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Baylor Basketball

Breaking: Baylor Adds Isaac Williams from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi

April 25, 2025
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Texas A&M Corpus Christi combo guard Isaac Williams has committed to head coach Scott Drew and Baylor and becomes the eighth transfer portal addition for the Bears' 2025 class, joining Tennessee wing Cameron Carr, Wyoming guard Obi Agbim, Oregon State forward Michael Rataj, Omaha guard JJ White, High Point center Juslin Bodo Bodo, Rice forward Caden Powell and Cincinnati wing Dan Skillings Jr.

Williams, a 6-foot-2, 190-pound athletic wing, averaged 10.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.1 steals per game this season. He plays with a strong, physical edge on offense and defense. Williams has a 6-foot-5 wingspan.  

He shot 44% from the field and is good at attacking the rim, but shot only 22% from 3-point range and 45% from the free-throw line. Improving his shooting will be a primary focus for his development.  

Originally from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Williams played with Ja’Kobe Walter on Trae Young’s AAU team. He has three years of eligibility left and is a rising sophomore.

Why The Fit Looks Good

As Baylor attempts to rebuild their culture with ultra-competitive, hard-working, longer wingspan, and tough players, Williams fits the mold for what they are looking to build for the future. He may never reach this type of ceiling, but he has some of the same traits that a young Davion Mitchell had. He’s a high-character guy, but he just needs to put in long hours in the gym to hone his shooting. I love this as a low-risk, high-ceiling pick-up.  

Discussion from...

Breaking: Baylor Adds Isaac Williams from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi

5,235 Views | 30 Replies | Last: 14 days ago by Crawfoso1973
boykin_spaniel
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7:41p, 4/25/25
Seems like the type of guy we've had success developing in the past if we can get him to stick around.
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Bearsalwayswin
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7:54p, 4/25/25
I like it….played with jakobe……
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chorne68
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9:48p, 4/25/25
Is he a walk on? It does not look like he can shoot the basketball. 22 percent from three-point range and 45 percent from the free throw line. Those are bad center numbers not guard numbers.
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HoustonBear15
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In reply to chorne68 • 1:12a, 4/26/25
chorne68 said:
Is he a walk on? It does not look like he can shoot the basketball. 22 percent from three-point range and 45 percent from the free throw line. Those are bad center numbers not guard numbers.
He didn't seem to take a lot of 3s last season according to stats. Only 32 attempts which made up less than 18% of his total shots. He was TAMU-CC's leading assister, so developing as a guard that can drive, hit midrange, and dish the ball may be what the aim is. Would be nice to see the 3P and FT %s rise alongside that though.
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Johnny Bear
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10:06a, 4/26/25
Sounds like (at least to start with) an end of the bench practice player who will most likely only see the floor during the last minute or so of blowout games - which we do need two or three of those types on the squad.
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Big12Fan2024
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12:44p, 4/26/25
Correct, JB. But the difference to me is that the 3 or 4 guys we had toward the end of the bench last year did not have the skills to play in anything other than a blowout. This kid, notwithstanding the FT shooting % that is perplexing, actually has shown he can compete and may be able to give 5-10 minutes, if necessary, in a Big 12 game if called upon this year (if he doesn't also redshirt; I have no idea what the plan is).

The kid basically went into West Lafayette in his first game as a college basketball player and performed well against Purdue's best player and starting PG who was the consensus B1G Player the Year and a consensus All American at PG. Williams scored the same number of points as Braden Smith, shot almost 50% from the field and had 3 steals against him. And it wasn't because Smith sat out because it was a blowout. Smith played 35 of the 40 minutes. Omar Adegbola, Kaleb Jackson, Yanis Ndjonga and Davidson Hubbard wouldn't have done that. I don't think Jason Asemota or Marino Dubravcic would have either. So that's already more than 6 guys on our roster from last year.

