Beasley in Portal

[oldrunner]

He made the Big Sky All Conf team as a sophomore. This is a loss. Anyone saying different has their head in their ass.

I liked him every time I saw him play. He did seem a bit smaller than the 6'3'' that they list him at. Maybe he just played smaller, IDK. He and Owens played well against WSU. Some of the shots he made against us were of the miracle variety. I think he would have shot a higher percentage if so many of his shots were not at the very end of the shot clock, when things get a little rushed. He is certainly TD's kind of guy. He played as he was coached. I feel that it is a big lose for UM.

Maybe TD already has someone he feels is better lined up for next year. There are certainly a lot of good PGs in the portal right now and more added every day.

 

[AllWeatherFan]

Let me be the first (and only) person to admit that: (1) I have no idea what dynamics are at play; and (2) I’d rather have somebody who does know making the roster decisions. Somebody like the coach.

 

[Griz til I die]

He made the Big Sky All Conf team as a sophomore. This is a loss. Anyone saying different has their head in their ass.

He’s a good player don’t get me wrong, but I’ve taken some time to think about this and I think the reason the last 2 years is because of the dynamics of the guard play. I feel like none of our guards shared the ball very well, the ball movement sucked and that starts with them, and they just didn’t work it very well. Parker did the same thing and Whitney did at times too. They wanted to just take it themselves and either drive or pull up from 3. Now whether Decuire was telling them to do that or not, idk but I think blowing up that position and starting over may be just what this team needs.

 

[LittleBear]

Will be interesting to see what he gets...I can't imagine, from an individual perspective (and this is what I think his decision is based on) that it will be better than what he had at UM. Him and Bannan were essentially given the keys to the program. He was allowed to take tough shots, play through shooting slumps, and rarely played with the short leash that we saw most other players experience. Shit, we essentially threw Josh V. away to allow Beasley to play 30 minutes a game as a sophomore.

Your running mates are two guys you came to Missoula with, probably your roommates and closest friends on campus. All three of you play 30+ minutes a game. The pieces for the future are in place. So what exactly are you looking for?

I think moving forward this program has got to prioritize getting players who want to be Griz. People have mentioned MT kids, I think that also includes prioritizing the best from Idaho, Eastern WA, CO, maybe a couple region 9 juco role players, maybe a couple international players, and supplementing the roster with A COUPLE California hoopers. Dominating the roster with CA kids...a huge percentage just don't give a f**k about the program beyond their own success and the history of what it means to be a Griz. They have no connection to the school/culture beyond it being simply an individual opportunity. Just my opinion.

At some point the constant revolving door has got to stop. This program is starting to take the characteristics of the bad programs in the Big Sky that we've historically dominated. Let's get a couple more guys we don't have to promise the world to. A few guys we can redshirt, and who will accept their role as complimentary pieces for a couple years and won't transfer. This program needs stability.

 

[GrizSteve]

Cherry, Jamar, Akoh, Rorie, Morehead, Oguine &Pridgett, to name a few, had no ties to Montana and love being Griz and are great ambassadors for the program. Not sure where you come from matters, it’s how you embrace your circumstances, teammates etc

 

[fanofzoo]

Cherry, Jamar, Akoh, Rorie, Morehead, Oguine &Pridgett, to name a few, had no ties to Montana and love being Griz and are great ambassadors for the program. Not sure where you come from matters, it’s how you embrace your circumstances, teammates etc

Basketball life is now a "me first" approach, it will be rare to get all guys playing for the team (long term). This is what the portal brought us.

 

[wyomingriz]

Beasley in the portal now makes a roster that needed reliable big men, to a roster that needs help at every position. The point/wings were our strength, now with Parker and Beasley gone i can no longer say that. Those that say this is not a big deal are in another universe, this is terrible!

To say let's start over after this team has been building for three years now with little success, is just not acceptable. Now do we start over again? Will it be another 3 years before we are a conference contender? Quite frankly myself and my circle of friends/fans are steadily losing interest in this program

 

[LittleBear]

Cherry, Jamar, Akoh, Rorie, Morehead, Oguine &Pridgett, to name a few, had no ties to Montana and love being Griz and are great ambassadors for the program. Not sure where you come from matters, it’s how you embrace your circumstances, teammates etc

I never said that out of state guys couldn't love being Griz and the community. I do think region of origin matters tho, and it's important to emphasize signing guys who have familiarity with the program. Think of the LA guys. Maybe they weren't huge UCLA or USC fans, but they knew the players, scores, history of the programs just because they are hoopers and because it's what is available to them. Their parents, friends, teachers, close ones, probably have a more vested interest in local schools and their success as compared to a school across the country.

