Next year and the portal is now open

I highly doubt Kaluma signed here just for the hell of it. You don't just "nab" a guy who had a bunch of 35-minute games for a good D1 team and say "hey come off the bench and be a role player for us." My thought is that Terry wants him to be Dillon Mitchell, and even though he's a hair shorter and a hair slower than Dillon, Kaluma will be called upon to give up some of his 3-point reliance and defer to the other guys.

I also get the sense that Kent is probably the guy losing out on the most minutes because of this commit. I'm hoping this doesn't deter him from competing, but by the same token, having him back up Johnson might be the best call.

I decided to watch a bunch of Indiana State clips from this past season, and while Kent was good in spurts, Larry was their "Royal Ivey" for the majority of the season. He was ALWAYS out there. And not just because he was a body... he was making defensive plays and distributing and everything. I'm rethinking everything I thought about depth for 2024-25 because of it.

Instead of a traditional lineup, I think we just have Tre Johnson line up from behind the arc (whether he's a 2 or a 3 doesn't really matter) and then a bunch of rotations. He can slash if he wants to, but honestly we kind of need him jacking it up and then playing solid D.

"X" position - Tre Johnson, Mark occasionally, Kaluma occasionally
Combo guard - Pope, Weaver
Distro guard - Larry, Weaver
Wing - Mark, Presley, Pryor
Sorta forward - Kaluma, Kent, Codie
Forward - Shedrick, Onyema, Vinson

When Johnson's not in, it'll look like a typical 12345 lineup. I'm a little worried about guard depth, but I've watched plenty of Mark and plenty of Johnson and I think their attributes spin down when needed.
 
More projections for next year

Article says that the starting lineup (in name only) should be Larry, Johnson, Mark, Kaluma, Shedrick

So, one thing I've kind of been taking for granted this offseason is the pure amount of minutes/game we're inheriting from the portal. If you don't get guys who can handle 32+ minutes, then you don't have a real lineup come March. Therein lies the issues we've had with injury or the doghouse or whatever you want to call it for the past few seasons.

Here are the 2023-24 totals for MPG from the newcomers:
Pope - 35.6
Kaluma - 34.5
Larry - 34.4
Mark - 32.5
Kent - 30.3
Presley - 11.8

So it's kind of a double-edged sword of a problem to have. You know that Johnson is going to get minutes, and you know that a healthy Shedrick will basically have to play 36+ in order for us to have a post presence. On top of that, there's Weaver, who's arguably our most athletic sparkplug out there.

Larry has literally played more minutes than any active NCAA player going into 2024-25. So after watching all those damn ISU clips and comparing him to Royal Ivey (shout-out to the South Sudan team for almost beating the USA), I'm kind of in agreement with the article. He has to be out there, and even though his MVC numbers are probably inflated compared to the SEC, I trust a guy who can eat the minutes.

But I don't think it's going to cost Pope minutes. I think they play together, and I think that Johnson is going to be the victim for playing time. Looking at Pope's increased usage, combined with his improvement from his freshman to sophomore years, AND the fact that he's the guy bringing the most MPG from the portal? He's going to play combo guard and I doubt those minutes are going to be taken away from him.

The other angle to consider for lineups next year is that Johnson might have a growth curve that's not super-conducive to him being out on the floor every waking moment. Does he have "Kevin Durant" moments? Sure... but he's no Kevin Durant overall. He seemingly spends most of his time hanging out behind the arc and then slashing when they need him to show off.
Other recent athletic underclassmen who showed enough to get into the league with minimal effort:
Greg Brown III
Kai Jones
Jaxson Hayes
Mo Bamba
None of these guys averaged more than 30 MPG (Bamba)... in fact, most of them were closer to 20 MPG. All this to say: I think Johnson is the guy who doesn't get his 30 MPG.

I also think we're kind of weak at forward, and will need all of the strength/muscle that Kaluma and Kent can offer to help out near the paint. That will take a physical toll on them.

The other part of the equation is whether Mark plays as kind of a do-it-all wing or more of the same position that Johnson plays.

One thing is for sure: if Terry can wrangle together a lineup and then mess with the matchups of the opponent by going small or bringing in the energy/defense guys on a whim, we're going to be VERY difficult to prep for. Imagine going up against a "fake" Larry Pope Johnson Kaluma Shedrick lineup in practice and then having to change the matchups at the 12th minute to whatever else we can throw at them.
 
Conference schedule posted for next season.


Looks like the "pod" formula is what they're going with. Home-and-homes against A&M, OU, and Arkansas, and 1 game each against the remaining 12 teams.
 
Many back to back home games and road games. Non-conference schedule is about the same as last year. At least UConn is at home.
 
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