2nd best guard line in the Big 12.
SF
5 star projected lottery pick:
**In today’s game 1-3 I consider guards. That’s 2 potentially elite defenders who are shooters and an all American PG, RW III. Chandler is expected to do more offensively this season. **
PF
Solid options:
C
Starting Center is Mboup if Kohler isn’t eligible. Mboup is athletic and with help help from the big 4’s that can be a good team defensively and offensively still.
Kohler was one of the top stretch bigs last year and he would give BYU another level of potential, but there is more firepower than a projected NIT team without Kohler to me without him. I still think it’s a 6th ish Big 12 team to start without Kohler, with a higher ceiling and floor.
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It’s happening… (meaning they’re actually trying, not that it will be granted). Here you can see Tamin is now on record saying if it’s granted he will play, period. This is a big step.
Unfortunately, if you ask me today, Toure misses the entire non-con and the 1st week of January 
.
If it were a bet, I’d lay it.
“Tamin Plays” would be manna from heaven.
Accurate
Don’t hate me Coogs, also accurate.
I know Trey’s game well. From about an hr down the road. He’s a fine player.
Not an ISU caliber player tho, period. That’s notable in of itself. Will struggle w/ the league’s physicality. He is not strong nor remotely explosive.
Smooth, crafty, and decisive tho. Agree he would really help Utah day 1.
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im also accounting for style of play…
byu plays true man to man… its not like a system like iowa and houston that compensate for size with trapping
without kohler i just think thats too big a whole … last year your defense wasn’t great and thats with a legit center, 220lbs mboup isnt stoping krivas or jt toppin… mboup is a good defensive 4, but he doesnt have the weight or size to bang down low
you finished tied for 7th-9th last year… and byu roster is objectively weaker than last year without kohler
saunders > chandler
dybansta > branch
Kennard Davis > which ever 4 is chosen
keita > mboup at the 5
dont get me wrong, Bubble/NIT team means you still won a lot of games
wright is probably the preseason POY but offense alone isnt winning the big 12
kohler playing or another touted center isa pivotal piece for byu
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Hmm…im sure most agree he doesnt start…but if he isnt the 6th man that means Hadnot is BALLING…ON DEFENSE TOO.
The last 2 seasons our 6th man has been shaky and by season’s end it wound up being someone else
2 years ago, it was TAs job to lose
Last season it was IH. They werent 1st off the bench due to their offense.
So do you think Hadnot will be that good to where he keeps a guy like Weaver on the bench? If so, thats great.
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Truly makes no difference if he’s first off the bench or not. Mylik wasn’t the 6th man and he made a hell of an impact on winning. Good teams don’t just rely on the first 6 players
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I disagree on this. It makes a difference having a solid 6th man. Towards the end of the season, Mylik was the 6th man. Maybe not technically the first off the bench every game, but he played a majority of the minutes off the bench.
Theres a difference in a bona fide 6th man and role players off the bench. A 6th man you can go to like a starter. They can be counted on like a starter. There’s not a major drop off when that 6th man comes in and your starters can get a decent amount of rest. Starter gets hurt or tweaks something, that 6th man is good enough to start.
Teams who have a solid 6th man arent begging for the starter to get back in. He can hold it down. Consistent. Solid.
The two i mentioned lost minutes and others came in and played better. How much better could we have been as a team had someone like Chase had those minutes earlier.
If the UH basketball team is going to be really successful, we need to have a second team line-up without much of a drop off. So whether someone is referred to as a 6th or 7th or 8th or 9th man doesn’t really matter so much as whether we have the depth and diversity of talent on our roster for players to be able to come in and help the team win. Depending upon the strength of our opponents, it might be an inside presence or a perimeter player or a more offensive skill set or more defensive intensity or more rebounding…
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We have had good role players come off the bench. Thats not an issue. They come in and do their job. There still is a difference.
If it weren’t a difference, then why didnt TA and IH keep their minutes? Obviously coach needed more. They played decent defense.
Both started off with 20+ minutes off the bench and most likely expected to start the following year…and wound up leaving.
