Portal additions

[Jason94]

Possibly the most similar guard to SPjr just entered the pool. (except he shot 41% from three)

And he grew up close to middle TN.

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-baske ... mark-sears

They played Belmont this season and he outscored Murphy 27 to 8.

Against big dance teams, he had 15 vs Cleveland State, double figures against both UK and LSU despite having off night shooting, 44 combined in 2 games vs Akron, + had 35 vs ACU in one of those "other" post-season tourney games.

#1 is Sears and #5 is VanderPlas (also in the portal)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jr9zrWTqUJM

Sears looks like a solid option. 40.8% from 3 on 4.2 attempts. Got to the line for 6.1 FTA and converted at 88.4%. Nice rebounding and steals numbers. ATO could be stronger, but looks like a promising player.

His TO rate is actually pretty good. His TO's are high because he played almost 36 mpg and used up almost 1/3 of the possessions when on the court. His TO rate was better this year than Wright, Thomas, Lawrence or Chatman. He did struggle against the two SEC teams he faced and, but looks good overall.

[Versus75]

He looks like a good player and Nashville is relatively close to Muscle Shoals. He could transfer from the Sthens of Ohio to the Athens of the South.

Someone remind me of the former Vanderbilt “kid” who may about 50 years old now who transferred TO Ohio U and scored about 20ppg.

[Gambit]

Nigel Pack from Kansas State is in the portal.

[UltimateVUFan]

According to this source Sears has not heard from VU yet, but he has plenty of SEC interest.
https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/sec-f ... -programs/

[OldDude]

Nigel Pack from Kansas State is in the portal.

Would be nice !

[UltimateVUFan]

Nigel Pack from Kansas State is in the portal.

Decent scorer and three point shooter on a high volume; doesn’t get to the FT line a lot or dish many assists. Leads me to think he’s more of a shooting guard than a true point, but could be wrong. Haven’t seen him play.

[MrMemorial]

This guy was 5 stars in high school and offered by everybody but only played a bit at Indiana...

https://247sports.com/player/khristian-lander-46054936/

Was offered by Louisville, Florida, Michigan, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Ohio State, Purdue, etc

[Nashmann]

Man...I REALLY like Sears!!!

[MrMemorial]

OVC star Johni Broome just entered the portal.

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-baske ... hni-broome

Had a 32 point game vs Murray, an 18 rebound game vs Belmont, a 15 blocked shot game vs ut-M.

[OldDude]

There is a lot of good talent in the portal. Someone could build a good team with the right incentives - say
McNIL burger bags.

[commadore]

There is a lot of good talent in the portal. Someone could build a good team with the right incentives - say
McNIL burger bags.

You mean like LSU will have to do?

[doubledore9603]

the PG caliber is through the roof:

[MrMemorial]

the PG caliber is through the roof:

Every time it looks like the portal entry race is slowing down, it ramps back up.

Appleby was a 2-star guy who used to play at mid-major Cleveland State? I never noticed that before. Speaking of mid-majors up there, I would still love to see a Sears/VanderPlas package deal land on West End.

[MrMemorial]

Austin Crowley, heavily recruited by VU at one time, has exited the portal.

Southern Miss. Congrats.

[VUaskew]

Austin Crowley, heavily recruited by VU at one time, has exited the portal.

Southern Miss. Congrats.

He really wasn't that great.

[dcdore]

Peacocks available.

[MrMemorial]

Former VU recruit Connor Vanover enters the portal today.

https://247sports.com/Recruitment/Conno ... Interests/

UGa star Oquendo as well.

[AuricGoldfinger]

Here's a new transfer that Vandy appears to have reached out to, and with good reason. He averaged nearly 6 assists per game in 34 min per game of playing time. He's not a big scorer (9.1 ppg) but has good size at 6-4.

[tweet][/tweet]

[MrMemorial]

Had an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.72 at least one season.

I'll let Jason expound on what that means.

His 33% from three and 65% at the line are certainly not overwhelming.

Mark Sears by comparison was 41% from three and 88% at the ft line with a 4.1 : 3.2 A/to ratio. (1.28)

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-baske ... lon-cooper

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-baske ... mark-sears

[Jason94]

Had an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.72 at least one season.

I'll let Jason expound on what that means.

His 33% from three and 65% at the line are certainly not overwhelming.

Mark Sears by comparison was 41% from three and 88% at the ft line with a 4.1 : 3.2 A/to ratio. (1.28)

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-baske ... lon-cooper

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-baske ... mark-sears

I guess my concern would be how he performed against high-major competition and the like - his numbers seemed to really go down against good competition, and though that could be a function of his teammates offensive prowess (or lack thereof) against good teams. His TO rate was actually higher than Pippen's, he just didn't use near as many possessions as Pippen did (about half as many in fact).

He is an option, but his presence would require a lot of other players to take a much larger role in the offense, as he is nowhere near the ballhog that Pippen was (and I mean that in its most neutral sense - an efficient player who can dominate the ball can be a huge asset). Sears also had his number go down a bit against good competition, but his shooter percentages are much better and he dominated the ball (not to the extent of Pippen but he was the most involved player on Ohio's team). At a lower level of usage it is very possible that his efficiency wouldn't take a hit that would typically come with a step up in competition level.

There have been a lot of options listed out there and I'd definitely place Cooper in a tier below that of Sears, who is potentially a lower usage, better shooting version of Pippen.