#461: American Preview

(upbeat music) Welcome back to another episode of The Three Men, Weave College Basketball Podcast. I am your host for the week Jim Rooke joined by Kim McEwen and Matthew Cox, my two cohorts here at The Weave, and we are talking American. We are getting American today, folks. It is not the AAC anymore. It is the American conference. Your Memphis is your Wichita States, et cetera. It's preview season, so we're excited to get into that. Talk teens, but before we do wanna let my boys say hi. Kai, how are you doing over there? How was your weekend? You locked in for the AAC asterisk. Yes, a great weekend, Jim. Engagement party last night was very fun. Congrats, you got engaged, good for you. Not me, some of fellow people we know. Probably stayed out a little too late. That's how it goes. When you're mid to late 30s, you know, it starts to catch up with you. Sure, we're covered, had enough time to recover today. We're recording on a Sunday night. A good weekend overall, Matthew. I can't wait for work this week. I'm so excited for work. Monday, and it's just a stone throw. Who got engaged, by the way? You're being very cryptic about announcing their revealing public identities here on this podcast. Oh, no one knows. It looks at us. Oh, okay. Congratulations. In the 80s. 80s. Very coy. Worse than very coy. Yeah, very, a lot of work for me this weekend. So, but yeah, we're all good. Got a haircut. Oh, big time, big haircut. Hiding it with a hat, though, for those who are watching on our YouTube channel where we are streaming live at 7 p.m. on Sunday night here. Matthew's now showing it off. Look at that. Look at the hard part. Oh, folks. It's a, it's a medium part. I told him the last time I was a little too thick. So, it should be a little less thick. Kind of. I think you've kind of abandoned the hard part, right? I think you've sort of backed off that. Well, hard part guy, but yeah, you know, say it here because I used to have a reference point, like where you can, like a, you can color it side the lines. Good to know where the, you know, it's just helping. It's idiot proof, Matthew. It's a crutch. It is proof. It's good for us to have. Yes. As mentioned, this is the American preview. We will talk college basketball very soon. I promise shout out to Jay Pitti for our opening tunes. Follow us on Twitter at 3MW_CVB and Instagram. We have the same handle. You can also see some of the basketball review previews that are coming there. Basket reviews. Twitter handle is, or Instagram handle is putting us out. Where we, what is it called retweeting guy? I don't know what it's called. I don't know, re-gram. Give me a re-gramming. Give me the old man get off my lawn vibes going there. But subscribe to the pod on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, wherever it is you listen, leave us reviews. We appreciate that very much. We will read them at the end of the show, the Apple podcast reviews that is. Feel free to use it as a mail bag question. Ask away. We will talk about your favorite team, your least favorite team, your favorite spot to get fast food from. I don't know, whatever. It's your world. If you leave a review, we love five stars, preferably. You can also subscribe on YouTube. Where, as I said, we are streaming live if you want to see our faces. Or if you just want to watch the pod after the fact, it is available for you there. And I did mention basket under review. That is a major plug for us. We'd love for you to join basket under review. Only $10 a month gets you access to the site and the discord. We are pumping out our top 50 previews counting down day by day by day. We've got the top 20 starting on Monday. Tomorrow is our recording. So we'll have 20 through 16 all the way up to one. And then we'll have all conferences coming out through the month of October. That is a joint project with myself with Kai. Will Warren, Matthew Winnick is helping out. We've got a bunch of writers over there at the basket under review. You also get great other content. Joy Dwyer's individual profile breakdowns. I always had somebody, a couple of debuts on the site, new articles. So make sure to check out basket under review, get into discord, debate it all. There's always chatter to be a part of there. So check it out. That's all I got for plugs, though, fellas. We've got to get into a roots roundup section here, a little bit of news and notes to catch up on. But before we do, Matthew, CBB Analytics is our Bible, my current tabs right now, Jalen Haynes, sophomore guard of Southern Illinois, I'm working on the Valley right now. Also Damian Mayo, potential five for five guy for Southern Illinois. And let's see. I've got one more over here. Cincinnati Bearcats. I don't know why that one's open, but it is. That's Regim, CBLX.com, the holy grail of college basketball statistics. We love all of their visualizations and the inside, they provide us with D2D3 players. As we all know, many of them are trickling into our D1 arena and as we get deeper into the hybrid mid-major, mid-major and low-major to more of those will become, become kind of thrust to the forefront. So if you are not already signed up today, if you're a diehard fan, you should be. If you're a coach and you're not signed up, you're an idiot. We signed up today. When you do. Use your promo code weave, w-e-a-v-e, get you $4.00 subscription, that's CBLX.com, Jim. Well said, Matthew. Well said. The biggest news story continues to be the ongoing litigation in terms of eligibility. Kai is giving two thumbs down. I could not agree more. Five for five guys trying to come back to school. All right. The class of 2022 is one thing. But RJ Lewis, go away. Traykov from Nren. Go away. RJ Lewis, you opted to go pro and spent a year doing that. And I'm trying to come back to college. No, thank you. Traykov in Nren. You redshirted. You've had your five years in college. You do not get another one. Go away. Welcome to the war to the conferences, though. Greg Sanky. Welcome. The commissioners and four of the five power five conferences have outlawed the return of professionals. It is, I think, very notably the return of professionals. If you leave to go pro, you cannot come back to college. What that just means they're getting named in the lawsuits now too. The biggest is not joining that. I wonder if this is partially because they don't have football. And they're not dealing with that potential headache right now. That's why the SEC really got going is because a guy that was going through training camp tried to come back to LSU and LSU just loves stirring the pot no matter the sport. Kai, do you have any new feelings besides two thumbs down? No. I continue to not understand what's happening, Matthew. I don't understand. I just want clarity. How do you think I feel? If you don't understand, how do you think my understanding is, is beyond below your understanding. It's the LSU point, Jim is, is, is apps that just become there like, it's just become their brand like they are the, the, the medallers of college sports. That's all today. They kind of went viral because they had released that they have been sort of hedging with insurance, their bonus payouts to head coaches. Like, I think they take pride in just like, we're going to do everything at the forefront of like anything that's happening, but I don't know. It's just sort of a, it's a weird, I appreciate their brand in that regard, I guess. I mean, it's, it's across the board. They've got the football things. Well, things were in the envelope. Yeah. They're, their women's team, Kim Mulkey had a Ukrainian player in the team whose dad was in the armed forces and then took a Russian player and the Ukrainian player left the team. The school is just chaos, the inmates are running the asylum there and they're trying any sort of routes to getting players and boo on you, LSU. They don't need publicity. It's not like it's, I don't know, South Carolina, with all due respect. Like it's, it's like it's a known brand. I feel like they're over it. Well, wait, you've already won there. You can do it conventionally. You don't have to attempt to ruin the sport or pervert the rules, however, you see fit. Okay, that's our annual or our weekly soapbox about the ongoing litigation. Coaching hires. Todd Golden got a big extension at Florida. Keeps in there for quite a while and we were discussing in the discord. Somebody immediately asked what's the buyout and it's like 16 million for another school but it's like three for the NBA. Yeah, I think he had some leverage to keep that low just in case Mr. Golden wants to follow Dusty May's footsteps and head to the professional ranks. And that would you see that on the horizon for Todd? No, we know. Yeah. I feel like there's a, whether they're all friends or closely connected but just like forward thinkers or just I think the attrition of college basketball is coming and I think Dusty May has sort of the trailblazer there. I think Todd wants to coach NBA ball. So I think he's going to kind of ride this Florida juggernaut