Veteran Center Joshua Ojianwuna Enters Transfer Portal

For those experts who still think an unlimited transfer portal is a good thing ... how's that working out now? Still think it's the fair thing to do for these "kids " ... these "student " athletes.?

How is this a good look for Drew and Baylor at this point? Literally the entire team left via transfer/graduation/NBA. Absolutely crazy...

I'm glad we're not repeating the mistakes of the past assuming injuries just don't matter. But what a sad day for the state of the game pushing injured players out of programs and sad day for our program that Drew fumbled the bag or ran off an entire team.

bear2be2 said:

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I knew this was coming and it still sucks. I'll be rooting for Josh O wherever he lands.

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Was it his choice to leave, or the staff? You really have to hope he is healthy to take a risk on signing him. Knee injuries are always a risk to count on.

2Bears said:

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bear2be2 said:

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I knew this was coming and it still sucks. I'll be rooting for Josh O wherever he lands.

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Was it his choice to leave, or the staff? You really have to hope he is healthy to take a risk on signing him. Knee injuries are always a risk to count on.

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Ashley said (in I think the portal thread), basically he'll get offered better multi year NIL deals elsewhere in comparison to the lower deal we'll offer.


Having to redo our entire roster I suspect we're not in a position to pay a guy much we can't trust to be available the entire season. You have to pay for his starter level replacement. Hence why Love and Josh O are gone.

Seems incredibly ballsy to outbid their current team for a hurt player. But I guess schools have NIL $ to burn.

GoodOleBaylorLine said:

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Seems incredibly ballsy to outbid their current team for a hurt player. But I guess schools have NIL $ to burn.

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If you think you're set for the year at a position and sign him a 2 year NIL deal as a backup this year with little expectation to play it's a good stash move. Either he becomes really good when healthy again and commands a better deal in the following year or he's generally low cost backup you could even potentially run off again.

End of the day makes sense why that isn't in our budget with the need to sign an entire roster from the portal starters and backups.

I would think the team that has the player is going to have the best information about the player's injury and recovery. If you are outbidding them, not sure what you are basing that on. And assuming they are underbidding because they don't have the NIL available is a pretty big assumption. Baylor is hardly broke when it comes to NIL and Josh isn't getting a big payday anywhere.

This screams dumb money to me ... although really most of it does.

This is sadly what the market is.

See Ashley's comments on it.

https://sicem365.com/forums/3/topics/150113/replies/4123494

"College" athletics is now a clown show. And I've never liked clowns.

It's obvious that some guys entered the Transfer Portal, and the Transfer Portal entered some guys. Not speaking of Josh O but this roster got churned and it needed to. Team chemistry last year was poor.

Mitch Blood Green said:

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It's obvious that some guys entered the Transfer Portal, and the Transfer Portal entered some guys. Not speaking of Josh O but this roster got churned and it needed to. Team chemistry last year was poor.

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We've never done all that well with a really young team. Our natty came because of vets. You can try spinning the team blowing up as good, but I don't think it is.

Porteroso said:

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Mitch Blood Green said:

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It's obvious that some guys entered the Transfer Portal, and the Transfer Portal entered some guys. Not speaking of Josh O but this roster got churned and it needed to. Team chemistry last year was poor.

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We've never done all that well with a really young team. Our natty came because of vets. You can try spinning the team blowing up as good, but I don't think it is.

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All vets are not created equal. This team wasn't winning a Natty relying on the likes of Celestine and a bunch of returning benchwarmers carrying us.

Porteroso said:

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Mitch Blood Green said:

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It's obvious that some guys entered the Transfer Portal, and the Transfer Portal entered some guys. Not speaking of Josh O but this roster got churned and it needed to. Team chemistry last year was poor.

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We've never done all that well with a really young team. Our natty came because of vets. You can try spinning the team blowing up as good, but I don't think it is.

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I've been pretty vocal about my preference for continuity and my distaste for one-year players, in general, but I can't honestly say that we haven't upgraded over every player that left, with the possible exception of Josh O, who probably wasn't going to be healthy next year anyway.

