2024 Transfer Portal Thread

[ColinS]

The NIL collectives are going to have to come up with multi year deals or else long term player development won’t work very well. Instead schools will be preparing lots of players that will transfer out after the nutrition and strength programs make them better.

I think a three or four star player would be better served going the mid major route initially moving forward. After a year or two of developement with instant playing time they can name their school and price.

 

[TrippieRedd]

Is he even in the portal?? lol. Is he entering the draft?? Seems highly unlikely that we get him lol

I was looking at two different years and different players.

I had Carter pulled up in one tab, and that PJ Haggerty kid in another tab. I was talking with a buddy of mine, as well as posting on here lol

I meant to post PJ’s numbers on here and sending something about Carter to my buddy.

 

[ColinS]

Yeah I'll be shocked if we see next year's squad have 5 players clocking 25 or more MPG like we did this year. Might still only really be an 8 man rotation, but I think replacing all the production/skills will require more minutes split over more guys.

Agree, but let's not start the Barnes is gonna play a 12 man rotation discussion again this off season. It will be 8 or 8 and a half as always. By half I mean a ninth man that gets a few spot minutes here and there.

 

[VOLED]

Shocked to hear those comments about Dillione defensively. Guess all I have to go on is an extremely small body of work. Honestly, I'd already written him off as being the next DJ Burns as the player who transfers out and blossoms for another program. In my feeble mind, I have our 3 outgoing players plus Dillione, Jefferson and Aidoo out the door. Interesting to think of Estrella as a stretch option. Figured him as a strictly "finesse" post type which is why I hoped for some physicality from the portal at the post. Gonna be a long 2 weeks. Kinda exciting tho. Won't lie...I'm anxious to turn the page in some respects.

Dilliione looks like a 2, or really a 3, to me. He has talent, but I've seen nothing to suggest he can guard a PG.

 

[ColinS]

Dilliione looks like a 2, or really a 3, to me. He has talent, but I've seen nothing to suggest he can guard a PG.

He hasn't looked like an SEC level talent so far but hopefully that changes.

 

[CAVPUT]

Dilliione looks like a 2, or really a 3, to me. He has talent, but I've seen nothing to suggest he can guard a PG.

Wasn't suggesting him at PG. Just surprised that he displayed defensive prowess period. From the minimal amount of time he played this year, nothing about his defensive game stood out to me. Just the opposite. He looked lacking in the times I saw him.

 

[Stoerner Fumbles]

Dilliione looks like a 2, or really a 3, to me. He has talent, but I've seen nothing to suggest he can guard a PG.

“Nothing I’ve seen” is the trap here. I’m sure BTO and others will confirm that he had a lot of preseason buzz. Obviously I can’t pull apart how much of his struggles with dribbling and defensive recovery speed were his foot injury, but he and DK were the daily 2on2 vs JJJ and Mashack. I think many of us who were hearing from those in the program thought he was going to be getting 15-20 minutes a game at a minimum. We also need to remember he’s got a long loping stride and he looks slower than he is. If you watch him on drives, he’s actually very fast despite the illusion. Fingers crossed we see the guy from WOG U19 and the version in 2on2 last Summer.

 

[Ttucke11]

I would love to see Dillione, Carr, and Estrella get massive bumps in playing time. Unfortunately the portal doesn't allow for patience and building years anymore. Either way excited to see the competition and new faces.

 

[cncchris33]

Wonder if we will offer Devin Carter (Providence)

Dude abused UCONN, Creighton, etc. all year.

19.7ppg, 8.7rpg, 3.6apg
Also averages 1.0 block and 1.8spg

Carter was really good as a freshman at South Carolina. 8.7 rpg for a 6-3 guard is unreal. I'd take him in a heartbeat.

