gravejd

Oh well can't win them all. I wouldn't mind to see us just eat the scholly and be done with the sanctions. I like the depth of the team we have. A sharpshooter would be nice to have but i think we can have a really good team even if we can't find that guy.

You would not be alone. I'm just not a fan of the guy. He can call a decent offense but i'm not sold on him running a program. He just lost about every assistant coach he had at Ol Miss this offseason and thats after a really good year there. I think he would use AU as a stepping stone to land at a "state" school and anyone that i see like that is a hard no for me on being the coach. With Kiffen you would either live in mediocrity or he would do well and dump you for a better job in a couple seasons.

If I was basing the list of coaches i would want to coach at AU i would rank him higher. But based of results and future outlook i think its probably a good ranking. For example i would rather have Harsin instead of either Kiffin or Leach. But i would probably not rank Harsin ahead of either in terms of results and likely hood of future success at their current schools.

I wonder how the other players on the team would feel if he came in with a better deal than all the rest of them? Seems like a good way to cause locker room issues.

I was surprised by the 6'8" measurement as well.

I don't know if i'm ready to say "we'll be just fine" next year in regards to guard play but i do think its reasonable to expect big improvements in that area. Westry i think fits a big need that we had and thats having a bigger guard who can handle the ball well. He shot around 35% from 3 in highschool so i don't expect him to come in a light it up from 3 initially he should be a threat from deep. I know KD was a liability at times this season but he was also a dynamic player at times as well. He has a lot of areas where he can improve his game but its also true he has a lot of areas where he is already really good. If he can learn to distribute the ball a little more and then be under better control when driving and understand that he won't get many calls by going in and flailing around then he can take a big step forward. Hopefully he can also improve that shooting percentage some more as well. I also expect a big improvement from Wendell in year 2. He took a big step up in competition from his Freshman to Sophmore years and he handled it very well. He was way ahead of what i was expecting of him to start the season. I think having another year in the system and another year of a Div 1 strength and conditioning program will do him wonders. We also have a few more guys this year that can give him a break with Zep, Westry, and Donaldson all able to handle the ball a little bit. Speaking of Zep i want to see him take some more shots on offense. Maybe playing some more 2 guard will allow him to be more assertive on the offensive end. He is a reliable ball handler but the offense seems pretty stagnant when he was running it. Not sure he has the handle and first step to get around people in the SEC. It would be a big help if Westry and Donaldson can give us PG minutes and allow Zep to play off the ball more. Then we have Flan and Moore. These are both wildcards imo. I thought Moore should have gotten more playing time last season so i don't know what the coaches were holding him back for. As such its not clear to me what area of his game he needs to improve. He is a bit of tweener with a PF skill set but a SF body and thats not going to change so i was kind of expecting a transfer here but looks like he is sticking around. Hope the coaches figure out how to use him. Then Flan has been discussed at length so not going deep here. If he can be 100% healthy to start the season and regain his explosiveness then he can be a really great asset. Finally i hope the coaches can do a little more to help out the guards. Last season i was not a fan of how much we shrunk the rotation once we got in SEC play. Our bench was a huge asset to start the season and we went to basically a 7 or 8 man rotation to finish the season. I thought the coaches just expected Flan to get back to normal and we were left scrambling when that did not happen. I'd also like to see better ball movement all the way around. Maybe this year not having Jabari will actually help with that ball movement. I know Pearl likes to let his guys play but i think he can do more to control the play while not stifling his guys.

I expect Calzada just because Harsin brought him in to be the starter. If he fails to grab the job then my hope is that Ashford will have come far enough along to be given a try. And that Harsin will be able to use Ashford's athletic ability to help hide the other weaknesses of the offense. Im in the camp that TJ is not the answer at QB so i'm hoping against hope that the QBs that i have not seen stink it up are actually an improvement.

Other than the illustrious AUBBGuru what are people hearing on Phillips as of late? Is he still radio silent?

This is a great pickup for next years team. Dynamic big man to pare with Cardwell. Looks like next year team isn't going to miss a beat. Freaking amazing how we are just reloading these days.

I saw this story and thought about making a thread about it in the rivals section. The was obviously bound to happen with the deals getting bigger and bigger each year. Existing players were going to start seeing that new players get more money and be unhappy about that....and i think its fair for him to be upset. I know in my work place if i found out a new hire with less experience got paid more money than myself i would have a talk with my boss and if i was not happy with the result i would look for employment elsewhere. But i also hope AU stays out of any bidding wars for players. Offer them a fair package and if they don't like it let them go get paid whatever they think they are worth. There are probably going to be some sob stories in the coming years about players being misled by agents into thinking they could get big bucks in the portal and then that money never materializes. It'll be great lessons for those players on the risks you take in the real world. No one is guaranteed a soft landing spot when you jump!

Word is he stayed longer then originally planned. Also chatter Tenn is upping their NIL offer which means they must be worried if its true.

Go get em coach!!

I’m pretty sure he just transferred twice in high school. Out once and then back to his original school in Kentucky. But yeah 2 transfers in 2 years of college is not a recipe for success.

Excited to see this one play out. Either we have an insider with tennesse connections or we get a big time basketball commit. WIN WIN!!

Don't expect to see many players get ran off while Pearl is here. I was at the AMBUSH thing last night where Pearl and Harsin spoke. The topic of transfer portal and NIL came up and Bruce had a comment about its important to him to be loyal to the guys who have been here and put in the work. I took that to mean he is honest with guys on their chances at playing time but if they choose to stay anyway he'll allow that to happen. Personally i hope we always have coaches at AU who have the same approach. If we have to carry some guys along the way who don't play on gameday then so be it.