2021-22 College Basketball Thread

[Cosmo]

The core of the St. Peter's team joins Holloway in bolting Jersey City. Don't blame them. The idea of building a sustained program at a low major in the era of the transfer portal is pretty antiquated. It's the minor leagues, and if you get on a roll one year and upset two major programs and make it to the Elite Eight, it's an incredible accomplishment. But those guys, having tasted the national stage, aren't going back to playing Rider in a high-school gym on a Friday night on ESPN+.

 

[micropolitan guy]

Did North Carolina shake the hands of Kansas? Or did they pull the Coach K

They stayed on the floor and went through a handshake line, as best as I could tell. At least a large number of players did.

 

[franticscribe]

The core of the St. Peter's team joins Holloway in bolting Jersey City. Don't blame them. The idea of building a sustained program at a low major in the era of the transfer portal is pretty antiquated. It's the minor leagues, and if you get on a roll one year and upset two major programs and make it to the Elite Eight, it's an incredible accomplishment. But those guys, having tasted the national stage, aren't going back to playing Rider in a high-school gym on a Friday night on ESPN+.

I saw a Twitter thread from a former St. Peter's assistant a while back about just how crazy the situation is as far as rundown facilities, lack of financial commitment to fund even the basics you'd expect a DI program to have, just all sorts of crazy stuff. I've been around the game enough to know life in the low majors isn't glamourous but I thought the tell-all was eye opening. Lots of other St. Peter's basketball alumni - coaches and players - were jumping in with their own stories. Gave me some added respect for what Holloway did there and made me question why anyone would want to be there.

 

[tapintoamerica]

2019, Texas Tech loses in overtime in the championship game.
2021, Baylor wins it all.
2022, Kansas wins it all.

Big 12: good at this basketball thing these past three tournaments. Even better, it's great to see it's not just one school having that high level of success.

It's even beyond that. Big 12 has been KenPom's top-rated league in seven of the past nine years.

 

[Brian J Walter]

The last play was not for Manek, trip or not. He was going to the far corner regardless.

What do you base that on? He's their best three-point shooter by far, and they were down by three points. He's clearly who the play was for. It's why he was so distraught when he fell.

 

[MileHigh]

Nice call.

I did preface in an earlier post by saying "If they hold on."

 

[Webster]

What do you base that on? He's their best three-point shooter by far, and they were down by three points. He's clearly who the play was for. It's why he was so distraught when he fell.

I based on watching the replay. No. 22 was at the foul line and it looked like he could be in a position to set the pick for Manek. But he's already going backwards just as Manek starts to slip. Maybe the play was to throw a long pass to the far corner but man that's a low percentage pass to make.

 

[micropolitan guy]

I saw a Twitter thread from a former St. Peter's assistant a while back about just how crazy the situation is as far as rundown facilities, lack of financial commitment to fund even the basics you'd expect a DI program to have, just all sorts of crazy stuff. I've been around the game enough to know life in the low majors isn't glamourous but I thought the tell-all was eye opening. Lots of other St. Peter's basketball alumni - coaches and players - were jumping in with their own stories. Gave me some added respect for what Holloway did there and made me question why anyone would want to be there.

It's a tiny Jesuit school, with a tiny campus, landlocked in an impoverished Rust Belt city. Why would anybody want to be there? Because it might be their only opportunity play DI basketball, and it might be a steppingstone to a better coaching job if you are looking to move up. Holloway certainly caught lightning in a bottle, but at least he took the chance. And that's why people are there, even if they might not necessarily want to be there.

Hopefully this tourney run will raise some money and help them improve some things, but with 60% of the team bailing it's hard to see how any of this carries over, performance-wise.

 

[Cosmo]

There is a flip side, too, that dudes who were getting a minute a game at a power school may decide they want to run a show and end up at a place like Longwood and lead that school to the tournament. I guess all I'm saying is that if you're at a small school, ENJOY THE heck out of any run you may have in the tournament, because the chances of putting it together year after year is pretty small, outside of some notable exceptions like Vermont or Winthrop or Colgate, which seem to be on sustained runs.

 

[Jake from State Farm]

It's a steppingstone for players, too
Michigan's last two point guards came from Columbia and Coastal Carolina
Michigan State picked up a point guard from Northeastern

 

[Cosmo]

heck, half of Virginia Tech's roster was from Wofford this year, seemingly. It's almost worth viewing college basketball as a pro franchise rather than as a four-year commitment from players. There's no point in getting attached to any single player because that player will be looking out what's best for him -- which is fine, I might add.

That's why the game is so damn obsessed with coaches. They're the constant, for the most part.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

Those St. Peter's kids will wind up at Seton Hall, right?