Looking Forward - What I would Like/Think will Happen

[explorer88]

I just don't have any hope we will play better as we move forward this season.

I have some thoughts on where we should go moving forward. Would be interested to hear other thoughts and critique what I have below.

How it shakes out
1. Dunphy will be the only one to decide whether he continues to coach or retires. The school will not interfere nor will alumni who can influence the administration. That being said, I think Fran does not want to admit defeat nor leave La Salle with a program that isn't better than when he started. Competitive coaches don't quit and always think they can turn it around. So Dunphy stays and coaches next year.

2. All of the program's best players are Ash's players. Dunphy has not secured any player that is special or vital to the program's future IMO. He has 4 players that he needs their scholarship:

Ramos (2 years)
Mercandino (2 years)
Tahmaz
Kovacevic

If Ramos or Mercandino are not seeing time in year 2 he must get their scholarships. Those scholarships are more valuable than the player at this point. Tahmaz is 50/50 for me. I don't know if he is hurt or just not ready or if Dunphy thinks he can develop. Kovacevic only will have 1 year. With the Greek kid coming in it is quite possible he looks for greener pastures. I believe he needs at least 2 of those 4 scholarships regardless. Preferably 3 open up.

3. I think there is a real good chance Brickus and Shepherd do not return. Better than 50/50. Brantley may opt out but I think there is less of a chance with him than the others. For me the most likely to return are Rokas, Tunde, Marrero, Zan, and 1-3 from the rest of those who will have eligibility. So at the end of they year I think we could have 5-7 players return. With 2 signings that means we could have 4-6 scholarships to give out this Spring if my math is correct.

What we need:

Athletes
Shooting
Rebounding
Rim Protection
Dribble Penetration Players
Toughness

How to use the scholarships

Order of Importance
For me, we need at least 2 productive transfers. One guard and 1 forward, preferable a power player. We must grab at least 2 experienced and productive players from another program that has shown some consistency and upside. The guard needs to be a shooter who can handle and/or be able to break his man down. Preferably both but we need at least one. Without this we are doomed no matter who else we sign. I don't think we can get back to winning until we can win some battles in the transfer portal. As I mentioned on another thread Dunphy and ASH should be begging and pleading to make our NIL somewhat competitive with other at A-10 schools. This is now the biggest sell job facing the program. If we were lucky to get more than great but we need at least 2 transfers with the projected departures.

Third and 4 scholarships need to go to athletes. The best guys we can find who can handle the basketball, score the basketball to some degree and have some toughness. They don't need to be stars but developmental players that can spell starters when needed. Need toughness as well from these 2 scholarships.

Rest of the scholarships
- A shooter. Someone who can spot up at the very least off of passes and can spread the floor.
- A rim protector or lane defender. He doesn't need to have an offensive game but we need that at least one skillset in the program
- A wing defender

These would be my preferences in order. I know not all of this will happen. They only must I feel to move the needle for us is to secure the transfers at the very least. If Brantley and or others leave than each of the scenarios needs to be bumped up by one scholarship.

Just my crazy thoughts for our typical February frustration swoon each season.

[las71]

Good post 88. We really need to blow it up and begin to rebuild. I suspect like you that Dunphy wants to leave the program on a solid footing. We need to get a couple of starters from the portal. This doubtless means NIL money. I'm an avid follower of the program and can't find any information about our NIL collective. Not sure how much the athletic department can promote this but more information needs to be available to small donors as I would think that every donation helps. I'm sure Dunphy knows better than anyone what we need and realizes that we need a couple of proven players from the portal who can step in and start but also knows we need some class of 24 kids to build on for the future. We have two commits and I think getting two more is important. We probably need as many as 6 new players and 88 mentioned a number of scholarships that should be available. Dunphy's hands are tied until guys enter the portal which makes it difficult to recruit 24's because he has no scholarships to offer. That coupled with our difficulty recruiting from the portal because of lack of NIL money makes this a daunting task.

[giveansk1]

goexplorers.com/news/2023/6/1/general-explorers-united-launches-to-support-la-salle-university-student-athlete-nil.aspx

Here is the NIL the school has directed people too. I haven't heard much since this announcement. I would love to see more of a grassroots effort but there isn't a school in the country who is happy with their NIL except maybe Ohio St now. Once the arena gets done I would like to see something like this givebutter.com/onemoreyear where 100% of the money goes to players.

