Welcome Riley Allenspach

Masonfan3 said:

Allenspach is 100% transferring up. May not get the same minutes/have the same production but he is for sure going to a P5 program.

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He could wind up down 95 in Richmond

I wish Riley well. I think he is a solid mid major player but not quite a high major player.

However, if he wants a big payday to be the 3rd string center, by all means. Theres a good chance he will sign somewhere and then be recruited over or fight for minutes. I also do think he needs to put in a summer of a lot of work, and perhaps that can change his trajectory. A lot of his fundamentals are there, but I think he needs to work on footwork, double teams, defense etc. Anyone can use a 6'10 guy who can walk and chew gum and shoot, but he definitely has to grow in some areas, which I think he will.

Also to @psyclone point, I completely agree. We can bitch and moan about guys not being loyal to Mason, but we are in the game as much as anyone else. Guys are goign to come and go, they are going to look for a step up and a step down. And as I like to say, the A10 is a good league where you can either step up before the power 4 (Mincy), or you may not be a P4 player and need to step down (Rafael Castro) but are really talented.

And yes, I too would prefer limited transfers (1 free transfer, then sit) but until the NCAA gets their head out of their a**, its going to be free agency every April.

What players have gone on to thrive at their new higher paying school?

Hall, got more money but never to the dance.
Haynes, got more money...TBD due to injury.
Okoje, got nothing really. Had he stayed, money would of been same in the end. Lost playing time at Memphis. Negative move.
Coakley, Ball, Quigley, Begg went down a level or 2. Gio made a lateral move probably got a little bit more money from ECU.

Skinn clearly doing more with guys who come down from a P5 level and want to win. Actually, think Mincy would of been here 2 years had BOC not gotten injured. Wouldn't of played as much. Overall CTS seems to have the formula. Get Senior guys who want to win and be closer home.

GSII said:

What players have gone on to thrive at their new higher paying school?

Hall, got more money but never to the dance.
Haynes, got more money...TBD due to injury.
Okoje, got nothing really. Had he stayed, money would of been same in the end. Lost playing time at Memphis. Negative move.
Coakley, Ball, Quigley, Begg went down a level or 2. Gio made a lateral move probably got a little bit more money from ECU.

Skinn clearly doing more with guys who come down from a P5 level and want to win. Actually, think Mincy would of been here 2 years had BOC not gotten injured. Wouldn't of played as much. Overall CTS seems to have the formula. Get Senior guys who want to win and be closer home.

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As much as the boards root against Hall, he did well by leaving--
second team Big 12 and leading scorer
and then 3d team SEC and 4th leading scorer.

Certainly raised his profile and increased his NBA draft standing (#55 Bleacher Report mock draft: https://bleacherreport.com/articles/25262746-2026-nba-mock-draft)

psyclone said:

As much as the boards root against Hall, he did well by leaving--
second team Big 12 and leading scorer
and then 3d team SEC and 4th leading scorer.

Certainly raised his profile and increased his NBA draft standing (#55 Bleacher Report mock draft: https://bleacherreport.com/articles/25262746-2026-nba-mock-draft)

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No reason he couldn’t have gotten drafted at Mason. But he’s definitely made a lot more $ than he ever would have in Fairfax.

psyclone said:

As much as the boards root against Hall, he did well by leaving--
second team Big 12 and leading scorer
and then 3d team SEC and 4th leading scorer.

Certainly raised his profile and increased his NBA draft standing (#55 Bleacher Report mock draft: https://bleacherreport.com/articles/25262746-2026-nba-mock-draft)

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Agreed, fun to poke fun at the kid but he did alright. Now whether he makes the nba or professionally and stays tbd. And I do think he will probably be broke by 30 but that’s not my problem.

gmujim92 said:

No reason he couldn’t have gotten drafted at Mason. But he’s definitely made a lot more $ than he ever would have in Fairfax.

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He certainly will have made more money in one season at Auburn then he will ever make in the NBA.

tblack33 said:

He certainly will have made more money in one season at Auburn then he will ever make in the NBA.

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Minimum rookie salary in the NBA is $1.2 million in the NBA. Even if he flames out after 2-3 years he’ll make a lot of money.

Note: Skinn and staff are constructing this roster with less than 3 million dollars for the 4th consecutive year.

This team won 50 games in 2 years and back to back post season appearance with a regular season championship.

I have faith and confidence..in Skinn I trust.

GSII said:

What players have gone on to thrive at their new higher paying school?

Hall, got more money but never to the dance.
Haynes, got more money...TBD due to injury.
Okoje, got nothing really. Had he stayed, money would of been same in the end. Lost playing time at Memphis. Negative move.
Coakley, Ball, Quigley, Begg went down a level or 2. Gio made a lateral move probably got a little bit more money from ECU.

Skinn clearly doing more with guys who come down from a P5 level and want to win. Actually, think Mincy would of been here 2 years had BOC not gotten injured. Wouldn't of played as much. Overall CTS seems to have the formula. Get Senior guys who want to win and be closer home.

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This is a great snapshot. The most important thing it shows is that we have lost our eligible returning star each year: Hall (Okojie to lesser extent, Haynes, and now presumably Mincy.

However, I would say CTS has been pretty successful at returning our starters that we want back, and others, relative to the environment and budget we are operating in.

Returning Maddox/Billups, returning BOC last 2 seasons, returning Long and Kanga (presumably), retaining those types of players is probably the most important accomplishment at this stage.

Get to dance and increase our NIL budget, and then hopefully emulate vcu and SLU/Dayton more and be able to keep our stars.