I think some of our fans (not referring to you, JB) are starting to feel entitled as if Drew has a $20 million budget and that every P4-P5 starter has some burning desire to play in Waco. Whether anyone agrees with him or not, Drew has basically filled his starting positions and most players and agents realize that as well so Drew's pool has shrunk. We're not landing PJ Haggerty, the kid from USC (can't think of his name, starting PG) or a host of other starters wanting $2.5 to $5 million. Drew is simply using the bits and pieces of his budget to fill out a more playable full roster than what everyone b itched about last year. And that is what he did here, with a kid who could possibly grow with the program over 3 more years (yes, I realize he could also leave at the end of one but Drew goes and should go into it with an optimistic vision). I know I'm guilty of b itching from time to time but some of our fans just seem to want to wallow in it and never give Drew any credit.

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bear2be2
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2:10p, 4/26/25
I like this, but I'm higher on JJ White as a starting caliber point guard than most.

Either way, I like adding a promising player with three years left. He has time to work on his shot. But he already does some things that will help us in backup minutes next season.
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bear2be2
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In reply to Big12Fan2024 • 2:16p, 4/26/25
Big12Fan2024 said:
Correct, JB. But the difference to me is that the 3 or 4 guys we had toward the end of the bench last year did not have the skills to play in anything other than a blowout. This kid, notwithstanding the FT shooting % that is perplexing, actually has shown he can compete and may be able to give 5-10 minutes, if necessary, in a Big 12 game if called upon this year (if he doesn't also redshirt; I have no idea what the plan is).

The kid basically went into West Lafayette in his first game as a college basketball player and performed well against Purdue's best player and starting PG who was the consensus B1G Player the Year and a consensus All American at PG. Williams scored the same number of points as Braden Smith, shot almost 50% from the field and had 3 steals against him. And it wasn't because Smith sat out because it was a blowout. Smith played 35 of the 40 minutes. Omar Adegbola, Kaleb Jackson, Yanis Ndjonga and Davidson Hubbard wouldn't have done that. I don't think Jason Asemota or Marino Dubravcic would have either. So that's already more than 6 guys on our roster from last year.

I think some of our fans (not referring to you, JB) are starting to feel entitled as if Drew has a $20 million budget and that every P4-P5 starter has some burning desire to play in Waco. Whether anyone agrees with him or not, Drew has basically filled his starting positions and most players and agents realize that as well so Drew's pool has shrunk. We're not landing PJ Haggerty, the kid from USC (can't think of his name, starting PG) or a host of other starters wanting $2.5 to $5 million. Drew is simply using the bits and pieces of his budget to fill out a more playable full roster than what everyone b itched about last year. And that is what he did here, with a kid who could possibly grow with the program over 3 more years (yes, I realize he could also leave at the end of one but Drew goes and should go into it with an optimistic vision). I know I'm guilty of b itching from time to time but some of our fans just seem to want to wallow in it and never give Drew any credit.

It's funny. I like this roster more than I have any since 2022. These are the types of blue-collar, chip-on-their-shoulder, productive-but-unheralded players I love. Our program has had a ton of success in the past with players just like these.

Obviously the ultimate grade will come next March, but I give Scott Drew a solid A for this offseason.
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Ewalker80
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3:24p, 4/26/25
In my opinion we definitely need a pg that can score and create scoring opportunities (particularly in pick and roll). There's still a giant roughly rob wright-shaped whole in the middle of the roster, and if we don't fill with an elite scorer I could see our offensive ranking drop as low as it's been since 2019. But this whole time I've been assuming we would pony up for an elite pg to replace RW3. If so I really like the other pieces but we need a pilot for the plane.
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Adriacus Peratuun
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3:25p, 4/26/25
Calculated decision by staff that for development level guards it is easier to take a decent athlete and fix his shooting mechanics than to take a more skilled player and try to improve his athleticism.
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Crawfoso1973
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In reply to Adriacus Peratuun • 4:20p, 4/26/25
Adriacus Peratuun said:
Calculated decision by staff that for development level guards it is easier to take a decent athlete and fix his shooting mechanics than to take a more skilled player and try to improve his athleticism.
Sadly we might be fixing his shooting only to see him to transfer after next season.
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EvilTroyAndAbed
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In reply to Crawfoso1973 • 4:31p, 4/26/25
Crawfoso1973 said:
Adriacus Peratuun said:
Calculated decision by staff that for development level guards it is easier to take a decent athlete and fix his shooting mechanics than to take a more skilled player and try to improve his athleticism.
Sadly we might be fixing his shooting only to see him to transfer after next season.