out and then when it feels like it's time for him to make that leap, he will make that leap. Yeah. I don't get the appeal. I don't want to go to the sport, pinnacle of the sport, I guess. But I don't know. Well, it's a weird time where I think we're going to see a lot of college coaches go into the pros but also pros coming pro coaches coming down to college because of the I think the more you can make and I think it is becoming a more of an NBA-ish type league with just like the roster building. So you can argue that NBA coaches are better prepared to coach in the new era of college basketball. There's no downside. He can always come back to college ball. Yep. That's any time one of these guys goes. It's like Rick Coutino bombed horribly. It's fine. Just come back and get a high-paying job in college. Yeah. The golden thing is interesting too because this roster is so loaded this year. Is it feel like a push my chips in with this group then lose the entire starting line up and try and get it back here? Yeah. Yeah. It could potentially be that maybe what if we had back to back national champions leave for the NBA. That would be a mile, hasn't happened since Larry Brown. Are these the last national champions to leave his school? That's what we left the school. Yes, that could be church him. I think I think I saw that stat verified in the discord, but Yeah, so big big ups the Todd Mr. Golden there injuries want to mention Michigan on their foreign tour in Lithuania Mustafa Chom took I think like Elliott could have rolled into his leg I think the rumors are that's ankle and so he's probably gonna be fine, but then the next game Star freshman Brandon McCoy went down in a heap Early in the game near the basket had to be carried off the floor. This one looked scary Could be long term they have not come out with an actual assessment of the injury But man, I think Michigan would probably at this point say I wish we hadn't gone to Lithuania given all that happened over there Yeah, tough situation. What do you do? You wanted to take the foreign tour, but injuries are Part of the risk, but it's kind of a sport. I hope he's okay brutal for Boynton considering he's got to like For check mark check marks. He's got to hit two of the four to keep his job and if he loses guys the injuries He's gonna be working with a you know half full deck and that that's a difficult situation to be in although Hey, we'd all accept that difficult situation. I say an air quotes. You pay me to coach a shorthand and Michigan team take that anytime All right, that's really all I got fellas for news and notes is a quick roots roundup Which leaves us plenty of airwaves and runway for the American And let's get into it. I wrote this preview for The basket review site. It is not out yet. It will not be coming out to October But we try to get ahead of the game and I'm in a host because I'm familiar with it Well, we'll talk a little bit of standings. We'll go some favorites and dark horses mentioned coaching changes There's a very short list of five or five guys in this conference. So integrity Some some ethical hoops coming from the American conference Integrity. We'll try to figure out what's going on with jizzle james. That's a question mark But then we'll go team by team as the formula is tried and true on this podcast. We'll start with standings fellas It is a very balanced league. I would say You could probably parse my tier one a little bit closer and break it out or maybe even have witcher talk by themselves Just because I think they've got a really really high floor But I'm going to start with that 16 tier one. We've got witch toss state Tulsa Memphis south florida charlotte charlotte coming up there with west miller uab dandy kennedy that is my tier one little break get to tier two north texas temple florida lannock two lane east carolina And then the Texas size tier three uts a and rice Wallowing down there at the bottom just kind of limited ceilings for them Coaching changes should mention. We've got chris mack taking over at south florida very talented team We've gotten to your one and mentioned west miller at charlotte That's it that's it for our coaching changes this season Ky reaction to the standings reaction to the tears anything you would change drastically. We're not too different We different on Tulsa quite a bit though Jim. Okay. I have them Firmly and my my two two is also big. Um, I do have witch toss uab. I'm actually going to bat four. Um, they're my number two team. Um, so which which tall uab south florida Memphis my tier one And then it's charlotte fau Tulsa north texas two lane temple Rice you see you and then uts a having that's own tier tier four Wow, I've got I think I've got uts a like a four point favorite of her rice I think I think rice is going to struggle I felt back because there's a rice fan in the discord like For guys and we'll get to that. I'm unfortunately on a fan Matthew. What do you think on the quick assessment of the americans? I actually have witch tawn their own tier. I have them one And I think that's I think that's acceptable with with what they bring back big fan of the shock I just like the continuity. I'm probably a bias for rooting for continuity. Um, but I just I I believe that the talent that they have is very real and uh They have a categorically higher floor than any other team this lake So that's a big reason as Jim why you mentioned that um, I have all of the same teams you have in tier one and tier two Jim I also have north texas there. I have fau there and I have temple there Who am I forgetting and then I have two lane ECU below them And then I have uts a and rice in the same tier. It's your four. Okay. Yeah, those those poor guys down at the bottom I mentioned five for five guys. There are two big ones in this league We are doing our standings tiers projections assuming they are not a part of the team Just to to make that very clear that will be the policy until there is a definitive these guys are playing or they're not It's not ongoing litigation To match point. I would have witch taustate on a tier of its own if Kenyan giles is eligible. He is the biggest domino in this conference in terms of five for five and then the other one is Tulsa Bringing Caleb banks back to the conference He kind of got barried at to Paul, but he was a monster for two lane two years ago So that would be a big addition those the two big dominoes to watch as of now Surely there will be more commitments I would think down the line if that does get fully ruled open open season, but those the two to keep an eye on I don't have all conference teams. So I'm not I mean not I'm going to bother with that fellows, but let's go team by team And we're going to start with witch taustate as Matthew mentioned high floor because there is a lot of continuity They've got the giant will berg back One Purdue project that actually left town and decided to develop elsewhere He was really good Unoff statistics for him last year were outrageous. They were so good when he was on the floor He only played 20 instruments a game 22 Because of conditioning and size and stuff, but they were awesome news out there They bring back Dylan baddie and TJ Williams to like non shooter types with very athletic very strong defensively good on the glass They bring in some real big time shooters Jordan phryzen and jahari long two guys that can play make and also shoot Paul mills kind of figured it out last year kai. I think there was skepticism of can he do it without next ace miss I certainly voiced that skepticism on this pod last year, but There are a lot of pieces to work with here some continuity and it does kind of feel like Default number one right now. Yeah, they're stacked um about time for paul mills Last year was the best witch tall teams since 2021's tournament team top 75 very good I had them underrated all year because I I've been kind of been burned with with mills early witch tall teams having them overrated Finally did not believe them last year Matthew and they they stuck it to me I'm on board this year essentially like three and a half starters are back You add phryzen you add jahari long from dorge mason who is productive wing in the eight ten Solid depth lots and lots of size and I like the coaching. I believe in mills a little bit here So yeah, they're they're number one for us across the board I looking at barbed wire. I thought their returning minutes were actually higher than maybe I'd bark might have a couple of guys off there, but forty six percent I thought it was like 70 or something which like again taking a step back or this is like the last three years been just one of the most hard hit You know covered rated with with talent poaching and portals. So like to even get like half your roster back is pretty impressive And I think I got some pretty key guys back like let's just put trials to the side for a second this team lost by three five five five three over time to their first like six losses out of the gate like they were good Just couldn't win close games. I