I hope Cook stays. His return would fast track SIU to being very good unless its a complete whiff signing quality bigs. It really has a chance to be his team.
--Insert something witty here--
If Cook and Dembele transfer that leaves us with:
Domask, Jones, Harvey, Brown, and the two incoming Freshmen
I trust the coaching staff is recruiting like crazy right now, but that is still a concerning number of scholarships to fill and zero post presence. I worry even more because I don’t think the new guys coming in are going to have the normal amount of time to gel on and off the court with everything going on right now.
I still trust the staff, but they sure have me sweating.
I have faith in the coaching staff, but if they don't get a couple of decent low post players for next season, SIU is in BIG trouble.
Best of luck to Karrington Davis with all his future endeavors. I know he's had a long road with his injury and now transferring again.
If Cook and Dembele transfer that leaves us with:
Domask, Jones, Harvey, Brown, and the two incoming Freshmen
I trust the coaching staff is recruiting like crazy right now, but that is still a concerning number of scholarships to fill and zero post presence. I worry even more because I don’t think the new guys coming in are going to have the normal amount of time to gel on and off the court with everything going on right now.
I still trust the staff, but they sure have me sweating.
Not sure IF both of those players transfer, or not. Mullins is trying to build a culture here. To do that he has to have players that will fit in to that culture. NONE of the players transferring now are surprises to me. All of the players that Mullins brought in last year seem to be great young men and I wish the ones that are leaving nothing but the best.
1) Stevan Jeremic is out of D1 eligibility. I am certain Mullins knew that when he signed him.
2) Gooch is graduating and can transfer as a grad transfer, this has been speculated as early as last fall that this might happen. He has been at SIU for 4 years played 3 and as barely seen the court. IF the young man wants playing time which I assume he does his best option is to play at a lower level and get it. Wishing nothing but good things for him. Congratulations to him for getting a college degree in 4 years while playing D1 ball that is awesome.
These two may have been the most surprising to people, however I am not surprised.
3) Harwin Francois not sure what happened here but IF you were paying attention his playing time went down as the season went on. The writing was on the wall at the Valley tournament when he didn't play at all.
4) Karrington Davis I liked his potential but he did have some major injuries and that may have played a role in his development. Again his playing time went down as the season progressed not sure why but I trust that Mullins did.
Mullins had to put a make shift roster together last year with a limited time to do it and he did very well under those circumstances, this is just another step in the process. Even though this spring has been anything but normal I trust that Mullins and his staff have been recruiting for almost a year for SIU and am certain that they have a plan.
Go Dawgs
If Cook and Dembele transfer that leaves us with:
Domask, Jones, Harvey, Brown, and the two incoming Freshmen
I trust the coaching staff is recruiting like crazy right now, but that is still a concerning number of scholarships to fill and zero post presence. I worry even more because I don’t think the new guys coming in are going to have the normal amount of time to gel on and off the court with everything going on right now.
I still trust the staff, but they sure have me sweating.
We should be sweating. It's just plain disturbing when that many guys leave (see Wichita).
I DO think that this transferring gig might be a bit contagious. Guys leaving that have graduated and aren't getting the playing time they'd like might make some sense. Guys leaving - like Dembele and Davis and even Francois - who are going to see a lot of future playing time don't make sense to me unless they are really unhappy ... (or maybe think they can get to the pros through some other school??)
I sincerely hope Mullins has forgotten everything he might have learned from Lowery and that this is a one-time thing! You can't have this kind of turnover every year and expect to be good. I'm sure this is a heavy learning year for BM - he's said as much to Reis. The fact that recruiting may not be face to face for weeks or months doesn't help.
On the other hand, we know we have a good recruit or two coming in. Maybe the leavers will get replaced by better talent and we'll pick up some good bigs!
It bothers me that Coach Mullins isn’t able to bring students to campus and speak face-to-face because he can really sell the university and himself. It’s hard to give recruits the feel of our great facilities and beautiful campus without them visiting.
Regarding the transfers, we want student-athletes that fully buy into the program, culture, and University. I understand players leaving for more playing time, and I trust Mullins to recruit quality replacements even under these circumstances.
