Here are some thoughts as we approach the mid-portal and the opening of the Spring Regular Signing Period.
1. The Rich are getting Richer.
- The portal has been a blood bath for low level D1 schools, as players are parlaying their success at those level in boosts up the competitive ladder. That has pilfered the conference of a lot of its upper end individual talent. The conference has lost Jalen Cone, Steele Venters, Dalton Knecht, and a host of others to the portal.
- The interesting thing is that we aren't seeing a lot of power 5 drop downs, rather they are moving horizontally. Jackson Grant would have been a big pick up for MSU, had Sprinkle not left, and a rarity in this market. Most of the pickups have been somewhat horizontal from mid Tier D1 programs into the conference. This is not the same market that we saw two years ago.
2. Stock Watch
- Weber State up If you look at the conference where it is at this moment, I think that Weber State is on the inside track as early Pre-Season favorite to win the conference.They haven't added anyone (as of yet) but they haven't been hit hard by transfer defections. No team has been able to help itself a ton via the portal, with the biggest add so far is Sac State pickup of Santa Clara big Holt. Basham (a kid that UM recruited in HS) was a good pick up for NAU, but they just saw their best player end up at the worst D1 power 5 program in Cal.
- Montana State down With Sprinkle's departure, MSU could be poised to take the biggest hit in the portal. Already lost Grant (a former 4 star verbal commit) and others could soon follow. Otherwise right now the biggest hit goes to Eastern who is probably most able to withstand the loss, but losing Venters is huge.
- Big Sky Conference MVP race What was looking to be an epic competition between Venters, Jones, Battle, Cone and Bannan for conference supremacy, has taken a serious hit. Jones is likely the favorite at this point, but what was going to be a once in a generation type of race for CPOY is looking a bit less awesome.
3. Clark Fork Ice Baths
- I get that the Giordan (pronounced Jordan) Williams verbal appears to be underwhelming, but when you look at the larger picture, it makes sense. Not a big time name transfer from a power 5 conference but another player Travis is very familiar with. Williams will have two years of eligibility left, plus maybe a covid year. He's a physical player, plays long, and can defend. He shows the ability to shoot, but his value right now is as a perimeter defender which became a big weakness as the season wore on. I don't think it is necessarily like for like switch (Williams for Martin), if you watch some of the limited film, he has more wing facilitator/scorer than a true 3pt threat. Much more versatile of a player than appears on paper.
- Travis continues to invest a lot of time into the portal by looking at guys he's familiar with. This has been his M.O. the prior few years, and it seems to be following the same pattern again this year. Whether it is Jackson (WSU), Basham (Pepperdine-NAU), McMillian (GCU), Burris (UI) and a whole host of others he is leaning hard on recruiting guys he's either seen play (Williams) or had previously recruited as high school players.
- Montana is on a lot of bigs (Di. Jackson, was suggested they were in on Grant (UW), an NAIA all American, Burris (BSC FR POY), and I'd expect him to bring in at least one. As mentioned elsewhere I think the odds are that Dischon Jackson is at the top of the list. I'd expect much of the movement to be done by the end of the week as the Regular Signing period opens that opens tomorrow. Di. Jackson would be the type of big that Travis likes, and best fit but with the way the market is right now, bigs are going like hot cakes.
- Scholarships: The numbers suggest there are anywhere between 1 and 2 scholarships left. Vasquez's scholarship doesn't likely count against the total number, and UM lost three guys that were all scholarship players. Williams takes one, Moody might take another (easier to account for-though medical years work a bit differently and may not count as well) and that leaves 1 or 2 depending on accounting open for next year. I'd think we'd hear of at least one more this week and just because roster commitments next year, we might not hear of any more unless there is a desire to redshirt either Davidson and Henderson (which may be the case). We have 15 roster players at the moment w/ two walkons who have both red-shirted, and as such there isn't a ton of roster space. I haven't seen anything as to whether Bateman or Solomon are returning or whether either has earned a scholarship. That would lead to if we sign one more guy that one of the incoming freshman (likely Davidson) would be a candidate for a redshirt next year.