 

[cncchris33]

There are no tea leaves until this week’s one on ones with RB and players. My perception of who stays/goes is definitely shifting, but it’s guesswork until they have a two-sided talk. We have big upside on the team, but the development time needed is gray. Dillione is such a different/better player than his minutes suggest. He is a very good and versatile defender, and can score from the one spot. He was killing it over the Summer, but was a mess after returning from his foot injury. DJ was playing in preseason, but blew it with grades and attendance. Estrella was playing stretch and shooting threes from the baseline early, but grew hugely over the season as a physical defender and back to the basket guy. His hand speed is slow. His foot work is overwrought. He can be very good. Carr has a big spotlight syndrome and is a guy who gets hot with pressure. That’s exciting. Cade is underrated. Not sure how you keep him engaged unless you can really upgrade his minutes. He’s going to be good. Aidoo is tricky. He was sick this week, but that doesn’t explain the softness with bigger guys. You can’t put that much weight on his frame or suddenly make him a beast. In a traditional 4-5 set, with Awaka, that may relieve pressure and get him more space. That said, other teams will be in his ear, saying we don’t understand him and that he’s being used incorrectly. They may be right. He does care. Seeing him walk of sobbing yesterday lets you know he didn’t want to let the team down. Again, hard to judge what is flu, what is Edey, what is tentativeness. He’s a weird fit, but a loss if he goes. The core is ZZ, Awaka, Mashack, and the other pieces are TBD. Lanier has had more contact than anyone. Hes a plug and play. It’ll be interesting to see where this goes. The next two weeks, they’ll be some moves that will let us know what’s next.

Thanks for your updates. I agree with a lot of your assessments. Dilione is a guy who just has to improve in his understanding of team defense concepts. He is a good on-ball defender, but his gambling and hanging teammates out to dry defensively won't be tolerated by Barnes.

Lanier is exciting if his sudden jump in production translates to the SEC. I'm still concerned why it took him so long to become such an impact player at UNF.

I had a feeling Aidoo might not make it another year at Tennessee, even when that belief was considered taboo by most on here. Maybe he stays, maybe he goes, but the idea that there was no chance of him leaving was always pie in the sky from people who didn't want to acknowledge how much contact he had with other schools last year.

All in all, I agree. There is a core of returning guys and then a sizable group of unknowns. The next couple weeks will provide clarity on what our roster looks like next year.

 

[TrippieRedd]

Carter was really good as a freshman at South Carolina. 8.7 rpg for a 6-3 guard is unreal. I'd take him in a heartbeat.

Ignore that. I don’t think he’s in the portal. I was talking about two different guys with a buddy of mine. I had two different tabs pulled up.

I meant to put PJ Haggerty here, me and a buddy of mine were talking about Carter.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

To me what we really need is some 6'6" and taller athletes that can play perimeter defense in switching situations (something Aidoo struggles with a ton, Awaka got better as the year went on and JP has looked solid). Can Cade become that type of player, don't know but it would give him the chance to see more minutes faster...

Guards having ZZ, Mashack, Gainey all back will be a luxury and I hope that's what happens. If you can return Freddie AND/OR Carr to the mix it'll be big, the incoming freshmen Bishop isn't a true PG he's a physical player like Santi or Mashack that goes hard on defense. A guy like Lanier would allow Bishop time to figure things out, but I don't think the staff will just take a guy in the portal either.

DJ I think will be guided to a new spot. Maybe at Rice, it's in Texas and Rob Lanier is there now and I'm sure he can find minutes for a 6'5" athletic kid like DJ.

I'd say 2.5 would be the number on departures... I'd bet the under as of today, but as SF pointed one on ones could reveal more.

 

[TrippieRedd]

To me what we really need is some 6'6" and taller athletes that can play perimeter defense in switching situations (something Aidoo struggles with a ton, Awaka got better as the year went on and JP has looked solid). Can Cade become that type of player, don't know but it would give him the chance to see more minutes faster...

Guards having ZZ, Mashack, Gainey all back will be a luxury and I hope that's what happens. If you can return Freddie OR Carr to the mix it'll be big, the incoming freshmen Bishop isn't a true PG he's a physical player like Santi or Mashack that goes hard on defense. A guy like Lanier would allow Bishop time to figure things out, but I don't think the staff will just take a guy in the portal either.

DJ I think will be guided to a new spot. Maybe at Rice, it's in Texas and Rob Lanier is there now and I'm sure he can find minutes for a 6'5" athletic kid like DJ.

I'd say 2.5 would be the number on departures... I'd be the under as of today, but as SF pointed one on ones could reveal more.

That Johnson kid from USC plays defense! I would love if we took a look at him

I think he’s JJJ 2.0.