think people kind of gave them Through the the wolves because they look at the one three and the Was up the Bahamas thing like this is a talented team. There's real size up front with Berg I mean, I think the Jordan Fries and Blake's gonna be a pretty key piece of this But I do still believe that mills Is a very good coach not a great coach, but a very good coach and with some continuity I just think this kind of sets up for like a good Many breakthrough year like a fringe top 50 type season on these at large I don't know, but I think this has like a potential top 50 type Makeup to me Jim yeah with Giles. I could totally see that Giles for sure Even without am I still think there's like there's still pathways to hit that ceiling Yeah, Giles 38% from three on nine attempts the game played 36 minutes the game I mean he was crucial. He was such a good shot maker buzzing around at 510 not really a true lead guard He kind of played some point, but they were better when he was off the ball And they can do that a ton this year with long with Fries and they can move guys off the ball Either one can create And to follow up on the berg on off stats last year in league play They were 18 points better In conference play when he was on the course then when he sat Yeah, it's funny their backup is like first percentile net rating and berg is 94th like they were just so much better when he was out there Now I don't know if they've solved that. I don't think they're gonna be good this year when he leaves the court because sir Malonga is not a good player But I think they've got more answers. They can play baddie at five small wall sometimes I think they'll figure it out and everything else is just very strong So which tie that we number one for all of us tier tier head format But very very high in the shockers. Let's go to my number two, which is Tulsa Definitely mixed opinions mixed signals on them last year was a major breakthrough for Eric Honkel He had struggled badly at Tulsa some like real Bottom dropped out type seasons and then suddenly he got guys a good shoot and they figured out how to out of space the floor score like crazy Uh, they went from 317th and 329th in three point percentage and three third percentage to 10th and 13th like they they just totally reverse course remade the roster now they're gonna kind of doing it again, they lost a ton, very experienced team last year, older team went to the NIT finals. So this takes a lot of projection. It's like Jalen Wall, Miles, Riggsby, and new boys. Matthew, where do you land on this team? I kind of like the bigger back court. I think they'll be a little better defensively. I just, I wish they had a five man that I trusted. - Now that Chris Lufka, yeah, I have a Luke arm on their five position. But I like that Conkel sort of, he talked to like last off season. Like, yeah, we just decided as a staff, we're gonna, we're gonna go after offense. Like we were just tired of like not being able to score. And he obviously found some diamonds in the rough and just, I think, struggled a couple of those guys that he signed. Getting Kobe Williams, I think, is like the best transfer pickup in the entire conference. I think he's phenomenal. Like I think he has a chance to average near 20 a game, depending on his usage. Like he's that good of a score. - Especially if they play so hard again. - Yeah, they'll play fast. I think he was kind of caught in the Kwanzo post bully ball system, I think he'll be much better in this. And obviously the rigs beies. I'm no bigger fan kind of the rigs be brothers than me. So we probably should have mentioned him in the let's talk discussion before. But again, big bets on transfers. They're old, they're experienced. I do think they can score. Then I think they can shoot like three or four guys that probably shoot, you know, near high 30s, 40%. As talented as last year, no. But I still think it's a top 100 team. But the pretty decent high floor. Top 125, top 100. - Yeah, see, I think it's more like 130. Like outside top 100, all five starters gone. I'm not as high on them. I do like the Williams times two gets. Mike Williams is like an almost top 100 recruit for LSU than he was at Seton Hall last year. Everything else is kind of like it's solid. I have him like six or seven in this league. I think Conkel's a good coach. I'm glad he finally broke through. Last year's team is great that NIT runner-up game, that game against Auburn was awesome. Top 60 last year. I'm just, I just don't think it's as good as last year. - Yeah, to that point, they struggled. Like nobody thought Ade Papulo was gonna be a PFAC guy a year later and look at him go. - Riley was a brilliant, like a very smart signing though. I give Conkel like some luck of course, but like just true. Like that's a guy who's undervalued. We got him, he was terrific. - Yeah, I think he had started only the final eight games and Cal Baptist or something and they saw that sample size and were like, oh, okay, this is gonna work. I think Jalen Wall could have that kind of a breakout this year after backing up Riley. We'll see what he does on the ball. Their four spot last year was so strong with David Green. Like maybe the best one in mid-major ball. And if they get banks, they might suddenly have that again. But if not, you're relying on UTSA transfer, Brent Laws, foreign guy in Dolinsky, Delaware transfer, Emory. There's just not the same athleticism two way potential there and I think that gets risky. And as I mentioned, I don't think they have a defensive anchor at center this year and that could be a problem. I like them, I don't love them. I will also just say, Conkel won 34 games in his first three years. I'm just 34 and 34 and 60 and then they went 38 last year. - Big turnaround. - Really, really flip the script. - All right, number three, Memphis. Man, they tank last year. There were definitely whispers that Memphis would move on from Penny 'cause it was like the worst season they've had. And I guess basically since Tubby Smith was there, but it's the first time they've been under 500 overall since 2000 when Johnny DeGones coached Memphis. I did not remember that, fellas, how about that? - Maybe there's a little poll, yeah. It was ugly, the team finished 80 spots below where they started in Kenpon. It is another heavily recycled roster. It's not a complete flip for Penny, but it is mostly new guys. He brings in some intriguing pieces. Jaden Reed was a big time passer in the Big 10. Brandon Cummings can shoot it in and out of the line up for pit. Tyler Weeks, one of the biggest scorers in the Sun Belt, 20 Pointing Game Guy from Southern Miss. We're gonna kind of have a theme on this episode. They're just bad centers in this league, which is why Wilberg is gonna continue to dominate. But man, to lose air and branch out of Tennessee state and be left with Will Wharton and Cornelius Williams and Max and Logan, it's a step down, Kai. They're probably still the most athletic team in the league, but it's not the same like overwhelming type talent that Memphis has. - I really thought about putting them to your two 'cause I was like, "Why trust Penny? Why don't I even trust Penny?" But I'm including Barely 2-1, got him fourth. Last year was the first year. He didn't really have elite, elite talent. And yeah, he finished 133rd. It's kind of like, yeah, we doesn't have the best players in the floor. He's not a great coach. He's not a team elevator. Reading Cummings is a very, very strong, one, two punch to the back court. And I do like Weeks up front for Southern Miss. I don't love Southern Miss a program. So, you know, take that with a grain of salt. Guys coming from there. It's a lot of productive mid-major depth, Matt, off the pine as well. So, if it was any other coach, this might be like a top two team in the league, maybe even the best team in the league, but I can't trust Penny anymore. - I do kind of like the theme of like the mid-major guy stepping up a little bit, like less of like, we were at power conferences. We have some entitlement. So I sort of maybe could buy that. Gigi was like a zig from last year's disastrous tag. Still kind of laughing at seeing Jerry Deng. And they're at the bottom of the depth chart. Like guy who was hyped up by the well-weight stuff. And anyway, this is to me like, I think actually a sneaky high ceiling in the context of the league. Like I think this team could certainly like be a top 75. Maybe top 50 team, but they could win. - They could win the game. - Yeah, for sure. I consider putting them, I guess I had them third overall. So yeah, I mean, I think this is a team like one league. It's just like the AAC is very balanced. It's very flat. I believe in Jane Reed. I don't know what I saw when he was a freshman. I believe in Braden Cummings getting out of like that sort of weird pit purgatory and waivers and weeks obviously. Like I think there's talent. I mean, even Holloway, like as a guy, I think could really like bounce back. So yeah, up front though, that's where I'm just like, what? That's our rim