College Basketball 2015 - 2016: Wherein we forget that last season ever happened

[Rhom]

Seriously... the first rule of this thread is that 2014-2015 never happened. Its like a sequel to Highlander. We all know that if one were ever made, it would have been awesome. But unfortunately, the entirety of college basketball decided to take 2014-2015 as a vacation. It. Never. Happened. Got it? Good. Now lets move onto recruiting.

The final dominos in the class of 2015 are about to fall in the next week.

Malik Newman will announce this Friday. He's an elite scorer from the wing who has a tendency to be streaky from outside.

Newman a 6-foot-3 prospect from Jackson, Miss. is still listing UK, Kansas, Mississippi State, Mississippi, LSU and N.C. State as possible destinations.

Ben Howland's hire has really changed the thought process around how this will all end.

Chiek Diallo has hinted that he is close to a decision and has reportedly shut down all visits. He's a high energy motor guy who gets up and down the court with a lot of hustle on both ends.

The countrys No. 7-rated player (by Rivals.com) also attached a picture of himself with the logos of finalists KU, Iowa State, Kentucky, Pitt and St. Johns behind him.

In years past, around Westeros.org an offseason basketball thread only garnered attention from 3-4 posters; I like the community we have collected around here. I always enjoy hearing the perspective of the posters here. :grouphug: It makes me feel smart when I can shoot down the homer-centric viewpoints of some posters on Kentucky boards I frequent! :lol:

[OneEyedRaven]

As a Terp fan, I'm very excited for Diamond Stone. Plus the return of Layman. Should be a good year

[Rhom]

As a Terp fan, I'm very excited for Diamond Stone. Plus the return of Layman. Should be a good year

I like Maryland next season. I really think they are in a good position to challenge for a Big ICantCount title. This is likely to be their best team since the height of the Williams years. I'm glad Turgeon was able to turn it around. I liked him at aTm.

[Ferrum Aeternum]

Malik Newman will announce this Friday. He's an elite scorer from the wing who has a tendency to be streaky from outside.

Ben Howland's hire has really changed the thought process around how this will all end.

Newman wasn't seriously considering State until they hired Howland. I remain baffled at how no one else offered him sooner, given his track record and recruiting ability. For what it's worth, I've also heard that Adidas may be helping push Newman to MSU as the remaining schools on his list (except NC St., which is low on the list) are Nike schools. I don't claim to be an expert on the shoe contract wars, but that could be a factor.

Either way, he may have an Ole Miss hat on the table Friday but I'm under no illusions he's headed to Oxford. There's a silver lining, though - visual proof that venerable shittastic Tad Smith Coliseum is finally on its way out!

[Ramsay B.]

As a Terp fan, I'm very excited for Diamond Stone. Plus the return of Layman. Should be a good year

Diamond Stone has forsaken my Huskies, a terrible person. I'm also glad 2014-15 never happened.

Kevin Ollie is a candidate for the Thunder job if it opens up. There's a $5 million buyout for Ollie and I don't know how serious the Thunder are about getting him but rumblings here in Connecticut is that it wouldn't be too surprising if Ollie left in the near future. He recently got a divorce from his wife and supposively that was one of the big things keeping him here in Connecticut, but who knows?

[Rhom]

Diamond Stone has forsaken my Huskies, a terrible person. I'm also glad 2014-15 never happened.

Kevin Ollie is a candidate for the Thunder job if it opens up. There's a $5 million buyout for Ollie and I don't know how serious the Thunder are about getting him but rumblings here in Connecticut is that it wouldn't be too surprising if Ollie left in the near future. He recently got a divorce from his wife and supposively that was one of the big things keeping him here in Connecticut, but who knows?

I hadn't heard that. Its always a shame when a young up and comer leaves, but I can't tout the importance of upward mobility for the students without also recognizing when a coach has a chance to go.

By and large, how does the UConn fanbase feel about him? Yes, you have a national title; but lets be honest, that was more fluke than anything (readily admitting that the team you beat for that title was a fluke to be there too). So what you really have are two seasons. One that is essentially an 8 seed worthy year and the other an NIT. Two seasons on the bubble. As an outsider, I like Ollie... but I also recognize that if this were my coach, I would be looking really hard at what I actually had. :dunno:

[Rhom]

Newman wasn't seriously considering State until they hired Howland. I remain baffled at how no one else offered him sooner, given his track record and recruiting ability. For what it's worth, I've also heard that Adidas may be helping push Newman to MSU as the remaining schools on his list (except NC St., which is low on the list) are Nike schools. I don't claim to be an expert on the shoe contract wars, but that could be a factor.

Either way, he may have an Ole Miss hat on the table Friday but I'm under no illusions he's headed to Oxford. There's a silver lining, though - visual proof that venerable shittastic Tad Smith Coliseum is finally on its way out!

Reportedly, the shoe wars are what got Antonio Blakeney to decommit from Louisville and head to LSU. :dunno:

If you were a top ten talent, would you want to play for Howland after the way his tenure ended in UCLA? He had some great players in Westbrook and Love, but it was like hitching a thoroughbred to a hay cart. I'm not sure I'd want to play in that style of ball. :dunno:

[Ferrum Aeternum]

If you were a top ten talent, would you want to play for Howland after the way his tenure ended in UCLA? He had some great players in Westbrook and Love, but it was like hitching a thoroughbred to a hay cart. I'm not sure I'd want to play in that style of ball. :dunno:

Heh, point taken. Howland is trying to sell Newman on being the next Westbrook, when RW himself only averaged 12.7 PPG in his season as a starter at UCLA.

[Ramsay B.]

