Goodbye Baraka Okojie

[mkaufman1]

Exactly - that is the problem. Players sticking around leads to successful seasons.

So does getting good players to replace them when they leave. Fortunately we have a staff capable of succeeding in the current environment.

Both of these are right. Continuity breeds success (theoretically), but you can also scale up and have success very quickly as well. There are no more long term 2-3 year builds.

I will say, that I'd love to see Mason target guys who maybe have 2 years left, didn't work out at a Power 5/previous stop and want to be at Mason. Guys like Maddox or Billups or Newton fit that bill perfectly, and helps bring some sort of continuity. Thats probably the best case scenario going forward.

 

[GSII]

Mo money, mo problems

 

[Falco]

Exactly - that is the problem. Players sticking around leads to successful seasons.

More than one way to skin a cat. Reload the roster with studs every year can certainly lead to winning. loyola chicago heavily used the transfer portal to be competitive last year.

Plus most school are reloading/rebuilding every year. So it’s not like Mason is going up against an experienced team every night.

 

[tblack33]

More than one way to skin a cat. Reload the roster with studs every year can certainly lead to winning. loyola chicago heavily used the transfer portal to be competitive last year.

Plus most school are reloading/rebuilding every year. So it’s not like Mason is going up against an experienced team every night.

Completely agree with this. So many people act like we are the only team with transfers. We’re honestly probably right at league average, we’ll be just fine as long as Tony can recruit.

 

[Falco]

Completely agree with this. So many people act like we are the only team with transfers. We’re honestly probably right at league average, we’ll be just fine as long as Tony can recruit.

Heck UCONN won back to back national championships after loosing half their starters to the NBA.

 

[KAOriginal]

Heck UCONN won back to back national championships after loosing half their starters to the NBA.

But that's because the cream of the crop line up to go to UCONN.

Mason..not so much.

 

[tblack33]

But that's because the cream of the crop line up to go to UCONN.

Mason..not so much.

Yep but like someone pointed out with Loyola this year, if you can assemble enough guys who are just good enough for this level, you’ll have some success.

 

[Herndon]

More than one way to skin a cat. Reload the roster with studs every year can certainly lead to winning. loyola chicago heavily used the transfer portal to be competitive last year.

Plus most school are reloading/rebuilding every year. So it’s not like Mason is going up against an experienced team every night.

its true, but it's also why i've lost interest in college basketball.

No-sit transfers are the worst thing to happen to college sports in a long time.

 

[GMUgemini]

its true, but it's also why i've lost interest in college basketball.

No-sit transfers are the worst thing to happen to college sports in a long time.

I never really understood the handwringing about the old rule to begin with. 5 years to play 4, red-shirt a season for transferring and you can still play for 3 different schools in 5 years if you really wanted to by grad transferring your last year.

 

[Falco]

But that's because the cream of the crop line up to go to UCONN.

Mason..not so much.

Mason had arguably the best season in a long time with all transfers.

But I agree with your overall point that continuity is a better approach, especially for a school like Mason.

 

[DRK331]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1781384312216035347

 

[jruby]

Mason had arguably the best season in a long time with all transfers.

But I agree with your overall point that continuity is a better approach, especially for a school like Mason.

To be fair the longest stretch of good teams was under a coach who had 2 good seasons every couple years with a mixed bag in between. He has done same thing at Miami.

There are other ways to have success, unfortunately until it happens it comes with skepticism.

 

[hoopsjunkie75]

To be fair the longest stretch of good teams was under a coach who had 2 good seasons every couple years with a mixed bag in between. He has done same thing at Miami.

There are other ways to have success, unfortunately until it happens it comes with skepticism.

To be totally fair, how many coaches go to the final four twice in their career?

 

[EXpatriot13]

To be fair the longest stretch of good teams was under a coach who had 2 good seasons every couple years with a mixed bag in between.

I’d kill for this right now.

 

[gmujim92]

Baraka committed to Memphis

 

[emjayar08]

Baraka committed to Memphis

Quite impressive. Can't fault him if he had an offer from them.

 

[gmujim92]

Quite impressive. Can't fault him if he had an offer from them.

Likely gonna be coming off the bench instead of starting and having the ball in his hands for 30 mpg, but whatever floats his boat.

 

[tblack33]

Likely gonna be coming off the bench instead of starting and having the ball in his hands for 30 mpg, but whatever floats his boat.

Didn’t they just get a 5 mil NIL donation? He probably got a nice check.

 

[gmujim92]

Didn’t they just get a 5 mil NIL donation? He probably got a nice check.

Whatever it is, it’s a fraction of what he asked for to stay at Mason.

 

[psyclone]

Likely gonna be coming off the bench instead of starting and having the ball in his hands for 30 mpg, but whatever floats his boat.

More detail on Memphis' comings and goings:

https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/sports/college/memphis-tigers/2024/04/22/baraka-okojie-memphis-basketball-transfer-george-mason-penny-hardaway/73389534007/