protection. Funny, the league by the way last year, highest block rate in the entire nation was the AAC. - Wow. - Well, in fact, as we talk about the lack of five production, but yeah, this was the mostly like athletic wings. Not like it's like true like rim protectors, but yeah, we get the five as many teams are on this cover. - Yeah, and maybe Wharton develops at a much quicker level. And he's an athlete. He's a pretty good shop logger by rate, but he just wasn't all that playable last year. And I don't know if they're gonna be able to bank on him. You can get double doubles out of Cornelius Williams, but that guy was on a very bad North Alabama team and suddenly being a major piece here would be surprising. A two names to watch that I just find very entertaining. Luke Almodovar from SEMO is like a walking highlight reel. He's either dunking or shooting a step back three. Those are like the only two things he does. And the dunks are like mega highlights on people. He just goes up and yams. He's a little six three guard, but he's really fun. And then Fred Smith, one of their freshmen coming in, I think is pretty underrated based on what I watched. I think he's a great fit for like up tempo transition basketball that Penny's gonna play. It's just man, it's so weird that the team had like Jalen Durin, Precious Chua, Moose and C-Ca. It was just like, we're not gonna, we're gonna not even bother with an anchor at center and they don't rebound anymore. They had a couple defenses that rebounded and they do not anymore. They don't even try. And then of course they're gonna turn it over a ton offensively. They're just sloppy and they don't value possessions. It's always been the case under Penny. All right, moving on to number four. South Florida, it's, there's a little bit of last year where it's a brand new roster. Hodgson brought in everybody new last year and you're like, wow, there's a lot of talent. This could come together. And that's, that's how I feel about this roster. There are a lot of really intriguing pieces from Sonny Wilson and AJ Dancerler in the back court. You've got creators and shooters there. Zaden Hyde was a really productive permanent guy at UNC. I'm not a fan of him as a person. Look it up if you want to. But he's a talented player, Garrett Johnson from George Washington, like there are pieces up and down. You can play 10 deep, or go two deep at every spot with this team. The difference mad as I trust Chris Mackle out less than I trust Brian Hodgson in the year 2026. So I'm not vaulting this team up to the top the way I did last year with South Florida. - Just look at it like Wilson, Sonny Wilson, Dancer, Garrett Johnson in high for, you know, personal, like that's a really good like top four. - Yeah. - Like that, and James played some little bit for Vandy. Like, I'm not as down on Chris Mack's, I feel like most people are. I think this is like, can I have them forward? You know, this is a very middle top heavy-ish league where it's like, yeah, I think it's the top 100 team. They could win it, Kai. I think all my tier two teams could win it. But just, obviously, there's just such a, who the hell knows we were getting. Just how the piece is fit. It's not a super experience team off the bench either. I don't know. There's a tough team for me. I just, I like some individual pieces. I just couldn't get past like the, I feel like it's not as deep as some of the other teams we've talked about so far. - Yeah, I think they could win the league, I guess. Definitely could win the league. I don't have them too far behind Wichita, but I'm a kind of a Jim and Chris Mack, man. Solid hire, but he's been a little off his game in recent years. He was over two outperforming Kim Pomeranke at Charleston. That was on the heels of two bad years at Louisville. He hasn't had a good season or like a really like strong season compared to expectations in a while. I love Sonny Wilson. He's the first team all the AAC guy for sure. Excuse me, all American. guy in the conference. I'm not all American. It's all man. I also like dancer. I'm big fan of Gary Johnson. And let's not forget Mike James. He of the Kenny, Kenny Woodson years of a, a guy, Kenny, Kenny, Kenny, Kenny, Kenny, Mike Woodson, Kenny, Kenny, Kenny, Kenny, Kenny, Kenny, I was like a dance lawyer or a Dan Claire, I think Dan Claire, maybe it's Dan Claire. I should never sorry. Yeah. Mike James is like the only good thing about those Louisville teams at finish. But hard to agree. He didn't even have my barbines in took him. Like he wasn't just like a total yeah, I agree. I assume Matt recruited him and hence why he's on this roster now. But yeah, pretty good depth. I think I think outside top three gym be a big disappointment in a failure for this year. I think so too. Here's a fun. Would you rather would you guys ever rather just skip the middleman and head south floor to higher John Gross? Yes. Yes. I think that's better than letting I'd be hiring Charleston and having Charleston higher gross. Like yeah, just go get him. I think that's a better higher year in a better situation. To Kai's point, Chris Max last four years coaching, preseason 132 at Charleston, finish 174th, granted Mr. Dean Torres ACL and there's the Connor Hickman eligibility stuff. That was weird. Then the year before 138th preseason finished 153rd at Charleston, last two years at Louisville, started at 36th, finished 127th. That was the year he got fired midway through. It wasn't like all him, but they were on a poor track when he when he got canned. Then the COVID year, they finished 59th at Louisville after preseason 28th. It's just not been a smooth sailing for him and that's why I'm not willing to fully trust it. But the bench has talent, like Richard Goods is a great passer for a big man. Joshua Lewis was like fringe top 100 recruit. Went to Louisiana, kind of got buried in that disaster scenario. Shoshkish from Stony Brook is like a statistical filter dream because these guys are great steel rate and shot 45% from three, like he hits guys that are playing with Bart Torvick individual filters. So there's just a ton to work with. I just don't fully buy that it's going to get maximized here. All right, next up number five, Charlotte. Charlotte, your secret safe with Charlotte. Secret lies with Charlotte? That's what it is. The secret lies with Charlotte. I don't get this reference. That is from national treasure? Wow. Yes. I like that. I like that movie. I think there's going to be a third. I think I saw that. There is. Yes. Very excited for that. But this is a brand new era here. West Miller takes over, brings some of the cast from Cincinnati with him. You've got Jizzle James maybe. I don't see like, yeah, I don't know. We didn't think he'd be on Cincinnati last year and then lo and behold, he comes and boosts the offense midway through the year. Seems like he had a bit of a social media meltdown again and is going to try to get back to Cincinnati. I don't know, hard to say. But he also brings Keeshaunt Hillary, a well-regarded recruit from Cincinnati and Jordi Rodriguez supposed to be an international shooter. Tyler McKinley, big time offensive rebounder. So you've got at least three Cincinnati players on the roster. Jaden Fort comes after being semi productive for Georgetown as a freshman. Dylan Grant comes from Rutgers, Peyton Marshall comes from Georgia Tech and whatever fast food restaurant is closest to him. So you've got quite a bit of P5 talent and then they retain Arden Conjures. He's the one returner. He started at South Carolina. So all that said, how badly do they need Jizzle James Kai to actually maximize? I had written the preview quite literally 24 hours before James had his meltdown. So I've got to rewrite the preview. We know that West Miller is going to have a really good defense and we know it's probably going to be ugly on offense. And to me, that's like fourth or fifth in this. Yeah. I got him fifth still, even with the Jizzle implosion. And maybe if you go by Jizzle, you were always kind of doomed to be a bit of a head case off the court. He is Edger and James Jr. I still like Keeshaunt Hillary a lot on this team. I think he's going to be one of the better guards in the league. Jizzle James might have been player of the year, but he again, he's probably no longer on this roster. And then West Miller, you know, I think he's going to be a lot better at this level. We saw him succeed against Greensboro. It's not like he was that bad at Cincinnati. He was bad compared to expectation. Sure, but it's not like he wouldn't say crap the bad Matthew. They just don't have a ton else in terms of raw talent compared to the top four teams we discussed. They have pretty good size. Again, like Jim said, I'd expect their defense to kind of lead the way again. The offense might be another like ugly watch. Agree with all points. I'm just looking at Bart Torvich's projections. He has them much better on offense than defensive. That was interesting. That's why I agree with that. I guess I'll be betting an under on these