It appears Texas has gone away from the big arms and more towards pitch to contact strike throwers.  Their new ace has walked 12 guys in 58 IP but only K'd 39 batters.  Their new #2, Whitehead, is a mid to low 80's lefty who tops 88 on his best days.  He will walk a few more batters, but doesn't K many either.  They've lost their two big arms to injuries this year but their bullpen looks very strong. I'd rather let Texas A&M deal with them in a regional.  I figure we are getting Texas, OSU or TCU this year.   

The bowl game equivalence here is hilarious. Those games are objectively meaningless. Players that opt out overwhelmingly already have enough tape for scouts.

At least point to Shaedon Sharpe if you're going to try to stand on that point.

Quote from: Darren DeLoach on Yesterday at 03:33:30 pmMy guess is walk-ons

He just about has to get the best player or two in state for PR purposes to keep the natives calm, plus 8 to 10 of the best available including a mix of portal and first year guys. That will leave a couple of spots for surprises, late pickups and/or walk on types to complete the roster

Quote from: bphi11ips on Today at 01:17:31 pmDude - I haven't changed a thing since my first post.  This subject has been discussed here many times.  You told us from the beginning of the season Brazile was doing what he needed to do for the NBA.  But the focus on rim running and roaming the perimeter didn't work for him. 

As the father of an athlete who had NFL aspirations of his own, with good reason, I know what sort of effort it takes to develop the skills to have a shot.  Most think kickers don't expose themselves to injury like others, but his career ended on an all-out effort as a punter after a bad snap.  By then it was clear his window had closed as a PK, but I understand very well the risks a college athlete takes.  I also understand that timing and circumstances beyond a player's control impact the path to professional sports.  That's life for all of us. 

You finally addressed the question, sort of. 

I can promise you the notion that a college basketball player should protect his draft stock the way some have recently suggested IS new.  The best example might be football players opting out of bowl games.  That mindset is a sea change in college sports, and it's driven solely by money. 

But you seem to get my basic point - the people who actually make decisions in professional sports drafts aren't the same people who publish mock drafts and talk about them on message boards.  They consider many factors.  Some are intangible, like effort and toughness. Those sort of factors are important to great coaches like Calipari. They're the sort of factors that show up on tape. 

Brazile's numbers this past season were similarly analytically to his numbers before.  It's the intangibles where his draft stock suffered.  As the father of someone with aspirations of their own, I am pulling for Brazile.  I also liked his attitude. 

If Brazile were my son, I'd ask him first if his knee and ankle are okay and if he is willing to expose himself to more injuries that he'll have to deal with for the rest of his life.  If his answer is "yes", I'd tell him he needs to get back to it and play his ass off.  Then I might tell him to take another shot at Calipari because he strikes me as just the sort of coach Brazile needs. 

No, they weren't.

Lower 3pt%, much less aggressive in taking his own shots (WAY lower FGA), assist rate cut in half, steals down, lower FTR, played atrocious team defense.

BPR was over a point worse this year (that's not good)

He just didn't get it done.

LB Noah Mikhail sets June commitment date

by: Collin Ginnan
•


@@Blue-Chip recruit reveals visit schedule:

QuoteLa Verne (Calif.) Bonita four-star linebacker Noah Mikhail is one of the most coveted defenders in the 2025 recruiting class. Top programs from around the country have been involved in Mikhail's recruitment, and soon he will be ready to make his college decision.

Mikhail will announce his commitment on June 30, he told On3's Chad Simmons.

The date follows a trio of official visits for Mikhail in the month of June. He will take trips to USC (June 7), Oregon (June 14) and Texas A&M (June 21).

He's also the No. 3 player in California.

A&M: "Coach (Mike) Elko, he's a defensive-minded head coach, which is huge. Coach (Jay) Bateman, he's real smart, real great dude. You're playing in the SEC. I mean, it doesn't get much better than that. They're changing that culture around, for real."

Quote from: ucahogfan on Today at 12:48:46 pmColumbia is a tough regional.  Oregon State has talent for days and Georgia Tech can be dangerous.

