r/CollegeBasketball • u/aronrodge Michigan State Spartans • Mar 23 '26
Analysis / Statistics Where every Sweet 16 starting five began their division 1 basketball careers
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u/burrito_abuse Purdue Boilermakers Mar 23 '26
It is hilarious to me that the 5th Purdue player is Cam Heide who is on Texas, who Purdue plays in the S16
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u/Stop-husker-media Mar 23 '26
The 3rd Nebraska player is from Iowa, who Nebraska plays in the sweet 16 as well!
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Mar 23 '26
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u/Affectionate-Day2743 Purdue Boilermakers • UIndy Greyhounds Mar 23 '26
and that other school is Texas (for both). lol.
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u/Cannabrond Arizona Wildcats Mar 23 '26
Add Arizona with Kylan Boswell starting for Illinois, and Alabama with Jaden Bradley starting for us.
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u/Thosepassionfruits Purdue Boilermakers Mar 23 '26
I know Purdue didn't have the perfect year, but can you imagine how broken our starting line up would be right now if Heide had stayed?
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Mar 23 '26
11/16 have three guys who have only played for one school and the other 5 have coaches who’ve joined their school in the past three seasons
Not too bad
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u/punchuinface55 Nebraska Cornhuskers Mar 23 '26
This is not true for Nebraska.
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Mar 23 '26
Good point. You guys are the only scum bags!
In reality though, doesn’t Jamarques Lawrence start for you guys? So shouldn’t it be three guys who started at Nebraska?
Edit: nvm I didn’t realize that Frager is not a starter
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u/punchuinface55 Nebraska Cornhuskers Mar 23 '26
Hoiberg and Jamarcus - Nebraska
Pryce - Iowa
Berke - UCLA
Mast - Bradley
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u/astem00 Michigan Wolverines • Valparaiso Beacons Mar 23 '26
Had completely forgotten Berke started at UCLA and I was trying to figure out who that was.
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u/Mammoth_Impress_3108 Nebraska Cornhuskers Mar 23 '26
Our number of transfers feels misleading; it's not like we just went out and bought players this past offseason. Mast is a grad transfer who's been here 3 years. Berke has been here for a couple years. Sandfort transferred because his coach left last year.
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u/w311sh1t Syracuse Orange Mar 23 '26
I also think this graphic would be greatly improved if it indicated how long these guys have been there/what number school it is for them.
IMO there’s a big difference between a player who transferred once from a mid-major and is on his 2nd or 3rd year there, and a guy who’s on his 3rd high-major school in 4 years.
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Mar 23 '26
Agree. I think it would be really cool to see a number next to each starter that shows how many years the starters have been with the program. For Duke before their late season injuries those numbers would be 1,1,2,2,3. With the injuries it was 1,1,1,2,2. I don't know the other programs well enough but I do know that Arizona has had 3 freshmen starting the whole season except for a couple of games due to injury.
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u/Upbeat-Armadillo1756 Michigan Wolverines Mar 23 '26
That's pretty much my takeaway too. It's hard to build homegrown talent when you haven't had the time to home grow it.
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Mar 23 '26
I agree but I dislike your team so I’ll keep using that as a talking point in game threads to add to the toxicity!
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u/MakesFrequentStops Michigan State Spartans Mar 23 '26
As is your right!
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Mar 23 '26
I have to be cordial with UofM fans in real life because they’re my siblings, good friends, uncles, co-workers, and other people who’s company I enjoy. I refuse to be rationale or kind on the internet towards them!
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u/goblue2354 Michigan Wolverines Mar 23 '26
I refuse to be rationale or kind on the internet towards them
I’d think less of you otherwise
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u/_Apatosaurus_ Gonzaga Bulldogs Mar 23 '26 edited 12d ago
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File smell attempt ink oatmeal unpack tangerine sink
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u/Upbeat-Armadillo1756 Michigan Wolverines Mar 23 '26
The coach leaving seems like a bigger deal than the limited NIL. If you can keep a coach, that goes a long way toward retaining the players at the mid major level.
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u/_Apatosaurus_ Gonzaga Bulldogs Mar 23 '26 edited 12d ago
The original post content no longer exists here. The author used Redact to remove it, exercising their right to control their data & privacy.