I do believe we're going to see, due to the ease of transferring with no penalty, a constantly revolving door in college programs. IMO its going to make less and less sense to sign a kid with no pre-existing knowledge or familiarity to the program. Many times they are using the opportunity as a launch pad to bigger opportunities, preferably closer to home (their comfort zone). Montana is an extreme example of this. It's an ethnically homogenous, cold, small market environment.

At a minimum, emphasizing a more regional recruiting base allows players to accurately portray the importance of what it means to be a Griz to out-of-state players. Who on the team had heard of Cat-Griz before moving to Montana? Who had access to Root Sports growing up and was able to watch/learn about the historical success of the Griz football team? Who had heard of Robin Selvig and the Lady Griz past success before coming to campus? Building a passion for the Griz, Missoula, and its history often comes from hearing stories and experiences about how special this place is.

I will always believe that you can't build a D1 roster of only MT kids, but when your ENTIRE roster besides Mack and Freddy (because of Delvon) have no pre-existing ties to UM, it's going to be that much easier for them to bounce to greener pastures.

Who knows I could be wrong, idk what athletes today are thinking lol

 

[ilovethecats]

Basketball life is now a "me first" approach

So is basketball coaching. And football coaching. And athletic training. And athletic directing. And I suppose every other activity and job where one would put their own interests of themselves and their families ahead of others. Like getting a promotion in your job. Selfish really.

 

[Griz til I die]

Basketball life is now a "me first" approach

So is basketball coaching. And football coaching. And athletic training. And athletic directing. And I suppose every other activity and job where one would put their own interests of themselves and their families ahead of others. Like getting a promotion in your job. Selfish really.

I’m sorry for your guys’ loss. That’s gotta be a massive gut punch. Finally have your first good season in 20 years and just like that he’s gone. What do you think you guys should do? Promote an assistant or find somebody else?

 

[GrizBall]

Will be interesting to see what he gets...I can't imagine, from an individual perspective (and this is what I think his decision is based on) that it will be better than what he had at UM. Him and Bannan were essentially given the keys to the program. He was allowed to take tough shots, play through shooting slumps, and rarely played with the short leash that we saw most other players experience. Shit, we essentially threw Josh V. away to allow Beasley to play 30 minutes a game as a sophomore.

Your running mates are two guys you came to Missoula with, probably your roommates and closest friends on campus. All three of you play 30+ minutes a game. The pieces for the future are in place. So what exactly are you looking for?

I think moving forward this program has got to prioritize getting players who want to be Griz. People have mentioned MT kids, I think that also includes prioritizing the best from Idaho, Eastern WA, CO, maybe a couple region 9 juco role players, maybe a couple international players, and supplementing the roster with A COUPLE California hoopers. Dominating the roster with CA kids...a huge percentage just don't give a f**k about the program beyond their own success and the history of what it means to be a Griz. They have no connection to the school/culture beyond it being simply an individual opportunity. Just my opinion.

At some point the constant revolving door has got to stop. This program is starting to take the characteristics of the bad programs in the Big Sky that we've historically dominated. Let's get a couple more guys we don't have to promise the world to. A few guys we can redshirt, and who will accept their role as complimentary pieces for a couple years and won't transfer. This program needs stability.

These are great points, but the reality that existed back then, is completely different now:

1. The Portal (obviously). This makes it easy for every school in the country to see that you are available which I assume creates greater opportunity.

2. The One-time free transfer. It was a given that you had to sit out a year if you transferred. This also required coaches to basically tie up a scholarship for a year for a kid that couldn’t play. These two factors were detriments to transferring for both the player and coach.

3. The Grad Transfer. You mentioned Rorie who had transferred from UO. Let’s say after 2 really good years as a Griz, he could graduate and be immediately eligible at UW. You don’t think he at least considers this? Because he had already transferred, he essentially had no other option but stay at UM (or drop down to D-2).

And now you throw the Covid year into all of this where kids essentially have 5 years of eligibility. I think once the Covid kids are out of eligibility you will see the madness start to die down. For example, not too many kids are graduating in 3 years so the number of Grad Transfers will be reduced by a ton. Coaches that are willing to take on sophomores with 3 years of eligibility may not be as willing to take on that same sophomore with two. In addition because of Covid you had a lot of kids committing to schools without setting foot on campus.