I think we need to get back to recruiting and developing multi-year players who we can grow into impact roles. I think those are the guys that ultimately put teams in the Final Four discussion. But I don't lament the loss of any of the players who transferred out with eligibility remaining.

I would have loved for Josh O and Langston Love to have stayed, but that's because I was invested as much in those two as individuals as I was players. The rest of the guys were all mercenaries who either underperformed their roles or had ceilings too low to contribute anyway.

Porteroso said:

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Mitch Blood Green said:

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It's obvious that some guys entered the Transfer Portal, and the Transfer Portal entered some guys. Not speaking of Josh O but this roster got churned and it needed to. Team chemistry last year was poor.

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We've never done all that well with a really young team. Our natty came because of vets. You can try spinning the team blowing up as good, but I don't think it is.

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I don't think it's good. I'm just saying the portal goes both ways.

I wish we had players coming back next year that we can be excited about.

I loved the old Big East days when the Georgetown players stayed 4 years.

Crawfoso1973 said:

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Porteroso said:

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Mitch Blood Green said:

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It's obvious that some guys entered the Transfer Portal, and the Transfer Portal entered some guys. Not speaking of Josh O but this roster got churned and it needed to. Team chemistry last year was poor.

---

We've never done all that well with a really young team. Our natty came because of vets. You can try spinning the team blowing up as good, but I don't think it is.

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All vets are not created equal. This team wasn't winning a Natty relying on the likes of Celestine and a bunch of returning benchwarmers carrying us.

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We're probably not winning a national championship with this group either. Hell, we'll be hard-pressed to contend for the Big 12 title.

But I do think this group could reach the second weekend of the NCAA tournament, which is progress over what we've had the past three seasons.

bear2be2 said:

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Crawfoso1973 said:

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Porteroso said:

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Mitch Blood Green said:

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It's obvious that some guys entered the Transfer Portal, and the Transfer Portal entered some guys. Not speaking of Josh O but this roster got churned and it needed to. Team chemistry last year was poor.

---

We've never done all that well with a really young team. Our natty came because of vets. You can try spinning the team blowing up as good, but I don't think it is.

---

All vets are not created equal. This team wasn't winning a Natty relying on the likes of Celestine and a bunch of returning benchwarmers carrying us.

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We're probably not winning a national championship with this group either. Hell, we'll be hard-pressed to contend for the Big 12 title.

But I do think this group could reach the second weekend of the NCAA tournament, which is progress over what we've had the past three seasons.

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I'm not really believing anything until this team hits the court and it doesn't look like AAU basketball. I agree the roster is vastly superior. I don't like the point guard situation much right now and not sure we can do anything to salvage it to the level we need, and I'm still not sold that just because the roster looks better we'll suddenly have the team chemistry and cohesion necessary to be a sweet 16 level team.

bear2be2 said:

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Crawfoso1973 said:

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Porteroso said:

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Mitch Blood Green said:

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It's obvious that some guys entered the Transfer Portal, and the Transfer Portal entered some guys. Not speaking of Josh O but this roster got churned and it needed to. Team chemistry last year was poor.

---

We've never done all that well with a really young team. Our natty came because of vets. You can try spinning the team blowing up as good, but I don't think it is.

---

All vets are not created equal. This team wasn't winning a Natty relying on the likes of Celestine and a bunch of returning benchwarmers carrying us.

---

We're probably not winning a national championship with this group either. Hell, we'll be hard-pressed to contend for the Big 12 title.

But I do think this group could reach the second weekend of the NCAA tournament, which is progress over what we've had the past three seasons.

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It's gonna all come down to chemistry, which is something difficult to judge at this point with 100% turnover. However, on paper, this could be a much more fun TEAM to watch than this past year's collection of individuals but of course that remains to be seen when November rolls around. I'll start the season envisioning this team as capable at fighting for a spot somewhere between 5-10 in the conference and shooting for a NCAA invitation, while holding out hope we are that 1 team each year that gets underestimated in preseason and overproduces during the year the way Tech did last year.