points. Yeah, I guess if the market is a tethering to Bart's offense and defense, I would agree with that. I think it's a great higher for Charlotte. Like you sort of get a guy who sort of has perceived his damage goods, but he was a tough situation. They really played well down the stretch last year. They had some injuries, like a lot of close calls. He's very proven like totally a Carolina guy through and through. I like this roster. I think it's just rock solid. It doesn't have like crazy eye upside. Like it's basically five Cincinnati second unit dudes, third unit guys, and then some like solid like bit. They're all like power five caliber. Yeah, this is I think a high floor low ceiling team. No worse than like 125th, but like I think a top 50 team. I don't know. No, probably not top 75. Yeah, no, in that range is where I feel comfortable. This league is down overall. I'm like it's flat. It's like it's not where they're good in the sleep this year. What Matt, you've kind of always said it. You're like, this is the level where every good player gets blocked. It's a bad level. It's just a tougher block. Yes, you got to really go for the mid-major guys or something and try to assemble the all-star team and pretend American. It's just hard, it's hard, especially in this kind of thing. I think the 810 has more of like you have some stronger program cash gain stickiness. This has less programs like that, I think, frankly, which caused the exception. Last four years, West Miller went 50, 39, 55, 43 in Kenpon. Like that's good. It's just he never quite broke through and made the tournament. I think the the Bearcats and their fans were just ready to find somebody that could coach offense. He never had a top. I guess 56th on offense was his high water mark, but it just got worse and worse from there. I never really figured it out. There's no better West Miller player than Peyton Marshall because he's huge and he's only useful on defense. I just was looking this up to be able to say. In conference play, he didn't play a ton for Georgia Tech last year, but the defense was eight points better with him on the court. The offense was 18 points worse. They scored 86 points for a hundred possessions when he was out there. He is useless, offensively. He's not a division one player. No, and he average. He's a he hacks. I'm surprised that the defense is so good because he he fouls a ton. Yeah, only 6.1 per 40. Wow. He's got a little better. Yeah. So far theme. A lot of coaches here who you could not to go down this whole rabbit hole, but you know, West Miller was he an Isaiah Miller merchant, was Eric Connickle Kenny Lofton merchant, was Paul Mills. Good players, they stick to it. Good players kind of help guys. So I'm just, you know, find a star. Okay, that's why West Miller is probably trying to deal with the Jizzle James headache because he's like, God, he'd be so good in this league. I just got to get him on the court. That's going to be difficult though, because just from what I hear, I'm doing that air quotes. Jizzle's into some bad stuff off the floor, and that's why he's such a lunatic. Oh, God. James Dickey too. I love it. I told him probably about James Dickey. You'll eat. We're a protector and the glory days and greens, bro. All right. Number six, UAB. I'm excited to hear Kai make the case here because to me, this is a really good back court with a what are we even trying to do in the front court? And that is typically a major strength of any kind of he's like the dominant offensive rebounds. He really stresses that he talks about how important it is in his recruiting. Now that could work out if Matt Bolay, number 11, Juco player coming in that is a double, double machine. I watched a little bit him. He's just huge, like really wide kind of ground bound, but he's massive. If he comes in as immediately effective, then suddenly you've got a really high scoring back court with Fernandez, Duval and Jones, those guys in scored. Kennedy's frequently made Juco players very solid pieces. And then Jeremy Alize from Southeastern Louisiana is kind of like the the malleable four piece that connects those the guards and the bigs. But Kai, let's hear let's hear the case for UAB as number two in the cars. Yeah. Much higher on them. Seasures had crazy odds from the finish top two in win the week. So I I'm on those. I just think Kennedy's good. I think he's rock solid. Last year was the worst team he's had in six years. And it still wasn't that bad. He's been top 100 basically the other five years. I think he's due for bounce back. I think Deuce Jones is going to be one of the best guards in the league. Fernandez out on pizza. So I don't know. Deuce Jones. Wow. Okay. I think Fernandez is the one I think is Fernandez is a four or four star. And he is he is legitimately legit good. Duval, not bad. Southern Utah. I don't give tons of credit. I kind of was a chopper. No, that's that's more. That's more. That's more. Yeah. My bad. Tite Coddles find it. I'm actually I like L. O. Z. as a South land homer. I think he's a sneaky could get from sea law. I think he fills a role. And then it's a lot of hope that the two top 15 jukego guys in the front quarter good. That that is the the thing underpinning my my optimism for UAB because the guard group is really, really good. Maybe I'm high Matthew. I just kind of like the mixture. I'll just say neither of those juco guys is yaks. So fans don't accept the next course line. No, no one is Yeah, I think you gotta put a lot of stuff. I would get a really grind some juco tape here. Uh, I remember the The same one guy from Robert Morris. I think like way back when I just Chris It's crazy how some of these guys are just like whatever and then they just pop in juco And so it sort of taints your projection of them coming back to D1 Um, number seven. Yeah, so two top 10 juco guys Now that dude is showing the guy. I just think he's a offensive Terrorist. I think he hijacked some stuff and obviously he's talented. I love Fernandez I think if the pecking order is him sort of as like your your bell cow Just a lot of assertive Um, guys in that back, which is kind of what Kennedy's always had those So maybe he's better at managing that to tie your point Love that he mixes and matches defenses has always been sort of a crutch for me It's just like a bias like I like coach that change defense especially in a league where town is pretty uh is pretty level I don't know. It's a low floor though, just because I think the roster isn't that deep But also there is talent and Kennedy's never like bad. He's always solid at least. So I I respect that there's your two for me Nothing else really to add there profoundly Yeah, I keep checking their official roster page to be like he's gonna have more than 12 guys, right? Like he's he's gonna add more people and they don't seem to want to do that I think I thought he'd find another Ford Maybe another like reserve wing type player Just some sort of experience in the front court. I'm not an Alex Allston buyer from Maryland But he seems like he's going to war with the Duco guys and maybe Caleb Davis the freshman who I was not impressed with but Um, yeah, I don't know to pass my point on to his Jones St. Joseph's 180th in the country when he got hurt. They finished 106 It's only 10 games in so I'm gonna say all of a sudden everything but They did figure it out without him Offensive terrorist poor poor juice. Sorry. Sorry. Hi. Yeah He had no choice. It was sour. He had no choice I'm also a Philadelphia. We'll see if he's, you know, okay out of the big bad city Yeah, I'm gonna like just Justin Moore suppose eight 10 point guards man. They just you better off with that. I'm just Democracy All right, let's go to tier two for me I will kind of get a feel from these guys if they were higher or lower, but I have north Texas at the top of this tier Basically because I know they're gonna defend That's what Daniel Robinson does that's what Ross Hodg did before him. It's what McCaslin did before him They're not in the same coaching tree But that is the heart of a Daniel Robinson team he comes from the Ozzelberger tree at Iowa state So you're getting a ton of pressure and he brings back the starting two three four from last year's team And that really really helps like just you know, you're gonna get great ball pressure from Jashon Stevenston one of the best defenders in the league Coaches son Reese Robinson is still around is like this stretchy for playmaker type Not really playmaker, but kind of the athletic rebounder and cold franklin is here to another really good on ball guy I just don't love the additions. They feel a lot worse than what they lost like the guys like David Tarell leaves And they bring cash chavis from No, thank you Maramco was a reserve at FA you homes couldn't find a cord at SMU and they needed defensive help So maybe you take a leap on some of the freshman I think endure the red shirt freshman big is actually really intriguing gazelle type athlete, but Kai, there's like no There's no ceiling for them offensively. It