I just think there are just a bunch of factors in play right now that won’t exist in 3 years. Yes the Portal is here to stay and will always be a factor, but I just think to less of an extent that we are seeing right now.

 

[ilovethecats]

So is basketball coaching. And football coaching. And athletic training. And athletic directing. And I suppose every other activity and job where one would put their own interests of themselves and their families ahead of others. Like getting a promotion in your job. Selfish really.

I’m sorry for your guys’ loss. That’s gotta be a massive gut punch. Finally have your first good season in 20 years and just like that he’s gone. What do you think you guys should do? Promote an assistant or find somebody else?

Well mine was more tongue in cheek to the idea that every kid that leaves a school is some kind of selfish jerk. :lol:

In regards to Sprinkle, my understanding is it's not a done deal yet. He's headed to the Final Four and our AD will be there too. I believe more money will be on the table to keep him. Whether it's enough know one knows but them.

If he does take this opportunity I'm really not sure what they'd think for the next hire. There's a couple guys on staff currently I personally think would fill in nicely but I'm just a casual fan.

I just can't believe a coach would be so selfish to leave us for a better opportunity. I mean he did commit to us when he was hired. So selfish.

 

[Griz til I die]

Here’s something that no one has considered about Beasley. He’s got a girlfriend that lives in Texas, and anyone who follows the kid on Instagram would know that they are struggling with a long distance relationship. Did it ever occur to anyone here that maybe he’s transferring for personal reasons? I get kinda tired of people making random assumptions as to why he’s leaving. No one will ever know the story for sure.

 

[Griz til I die]

I’m sorry for your guys’ loss. That’s gotta be a massive gut punch. Finally have your first good season in 20 years and just like that he’s gone. What do you think you guys should do? Promote an assistant or find somebody else?

Well mine was more tongue in cheek to the idea that every kid that leaves a school is some kind of selfish jerk. :lol:

In regards to Sprinkle, my understanding is it's not a done deal yet. He's headed to the Final Four and our AD will be there too. I believe more money will be on the table to keep him. Whether it's enough know one knows but them.

If he does take this opportunity I'm really not sure what they'd think for the next hire. There's a couple guys on staff currently I personally think would fill in nicely but I'm just a casual fan.

I just can't believe a coach would be so selfish to leave us for a better opportunity. I mean he did commit to us when he was hired. So selfish.

My bad, I couldn’t quite tell what you were doing. I am aware that Sprinkle to USD isn’t a done deal and that Costello will try to likely offer him more money to stay (if he hasn’t yet). However this kinda feels like the Shaheen Holloway situation. Saint Peters came to him with a very aggressive offer but at the end of the day just couldn’t compete with Seton Hall money. MSU might be able to offer him around $200k, but that won’t be able to compete with the $500k USD may offer, especially when the cost of living is a push and you got all that prime recruiting ground right out your backyard. We’ll see what happens in the coming days.

 

[gotgum]

He made the Big Sky All Conf team as a sophomore. This is a loss. Anyone saying different has their head in their ass.

So he was the 16th - 19th best player in one of the worst conferences in college basketball. He led his team to a 5th place finish and a first round loss in the conference tournament. To be clear, I liked him and would have rathered he stay. But In the grand scheme of NCAA Division I basketball, average to slightly above average may have been over-rating him. During his time here, the Griz were 33-27 with 8 of those wins coming against NAIA or whatever division Yellowstone Christian College or SAGU Indian College are in. (By the way, neither of those teams currently have a functioning website, a sure sign of a high level basketball program. :roll: ) While his leaving might be "a loss", will the Griz be that much worse without him? Will anybody be reminiscing about the Robby Beasley Era of Griz basketball and wondering what might have been? I certainly hope not.

 

[mthoopsfan]

Will be interesting to see what he gets...I can't imagine, from an individual perspective (and this is what I think his decision is based on) that it will be better than what he had at UM. Him and Bannan were essentially given the keys to the program. He was allowed to take tough shots, play through shooting slumps, and rarely played with the short leash that we saw most other players experience. Shit, we essentially threw Josh V. away to allow Beasley to play 30 minutes a game as a sophomore.

Your running mates are two guys you came to Missoula with, probably your roommates and closest friends on campus. All three of you play 30+ minutes a game. The pieces for the future are in place. So what exactly are you looking for?

