Class of 2020 C Quincy Ballard (NY) Transferring from FSU to Wichita St

[CousCuse]

They were recruited to be developed for the future. Not one of them outside of Judah was expected to make an impact as a freshman.

I understand that. But there is only 1 open scholarship and IMO, having only one center and having really no viable backup is less desirable than having several freshman playing time at forward. It doesn't really matter what I think, the staff is going to go in one direction or the other. I do think Ballard is a lot better than what people generally think.

 

[Briancuse]

I understand that. But there is only 1 open scholarship and IMO, having only one center and having really no viable backup is less desirable than having several freshman playing time at forward. It doesn't really matter what I think, the staff is going to go in one direction or the other. I do think Ballard is a lot better than what people generally think.

We have more than one scholarship. I have no problem with Ballard as the backup center as long as we add a solid 4 who can score.

 

[pearl31]

They were recruited to be developed for the future. Not one of them outside of Judah was expected to make an impact as a freshman.

Eh what you're expecting and coaches expecting are two very different things

 

[Briancuse]

Eh what you're expecting and coaches expecting are two very different things

So the coaching staff believes bunch and Taylor are going to be able to make up for swiders points?

 

[CousCuse]

We have more than one scholarship. I have no problem with Ballard as the backup center as long as we add a solid 4 who can score.

At this time, there is only 1 open ship. I want QB, 7 foot guys who can take off from the free throw line and dunk are a rare commodity. FSU had 3 centers and together they played 28 minutes. FSU likes to run a lot of tall forwards, it's not the place for a center to go and become all-conference.

 

[dasher]

I understand that. But there is only 1 open scholarship and IMO, having only one center and having really no viable backup is less desirable than having several freshman playing time at forward. It doesn't really matter what I think, the staff is going to go in one direction or the other. I do think Ballard is a lot better than what people generally think.

Have you seen jba play? Is there anyone knocking down the door hoping he goes in to the portal? Besides us, I mean. Give this nonsense a break. If we are playing jba any quality minutes, we are not going to be good.

 

[SUFan44]

So the coaching staff believes bunch and Taylor are going to be able to make up for swiders points?

Exactly.

Massive leap to believe that.

I will say though - they are going to try to get back to the “defense wins” model. However, without a veteran team it’s going to be really hard.

Look at our best defenses and name me one that featured so many new pieces - 3 new starters with all being basically freshmen (Williams the lone one with any experience).

That is, unless they do the right thing and get a transfer forward.

 

[dasher]

Exactly.

Massive leap to believe that.

I will say though - they are going to try to get back to the “defense wins” model. However, without a veteran team it’s going to be really hard.

Look at our best defenses and name me one that featured so many new pieces - 3 new starters with all being basically freshmen (Williams the lone one with any experience).

That is, unless they do the right thing and get a transfer forward.

Give me a real quality forward and I will roll with the team we will have next year. I think we could be fun. 2 sr's that are capable of having quality sr seasons. A frosh that I love at the pt. That leaves the forward spots. We have a question with Benny. We just can't have 2 questions at forward. I wouldn't want to have to play a road game with that forward group.

 

[Briancuse]

At this time, there is only 1 open ship. I want QB, 7 foot guys who can take off from the free throw line and dunk are a rare commodity. FSU had 3 centers and together they played 28 minutes. FSU likes to run a lot of tall forwards, it's not the place for a center to go and become all-conference.

Im pretty sure we have 2. Someone want to do the math for us? If it's one or the other replacing Cole is the priority.

 

[tptcuse]

Im pretty sure we have 2. Someone want to do the math for us? If it's one or the other replacing Cole is the priority.

I don't know about that. If Jesse gets injured again without a backup, our season is basically over next year.

 

[Sbucketball]

1 scholarship currently available. We have 12 guys (6 freshman, Sy, Joe, Benny, Jesse, Bol, Chaz). Bol and Chaz are nice guys and their teammates like having them around, but man those are valuable spots.

If no one else enters the transfer portal, it seems the coaches are prioritizing getting a backup center. I agree with that approach. We can't have the season ride on Jesse staying healthy and staying on the court and out of foul trouble. From what we've seen, Bol isn't a viable backup center (or backup forward, for that matter, but definitely not center). It seems like Peter Carey might be pretty good at some point, but I think he's a project, not unlike Jesse. Maybe Maliq can slide over for a couple minutes in a pinch, but he's a 6'9" PF and probably needs some time to develop anyway. If Jesse gets hurt or fouls out and can't stay on the floor to close out games, we would be in big trouble. Teams would just attack the center and get easy buckets. We saw exactly that this season, and it would be much worse next year if they don't get a transfer.

On the other hand, we do have guys who can play forward, albeit an inexperienced group which makes it a complete gamble (Benny, Taylor, Bunch I think are likely to play next year, and maybe Maliq can carve out a role too since he is physically mature and might be good on defense and able to pull down rebounds). I think Taylor gets a lot of minutes at the 3 next year, and then plays the 2 when Joe graduates. Forward will be our weak spot next year, but it would be terrible to not have someone who can hold down the center position for 10 minutes per game, and could take over if Jesse gets hurt. With that said, I don't think this team can go very far with that forward group, unless two of them are way better than expected.

