Morton in the portal...

[WeatherMike]

Noticed there's some interest from Ohio University as their entire staff just followed Morton on X.

OU has won upsets in multiple tournaments in the past decade, and was a whisker away from beating the conference champion in the MAC semis. They return the vast majority of their roster, as opposed to other teams in their league which are currently experiencing the typical portal era mid major turnover.

Would be really cool if Ethan could lead them to the tournament like Brandon Newman led Western Kentucky to it this year. They brought in another wing from a Big Ten school last year in Maryland transfer Ike Cornish, who just didn't work out, and is in the portal. They've got a promising young small forward named Aidan Hadaway who moved ahead of Cornish this year and could really benefit from Morton showing him how to defend and distribute.

 

[bonefish1]

I think EM is going to have to go to a smaller, non-P5 program to get significant playing time. I doubt there's NIL money out there for him.

 

[PaBoiler78]

Noticed there's some interest from Ohio University as their entire staff just followed Morton on X.

OU has won upsets in multiple tournaments in the past decade, and was a whisker away from beating the conference champion in the MAC semis. They return the vast majority of their roster, as opposed to other teams in their league which are currently experiencing the typical portal era mid major turnover.

Would be really cool if Ethan could lead them to the tournament like Brandon Newman led Western Kentucky to it this year. They brought in another wing from a Big Ten school last year in Maryland transfer Ike Cornish, who just didn't work out, and is in the portal. They've got a promising young small forward named Aidan Hadaway who moved ahead of Cornish this year and could really benefit from Morton showing him how to defend and distribute.

Athens is nice

 

[WeatherMike]

Athens is nice

And the Convocation Center is like a smaller, simpler version of Mackey. Five grand in attendance is pretty common, so while nowhere near a Mackey crowd, blows away the attendance of every other school in their conference.

 

[Boiler Mike]

Classy guy, I wish him well.

 

[Smokestack91]

Noticed there's some interest from Ohio University as their entire staff just followed Morton on X.

Didn't we play at Ohio University during Morton's tenure, or is time moving too fast on me and that was before he came?

 

[Dryfly88]

Didn't we play at Ohio University during Morton's tenure, or is time moving too fast on me and that was before he came?

That was before Morton was here.

 

[WeatherMike]

Didn't we play at Ohio University during Morton's tenure, or is time moving too fast on me and that was before he came?

Yes we did, the year before Morton and Edey. OU is a 40-minute drive from my home, and I attended. That game is why I ended up becoming a season ticket holder for them and thus know about their current roster construction. Their arena really is a miniature Mackey and I was impressed with their coach and what he was building. Got to watch Jason Preston play before the Clippers drafted him and then Mark Sears before he went to Alabama and became the leading scorer in this year's tournament not named Zach Edey. That level of talent isn't on their current roster, but they have the depth and chemistry to win their league.

 

[New Pal Boiler]

Yes we did, the year before Morton and Edey. OU is a 40-minute drive from my home, and I attended. That game is why I ended up becoming a season ticket holder for them and thus know about their current roster construction. Their arena really is a miniature Mackey and I was impressed with their coach and what he was building. Got to watch Jason Preston play before the Clippers drafted him and then Mark Sears before he went to Alabama and became the leading scorer in this year's tournament not named Zach Edey. That level of talent isn't on their current roster, but they have the depth and chemistry to win their league.

Those types of coaching jobs have to be next to impossible now.

 

[WeatherMike]

Those types of coaching jobs have to be next to impossible now.

If you think about what the goal is, which is to win your league tournament, that goal has not changed. Someone is still going to win it every year. So the question becomes, how do you do it? OU's strategy has been more like Purdue's than anyone else in the league. They've focused on NIL resources on retention and have kept their roster intact. Unfortunately, that leaves fewer resources to bring in the talent needed to fill the holes. Most of the rest of the league is experiencing huge turnover. The schools who have won can recruit, and those who recruit can win. Akron is a good example of that. They have a lot of roster turnover but given their track record, they just landed three transfers from West Virginia in the past two days.

The thing that really sucks at programs like OU is when you successfully identify an overlooked prospect like Mark Sears, develop him, rally the troops to put together an NIL package to retain him, and meet with him and his mother (the one plastered all over TV this tournament), and get a commitment at said meeting for him to stay, only to have him block and ghost you afterwards and announce he's signing with Alabama the next day. (That story isn't documented anywhere, but it's well-known amongst certain fans, and congratulations on the coach's Twitter account for NC State making the Final Four but not Alabama, speaks volumes.)

