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Message: [QUOTE="Powellfan, post: 4269421, member: 4819"] Yes, I think this move would give Hopkins a leg up and I would probably make them the favorites. But you never know and Schelling's been in the portal for a little while now so his destination might already be decided. Hopkins certainly has the need but their outlook next year doesn't look entirely promising. The main reason I think they should be adding veteran pieces to the team is that so much of the depth chart right now is occupied with freshmen. I don't think that's a bad thing but this team isn't getting much out of it's junior or senior classes. Using the transfer portal can certainly help fix that. The most intriguing thing to watch this offseason is how comfortable the coaches are with relying on this class. The freshmen will want to play no doubt. If they don't I'm sure we will all start worrying about potential transfers. But they also have to win games, a second year in a row of losing and players might not want to stick around for that either. How the coaches get the best players on the field while also showing the freshmen they are invested in them will be really important. I'm as excited as anyone to watch Thomson, Spallina, Rhoa, Kempney and Leo. But that's five guys for roughly nine spots on offense, more than half. As good as these guys are I think they'll need veteran influence. Hiltz will obviously provide that but the other players most likely to get playing time this year are Birtwistle (R-SO) and Tyler Cordes (SO). Fiorini and Cook are due to return but they were both underwhelming last year. By adding Simmons and Kirst I think the coaches know they need to supplement their veteran ranks. Another player like Schelling or a similar difference maker I think could still work and make everyone happy. My top nine would look like something like this right now - Attack: Birtwistle, Hiltz, Spallina Midfield 1: Simmons, Kirst, Cordes Midfield 2: Thomson, Rhoa, Leo Bench: Cook, Fiorini, Kempney, Magnan (?), Ferris If they were to add one more transfer at attack, Birtwistle could always duck down to midfield, though not sure he would be happy with that. The one thing that gives me pause about this lineup is so many natural attackmen at midfield. I'm also not sure they would want to put all freshmen on the second line. I think that's a pretty strong lineup but you are relying a lot on freshmen still. [/QUOTE]

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