is it's a low ceiling to score Yeah, fun fact to Sean Stevenson is the only returning all conference player in this league Just him one out of fifteen guys. Yeah. Yeah Will Berg didn't get all kind he might be front runner player of the year. I don't know maybe Yeah, and two other starters like you mentioned. I am not a cash chavis guy boy that he was brutal at UTA just Just gun gun gun no results. Talk about it moments. Have you talked about an offensive terrorist give me D's Jones over cash chavis any day and I worry that that's their point card situation Jim's right the offense will be pretty ugly and I don't love the bigs. I don't love the depth But Robinson has a really stable floor. I think this is like a top 150 team again or close to it like they were last year Agree they play hard. They have an identity. It's a little different than like the old Ross Hodge and McCasm so we should let's not like totally complete it But I do think generally excuse the same direction. I think it's effective. I think it can be Gritty in this league. I love I can't please see this in state. I love that I think they're kind of core three as it came back or fine. It's just not a lot of depth man like just I don't know enough about the sophomores and freshmen off the bench, but you you are relying a lot on Basically the three returners and cash to sort of carry the torch for you offensively With a you know, basically all underclassmen behind them on the bench. So that does give me a little bit of pause But I just tend to kind of trust the Consistency issue of Robinson and maybe I'm harkening back to the the outzel burger connection as well as like a resounding Votive confidence, but yeah, I trust me to be solid Yeah, I think they'll probably be top 20 in turnover rate again Yeah, Travis for here can steal and Stevenson and Franklin like that. It's the odds pressure like that's gonna be there But then I also look at their offense last year is 275th 358th and 3.0 percentage and it's like could be worse like there's a chances is like the 300th best offense I think the team is overall a little bit worse defense isn't gonna be quite top 50 maybe more like top 70 And then they slip down to like 160th in the country. I don't know Barnes the juco guy probably want to watch there. Oh, Horton the Upcoming sophomores another terror defensively. He's gonna be just perfect fit for the system, but again, no no offensive ability Okay, next up is temple. I had a really hard time sorting the order on the next few teams You could I almost made a case for East Carolina and then I looked at shorts as results and decided not to But so we've got temple and I look at this backboard. I think all right Jordan Marsh does white Jason Drake was good at Drexel, he wrenched it in the end. Like there's some playmaking here Gavin Griffiths is evolved into a really good defender And then Matthew I remind myself that Adam Fisher has the three worst Ken Pum seasons in temple history And I'm like, yeah man, he's only been there three years. I know it's it's tough to recreate John Cheney and Fran Dunphy, but gosh Last year was an air quoting a breakthrough and it still wasn't that good So I don't know. I like the guards, but it's it's tough for me to really talk myself into them Adam Fisher is the one guy. It's like I've listened to so many of his like pressers. It's just I don't know. I feel like he's a different character behind the scenes like there's some I don't know. He's just kind of like a blowhard when we were sort of like tethering to the Attaching ourselves to the Schruzberry affinity Kai. Um, I think at this point It's just a team. I don't there's just no joy. There's no like interest with this team I tend to just Like very biously skew towards cell of this team. Um, I do think the talent is certainly intriguing No question like marsh. Yeah, I really like I mean, even hair and has like a potential like, you know, there's some There's some some phoenix from the ashes potential there does why obviously like I just I don't know I'm gonna say to your two lower half And that's where I'm at with this team frankly if it was a different coach Might have six or seven than this leak, but I have my tenth um Because I think Fisher sucks and I'm kind of surprised to kept his job after the whole point shaving thing In year one. It wasn't necessarily his fault, but it's institutional control and he's been Really not that much better sense his teams have finished better in conference plate But ranking wise and then kimpum and power rating. They're really not that different So I don't see what's gonna be different about this season. I and I love the Jordan Marsh as white backward back back Or it's really good for this league I just don't trust him and and to shame Jim the roster and coach not a match in this one Yeah, I mean you mentioned not that different analytically like the team that was shaving points finished 181st in last year They finished 159 like if you're really not that much better than a team that had a plate like the point guard was actively sabotaging you That's a problem They were seven and three in the American last year and then lost eight of their final nine to to match point about not Having a lot of joy. I don't think the team plays with it Two names. I do want to mention that we haven't yet. Camp Scott was like a top 40 recruit at South Carolina and just did not work But he's a tank engine big wing could be an unbelievable defender And then Dallas Diller really intrigued me with his division two stats and performance and efficiency like I think he could be great, but he's also Behind or playing with Marsh white and Drake that there's a lot of usage and shots among that for some And getting that all sorted out you got to figure out the best line-ups and comes back to the trust factor with the coach And I don't think any of us have it there All right moving on to number nine FAU Speaking of lacking trust in a coach fellas now that following that I don't agree. Oh wow. Okay. Well, I'll make the case first And I'll let you rebut that Following Dusty May is hard no question about it But John jacuz has had trade carol nakas vokia titus bobbin miller leeland walker Caleb Glenn kiki tandy All these guys either played before or after at power power power schools dev and vanter pool Kevin can and Carlisle Isaiah illah and Devon Williams all of those guys just iaparker all those guys are p5 players And he hasn't cracked the top 100 at Ken pomm. I just close Yeah, close, I guess but they'll leave jammed one year. They're all gone. They're not good. Well, they're there They don't make a good team. They put up some stats. I agree. I think it's been the the problem of jacuz I think it's been a little bit too Yeah, some of parts less than whatever they say. Like, I do think the nature of the fact that he's gotten to these guys when they were more raw has been sort of part of the issue. I'm not going to say he's totally like, you know, absolved from that blame, but I do think he's a good coating. He knows what he's doing. He's a very keen eye for talent. They've had some bad injuries the last couple of years. I've sort of torpedoed them in some tough spots. Like last year, I thought they were like really poised to like make a move and they just got totally ravaged with that back quirk and banged them. This year's roster though, it just doesn't excite me as much as last year's. It just doesn't. And that's what's kind of a bummer because last year to your point, Jim, they finished outside the top 100. And no one is higher on their outbound transfers than I am. So just kind of contextualizes and then they're still in the Cain and Karla business and Karla is a nice player. I think they were best last year with other guys doing more things. So he does have the third and fourth best Kempon finishes and FAU history. Yeah, you follow Dusty May. I mean, yeah, but no, but when Jim was the guy he has on the team, yeah, it sounds bad when you put it that way, but I think he's been solid. And I think this roster is not bad. Karla, I'll clearly is a better player at this level than he was in the big 10 or was he watching state before that when he was a standpoint for before. Not a power player, just too inefficient, but he did pretty well here. He held up well. I think Hamson is going to get from Georgia State. I don't know about speed. I'm very cautious to hype up Patriot transfers of any type. So speed gets a question mark for me. I do have a really like Josh Harris and that is a son bias. He was awesome at North Florida, silly to go to Indiana, not an Indiana guy, but at North Florida, he was awesome. And I think he could be a bit of a diamond and a rough year. So I have a few a bit higher than Jim, but still it was same tier. Okay. Yeah, I just, I like that back court trio. He mentioned speed, Carlisle Hamilton, speeds, picking role numbers, percentage, were fantastic, like really, really efficient last year. But again, it's against Patriot defenses is a major step up in competition. He's got to share possessions