The two most important players to keep, and then Powers. I think I probably like Davis more than anyone here, and I think he takes a big jump next year as he did this year.
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Davis, Francis
- Thread starter Bob Chaewsky_rivals
- Start date
Crazy thing Depressed is that my father played in the NBA early 50’s as a 6’5’’ center and I played junior college hoops in early 80’s as a 5’11 1/2 inch small forward shooting guard and now 6’2” guards like J Mike are actually to short but I love the kids heart and hope he stays for sure.
Yeah - I’d be fine with keeping most of the guards we have and investing our backcourt portal nest into one quality guard/wing with length. Even if we kept all of Tariq, J Mike, Powers, Mark and Buchanan - 5 returners plus Wooten (who I think could be one of our better frosh in a while - kid crushed it this season) and one new high level / or at least “high potential” portal wing with handling skills - I’d feel okay with that being the group Pike has to work with in the backcourt next season after another off season.
I believe the frontcourt needs a mass overhaul. If we hypothetically kept the 5 guys above plus Wooten, that would mean a target portal class of 7 (unless Pike can convince EO to stay on at back u center). Regardless, most of these additions have to be to the frontcourt where we are starting with nothing. For this reason, I think bringing back Grant would be a huge mistake. He’s a 2 year incumbent starter at the 4. I would be very concerned that the optics of competing with him for a starting role would not be a desirable sell in the portal. In fact, if Grant stays I’m pretty much going to assume Pike will be recruiting back ups for the 4 which I think would be a huge mistake.
I believe the frontcourt needs a mass overhaul. If we hypothetically kept the 5 guys above plus Wooten, that would mean a target portal class of 7 (unless Pike can convince EO to stay on at back u center). Regardless, most of these additions have to be to the frontcourt where we are starting with nothing. For this reason, I think bringing back Grant would be a huge mistake. He’s a 2 year incumbent starter at the 4. I would be very concerned that the optics of competing with him for a starting role would not be a desirable sell in the portal. In fact, if Grant stays I’m pretty much going to assume Pike will be recruiting back ups for the 4 which I think would be a huge mistake.
Didn't Davis go from team captain and starter to coming off the bench?
He had a good last game of the season but wouldn't call it a breakout year.
What role is Davis playing next year?
Hard to say the most important person to retain is expected to be the backup PG/4th or 5th guard.
He had a good last game of the season but wouldn't call it a breakout year.
What role is Davis playing next year?
Hard to say the most important person to retain is expected to be the backup PG/4th or 5th guard.
Yes - he did. Which is exactly why I’d be more okay with an announcement of his return as compared to a player like Grant.
Davis would be a 4 year player whose role has gone up and down changing as needed throughout all 3 of his seasons. He was never hyped up to be a highly anticipated go-to player. He played a utility back up PG role his first 2 years. He started at the beginning of this season purely out of need with a roster full of frosh and TF adjusting to moving up a level. When he was passed in the depth chart he seemed to have no problem sliding back to his role off the bench. If he chose to return, there would be a mutual understanding that he probably wouldn’t be starting - he’d be a veteran back up PG (there’s almost no chance we’ll be bringing in a better one from the portal). I don’t think his return would deter others considering Rutgers.
Grant, in contrast, had the kind of path where keeping him around basically means we’ve decided not to invest in a new starting 4. He “earned” the starting role last year and was over hyped to the point where he was projected to be the go to star on our roster. His usage was sky high against cupcakes and did a nose dive when he could not execute outside of garbage time against better teams. His defense seemed to suffer too, and it was sub par to begin with. But he’s not going to stick around to be recruited over.
Eh he did in the beginning of the year (42.5% OOC) but shot below 30% once conference games started.
He will be the only player spending four years at Rutgers