How many spots does Linder have to fill?

Fri Mar 03, 2023 12:56 pm

Any prospects for who might be on the radar to fill said spots? I am very negative toward the port-hole considering Linder and co's horrific track record this season. I hope he has a rabbit in his hat.

Fri Mar 03, 2023 1:27 pm

LawPoke wrote: ↑Fri Mar 03, 2023 12:56 pm Any prospects for who might be on the radar to fill said spots? I am very negative toward the port-hole considering Linder and co's horrific track record this season. I hope he has a rabbit in his hat.

Wenzel was a good addition through the portal. The califonia quitters were abject failures and cancers to the program.

I am a fan of JC kids to plug holes. Drake Jeffries came from a JC. There have to be good JC kids that can come in and contribute.

Fri Mar 03, 2023 2:26 pm

LawPoke wrote: ↑Fri Mar 03, 2023 12:56 pm Any prospects for who might be on the radar to fill said spots? I am very negative toward the port-hole considering Linder and co's horrific track record this season. I hope he has a rabbit in his hat.

Sundance Wicks (filling in for Linder) recently stated:

"Yes, this entire team should have a chip on their shoulder," he said matter-of-factly. "The people that come back -- whoever decides to come back and 'Ride for the Brand' like they should ... and have that Poke pride -- they should have a chip on their shoulder. You never just shut the season off and say, 'This year didn't exist. This year didn't happen.' You should take all these little things that happened in the course of this year and use those as lessons for the future and grow from that, learn from that. And that will make you a remarkable team next year, having learned those lessons and stayed the course."

Sounds to me that next year's roster makeup is potentially in flux. A few wins in the MWC tourney would help the cause.

Sat Mar 04, 2023 7:15 am

Hopefully this current roster stays intact and we don't get any earth shattering news later this month!!!

Sat Mar 04, 2023 11:14 am

OrediggerPoke wrote: ↑Fri Mar 03, 2023 2:26 pm A few wins in the MWC tourney would help the cause.

I would say that if they’re leaving they’re leaving and any tourney performance would be to showcase their talent and boost their prospects

Sat Mar 04, 2023 6:49 pm

Navel-gazing...

Mon Mar 06, 2023 8:28 am

laxwyo wrote: ↑Sat Mar 04, 2023 11:14 am
OrediggerPoke wrote: ↑Fri Mar 03, 2023 2:26 pm A few wins in the MWC tourney would help the cause.
I would say that if they’re leaving they’re leaving and any tourney performance would be to showcase their talent and boost their prospects

I think you are right. The decision to leave or stay is only tenuously connected to on-court stuff. If a guy is not liking his situation, a good tourney run probably doesn't do much one way or another. Heck...you could probably make the case that a bad performance to end a season may leave a bad taste in a players mouth who would then want to go back and prove any doubters wrong.

Many keystrokes have been wasted on this topic on message boards across the land. I posted on the football forum that, IMO, talent will flow away from Wyoming. The loss of big time talents will hurt, but the death knell will be in the constant churn of guys moving laterally. Consistency was always hard for Wyoming to achieve but now it will be next to impossible. Yes, we can always backfill for the non-star that leaves with a player that is close in terms of talent, but we lose the institutional stability that was represented by a guy being with the program for 3+ (or even 2+) years.

Mon Mar 06, 2023 9:32 am

307bball wrote: ↑Mon Mar 06, 2023 8:28 am
laxwyo wrote: ↑Sat Mar 04, 2023 11:14 am

I would say that if they’re leaving they’re leaving and any tourney performance would be to showcase their talent and boost their prospects
I think you are right. The decision to leave or stay is only tenuously connected to on-court stuff. If a guy is not liking his situation, a good tourney run probably doesn't do much one way or another. Heck...you could probably make the case that a bad performance to end a season may leave a bad taste in a players mouth who would then want to go back and prove any doubters wrong.

Many keystrokes have been wasted on this topic on message boards across the land. I posted on the football forum that, IMO, talent will flow away from Wyoming. The loss of big time talents will hurt, but the death knell will be in the constant churn of guys moving laterally. Consistency was always hard for Wyoming to achieve but now it will be next to impossible. Yes, we can always backfill for the non-star that leaves with a player that is close in terms of talent, but we lose the institutional stability that was represented by a guy being with the program for 3+ (or even 2+) years.

You stated it far better than I could. The days of keeping Larry Nance Jr. and Josh Adams for 4 years is over. Without big time impact players who stay and bring stability to the program, I don't see much hope that we ever have more than a rare competitive season.

