Dearth of sophomore talent

[Cdizzle]

I was excited about Wiley, and still think he could be a big contributor. I thought he was a perfect fit for a really big need for the UE team. A tough guy grinder that could play D and grab boards at the 4.

[DUBulldog]

Jacob Enevold Jenson - am I the only one not sold on him yet? He could hit the Eglseder growth late though

No, you're not the only one.....a good portion of the Drake fanbase isn't sold on him either. He's got terrible hands and he's incredibly slow....runs the court well, but no lateral quickness at all. Very nice touch on his shot. He looks really good some days (12 points, 15 rebounds, 3 blocks vs Wichita, 9-9 from the field vs Loyola) and looks completely incompetent other days. He mentally gets down on himself when he's having a bad game, and that only compounds the problem.

There is potential there for a good player, but maddeningly inconsistent.

Back to the original topic, that is a less than overwhelming class. Drake's only other sophomore is Blake Danielak who has only appeared in 6 games all year and hasn't scored. Bulldogs add Northwestern transfer Kale Abrahamson to that class next year, and will probably add a juco. Abrahamson won't be an all-MVC type player, but can probably average 10-12 ppg.

[rlh04d]

Or was the the point? There are some good names there but the rest are not.

That's the cream of the crop in that class.
2 years from now may be a bad year for The Valley.

I disagree.

WSU and UNI are great programs with great coaches, who are going to be good almost no matter what. A lack of great sophomore talent on those two teams is irrelevant.

The sophomore class, IMO, is more important for the lesser teams, who need the advantage of upper-classmen to be competitive with those two programs. And in that sense, Doyle for Loyola, Envold/Timmer for Drake, and most of the Illinois State lineup are very important. Indiana State will likely also be a very solid team.

I think we have a decent chance for five to six top 100 RPI teams two years from now. We likely won't have more than one ranked team, but we'll have strong depth as long as those lesser programs ride strong upper-class players to good noncon performances.

[Wufan]

also joining this Sophomore class is RS Wiley 6'10" JUCO AA

Last I heard Wiley was 6-6 or 6-7...did I miss something or was that a typo?

[UE-grad]

He's listed at 6-7

[sixth ace]

also joining this Sophomore class is RS Wiley 6'10" JUCO AA

Last I heard Wiley was 6-6 or 6-7...did I miss something or was that a typo?

Sorry my typo

[uniftw]

Or was the the point? There are some good names there but the rest are not.

That's the cream of the crop in that class.
2 years from now may be a bad year for The Valley.

I disagree.

WSU and UNI are great programs with great coaches, who are going to be good almost no matter what. A lack of great sophomore talent on those two teams is irrelevant.

The sophomore class, IMO, is more important for the lesser teams, who need the advantage of upper-classmen to be competitive with those two programs. And in that sense, Doyle for Loyola, Envold/Timmer for Drake, and most of the Illinois State lineup are very important. Indiana State will likely also be a very solid team.

I think we have a decent chance for five to six top 100 RPI teams two years from now. We likely won't have more than one ranked team, but we'll have strong depth as long as those lesser programs ride strong upper-class players to good noncon performances.

At UNI Jeremy Morgan and Ted Friedman didn't redshirt as freshman...Bennett Koch and Klint Carlson.

Well, this year Friedman redshirted leaving Morgan as the only "sophomore".

By contrast in the freshman class there was only 1 scholarship - Wyatt Lohaus. He will now be joined by 36 others in his "sophomore class".

UNI has 4 juniors...2 of them are walk on practice players.

5 seniors and 1 used to play but hasn't this year (Max Martino...going to law school though...good for him)


The reality is at UNI, at this point in the program, you have to be a really special type of player to see the floor as a freshman. As special as Morgan is, if Jesperson would have been eligible to play last season Morgan would have redshirted and we'd have zero sophomores right now) and you have to be a pretty special player to see significant minutes as a sophomore.

Tuttle and Mitchell have started/played every game of their careers. Jeremy Morgan and Wyatt Lohaus will get that same kind of treatment. There is a freshman or two in next years class that will do the same but likely after a redshirt year.

If you're program is relying on freshman and sophomores you probably aren't in a great spot...or you have some really special players

[jackwagon]

Don't forget any jc transfers added this next season will be part of this soph class. Loyola has a good looking big and uni adds a guy as well. Evansville gets wiley back, he should be a good one in time. Not to mention potential noy Matt van sycoc is a part of this class. He will help the sycamores a lot next season. I'm not ready to call this class a bust just yet.

[rlh04d]

At UNI Jeremy Morgan and Ted Friedman didn't redshirt as freshman...Bennett Koch and Klint Carlson.

Well, this year Friedman redshirted leaving Morgan as the only "sophomore".

By contrast in the freshman class there was only 1 scholarship - Wyatt Lohaus. He will now be joined by 36 others in his "sophomore class".

UNI has 4 juniors...2 of them are walk on practice players.

5 seniors and 1 used to play but hasn't this year (Max Martino...going to law school though...good for him)


The reality is at UNI, at this point in the program, you have to be a really special type of player to see the floor as a freshman. As special as Morgan is, if Jesperson would have been eligible to play last season Morgan would have redshirted and we'd have zero sophomores right now) and you have to be a pretty special player to see significant minutes as a sophomore.

Tuttle and Mitchell have started/played every game of their careers. Jeremy Morgan and Wyatt Lohaus will get that same kind of treatment. There is a freshman or two in next years class that will do the same but likely after a redshirt year.

If you're program is relying on freshman and sophomores you probably aren't in a great spot...or you have some really special players

I'm not sure if you missed that this thread is mostly talking about how the sophomore class is going to reflect as seniors in two years.

[Redbird Recon]

also joining this Sophomore class is RS Wiley 6'10" JUCO AA and RS 7'1"Vuretic

I'd temper my expectations for Wiley. There's a reason he redshirted.

He broke his hand requiring surgery and change his major that will take 3 years of classes.

I didn't realize that. Full disclosure: I evaluated WW in high school. His athleticism was always there, but his production was always maddeningly average.