Quit being such a miserable downer. Go watch Paddington 2 or something.
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Crawfoso1973
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In reply to EvilTroyAndAbed • 4:33p, 4/26/25
EvilTroyAndAbed said:
Crawfoso1973 said:
Adriacus Peratuun said:
Calculated decision by staff that for development level guards it is easier to take a decent athlete and fix his shooting mechanics than to take a more skilled player and try to improve his athleticism.
Sadly we might be fixing his shooting only to see him to transfer after next season.


Quit being such a miserable downer. Go watch Paddington 2 or something.
Ha, I am not miserable nor a downer. Just a realist. NIL and transfer portal need to be reigned in.
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Adriacus Peratuun
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In reply to Crawfoso1973 • 4:44p, 4/26/25
Crawfoso1973 said:
Adriacus Peratuun said:
Calculated decision by staff that for development level guards it is easier to take a decent athlete and fix his shooting mechanics than to take a more skilled player and try to improve his athleticism.
Sadly we might be fixing his shooting only to see him to transfer after next season.


Without any 2025/2026 game tape to market himself, that risk is both tiny and acceptable.

Stop looking for problems. Real problems introduce themselves without people looking.

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bear2be2
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In reply to Ewalker80 • 6:41p, 4/26/25
Ewalker80 said:
In my opinion we definitely need a pg that can score and create scoring opportunities (particularly in pick and roll). There's still a giant roughly rob wright-shaped whole in the middle of the roster, and if we don't fill with an elite scorer I could see our offensive ranking drop as low as it's been since 2019. But this whole time I've been assuming we would pony up for an elite pg to replace RW3. If so I really like the other pieces but we need a pilot for the plane.
There are only so many shots to go around.

Agbim (13.5 FG attempts per game last year), Rataj (12.3 FGA per game), White (9.2 FGA per game), Skillings (8.3 FGA per game) and Powell (6.7 FGA per game) were all brought in and all came with the expectation of being key/contributing parts of the offense. Carr transferred in and Yessoufou signed with those same expectations.

I'm sure we wouldn't turn down another high level scorer. But the scoring roles are pretty well covered with the work we've already done in the portal. We need a playmaker more than we need a scorer, and Williams might be able to help us there in a limited capacity.
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bear2be2
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6:48p, 4/26/25
Here are Williams' highlights from this past season. He was the second-leading scorer, leading assist man and was tied for for first in steals on a 20-win A&M-Corpus Christi squad as a freshman.

Watching his tape, his length (for his size), athleticism and finishing ability jump out. And his jump shot doesn't look completely broken despite the poor percentages.

EDIT: These College Basketball Scouting videos are awesome by the way. It really gives you a good idea of what players' strengths and weaknesses are and helps you learn quickly about guys whose game you might not be familiar with.

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Ewalker80
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In reply to bear2be2 • 8:25p, 4/26/25
bear2be2 said:
Ewalker80 said:
In my opinion we definitely need a pg that can score and create scoring opportunities (particularly in pick and roll). There's still a giant roughly rob wright-shaped whole in the middle of the roster, and if we don't fill with an elite scorer I could see our offensive ranking drop as low as it's been since 2019. But this whole time I've been assuming we would pony up for an elite pg to replace RW3. If so I really like the other pieces but we need a pilot for the plane.
There are only so many shots to go around.

