2025 Transfer Portal

[Aces44]

Evansville and Valpo are better situations than 200 teams in D1 and depending on the metric, more than half of this conference; but you all want them to fail..

Hoping the world burns is a wild thought.

[Kyle_Saluki_17]

Indiana State lands the SWAC Player of the Year
https://x.com/RoccoMiller8/status/1915826793208312157

That’s a good get.

6 teams (ISUr/Murray/Bradley/Drake/UNI/Belmont) are shaping up nicely. I was hoping another 2 would step up to give the league a strong top-8. Looks like ISUb will be one of them.

Agreed on the Trees, I'd put them in that mix. I don't hate what SIU has done and I fully trust Nagy. I think they may take a step forward in Year 2 there.

No idea what to think on UIC.

Valpo and Evansville stay where they are until proven otherwise.

If SIU has the commits that I hear they have, they’ll be fine. Will they be top 4 with the other good teams this year? Not sure. But I do think that they will be pretty good this year from what I hear.

[Kyle_Saluki_17]

Evansville and Valpo are better situations than 200 teams in D1 and depending on the metric, more than half of this conference; but you all want them to fail..

Hoping the world burns is a wild thought.

What metric? The most important metric there is right now is NIL funding and I’d say they rank between 10-12th in this league. I do think that Valpo has a terrific coach, but he like everyone else won’t be able to succeed without money.

[ReZyNeZy]

Evansville and Valpo are better situations than 200 teams in D1 and depending on the metric, more than half of this conference; but you all want them to fail..

Hoping the world burns is a wild thought.

What metric? The most important metric there is right now is NIL funding and I’d say they rank between 10-12th in this league. I do think that Valpo has a terrific coach, but he like everyone else won’t be able to succeed without money.

Had a talk with him about NIL during the "fireside" chat he hosted at a local diner. He is attempting to advocate for contracts w buyouts to be the standard post house settlement, but that doesn't guarantee anything. He has a nonprofit called the Rev Foundation that seems opportunities in the region for service work and donations. This non profit then turns around and cuts a check to the NIL collective to disperse to players. He claims to have a lot more to work with than last year, but I guess you could call this format creative. Lots of people will support a nonprofit focused around service and giving kids opportunities than a university with a less than stellar track record in recent years.

How I see it is the "paradox of NIL". You need to win to get people to buy in, but you need cash to get players who can win. I only hope his creative thinking is enough to get the bucks needed to field a roster. You can keep having FOTYs, but if you don't keep them than what does that get you

[Aces44]

Evansville and Valpo are better situations than 200 teams in D1 and depending on the metric, more than half of this conference; but you all want them to fail..

Hoping the world burns is a wild thought.

What metric? The most important metric there is right now is NIL funding and I’d say they rank between 10-12th in this league. I do think that Valpo has a terrific coach, but he like everyone else won’t be able to succeed without money.

You think Southern Illinois/UNI/etc are any better off than Tenn Tech/UALR/etc??

Get real, every MM is in a world of hurt and honestly a little more funding right now only keeps you getting your head kicked in a little longer, it doesn’t win you anything.

[smidge34]

You think Southern Illinois/UNI/etc are any better off than Tenn Tech/UALR/etc??.

Yup, you obviously have no idea how bad the OVC is now, I’d rather finish 5th in the MVC than be the perennial champion of that ishhole conference. That alone puts both programs miles ahead of any OVC program.

[Kyle_Saluki_17]

You think Southern Illinois/UNI/etc are any better off than Tenn Tech/UALR/etc??.

Yup, you obviously have no idea how bad the OVC is now, I’d rather finish 5th in the MVC than be the perennial champion of that ishhole conference. That alone puts both programs miles ahead of any OVC program.

Yes. The OVC will literally never win an NCAA Tournament game ever again. The auto bid is a 16 seed from here on out and they will get the bare minimum in revenue shares once they finally lose the remaining Belmont/Murray units.

There is no question that being middle of the pack here is better than their situation. Use any metric that you want. Funding, NET, NIL, coaches salary, respect, crowd attendance, etc… you name it. Look at the home schedule for an OVC school, any of them. I actually went to the OVC championship this year. They had the entire crowd sit on one side so it looked like more than 500 people were there.

So in summary, yes we are better off. It’s not even a debate.

[IllinoisState]

You think Southern Illinois/UNI/etc are any better off than Tenn Tech/UALR/etc??.

Yup, you obviously have no idea how bad the OVC is now, I’d rather finish 5th in the MVC than be the perennial champion of that ishhole conference. That alone puts both programs miles ahead of any OVC program.

Yes. The OVC will literally never win an NCAA Tournament game ever again. The auto bid is a 16 seed from here on out and they will get the bare minimum in revenue shares once they finally lose the remaining Belmont/Murray units.

There is no question that being middle of the pack here is better than their situation. Use any metric that you want. Funding, NET, NIL, coaches salary, respect, crowd attendance, etc… you name it. Look at the home schedule for an OVC school, any of them. I actually went to the OVC championship this year. They had the entire crowd sit on one side so it looked like more than 500 people were there.

So in summary, yes we are better off. It’s not even a debate.

Last season they were a 14 seed so I dont see it happening often, but a win once every few years is possible.

A 16 seed also plays against another 16 seed so a win shouldn't be too difficult and there's talk of expanding the tournament so more play in games probably.

[Aces44]

You think Southern Illinois/UNI/etc are any better off than Tenn Tech/UALR/etc??.

Yup, you obviously have no idea how bad the OVC is now, I’d rather finish 5th in the MVC than be the perennial champion of that ishhole conference. That alone puts both programs miles ahead of any OVC program.

Then Which is it?

Are Evansville and Valpo so terrible that they should drop out of D1, or are they in a better situation than half of D1?

[BCPanther]

UNI finishes its roster with NAIA All American Tristan Smith (6-5 230 Concordia NE). Hybrid wing/stretch 4.

21 Pts, 11 rebs, 5 assistants and he'll have one year to play.

UNI closed the deal on the only two visitors they had. That's how you effectively use the portal.