13th&Jackson

I think he's exhausted Izzo

Officially announced today but apparently both parties knew all season he wouldn't return. “A.J. is looking to make a pro career,” Izzo said last week on Staudt on Sports on AM-730 in Lansing. “But he could go back to college; it wouldn’t be here. We have some younger guys and he has exhausted his (eligibility) and he’ll graduate. But I think he’d like to get into pro ball whether it be Europe, whether it be the G League. But nowadays everybody will look at college, too, depending on offers from different places.”

Lost amid the slavering over the quarterbacks who went No. 1, 2, and 3 was Nix's supremacy in several critical statistical areas that Payton highly prioritizes. The Broncos had eyes for Nix dating back weeks, and late Thursday night, Payton talked about how the Oregon product "stood out" from his fellow first-round QB brethren. "I would say that probably early into the process, shortly after these workouts, he stood out in a lot of areas," Payton said on Thursday night following Round 1 of the draft. "You pay close attention to all the film study. Obviously, he’s played a lot of football, but [he stood out in] sack differential, turnover differential, accuracy, third-down passing. [He was] first, first, first, first in this class. First in end-of-half, first in end-of-game, two-minute situations, second in red zone. Then let’s do another passing statistic and remove a lot of the short, underneath throws. Obviously, that’s part of what they do offensively, and you remove that, and you come back with the analytics, and it’s still first. I would say his arm strength was—we saw it at the Pro Day—but even in the private workout, was very good. He’s super smart."

He has to agree to be the 13th scholarship

Gary Parrish has IU at #20 https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/rankings/top25/

I know they didn't bring Carlyle in to be a backup, but if Gallo's healthy, I wouldn't be surprised to see him start at the beginning of the season.

I just think he’ll start Gallo over Carlyle to start the year. Not saying he should

I keep seeing them backing up Rice in the projected lineup, although I don’t think that’s realistic. I think they start Galloway

With Newton’s injury, they would realistically be at 11 going in to next season if they leave the scholly open. We all hope he can play, but that’s a big question mark at this time. Even if he can play some, I don’t feel good about Leal and Newton as Carlyle’s backups.

Aren't personal injury lawyers vampires?

UGonna Doowat?

FedEx has announced a massive $25 million name, image and likeness investment in Memphis athletics that will fund $5 million in NIL contracts over each of the next five years in key sports while promoting the company. The deal is believed to be the biggest corporate NIL partnership of its type in college athletics. https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/fedex-to-fund-25-million-for-memphis-nil-in-whats-believed-to-be-largest-corporate-partnership-with-athletes/

Making a good first impression:

Veteran leadership on a very young team

This is brutal for for MN if they lose Hawkins and Payne. Hawkins had previously announced he was definitely returning.

You have to actually win something first. There are a lot of pro franchises who’ve spent a ton of money in free agency and have nothing to show for it. This is uncharted waters for CBB. I’m glad that IU seems to be finally focused on getting in the game, but there’s no such thing as a “hot stove” championship.

Right. Last thing we need is Biff Wellington on here

Yeah, Newton went public in July of last year about the severity of his injury, one month before he had another surgery and was ruled out for the year. The training staff and coaches had to know he wasn't going to play last season or if so, wouldn't be effective with so little activity. "Since the spring of 2022, Jakai Newton's body has rarely cooperated with his basketball ambitions. More specifically, an injured knee that robbed the Indiana freshman guard of all but two weeks of his senior season at Newton High School in Covington, Ga., and is threatening to derail Newton's first season with the Hoosiers." So, when can Indiana fans expect Newton to be back at full strength? That's ultimately up to the healing timetable of Newton's knee and the advice of IU's training staff and doctors, and as of now, they're opting not to take any unnecessary risks. That means while the rest of the Hoosiers have been battling on the practice floor since June, Newton has had to watch from the sidelines. He's still studying film every day and listening intently during practice, but his first taste of college competition remains elusive. "I talked to the Indiana doctors and trainers, and pretty much it's just I gotta take it slow," Newton said. "Like, the injury I got is tough. I've been out for so long, so I gotta build all my muscle back and still just take it easy.

It was the circumstances. IU had insufficient guard depth and experience in 22/23 when XJ got injured. They had even less last season when he was injured again. Filling the 13th scholarship doesn't necessarily mean it's the last guy off the bench.

Johnell Davis would have helped a lot, but MI can really only get grad transfers or freshmen/sophomores. Their limit of only transferring a maximum of 60 credits for undergrads doesn't work for older players unless they already have a degree.

He is, but May is putting together a solid transfer roster. He's added a PG from Auburn, two skilled scoring guards, a stretch 4 and a center who can handle and shoot from the perimeter. Fits how he wants to play.