Portal

[Kevin Reilly]

Anti-Homer . I know ratings are different but on3 has Pozatto ranked AS the 37th best Portal guy, Wright as the 146th best portal guy and Moore as the 164th best portal guy. Heck Anderson might be better than all of them but what a weekend for Xavier.

[muskieman]

Malik Moore is one of the three signed by RP and staff this weekend

[Anti-Homer]

Anti-Homer . I know ratings are different but on3 has Pozatto ranked AS the 37th best Portal guy, Wright as the 146th best portal guy and Moore as the 164th best portal guy. Heck Anderson might be better than all of them but what a weekend for Xavier.

KR,

You’re right. Ratings are all over the place, depending on the service. I happen to think 247Sports is more accurate and consistent than On3. Over 1700 players have entered the portal to date, and that number will increase until the deadline on 4-24. Due to my duties as a moderator here and a side project I did for BYU (yes, I diverted their attention away from Pozzato), I monitor the portal pretty closely.

On3’s rankings, to me, are puzzling. AJ Storr of Kansas, a top 20 player in both rankings (On3 & 247) last year, is ranked at 77 this year. There are not 77 better players than him. I think he’s in the top 30 – 35 guy. He had a down year, and I thought he was caught in the same situation as Maddox. They both went to teams with crowded back courts.

I’m not cherry-picking. Here are some other puzzling rankings, imo:

• Mahaney, pg. Connecticut. He was a highly coveted recruit last year (top 40ish player) as he was one of the best players in the WAC at St.
Mary’s in 23-24.’ He is now ranked 267. He struggled to adapt at the high major talent (lacked strength and quickness to be able to guard and
create offensively) consistently, but still was a decent rotational player. Even if one agrees with the ranking, how is he ranked this low when a
comparable player like Kriisa is ranked 127? Also:

• Tyrell Ward 277.
• Johnathan Powell 190
• Langston Love, 500. He started for Baylor and averaged 9 ppg, shooting 33% from 3. Those aren’t great numbers, but he played the Foster role
of being a complementary scorer-defender, and he did it well. He should be ranked 130-140, imo or better. For perspective, Cam Fletcher is
only 4-5 spots lower.
• Dan Skillings 173. He is definitely a top 100 guy in my mind and would have been top 40 last year. He had a down year but a really good
sophomore season. I believe he missed a stretch with injuries. He has NBA talent.
• Dillon Mitchell – Not even listed – obviously a sloppy, glaring omission. He’s at St. John’s visiting this weekend.

I don’t know specifically where those guys rank with 247Sports, but I do know they are cumulatively much better.

Regarding X’s top 4 guys, On3 ranks Pozzato in the top 3% (high imo) and Moore & Wright in the top 7%. There is an NR for Carroll, which is just dumb, as there is ample data to rank him. I think he should be in the 120-130 range. Obviously, the number is fluid. I didn’t check for the other guys.

With respect to Anderson, I was really underwhelmed and put out a post last year expressing that after X picked him up. However, there has been glowing praise on how good he looked in practices against the 1st team, by the likes of Miller, Paul/Baum, Byron/Joe. Also, Pitino saw him play while at New Mexico, and undoubtedly has seen recent workouts.

At the very least, I have to believe he thinks Anderson will be a valuable rotational guy, if not a starter. I have no doubt, though, that Pitino is looking for a potential upgrade, and if not, he may just go with plan B and slot Wright into that role (not preferred) if Anderson underperforms.

I think the needs that remain include:

A stretch 4 who can also defend (i.e. Gates, but 2 inches taller) and even fill in as an undersized 5, as we have two centers who have good potential but didn’t get starter minutes at their respective schools, so they are still a wild card. X’s post play is in the bottom third of the BE as it stands, at least on paper.

I know we have the NMex guys, but they are 10-15 minute a game guys, imo. That's obviousy with limited info.