I think moving forward this program has got to prioritize getting players who want to be Griz. People have mentioned MT kids, I think that also includes prioritizing the best from Idaho, Eastern WA, CO, maybe a couple region 9 juco role players, maybe a couple international players, and supplementing the roster with A COUPLE California hoopers. Dominating the roster with CA kids...a huge percentage just don't give a f**k about the program beyond their own success and the history of what it means to be a Griz. They have no connection to the school/culture beyond it being simply an individual opportunity. Just my opinion.

At some point the constant revolving door has got to stop. This program is starting to take the characteristics of the bad programs in the Big Sky that we've historically dominated. Let's get a couple more guys we don't have to promise the world to. A few guys we can redshirt, and who will accept their role as complimentary pieces for a couple years and won't transfer. This program needs stability.

These are great points, but the reality that existed back then, is completely different now:

1. The Portal (obviously). This makes it easy for every school in the country to see that you are available which I assume creates greater opportunity.

2. The One-time free transfer. It was a given that you had to sit out a year if you transferred. This also required coaches to basically tie up a scholarship for a year for a kid that couldn’t play. These two factors were detriments to transferring for both the player and coach.

3. The Grad Transfer. You mentioned Rorie who had transferred from UO. Let’s say after 2 really good years as a Griz, he could graduate and be immediately eligible at UW. You don’t think he at least considers this? Because he had already transferred, he essentially had no other option but stay at UM (or drop down to D-2).

And now you throw the Covid year into all of this where kids essentially have 5 years of eligibility. I think once the Covid kids are out of eligibility you will see the madness start to die down. For example, not too many kids are graduating in 3 years so the number of Grad Transfers will be reduced by a ton. Coaches that are willing to take on sophomores with 3 years of eligibility may not be as willing to take on that same sophomore with two. In addition because of Covid you had a lot of kids committing to schools without setting foot on campus.

I just think there are just a bunch of factors in play right now that won’t exist in 3 years. Yes the Portal is here to stay and will always be a factor, but I just think to less of an extent that we are seeing right now.

I agree with much of both of these posts. Maybe he just wants to go to a better school to get a better education. Maybe he was inspired by that guy at Miami who's at his 4th school. Ha. It seems like a big loss to me.

 

[ilovethecats]

Well mine was more tongue in cheek to the idea that every kid that leaves a school is some kind of selfish jerk. :lol:

In regards to Sprinkle, my understanding is it's not a done deal yet. He's headed to the Final Four and our AD will be there too. I believe more money will be on the table to keep him. Whether it's enough know one knows but them.

If he does take this opportunity I'm really not sure what they'd think for the next hire. There's a couple guys on staff currently I personally think would fill in nicely but I'm just a casual fan.

I just can't believe a coach would be so selfish to leave us for a better opportunity. I mean he did commit to us when he was hired. So selfish.

My bad, I couldn’t quite tell what you were doing. I am aware that Sprinkle to USD isn’t a done deal and that Costello will try to likely offer him more money to stay (if he hasn’t yet). However this kinda feels like the Shaheen Holloway situation. Saint Peters came to him with a very aggressive offer but at the end of the day just couldn’t compete with Seton Hall money. MSU might be able to offer him around $200k, but that won’t be able to compete with the $500k USD may offer, especially when the cost of living is a push and you got all that prime recruiting ground right out your backyard. We’ll see what happens in the coming days.

I think it depends on how far apart they are on the money and if more can be made with incentives. I agree that if the closest we can get is 300K apart he's likely gone. As I would be in a second.

The thing with Holloway is that the money appeared closer between the two schools, and he left to go back to his alma mater which I think is a big factor for these coaches getting hired.

I know how much Sprinkle loves MSU and Bozeman. And I think if we can even get in the same ballpark monetarily we could hang on to him for a bit. But I only say this because I don't know if he'd get offered as much as 500k there, and I don't think we'd stay as low as 200k here. Yes, I know the guy they just fired was making near that much. The only SD employees making more was their chancellor and their president. I can't imagine they want to continue that trend, but I have no idea. If they're going to give him 500k, I'll drive to Danny's house myself and help pack his bags!

 

[GrizBall]

He made the Big Sky All Conf team as a sophomore. This is a loss. Anyone saying different has their head in their ass.

