It's hard for me to believe that Coach Madsen would recruit Lee Dort without thoroughly vetting him and becoming satisfied that the legal issues are resolved or that Dort is innocent and deserves a chance at Cal.
Four schollies still left. Wow. Are Askew and Celestine still remaining in the portal? Because right now they’d be better pick-ups (in the two areas of scorer/PG and 3-pt shooter/defensive lockdown guy), in my opinion, than any of the transfers we’ve signed. I hope the new additions prove me wrong, but at this point I am having a hard time believing Cal will improve or even keep pace with last year’s results, particularly in conference play.
First and foremost we need an impact big, specifically a rim protector. Unlikely that Dort/Curtis/Larson will be able to really hang with ACC bigs in ‘24-‘25. Maybe after some reps and development, but another P5-caliber banger is needed.
I admit, I’ve never watched Tucker play, making my declaration premature as there is no eye test I’m going on. Their career stats (per minutes played) are comparable, though Tucker’s final season at UTSA was clearly a breakout season with his assist numbers (albeit in the AAC) most strikingly improved. I felt Devin’s ceiling was still ahead of him (he had moments, made some plays where I could understand that he was a five-star out of HS) and I know he could have been a huge asset; it’s a shame we never got to see the chemistry between him and last year’s transfers develop over a full season (though in his final fully healthy game Devin did look very good; he was the glue guy in that game and started to flash some nice PG skills). Guy has had some really tough luck. Both last season and the one before (when he averaged 15.5 pts/gm and was called upon to be all everything due to the spare supporting cast) were drastically truncated by injury. Given the best ability is availability, upon reflection, I am hopeful Tucker will have the better season of the two. As well, I love nothing more than an excellent assist man and look forward to seeing him play.
Great summary on where we are in Mad Dog Year One, ver. 2.0. I think we may be more balanced this year.
There was always the rumor that some of last year's players may back out of the portal once they redid their NIL but I'll believe it when I see it. And none of them are Jaylon Tyson.
It's hard for me to believe that Coach Madsen would recruit Lee Dort without thoroughly vetting him and becoming satisfied that the legal issues are resolved or that Dort is innocent and deserves a chance at Cal.
Larson enters the Portal...
I wonder if he's got a scholarship offer from somewhere
Bye…good luck to Gus.
Nice work! Thanks Nick!
I love your summary.
And big names are still scheduled to visit.
So as you say….
We can all have lots of hope for a great team and lots of truly happy and fun times to come.
A very good summary with the promise and the concerns
Some high upside players, all seemly solid players, but all with some risks also
We need at least one big recruit who is an alpha and can take that shot at the end of the shot clock and in tight games
Also absolutely need another big, otherwise we will have the same depth and quality problem as last year without the rock at center we had with Daws
Four schollies still left. Wow. Are Askew and Celestine still remaining in the portal? Because right now they’d be better pick-ups (in the two areas of scorer/PG and 3-pt shooter/defensive lockdown guy), in my opinion, than any of the transfers we’ve signed. I hope the new additions prove me wrong, but at this point I am having a hard time believing Cal will improve or even keep pace with last year’s results, particularly in conference play.
First and foremost we need an impact big, specifically a rim protector. Unlikely that Dort/Curtis/Larson will be able to really hang with ACC bigs in ‘24-‘25. Maybe after some reps and development, but another P5-caliber banger is needed.
Keep Askew far away. Would love for Celestine to come back but no need for Askew.
I would love to hear your reasoning for why Askew is a better player than Christian Tucker.
I admit, I’ve never watched Tucker play, making my declaration premature as there is no eye test I’m going on. Their career stats (per minutes played) are comparable, though Tucker’s final season at UTSA was clearly a breakout season with his assist numbers (albeit in the AAC) most strikingly improved. I felt Devin’s ceiling was still ahead of him (he had moments, made some plays where I could understand that he was a five-star out of HS) and I know he could have been a huge asset; it’s a shame we never got to see the chemistry between him and last year’s transfers develop over a full season (though in his final fully healthy game Devin did look very good; he was the glue guy in that game and started to flash some nice PG skills). Guy has had some really tough luck. Both last season and the one before (when he averaged 15.5 pts/gm and was called upon to be all everything due to the spare supporting cast) were drastically truncated by injury. Given the best ability is availability, upon reflection, I am hopeful Tucker will have the better season of the two. As well, I love nothing more than an excellent assist man and look forward to seeing him play.
Agreed. Wish him well but he’s just not a part of the future.
Great summary on where we are in Mad Dog Year One, ver. 2.0. I think we may be more balanced this year.
There was always the rumor that some of last year's players may back out of the portal once they redid their NIL but I'll believe it when I see it. And none of them are Jaylon Tyson.
So Tyson wasn’t this Tyson when he arrived.
It can happen again….confident in this staff.