Mon Mar 06, 2023 10:19 am

Turning over 1/3 of your roster every year has never been a recipe for success at UW. If we look back at the success, we have had over the years the one thing those teams had in common was players who had been in the program for years and even red-shirted a year. (I believe Nate is the only player to red-shirt under Linder who returned the next year.) I do expect more news in the next couple of weeks, as well as more scholarships to become available. The coaching staff is going to have to look at all their options recruiting (JUCO, Transfer portal, Freshman) if they are going to fill all available scholarships for next year. The late signing period is not the best time to try and fill half or more of your 13 scholarships. I am having trouble seeing how this gets better any time soon.

Mon Mar 06, 2023 11:29 am

307bball wrote: ↑Mon Mar 06, 2023 8:28 am
laxwyo wrote: ↑Sat Mar 04, 2023 11:14 am

I would say that if they’re leaving they’re leaving and any tourney performance would be to showcase their talent and boost their prospects
I think you are right. The decision to leave or stay is only tenuously connected to on-court stuff. If a guy is not liking his situation, a good tourney run probably doesn't do much one way or another. Heck...you could probably make the case that a bad performance to end a season may leave a bad taste in a players mouth who would then want to go back and prove any doubters wrong.

Many keystrokes have been wasted on this topic on message boards across the land. I posted on the football forum that, IMO, talent will flow away from Wyoming. The loss of big time talents will hurt, but the death knell will be in the constant churn of guys moving laterally. Consistency was always hard for Wyoming to achieve but now it will be next to impossible. Yes, we can always backfill for the non-star that leaves with a player that is close in terms of talent, but we lose the institutional stability that was represented by a guy being with the program for 3+ (or even 2+) years.

Disagree.

It is going to take a real "CEO / Leader" type to keep WYOMING competitive in all athletics - it is not impossible, and never was. Of course some posters here will disagree, but those are the "do less with less" people (like, well, our current AD - top down). It will work for the people like *cough / barf" Neon Deion and similar, that don't just wallow in their own piss thinking "poor me, I am a sad" and somebody else (or something else) is to blame for my mediocrity.

Mon Mar 06, 2023 3:02 pm

McPeachy wrote: ↑Mon Mar 06, 2023 11:29 am
307bball wrote: ↑Mon Mar 06, 2023 8:28 am

I think you are right. The decision to leave or stay is only tenuously connected to on-court stuff. If a guy is not liking his situation, a good tourney run probably doesn't do much one way or another. Heck...you could probably make the case that a bad performance to end a season may leave a bad taste in a players mouth who would then want to go back and prove any doubters wrong.

Many keystrokes have been wasted on this topic on message boards across the land. I posted on the football forum that, IMO, talent will flow away from Wyoming. The loss of big time talents will hurt, but the death knell will be in the constant churn of guys moving laterally. Consistency was always hard for Wyoming to achieve but now it will be next to impossible. Yes, we can always backfill for the non-star that leaves with a player that is close in terms of talent, but we lose the institutional stability that was represented by a guy being with the program for 3+ (or even 2+) years.
Disagree.

It is going to take a real "CEO / Leader" type to keep WYOMING competitive in all athletics - it is not impossible, and never was. Of course some posters here will disagree, but those are the "do less with less" people (like, well, our current AD - top down). It will work for the people like *cough / barf" Neon Deion and similar, that don't just wallow in their own piss thinking "poor me, I am a sad" and somebody else (or something else) is to blame for my mediocrity.

Well...while I agree it is not impossible, that is an agreement about the technical meaning of the word....as Lloyd Christmas said in Dumb and Dumber..."so your telling me there's a chance!"

Also....I'm not going to hold my breath that a personality that is at the level of Deion Sanders will ever deign to take over the program. Finally...things happen for a reason. There are reasons that a malaise has settled over Wyoming athletics. The personnel that is running the show in Laramie are a part of that reason but they are not the reason. Unfortunately....the personnel ruining the show is probably the easiest cause of our mediocrity to fix.....and we can't even seem to do that.

Lets assume that you are right in your assessment of the "do less with less" attitude. Imagine that were removed completely. Replaced with hard charging, results demanding types. Just because your have that orientation towards the task at hand does not make somebody good at their job, so let's also assume that this hypothetical person is at least above average as an administrator (Coach, AD, University president .. whatever). Are we better? Seems like an easy question to answer right? I mean, we've just replaced the dead wood with exciting new driven visionary people so why not? That is probably true, but how much better? All of the stuff that the new folks would want to do also comes with a hefty price tag...not to mention the cost in compensation of having that group employed. So let's set aside the barrier of direct compensation. Even if somehow all of that were to come to fruition...the dollar signs are not there anywhere else. The market is tiny and unattractive to broadcast partners...the NIL possibilities are extremely limited so even if there is some uptick in talent on the front end...talent will continue to leave. I'm long past being "sad" about Wyoming athletics...heck, Wyoming has punched above it's weight since I was a kid...but those times seem very far in the rear view nowadays.