The 5 and Done Strategy

[HoustonCuse]

It occurs to me that there is a sort of parallel strategy to what UK is doing.

They recruit an entire team each year and hope that all of them go pro. This is the extreme case of the 1 and done strategy. It is is self feeding because guys who get interested in UK do so partly because they see themselves as 1 and dones.

The weakness is that your players are always the least mature physically and emotionally and have the least experience and knowledge of the game (generalizing here).

Imagine the alternate version of this, the 5 and done.

You build an entire team out of 5th year transfers every year. There appear to be enough of them to pull it off if you get the creme of the crop. I suspect you would if you became known as the destination school for the best of these type of players (as UK is for 1 and dones). Instead of have the youngest most inexperienced players, you would have the oldest and most experienced players every year. You have the same turnover as the 1 and done schools do, but you also have zero roster uncertainty (you know that they are definitely leaving after the one year instead of it just being an option for them to stay).

I'm sure nobody would commit whole hog to it like that, but I though it was an interesting thought experiment. Could you win a championship doing this?

 

[Jack Hall]

It occurs to me that there is a sort of parallel strategy to what UK is doing.

They recruit an entire team each year and hope that all of them go pro. This is the extreme case of the 1 and done strategy. It is is self feeding because guys who get interested in UK do so partly because they see themselves as 1 and dones.

The weakness is that your players are always the least mature physically and emotionally and have the least experience and knowledge of the game (generalizing here).

Imagine the alternate version of this, the 5 and done.

You build an entire team out of 5th year transfers every year. There appear to be enough of them to pull it off if you get the creme of the crop. I suspect you would if you became known as the destination school for the best of these type of players (as UK is for 1 and dones). Instead of have the youngest most inexperienced players, you would have the oldest and most experienced players every year. You have the same turnover as the 1 and done schools do, but you also have zero roster uncertainty (you know that they are definitely leaving after the one year instead of it just being an option for them to stay).

I'm sure nobody would commit whole hog to it like that, but I though it was an interesting thought experiment. Could you win a championship doing this?

I dont believe anyone has won a championship with 5 one n dones. Not even Cal or K. I like how JB has mixed things up in the past, but now he is adding the extra dimension of 5 and done. How cool would it be if White and Battle both got drafted next year? A 1 n done and a 5 n done. And then throw in Lydon etc.

 

[MSOrange]

It occurs to me that there is a sort of parallel strategy to what UK is doing.

They recruit an entire team each year and hope that all of them go pro. This is the extreme case of the 1 and done strategy. It is is self feeding because guys who get interested in UK do so partly because they see themselves as 1 and dones.

The weakness is that your players are always the least mature physically and emotionally and have the least experience and knowledge of the game (generalizing here).

Imagine the alternate version of this, the 5 and done.

You build an entire team out of 5th year transfers every year. There appear to be enough of them to pull it off if you get the creme of the crop. I suspect you would if you became known as the destination school for the best of these type of players (as UK is for 1 and dones). Instead of have the youngest most inexperienced players, you would have the oldest and most experienced players every year. You have the same turnover as the 1 and done schools do, but you also have zero roster uncertainty (you know that they are definitely leaving after the one year instead of it just being an option for them to stay).

I'm sure nobody would commit whole hog to it like that, but I though it was an interesting thought experiment. Could you win a championship doing this?

Fred Hoiberg sure got his share of transfers at Iowa State. Not a full team of them, but it seemed like he was trying to at times.

 

[Briancuse]

I dont believe anyone has won a championship with 5 one n dones. Not even Cal or K. I like how JB has mixed things up in the past, but now he is adding the extra dimension of 5 and done. How cool would it be if White and Battle both got drafted next year? A 1 n done and a 5 n done. And then throw in Lydon etc.

Its hard to do, because Chemistry is so important in basketball. I know we will be very good next year, but it might take some time with all of the new players we are bringing in.

 

[Cuse'91]

I don't think we are trying to do this strategy, it's more like we are being forced into a one n done box canyon...

 

[Jack Hall]

Its hard to do, because Chemistry is so important in basketball. I know we will be very good next year, but it might take some time with all of the new players we are bringing in.

I totally agree, could take awhile. 2003, 1996, 1987, 2013 all took awhile. Altho way too early to compare next yrs team to any of those teams, point is gots to be patient. there were a lot of new pieces last year and they didnt peak til the very end, with all due respect to to the Bahas...

 

[Briancuse]

And last year we had two 5th year guards, next year we are talking about a freshman, and hopefully two senior transfers who have never played together. Its going to take some time.

 

[stuckinbig11]

How many true stars are still around for that last year of eligibility as a transfer?

 

[Jack Hall]

How many true stars are still around for that last year of eligibility as a transfer?

Cooney and G did alright as 5th year guys, no complaints there

 

[HoustonCuse]

How many true stars are still around for that last year of eligibility as a transfer?

It is sort of counterintuitive, but this year is the first year I really paid attention to it and it seemed like there was some pretty good value out there available in the five and done market.

 

[Shark58]

it would be interesting to see a team try to put 5-7 5th year trannys together

i know a lot of teams seem to be using it recently to restock. for LVille and WhoConn, it kept them afloat last year

honestly though, I just hope it really works out for us this year with Gillon, White and the big guy/wing/back up back up PG still to be named

 

[PoppyHart]

No

 

[br801]

it would be interesting to see a team try to put 5-7 5th year trannys together

I imagine they would use "Walk on the Wild Side" as their warm-up music.

 

[OrlandoCuse]

The problem is there's very few top flight 5th year transfers. Most are bench guys.

 

[SBU72]

It occurs to me that there is a sort of parallel strategy to what UK is doing.

They recruit an entire team each year and hope that all of them go pro. This is the extreme case of the 1 and done strategy. It is is self feeding because guys who get interested in UK do so partly because they see themselves as 1 and dones.

The weakness is that your players are always the least mature physically and emotionally and have the least experience and knowledge of the game (generalizing here).

Imagine the alternate version of this, the 5 and done.

You build an entire team out of 5th year transfers every year. There appear to be enough of them to pull it off if you get the creme of the crop. I suspect you would if you became known as the destination school for the best of these type of players (as UK is for 1 and dones). Instead of have the youngest most inexperienced players, you would have the oldest and most experienced players every year. You have the same turnover as the 1 and done schools do, but you also have zero roster uncertainty (you know that they are definitely leaving after the one year instead of it just being an option for them to stay).

I'm sure nobody would commit whole hog to it like that, but I though it was an interesting thought experiment. Could you win a championship doing this?

While in theory this may sound good, in reality it would have a tough time working. 5 1&dones are amoung the the most talented in their class. 5 5th years are could be said to be the least talented or at least less physically gifted (or else why did they stay in school 5 years?). Also don't equate experience with teamwork. Putting 5 strangers together is difficult even with talented palyers and I refer back to that 5th years are not that. If JB is lucky enough to get 2 good 5th years, he'll have some trouble getting them to play his defense.

 

[Consigliere]

Fully expect to see the NCAA in its infinite wisdom put the screws to this in the near future. The restriction that mandates a transfer is allowed only if the new school offers a graduate program that the old school doesn't is largely ignored now and the perception is that power programs are just cherry picking the less fortunate. So while the rule has been beneficial to a Greg Paulus, who legitimately enrolled at Syracuse for a specialized program that led to his first real world job, and Chino Obokoh, who was not suited for play at a high major level and took his degree to a lower level program, I expect perception to drive typical overreaction.