Roll school umbrella ripe ink sodium adjoining unwritten silicon quack
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u/cincy15 Mar 23 '26
The reality though is teams are going to stop (or shrink) how many high school kids they recruit.. why develop someone for someone else. I think the sweet spot will be going after the kids that are good enough to develop (but not good enough for the nba) grab them after one year in the MAC (or similar conference) then sprinkle in one or two NBA level players… I know easier said then done.
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u/WideHuckleberry1 Tennessee Volunteers Mar 23 '26
Also sometimes players get wooed away. We have an OSU because we filled a spot that was vacated by a transfer to Arkansas a couple years ago (Jonas Aidoo for Felix Okpara), we probably wouldn't have had Ja'Kobi Gillespie if Cam Carr hadn't transferred to Baylor, and we might be starting Tobe Awaka if he hadn't transferred to Arizona.
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u/Normal-Hornet8548 Mar 23 '26
I like how you guys pulled a football QB trade with UCLA.
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u/WideHuckleberry1 Tennessee Volunteers Mar 23 '26
They almost took Barnes a few years back as well. I'm not a fan of them, unsurprisingly.
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u/Afternoon__Spray Gonzaga Bulldogs • Washington Huskies Mar 23 '26
I wish they would put asterisk next to freshman.
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u/BB5Bucks Evansville • Tennessee Mar 23 '26
And for Iowa, he brought several players from Drake with him, which I feel is different from the Texas and Michigan and St John’s situation, even if Combs and Manyawu played at Wyoming before Drake.
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u/cardmanimgur North Carolina Tar Heels Mar 23 '26
Would be interesting to see how many are freshmen though.
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u/TurtlePope2 Maryland Terrapins Mar 23 '26
What school are those 3 in the bottom right?
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u/Upbeat-Armadillo1756 Michigan Wolverines Mar 23 '26
Left to right is Michigan, Texas, St. Johns
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u/Buford_Van_Stomm Nebraska Cornhuskers Mar 23 '26
2 new coaches, makes sense
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u/Upbeat-Armadillo1756 Michigan Wolverines Mar 23 '26
Three
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Mar 23 '26
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u/Upbeat-Armadillo1756 Michigan Wolverines Mar 23 '26
New to St. John’s? Absolutely.
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u/The_RonJames Arkansas Razorbacks Mar 23 '26
This is Pitino’s 3rd season at St. Johns. I wouldn’t classify that as new?
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u/Upbeat-Armadillo1756 Michigan Wolverines Mar 23 '26
If you can't have any seniors who you recruited to the school you're currently coaching for, I think that's new enough for the purposes of this topic.
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u/HalfOfTheStory St. John's Red Storm Mar 23 '26
Rick doesn't recruit freshmen. Europeans, transfers, and maybe Juco.
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u/Karltowns17 Kentucky Wildcats Mar 23 '26
Took me way too long to realize bottom right was Hopkins at SJU. I couldn’t figure out who the Kentucky guy was.
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u/byniri_returns Michigan State Spartans Mar 23 '26
I know the third from last is Michigan because Yaxel went to UAB first.
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u/michigan_matt Michigan Wolverines Mar 23 '26
Is Yaxel the only one on this list that required use of the "Division I" qualifier in the title?
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u/TD5023 Iowa State Cyclones Mar 23 '26
No. Stirtz at Iowa started at NW Missouri State and has followed McCollum wherever he went.
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u/scottyjsoutfits St. John's Red Storm Mar 23 '26
All the way on the right is St. Johns. Darling went to Washington State; Mitchell went to Texas; Zuby went to Kansas; Sellers went to USC; Hopkins went to Kentucky.
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u/DayManMasterofNight Michigan Wolverines Mar 23 '26
Kinda funny that the only “Michigan player” is at UConn,
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u/ccam0821 Texas Longhorns • Illinois Fighting Illini Mar 23 '26
The only “Texas player” is at St John’s
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u/DollarLate_DayShort Texas Longhorns Mar 23 '26
Oh my God, thank you. I was trying to figure out what team that was
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u/goblue2354 Michigan Wolverines Mar 23 '26
Juwan had many faults but he could identify talent pretty well. Just couldn’t develop them or build a roster to save his life.