6’6. Averaged 10.9/4.5/3.3. Averaged 2.2 steals per game

 

[CNeagleVolFan]

W

I think it's highly unlikely that we'd target a kid at Providence. Having said that I think he'd be vying with Lanier for Vescovi's spot anyway and that's who I think we add as a SG. I'm on record as saying that we need a physical big to pair with Estrella. I'm also wondering if we have a plan at PG behind ZZ next season? I know Boswell eventually will be the choice, but will he be capable enough as a true FR to step in and spell ZZ? Or worse, could he be the answer if ZZ got injured?

With all due respect the player of the year in the big east would be the immediate star of our team next year. Playing off ball with Zeigler would be a huge benefit for him too.

I don’t know why this posted twice lol. My bad

 

[TrippieRedd]

W

With all due respect the player of the year in the big east would be the immediate star of our team next year. Playing off ball with Zeigler would be a huge benefit for him too.

I don’t know why this posted twice lol. My bad

Let’s stop with him. I didn’t mean to bring him up lmaoooo

 

[cncchris33]

Ignore that. I don’t think he’s in the portal. I was talking about two different guys with a buddy of mine. I had two different tabs pulled up.

I meant to put PJ Haggerty here, me and a buddy of mine were talking about Carter.

Oh no worries. I was gonna say, though, he would (at least should) instantly become anyone's #1 want if he entered the portal.

 

[cncchris33]

To me what we really need is some 6'6" and taller athletes that can play perimeter defense in switching situations (something Aidoo struggles with a ton, Awaka got better as the year went on and JP has looked solid). Can Cade become that type of player, don't know but it would give him the chance to see more minutes faster...

Guards having ZZ, Mashack, Gainey all back will be a luxury and I hope that's what happens. If you can return Freddie AND/OR Carr to the mix it'll be big, the incoming freshmen Bishop isn't a true PG he's a physical player like Santi or Mashack that goes hard on defense. A guy like Lanier would allow Bishop time to figure things out, but I don't think the staff will just take a guy in the portal either.

DJ I think will be guided to a new spot. Maybe at Rice, it's in Texas and Rob Lanier is there now and I'm sure he can find minutes for a 6'5" athletic kid like DJ.

I'd say 2.5 would be the number on departures... I'd bet the under as of today, but as SF pointed one on ones could reveal more.

Awaka still has miles to go with team defense concepts, same as Dilione. He was particularly late on a couple switches yesterday that gave Edey easy buckets, or easy receives into the paint where Tobe found himself trailing and getting the ball thrown over him or buried under the basket. That game may be an unfair judgement on how far he's come since the beginning of the year, but illustrates that he still found himself out of position on a couple occasions.

Ultimately, we needed someone with the girth and mass of DJ Burns to hold Edey off his spot, but those kinds of kids just don't fit Barnes's scheme that requires players to be in peak shape because of all the defense requires of them. Just a catch-22, unfortunately, when you run into a team with a dominant traditional big man like Edey.

 

[VolArmy74]

PJ Haggerty I've been watching all year. He's not a 3 point shooter but man, he can score. Plus he'd have 3 years left to play.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

Awaka still has miles to go with team defense concepts, same as Dilione. He was particularly late on a couple switches yesterday that gave Edey easy buckets, or easy receives into the paint where Tobe found himself trailing and getting the ball thrown over him or buried under the basket. That game may be an unfair judgement on how far he's come since the beginning of the year, but illustrates that he still found himself out of position on a couple occasions.

Ultimately, we needed someone with the girth and mass of DJ Burns to hold Edey off his spot, but those kinds of kids just don't fit Barnes's scheme that requires players to be in peak shape because of all the defense requires of them. Just a catch-22, unfortunately, when you run into a team with a dominant traditional big man like Edey.

I mean, Uros was able to do it... But yeah DJ Burns isn't the type of big Barnes puts up with. I think JP has the potential to be special I thought he was going to be a finesse big that didn't like contact but the more we saw him the better he looked playing physical. If he can have a DK or Admiral type of transformation in the weight room then he could be our next SEC Player of the Year.

Agree on Awaka, he isn't where he needs to be, especially to play at the 4 but he looked better than Aidoo and better than he was earlier in his career. We just have to figure out how to get officials to call Awaka like they do Edey.

 

[OrangeInKy]

Thanks for your updates. I agree with a lot of your assessments. Dilione is a guy who just has to improve in his understanding of team defense concepts. He is a good on-ball defender, but his gambling and hanging teammates out to dry defensively won't be tolerated by Barnes.