Agbim (13.5 FG attempts per game last year), Rataj (12.3 FGA per game), White (9.2 FGA per game), Skillings (8.3 FGA per game) and Powell (6.7 FGA per game) were all brought in and all came with the expectation of being key/contributing parts of the offense. Carr transferred in and Yessoufou signed with those same expectations.

I'm sure we wouldn't turn down another high level scorer. But the scoring roles are pretty well covered with the work we've already done in the portal. We need a playmaker more than we need a scorer, and Williams might be able to help us there in a limited capacity.



Perhaps you are right but in past seasons we have gotten such a high percentage of our scoring from 1-3, and we don't have a single proven scorer at 1-3 at power five level. Of course obi should translate well but we have almost always had an elite pg or two elite cgs. It's been a very long time since our starting pg was only supposed to be a serviceable player.
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bear2be2
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In reply to Ewalker80 • 8:33p, 4/26/25
Ewalker80 said:
bear2be2 said:
Ewalker80 said:
In my opinion we definitely need a pg that can score and create scoring opportunities (particularly in pick and roll). There's still a giant roughly rob wright-shaped whole in the middle of the roster, and if we don't fill with an elite scorer I could see our offensive ranking drop as low as it's been since 2019. But this whole time I've been assuming we would pony up for an elite pg to replace RW3. If so I really like the other pieces but we need a pilot for the plane.
There are only so many shots to go around.

Agbim (13.5 FG attempts per game last year), Rataj (12.3 FGA per game), White (9.2 FGA per game), Skillings (8.3 FGA per game) and Powell (6.7 FGA per game) were all brought in and all came with the expectation of being key/contributing parts of the offense. Carr transferred in and Yessoufou signed with those same expectations.

I'm sure we wouldn't turn down another high level scorer. But the scoring roles are pretty well covered with the work we've already done in the portal. We need a playmaker more than we need a scorer, and Williams might be able to help us there in a limited capacity.
Perhaps you are right but in past seasons we have gotten such a high percentage of our scoring from 1-3, and we don't have a single proven scorer at 1-3 at power five level. Of course obi should translate well but we have almost always had an elite pg or two elite cgs. It's been a very long time since our starting pg was only supposed to be a serviceable player.
I don't get caught up in the power conference/mid-major stuff when looking at transfers. If you look, some of the best transfers on the best teams in the country last year were guys who came up from the mid-major ranks. And many of our best transfers have been as well.

The thing I love about this transfer class is that the guys we're adding are all either high-efficiency scorers -- Agbim (20.0 Player Efficiency Rating in 2024-25), White (21.2 PER in 24-25), Rataj (23.1 PER in 24-25) and Powell (22.9 PER in 24-25) -- or possess some attribute(s) or skill(s) that we've lacked in recent years -- Williams (driving and finishing and potentially perimeter defense), Skillings (length and versatility from the wing position) and Bodo Bodo (elite offensive rebounding and rim protection).

Add in the potential that Yessoufou and Carr bring, and I think there's legitimate reason for optimism for the upcoming season.
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Adriacus Peratuun
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In reply to bear2be2 • 8:40p, 4/26/25
bear2be2 said:
Ewalker80 said:
In my opinion we definitely need a pg that can score and create scoring opportunities (particularly in pick and roll). There's still a giant roughly rob wright-shaped whole in the middle of the roster, and if we don't fill with an elite scorer I could see our offensive ranking drop as low as it's been since 2019. But this whole time I've been assuming we would pony up for an elite pg to replace RW3. If so I really like the other pieces but we need a pilot for the plane.
There are only so many shots to go around.

Agbim (13.5 FG attempts per game last year), Rataj (12.3 FGA per game), White (9.2 FGA per game), Skillings (8.3 FGA per game) and Powell (6.7 FGA per game) were all brought in and all came with the expectation of being key/contributing parts of the offense. Carr transferred in and Yessoufou signed with those same expectations.

