Ross. Not suprised, but also did not think he would jump in the portal. Yes it hurts depth but I do not think that he as a player moves the needle or makes or break us a team. A player like that is easily replaceable, however you now have to go replace him. It goes from knowing what you are getting from a player, and having the comfort of knowing that he is on the team, to now having to take a risk to find a replacement/upgrade. This could end up being a net positive move for us or it could end up being a net negative for us if his replacement fails. That is the reality of CBB and just the new model of roster construction, it places to much on talent acquisition and scouting rather than development.

Wilkins sucks. Dad's a UGA legend, and he literally had his number unretired just for his son. While Wilkins has his flaws for sure, there was a lot to like there. Showed promise with his shot and his athleticism was NBA level. You want to keep a kid like that on the roster and trust in your staff to develop him into what you need from him. This one hurts on a basketball level and a overall morale level. 5-10 years ago this is a kid you can say without a doubt stays all 4 years and leaves a legacy one hopefully similar to his father. Brutal and while he can be replaced, you would have definitely liked to keep him around.

Now more than we were a few weeks ago, Blue and Kanon have all the power in their negotiations. Before I thought we would be able to whether the storm if one or maybe even both left, but now we are left in a spot where the staff is really going to feel the pressure, financially and roster construction wise to keep these guys on the roster. That scares me because both of these guys could demand strong NIL deals, and if it happens to be the way it appears, we will fall under that 10 million dollar NIL budget threshold all the elite programs will spend at, that makes it really hard for CMW and staff to build out the rest of the roster.

Overall we are in a tough position and we really need to see what these two guys do ASAP. The portal officially opens today so now sooner rather than later we really need to hear back from these two on what they are doing next year.

My head hurts.

Great news that Catchings is returning! Still waiting on the official word about Blue...

Is money the still the reoccurring theme with players leaving?
How do the players really feel about CMW? He brags a lot on the culture within the program, which seems to mean players are happy during the season. But then the majority transfer. Is money the main issue?

Indeed Kanon coming back is great and I am super stoked that he did. I have said for the longest that Kanon is the guy with the most NBA potential on the roster and when he plays like he did against Bama he is the best player on the court regardless of who is playing.

To your point - I think money will always be a factor in players leaving, however, it is not the end all be all.

Lets take a dive at the Jake Wilkins situation. Word is that Nique was very unhappy and displeased with his son not playing as many minutes as he thought he deserved. This caused a disruption and grew a divide between the Wilkins family and staff.

The reality is that I think CMW did the right thing and I am impressed. It is very easy to see the last name, Wilkins, understand that his dad is the best player in program history, I imagine influential financially, and his son was a highly touted HS recruit, and then STILL not feel pressured to play him because he isn't the best option. I think that is standing your ground and I like that. He showed that with Wilkinson at times when he wouldn't play defense and chuck shots he would sub him out no matter how good he was.

So with Wilkins being disgruntled he is going to hit the portal in hopes of finding more playing time. I believe he does wish to stay at the P4/SEC level, and I think he is going to try to find a situation where he can start. I think this is where money comes in. If a few programs think he can develop into a starter and they sell that to him, then from there it becomes a bidding war.

Situation sucks and I would have liked to keep him and have him develop, but he isn't worth THAT headache and was not quite ready for the role he wanted, even though it would have been there for him this year.

Then to your point about CMW, its tough. I think it isn't all his fault and this comes from someone who isn't necessarily a fan of him. You have 18-21 year olds who have the chance to chase 6-7 figure paychecks year to year, and in order to do that they feel like they need to prove they are worth that, so all of a sudden the grass does really appear to be greener on the other side when you feel like you aren't given a chance to prove your worth in $$. So a lot of it is just players now more than ever having more power in these situations and being able to freely leave and be tampered with. I do think if CMW was a better coach he would be able to retain talent from year to year, but he has shown that he is able to bring in talent from year to year at least.

That's a great evaluation of Wilkins. I suspected as much after hearing Nique complain during an in-game interview during non-conference play.
I don't think he would have gotten anymore playing time at another school that was any better than ours. He needs a lot more strength and experience to improve.

Is Blue still trying to opt out if his NIL contracts?

Ball - your most excellent report dove tails with a lot of other interweb chatter on Wilkens. None of it complimentary. I agree that MW has upgraded the roster every year he has been here. I am concerned he has zero HS signees to date this cycle.

I am on notice about that. I would not be too concerned. If I remember correctly I believe that Somto, Silas, Blue, and even Asa were all signed later in the HS recruiting cycle post NCAA tournament. We would like to sign someone soon but I imagine now especially with no true Center on the roster we will be signing one soon. If we strike out on HS guys that could be bad.

Not sure anymore. No longer have a finger on the pulse when it comes to Blue. I think it could genuinely be 50/50 right. I have hope.

Having a returning core of:

Smurf
Blue
Kanon
Stagg

Would put us 1 big man away from a very veteran and solid starting 5. Depth is a MUST and I really hope we get a GOOD 8-9 man rotation. I would rather beef up our bigs this year in the portal. I think you can get by with our guards as they are very versatile. Blue can play 1-3. Smurf 1-2. Kanon can play 2-4 and evn bring the ball up a litte. I would like a good Stagg back up or someone to split minutes with and an expensive big + solid backup there. That is where I would spend my money if we get Blue back.