Red Storm rising

The Pitino effect is real: St John’s snags yet another NYC-area prospect. Plus, Xavier adds another big and the NCAA isn’t happy with the waiver conversations.

Author

Mike Miller
September 13, 2023

Apologies for the delayed send this morning. A good Internet provider should never be taken for granted. #firstworldproblems

Let's get to the news.

1. St. John’s snags an NYC-area baller

New St. John’s coach Rick Pitino didn’t waste time revamping the 2023-24 roster. It’s filled with 12 new players, most of whom are upperclassmen transfers.

But the program’s future is also taking shape. Pitino snagged New Jersey product Simeon Wilcher away from UNC earlier this summer — Wilcher figures to play a prominent role off the bench this season — and added a significant piece in 2024 prospect Jaiden Glover.

The 6-5, 190-pound Glover is an ideal player for Pitino’s up-tempo, pressing approach. The 4-star recruit can defend multiple positions, is excellent in transition and a good shooter, all of which make him the type of player (a 3-and-D prototype) who has thrived previously under Pitino.

Plus, Glover can do things like this during a game.

Glover and Wilcher represent an important shift for St. John’s. The Red Storm rarely won recent recruiting battles for impact players in New Jersey and the NYC area. But having someone with Pitino’s stature changes that.

St. John’s must be delighted. Won’t be the last time, either.

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2. Xavier grabs a Slovenian big man

Xavier didn’t waste any time finding someone to fill Zach Freemantle replacement … sort of.

The senior big man is one of college basketball’s most potent scorers, averaging 15.2 ppg in 22 games last season. Plus, he shot 63% from beyond the arc, ensuring defenses have to respect his shot anywhere on the floor. But with Freemantle out until at least January as he recovers from foot surgery, Sean Miller’s squad needs some size.

Enter Sasa Ciani, a 20-year-old center from Slovenia, who’ll be at Xavier this fall. He’s 6-9, averaged 11.1 points and 6.9 rebounds in 27 games last season for KK Cedevita Junior, but was even better during the FIBA U20 Euros this summer. His counting stats jumped to 12.3 ppg and 8.6 rpg, and he posted a 14-14 game against Spain.

To be clear, he isn’t exactly Freemantle. FIBA’s website describes him as a good interior scorer, and can convert some shots from deep. But mostly, he’s a guy who’ll help others and the defense.

If Ciani and the other new international additions to Xavier’s roster, Lazar Djokovic and Gytis Nemeiksa, grab rebounds and set hard screens so new guards Dayvion McKnight and Quincy Olivari can find space to shoot, that’ll be a start. It’s not like having Freemantle, but I’m guessing a coach like Miller can adjust accordingly.

3. NCAA’s not happy about fans who are angry with it

When the NCAA ruled North Carolina receiver Tez Walker ineligible for the 2023 season, it surely expected some blowback from fans and boosters.

Apparently it wasn’t really ready.

The NCAA D-I board issued a lengthy statement on Tuesday in response to criticism about its Walker decision, including threats issued to some of its members.

The full statement is below.

"The NCAA is aware of violent – and possibly criminal – threats recently directed at committee members involved in regulatory decisions. The national office is coordinating with law enforcement and will continue to do whatever possible to support the volunteers who serve on these committees.

The Division I Board of Directors believes that NCAA staff and the committee are applying transfer waiver guidelines as intended by member schools and giving proper and full consideration to individual cases, including consulting a panel of licensed mental health experts for cases in which mental health is cited as a reason for transfer. The DI Board last year directed the DI Council to refine the guidelines for transfer waivers and apply those guidelines to the 2023-24 academic year. These new guidelines were supported unanimously by all 32 Division I conferences in January, and prior to that were widely supported by member schools and coaches associations.

Academic data demonstrates that transferring typically slows student-athletes' progress toward a degree, especially with those who transfer later. It stands to reason that multiple transfers would further slow time to a degree. Citing extenuating factors, such as mental health, does not necessarily support a waiver request but instead may, in some situations, suggest a student-athlete should be primarily focused on addressing those critical issues during the initial transition to a third school.

The DI Board Administrative Committee was briefed Monday on the current status of transfer waivers for this academic year. There are 21,685 student-athletes who entered the transfer portal this year. The bulk of those transfer students are first-time transfers who enrolled at their first schools and are now immediately eligible to compete at their new schools – which was the intent of the transfer rule change. Of those who entered the portal, 3% would be multiple time transfers who would require a waiver to compete immediately for this academic year if enrolled at a new school.

The DI Board is troubled by the public remarks made last week by some of the University of North Carolina leadership. Those comments directly contradict what we and our fellow Division I members and coaches called for vociferously – including UNC's own football coach. We are a membership organization, and rather than pursue a public relations campaign that can contribute to a charged environment for our peers who volunteer on committees, we encourage members to use established and agreed upon procedures to voice concerns and propose and adopt rule or policy changes if they are dissatisfied."

- Jere Morehead, chair of DI Board and president at University of Georgia and - Christopher Pietruszkiewicz, vice chair of DI Board and president at University of Evansville

A couple things to note for basketball:

  • We’ll almost certainly see a similar type of ruling for a notable multi-time transfer who expects to play in 2023-24. How the fan base(s) and coaches react will be interesting after this public statement.

  • Since 2021, players can transfer whenever and wherever once without losing a year of eligibility. After that, a waiver is required. The last few years have included some players who were cleared despite already using that one-time transfer. The NCAA is trying to walk that back.

  • It says 21,685 student-athletes entered the transfer portal this year, but 3% of them — about 650 — are multiple-time transfers.

There are dozens of multiple-time transfers awaiting news on waivers for the upcoming season. Given this statement, we shouldn’t expect to see them on the court this year.

Hoos this?

Is this really Virginia basketball? Tony Bennett’s program has always relied on a core of players that it develops into winners. But with seven newcomers this season, has Virginia taken a new track to what’s always served Virginia well? Because Rob Dauster doesn’t mind all of their moves.

Links as you search for updates on Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift.

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