I'm sure we wouldn't turn down another high level scorer. But the scoring roles are pretty well covered with the work we've already done in the portal. We need a playmaker more than we need a scorer, and Williams might be able to help us there in a limited capacity.


Call it the Caleb Lohner Rule. When two players will not/cannot make jump shots and the D only needs to guard 3 plus a screener, O is really really really hard.
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bear2be2
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In reply to Adriacus Peratuun • 8:51p, 4/26/25
Adriacus Peratuun said:
bear2be2 said:
Ewalker80 said:
In my opinion we definitely need a pg that can score and create scoring opportunities (particularly in pick and roll). There's still a giant roughly rob wright-shaped whole in the middle of the roster, and if we don't fill with an elite scorer I could see our offensive ranking drop as low as it's been since 2019. But this whole time I've been assuming we would pony up for an elite pg to replace RW3. If so I really like the other pieces but we need a pilot for the plane.
There are only so many shots to go around.

Agbim (13.5 FG attempts per game last year), Rataj (12.3 FGA per game), White (9.2 FGA per game), Skillings (8.3 FGA per game) and Powell (6.7 FGA per game) were all brought in and all came with the expectation of being key/contributing parts of the offense. Carr transferred in and Yessoufou signed with those same expectations.

I'm sure we wouldn't turn down another high level scorer. But the scoring roles are pretty well covered with the work we've already done in the portal. We need a playmaker more than we need a scorer, and Williams might be able to help us there in a limited capacity.


Call it the Caleb Lohner Rule. When two players will not/cannot make jump shots and the D only needs to guard 3 plus a screener, O is really really really hard.
You've misdiagnosed the Caleb Lohner rule IMO. When two players on the floor are not offensive threats, offense is really hard.

But you can be an offensive threat without being a 3-point shooter. Hell, the greatest player of all time shot 32.7 percent from 3 on less than two attempts per game for his career.

Williams can't shoot from the outside, but he is an offensive threat. He can get to the rim and finish once there really well. If you don't guard him, he can make you pay -- something Lohner could never do.
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Adriacus Peratuun
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In reply to bear2be2 • 8:58p, 4/26/25
bear2be2 said:
Adriacus Peratuun said:
bear2be2 said:
Ewalker80 said:
In my opinion we definitely need a pg that can score and create scoring opportunities (particularly in pick and roll). There's still a giant roughly rob wright-shaped whole in the middle of the roster, and if we don't fill with an elite scorer I could see our offensive ranking drop as low as it's been since 2019. But this whole time I've been assuming we would pony up for an elite pg to replace RW3. If so I really like the other pieces but we need a pilot for the plane.
There are only so many shots to go around.

Agbim (13.5 FG attempts per game last year), Rataj (12.3 FGA per game), White (9.2 FGA per game), Skillings (8.3 FGA per game) and Powell (6.7 FGA per game) were all brought in and all came with the expectation of being key/contributing parts of the offense. Carr transferred in and Yessoufou signed with those same expectations.

I'm sure we wouldn't turn down another high level scorer. But the scoring roles are pretty well covered with the work we've already done in the portal. We need a playmaker more than we need a scorer, and Williams might be able to help us there in a limited capacity.


Call it the Caleb Lohner Rule. When two players will not/cannot make jump shots and the D only needs to guard 3 plus a screener, O is really really really hard.
You've misdiagnosed the Caleb Lohner rule IMO. When two players on the floor are not offensive threats, offense is really hard.

But you can be an offensive threat without being a 3-point shooter. Hell, the greatest player of all time shot 32.7 percent from 3 on less than two attempts per game for his career.

Williams can't shoot from the outside, but he is an offensive threat. He can get to the rim and finish once there really well. If you don't guard him, he can make you pay -- something Lohner could never do.


