Scratch that, Marquise is gone. We need another ball handler

Pretty bad timing for me to post this as Quise announces he is going to grad transfer!

I wish he would have gone through senior day activities so we could have given him the send-off he deserves after being a warrior for 4 years. Will always imagine what could have been if he were able to stay fully healthy. This one kinda hurts.

Yeah, sucks that he didn't get a senior night.

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We 100% mismanaged Hutson. It’s fine - nobody’s perfect - but Drew needs to own it. It’s unlikely we get an equivalent backup center with Hutson’s capabilities next year. With the roster being the way it currently is - Hutson WAS our starting center for next year by default. It may not have been great, but it was something.

When we were 1-8 in conference, Hutson had played 50 minutes 360 minutes (13%), with approximately 20 of those minutes in garbage time. At 1-8 our tournament chances were gone. Most of the 8 losses weren’t even close. At that point, Drew had a choice to either:

1) play Hutty more to see if more time equaled more development with 2 years of eligibility remaining in the future; or

2) give the lion’s share of minutes to an underperforming Golden, who was a hired gun for just the year - while relegating a guy to the bench who put 2+ years of work in and paid his dues to the program.

I was all for improving the roster last year, and on paper, a Big East starting center seemed like a dream-come-true. We brought Hutson in to back up Krutwig and learn - he did it. We brought in Knight, and told Hutson to wait another year and learn - he did it. We then brought in Golden (which should probably have been a red flag for Hutty), told him to sit AGAIN - he did it… and it bombed. There’s no reason Hutson should have had his minutes cut in HALF from the ones he got in the 2021-2022 season, particularly in the last 10 games.

I just don’t think Drew was thinking…

We have NO center now. I hope Drew brings in an impact center in the next month and fixes this glaring issue. Maybe it’s a 6’8” guy with some muscle, but we need SOMETHING. if we don’t get at least that for next year - yikes.

Per Twitter, Paxon Wojcik has heard from North Carolina, Kansas, Notre Dame & Stanford. Wow!

Whoa!

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MBB Scholarship Chart

Not unexpected after seeing his interactions with Drew this season. Still hurts.

It sucks losing players who you like and who have contributed and represented the team well. We lose players every year. Marquise and Hutson contributed.

Let’s not rewrite Hutson’s history. Hutson has had plenty of opportunities to play. He was our staring center most of last year. His play was inconsistent. He lost time to Knight. This year he looked terrible early. He worked hard. He looked better late. I hope he does well at UNI. I would like to have him on the team, but I’m not convinced he would do well in the A 10 over time. He’s doing what is best for him. I am happy for him.

On the other hand, Marquise has been a key contributor. He was 6th man of the year. He was explosive. However, I’m not sure if he is a starter next year. Hopefully, he gets the opportunity to play somewhere else.

This season made me recall the very bad (but similar to this past year) 2013-14 season when we had THE ENTIRE FRONTCOURT leave after our first season in the MVC. Nick Osbourne (6'8" sophomore forward), Matt O'Leary (6'8" sophomore forward), Cody Johnson (6'10" juco center), and Jordan Pickett (6' freshman guard) all transferred out. Add the fact that 6'10 sophomore center Jeremy King (a walk-on, I believe, who continued on at Loyola and whom I still see at games every once in a while) dropped off the team, and that's EVERY PLAYER ON THE ROSTER TALLER THAN 6'5" leaving.

Osbourne, O'Leary and Pickett (all Indiana natives) transferred to IUPUI in the Summit League, coached by former Loyola assistant Jason Gardner. Johnson ended up at Division II Cal State San Marcos.

Loyola plugged to holes the following year (2014-15) by adding jucos Montell James (6'7" forward) and Earl Petersen (6'3 guard). The freshman class was Ben Richardson, Donte Ingram, Jay Knuth, and 6'9" Julius Rajala. Loyola went from 4-14 to 8-10 in the MVC. They won their MTE in Las Vegas by defeating Texas Tech and Boise State. In the MVC, Loyola was doing great until Milton Doyle got injured and Loyola went 4-8 during his injury. Loyola got to the CBI and won in 5 straight games. From 10-22 to 24-13 with a CBI title, despite an injury.

So it is possible to go though a pretty terrible 10 win season in your first year in a new conference, have many players leave, and turn it around to a mid-level finish in the league with 20+ wins.

Would Norris be smart to go to a program where he could make the NCAA Tournament one last time as opposed to being part of a rebuild? Norris is a great player and person but wonder if he could find a better fit for success?