Rednilla

Until a couple of months ago, he'd never been at a program that was realistically capable of getting to the top. Doesn't change the legitimacy of your questioning this facet of Freeze's coaching ability, but it's worth noting that he's never had the resources and clout behind him that he does now.

That's what I had been led to believe, and I was hoping/expecting him to be the X-factor for us this season. Oh well.

Wow, that's kinda crazy considering we only signed one this year. I guess we won't be quite as deep next season as we are this one. Are the 2-3 others part of the playing rotation, or do you know? Actually, upon further reflection, the only player of the 4 seniors that I really see us missing all that greatly is Jaylin, because without him we've only got 3 bigs on the roster, and Traore isn't exactly the traditional big. I mean, not that Allen is a pushover, but Chance fills the big guard role, and Aden will likely be a significant upgrade from Zep, so adding one more big in the portal would still potentially leave us with a solid 2-deep. Of course, I'm sure there will be a desire to add at least one more big guard, and if we have more than 7 new players on the team next year... well, that would change things rather greatly, roster-wise, so who knows? I do hope Broome sticks around for another year, however. He might be good enough to play in the NBA due to his defensive prowess, but I just love having Dylan ready to come off the bench and infuse life into the team, and I have to wonder if a transfer would be able to come in and be the third (fourth? I don't remember who started at 5 in Dylan's freshman year, but I don't think it was him) player to start ahead of Cardwell in as many years? I suppose Yohan could move into that role, but he hasn't impressed me much with his around-the-basket skills, so I guess we'll see.

Ah, now that makes sense, because the Yanks are the kings of pulling that kind of thing. And considering they've won close to three times as many World Series championships as any other team in baseball, I suppose it's worked out alright for them.

I don't try to pretend to know a whole heck of a lot about basketball, but I know a little something about teams and teamwork, and I really don't think we're that far away from being good enough to play with anyone in the country. It's just maddening because the team is so infrequently hitting on all cylinders that we see the potential in beating overmatched opponents, but then get to watch things fall apart when the spotlight gets put upon them. That having been said, what I've learned from watching college basketball for the last couple of decades is that teams like this one will sometimes come together and get hot at just the right moment. That's what happened with our Final Four team. Not saying it'll happen again this year, just sayin' that we have the potential.

Ah, yeah, I suppose that does make sense. And no reason to shake his confidence unnecessarily when we really don't have so much of a need for him due to the depth on the team (and the presence of Allen Flanigan). I'm just so excited to see him get going... but this isn't a wasted year, because he's still with the team and building that chemistry, even if it's not on the court during games. And, honestly, like I said, I don't see him playing at Auburn for 4 seasons, because I feel pretty sure the NBA's going to be calling long before he gets that far, so it wouldn't be the end of the world if he were forced into action this season. Man, how nice is it to have the luxury of not forcing the issue with a player of Chance's caliber and still have legitimate aspirations for a deep run in March/April? I just feel like we'd be at a different level as a team if he'd never been bothered by the injury and been able to play from the beginning.

Quite honestly, I'm guessing that the injury is a bigger deal than I was led to believe pre-season, because I find it difficult to believe he wouldn't be able to add anything to the team if he were 100%, and I'd be rather surprised if he's still around when what would be his redshirt senior season rolls around. I mean, I don't know, maybe I'm putting too high of expectations on the young man, but based on what I'd heard about him, I kinda figured it was unlikely he'd be around past next season when we were coming into this one. Of course, that having been said, I wouldn't be terribly surprised if he still wasn't around past next season. A 6'6 guard with his athleticism and two years in Bruce's defensive system could be a hot commodity if he comes back strong.

Yeah. We sign a pair of top 40 players and a 3 star PG (who was rated higher in football, and has probably never focused all his energy on basketball for more than a couple of months in his life) when losing just 2 from the playing rotation, and have a near 5 star PG signed to come next year when, due to the COVID rule, I'm not sure we'll lose anyone from this year's playing rotation... and Bruce is losing his mojo? My, we've gotten awfully spoiled awfully fast with the basketball program, haven't we? *Shakes head*

I'm sure this has been discussed in here and I just never saw it, but why hasn't he been playing? I seem to remember there being an injury before the season, but I know he was on the floor briefly... was the injury aggravated? Or is he just going to redshirt this season?

They'd lost their mojo?

I'll buy that!

You know what this makes me think of? Q: How long is it going to take to beat Bama? A: 60 minutes. If Freeze is able to put a solid team on the field this season--and I'm betting that he will primarily because of those O-line hosses we signed in the portal--then we might very well see the floodgates open. I haven't been on this level of excitement with recruiting since the last time we got a bigtime prospect from White's high school.

But why the Yankees, T?

Okay, I admit that I did not know that, or if I did I had forgotten it. Does kinda take a little more shine off, but it can still be a redemption-type story.

You first.

I stopped right there. Pot and kettle.

Mark Watney already beat me to that.

Kiffin apparently had a spiritual awakening while at FAU because of reading the line, "It's not about you," in Rick Warren's self-help book The Purpose-Driven Life.

Maybe that he would be coming up with his own list and having the people on that list vetted by a professional firm to cover his rear end?

The only place I could see him leaving Clemson for is Bama, whenever Saban retires, but I don't think he would. I also don't think he should. He's got a great thing going at Clemson. At Auburn, he wouldn't have the lenience for a down year or two as he's already bought at Clemson, and while yes, historically, Auburn is the better job, it's not a huge step up from Clemson by any measure. At Bama, he'd be in the position of following a legend, and that rarely works out particularly well. And I don't know why he'd need to be at an SEC school. Best case, playoffs expand and the SEC can get up to 4 teams in for any one season... but that still leaves a really tough gauntlet to get through, whereas the ACC is part of the P5, too, and thus likely to put at least 1, with a much easier schedule. Let's also not forget that Clemson has basically the same draws to it as Auburn does, plus a lake that isn't half an hour away, and the in-state rival isn't in the midst of its second dynasty of unmatched proportions. However, if he was looking to make a move to the SEC ASAP, then you're right, Auburn would be the best landing spot for him. It's the only traditional conference power job that is likely to be open for the next couple of years (at least).

Kelly left Notre Dame, not USC, and he left for LSU, a traditional SEC power sitting right smack dab in one of the richest recruiting grounds in the country, which LSU owns when it has a good coach. Jimbo left for a gigantic contract that Auburn would be stupid to match for anyone short of Vince Lombardi. I'll grant you Riley, because that one is a shocker for me, but he also hadn't established himself as a coach nearly so firmly as Dabo has. I remain firmly in the Deion camp. Think he would be a game changer.

Pretty sure everyone here wants that. The disagreement is upon whom that guy might be.

I'm not a Kiffin fan, but the fact that you think we should make an offer to Dabo Swinney, who has a made career at a place he's already won a national title and has everything already in place for recruiting, development, etc, almost disqualifies your argument from consideration.

Well, technically, you're both right. I mean, yeah, it was given to him. But the reason it was given to him is that he earned it. Can we all get along now?

Yes there is. You might not have explicitly seen it yet, but it legitimately exists.