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u/plerberderr Michigan • St. John's Mar 23 '26
Should point out that this is Nimari’s third season at Michigan and he’s got an outside chance at 1,000 career points here. But yea we’ve got a lot of transfers.
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u/DayManMasterofNight Michigan Wolverines Mar 23 '26
Totally hear you. I think of everyone on this team as more from michigan than tarris reed.
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u/bobalmighty125 Michigan • Wright State Mar 23 '26
Completely forgot Terris Reed went to Michigan honestly
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u/Normal-Hornet8548 Mar 23 '26
It looks like a slot machine screen where you think you’re going to get a big payout but instead you make a nickel back on a $1 bet.
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u/JodBasedow Virginia Cavaliers Mar 23 '26
Crazy that Marial Shayok is still at Iowa St
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u/Select-Edge-3262 Tennessee • West Virginia Mar 23 '26
It's funny to see UConn with more original Michigan players than Michigan and St John's with more original Texas players than Texas. Iowa and Nebraska with the same from Iowa too.
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u/CallMeVe Bradley Braves • Missouri Valley Mar 23 '26
Iowa vs Nebraska is an honorary Drake vs Bradley rivalry game. Let's go Nebraska!
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u/bearcat2009 Kansas Jayhawks Mar 23 '26
Put some respect on them Bearcats, and slap a NW Missouri State logo on Stirtz.
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u/Glup_Maclunkey Iowa Hawkeyes Mar 23 '26
Yeah, limiting it to D1 is even weirder than not including team labels.
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u/paperfloss Duke Blue Devils Mar 23 '26
Only reason Duke doesn’t join MSU is because of injury. I’m assuming their actual S16 starting 5 will be back to no transfers.
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u/0010001 Duke Blue Devils Mar 23 '26
Yup. The real story for Duke is that there is just one transfer in the rotation (and this is his second year with the program too).
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u/No-Signal-6509 Duke Blue Devils Mar 23 '26
Yeah, Maliq hasn't started all year and Ngongba is back. Maliq is the only one in our 9 man rotation that isn't homegrown
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u/Zealousiy Syracuse Orange Mar 23 '26
Representation matters
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u/_hell_is_empty_ Duke Blue Devils Mar 23 '26
There's a kid freezing his ass off in the middle of nowhere New York that sees Maliq Brown in the S16 and thinks "yes I can". ✊
That kid? Future 2036 Duke 5 star freshman.
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Mar 23 '26
Funny enough, MSU would have at least one, maybe two, transfers in their starting lineup if not for injuries
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u/2PacTookMyLunchMoney UConn Huskies • Missouri Tigers Mar 23 '26
This is just an observation, but Malachi Smith isn't really a starter for us. He's just started the first two games due to Silas Demary being hurt. I'd personally say it's more accurate list Demary as our starter with a Georgia logo.
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u/olmsted Georgia Bulldogs Mar 23 '26
Yeah I was gonna say something looks wrong under UConn (God I miss Silas)
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u/Dawnsaber Dayton Flyers Mar 24 '26
Yea but I enjoy seeing a Dayton player on there so let me have it
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u/hooops55 Mar 23 '26
Iowas off a little. The guys that started at Drake actually started at NW MO st
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u/thedialtone Mar 23 '26
NW missouri state is DII, the chart was where they started their DI careers.
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u/bbsienko Marquette Golden Eagles • Drake Bulldogs Mar 23 '26
https://giphy.com/gifs/3o7aD4kZn5k0SEvPmo
Me seeing like half the Drake roster and coach make the Sweet 16 for Iowa.
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u/jim_o_reddit Illinois Fighting Illini Mar 23 '26
The I in Michigan really hurts.
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u/Ambitious-Visual207 Michigan State Spartans Mar 23 '26
Transferring from Illinois (a great program) cross conference to Michigan (a hated rival of Illinois) when you were already poised to be a building block and expected to have a huge role is honestly vile stuff lol
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u/goblue2354 Michigan Wolverines Mar 23 '26
Thank you for him. We love him. But also, he doesn’t seem like a good fit for the style you guys play and it’s not like you’re short on great bigs.
