Lots Of Changes.First Singh announced he was leaving the

[hallgrad80]

When I read that Anthony would leave as a graduate senior I could not help but reflect on all the departures of underclassmen since the season started and how that has impacted how the roster will look next year. First Carter was throw off the team followed by Singh announcing he would transfer. Next in line was Thomas's quitting the team and then we had Soffer followed by Anthony deciding to transfer . That's five players leaving for various reasons that all had eligibility remaining for next year and for some beyond that. That's five players added to Jones's expected departure as he had used all his eligibility this past season. With Walker's expected commit today , the staff has added three quality pieces, all with significant upside , in Cale, Sandro and Walker. While both Brodie and Gill may need time to develop and what they may contribute in future seasons they both have the potential to contribute in the future.

Kudo's to the staff for their ability to fill five unexpected departures and add quality in the process and provide a solid base for success beyond this coming season.

 

[Marc1996]

These things have a way of working themselves out

 

[Section112]

Blessing in disguise. The quality of the players on our team is much better now IMO. Still have some projects but their athleticism and upside is significantly higher than the kids that left.

 

[dcPirate]

Blessing in disguise. The quality of the players on our team is much better now IMO. Still have some projects but their athleticism and upside is significantly higher than the kids that left.

Amen, especially with (hopefully) Walker and Sandro filling two of those spots...they are guys that can hopefully contribute right away next year and help form a solid nucleus going forward once the great class moves on...

Sometimes better lucky than good with folks leaving, but Willard and staff deserve credit for reeling in some quality replacements.

 

[Piratz]

We're getting better on the recruiting trail. More consistent. That 2014 class will be the turning point and even their first year was an absolute mess and ended up with Willard on the hot seat.

That created a lot of additional hurdles with the 2015 and 2016 classes and I don't think it's a surprise that the 2015 class (Singh, Carter, Soffer, Thomas, Anderson) ended up an abomination with the exception of the one-year of grad transfer Derrick Gordon. That's nothing personal about the players themselves in 2015, but they're all gone two years later. Um, that's not good.

The winning in 2015-16 and 2016-17 was huge. There's a positive trend now. Powell was the first flicker of turnaround. Then Cale. Both early commits. Now Walker and Sandro are continuing to verify it.

We are going to have an excellent team next year. This is going to start paying off.

Onto the 2018 class! We'll need an impact big for sure.

 

[statenman]

I have to tip my hat to Willard. We never really had a top player leave and hurt the team by his absence. Pretty amazing considering the rate of great players that do transfer these days. Seems like the players are very loyal to him which is not typical in college athletics.
The only 2 good player that left, I think we'd all agree, were additions by subtraction.