Lanier is exciting if his sudden jump in production translates to the SEC. I'm still concerned why it took him so long to become such an impact player at UNF.

I had a feeling Aidoo might not make it another year at Tennessee, even when that belief was considered taboo by most on here. Maybe he stays, maybe he goes, but the idea that there was no chance of him leaving was always pie in the sky from people who didn't want to acknowledge how much contact he had with other schools last year.

All in all, I agree. There is a core of returning guys and then a sizable group of unknowns. The next couple weeks will provide clarity on what our roster looks like next year.

I got absolutely roasted for saying the same thing about Aidoo a couple weeks ago. I guess I am just very unlikable because I was torched.

 

[walkenvol]

Agree with building around Awaka, Mashack, and ZZ. With those 3 as the core, adding offense is the most important things for balanced roster next year especially losing Knecht. It really would stink to lose Aidoo no doubt but probably Barnes decision will be if he thinks he's maximized all he can get out of Aidoo or is the potential growth of Estrella where he goes.

I’ll happily take a maxed out second team all SEC center and I’m confident CRB will also. But, I don’t think Aidoo is maxed out yet and will likely be improved next season. Would be moronic to let him go without a battle as replacing his rim protection and scoring would be the hardest thing to find in the portal and it’s not currently on our roster without significant development.

 

[Lefteye]

There are no tea leaves until this week’s one on ones with RB and players. My perception of who stays/goes is definitely shifting, but it’s guesswork until they have a two-sided talk. We have big upside on the team, but the development time needed is gray. Dillione is such a different/better player than his minutes suggest. He is a very good and versatile defender, and can score from the one spot. He was killing it over the Summer, but was a mess after returning from his foot injury. DJ was playing in preseason, but blew it with grades and attendance. Estrella was playing stretch and shooting threes from the baseline early, but grew hugely over the season as a physical defender and back to the basket guy. His hand speed is slow. His foot work is overwrought. He can be very good. Carr has a big spotlight syndrome and is a guy who gets hot with pressure. That’s exciting. Cade is underrated. Not sure how you keep him engaged unless you can really upgrade his minutes. He’s going to be good. Aidoo is tricky. He was sick this week, but that doesn’t explain the softness with bigger guys. You can’t put that much weight on his frame or suddenly make him a beast. In a traditional 4-5 set, with Awaka, that may relieve pressure and get him more space. That said, other teams will be in his ear, saying we don’t understand him and that he’s being used incorrectly. They may be right. He does care. Seeing him walk of sobbing yesterday lets you know he didn’t want to let the team down. Again, hard to judge what is flu, what is Edey, what is tentativeness. He’s a weird fit, but a loss if he goes. The core is ZZ, Awaka, Mashack, and the other pieces are TBD. Lanier has had more contact than anyone. Hes a plug and play. It’ll be interesting to see where this goes. The next two weeks, they’ll be some moves that will let us know what’s next.

Good post. Appreciate the info and thoughts.

 

[walkenvol]

I mean, Uros was able to do it... But yeah DJ Burns isn't the type of big Barnes puts up with. I think JP has the potential to be special I thought he was going to be a finesse big that didn't like contact but the more we saw him the better he looked playing physical. If he can have a DK or Admiral type of transformation in the weight room then he could be our next SEC Player of the Year.

Agree on Awaka, he isn't where he needs to be, especially to play at the 4 but he looked better than Aidoo and better than he was earlier in his career. We just have to figure out how to get officials to call Awaka like they do Edey.

I’ll wager with anyone that Burns will be totally ineffective defending Edey. Edey will get whatever position he wants in the paint and will beat Burns down the court.

 

[Lefteye]

Freddie reminds me a little of CJ Watson when he first got to Tennessee. He appeared a little slow and lazy with his dribble to me. But the more he played the more I realized how athletic he was and that what appeared to be lazy was just how smooth his game was and adjusting it to a faster pace. Hopefully that comparison translates and he's here till he's a pro as well.

Edit: I will not ever question FDs athleticism again tho after that block he had toward the end of season... don't remember who against tho

 

[KPT_VFL]

Doesn’t matter who enters the portal if we won’t pay for them. Not every kid will do it the Dalton Knecht way.