1) it is 2025 not the 1990s
2) spacing matters, really matters
3) there is a reason Drew looks for Stretch 4s and not the next Mark Vital.
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bear2be2
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In reply to Adriacus Peratuun • 9:02p, 4/26/25
Adriacus Peratuun said:
bear2be2 said:
Adriacus Peratuun said:
bear2be2 said:
Ewalker80 said:
In my opinion we definitely need a pg that can score and create scoring opportunities (particularly in pick and roll). There's still a giant roughly rob wright-shaped whole in the middle of the roster, and if we don't fill with an elite scorer I could see our offensive ranking drop as low as it's been since 2019. But this whole time I've been assuming we would pony up for an elite pg to replace RW3. If so I really like the other pieces but we need a pilot for the plane.
There are only so many shots to go around.

Agbim (13.5 FG attempts per game last year), Rataj (12.3 FGA per game), White (9.2 FGA per game), Skillings (8.3 FGA per game) and Powell (6.7 FGA per game) were all brought in and all came with the expectation of being key/contributing parts of the offense. Carr transferred in and Yessoufou signed with those same expectations.

I'm sure we wouldn't turn down another high level scorer. But the scoring roles are pretty well covered with the work we've already done in the portal. We need a playmaker more than we need a scorer, and Williams might be able to help us there in a limited capacity.


Call it the Caleb Lohner Rule. When two players will not/cannot make jump shots and the D only needs to guard 3 plus a screener, O is really really really hard.
You've misdiagnosed the Caleb Lohner rule IMO. When two players on the floor are not offensive threats, offense is really hard.

But you can be an offensive threat without being a 3-point shooter. Hell, the greatest player of all time shot 32.7 percent from 3 on less than two attempts per game for his career.

Williams can't shoot from the outside, but he is an offensive threat. He can get to the rim and finish once there really well. If you don't guard him, he can make you pay -- something Lohner could never do.


1) it is 2025 not the 1990s
2) spacing matters, really matters
3) there is a reason Drew looks for Stretch 4s and not the next Mark Vital.
How has that strategy (No. 3) worked out for our program?

Guys like Mark Vital are infinitely more valuable in the college game than run-of-the-mill stretch fours who shoot 34 percent from 3-point range.

And there were no fewer than a half dozen teams that proved in this past tournament that 3-point shooting isn't the end-all be-all in college basketball. The NBA-ification of the college game has just resulted in a bunch of teams that chuck a ton of 3s at poor percentages. We were one in 2024-25.
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Adriacus Peratuun
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In reply to bear2be2 • 9:15p, 4/26/25
bear2be2 said:
Adriacus Peratuun said:
bear2be2 said:
Adriacus Peratuun said:
bear2be2 said:
Ewalker80 said:
In my opinion we definitely need a pg that can score and create scoring opportunities (particularly in pick and roll). There's still a giant roughly rob wright-shaped whole in the middle of the roster, and if we don't fill with an elite scorer I could see our offensive ranking drop as low as it's been since 2019. But this whole time I've been assuming we would pony up for an elite pg to replace RW3. If so I really like the other pieces but we need a pilot for the plane.
There are only so many shots to go around.

Agbim (13.5 FG attempts per game last year), Rataj (12.3 FGA per game), White (9.2 FGA per game), Skillings (8.3 FGA per game) and Powell (6.7 FGA per game) were all brought in and all came with the expectation of being key/contributing parts of the offense. Carr transferred in and Yessoufou signed with those same expectations.

I'm sure we wouldn't turn down another high level scorer. But the scoring roles are pretty well covered with the work we've already done in the portal. We need a playmaker more than we need a scorer, and Williams might be able to help us there in a limited capacity.


Call it the Caleb Lohner Rule. When two players will not/cannot make jump shots and the D only needs to guard 3 plus a screener, O is really really really hard.
You've misdiagnosed the Caleb Lohner rule IMO. When two players on the floor are not offensive threats, offense is really hard.

But you can be an offensive threat without being a 3-point shooter. Hell, the greatest player of all time shot 32.7 percent from 3 on less than two attempts per game for his career.

