Transfer portal——MVC guys

[BCPanther]

Redbirds fill their "last" scholarship with 6'9, 230lb Caden Boser out of D2 Valdosta State. He spent two years at UMKC before spending the last two at VSU. He's known Redbird Sr. Guard Dalton Banks since he was 5 years old out of Eau Claire, Wis.

He seems to be more of a stretch 4. Pedon said he wanted shooters and that's what he got. Another guy hovering around 40% from 3.

We expect to one more scholarship player to enter the portal before tomorrow's deadline. The real last spot will need to be filled with a post player.

Pedon is going for it. His roster will have at least 7 guys in their final year of eligibility. It'll be a looong senior night. Complete rebuild after the 2024-25 season. I like the freshmen and sophomores for this season, but as we all know, the likeliness of keeping them together are slim.

Every year is a complete rebuild in today's college basketball world.

Fair point. The Birds are returning 7. If Coach Jake can weather the storm after getting hit by the portal (for the first time, right?), I have hope it can happen elsewhere.

As expected, ILST's Luke Kasubke has entered the portal. He'll be a grad xfer with 1 year to play. Portal closes for under grads tonight and grads tomorrow.

Jake has weathered it, I think. Frankly, assuming he gets one more ballhandling guard, the roster might be better than last year.

Bond is an upgrade over Duax. Schwieger and Wolf are basically the same player except Schwieger is 3 inches taller. Wes Rubin (medical RS) is a major upgrade over Henry. Born couldn't stay healthy and while he's much better offensively than RJ Taylor, Taylor is a much better defender.

Just have to hope that Weisbrod and Pock combined can match Heise's production. Bond replaces his defense.

Anderson, Campbell and Hutson are all back with another year experience.

I feel like Bradley and UNI will be 1-2 in the preseason poll by a pretty wide margin down to Illinois State and Murray in the next tier.

***Fully aware that it's April 30th and tons can change***

[Adunk33]

Jake has weathered it, I think. Frankly, assuming he gets one more ballhandling guard, the roster might be better than last year.

Bond is an upgrade over Duax. Schwieger and Wolf are basically the same player except Schwieger is 3 inches taller. Wes Rubin (medical RS) is a major upgrade over Henry. Born couldn't stay healthy and while he's much better offensively than RJ Taylor, Taylor is a much better defender.

Just have to hope that Weisbrod and Pock combined can match Heise's production. Bond replaces his defense.

Anderson, Campbell and Hutson are all back with another year experience.

I feel like Bradley and UNI will be 1-2 in the preseason poll by a pretty wide margin down to Illinois State and Murray in the next tier.

***Fully aware that it's April 30th and tons can change***

When I talk about weathering the storm, I'm not so much talking about 2024-25 and more 25-26. Will he be able to beat the portal and retain the kids after being hit hard by the portal, seemingly seemingly the first time.

But yeah, on May 1, Bradley is one and then there's a lot of questions. I wouldn't turn my nose to UNI at 2. Just still so much new, turnover and unknown.

[BEARZ77]

Bradley is a solid pick, but we were told last year that UNI [ & Drake] was way above the rest of the league and that didn't hold much water. I always give Jake a lot of respect in preseason, but they've been mediocre more often than not in the last 5-6 years.UNI does have more returning than many other teams, but I'll have to wait and see given recent performances. Borg wasn't a huge loss but I think Heise was; he hit big shots and he was really good defensively.

[MissouriValleyUnite]

Bradley is a solid pick, but we were told last year that UNI [ & Drake] was way above the rest of the league and that didn't hold much water. I always give Jake a lot of respect in preseason, but they've been mediocre more often than not in the last 5-6 years.UNI does have more returning than many other teams, but I'll have to wait and see given recent performances. Borg wasn't a huge loss but I think Heise was; he hit big shots and he was really good defensively.

This. I’m not putting UNI in the first tier with Bradley. Not seeing where UNI has replaced Heise and Born and gotten better over last year.

UNI should be in that second tier. I’m eyeing Illinois St and Murray St (2 top-150 recruits) as teams who should make a jump into that second tier with UNI.

[ReZyNeZy]

Valpo got some decent gets this offseason. All things considered they shouldn't be an utter laughing stock this year.

[BEARZ77]

Bears got a big commit this morning in 6'6 wing Jurrell Baldwin out of Chicago; hoping to hear on a Dez White commit soon. With likely 12 newcomers when it's all done, not sure how quickly Zo can assimilate all the new guys , but I like the way the roster is shaping up. We look to be pretty long and athletic starting with a 6'6 pg. It's such a crap shoot right now, but I think the Bears can be in the hunt.

[BCPanther]

Bowen Born to Colorado State it appears.

[ValleyFAN]

Bears get another commitment from Vincennes forward Michael Osei-Bonsu, 6'5" big body forward. Was a top 75 juco ranked guy. Would be much higher if not for his lack of height. Interesting physique. A guy that is about 3 inches shorter than most DI guys at the position he plays. Got good production at one of the best juco's in the country. Plays hard and physical down low, but not sure how his size and stature translates to the MVC. We'll see. Definitely fits in the hard-nosed brand of basketball that Zo wants to recruit towards, and I like that we've gotten a few JUCO guys instead of just relying on Power 5 bounce backs. I think we're going to see a lot of hungry basketball players on the Bears roster.

[BCPanther]

Seems like the pendulum is swinging back to the slow, grind it out league we all fell in love with and I'm all the way here for it.

Ironic that SIU is the team that is going to want to play the fastest.

[Drakey]

Seems like the pendulum is swinging back to the slow, grind it out league we all fell in love with and I'm all the way here for it.

Ironic that SIU is the team that is going to want to play the fastest.

UGGH!