Jesse Edwards in portal and transfers to WVU

[Consigliere]

Brey retired a month before. So I think it was understood that their undergrads would be reaching out to other schools. They were going to be hiring a whole new coaching staff. Even though he wasn’t officially in the portal, no one would cry foul there.

And Starling reached out to us based on a long standing relationship.

 

[two3zone]

Yet around here you’d think he was one of the worst centers in the ACC.

 

[two3zone]

Jesse is a very good college center. Full stop. I hate reading these broadsides against his game now that he's gone. I'm sure he'll do well wherever he lands.

I hope the extra money is worth leaving a place he loves. I suspect he'll have some regrets when that money is gone -- and let's be real, the extra that he'll be getting over what SU offered is not life changing money. It'll be gone quickly.

Sure it’s the same people who talk about how great our 195th ranked prospect is better than the top 50 who snubbed us.

 

[two3zone]

He was not great - great players don't have single digit scoring in 6 games and have 10 in 2 others. That is 25% of our games where he couldn't generate double digit points. That is not great. He is a good player who's numbers were hiked by playing on a bad team. Someone has to get rebounds and score when others on the team cannot. His loss is being felt because of the timing, but he is not irreplaceable

Arinze barely averaged 10 a game his last two years and only averaged over 8 rebounds once.

 

[two3zone]

As a Cuse fan, did I want jesse back? yes. Would I have been excited that he would come back? yes

BUT

there's a lot of reasons hes not on NBA draft lists - he's a very limited player with key deficiencies in his game:

namely:

- cant shoot a jump shot in games
- cant score from more than 5 feet out
- struggles with physicality
- struggles passing out of double team
- low Bball IQ
- either fouls out quicky or plays matador defense
- slow feet


you cant teach height and he gets good numbers on rebounds blocks and points (mostly)

I hope his replacement is a real basketball player not just a tall coordinated guy who recently picked up the sport and likes to eat stroodle all summer



your comment seems to imply that Jesse is a hampionship level player but his teammates weren't - I disagree strongly.

the offense ran through Jesse last year and it didnt work. He was given a lot of responsibility to carry the team and he couldnt. bottomline he didnt live up to his potential and I understand why people are not happy he portaling bit there are a lot of centers out there that might be better in terms of winning even if they dont have the same stats as Jesse, imo. IMO Jesse has no "dog in him" as the kids like to say these days ...and thats what the team needs.

We ran the offense through Jesse? He was the third option on offense.

You think Jesse isn’t a championship player but his teammates are? We played 5/6 guys this year solid minutes who wouldn’t sniff the practice floor ten years ago.

 

[JustPherU]

Guess it is important how much of a star you are in BB or FB.
While some NCAA athletes cash in on NIL, others lose out (insidehighered.com)

The opportunity to earn money while playing college sports is available to all athletes, from football’s Heisman Trophy winner to small-college wrestlers. But of the approximately 520,000 students currently competing in intercollegiate athletics, maybe 519,000 are making nothing at all. A vast majority of deals reward the top players on the nationally competitive teams in two sports: football and men’s basketball. Some of the deals are as lucrative as those that established professionals earn. According to On3, this academic year the Alabama quarterback Bryce Young will earn a total of at least $3.2 million from Nissan, BMW of Tuscaloosa, the mobile-payment service Cash App and other companies.

But I was told this a much more equitable system.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Family has a preexisting relationship. Kind of different imho

It’s still tampering. We are just spinning it.

 

[HOFCeluck]

But I was told this a much more equitable system.

By who?

 

[CuseCPT]

But I was told this a much more equitable system.

No, I'd say everyone getting screwed was more equitable.

 

[JustPherU]

No, I'd say everyone getting screwed was more equitable.

Getting screwed? Lol!
Regular student being charged insane tuition are getting screwed not a guy offered a free ride plus a stipend.
Don’t like the offer don’t sign!
Now get off my lawn!

 

[hoopsupstate]

That was quick. I guess it’s pretty obvious who tampered with Jesse before entering the portal!

 

[two3zone]

Getting screwed? Lol!
Regular student being charged insane tuition are getting screwed not a guy offered a free ride plus a stipend.
Don’t like the offer don’t sign!
Now get off my lawn!

Athletes bring a ton of revenue to the university, how much revenue do non student athletes bring in to the university?

 

[Cuse181]

Athletes bring a ton of revenue to the university, how much revenue do non student athletes bring in to the university?

**some athletes**

 

[OrlandoCuse]

there were moments. Every player has moments...

on the season Jesse was 64 turnovers, 49 assists. Maybe I am misinterpreting that stat but doesn't scream high bball IQ to me. (for comparison sake nikola jokic has 678 assists and 247 turnovers this year - that is high bball IQ)

Call me crazy but maybe that's why opponents started double-teaming him second-half of the season and not simply because he is a good scorer. just a thought. he did improve but he started from the bottom. and didn't get far...

As far as rebounds a game...he was under strict orders to stay within 4 feet of the basket basically all game (aside from corner 3s...lol)...JB kept him in the paint.

since the forwards couldnt rebound and werent exactly going to take many rebounds away from jesse - it was jesse's job...he did it well...but how exactly is being the tallest player on the court evidence of IQ? did he smart himself into having long arms?

if i can lift my hands up as high as i can does that mean i have a high IQ?

if I catch something that falls into my lap does that make me an elite athlete??