Also, again, a potential upgrade to Anderson, or a backup PG who has the ball on a string and is a tough defender, like the under-appreciated McKnight. I‘m thinking of a bigger, more athletic, and quicker Dee Davis. They play 4 games against elite, physical defenses (MQuette & Johns) who press a lot, so a poised, efficient PG as a starter/backup is needed.

[Kevin Reilly]

Anti-Homer your right beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. What someone sees in a player is always different from another person's view. It is exciting to see how this team shakes out. We have some pieces and now we watch how they come together. I would guess with so many new players it may take awhile to gel. At this point I hope we still get a good ball handler but I am happy with the recruiting so far. The Big East is a large step up in competition to most of our new players. Probably need 8-10 games to get used to the physical play

[Anti-Homer]

Anti-Homer your right beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. What someone sees in a player is always different from another person's view. It is exciting to see how this team shakes out. We have some pieces and now we watch how they come together. I would guess with so many new players it may take awhile to gel. At this point I hope we still get a good ball handler but I am happy with the recruiting so far. The Big East is a large step up in competition to most of our new players. Probably need 8-10 games to get used to the physical play

The Big East is a large step up in competition to most of our new players.

As it was - in theory - for (over the last decade or so, off the top of my head):

Low-mid majors: Boum, Olivari, Hankins, Gaston, Taylor, Bernard
Medium-good mid-majors: McKnight, Conwell, Kunkel, Kantner, Stainbrook
Major: Abell

3 of the top 5 came from low mid-majors (Boum, Olivari, & Hankins), and the others from high mid-majors (Conwell & Kunkel).

I think, overall, X's management of the transfer portal (pre & post NIL) has been largely very successful. The only two who didn't fare well were Carter (1st year decent, 2nd year not) & Welage.

On a national scale, some of the top transfer players in cbb who came from lower mid-majors to major teams include: Clayton-Fla, R.J. Lewis-Johns, Broome-Auburn, JT Toppin-Texas Tech, Mark Sears-Ala, Tonje-Wisconsin, Chaz Lanier - Tenn. I think the caliber of the league of where the transfer came from is overrated.

[Anti-Homer]

BTW, I am listening to a Broering-Fristchner Spaces podcast, and Broering said though they don't know with certainty, the consensus with thos "in the know" say X's NIL this year is in the $5-$6M range, FWIW.

They also said that when Moore came to the portal recently, some teams thought they could get him for $250-$350, but the number doubled almost immediately.

Also, Fritschner is very high on Anderson, based on seeing him every practice of the year. Broering is not as sold, but he hasn't seen him very much. He did say he will be better than McKnight. I, for one, think McKnight was much better than most X fans think. He may have had the best A/O ratio in X's history, was a solid 3-point shooter, and was a good defender. If Anderson is better, that relieves my anxiety somewhat.

Paul F and Rick B also think Carroll will be the most impactful transfer, though they are high on the other guys. Broering also said X recruited Diaye (sp?) out of high school, and he thinks he will be better than expected.

[longliveskip]

so can we get an update on what the current roster looks like?

player, position, height, what year they are, what school they came from?

[muskieman]

Tre Caroll clip on his decision https://x.com/i/status/1911814094748868674

[skyhops]

AH, Fristchner is high on every transfer and recruit and predicts us to win the BE every year. If I heard him commit on how well Xavier shoots and plays defense on bball in practice last?

[Kevin Reilly]

I'm going with Pozatto as our best new guy. Tre Carrol Is a nice addition from a very good team but he played only 6 minutes a game as a freshman ( 3 points a game ) and 8 minutes a game as a sophomore ( 4 points a game ). Even last year I don't believe he started and averaged 22 minutes a game and 12 points. I also agree with Skyhops about Fristchner. Comparing this year 's team to the team with Macura. Jones, O'Mara Scruggs. That's quite a stretch. I wish Miller had 5-6 million to recruit he might still be here