 

[Smokestack91]

Yes we did, the year before Morton and Edey. OU is a 40-minute drive from my home, and I attended. That game is why I ended up becoming a season ticket holder for them and thus know about their current roster construction. Their arena really is a miniature Mackey and I was impressed with their coach and what he was building. Got to watch Jason Preston play before the Clippers drafted him and then Mark Sears before he went to Alabama and became the leading scorer in this year's tournament not named Zach Edey. That level of talent isn't on their current roster, but they have the depth and chemistry to win their league.

I'm trying to remember why we agreed to a game there. Usually, its to reward a senior by playing a game in his hometown (e.g., Valpo for Robbie). But, Vince and Dakota were already gone, so it wasn't going to Ohio for them.

In any case, the portal/NIL is doing a real number on these low-mid majors. Hate to see it.

 

[New Pal Boiler]

The thing that really sucks at programs like OU is when you successfully identify an overlooked prospect like Mark Sears, develop him, rally the troops to put together an NIL package to retain him, and meet with him and his mother (the one plastered all over TV this tournament), and get a commitment at said meeting for him to stay, only to have him block and ghost you afterwards and announce he's signing with Alabama the next day.

That’s exactly my point. Gut punch.

 

[Schmedly_Whiplash]

If you think about what the goal is, which is to win your league tournament, that goal has not changed. Someone is still going to win it every year. So the question becomes, how do you do it? OU's strategy has been more like Purdue's than anyone else in the league. They've focused on NIL resources on retention and have kept their roster intact. Unfortunately, that leaves fewer resources to bring in the talent needed to fill the holes. Most of the rest of the league is experiencing huge turnover. The schools who have won can recruit, and those who recruit can win. Akron is a good example of that. They have a lot of roster turnover but given their track record, they just landed three transfers from West Virginia in the past two days.

The thing that really sucks at programs like OU is when you successfully identify an overlooked prospect like Mark Sears, develop him, rally the troops to put together an NIL package to retain him, and meet with him and his mother (the one plastered all over TV this tournament), and get a commitment at said meeting for him to stay, only to have him block and ghost you afterwards and announce he's signing with Alabama the next day. (That story isn't documented anywhere, but it's well-known amongst certain fans, and congratulations on the coach's Twitter account for NC State making the Final Four but not Alabama, speaks volumes.)

Not nice, but i think you've got to cut kids some slack, getting offered big $ for the only time in their life to date.
Sucks, but that's more on the people offering the $ than the ones taking it. JMO

 

[New Pal Boiler]

Not nice, but i think you've got to cut kids some slack, getting offered big $ for the only time in their life to date.
Sucks, but that's more on the people offering the $ than the ones taking it. JMO

And the flip side is that with so many power 5 schools recruiting transfers instead of high school players, that gives mid majors access to higher rated HS players than they would have gotten a decade ago. They just probably won’t keep them for 4 years.

 

[WeatherMike]

Not nice, but i think you've got to cut kids some slack, getting offered big $ for the only time in their life to date.
Sucks, but that's more on the people offering the $ than the ones taking it. JMO

It's not that he took the money, but the way he did it. Just gutless. If you want to make a man decision and make the money, be a man about it.

 

[rgarlitz]

Yes we did, the year before Morton and Edey. OU is a 40-minute drive from my home, and I attended. That game is why I ended up becoming a season ticket holder for them and thus know about their current roster construction. Their arena really is a miniature Mackey and I was impressed with their coach and what he was building. Got to watch Jason Preston play before the Clippers drafted him and then Mark Sears before he went to Alabama and became the leading scorer in this year's tournament not named Zach Edey. That level of talent isn't on their current roster, but they have the depth and chemistry to win their league.

I lived in Athens for 6 years from 2002 until 2008. Great college town. Very lively bar scene. The Convo is a really nice venue. That gym and Worthen Arena at BSU are probably the class of the MAC for basketball arenas.

 

[northside100]

I lived in Athens for 6 years from 2002 until 2008. Great college town. Very lively bar scene. The Convo is a really nice venue. That gym and Worthen Arena at BSU are probably the class of the MAC for basketball arenas.

6 years to graduate? Kidding. Nice town, nice school, my youngest may be heading there in the fall.

 

[DwaynePurvis00]

6 years to graduate? Kidding. Nice town, nice school, my youngest may be heading there in the fall.

Yeah, they’re called doctors @northside100!

 

[rgarlitz]

6 years to graduate? Kidding. Nice town, nice school, my youngest may be heading there in the fall.

Ha! It was my PhD. True story. Plus, I spent A LOT of nights at Courtside Pizza and Tony's Tavern!

Athens is a wonderful town for young people in their 20s. But it was time for me to move on when I hit 30.