Players leaving/returning

[Da Coach]

There have already been a number of MVC seniors who have announced they will return and play another year.

Evansville's Evan Kuhlman and Noah Frederking say they will return-

https://twitter.com/Grant_Gilles9/status/1369009738097324035

[BUfan17]

I don't know how I feel about this whole extra year of eligibility thing. I know they gave it assuming there would be a lot more cancellations but this year went over fairly well in my opinion. It went way better than I was expecting, I thought the entire season would be canceled when cases were getting really bad. At this point after having a mostly successful season what is the rationale for it? If anything it seems like it is going to hurt incoming recruiting classes.

[Da Coach]

It will definitely affect teams quite differently. A team with a lot of seniors like Loyola (Krutwig, Williamson, Uguak, Clemons, Hall) will get a much bigger advantage from this rule than a team like ISU, who doesn't have any seniors. Loyola will be loaded next year assuming all those seniors return for another year, plus they have commitments from 2 other pretty good seniors who didn't compete this season because of the Ivy League's decision to opt out- Ryan Schwieger, who averaged 10.7 ppg at Princeton in 2019-20, and Chris Knight who was Dartmouth's leading scorer & rebounder in 2019-20 with 14.8 ppg & 6.4 rpg. If all those seniors return next year, their scholarships will not count against the usual maximum of 13. Plus, they can still re-use the remaining scholarships of this year's seniors (they have already used 2 of them on the Ivy League transfers), and recruit several more players if they choose to.
Thus, Loyola could have close to 20 scholarship players on their roster next season, at least 7 of which will be 5th year seniors. They could be pretty good.

On the other hand, a team like ISU, who doesn't have any seniors, or a team like Bradley, who has only a couple seniors who might not return next season, will basically have the 13 scholarship limit that they would have had in any normal year.

[BUSongwriter]

I can't see Krutwig returning. He's banged around the Valley a long time, and I would think he'll have some lucrative professional offers, either here or in Europe. He's been to the Final Four -- once, maybe soon twice -- and has been Player of the Year. What is left to prove that outweighs the risk of a career-threatening injury?

[Da Coach]

There is a surge in Division II players entering the transfer portal. It includes a number of the highest scoring players in D2 who are hoping to get Division I offers-

https://twitter.com/VerbalCommitsD2/status/1369414304852754434

https://twitter.com/VerbalCommitsD2/status/1369421642049462282

[BUfan14]

Isn’t the 5th year for everyone who played this year? So Bradley might benefit more with this freshman group getting a fifth year in a few years, or Ville and East staying an extra year right?

[Da Coach]

Sigurd Lorange, a seldom used guard on Valparaiso, enters transfer portal-
https://twitter.com/VerbalCommits/st...06863989739527

Lorange is a 5'11" sophomore guard from Norway. He averaged 2.9 ppg as a freshman but played in only 9 games. He played even less as a sophomore and averaged 2.0 ppg.
Also, Valpo redshirt-sophomore walk-on Stephen Helm has entered the transfer portal.

[Tommy]

Isn’t the 5th year for everyone who played this year? So Bradley might benefit more with this freshman group getting a fifth year in a few years, or Ville and East staying an extra year right?

Pretty sure it's only for seniors this year.

[Da Coach]

Pretty sure it's only for seniors this year.

Tommy, I am not so sure. I think it applies to all players who played this season.
Here is the NCAA press release regarding this new "Extended Eligibility" rule-

https://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/media-center/news/di-council-extends-eligibility-winter-sport-student-athletes

It simply states:
"Winter sport student-athletes who compete during 2020-21 in Division I will receive both an additional season of competition and an additional year in which to complete it, the Division I Council decided.

There is no distinction made for only seniors. So, unless the NCAA further defines or modifies this rule, it appears it applies to any player who competed during the 2020-21 season, regardless of class.

[Tommy]

Tommy, I am not so sure. I think it applies to all players who played this season.

My mistake. I think you're right and found the article below that gives a good detailed explanation.

If that is the case, let's hope our underclassmen turn out to be real studs and love playing at BU and take advantage of it (as BU14 suggested). That could make for great years around 2024 and 2025, but let's hope we don't have to wait that long to get back on top.

[bradleyfan124]

I want to throw something out here. I think Mast can be better than Krutwig by the time he leaves Bradley. Why? The improvement he showed from the beginning of the year to the end was tremendous. He started making some moves of an experienced senior. Assuming he will be getting better with hard work over the summer plus add on the fact he can step out and hit the 3 on a regular basis makes him very dangerous to another team.

[LittleBrave]

I guess no news is good news (so far) on the Braves front. I am hoping nobody transfers on our roster. I don't think AT is going to be All-Valley, but he brings worth to the team and has a super attitude. East is big - if he stays I will have a much better outlook for next year, as he was a solid PG even in this season of turmoil.
We do need to get another guard who can shoot the 3. The MVC is a guard-oriented league and the elite teams shoot well from behind the arc. We were very bad this season - I think East led the team at about 35% and I don't consider him a 3-point shooter or threat.

And still hoping for outside chance that Eli will return.

[Tommy]

I guess no news is good news (so far) on the Braves front. I am hoping nobody transfers on our roster. I don't think AT is going to be All-Valley, but he brings worth to the team and has a super attitude. East is big - if he stays I will have a much better outlook for next year, as he was a solid PG even in this season of turmoil.
We do need to get another guard who can shoot the 3. The MVC is a guard-oriented league and the elite teams shoot well from behind the arc. We were very bad this season - I think East led the team at about 35% and I don't consider him a 3-point shooter or threat.

And still hoping for outside chance that Eli will return.

I'm starting to think you're working for East's promotional marketing team, LB!

I agree with you. East was impressive with the time he got this year as a sophomore.

[Tommy]

I want to throw something out here. I think Mast can be better than Krutwig by the time he leaves Bradley. Why? The improvement he showed from the beginning of the year to the end was tremendous. He started making some moves of an experienced senior. Assuming he will be getting better with hard work over the summer plus add on the fact he can step out and hit the 3 on a regular basis makes him very dangerous to another team.

Hope you're right, BUfan124, that would be really huge for us and I agree that Mast was a beast for us as a freshman, so we can definitely expect big things to come. Not sure about besting Krutwig's output, though, as I believe he is the 3rd best player of all time from the Valley, so that is a pretty high order for anyone.

Either way, there's no doubt Mast will play a big role in our success in the future.

[Da Coach]

Valparaiso's Donovan Clay enters the transfer portal. This is a huge blow to Valpo if he leaves, and I am sure he'll have offers.

https://twitter.com/DonovanClay11/status/1369712031570538496