1. The Rich are getting Richer.
- The portal has been a blood bath for low level D1 schools, as players are parlaying their success at those level in boosts up the competitive ladder. That has pilfered the conference of a lot of its upper end individual talent. The conference has lost Jalen Cone, Steele Venters, Dalton Knecht, and a host of others to the portal.
- The interesting thing is that we aren't seeing a lot of power 5 drop downs, rather they are moving horizontally. Jackson Grant would have been a big pick up for MSU, had Sprinkle not left, and a rarity in this market. Most of the pickups have been somewhat horizontal from mid Tier D1 programs into the conference. This is not the same market that we saw two years ago.
2. Stock Watch
- Weber State up If you look at the conference where it is at this moment, I think that Weber State is on the inside track as early Pre-Season favorite to win the conference.They haven't added anyone (as of yet) but they haven't been hit hard by transfer defections. No team has been able to help itself a ton via the portal, with the biggest add so far is Sac State pickup of Santa Clara big Holt. Basham (a kid that UM recruited in HS) was a good pick up for NAU, but they just saw their best player end up at the worst D1 power 5 program in Cal.
- Montana State down With Sprinkle's departure, MSU could be poised to take the biggest hit in the portal. Already lost Grant (a former 4 star verbal commit) and others could soon follow. Otherwise right now the biggest hit goes to Eastern who is probably most able to withstand the loss, but losing Venters is huge.
- Big Sky Conference MVP race What was looking to be an epic competition between Venters, Jones, Battle, Cone and Bannan for conference supremacy, has taken a serious hit. Jones is likely the favorite at this point, but what was going to be a once in a generation type of race for CPOY is looking a bit less awesome.
3. Clark Fork Ice Baths
- I get that the Giordan (pronounced Jordan) Williams verbal appears to be underwhelming, but when you look at the larger picture, it makes sense. Not a big time name transfer from a power 5 conference but another player Travis is very familiar with. Williams will have two years of eligibility left, plus maybe a covid year. He's a physical player, plays long, and can defend. He shows the ability to shoot, but his value right now is as a perimeter defender which became a big weakness as the season wore on. I don't think it is necessarily like for like switch (Williams for Martin), if you watch some of the limited film, he has more wing facilitator/scorer than a true 3pt threat. Much more versatile of a player than appears on paper.
- Travis continues to invest a lot of time into the portal by looking at guys he's familiar with. This has been his M.O. the prior few years, and it seems to be following the same pattern again this year. Whether it is Jackson (WSU), Basham (Pepperdine-NAU), McMillian (GCU), Burris (UI) and a whole host of others he is leaning hard on recruiting guys he's either seen play (Williams) or had previously recruited as high school players.
- Montana is on a lot of bigs (Di. Jackson, was suggested they were in on Grant (UW), an NAIA all American, Burris (BSC FR POY), and I'd expect him to bring in at least one. As mentioned elsewhere I think the odds are that Dischon Jackson is at the top of the list. I'd expect much of the movement to be done by the end of the week as the Regular Signing period opens that opens tomorrow. Di. Jackson would be the type of big that Travis likes, and best fit but with the way the market is right now, bigs are going like hot cakes.
- Scholarships: The numbers suggest there are anywhere between 1 and 2 scholarships left. Vasquez's scholarship doesn't likely count against the total number, and UM lost three guys that were all scholarship players. Williams takes one, Moody might take another (easier to account for-though medical years work a bit differently and may not count as well) and that leaves 1 or 2 depending on accounting open for next year. I'd think we'd hear of at least one more this week and just because roster commitments next year, we might not hear of any more unless there is a desire to redshirt either Davidson and Henderson (which may be the case). We have 15 roster players at the moment w/ two walkons who have both red-shirted, and as such there isn't a ton of roster space. I haven't seen anything as to whether Bateman or Solomon are returning or whether either has earned a scholarship. That would lead to if we sign one more guy that one of the incoming freshman (likely Davidson) would be a candidate for a redshirt next year.