It's going to be a tough sell to convince a kid in the portal to come play behind Jesse, so I don't have very high expectations. But we need a big body.

If Bol or Chaz transfer out, then we could potentially be in good shape with a defensive-minded backup center and a scoring forward.

The best option may be to get a big stretch four who can start at the 4 and is capable of playing the 5 for 10 minutes per game. That would solve both problems, but I don't see that happening.

 

[Cusefan0307]

None of them are ready to make an impact next year. We need another forward.

Again you don’t know this. It’s your opinion.

 

[orangejunkie]

For those that are yearning for an impact forward, that would greatly reduce playing time and necessary development for our incoming freshman forwards. Most likely leading to a potential 4 year player hitting the portal. It comes down to how JB and staff project their ability to contribute from year 1.

 

[dasher]

For those that are yearning for an impact forward, that would greatly reduce playing time and necessary development for our incoming freshman forwards. Most likely leading to a potential 4 year player hitting the portal. It comes down to how JB and staff project their ability to contribute from year 1.

Yeah, those are the people that would actually like to win next season. Could one of those frosh blow up. Yes. But is that likely? No. It is more likely that if we could get a quality forward in the portal, one that could help us next year. Rather than hope one of the forwards can.

 

[Cusefan0307]

So the coaching staff believes bunch and Taylor are going to be able to make up for swiders points?

No, but the defense should be a lot better. The staff wants to bring in another guy, but JB may not want to. Lots of stuff up in the air.

 

[Melancer46]

For those that are yearning for an impact forward, that would greatly reduce playing time and necessary development for our incoming freshman forwards. Most likely leading to a potential 4 year player hitting the portal. It comes down to how JB and staff project their ability to contribute from year 1.

I don't think it's really safe to assume anyone is a 4 year player anymore. Would obviously love to see good players stick around all 4 years but it just seems like there's so many opportunities out there at this point that it's a difficult thing to count on anymore.

Considering we're bringing in two SFs this season, I would kinda bank on at least one of them transferring out at some point. Best case scenario, they're both good and one transfers to get an opportunity for more playing time.

At any rate, I tend to be kinda pessimistic about our team's chances this upcoming season; seems likely to be another year of hoping we get in on the bubble. But I will say I at least look forward to seeing some new faces get opportunities rather than rooting for a team that is both old and not very good.

 

[Day2]

So the coaching staff believes bunch and Taylor are going to be able to make up for swiders points?

 

[721Comstock]

Yeah, those are the people that would actually like to win next season. Could one of those frosh blow up. Yes. But is that likely? No. It is more likely that if we could get a quality forward in the portal, one that could help us next year. Rather than hope one of the forwards can.

Honestly - I'm waaaaay more concerned about scoring from the position, than I am about a backup C.

We're talking about somebody (ideally a somewhat proven, upperclassman portal transfer) who could be on the floor for 30+ minutes/game,
vs.
a backup C who might play 8-12 mins/game.

Because right now we're banking on having 2 out of 3 completely unproven players (Benny, Taylor, Bunch) be major contributors to our scoring and rebounding.

Benny is gonna hafta make an even greater "Sophomore leap" than Hak did.
(since Hak wasn't useless as a Frosh)
Hak averaged 15 & 8.5 for the Natty year.

KrisJo is another example - and he wasn't even a starter, and we're gonna need Benny to be.
He put up 11 & 5.5 in 28 minutes/game as a Soph.

Jerami is another comp - Soph year he averaged 12 & 7.

So - Benny, no pressure, but:
We're gonna need between 11-15 points and 6-8 boards from ya this season.



I would REALLY prefer to have at least ONE proven starting Forward who has already done it at the college level.

So that we then only need to hit on 1 out of the 3 young 's.

 

[0.2 YNdeeR]

Honestly - I'm waaaaay more concerned about scoring from the position, than I am about a backup C.

We're talking about somebody (ideally a somewhat proven, upperclassman portal transfer) who could be on the floor for 30+ minutes/game,
vs.
a backup C who might play 8-12 mins/game.

Because right now we're banking on having 2 out of 3 completely unproven players (Benny, Taylor, Bunch) be major contributors to our scoring and rebounding.

Benny is gonna hafta make an even greater "Sophomore leap" than Hak did.
(since Hak wasn't useless as a Frosh)
Hak averaged 15 & 8.5 for the Natty year.

KrisJo is another example - and he wasn't even a starter, and we're gonna need Benny to be.
He put up 11 & 5.5 in 28 minutes/game as a Soph.

Jerami is another comp - Soph year he averaged 12 & 7.

So - Benny, no pressure, but:
We're gonna need between 11-15 points and 6-8 boards from ya this season.



I would REALLY prefer to have at least ONE proven starting Forward who has already done it at the college level.