College Station has some feisty teams.  Louisiana has been a really good team at times and Lamar has a weekend sweep over OU which is running away with the Big 12.

Athens isn't easy either.  Wake Forest has as much star power as anyone in the country and Austin Peay can hit for days in a ballpark which can be a hitter's best friend.

Knoxville and Clemson probably strike me as the two easiest regionals without digging in too much.

Pretty much agree.  UCSB region is probably the most balanced where any of the four could win.  Georgia getting Austin Peay in game 1 could be fireworks.  Two of the top HR teams in the country going at it game 1.  Miss State is another fairly balanced regional with a tough 4 seed.  Virginia might have the easiest with San Diego, a struggling Vandy and Army. 

Quote from: donnie on Today at 12:33:54 pmO, so now we've gone just full speculation about an individual's motives and desires because they didn't play up to expectations following an injury. 

I really tire of this kind of crap. You, as the father of an athlete, should know better.

Ever think some guys just have limits? You of all people should know that.

Dude - I haven't changed a thing since my first post.  This subject has been discussed here many times.  You told us from the beginning of the season Brazile was doing what he needed to do for the NBA.  But the focus on rim running and roaming the perimeter didn't work for him. 

As the father of an athlete who had NFL aspirations of his own, with good reason, I know what sort of effort it takes to develop the skills to have a shot.  Most think kickers don't expose themselves to injury like others, but his career ended on an all-out effort as a punter after a bad snap.  By then it was clear his window had closed as a PK, but I understand very well the risks a college athlete takes.  I also understand that timing and circumstances beyond a player's control impact the path to professional sports.  That's life for all of us. 

Quote from: donnie on Today at 12:41:45 pmThere also is not a developing view that players should play a few games and then sit. That's happened a very small amount of times. Scouts want tape.

You finally addressed the question, sort of. 

I can promise you the notion that a college basketball player should protect his draft stock the way some have recently suggested IS new.  The best example of this mindset might be football players opting out of bowl games.  That mindset is a sea change in college sports, and it's driven solely by money. 

But you seem to get my basic point - the people who actually make decisions in professional sports drafts aren't the same people who publish mock drafts and talk about them on message boards.  They consider many factors.  Some are intangible, like effort and toughness. Those sort of factors are important to great coaches like Calipari. They're the sort of factors that show up on tape. 

Brazile's numbers this past season were similar analytically to his numbers before.  It's the intangibles where his draft stock suffered.  As the father of someone with aspirations of their own, I am pulling for Brazile.  I also liked his attitude. 

If Brazile were my son, I'd ask him first if his knee and ankle are okay and if he is willing to expose himself to more injuries that he'll have to deal with for the rest of his life.  If his answer is "yes", I'd tell him he needs to get back to it and play his ass off.  Then I might tell him to take another shot at Calipari because he strikes me as just the sort of coach Brazile needs. 

Quote from: hawgfan4life on Yesterday at 10:51:07 amHowever, LSU is in a position where enough very talented players want to go there that they can be selective and recruit players with the right mindset.

This doesn't exist anymore. There are no blue bloods. Green is the only color that matters at this point. If we outbid LSU, we will get the talent we want from Louisiana.

Quote from: CDBHawg on Today at 11:34:13 amI believe he'll play 8 or 9 guys. Just as Muss did. I also believe we'll have more than 8 or 9 scholarship players.

I don't think we'll hand out 4 scholarships to walk-ons either.

Well, he is the one that said it, so take it up with coach.

Quote from: runninrazorback on Today at 11:05:36 amI like what he said, no just paid guns, if you want to be at a good program you can get paid, but we aren't paying you just to show up

Agree with him 100%.  It's not just about the a bidding war.  It's about the entire team, developing those guys and having a team first culture.  Let's say he offered a DT in the portal 100K just to come there. Meanwhile guys on the team who have developed their way into starting or significant playing time are thinking "Why is this guy getting 100K coming from a lesser program?"  Pay to keep guys you want but don't just throw out cash for some depth. 
Kelly is a very good coach and has proved it over the years at several places.  LSU will be just fine.