with Carlisle, and then Hamilton's a really high usage guy and shot 37% from the floor in the sunbelt. Like he is a, cannot get to the rim, can't finish that well, just a mid-range guy. Harris, I think, could average like a double, double. He's the guy I'm most on board with. Then he's harkening back to the center issues like this team centers could be awful. If I, Ola and Mullen, they rescued from Colorado and Pittsburgh and Adventures and David Musis is a really young Israeli guy, all of them are so raw, so big time project. You get like 13.33333 minutes from each of them, and I don't think there's going to be much of a difference. We'll see. But can you, honest, the freshman recruit could be really good too. I've got a nice back court plus Harris. I just don't trust the defense and one last thing to mention, Jordan Fee, the great division two coach that was on the staff. He is now the coach of Lamar, and I think that would be a tough loss. Good boy. Yep. Okay. Next. Number 10. Too lame. Got a very unique defense. Ron Hunters running that zone traps that's still going, but they never rebound on either end of the floor, they really struggle with the shot volume battle, unless they force a ton of turnovers, and they've kind of been forcing less recently. The roster doesn't jump off the page to me, Kai, it is typically a rescue P5 guys. He's elevated some dudes that have come down to this level. This could be, this could be fun. There's some really good shooters on this roster, Schwieger, Blunt, Nadu, like those guys are awesome shooters. I don't know how it works, can wringled or do not be like the playmaking foreman Kevin Cross always was for those good two lane teams, and when there's no rebounding, and I have a hard time talking myself into the talent level, I got to go well with two lane. Yeah, Hunters kind of keep him afloat for me, but last year is bad, 210th last year at two lane. That's the worst he's done at any school since 2000, IEPI, that's how good he's been at these mid-major programs, and it just kind of, the wheels fell off, and what is he doing that? He gets a back court of guys who played at Louisiana Monroe, Detroit, and a D2 school. It's just not super inspiring when he couldn't even win with Brumbaw, who was like a first team-all-conference player in the league. In the top line, depth is thin, decent wing and foreman depth, he seems to always kind of have that, yeah, I don't like the roster Matthew, they're pretty low for me as well. I agree, I can't believe they were 12th in the AC last year in offense, that team should have been better offensively, and they obviously couldn't guard me. It was very obvious in November, oh yeah, this team could have struggled to get stops at all this year, that was like everyone knew that, and they actually were better defensively, not good, but better relative than their offense, which is almost anemic. This team on paper looks like, yeah, their shooters, Jim, it's a great call out, and they look longer, they do look like they have more positional length, but I don't know, it's just a hunter thing for me, I could go very low with this team, but I think I just trust Hunter, especially in a bounce back here, I also worry that maybe he's not totally bought in, I know he's been frustrated with the administration there, and some stuff, I worry about mentally, he is dialed as he was like three, four years ago, or was like, oh yeah, two lane, whatever you think they'll be, add 50 spots, because Hunter is going to do a hunter thing, so I don't know. Yeah, they've had, their good teams have had like really good creators, and I don't see that with this team. Christian Lewis, if you're go-to answers the point guard for that Louisiana Monroe team, I think it comes down to blunt the Division Two transfer from University of Tampa, like he has to be awesome, and he was in Division Two, can he in the American, like, Wessiness was for South Florida, can he make that kind of a leap, I don't know. And then I think Salon, the seven footer from Arizona State, don't know if I'm pronouncing it right. He's a pretty big swing guy too, because he had some hype, and then Arizona State had job be so good, they didn't even try to play him. He's raw, but if he gives them like the actual shop blocking presence, maybe the defense steps up a little bit. Number 11, East Carolina, speaking of defense, that is supposed to be the Michael Schwartz calling card, and he's got a couple really good individual defenders here, like Kaden Cooper is a monster on defense. When Louisiana Tech played him and moved into the starting lineup, they became like the easy, best defense in the league in the CUSA, and he's a multi-positional destroyer. They get a healthy Gishane Woodard who's skinnier, but also long and versatile the same way the Cooper is. I think Deloria is a nice piece to bring back on that end. But man, I don't trust the offense. I don't trust Schwartz. He's gone 249, 176, 189, 180. Again, if you're fourth year's the worst year you've had, Kai. I don't like that. I just have a hard time, even with sort of liking, Bryson Blaine, Cian Medley, back corner. I don't know if it's enough to get me bought in. Nope, it's not for me. It's a bit of depressing coach situation, depressing program, and you mentioned his four finishes. He's won for four and out performance of Kenpum, and the expectations are not that high at East Carolina. They don't start very high in Kenpum. They have been top 150 since 2013. It's just like depression. They have guys every now and then every single year, Tristan Newton, Jayden Gardner. I believe it was named for Janie O'Guy. They just never really went with it. I do like Medley Javon Small, Medley and Blaine. I agree is a legit combination. A lot of good guard combos in this league as we keep talking through this. You mentioned just no big guys. Not a lot of big guys behind Wilberg. It's just not a winning team match. It's not a winning coach. It's not a winning program. So, yeah, I got him like 11th, 12th as well. I do think the floor is decently not high, but like it's stable. I just think it's, I think they will guard. But Swartz is just so stubborn. It kind of gives me like Chris James was kind of like this for a little bit to just, when you have so many bad shooting teams in a row, like at some point, you just like, you have to kind of come back to like, okay, make some sacrifice. I don't, this team's not going to make shots again, and they've been horrible shooting the ball for like years. And they're not athletic or as talented or as gifted in other areas that like they can compensate for that. Even when they have been on paper, you're right. It hasn't been that great. I was so high on this team two years ago. I was kind of in the team last year to start a 144th in Ken Pome. I know they had some injuries. I agree with you know, that Woodard actually could be like a lot better than his like very, you know, pedestrian stat line shows, you know, you're in the, the Chian made the, the, the medley, like that's just a Sean, Sean medley. Thank you. Um, is it really Sean? I think it's Sean. Okay. I mean, it could be, it could be, it could be on. I just just touch risk in that first. That's a flyer name. Yeah. It could be seen. I don't know. That is a lot of chips to put in that basket. That's all I say. So I don't know. Yeah. And there's like theoretical shooters here, Matt. Like Bryson Blaine was scorching the nets until his usage, like kind of exhausted his ability to make shots. Um, Watson, the stretch big from UTEP, those at Delaware State before can give them some perimeter presence, medley, and then the division to transfer Buchanan should be a shooter too. But it, it feels like a culture thing where they're going to get bad shots and brick most of them, like be sub three hundred and three point percentage no matter who's here. So, uh, that, that's troublesome. I'll put shorts up there with, sorry, shorts and, um, fish are two guys who are just really, really stubborn and selling what they're doing in their press conferences. Like, oh, yeah, guys, I make shots and practice all the time. They, they just got to make them in game. That's like I've heard that for four years. The worst coaching. Very familiar. But right was like Brian Gregory it's health Florida was a little like that. I think like he had some really bad offensive teams Like I swear we're good in practice practice. We're charting. We're making shots in practice. I swear we're charting them Unfortunately, just two fun newcomers for ECU Dalen Creecy Quirin, Duongo, DCQ as I refer to him in my Preview because you're not going Creecy Quirin, Duongo every time you say it But he's these have fun weighing athletic probably the next guy. It's like okay for ECU for two years and then transfers to a power school Like Ezra Aasar another name and it's suddenly useful and then Maxim Klitschko son of Vitaly Klitschko The world champion boxer he's seven foot three Ukrainian. He is a monster. I don't know how much he'll play right away He's playing in like