So he was the 16th - 19th best player in one of the worst conferences in college basketball. He led his team to a 5th place finish and a first round loss in the conference tournament. To be clear, I liked him and would have rathered he stay. But In the grand scheme of NCAA Division I basketball, average to slightly above average may have been over-rating him. During his time here, the Griz were 33-27 with 8 of those wins coming against NAIA or whatever division Yellowstone Christian College or SAGU Indian College are in. (By the way, neither of those teams currently have a functioning website, a sure sign of a high level basketball program. :roll: ) While his leaving might be "a loss", will the Griz be that much worse without him? Will anybody be reminiscing about the Robby Beasley Era of Griz basketball and wondering what might have been? I certainly hope not.

Or conversely you essentially had a “Freshman” with 3 more years of eligibility that was one of the best 16-19 players in the conference coupled with another “Freshman” that was one of the best 10 players in the conference. It’s not hard to envision them becoming 1st team all-league. What does UM look like with 2 of the best 5 players in the conference?

It wouldn’t matter if the Big Sky was the worst conference in America. UM has only one objective and that is to be the best team in the Big Sky. Losing a Freshman that was HM All-League is a big deal. The assumption is you just hop in portal and replace that involves a lot of risk. Granted it is easier to replace a guard than get a big man.

 

[gotgame75]

So he was the 16th - 19th best player in one of the worst conferences in college basketball. He led his team to a 5th place finish and a first round loss in the conference tournament. To be clear, I liked him and would have rathered he stay. But In the grand scheme of NCAA Division I basketball, average to slightly above average may have been over-rating him. During his time here, the Griz were 33-27 with 8 of those wins coming against NAIA or whatever division Yellowstone Christian College or SAGU Indian College are in. (By the way, neither of those teams currently have a functioning website, a sure sign of a high level basketball program. :roll: ) While his leaving might be "a loss", will the Griz be that much worse without him? Will anybody be reminiscing about the Robby Beasley Era of Griz basketball and wondering what might have been? I certainly hope not.

Or conversely you essentially had a “Freshman” with 3 more years of eligibility that was one of the best 16-19 players in the conference coupled with another “Freshman” that was one of the best 10 players in the conference. It’s not hard to envision them becoming 1st team all-league. What does UM look like with 2 of the best 5 players in the conference?

It wouldn’t matter if the Big Sky was the worst conference in America. UM has only one objective and that is to be the best team in the Big Sky. Losing a Freshman that was HM All-League is a big deal. The assumption is you just hop in portal and replace that involves a lot of risk. Granted it is easier to replace a guard than get a big man.

Not great, but absolutely not a big deal. There's not a single person on the team (coaches included), outside of Bannan, that's not replaceable in my opinion. An above average player on a mediocre to below average roster in one of the worst conferences in the country is not exactly my standard for being upset over.

 

[gotgame75]

My bad, I couldn’t quite tell what you were doing. I am aware that Sprinkle to USD isn’t a done deal and that Costello will try to likely offer him more money to stay (if he hasn’t yet). However this kinda feels like the Shaheen Holloway situation. Saint Peters came to him with a very aggressive offer but at the end of the day just couldn’t compete with Seton Hall money. MSU might be able to offer him around $200k, but that won’t be able to compete with the $500k USD may offer, especially when the cost of living is a push and you got all that prime recruiting ground right out your backyard. We’ll see what happens in the coming days.

I think it depends on how far apart they are on the money and if more can be made with incentives. I agree that if the closest we can get is 300K apart he's likely gone. As I would be in a second.

The thing with Holloway is that the money appeared closer between the two schools, and he left to go back to his alma mater which I think is a big factor for these coaches getting hired.

I know how much Sprinkle loves MSU and Bozeman. And I think if we can even get in the same ballpark monetarily we could hang on to him for a bit. But I only say this because I don't know if he'd get offered as much as 500k there, and I don't think we'd stay as low as 200k here. Yes, I know the guy they just fired was making near that much. The only SD employees making more was their chancellor and their president. I can't imagine they want to continue that trend, but I have no idea. If they're going to give him 500k, I'll drive to Danny's house myself and help pack his bags!

As someone who went to USD, I can 100% assure you that they have absolutely ZERO qualms about paying a coach 500K or even more. USD has an embarrassment of mega wealthy donors and an endowment that would blow your mind, so $500K a year is barely a consideration for them. It's probably one of the Top 5 most gorgeous campuses in the nation, with first class facilities at every turn. The amount of $$$ and exotic cars on campus at any given time is actually disgusting.

I'm just saying, if you're hoping you'll be able to keep Sprinkle because USD is going to be frugal, keep dreaming. USD has aspirations to rise to the level of Gonzaga and they will spend whatever it takes to get the person they want.