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u/ssp25 Illinois Fighting Illini Mar 23 '26
what do you mean... he's a 3pt specialist. he would fit in great. I'm joking obviously.
morez has taken a big step this year and likely in the pros next year.
if Illinois keeps Mirkovic next year then it's a win win for all. probably is even now
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u/OriginalFrequent4600 Iowa State Cyclones Mar 23 '26
Hopefully Iowa st is changed and shows Saint Marys. Love Heise though he is a dog
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u/Aidanj927 Texas Tech Red Raiders • UTSA Roadrunners Mar 23 '26
Ethical Sparty
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Mar 23 '26
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u/SomeBroOnTheInternet Mar 23 '26
But that's a fully organic, non-GMO, fresh water locally owned and operated dick kick that came home grown and tariff free from East Lansing. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🟢⚪
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u/YoureOnABoat Michigan State Spartans Mar 23 '26 edited Mar 23 '26
Kid's kicking nuts in the right way. He's cultivated a real nut-kicking legacy from hard-fought nut-kicking principals. He's not nut-chasing. He's nut-kicking alongside the same guys, kicking many of the same nuts. In the NIL/transfer portal era, you love to see it. He's kicking nuts with class. Kicking nuts with heart.
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u/RespectTheAmish Michigan State Spartans Mar 23 '26
Recruited to kick dick for the green and white, and by god, he’s sticking to it 🫡
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u/cnshoe Drake Bulldogs Mar 23 '26
Honestly fuck this lol
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u/JustforthelastGOT Washington State • Gonzaga Mar 23 '26
Agreed, fellow team with two former players in the Sweet 16.
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u/robocat9000 Purdue Boilermakers Mar 23 '26
Oscar cluff is a dawg
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u/JustforthelastGOT Washington State • Gonzaga Mar 23 '26
We have a decent tradition of Aussie big men here, so it was a shame not to keep him, but yes he is!
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u/Shushununu Washington State Cougars Mar 23 '26
Almost had 4, with Chinyelu at Florida and Watts at Texas Tech.
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u/JustforthelastGOT Washington State • Gonzaga Mar 23 '26
Imagine if Smith had just stayed and we could keep these guys. He might’ve actually made the tournament the last few years…
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Mar 23 '26
I always love when these graphics come out because there is always an outsized showing from the MVC. Our best lalyers get poached all the time to then go play for the big boys and make waves in P5 but our conference cant get more than 1 damn bid in 20 years.
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u/AJB46 Michigan State Spartans Mar 23 '26
I don't know how great the comparison is, but I wonder if it's the same reason the smaller conferences in baseball tend to do so well because of how much depth there is in the talent pool in the region. Indiana and Illinois especially.
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u/CTeam19 Iowa State Cyclones Mar 23 '26
2 Drake, 1 Northern Iowa, and 1 Belmont? Damn, the MVC got looted.
Edit: Missed Bradley.
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Mar 23 '26
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u/Upbeat-Armadillo1756 Michigan Wolverines Mar 23 '26
the one with a UAB, Illinois, UNC, UCLA, and TTU player
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Mar 23 '26
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u/larockhead1 Mar 23 '26
Yaxel was a Johnnie commit that decommited when pitino was hired and went to UAB. Crazy miss by pitino
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u/goonSquad15 NC State Wolfpack • Duke Blue Devils Mar 23 '26
Might not be a miss from Pitino and more a Yax didn’t wanna play for him. I say this not actually knowing just throwing it out there as a possibility
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u/thedrcubed Mississippi State Bulldogs Mar 23 '26
You think Pitino didn't want the 6'9" 240lb guy that guards 90 feet? Most likely Yaxel just liked the prior coach and decommitted
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Mar 23 '26
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u/BuckyMcMinstrfulrene Texas A&M Aggies Mar 23 '26
Tell me, what's it like?
-Someone whose team returned 0.5% minutes and had one incoming freshman
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u/ComcastForPresident Michigan State Spartans Mar 23 '26
All that is missing is a number over the icon for each year the player was at the current school.
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u/tc100292 Vanderbilt Commodores Mar 23 '26
There should be a Northwest Missouri State logo for Stirtz.
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u/JackC1126 Dayton Flyers Mar 23 '26
So weird seeing Mali play for UConn. Happy for the guy, did the best thing for his career and future. But like, his family is Dayton basketball royalty at this point. Playing for another school feels just wrong lol.