the French youth league and those guys don't translate well But he is massive and he has the athletic tools and so keep an eye on wow All right, my last tier is UTSA and rice will start with UTSA because I actually think they have more talent than rice does That would be mr. Austin Klunch who I bet wishes he was still at Alabama at this point He brought in some some rescue projects like Isaiah Coleman and Isaiah Watts both from P5 schools that just didn't quite cut it there I'm intrigued by JJ Kelly that the sophomore he brought from Ohio Tenor was like on that super talented and very state team, but he was good at West Virginia or decent at West Virginia before that So there's you know, slap it together it might work. I but this another team with really terrible centers and I don't think the talent level's high enough to like elevate them out of the semi-basement and not a good program No money how on earth did they get did they get Isaiah Coleman you didn't have any other offers Isaiah Coleman that's just like Shocking to me. I tried eight percent from three. Yeah, they can't be as bad as functional as last year 338 last year Probably shape points They were horrible to watch it was shocking, but he was top 200 year before that and I think he is kind of good coach He just in a really tough situation But man, it's a lot of bit players at like decent programs. He brought in it probably works better than last year whatever last year was but I got him last I don't see them finishing pretty high and I keep looking at them and they're the roster rises roster I actually think there is like For sure more upside here at the TSA like no question But man, just some big swings here like I kind of like the Watts Coleman Kelly Okay, maybe I could work sure and I do believe clonches a good coach. I just think he Kind of got like he held on to this rising tide of a football school That's quickly elevating itself as a program always been a terrible basketball program. Also, but it's like It's in the AC which makes no sense to me and maybe he can sort of ride that wave But like it just there's been too much turbulence like and I don't know if it's all his fault But just it's been kind of a rough the timing was not as serendipitous I think it felt when he accepted the job like to be where he was as young as he was Coming off the Alabama thing to go to like an American job like seemed pretty sweet at the time But just you know fast-forward. It's been kind of rough. So if I had to bet with absolutely no information about it I bet he thought he'd have more money here. I think so. Yeah. Yeah, they have none They bring back one guy Dorian Hayes. He played 30 minutes of game last year UTSA had a negative 28 point differential per 100 when he was on the court I'd theme with guys at return typically not the guys you would probably pick as like yep That's the guy I want to come back. I just sort of lost a little bit of that Austin, Uni has played like 30 minutes game last year for this team. That's not bad They were I can't believe he's on LSU. What is happening? Why did that guy have an LSU? I don't know But Matt I think that was a perfect transition to rice on the guys they brought back are not the ones that I would want to return I just don't really think any of the ones that are back are very good Maybe Cam Carroll takes the leap soft more like he was a I think he saw pesky type defender last year He was a bad outright bad offensive player unfortunately. Oleta Kuhn could be a good defender He also is always in foul trouble. So that's a problem They're pretty soft inside because a Yanga from Charlotte is a he's a pillow for a big man They get Jacob Dar to boomerang back. He didn't really have a successfully you're seeing all Adkins okay shooter. Then you got a lot of freshman jukehs a couple international flavors on the bench Kai you're you're higher on rice than I was what do you squint them and see above UTSA? Yeah, okay. Yeah, well I don't know they haven't been like that horrible like I know what well years 11 and 25 but like they're still kind of like Like they're better than what to lane last year or right about their top 200 is first year That's this is kind of like handing out like participation trophies calling them better than UTSA I do think Carol has a sophomore league potential and a lot of good is another starter Jacob Dar is basically a starter So you have like basically three starters back some role guys the transfer class is a super weak I might be a tad high on them. I don't want to be I don't want to bet on this team It's a team that I kind of struggle with every year from a betting perspective met Yeah, I was Linear or rice rice. Okay. Yeah, I'm separate. I'm because I haven't low every year focusing on linear I'll be low again this year. I was super high on him. I thought he was created SMU I know he was sort of a by-game merchant and I think I just counted that at the time fast four or two years I see similar evidence of that where you know they were 11 and four 2025 and then they've kind of bottomed out Right, I think last year is they step up in class. Just don't think that style. I think you can do good things against bad teams But I think against like teams with more talent coaches that are pretty good. I think it tends to kind of peter out so Maybe the same trajectory or arc occurs this season I don't know they have some youth off the bench. Maybe some depth there that I'm maybe discounting but They're my last team. I think I think I have them last. Yeah, I'll put them UTSA a slight nudge of yeah Yeah, Matt's your point linear's teams always take a ton of mid range jumpers like it's it's just Constant with him in my rim hunters metric that I have a my little segmentation thing. They were 10th to last last year like they just don't get they don't put any pressure on the rim They jack three's they take mid-rangeers. They don't the shock quality is not like a thing to them That's not no under your thing mid range. Oh, yeah, they want to be like let's dominate the offensive glass And I look at this personnel and I say you're not gonna be able to be awesome on the offensive boards Like it's gonna be a litokoon unless he's in foul trouble and then I don't trust a yanga the newcomers Don't stand out as physical presence as I can I fear that they can't even build his identity much less be like just a good TN in general, so Yeah, worried about rice unfortunately guys how many teams make the NCA tournament? Keep in mind it is a 76 team event now. I'm saying one one I'm gonna be brave as my voice to I'll go to which time whoever wins a tournament. I do think I do think the town the teams are down overall league is down overall I think which a toss or now I think which targets in that large. Let's just let's leave it at that That but I think South Florida could and Memphis is ceiling is could yeah, and even though I'm high on UAB I'm not sure they have that ceiling about large, but they could win the AC tournament. They could win the league But but those other teams I think could actually do it. I think I would agree that South Florida Memphis have the second and third highest ceilings even though I ranked also second like I think those two teams just have I would agree is that if if the coaches figure it out the talent is very much there for both of those squads Yeah, I think the ball that I'll take is two, but asking you to name who two is is like You're basically just taking a you're betting a portfolio of yeah, Memphis South Florida I guess Tulsa. Tulsa UAB You decide to show up to campus and be the like Top 100 recruit like stud that he was for a little bit maybe But yeah, Jamie, you're right that this is like three players that have massive swing potential in a league where you're sort of in like that kind of Bubble is just part of the S curve. So it's like of all the leagues impacted like I think this league has a few like Massive dominoes to fall. Yep. Yep. Yeah, it's it's tough with with gyles and banks as you mentioned the five or five guys Like they would really really help them which at all would be like at large caliber probably if he's suddenly on the roster Okay, that is it for the American kind. Do we have any reviews? None this week Jim. No reviews this week. All right, who's who's gonna be the bravest all out there to leave us one for next week when we are previewing TBD and a time also to be determined eight ten eight ten or pack twelve. Yeah, already. Oh, it tends brutal Yeah, we got to figure out schedule because it is a holiday weekend. Yeah, Sunday night. Doesn't make it Oh, yes, my two Monday my two Monday. So that keep an eye on that. That's our tentative plan. We got to run it by Papa Cox see if that fits the schedule on Labor Day, but we'll let you folks know follow us on Twitter to check it out to get the updated schedule We should have something for you for next week another preview episode coming But thank you for tuning in as always we enjoy a check-up ask it under review For Kai from at I'm Jim 1/2 tsp of salt. 1/2 tsp of salt.