Williams can't shoot from the outside, but he is an offensive threat. He can get to the rim and finish once there really well. If you don't guard him, he can make you pay -- something Lohner could never do.


1) it is 2025 not the 1990s
2) spacing matters, really matters
3) there is a reason Drew looks for Stretch 4s and not the next Mark Vital.
How has that strategy (No. 3) worked out for our program?

Guys like Mark Vital are infinitely more valuable in the college game than run-of-the-mill stretch fours who shoot 34 percent from 3-point range.

And there were no fewer than a half dozen teams that proved in this past tournament that 3-point shooting isn't the end-all be-all in college basketball. The NBA-ification of the college game has just resulted in a bunch of teams that chuck a ton of 3s at poor percentages. We were one in 2024-25.
False dichotomy. One item is individual player value, the other is team success. Player profile is important but clearly not the sole controlling component to success.

And whatever problems the team had over the past few years [depth, length, lack of D motor, lack of athleticism, schemes, etc.] were not fixable by a 1 who can't shoot. Shooting matters.

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bear2be2
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In reply to Adriacus Peratuun • 11:28p, 4/26/25
Adriacus Peratuun said:
bear2be2 said:
Adriacus Peratuun said:
bear2be2 said:
Adriacus Peratuun said:
bear2be2 said:
Ewalker80 said:
In my opinion we definitely need a pg that can score and create scoring opportunities (particularly in pick and roll). There's still a giant roughly rob wright-shaped whole in the middle of the roster, and if we don't fill with an elite scorer I could see our offensive ranking drop as low as it's been since 2019. But this whole time I've been assuming we would pony up for an elite pg to replace RW3. If so I really like the other pieces but we need a pilot for the plane.
There are only so many shots to go around.

Agbim (13.5 FG attempts per game last year), Rataj (12.3 FGA per game), White (9.2 FGA per game), Skillings (8.3 FGA per game) and Powell (6.7 FGA per game) were all brought in and all came with the expectation of being key/contributing parts of the offense. Carr transferred in and Yessoufou signed with those same expectations.

I'm sure we wouldn't turn down another high level scorer. But the scoring roles are pretty well covered with the work we've already done in the portal. We need a playmaker more than we need a scorer, and Williams might be able to help us there in a limited capacity.


Call it the Caleb Lohner Rule. When two players will not/cannot make jump shots and the D only needs to guard 3 plus a screener, O is really really really hard.
You've misdiagnosed the Caleb Lohner rule IMO. When two players on the floor are not offensive threats, offense is really hard.

But you can be an offensive threat without being a 3-point shooter. Hell, the greatest player of all time shot 32.7 percent from 3 on less than two attempts per game for his career.

Williams can't shoot from the outside, but he is an offensive threat. He can get to the rim and finish once there really well. If you don't guard him, he can make you pay -- something Lohner could never do.


1) it is 2025 not the 1990s
2) spacing matters, really matters
3) there is a reason Drew looks for Stretch 4s and not the next Mark Vital.
How has that strategy (No. 3) worked out for our program?

Guys like Mark Vital are infinitely more valuable in the college game than run-of-the-mill stretch fours who shoot 34 percent from 3-point range.

And there were no fewer than a half dozen teams that proved in this past tournament that 3-point shooting isn't the end-all be-all in college basketball. The NBA-ification of the college game has just resulted in a bunch of teams that chuck a ton of 3s at poor percentages. We were one in 2024-25.
False dichotomy. One item is individual player value, the other is team success. Player profile is important but clearly not the sole controlling component to success.

And whatever problems the team had over the past few years [depth, length, lack of D motor, lack of athleticism, schemes, etc.] were not fixable by a 1 who can't shoot. Shooting matters.
No one has said shooting doesn't matter. But this idea that you need four or five 3-point shooters on the floor at a time to win college basketball games is not only demonstrably untrue, it's absurd. There aren't enough good shooters in the college game for that to even be possible for more than a handful of teams in the country.