[Fastchuck]

I think that Tahmaz is a redshirt this year. He was not dressed for the last home game although he was on the bench. He was a late signing and was obviously behind after missing the summer workouts. Gil kind of fits Mik's athlete description except for the developmental part. My guess is that he is gone. He and Brantley don't work together. Both are too ball dominant. Brickus tends to get shut out when the 3 are in the game together.

[GlitterBro #2]

It's a bit of a catch-22 for La Salle. It is apparent we need NIL money to get players that can compete consistently in the A10. However, the school is short on revenue, is building the arena, and also needs donations for next phases of that as well as general funds. Our AD can't really be out promoting the NIL when his job relies on fundraising for the University. At the same time, without being competitive, the program will not make any revenue. He's between a rock and a hard place...needing NIL funds from our limited donor base to make the team better, but also needing donor funds and ticket revenue to make the program viable.

NIL is the Oppenheimer of college athletics, and the unintended consequences of it are playing out in a very real way for the La Salle's of college athletics.

[JoeFedorowicz]

Feb 14, 2024 14:46:49 GMT -5 GlitterBro #2 said:

 Our AD can't really be out promoting the NIL

Not supposed to be doing it period.

[thelasallelunatic]

Need to look at the high school recruits that are being squeezed by the portal. There's value on those margins.

[explorerman]

Feb 14, 2024 15:32:56 GMT -5 JoeFedorowicz said:

Feb 14, 2024 14:46:49 GMT -5 GlitterBro #2 said:

 Our AD can't really be out promoting the NIL

Not supposed to be doing it period.

Absolutely

[hoopsguest]

My belief is that Dunphy was brought into raise money. He is apparently doing that. Collectives are a whole other ball of wax

[explorerman]

I am glad people are seeing the light..

Brickus is the only one is transferring up or is capable of but there are questions about height.. Not me but other asst coaches whom I have talked to about our roster

You don’t generally see players transfer down unless Coach tells them to go which really isn’t Dunphy.. So Brantley, Gill and Shepherd I could see staying because of that dynamic. Gill has been at it for 4 years now already so maybe he just graduates.. One of reasons I respect him so much in today’s environment

As explorer88 pointed out he has a lot of schollies tied up in players that are sitting on bench which is concerning the lack of skill in court today

[lasallejohn]

Wouldn’t necessarily be disappointed if brickus and gill graduated and brantley/shepherd transferred. I think we need a new culture, give deuce the keys, grab some hungry and tough(!) transfers, and start fresh.

[GlitterBro #2]

Feb 14, 2024 15:32:56 GMT -5 JoeFedorowicz said:

Feb 14, 2024 14:46:49 GMT -5 GlitterBro #2 said:

 Our AD can't really be out promoting the NIL

Not supposed to be doing it period.

Sure...but posting about the collective on the athletics website can be seen as "promoting" it. It's a fine line. 

[JoeFedorowicz]

The website is allowed to say that the collective exists...yes.

[calsufan]

One quibble with your post, Mik. Fasasi is a Dunphy recruit and I think he's one of La Salle's better players now and is going to improve a lot over the next few years.

[explorer88]

Feb 16, 2024 9:46:41 GMT -5 calsufan said:

One quibble with your post, Mik. Fasasi is a Dunphy recruit and I think he's one of La Salle's better players now and is going to improve a lot over the next few years.

I like him and think he has a chance to be a good player for us but he is not an all freshmen performer in this conference. I am not saying I think we need his scholarship or he won't be an important part of the program moving forward. The program also needs players that can develop into more impactful players. I think he fits that mold.

[las71]

I like Fasasi and think he has a lot of potential. He's long and can shoot the 3 and strikes me as a player who will accept coaching and work hard to get better. Hard to know what his upside is but he's a keeper.

[explorer88]

I said in an earlier thread if Tunde develops a mid-range game he would be a devastating player. He shows flashes of it. I just wish he would show more of that.

[JoeFedorowicz]

Like the guy, but is it more likely he's going to be on an All-A10 team or not. I hope he stays because the body is there, but I'm not sold yet.