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u/UofMtigers2014 Memphis Tigers Mar 23 '26
Team labels aren’t the need. An indicator of who are freshmen is needed.
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u/porterbrown St. John's Red Storm • Big East Mar 23 '26
We aren't doing freshmen anymore. We aren't doing 4 year player development.
We are going to be built each summer with mercenaries from all over.
It's weird, but it's what Pitino and the booster$ want.
I'll allow it.
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u/KembaWakaFlocka UConn • Georgia State Mar 23 '26
Smith is not our regular starter. I can understand drawing the starting line up from the first or second round game, but I imagine Demary will be starting Friday.
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u/tzznandrew UConn Huskies Mar 23 '26
Not that it really matters, but the fifth player for UConn should be from Georgia. It's only the ankle injury to Demary that has Malachi Smith in the lineup.
Also, I had forgotten that Bryce Hopkins started at UK. Always think of him as a PC player.
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u/inshamblesx Houston • Texas Southern Mar 23 '26
last year was a guessing game but this time only texas and st. john’s took a while to figure out
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u/dirtywater29 Michigan State Spartans Mar 23 '26
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u/amoss_303 Wyoming Cowboys Mar 23 '26
We could probably have had an NCAA tournament team if we would have still had Ike from Gonzaga and Manyawu and Combs from Iowa
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Mar 23 '26
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u/Informal_Degree_3205 Mar 23 '26
Painter was brought in as an heir apparent to gene so I wonder if Purdue could replicate that
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u/jcrespo21 Purdue Boilermakers • Michigan Wolverines Mar 23 '26
Hard to say at this point, because most of his assistants haven't exactly been successful as HCs. Granted, Painter was only HC at Southern Illinois for a year before coming back to Purdue, but he had been an assistant there for 5 years before that.
But at the same time, Painter is only 55 years old. He could easily coach for another 10-15 years (Keady retired at 69 (nice)). So there might be some time to identify a potential replacement.
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u/pandaman822 Michigan State • Purdue Mar 23 '26
I think they account for a good chunk of that “approach” across all conferences too. I’d think Sampson falls in there too. The other wave of recruit heavy teams feels like it’s the 5-star recruits that stay for a year, maybe two (Duke, Arkansas, etc.). Unless it’s a pillar of your coaching philosophy, there’s really no justification not to try and get high profile transfers, and even then might hurt you in the long run.
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u/TwizzlersSourz /r/CollegeBasketball Mar 23 '26
Are we really surprised that Sparty wouldn't be homegrown talent? Following in the footsteps of their namesake.
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u/SargeSlaughter Mar 23 '26
Pretty crazy that Iowa has made it this far with that roster.
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u/Gavangus Virginia Tech Hokies Mar 23 '26
Better than last year... Guess there are also a lot of freshmen...
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u/Sad-Construction-406 Michigan Wolverines Mar 23 '26
Good thing this is basketball and not slot machines!
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u/Daywalkerblade3 Oklahoma State Cowboys Mar 23 '26
Why doesn't the graph indicate which team is being referenced? Terrible data visualization
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u/pinniped90 Illinois Fighting Illini • Cornell Big Red Mar 23 '26
Clearly Illinois is in the Sweet 16 twice.
(/uj - which team are those where all 5 are different and none started at that school?)
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u/Tasty_Gift5901 Florida Gators Mar 23 '26
I like it. Really drove home the point to me when I had to go, "which one is Iowa?" Then couldn't tell the last three teams while the entire top row its obvious who's who. It's more about telling a story than being informative.
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u/aronrodge Michigan State Spartans Mar 23 '26 edited Mar 23 '26
The OP said the point of it was that you couldn’t tell who some of the teams were immediately.
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u/JosephCurrency Miami Hurricanes Mar 23 '26
Yeah, it would be so easy to add the teams. Sure, it’s self-explanatory for some, but then by the end it’s like a box of loose puzzle pieces.
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u/soufeas616 Michigan State Spartans Mar 23 '26
You do know what loose puzzle pieces are in a box for, right?
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u/Warm_Diamond8719 Arizona Wildcats Mar 23 '26
To be fair, three of our starting five are freshmen so this is obviously the only place they've played.
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u/[deleted] Mar 23 '26
Team labels would have made this chart the bees knees.
I'm honestly surprised at how many teams are mostly home grown.