Give me five guys on the floor who have complementary skill sets and play their respective roles well over five "shooters" any day of the week.

There are a lot of ways to build a successful college basketball team. But one of the easiest ways to build a mediocre or worse one is to do what we did last year and put five "shooters" on the floor who can't actually shoot. Upwards of 24 3-point attempts per game at less than 35 percent is just bad offense.
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Crawfoso1973
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In reply to Adriacus Peratuun • 4:36a, 4/27/25
Adriacus Peratuun said:
Crawfoso1973 said:
Adriacus Peratuun said:
Calculated decision by staff that for development level guards it is easier to take a decent athlete and fix his shooting mechanics than to take a more skilled player and try to improve his athleticism.
Sadly we might be fixing his shooting only to see him to transfer after next season.


Without any 2025/2026 game tape to market himself, that risk is both tiny and acceptable.

Stop looking for problems. Real problems introduce themselves without people looking.

I am not looking for problems, the problem (lack of ability to develop players) has been evident in our program over the past 3-4 seasons. We have signed developmental guys during that time (Loveday, Little, the european big last season) only to see them fail to develop or leave after their one year. Until something changes - both our approach and transfer portal rules -- it's hard to get excited about bringing in developmental players and wasting resources on them knowing they will probably only stick around one year. Until proven otherwise, we should only be looking at this kid as a one year practice player, not as a building block that will pay off 2 or 3 years down the road.
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Quinton
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In reply to Crawfoso1973 • 11:17a, 4/27/25
I agree with both of you. I think we need more high potential multi year guys but I do like the roster mix here.

They still need a high end PG to make it work. If they get that, this could be a very underrated team with the right coaching (multi year question mark so no guarantee).
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Adriacus Peratuun
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In reply to Crawfoso1973 • 11:40a, 4/27/25
Crawfoso1973 said:
Adriacus Peratuun said:
Crawfoso1973 said:
Adriacus Peratuun said:
Calculated decision by staff that for development level guards it is easier to take a decent athlete and fix his shooting mechanics than to take a more skilled player and try to improve his athleticism.
Sadly we might be fixing his shooting only to see him to transfer after next season.


Without any 2025/2026 game tape to market himself, that risk is both tiny and acceptable.

Stop looking for problems. Real problems introduce themselves without people looking.

I am not looking for problems, the problem (lack of ability to develop players) has been evident in our program over the past 3-4 seasons. We have signed developmental guys during that time (Loveday, Little, the european big last season) only to see them fail to develop or leave after their one year. Until something changes - both our approach and transfer portal rules -- it's hard to get excited about bringing in developmental players and wasting resources on them knowing they will probably only stick around one year. Until proven otherwise, we should only be looking at this kid as a one year practice player, not as a building block that will pay off 2 or 3 years down the road.
Disagree.

1) low risk for potentially decent reward. The cost of a scholarship and minimum NIL [combined with sunk cost for coaching development] is low. If the player hits, likely can get 1-2 seasons of play at below market.

2) the fact that CSD has encountered a dry spell after several years of being on a heater is zero indicator that buy cheap and develop is a bad methodology. Every HOFer in every sport had dry spells.

3) Mitchell, Teague, Flagler, EJ……."until proven otherwise"? LMFAO
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Crawfoso1973
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3:19p, 4/27/25
#3 is making my point for me. That was back before the transfer portal, when guys could redshirt and develop .
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Adriacus Peratuun
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In reply to Crawfoso1973 • 3:38p, 4/27/25
Crawfoso1973 said:
#3 is making my point for me. That was back before the transfer portal, when guys could redshirt and develop .


Not so much.
Development remains a product of work over time.
Redshirting remains unchanged.

Divert and claim victory. Interesting tactic.
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Crawfoso1973
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5:36p, 4/27/25
Guys don't really redshirt and develop anymore after the advent of the portal....they will just transfer. The proof is in the pudding, we haven't been able to develop players since the Natty.
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