Speaking of being in the paint - does anyone have a stat on how many uncontested layups and dunks SU gave up with Jesse at center the last couple of seasons? I don't but I'm willing to bet the numbers on that would be putrid. For every block jesse got there had to 5 uncontested lobs or layups ...he was often a seive in the paint

why?

well because for the vast majority of his college career he couldnt stay on the floor without picking up a ton of silly fouls - again, not a high IQ indicator - now, you might say well he stopped fouling out - evidence of improvement! - not so fast. The reason he stopped fouling out is because JB basically had to tell him to just let people score and dont play defense basically. which brings me back to all of the uncontested dunks and layups teams had when jesse was in the game last couple of years.

when he first started out - he would actually play defense and he made a difference before always fouling out in a short amount of time...once he was a starter that stopped (by design)...he was a huge orange traffic cone, mostly.

yeah he got "his"...unsurprisingly...thats all these players care about it seems nowadays. for me, a lot of jesse's stats are empty stats...watching him play...it was s obvious to me that he didnt grow up around the game...didnt play much pickup with actual ballers and likely came to the game very late in his life...and didnt really understand how to have agency on the court to efect wins and losses...like at all.

(if you look at him and jg3's stats...you'd be like danngggg these guys are ballers! wow amazing. nope. they couldnt barely get over 500 the last two seasons combined as junior and senior starters...for a reason: empty stats.)

im sure he is "smart" ...as a person. but high basketball IQ??? no chance.

he has low bball IQ.

by the way, i didnt even mention his glacial footwork on defense...it was 3 stooges bad often times

my suggestion: get a basketball player in the Center spot...one who can shoot pass and dribble and watch what it does for the team.

Jeez, you don’t need to trash the kid on his way out.

 

[Consigliere]

It’s still tampering. We are just spinning it.

Call it whatever you would like, but a kid whose coach announced he is leaving reaching out to an assistant coach at his hometown school who he has known since eighth grade to see if there might be a spot for him is not the same as a school reaching out through back channels to an enrolled player letting him know that they can get him $700k in NIL money if he transfers.

 

[HOFCeluck]

Call it whatever you would like, but a kid whose coach announced he is leaving reaching out to an assistant coach at his hometown school who he has known since eighth grade to see if there might be a spot for him is not the same as a school reaching out through back channels to an enrolled player letting him know that they can get him $700k in NIL money if he transfers.

And I’m sure JJ just decided to come back to Syracuse out of a sincere love for his hometown.

 

[Cuse181]

Jeez, you don’t need to trash the kid on his way out.

Especially wild having the balls to compare him to one of the top NBA players in todays game… a little disconnected

 

[Orangefan1]

Must stink for Frank Anselem right now to know he probably would have played 35 minutes a game this coming year but instead averages a whopping .3 more points per game

 

[Cusefan0307]

Call it whatever you would like, but a kid whose coach announced he is leaving reaching out to an assistant coach at his hometown school who he has known since eighth grade to see if there might be a spot for him is not the same as a school reaching out through back channels to an enrolled player letting him know that they can get him $700k in NIL money if he transfers.

That’s fair. I just don’t know where you draw the line. It’s not black and white.

 

[two3zone]

Jeez, you don’t need to trash the kid on his way out.

Jesse is by far our best center since Rak and possibly better than him, it’s close and seeing his game being ripped apart is sad.

I understand disliking his decision but this thread is gross.

 

[two3zone]

Must stink for Frank Anselem right now to know he probably would have played 35 minutes a game this coming year but instead averages a whopping .3 more points per game

And if Frank played 35 a game here we’d probably be below 500.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

But I was told this a much more equitable system.

It is. If you have commercial value, you get paid. If not, you don’t.

 

[kcsu]

2 of the 3 teams on that list we could play at Maui.

I like the North Texas kid. Think he would be a solid fit

 

[CardiacCuse]

We ran the offense through Jesse? He was the third option on offense.

You think Jesse isn’t a championship player but his teammates are? We played 5/6 guys this year solid minutes who wouldn’t sniff the practice floor ten years ago.

not every game - but down the stretch a lot - I specifically remember a game late in the season where JB force fed Jesse all first half and he went into the halftime break with zero made field goals...

second half of the season the ball went through Jesse a lot! after the UNC game Joe basically disappeared...

It was usually just down the stretch of games or for a crucial 5 -10 minute stretch every game when jesse got the ball every possession.

I never said that the other players were championship level...just simply that Jesse isnt and wasnt and wont be with his big NIL bag wherever he gets it.

overall, generally, I think by 2023 the scheme with JB was extremely stale and way overscouted and prepped for and made the players look a lot worse than they are...i expect the players to look better this season if the coaches get a solid scheme in place. I truly dont think the talent was the problem last season at all - chris beard or nate oats or tony bennett wouldve had last year's roster easily in the tournament, imo. easily.

 

[Cusefan0307]

I like the North Texas kid. Think he would be a solid fit

He should be our last choice in this situation.