if the boys stay, this will be the first thing that Grace Calhoun did right for Loyola.

I disagree. The first thing she did right for Loyola was to hire Porter Moser.

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Let's go Braden!

The extra year of eligibility might mean that Jacob Hutson could see the floor this year. Hutson agreed to a 4 for 5 scholarship deal where he is a nonscholarship redshirt this year and is on scholarship the following 4 years.

But with the extra year of eligibility he could play this year as a walk on and still have 4 years of eligibility left as a scholarship player. Alternatively, he could opt to still sit out this season so as not to burn a year of eligibility and have 5 years of eligibility left after this season. Or Porter could make that decision for him.

It would be intriguing to have a three-headed monster at center for this season.

Interesting proposition, but it's a logjam for minutes, even with Hutson redshirting.

During his media day interview, Porter was asked by the Phoenix about lineups and rotations. While he said that he hasn't focused on it yet, he did say that he likes to have a core 8-9 guys who know their roles and what to expect. He said playing 10 guys is hard.

To me, that means we will see mostly the same linups as last year, plus Norris and Kaifes.

The top eight would probably be:

Krut
Lucas
Clemons
Hall
Uguak
Kennedy
Norris
Kaifes

The next available minutes would be for:

Frank
Wojcik
Welch
Hebb

That's all 12 of our eligible scholarship players. I personally would like too see Welch earn those minutes, with Frank helping spell Krutwig and dominating on defense when he's in there.

You're probably right about the logjam, but at the very least the extra year of eligibility makes Hutson potentially available as insurance if Krut or Frank goes down with an injury.

How dare you use the "I" word!

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MBB Scholarship Chart

Insurance?

Don't mean to jinx The Boys.

Krut has been very sturdy and injury-free. Has he missed any games with an injury?
The only thing I can remember is him wearing a protective mask in a couple games.

If nothing else, it could help Hutson's development to stick his toe in the water and get some experience with live game action. Even 10-15 minutes of mop up duty over the course of the season could help him get a feel for D-1 game speed and get some tape to see what things he needs to work on while taking those minutes off Cam and Frank's legs.

If Hutson has half of a decade of eligibility as a Rambler, I see no reason not to suit him up this year. If he were a guard, I might think differently, but with his height and our depth at center, I want him available now.

Welch is not a center. I know we’ve tried it, but if Welch is going to develop for us this year, and the next two years, he’s going to have to play the 4-spot - at least in some scenarios. Also, given Uguak’s woes the past two years, if Welch has shown some improvement, he very well might be splitting equal time with Uguak at the position.

Depending on how big or small we want to play against any given opponent, Uguak can play the 4, Welch can play the 4, and even Williamson and Tate Hall can play the 4 this year. Any one guy can go down (injury or COVID) and we can re-adjust the lineup and not miss a beat.

Our guard depth might be the best in the country.
Tate Hall - starter on almost all MVC teams
Kennedy - starter on almost all MVC teams
Clemons - starter on almost all MVC teams
Norris - starter on almost all MVC teams
Kaifus - starter on almost all MVC teams
Williamson - starter on EVERY other MVC team.
- we’ve got 2 lines of starters in a 3 guard offense to play with... then Wojcik and Hebb are just sitting there waiting after all of that....

Our starting front court is Krutwig and Uguak. If Uguak goes down (injury, COVID or underperformance) you still have to feel good about what you’ve got to fill the gap. You can go big (Welch), or small (Williamson - who can guard anyone 1 though 4), or Hall.

But if you lose Krut (injury or COVID) for any length of time, you’re forced to make a wildly drastic change to your game plan, game to game. You’d be banking on Frank, who hasn’t played 15 minutes in a meaningful game (6.7 minutes per game last year), to give you 30 to 32 minutes, when you KNOW he is foul-prone and DON’t KNOW if he can provide double digit rebounds. Your only other option after that is Welch (7.0 minutes per game last year). Even if you average them out as a tag team to fill the void at the 5-spot evenly, you’re asking 13 minutes more a piece per game from each. Unlike our 1 though 4 positions, you’re going to see a serious drop in production.

This year is THE YEAR for Loyola to return to the tournament. It’s also a year that is filled with uncertainty. Best case scenario, Krut stays healthy, gives you 28 minutes per game (he should be lower this year than last [32 mins] because we should be blowing lower-tier MVC teams out), Frank gives you 9, and Hutson gives you Julius Rajala-like 3-4 minutes per game... and you’ve got 4 more years to develop him. Worst case scenario, Krutwig goes down, you make frank and Welch understand that you need them to play 16 minutes a piece of outstanding basketball, and you skillfully sub Hutson in and out to give them both longer breaks, clog up the middle, and burn fouls if needed.

Next year that 4 spot doesn’t look any stronger or more certain. Assuming All seniors leave, Demezi Anderson will replace Uguak at 4 and he could be the 4 star player he was expected to be in high school, or he could be ... well... he could be Uguak.... and may not be “dependable” for 30+ minutes. At that point, if you’ve committed Welch to the center position to back up Frank, you know that the position time there is going to be fairly even between the two of them, and you’ve got Hutson sitting on the bench AGAIN next year, doing nothing with a very vulnerable 4 in a starter position. But if you get Hutson some time this year, he may be able to back up Frank a little next year, and you can move Welch between the 4 AND 5 spots accordingly for back-up.

Bottom line - Suit up Hutson this year. It doesn’t hurt you. Why wouldn’t you?