Will Hadnot be a just a backup PG or a legit 6th man. There is a difference. A backup PG will spell DJ for 10 minutes and we will be looking at the bench to see when DJ will get back in the game. If Hadnot is a legit 6th man, he comes in hooping and we still continue to run plays and offense. He scores and we dont miss a beat. He also plays the 2 at times if he is legit. Consistent 20+ minutes a game with close to starter numbers.
If he is not, Weaver will be the veteran insurance late in the season and takes his minutes like Mylik did TA.
Houston gets 2. Arizona gets 2. Kansas gets 2.
Iowa State, Tech, BYU, and TCU get 1.
Everyone else can kick rocks!
…also 3rd yr in a row at KU? thanks, I hate it.
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Glad we get a home game finally but I’d honestly be fine if we never played another Big Monday game again. Hate having the quick turnaround especially when the teams on the road sucks.
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Will Hadnot be just a backup PG or a legit 6th man.
[/quote]
…__________________________________________________________________…
IF being a “legit 6th man” is defined by having the 6th most minutes played, then it’s interesting to note which UH players were the “legit 6th man” in our most successful eras:
…[NOTE: Other UH players who averaged double digit minutes that season]
1982 - C Hakeem Olajuwon (defense & rebounding)
1983 - F Benny Anders (offense)
1984 - C Cadillac Anderson (defense & rebounding)
2022 - C Josh Carlton (offense & rebounding) …[T. Mark/R. Walker/J. Roberts/R. Chaney]
2023 - 3 Emanuel Sharp (offense) …[R. Walker/ T. Arceneaux/ R. Chaney/ J. Francis]
2024 - 3 Terrance Arceneaux (versatility) …[D. Dunn/J. Tugler /M. Wilson /R. Walker]
2025 - 3 Terrance Arceneaux (versatility) …[M. Wilson/J. Francis/R. Walker]
2026 - 3 Isiah Harwell (defense) …[K. Sakho/C. McCarty/M. Miller/R. Walker]
…and it’s also interesting to note that our 7th & 8th & 9th & 10th men during those years also played significant (if not similar) minutes. [So UH has played 10 deep the past 5 years.]
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Welp, might as well. Here it goes…
Corey Hadnot (the ghost) will end up starting by the time we get into the thick of Big 12 play.
Aside from the fact that Mercy has 6th man written all over him and this will immediately solve any issue that keeps being discussed…
Hadnot brings a combo guard quality to his game. He brings a great blend of not only juice (which is Mercy’s specialty), but ALSO the ability to make others better, see the floor, and make winning plays in different ways that you like to see in your starters. He is a guy who is at his best when he can get into the flow of the game and work up a lather and a feel.
I think he’s just the better starting option.
I understand the love and hope for Mercy. I think there’s a sunk opportunity cost aspect to him that plays into people being hesitant to see him coming off the bench. But remember, SOC is a well-established fallacy. It is best for the team because I think Thomas and Hadnot makes you so heady and versatile. You’d be better suited to slog, pick away, and probe your way to effective offense in the bad times and be more variable in the good with them leading the backcourt together.
I think just the opposite for Mercy. In an ideal world, you get 30+ starts with Mercy and he is hot hot from start to finish. This will not happen.
When he’s off, he doesn’t bring the body of work and type of game that lends itself to being able to make winning plays for others when the fastball isn’t there. This comes when he’s hot, and by all means when he’s hot, ride him into the dirt until he’s not.
I just think Hadnot is much more similar to Thomas than he’s getting credit for in terms of being a creative, multiple, and shrewd as a high level guard who can keep things churning in all the situations that are going to present themselves over the long term. I think Mercy could be a secret weapon X factor and favorite to be 6th man of the year. And I think this dynamic is just more congruent for the whole.
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I might have to take my first trip to the FC for that Kansas game…
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Mercy wouldnt be a bad 6th man off the bench with 20+ minutes. But you would have to assume we go through a struggle for multiple games for CKS to make a move like that mid season.
One thing you are also assuming is Mercy is just a shooter. If he’s not hot, then his game is limited. I think you are off on this one. If Mercy jumpshot is broke, he can penetrate, offensive rebound, and get in the paint and score. Mercy can get to the line. Mercy has also shown a few times he can beat his man and penetrate and dish to a big man for an easy basket. Mercy is a hooper. Not just a jump shooter.
CKS has played players who arent hitting on offense. What would put Mercy out of the starting lineup would be his defense.