I hadn't heard that. Its always a shame when a young up and comer leaves, but I can't tout the importance of upward mobility for the students without also recognizing when a coach has a chance to go.By and large, how does the UConn fanbase feel about him? Yes, you have a national title; but lets be honest, that was more fluke than anything (readily admitting that the team you beat for that title was a fluke to be there too). So what you really have are two seasons. One that is essentially an 8 seed worthy year and the other an NIT. Two seasons on the bubble. As an outsider, I like Ollie... but I also recognize that if this were my coach, I would be looking really hard at what I actually had. :dunno:

Well his first year was a year they were ineligible for the tourney, he was taking over for a Hall of Fame coach and Ollie wasn't signed long term until late in that season. A tough situation right off the bat but he squeezed 20 wins out of that team despite losing players that transferred and not having any real motivation. They won the tourney the next year despite them obviously not being the best team(although they were higher than a 7 seed IMO). They lost 4 starters from that team, including 2 to the draft, and this years team was so damn young and it obviously showed. I did question him not having the guards push the ball more because their offense was so stagnant this year but so many youngsters didn't progress like expected so easier said than done.

The one big complaint I have so far is his inability to get the star recruit(i.e. Diamond Stone) but I think that also has to do with Uconn getting fucked from the whole Big East fiasco. Not a lot of stud players want to go to the shitty AAC even know Uconn is a brand name school, I would assume.

Bottome line is that everyone here pretty much loves him. A few more years like this and the love will grow thin of course but it's way too early for that right now.

[Bronn Stone]

You don't hire Ben Howland to bring in five-star recruits, which you'll almost never get in Mississipi anyway. You bring him in to get three and four star guys to play like a team and play beyond their talent. There are some coaches who just do better coaching David and others who can coach Goliath.

Calipari's remarkable achievement this year was to get Goliath to play like David. Too bad (for them, not for the rest of us) his slip-up came at the wrong time.

[Greywolf2375]

Seriously... the first rule of this thread is that 2014-2015 never happened. Its like a sequel to Highlander. We all know that if one were ever made, it would have been awesome. But unfortunately, the entirety of college basketball decided to take 2014-2015 as a vacation. It. Never. Happened. Got it? Good. Now lets move onto recruiting.

Sort of true...but I did find a Directors Cut that makes it easier to watch.

K's recruiting class looks like it is replacing the early departures 1 for 1. 3 of the top 25 overall, with Thornton closing the hole at PG for them for next year. Might not have an Okafor/Parker in this class, but it is looking like they should be in the mix next year.

[Rhom]

Sort of true...but I did find a Directors Cut that makes it easier to watch.

K's recruiting class looks like it is replacing the early departures 1 for 1. 3 of the top 25 overall, with Thornton closing the hole at PG for them for next year. Might not have an Okafor/Parker in this class, but it is looking like they should be in the mix next year.

You tricked me into watching that. I was sort of hoping it was a Rick Roll; but it was infinitely worse...

[Rhom]

The hay cart has its thoroughbred... Malik Newman is Ben Howland's first major get at Miss St.

All in all, I'm disappointed he's not in blue; but I consider this a good thing overall for the SEC. Kentucky needs the rest of the league to get better in order to provide a better crucible from which to learn before getting into the tournament.

[Ferrum Aeternum]

The hay cart has its thoroughbred... Malik Newman is Ben Howland's first major get at Miss St.

All in all, I'm disappointed he's not in blue; but I consider this a good thing overall for the SEC. Kentucky needs the rest of the league to get better in order to provide a better crucible from which to learn before getting into the tournament.

My buddy across the hallway who's a State diehard is over the moon.

More important than the (likely) one season Newman plays in StarkVegas will be the impact he has on future big name guys taking a look there. Howland's tenure could not have gotten off to a better start.

[Ded As Ned]

Just figured out we were on a new thread. And 14-15 definitely did happen. 38-1 may never happen again in our lifetime, and I'll never erase a Final 4 season from my memory. (hypothetical losses to Robert Morris in the NIT, yes. Final 4 years, No.).

Nothing much more to add at this point other than recruiting. I kind of hope we don't sign any other major players this year. I want to see what Willis, Lee, Hawkins, and co. can do given serious playing time

[Rhom]

This is the first time a Final Four has ever felt disappointing to me. There were a lot of great memories along the way and history was made, but I just have so much frustration in the way the team played the last five minutes of the season that I haven't gotten over it yet.

[Rhom]

@AdamZagoria: Source on @cheick_diallo13 announcement: ‘Earliest Tuesday, latest Wednesday.’ UK, KU, SJU, Pitt, ISU

Diallo's commit will come by the middle of the week it sounds like. Brandon Ingram is supposed to commit today, most signs seem to indicate that Duke will be the destination.

In other news, I can honestly say that I may be seeing signs of recovery in myself... Yesterday I went to the garage fridge for a beer and grabbed a Leinenkugle without thinking about it. I was halfway through it before I realized I was drinking a Wisconsin beer; and I didn't pour it out. So I'll take that as progress.

[RedEyedGhost]

Diallo's commit will come by the middle of the week it sounds like.

What's the UK thought on Diallo? KU seems like we're all in on him, and I think he's our best chance to get a commit at this point in the season. He's definitely a big need for us and would have tons of playing time. He also started following everybody on our roster on twitter last week so most KU fans are pretty confident.

In other news Jaylen Brown cut UCLA from his list today. The prevailing thought is he's Michigan bound.

[Rhom]

UK was big on him with Slice Rohrson as his lead recruiter. It took a hit when he left to join Mullin at St Johns. He would get plenty of playing time at UK. Many people are comparing his motor to Kidd-Gilchrist. I'd say we also consider him our last chance at a major recruit this season as well.

From what I've seen, it's now down to UK or KU for him. Would love to see him in the correct shade of blue.

[sperry]

Buddy Hield returning to OU. Gives OU the best shot anyone has had in a while of ending KU's reign of terror.