So that we then only need to hit on 1 out of the 3 young 's.

Agree. The other forward spot opposite Benny is the most acute need. It's not that backup center is unimportant .. given Jesse's tendency to pick up fouls. But we have Carey coming in (limited offense but reportedly a rim protector). His injury is an unknown. At the end of the day, however, it's a backup position. At the forward spot, by contrast, we need a starter (no disrespect to Bunch).

There's one scholly open (assuming Chaz remains on a ship). So the ideal solution, IMO, would be to take a 6-9 type forward who could slide over to the 5 in a pinch. Also, since we're trying to make up >27 points lost at forward (Jimmy and Cole), and it's likely that Benny (2.0 ppg) is going to occupy one starting forward spot, whoever we bring for the other position better be a scorer.

 

[Orangezoo]

Honestly - I'm waaaaay more concerned about scoring from the position, than I am about a backup C.

We're talking about somebody (ideally a somewhat proven, upperclassman portal transfer) who could be on the floor for 30+ minutes/game,
vs.
a backup C who might play 8-12 mins/game.

Because right now we're banking on having 2 out of 3 completely unproven players (Benny, Taylor, Bunch) be major contributors to our scoring and rebounding.

Benny is gonna hafta make an even greater "Sophomore leap" than Hak did.
(since Hak wasn't useless as a Frosh)
Hak averaged 15 & 8.5 for the Natty year.

KrisJo is another example - and he wasn't even a starter, and we're gonna need Benny to be.
He put up 11 & 5.5 in 28 minutes/game as a Soph.

Jerami is another comp - Soph year he averaged 12 & 7.

So - Benny, no pressure, but:
We're gonna need between 11-15 points and 6-8 boards from ya this season.



I would REALLY prefer to have at least ONE proven starting Forward who has already done it at the college level.

So that we then only need to hit on 1 out of the 3 young 's.

Exactly. Plus it's a lot to put on the youngsters and even more on Benny to turn it around. The portal is now going to be a permanent fixture. We won't be able to control kids getting impatient or who is in their ears. We have to do our best to put the best team out there, win a lot more games and give the best opportunity to the kids that commit to play for SU and vis versa. After that we can't control what happens.

Right now we need that stability of a veteran kid at . Someone who wants a chance like Cole had but also to join a team that needs one more piece to have a good year.

 

[pearl31]

Of course it's very important to try and ensure having at least one proven forward entering next season.
But it defies logic to say that's more important than having a viable back-up at Center. Do you realize what would happen if Peter Carey and/or Maliq Brown have to play any significant minutes (as in, 5+ minutes in a half) as our center? Disaster, that's what would happen.

Clearly the ideal situation would be to have 2 spots open so that we could take both a productive 3/4 and a back-up 5. But as of right now there's 1 spot open - and we have 4 forwards on the roster along with 1.5 centers on the roster. If the situation remains that there is only 1 open spot, and the staff has to decide how to fill it, there is really no decision to make.

Yes, the offense will probably suffer, at least early on in the season, if we go with the current forward options. But at least the defense would be reliable and possibly even leaned upon for wins.
You've got to look at it realistically and pragmatically. It is what it is.

 

[Sbucketball]

A veteran scoring forward is the missing link in the starting five. No doubt about it. If everyone stays healthy and doesn't regularly foul out, a transfer forward would help the most. By far. But then the whole season rides on Jesse (1) staying healthy, and (2) being on the court to close out games. After last year, that's not a risk I'd take.

 

[kcsu]

I see Benny as a plus over Jimmy. Between D and rebounds put back baskets the kid is better. Cole is the loss and i dont see a frosh to replace him. Maybe the kid from VA as he is a shooter.
Jesse can score and has to be accounted for by the D
Joe can shoot and has to be accounted for
VA kid can shoot
Mintz can drive and shoot.

I think we are going to have enough and my .02 is that Jim doesnt bring in a forward and if he does he isnt going to be a star.

 

[Orangezoo]

I see Benny as a plus over Jimmy. Between D and rebounds put back baskets the kid is better. Cole is the loss and i dont see a frosh to replace him. Maybe the kid from VA as he is a shooter.
Jesse can score and has to be accounted for by the D
Joe can shoot and has to be accounted for
VA kid can shoot
Mintz can drive and shoot.

I think we are going to have enough and my .02 is that Jim doesnt bring in a forward and if he does he isnt going to be a star.

Benny needs to be a threat on the offensive glass, as a cutter and as a guy who can hit an open jump shot at a good clip.

On defense he needs to be disciplined as well as a threat to block from the weak side and use his athleticism as a rebounder.

Benny also needs to be full go every minute on the floor.

That is quite a bit for him to work on and improve. It's reasonable for a 5 star level talent for sure yet still lots of work to do.

 

[orangepassion]

Does Alan Griffin have any more eligibility?
In all seriousness, if Edwards goes down, it doesn't more who our backup center is, we're going to be bad. We're not bringing in a good enough guy there to be good for 30 minutes. That's why a good, experienced forward is more important IMO.