Other than waiting to see if VJ was going to have an electrical moment, this was about the least fun I've had watching Baylor basketball in many, many years. I loved VJ, appreciated Omier, and was impressed at times by Rob. The rest were, just, the rest and collectively as a team it was just pure blah.

bear2be2 said:

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Crawfoso1973 said:

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Porteroso said:

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Mitch Blood Green said:

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It's obvious that some guys entered the Transfer Portal, and the Transfer Portal entered some guys. Not speaking of Josh O but this roster got churned and it needed to. Team chemistry last year was poor.

---

We've never done all that well with a really young team. Our natty came because of vets. You can try spinning the team blowing up as good, but I don't think it is.

---

All vets are not created equal. This team wasn't winning a Natty relying on the likes of Celestine and a bunch of returning benchwarmers carrying us.

---

We're probably not winning a national championship with this group either. Hell, we'll be hard-pressed to contend for the Big 12 title.

But I do think this group could reach the second weekend of the NCAA tournament, which is progress over what we've had the past three seasons.

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I am pleased with what Coaches have been able to put together in a couple of weeks, but this team is far from competitive qt the conference and NCAA level. My count may be off, but I believe we have 7 scholarship plays currently committed. We still have a long way to go to fill the roster. As for Josh, I understand a player in his position being in a predicament, having limited eligibility remaining and the uncertainty as to when he will be cleared to play again. As far as I knew, Coaches were happy with Josh and didn't want to see him go. If he gets a better deal elsewhere, best of luck to him. If not, hoping he thinks about returning. He might be better served by redshirting next year, which would give us at least one player returning 26-27.

Don't we have 8 ?

Agbim
White
Carr
Yessoufou
Skillings
Rataj
Powell
Bodo Bodo

Big12Fan2024 said:

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Don't we have 8 ?

Agbim
White
Carr
Yessoufou
Skillings
Rataj
Powell
Bodo Bodo

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This is correct. And outside of a second point guard and a couple of developmental wildcards, what you see is very likely what we'll get this season in terms of our rotation.

But I like this roster a lot.

We've got multiple high percentage shooters, guys who can score and create off the bounce, elite length and two real post players. Add Duke Miles (or someone of similar quality) as the second point guard, and I'll be thrilled with this portal haul.

It will have exceeded any expectations I had for next year's roster -- both in quality and depth.

TWD 1974 said:

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bear2be2 said:

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Crawfoso1973 said:

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Porteroso said:

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Mitch Blood Green said:

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It's obvious that some guys entered the Transfer Portal, and the Transfer Portal entered some guys. Not speaking of Josh O but this roster got churned and it needed to. Team chemistry last year was poor.

---

We've never done all that well with a really young team. Our natty came because of vets. You can try spinning the team blowing up as good, but I don't think it is.

---

All vets are not created equal. This team wasn't winning a Natty relying on the likes of Celestine and a bunch of returning benchwarmers carrying us.

---

We're probably not winning a national championship with this group either. Hell, we'll be hard-pressed to contend for the Big 12 title.

But I do think this group could reach the second weekend of the NCAA tournament, which is progress over what we've had the past three seasons.

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I am pleased with what Coaches have been able to put together in a couple of weeks, but this team is far from competitive qt the conference and NCAA level. My count may be off, but I believe we have 7 scholarship plays currently committed. We still have a long way to go to fill the roster. As for Josh, I understand a player in his position being in a predicament, having limited eligibility remaining and the uncertainty as to when he will be cleared to play again. As far as I knew, Coaches were happy with Josh and didn't want to see him go. If he gets a better deal elsewhere, best of luck to him. If not, hoping he thinks about returning. He might be better served by redshirting next year, which would give us at least one player returning 26-27.

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Both Carr and Bodo Bodo will be juniors this season, so they could theoretically return in 2026-27 as well.

