Or Duke lets Cayden run the second unit and really wears teams down with his attacking.
Transfer Portal
- Thread starter The Only Blue
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I think Duke would run two guards between Rippey, Boozer and Blackwell especially if Sarr is coming back to play the 3 spot. They need three good guards for their rotation. They would all get 25-30 plus minutes each.
But that would be on Jon IMO - the lack of touches for Kon and Evans that is. I don't know that you can ask for more than what they had that year. They had three legit scorers, all of which were very good 3 pt shooters, and the guy that didn't have the dog in him was the veteran, Proctor. The freshman - Flagg and Kon had plenty of dog in them. I hated the last play ISO turnaround from Flagg - I'd have preferred a kick out to an open shooter like Kon. Gillis was supposed to be that grizzled, doggish vet off the bench, but unfortunately, he wasn't very good for them. I think they had the right mix of players; it just didn't work out.
This last year, yes, it was mostly Cam, so agreed there. Jon decided to run it back with his bench players from the year before and freshman. I'd have liked him to get someone established from the portal, and he tried with Coward I guess, but then pivoted to Sarr. I didn't agree with that approach but it likely would have worked if Pat and CF don't get hurt.
It sounds like he's going heavy portal over returning players this year. You can argue he's looking for more grit and dog. I think Foster and Nik have dog in them, but they are both wildly inconsistent offensive players. And Cayden had some lazy, awful TOs in the 2nd half against Uconn.
It's a tough world to navigate right now for sure. If I have a quibble about the incoming recruiting class, it's Williams. I'd have rather taken that money and put it towards portal bigs. I don't see a big impact from him this year based on his build. And if that's the case, he'll likely be in the portal next offseason.
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Not if you leave him at PF . You need him to pull bigs away from the center for the dish down . He’d a lob threat and has a jumper. If Duke gets big Pat back or another true center Williams will shine . Him playing at the five in college I agree is not ideal . Think Vessar and Wilson .
Michigan lands coveted Tennessee transfer J.P. Estrella
Tennessee's J.P. Estrella, a 6-foot-11 redshirt sophomore transfer, told ESPN he committed to Michigan, giving the Wolverines their first portal player since winning the national title Monday.
www.espn.com
This should be good news for us maybe getting the Kansas big man since Michigan was also in the running for him.
Well most think they know so I will say Scheyer lol. Kids have 15 days to enter the portal and can declare for the draft I think at any time . Nothing would surprise me even if a recruit left .
Yeah Cam Williams is a stretch 4. He can rebound but he can really shoot so I think Jon changes up this year and really spreads the floor with 4 shooters and let a true center bang down low. That’s why Flory would be epic at center if we don’t get Pat back.
Right but we normally have one a day. Shocked nothing happened today
Love him too, but guys like Caleb will cash in when they can. By guys like… I mean I’m not an NBA scout but I don’t see him playing in the league honestly. His jump shot is not good enough. He does everything well on the college level, but let’s not kid ourselves. He needs to cash in NOW. If that were one of us and Duke was offering 1 mil and another school showed up with 1.5 we’d prob be gone. A lot of people tend to dismiss that differential of 500k, saying “show some loyalty”,etc but it takes the average American ten fn years to make that 500 k Let’s keep that in mind. I hope Duke matches whatever offer he gets for the record
If Cayden comes back he’s not on the second unit. That’s not how this era works. If he comes back he’s starting.
Agree. Last year was a great group. With James and Gillis in the portal with the freshmen. In a perfect world an experienced big like a Mara or the UConn or St Johns big ( names escape me at the moment) maybe but not many teams will look like Michigan’s this year. Had Proctor who came up short against Houston. A good mixture of phenoms and experience. Just didn’t pan out at the final four
Nik is gone. Foster 50/50. To me Cayden is more of a shooting guard. He’s a good pg against average competition which is most of the Acc, but you’re not cutting down the nets with him running the point. We all knew that from the get go. His handle is simply not good enough. His strength is creating in the paint. Great balance and strength
Dusty May has quickly rewritten the rules of college bb. High school recruiting is borderline irrelevant. Sign top portal guys who are willing to not be the guy if you have the Nil $ Michigan does like few others. Bonus: you’ve got 22-23 year olds dudes playing 18 and 19 year olds. See Duke against Houston and UConnMichigan lands coveted Tennessee transfer J.P. Estrella
Tennessee's J.P. Estrella, a 6-foot-11 redshirt sophomore transfer, told ESPN he committed to Michigan, giving the Wolverines their first portal player since winning the national title Monday.
