Also ... and I know I’ve been long-winded... but you can run the risk of Krut deciding to come back next year, and if the new “every player can transfer once without sitting” rule takes effect, you could see Frank leaving to dominate at center for UIC, and/or Welch doing the same thing. Then you’ve got Hutson as your backup with no game experience and nobody else left to play the 5 next year.

Toledo is right that the extra year of eligibility coupled with the "No Sit" transfer rule raises a lot of difficulties in managing the roster.
Will heir apparents accept another year on the bench if graduating starters return for another year? Will promising undergrads be patient while a logjam at their position clears? Will mid major studs succumb to the siren song of P5 conferences?
Distributing minutes will be a real balancing act.

The discussion of a 4 puzzles me as we run a 4out one in line up....essentially 4 guards and 1 center....it really helps when one of those 4 guards has some of the qualities of a traditional 4 like Donte Ingram....so the question for Welch is does he play in or out? does he have the quickness and ball skills to play out or does he have the skills to guard the low post and post up....then he can be an in....what we would love is if he can do both......Frank does not have the ball skills to play out as one of the four guards...he is only a back up to Krut....but if you want to talk a 4 it is the person who has the ball and shooting skills but can also play defense against a traditional 4.....so to me the hardest position to recruit for LU is that guy who can play the guard offensively but play the traditional 4 defensively if required....so Ingram, Ugak, Hall and to some extent Williamson and the hope is that Welch can do that as well.although I have not given up on Welch as being able to play the 5. So really we usually only have two true centers on the team......if Hutson does not red shirt this year cuz of how the final interpretation of this new rule is , we will have 3 and if you consider Welch as maybe a 5 you have 31/2.....Hutsons biggest development will come on the practice floor this year.

But.. then we'd also have another year with one of the best centers in the country. I wouldn't consider that to be a huge risk.

_________________
MBB Scholarship Chart

Yeah, there’s about 3-5 recruits every year I would take over another year of Krut. And spoiler alert, none of those recruits are coming to Loyola.

One aspect I did start to think of for this one time free transfer rule, it might make it more likely for players to follow coaches to a new school. Something to think about as Porter continues to get job offers.

As we got later into last season we started to play Welch more at the 4. I think the plan was for him to be a traditional 4 who had the ability to play as a small ball 5 when needed as he added bulk. With Frank going down early last year he was immediately thrown into a position he probably wasn't equipped for, especially on the defensive end. I did think he had a few promising showings in short stints, but he definitely wasn't ready for a full time role. That all said I thought he really showed promise at the 4, and he didn't take many but had a nice looking shot from deep (he finished the season 2-6), and his spin move near the rim was really polished for a freshman.

All in all, i'm pretty excited about the roster. I really feel like players like Welch and Pax would have played a ton of minutes on the 18-19 team... and still could this upcoming year, it's just a testament to the depth we've built up.

In St Louis Welch showed pretty good flashes of an ability to play more of a wing type role, and ability to hit the outside shot. That’s something we’ve badly missed and needed the last few years, and was something Ingram excelled at. Hopefully Welch has worked and built on that more in the offseason.

Agreed. I think if Welch has more confidence this year, and if he can hit from outside the way I seem to remember he could in high school, he might be a better option than Uguak. Also, defensively, he seems to have a knack for putting himself in position to draw charges. I think he’s got a ton of potential and I’d hate to lose him due to lack of playing time. It’s gonna be way easier to work him into the temptation as a wing than trying to put him at the 5.

I do not think I will ever forget the job Ugak did defensively on Green last year at the home game against UNI.....He does all the little things that are important to Porter.....we look and say he cant shoot the 3, Porter knows that and it is a long way down his check list....Welch strikes me as slow footed on the perimeter .

I don’t think Uguak is a “bad” player. His defense is great. Whether it’s him or the offense being run - for whatever reason - anything on defense he does gets washed out by standing around the perimeter and not being any threat from deep. Opposing coaches purposely leave him be on the perimeter and it stifles us. Defense is great but 15.8% from three, 61% from the line, and 2 turnovers to 2 steals per game doesn’t make you “productive” in Porter’s game plan.

With that being said, I think he might be way more successful this year with better shooters around him. If he could consistently make free throws, he’d give us 10 points per game and would be an asset.