Yep. I'm thinking Drew is shooting for another PG and then a big who is inexpensive from a NIL perspective, but can give you 10 minutes a game (like the Chatfield kid at Iowa St this year) and probably averaged 4 or 5 points and 3 or 4 rebounds at whatever school he comes from. That gets us to 10 guys who can play. Then, the other scholarships will go to players like Igoudala, who are current projects but high potential future (probably redshirt) or non-scholarship walkons.

IvanBear said:

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bear2be2 said:

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Crawfoso1973 said:

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Porteroso said:

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Mitch Blood Green said:

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It's obvious that some guys entered the Transfer Portal, and the Transfer Portal entered some guys. Not speaking of Josh O but this roster got churned and it needed to. Team chemistry last year was poor.

---

We've never done all that well with a really young team. Our natty came because of vets. You can try spinning the team blowing up as good, but I don't think it is.

---

All vets are not created equal. This team wasn't winning a Natty relying on the likes of Celestine and a bunch of returning benchwarmers carrying us.

---

We're probably not winning a national championship with this group either. Hell, we'll be hard-pressed to contend for the Big 12 title.

But I do think this group could reach the second weekend of the NCAA tournament, which is progress over what we've had the past three seasons.

---

I'm not really believing anything until this team hits the court and it doesn't look like AAU basketball. I agree the roster is vastly superior. I don't like the point guard situation much right now and not sure we can do anything to salvage it to the level we need, and I'm still not sold that just because the roster looks better we'll suddenly have the team chemistry and cohesion necessary to be a sweet 16 level team.

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There are never any guarantees, and chemistry will be the key obviously. But I like the talent and fit for all of these guys.

Other than the number of one-year players, this is my kind of roster -- a bunch of hungry, blue-collar career overachievers, who (at least on paper) fit together really well.

Once we add our second point guard, we'll have talent and depth at every position -- with real options at the three, four and five.

We'll be able to go small, traditional or big with relatively little dropoff and should defend and rebound better than we have since 2022.

The proof will ultimately be in the pudding. But I've got no major complaints with the roster Scott Drew has built so far. He's managed to get me excited about next year, which I didn't expect to be after the way this season went and the offseason started.

Big12Fan2024 said:

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Yep. I'm thinking Drew is shooting for another PG and then a big who is inexpensive from a NIL perspective, but can give you 10 minutes a game (like the Chatfield kid at Iowa St this year) and probably averaged 4 or 5 points and 3 or 4 rebounds at whatever school he comes from. That gets us to 10 guys who can play. Then, the other scholarships will go to players like Igoudala, who are current projects but high potential future (probably redshirt) or non-scholarship walkons.

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I hope we go after a developmental power forward to back up Rataj. I think we're set at the five with Bodo Bodo and Powell. I like that combination a lot.

Correct. I said big but should have prefaced what I meant was a guy who could play 4 or 5 (big guy spots), if needed. Would be really nice if he has more than 1 year eligibility.

Under the present system, "deveoping" players will rightfully check their worth every year.

It is amazing how fast this type system has become normal. Many fans won't akknowledge it is aau year round. Player has good year, he's pretty much leaving or getting a big raise to stay. Or the hard part, getting cut like those 'good ole days' people don't want to mention.

Sad truth that every level will develop players for someone else.

The school needs to charge him for all the money they have spent on surgeries..

BluesBear said:

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The school needs to charge him for all the money they have spent on surgeries..

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Surgeries, plural? I know about the one. Do you work for the Insurance Company, because trust me, Insurance is covering that.

Culture of joy may have left but it left the fanbase early.

Damn. I just learned how to pronounce his name, and now you tell me he's leaving.

Porteroso said:

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Mitch Blood Green said:

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It's obvious that some guys entered the Transfer Portal, and the Transfer Portal entered some guys. Not speaking of Josh O but this roster got churned and it needed to. Team chemistry last year was poor.

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We've never done all that well with a really young team. Our natty came because of vets. You can try spinning the team blowing up as good, but I don't think it is.

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This.

Too much spinning going on.

Teams don't win churning out all new players every year. And we're no exception.

So....your solution would be to build around Love, Celestine, and a a bunch of scrubs and walkons?