This should be good news for us maybe getting the Kansas big man since Michigan was also in the running for him.
Well then what happens should foster or Sarr return and Blackwell comes? Neither of them are coming off the bench
Sarr isn’t coming back to sit on the bench. We don’t have three guard spots to offer assuming Duke gets the bigs it wants. There is no scenario where Cayden, Blackwell, Rippey, Sarr, and two bigs (Pat + Cam or a portal big) start. Either Rippey comes off the bench or he can transfer.
The fact that Jon wants Pat and Flory together should tell you he isn’t playing three guards as his primary lineup. Sarr will absolutely start and so will Blackwell. Your only argument is Rippey over Cayden, and I don’t see that happening unless Rippey ends up being a lottery pick type of player who is the best freshman in the country.
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Rippey will start over Cayden. Sure, I can go into all the logical reasons why but I am going to go into the illogical reason
he is a 5 star true point guard from NJ
do the history
thanks
But seriously
As a true point guard, Rippey can do things that Cayden does not have the ability to do, like get to anywhere on the court he pleases at any time of his choosing without too much help screening. He is simply a better player.
he is a 5 star true point guard from NJ
do the history
thanks
But seriously
As a true point guard, Rippey can do things that Cayden does not have the ability to do, like get to anywhere on the court he pleases at any time of his choosing without too much help screening. He is simply a better player.
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I don't know who's coming, who's staying, or who will be starting. What I do know is that if Jon wants a championship contending team, multiple guys will be needed. Not everyone can start. Someone (who's very good) will need to be the 6th man, and another the 7th. Look no further than Michigan. Their 6th man was a freshman who most likely would have started for almost any other team in the country, but May convinced him to come off the bench.
I think Jon has to copy that. We can't have just 5 starters, nor can we have only 2-3 scorers. We have to get a little more balance with the teams moving forward. Not everyone can be the chef in the kitchen, but there is room for quite a few cooks.
I think Jon has to copy that. We can't have just 5 starters, nor can we have only 2-3 scorers. We have to get a little more balance with the teams moving forward. Not everyone can be the chef in the kitchen, but there is room for quite a few cooks.
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Rippey will start. It’s a non starter to even discuss it.
Then Cayden will go to Miami or somewhere else. You aren’t getting him to come off the bench and play less than starter type minutes. He will get 28-30 a game if not more. Plenty of schools would pay him a lot of money to play starter minutes.
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And you will be just as wrong come November
Who is starting will be determined through practices starting in October, not now.
Come with that same energy at that time with your 10th total post made on the board. What a warm welcome you deserve!
Rippey is starting. Cayden has a lot of his game that needs refining. He’s a combo guard that has to play point at the next level. His handles , shot and passing needs work. That said, nothing says he can’t come off the bench with starter minutes . You need two good ball handlers and two off ball handlers . This keeps the back court healthy and fresh .
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won't surprise me one bit for Duke to have 9-12 guys as part of the rotation for 2026-2027.
2024-2025: 11 deep
2025-2026: 9 deep
Foster
Evans
Sarr
Williams
Ngongba
Cayden
Wilkins
Rippey Jr
Howard
Meyer (potential redshirt, thought of as more of a project)
Potential Transfers:
Blackwell
Bidunga
2024-2025: 11 deep
2025-2026: 9 deep
Foster
Evans
Sarr
Williams
Ngongba
Cayden
Wilkins
Rippey Jr
Howard
Meyer (potential redshirt, thought of as more of a project)
Potential Transfers:
Blackwell
Bidunga
I don't know Cayden personally, but as a hightly touted 5 star I highly doubt he wants to come off the bench as a soph.
I wouldn’t say he was highly touted and he was a four star initially. He was always scouted as being two to three years before making the league . Scouts want to see how he plays with out his brother and controls the flow of a game . I think we all agree he needs to attack the basket at will but also his jumper and three pointer need work . It all really depends on him at the end of the day I don’t blame these kids one bit for chasing millions .
We should have been agents Chris for college players . I wonder if it’s even considered funneling any more given the fact agents now have sway where a kid should go .